Prelude to Dark Energon- Review of Transformers Robots in Disguise #17-Shockwave--It's...shocking!

The last we saw ‘ol Shockwave had become noticeably absent during the whole of the end of the events that had been ROCKING the pages of ROBOTS IN DISGUISE.



Where had he gone, and for what purpose might he have gone there? This issue reveals ‘some’ as we learn more of the frightening history of one of the baddest cons to bear the pointy-eared badge. The prelude to DARK CYBERTRON is here!

I’m going to make this short. Succinct. I believe that each of you who are loyal readers of RID and probably the sister series, More Than Meets The Eye, deserve to read this without having much, if anything, given away.



And for those who gave RID a chance, and based on the wrap up of recent events last issue, decided that you may just be giving it up because it’s not ‘your cup of tea’, well, if you don’t get this issue, you’ve picked the wrong place to stop. Do yourself a favor, and continue at least through this issue.

This story connects to many events and people that have been a piece of IDW G1 all the way back to INFILTRATION and up until the most recent issues of MTMTE and RID. It continues to explain events that happened to Shockwave as ‘Shadowplay’ concluded, and builds more of his history prior to this huge event, and after, and what you find out about the big, purple, cannon-armed robot is sure to surprise, and I believe, not disappoint you. Jhiaxus, Crystal City, combination, empurata, Dai Atlas, synthetic energons, and a corrupt Senate, all get a cycloptic soliloquy (with some totally unnecessary dialogue from others) and it’s pretty amazing all that one robot sees when his vision becomes ‘impaired’ and his prior tendencies get deleted and replaced.



The art is by Livio Ramondelli, infamous for his very recognizable style, and would be in my opinion, the biggest drawback of the issue. While it serves the purpose for storytelling, the difficulties that Livio’s Transformer critics have pointed out are once again on display here. A very beautiful 1/2 page panel can be followed by a very muddled, unclear smaller panel. Livio seems to have earned himself a solid position on the IDW Transformers starting team, and as such, I think he is gaining more and more fans, as they appreciate his take on Transformers, much in the way that these fans appreciated the work of Don Figueroa, Pat Lee, Guido Guidi, Andrew Wildman, Dan Khanna, and Jae Lee as they all took a turn at interpreting the Autobot and Decepticon war. Livio really does a fantastic job at times as referenced on the panel below, where once again current creators pay homage to those that paved the way. But at other times, well, perhaps you feel a little visually challenged like I do.





Still the art supports the story well enough though that you will certainly find enjoyment in reading about how scissor-like digits became a laser cannon of destruction.




Don't miss one of the most fascinating character transformations in Transformers history. This book is a necessary purchase for a story that has been a long time coming and only barely begun!