The Energon Pub

You know, I have to read comics like two or three times these days just go make sure that the art is being clear about what is happening.

Discussion will follow, so I won't go into anything too much, but what did Megatron whisper to Starscream?

Did that panel look to anyone else like Megatron was just about to speak in general and then backed down; while Starscream sneered in disgust? I know, that's not what happened, an important piece of information was shared between them, but damn, the art threw me off.

Oh, and Starscream dropping and swearing loyalty like that wasa awesome.

I've gotta go back and see about Megatron whispering something. This particular series you have to read a few times to really get the gist of what's going on. And yes, Starscream groveling at Megs' feet was awesome.

I had a chuckle about that too.

And I agree, this art is crazy detailed, have to *read* the book, but just look at the art, not the words!

So, first page of the funeral sequence for the autobots. Bottom right of the page, we see the back of a red bot, blue head. Is this our little friend Optimus? You see him again on the other page, front view, but with a face.

I do think it would be interesting to see what "Orion/Optimus" was up to at this point in the time line (if that is him, obviously working for this security force)

OPTIMUS PRIME ORIGINS PLEASE

Yep, that's definitely Prime. And it looks like he has a bit of a homelife at the time. We definitely need an Optimus Prime Origins! We already kind of have it in War Within, but I reckon that doesn't count anymore?

I was pleased with the sheer amount of characters in this issue. My only real beef with this series is that the pics are often too small and too busy, so it's hard to know what all is happening unless you read it a few times (which is ok by me!)

As for Megatron whispering something to Starscream, right afterward Starscream was trying to get out and share some info, followed by Megatron getting pissed off. So what happened?

I think he was whispering to Starscream that he wanted him to enact some plan they had concocted. Earlier in the issue Megatron mentions to him whether the 'task' was complete. I'm guessing Megatron had the location of the big meeting leaked to the authorities. He wanted to be captured. Just think about it, Megatron and his group are now in a prison that is apparently overflowing while Soundwave is still free on the outside and Starscream is apparently going to meet with the senate. Megatron, maybe with help from Soundwave, breaks out of prison and frees everyone inside, swelling the Decepticon ranks, while Starscream attacks the senate somehow. In one stroke Megatron will crippled the Autobot leadership and increase his own army.

Also, there were a ton of cameos in this one. Stunticons, Predacons, Grimlock, Wheeljack, Alpha Trion, etc.

Well, Rumble and Frenzy were also discussing something with Megatron earlier, but after they pissed off Megatron enough to back off, they say "Soundwave it is", so there was definitely some plan. And of course Soundwave would have the hookup.

Moonbase2 wrote:Well, Rumble and Frenzy were also discussing something with Megatron earlier, but after they pissed off Megatron enough to back off, they say "Soundwave it is", so there was definitely some plan. And of course Soundwave would have the hookup.

I believe that had to do with them being 'reconfigured' to be able to work with Soundwave, hide inside him. I did not see those guys in the prison-- that I remember -- so it is possible they are also out with Soundwave, and not captured to help enact 'the plan'.

I was a little disappointed in the art for this issue. I know it is detailed, I know he is trying to squeeze all the cameos he can in, but sometimes, I just wondered what we were supposed to be noticing in the pictures and it sometimes seemed like it should be obvious, but was not.

For example, the funeral, and Sentinel Prime talks, pushes a button on his wrist, and apparently his guns pop out of his wrists, but we also see his abdomen and another part of him in separate panels, but what the heck changed? More armor? It looks like a venting system to me, but I'm ???

I also was not super happy with his drawing for the first 3 seekers before modification, they looked...odd to me, compared to his other stuff.

I do love that he is throwing in designs that are reminiscent of ancient civilizations like the Romans, the Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs. Look at some of the clothing designs, headresses, etc., it really looks like it!

So is Ratbat in on it too? He was observing and saying it has gone too far, but what has???

