IDW Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #34 Review

Tal El wrote:But some questions do arise though...

1) Does this issue take place after Megs and crew reactivated the correct timeline or concurrent? Two of the bots on the planet arrived to the crew after take off, the other two were on board at the beginning.

@jroberts332 wrote:“@pstinson42: So is all of #Transformers #MtMtE Season 2 taking place on one very eventful day? Not counting flashbacks?” More or less!

ctrlFrequency wrote:So now I read it... and ... wow... I'm still processing.

ScottyP wrote:^
And John Stamoist (excellent screen name, btw), That also makes a lot of sense. Something else I've thought of after sleeping on it - Brainstorm could be Agent 113? Could have been the mole within the DJD mentioned way back in LSotW? Or they could go full blown headmaster idea and say that Brainstorm is dead and that's actually Vos - only going with that due to the faceplates seeming to be analogous at least somewhat, but that could also be a good ol' JR red herring.

John Stamoist wrote:Also confused at the end, did Kaon take off with Trailcutter's head and brain?

I'm sure next issue will bring about more questions than it will answer for the past 2 issues.

Nemesis Maximo wrote:For the record, I never said I dislike the name John Stamoist, I just didn't actually SAY I like it. As a matter of fact, I do.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled discussion.

ctrlFrequency wrote:

John Stamoist wrote:Also confused at the end, did Kaon take off with Trailcutter's head and brain?

I'm sure next issue will bring about more questions than it will answer for the past 2 issues.

I reread now, and missed where you asked this, so I'm going to weigh in on that.
I wondered too. They totally left that up in the air. In the last panel of that scene you can see First Aid, Bluestreak, and Mainframe looking down at the floor inside TC's bubble. Kaon also doesn't appear to be holding anything when he's dissolving as Helix ports him out. But of course he's washed out. He could very well be holding TC's head and brain, but he might not be. Obviously it is meant to not be obvious one way or another for cliffhanger purposes. I'm inclined to think he did leave it (though why he would is odd) since the other three are looking on the floor... but.. who knows.

John Stamoist wrote:
Yeah the whole scenario was weird. The first weird thing was that he engaged with Red Alert when he asked him to spare his brain. From the few issues the DJD have been in, and from what I can tell, they are merciless blood thirsty killers. So if they are as insane and bloodthirsty as they've been portrayed, Kaon should have destroyed the brain on the spot and laugh. So I thought, Kaon might just want to mess with him, then destroy the brain in front of him, OR he would spare TC due to the fact that he was the one who brought Vos back from the brink of death. So when he said one moment and pressed the brain against the field, I really thought he was going to look at the datapad to confirm that Megatron called off the war. It's obvious Kaon wants to come down and interact with them again, whether it's to talk about the war, to kill them or to gloat about how they have a spy amongst them. I would say to thank them for saving Vos, but we all know that won't happen.

ctrlFrequency wrote:Yeah, the whole situation was just uncharacteristic for Kaon. I was sure he was going to do something downright brutal and didn't do it. However it popped into my head earlier that maybe TC told him how long it would take before the force field dropped so maybe he did leave his head and brain so the three others could stand helplessly by and watch him die without being able to help and then come back for the rest and kill them.
Heck, maybe he's checking out the 'war is over' news... or maybe Helix said something like 'I think I see Megatron up here!' It's so hard to speculate on MtMe.

Looking at this posted it looks like some big huge secret code with the spoiler hI glint :p

John Stamoist wrote:

ctrlFrequency wrote:Yeah, the whole situation was just uncharacteristic for Kaon. I was sure he was going to do something downright brutal and didn't do it. However it popped into my head earlier that maybe TC told him how long it would take before the force field dropped so maybe he did leave his head and brain so the three others could stand helplessly by and watch him die without being able to help and then come back for the rest and kill them.
Heck, maybe he's checking out the 'war is over' news... or maybe Helix said something like 'I think I see Megatron up here!' It's so hard to speculate on MtMe.

Looking at this posted it looks like some big huge secret code with the spoiler hI glint :p

John Stamoist wrote:Hahahaha seriously, some massive secerets going on.

I agree with you, it is very difficult to call this series, but that's what makes it so good and fresh.