Sentinel Prime has not visually gotten his hands dirty yet. Why??? Are they saving him kicking ass for the final issue to be a draw? You'd think they might have wanted to set him up as more of bad@$$ if the penultimate battle that we know is coming is to be as grand as they obviously want it to be. The unknown is not always the best strategy...

What I mean is we do not have enough knowledge of him to know that he is the ultimate of the time basically, or not, so I think more details should have come of him too. We know Megatron is a bad ass fighter, we have no idea what kind of fighter Sentinel is, only what he seems to be... I think it should have almost been treated like it was a Megatron Origins/Sentinel Prime Spotlight, so both were major characters, since they are obviously the leaders of the opposing forces. Just my opinion.

I really like the writing, I sometimes/often like the art--especially the background easter eggs--, and I like the direction of the story and the telling of something that we have basically had only statement knowledge of (--Megs/Decepticons' Origin/Sentinel Prime--) .

All in all, I have really enjoyed the series, albeit there is confusion, and art inconsistancies.

I'm worried about the finish though. The original story that was written was planned for a 6 issue mini. Will this end too abruptly like Stormbringer??? I hope not, I hope it is a smooth, logical, and kick ass ending next month.

I believe that had to do with them being 'reconfigured' to be able to work with Soundwave, hide inside him. I did not see those guys in the prison-- that I remember -- so it is possible they are also out with Soundwave, and not captured to help enact 'the plan'.

I think you are right there. Or at least it is probable.

I was a little disappointed in the art for this issue. I know it is detailed, I know he is trying to squeeze all the cameos he can in, but sometimes, I just wondered what we were supposed to be noticing in the pictures and it sometimes seemed like it should be obvious, but was not.

You really have to study this artist's work to get the entire picture. I can see what he was thinking, but I have to really look at it to get the idea. Su's work, you just look at it and it's pretty simple to gather what is happening.

For example, the funeral, and Sentinel Prime talks, pushes a button on his wrist, and apparently his guns pop out of his wrists, but we also see his abdomen and another part of him in separate panels, but what the heck changed? More armor? It looks like a venting system to me, but I'm ???

I think that is him finally getting ready for some real action. He even got the "lightning" eyes. LOL

I also was not super happy with his drawing for the first 3 seekers before modification, they looked...odd to me, compared to his other stuff.

Oh, I LOVED their looks! It was a highlight for me. I do like Milne's style, particularly the character's faces. It's a bit different from the norm.

So is Ratbat in on it too? He was observing and saying it has gone too far, but what has???

He is sitting there studying the chaos that is ensuing: sabotage by Ravage, the "mass poisoning"...obviously he has a hand in this, but I guess he thinks it's crossed the line. Soundwave IS working for him, right? Hasn't that been established?

Sentinel Prime has not visually gotten his hands dirty yet. Why??? Are they saving him kicking ass for the final issue to be a draw? You'd think they might have wanted to set him up as more of bad@$$ if the penultimate battle that we know is coming is to be as grand as they obviously want it to be. The unknown is not always the best strategy...

I don't know...but we know he's going to die at the hands of Megatron. Perhaps his lack of resolve or badassery is going to be his downfall and that's when Prime will step in, be a worthy adversary. Perhaps Sentinel is not meant to be one.

What I mean is we do not have enough knowledge of him to know that he is the ultimate of the time basically, or not, so I think more details should have come of him too. We know Megatron is a bad ass fighter, we have no idea what kind of fighter Sentinel is, only what he seems to be... I think it should have almost been treated like it was a Megatron Origins/Sentinel Prime Spotlight, so both were major characters, since they are obviously the leaders of the opposing forces. Just my opinion.

Well, maybe Sentinel WILL step it up a little, and the Autobots will be forced to be tougher, now that Megatron has much bigger plans in mind. Unfortunately, we only have one more issue in which all will be resolved. The autobots have definitely taken a backseat in the story, as all they really are are lawkeepers. Once the **** REALLY hits the fan is when it would become fun. The autobots will have a cause. I'm wondering if they will continue this, so we can see Optimus become Prime. He's there, but he's not a real character in the story.


I'm worried about the finish though. The original story that was written was planned for a 6 issue mini. Will this end too abruptly like Stormbringer??? I hope not, I hope it is a smooth, logical, and kick ass ending next month.[/quote]

Yeah, I wish Stormbringer had a longer climax, too. This series really should have been a six parter. I've still enjoyed it. It's a good story and I've enjoyed the art for the most part.

1) Yeah, Rumble and Frenzy are definately part of some master plan, hiding in Soundwave.

2) I'm thinking, given Soundwave's Spotlight comic, that he's playing both sides (Ratbat/Megatron) to optimal self gain.

3) I really don't think Starscream is in on the grand plan, I'm pretty sure Megatron is manipulating him, which would of course set the stage for their 'relationship' there-after. I didn't read it as Megatron whispering something, I read it as Megatron pretends to chicken out, leading Starscream to betray him, especially give the dialogue preceding that scene. Looking at it again though, I can see how the alternative interpretation is equally possible. It's also possible Megatron actually made a mistake though.

4) I'm pretty sure when Sentinel Prime pushed that button what we saw was him change color from orange to black.

5) Rub decals FTW!

6) Was Megatron the only one in the workshop getting repaired? Is that how he becomes so powerful? Getting the parts of other Decepticons he kills?

7) Thought it was cool that the Seekers were all slightly different before Hook upgraded them.

All the characters I spotted:

Chopshop:

Soundwave
Swindle
Hook et al
Megatron
Starscream, Thundercracker, & Skywarp

Funeral:

Unidentified Aerialbot
Unidentified Blue Guy
Ratchet
Warpath
Brawn
Sentinel Prime
Blurr
Ironhide
Wheeljack
Gears
Prowl
Alpha Trion
Unidentified Minibot
Optronix/Orion Pax
Magnus
Elita-1
Cliffjumper
Bumblebee
Hubcap

Later

Ravage
Ratbat

Arena

Sunstreaker
Sideswipe
Stunticons
Predacons (colored wrong in one panel)
Grimlock
Swoop
Red Alert? That makes no sense.
Rumble & Frenzy
Slag
Pounce or Wingspan
Runabout & Runamuck
Snap-trap?
Hun-Grrr
Apeface
Sunstorm?
Blades (takes out Motormaster in the Autobot raid, surprised he wasn't one of the Arena fighters)

Prison

Onslaught
Gobot Chick - I can't believe Crasher has lasted this long. It'd crack me up if she survives to get a Spotlight with a whole bunch of Gobot cameos.

Caelus wrote:3) I really don't think Starscream is in on the grand plan, I'm pretty sure Megatron is manipulating him, which would of course set the stage for their 'relationship' there-after. I didn't read it as Megatron whispering something, I read it as Megatron pretends to chicken out, leading Starscream to betray him, especially give the dialogue preceding that scene. Looking at it again though, I can see how the alternative interpretation is equally possible. It's also possible Megatron actually made a mistake though.

That whole panel is drawn with criminal neglect.

This isn't boding well...I was really hoping that the art would pick up.

Caelus wrote:4) I'm pretty sure when Sentinel Prime pushed that button what we saw was him change color from orange to black.

5) Rub decals FTW!

7) Thought it was cool that the Seekers were all slightly different before Hook upgraded them.

All the characters I spotted:

Chopshop:

Funeral:

Unidentified Aerialbot
Unidentified Blue Guy

Blurr

Arena:


Swoop
Slag
Pounce or Wingspan

4.) Aah...I see the importance now [/sarcasm]

5.) That was so Dreamwave...



7.) Yeah, it was nice that they had differences, just something about them bugs me. Maybe because they are so different from everyone else, it seems, which was probably intended.