SW's SilverHammer wrote:No matter what's going on, we call all perceptive and agree; Trailbreakercutter got **** up.

John Stamoist wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:No matter what's going on, we call all perceptive and agree; Trailbreakercutter got **** up.

ctrlFrequency wrote:

John Stamoist wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:No matter what's going on, we call all perceptive and agree; Trailbreakercutter got **** up.

Totally... Poor guy.

ctrlFrequency wrote:

John Stamoist wrote:

ctrlFrequency wrote:Yeah, the whole situation was just uncharacteristic for Kaon. I was sure he was going to do something downright brutal and didn't do it. However it popped into my head earlier that maybe TC told him how long it would take before the force field dropped so maybe he did leave his head and brain so the three others could stand helplessly by and watch him die without being able to help and then come back for the rest and kill them.
Heck, maybe he's checking out the 'war is over' news... or maybe Helix said something like 'I think I see Megatron up here!' It's so hard to speculate on MtMe.

Looking at this posted it looks like some big huge secret code with the spoiler hI glint :p

I love how my auto correct went all haywire there on 'highlight' :p darn phone (not that the tablet is much better on that) but I'm feeling too crumby to sit at my computer :p (stupid cold!)

John Stamoist wrote:Hahahaha seriously, some massive secerets going on.

I agree with you, it is very difficult to call this series, but that's what makes it so good and fresh.

John Stamoist wrote:

ctrlFrequency wrote:

John Stamoist wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:No matter what's going on, we call all perceptive and agree; Trailbreakercutter got **** up.

Totally... Poor guy.

Hey sorry can you edit your post please? I forgot to put the spoiler tags when I first posted ><

ctrlFrequency wrote:

John Stamoist wrote:

ctrlFrequency wrote:

John Stamoist wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:No matter what's going on, we call all perceptive and agree; Trailbreakercutter got **** up.

Totally... Poor guy.

Hey sorry can you edit your post please? I forgot to put the spoiler tags when I first posted ><

Fixed . and spoilered mine just for fun too! :p

1984forever wrote:
I love Brainstorm as a Decepticon agent. I'm happy to see that there is at least one AUTObot jet that took a look at his alt-mode and said "hey, I don't turn into a car, so why am I wearing an AUTObot symbol? I'm supposed to be a Decepticon!"

ctrlFrequency wrote:

1984forever wrote:
I love Brainstorm as a Decepticon agent. I'm happy to see that there is at least one AUTObot jet that took a look at his alt-mode and said "hey, I don't turn into a car, so why am I wearing an AUTObot symbol? I'm supposed to be a Decepticon!"

Here's the thing.

We don't know that Brainstorm is a Decepticon. Inside his face plate was a Decepticon symbol painted on, but we don't know the reason why it's there. It could be a million different reasons. A reminder (former Decepticon turned Autobot, the painted on symbol could be a reminder to not go back), he's a spy, he's on the fence, the DJD did it as a mark (it was painted on after all), he has a cerebo shell in his head and he didn't even know he had a symbol in his mask, he's a double agent, his faceplate came from a friend who was killed by Decepticons and he has a huge grudge, he has a really twisted sense of humor, someone else put it in there and he never knew it.
All of those are as probable as him being a Decepticon agent.
So please don't say with absolute certainty that Brainstorm is in fact a Decepticon. We don't know.

Not all Autobots are land vehicles, not all Decepticons are air vehicles. Not even in G1 were all the Autobots land vehicles and all the Decepticon Air Vehicles. Megatron was a gun, as was Shockwave, Soundwave a mini cassette player, Reflector a camera, then came aerialbots, constructicons, Stunticons, Blaster, Perceptor, Jetfire, etc. It's a faction not form.

1984forever wrote:I'm convinced that assignments are awarded based on completion of sexual favors and not talent at IDW. Dreamwave had better artists and they didn't even pay them!

1984forever wrote:I'm convinced that assignments are awarded based on completion of sexual favors and not talent at IDW.

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

1984forever wrote:I'm convinced that assignments are awarded based on completion of sexual favors and not talent at IDW. Dreamwave had better artists and they didn't even pay them!

I know right, they raped the Dreamwave artists out of their salaries, that's how good they were.