Chopshop-- I believe it is a Decepticon Pretender inner robot in the background

Funeral--blue guy= Mirage... not Blurr/Chromia I believe, next to Ironhide, right? The other blue guy in the background could be anyone, but I think it's Blustreak. The aerialbot I believe is Skydive.

Arena-- the far background guys can almost be anyone, although I sort of see your Slag, and Swoop, others like I said seem to be anyone

Autobot Security (outside)- Alt forms Waverider, and Cloudburst, and what looks like Armada Jetfire.

And I did see Frenzy and Rumble in the cell, so...doh!

Pounce and Wingspan are still eluding me.

Good eyes!

Slag and Pounce/Wingspan are visible from behind in that big two-page panel where Megatron is speaking before the arena fans. Slag is in front of Grimlock, P/W is behind him (not much is visible of the clone).

The blue guy I couldn't ID was behind Ratchet with the Aerialbot, who I also thought was most likely Skydive, so hearing you say that, makes me pretty confident that that is who he is.

The blue guy next to Ironhide I really thought was Blurr - doesn't look much like Mirage with that big silver mohawk, and it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for Mirage to be there. Chromia would be logical, but I'd have to see a pic of her again - I thought her head had that sort of subtle crown thing going on top though.

Checked again and I still don't see the Cassetticons' Bash-Brothers in the jail cell.

Edit: Nice catch on the Bot Pretenders! Even after you said that it took me forever to spot them. I just wrote them off as generic ships!

Caelus wrote:Slag and Pounce/Wingspan are visible from behind in that big two-page panel where Megatron is speaking before the arena fans. Slag is in front of Grimlock, P/W is behind him (not much is visible of the clone).

The blue guy I couldn't ID was behind Ratchet with the Aerialbot, who I also thought was most likely Skydive, so hearing you say that, makes me pretty confident that that is who he is.

The blue guy next to Ironhide I really thought was Blurr - doesn't look much like Mirage with that big silver mohawk, and it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for Mirage to be there. Chromia would be logical, but I'd have to see a pic of her again - I thought her head had that sort of subtle crown thing going on top though.

Checked again and I still don't see the Cassetticons' Bash-Brothers in the jail cell.

Edit: Nice catch on the Bot Pretenders! Even after you said that it took me forever to spot them. I just wrote them off as generic ships!

I meant next to Ironhide is not Blurr ( ), but Chromia, and next to Sentinel Prime in blue to me looks most like Mirage (near the caskets).

Chromia is merely a guess, because there are no other movie bots there except Magnus.

BTW I 'thought' I saw Rumble and Frenzy in front of Megatron in one of the cell scenes. One of those 'cell bars' goes right across Rumble's (blue) face, and to me it looks clearly like a bot next to him, about his height is facing Megatron. He also appears to have the guns on his back that we know identify those two. It's a panel right above when S-wave was released for bad behavior.

I could be wrong, but I was thinking to myself, if they were there, they would be near Megs, so I looked in the pics near him, and thought those two fit the bill.?

tigertracks 24 wrote:BTW I 'thought' I saw Rumble and Frenzy in front of Megatron in one of the cell scenes. One of those 'cell bars' goes right across Rumble's (blue) face, and to me it looks clearly like a bot next to him, about his height is facing Megatron. He also appears to have the guns on his back that we know identify those two. It's a panel right above when S-wave was released for bad behavior.

I could be wrong, but I was thinking to myself, if they were there, they would be near Megs, so I looked in the pics near him, and thought those two fit the bill.?

I noticed that when I read it, but when the idea of them being modified to be carried in Soundwave was brought up, I dismissed it....

Moonbase2 wrote:I've gotta go back and see about Megatron whispering something. This particular series you have to read a few times to really get the gist of what's going on. And yes, Starscream groveling at Megs' feet was awesome.

hey was that in issue 1 or 3 because I only have number two!

tigertracks 24 wrote:I meant next to Ironhide is not Blurr ( ), but Chromia, and next to Sentinel Prime in blue to me looks most like Mirage (near the caskets).