John Stamoist wrote:

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

1984forever wrote:I'm convinced that assignments are awarded based on completion of sexual favors and not talent at IDW. Dreamwave had better artists and they didn't even pay them!

I know right, they raped the Dreamwave artists out of their salaries, that's how good they were.

I'm a bit confused about what happened exactly. So Dreamwave never paid the artists for those lovely Transformers comics drawings? Just confused because of the "they raped the Dreamwave artists out of their salaries, that's how good they were." comment.

TFWiki wrote:Dreamwave published a good deal of Transformers books, including many varied miniseries, before capitulating to internal pressures and mismanagement. Towards the end of 2004 delays started getting more and more frequent. This was followed by rumors of writers and artists leaving because they weren't being paid, which were then confirmed. In early January 2005, Dreamwave declared bankruptcy

IDW 30th Anniversary Covers

Left to Right - Transformers : Primacy #3, Transformers : Robots in Disguise # 34, and Transformers : More Than Meets the Eye #34

SimianProphet wrote:There is a philosophical question that goes:
- "If you could travel back in time, and kill Hitler as a child, would you?"

The idea being that you would be saving the future from the horrors of WW2 and the holocaust, but you would be murdering someone who (at the time) is an innocent. Then there are follow-up thoughts, that with the outcome of WW2, the world was a very different place, and a lot of positivity, optimism, and political change came with the rebuilding after.
In this, I see the parallel:
- "What if you could travel back in time and kill Megatron while he was a "child" (innocent)"

And what would the future of Cybertron be like without a 4 million year civil war to knock the corrupt Functionist government out of control.
"Everything is fine"

SimianProphet wrote:Hi all, first post here.
Please bare with me if I haven't completely figured out spoiler tags

For what Brainstorm is doing at the end of this issue, I immediately had a different take on it than what I have seen posted here.

It provides yet another take on who Brainstorm might be and what his agenda could be, and may also segue well into the hints for what is coming next issue.

There is a philosophical question that goes:
- "If you could travel back in time, and kill Hitler as a child, would you?"

The idea being that you would be saving the future from the horrors of WW2 and the holocaust, but you would be murdering someone who (at the time) is an innocent. Then there are follow-up thoughts, that with the outcome of WW2, the world was a very different place, and a lot of positivity, optimism, and political change came with the rebuilding after.
In this, I see the parallel:
- "What if you could travel back in time and kill Megatron while he was a "child" (innocent)"

And what would the future of Cybertron be like without a 4 million year civil war to knock the corrupt Functionist government out of control.
"Everything is fine"

Va'al wrote:Here on Seibertron.com, we have shown some of Ken Christiansen's 30th Anniversary covers for the IDW Transformers comics as we posted the reviews for the last two issues of the two main ongoings. Now, Christiansen has posted the full, interlocked artwork on his Facebook page - check it out in all its glory below!

IDW 30th Anniversary Covers

Left to Right - Transformers : Primacy #3, Transformers : Robots in Disguise # 34, and Transformers : More Than Meets the Eye #34

ScottyP wrote:

SimianProphet wrote:There is a philosophical question that goes:
- "If you could travel back in time, and kill Hitler as a child, would you?"

The idea being that you would be saving the future from the horrors of WW2 and the holocaust, but you would be murdering someone who (at the time) is an innocent. Then there are follow-up thoughts, that with the outcome of WW2, the world was a very different place, and a lot of positivity, optimism, and political change came with the rebuilding after.
In this, I see the parallel:
- "What if you could travel back in time and kill Megatron while he was a "child" (innocent)"

And what would the future of Cybertron be like without a 4 million year civil war to knock the corrupt Functionist government out of control.
"Everything is fine"

Oooh, this is good. I can see this playing out given what the solicits have put in front of us the past few months.

Also, welcome to the boards!

ctrlFrequency wrote:

SimianProphet wrote:Hi all, first post here.
Please bare with me if I haven't completely figured out spoiler tags

For what Brainstorm is doing at the end of this issue, I immediately had a different take on it than what I have seen posted here.

It provides yet another take on who Brainstorm might be and what his agenda could be, and may also segue well into the hints for what is coming next issue.

There is a philosophical question that goes:
- "If you could travel back in time, and kill Hitler as a child, would you?"

The idea being that you would be saving the future from the horrors of WW2 and the holocaust, but you would be murdering someone who (at the time) is an innocent. Then there are follow-up thoughts, that with the outcome of WW2, the world was a very different place, and a lot of positivity, optimism, and political change came with the rebuilding after.
In this, I see the parallel:
- "What if you could travel back in time and kill Megatron while he was a "child" (innocent)"

And what would the future of Cybertron be like without a 4 million year civil war to knock the corrupt Functionist government out of control.
"Everything is fine"

The infinite possibilities of what could potentially happen if one thing never happened opens up a whole lot of things that could take it's place. This world has proven there's no shortage of truly evil people, the opportunity just needs to be there. So if Hitler didn't come along, some other epic tragedy would have a similar result. Genocidal maniacs are freaking everywhere.


But Terminus' words pushing Megs into action lead me to believe that war was inevitable, it was all down to who would lead the rebellion.

SW's SilverHammer wrote:

ctrlFrequency wrote:

SimianProphet wrote:Hi all, first post here.
Please bare with me if I haven't completely figured out spoiler tags

For what Brainstorm is doing at the end of this issue, I immediately had a different take on it than what I have seen posted here.

It provides yet another take on who Brainstorm might be and what his agenda could be, and may also segue well into the hints for what is coming next issue.

There is a philosophical question that goes:
- "If you could travel back in time, and kill Hitler as a child, would you?"

The idea being that you would be saving the future from the horrors of WW2 and the holocaust, but you would be murdering someone who (at the time) is an innocent. Then there are follow-up thoughts, that with the outcome of WW2, the world was a very different place, and a lot of positivity, optimism, and political change came with the rebuilding after.
In this, I see the parallel:
- "What if you could travel back in time and kill Megatron while he was a "child" (innocent)"

And what would the future of Cybertron be like without a 4 million year civil war to knock the corrupt Functionist government out of control.
"Everything is fine"

The infinite possibilities of what could potentially happen if one thing never happened opens up a whole lot of things that could take it's place. This world has proven there's no shortage of truly evil people, the opportunity just needs to be there. So if Hitler didn't come along, some other epic tragedy would have a similar result. Genocidal maniacs are freaking everywhere.


But Terminus' words pushing Megs into action lead me to believe that war was inevitable, it was all down to who would lead the rebellion.

These two paragraphs made me think of something. What if, much like the slaughter-hause arc, there are some characters unaffected because "plot". They're present on the "New Cybertron" with the functionalists still be in charge. However they know this isn't how things are supposed to be, as the functionalists would still probably be enforcing the cybertronian manifest destiny dogma, and undermining it's citizens, with the disposable class, like rewind, still in place (I.E the bodies of rewind like characters). With the frontier style justice of cutting peoples hands off, being taken into custody by secret police Et Cetera. However, society is in control, there wasn't been a 4 million year long civil war, and as long as you don't question things, everything's fine. So the characters are faced with a dilemma, keep things as they are, the functionalist regime in place, cybertron at peace under the control of a corrupt system, have some of the war born cybertronians never created, and undo what good did come from the civil war for a land at peace. Or alternatively cause/exacerbate an epic tragedy would have a similar result as the civil war, or cause a worse atrocity to restore the timeline they know. The endless war, the millions dead, the friends they lost, the innocents still dead, and the misery retained

SimianProphet wrote:Shuttershocks's comment makes me think of another potential parallel :

If Orion Pax ends up taking on the role of decepticon leader (at this point he had a lot of admiration for Megatron's writing, and a lot of distrust towards the senate) it is an interesting mirror image of Megatron currently leading a team of Autobots.

Who wouldn't want to see these two time-crossed leaders go head to head?

SimianProphet wrote:I don't really want to presume what Roberts is planning, but I'll be dammed if running these scenarios through my 'What If?' machine (patent pending) isn't fascinating!

"Here is one of my contributions to issue 34 of MTMTE. I was in a tf prime mood when designing him."

"My other contribution to MTMTE 34 is this he's supposed to have a lot of similarities to megatron"

Deathsanras wrote:Wait... Froid... as in Freud?

RodimusConvoy13 wrote:

Deathsanras wrote:Wait... Froid... as in Freud?

Yup, as in Freud, dude.