Chromia is merely a guess, because there are no other movie bots there except Magnus.

Oh yeah, that's definately Chromia; I agree with that one.

And I finally see what you meant by Mirage - I IDed that as Brawn. Now that you mention it, the head could go either way, and the light from the holograms makes it ambiguous as to whether his frame is blue or green. But, He has a stout, broad shouldered dwarven-build, and his chest plate is almost certainly yellow, so I stick with Brawn.

tigertracks 24 wrote:
I was a little disappointed in the art for this issue. I know it is detailed, I know he is trying to squeeze all the cameos he can in, but sometimes, I just wondered what we were supposed to be noticing in the pictures and it sometimes seemed like it should be obvious, but was not.

what
its better than the first 2

the colouring was a bit dodgy. especially in the arena scenes. Grimlock was talking with some bots, as was Razorclaw, and they were looking over at each other (a past rivalry perhaps?) but whilst the Predacons where all coloured correct in at least one panel, there was a couple of times when they were only distinguishable by their shapes, and not their colours, which were now totally random (related to the G1 cartoon seekers maybe ). The bots next to Grimlock? I thought they would maybe be meant to be the other Dinos, but there is one bot way in the background who looks like and is coloured like Swoop/Divebomb so I don't know.
So it was Sentinel Prime who was the black and orange guy at the prison at the end? I so am not getting that whole deal. He's orange and he changes colour? Big whoop-dee-doo.
Pretty sure that Soundwave must have Rumble and Frenzy hidden inside him, but I agree there are two little bots in the cell in one of the panels there too. No idea if the Starscream thing is a plan, Megatron's made a mistake, or if he's maybe just counting on Screamer to betray him and has set him up (giving false info to lead the Autobots into a trap) but I'm sure it'll be fun finding out.
Agree that this story might be a bit rushed with only 1 issue left. Unless it is double-sized I can't see them fitting in everything, but then again, loads seemed to happen this one, so we'll see.
Optimus Prime Origins would be good too. Maybe have it run during the same time-period as this one, ending with him getting picked as the next Matrix-holder.

Man I struggled with this issue.
Im not sure if Megatron has planned the whole thing (including his capture) or not.

I'd like to believe that he has, to get himself close to high ranking officials/the senate, for an easy takeover coup.

Not sure if Starscream is in on Megatron's plan, is being manipulated or is acting on his own behalf already.

There are way too many things to be tied up properly next issue, which means that more Spotlights/Mini's will be needed to clear things up.
Ratbat, Sunstreaker and Starscream will almost certainly need Spotlights set around this period, and I would be surprised if Grimlocks Spotlight does not address this time period as well.

Not quite sure of what to hope for for issue #4, I'd like a big showdown, between Megatron and Sentinal Prime, but I also want to know if Megatron planned the events of #3, and to tell us that in a decent way could take up the majority of the issue.

Personally, I don't think the main problem with the book is the actual drawings, per se... it seems to be a coloring problem. Whoever is coloring the art is doing it in a completely different style than what has been the "norm," and thus, making it more difficult to figure out what the heck is going on.

screamer is doing as megatron ordered he is not betraying him...its all gonna end up being a huge setup...the autobots have literally brought a trojan horse full of modded cons into the jail...you bring them down from the inside..

Forgot to mention this earlier; does anyone else get the feeling that Prowl enjoys his work far too much?

I mean every shot he is in, he is smirking. I like Prowl, always have, but from this mini-series alone, I feel that he is being turned into some kind of yes-man douche.

i_amtrunks wrote:Forgot to mention this earlier; does anyone else get the feeling that Prowl enjoys his work far too much?

I mean every shot he is in, he is smirking. I like Prowl, always have, but from this mini-series alone, I feel that he is being turned into some kind of yes-man douche.

"Turning?"