Sneak Peek - IDW Transformers: Robots in Disguise #5

Anyone else notice the goof where Strongarm's word bubble points to Windblade while Windblade's points to Strongarm in that one panel? Whoops.

Well that was a pretty big story jump!

Ready for the next IDW release for the Transformers: Robots in Disguise animated series comic? Issue #5 is coming this week, and includes the first half of the final arc of the run, ending with issue #6 - what will happen to team Bumblebee, now that Steeljaw has his optics on them? Check out the full preview below.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise Animated #5
Georgia Ball (w) • Priscilla Tramontano (a & c)
Hot on the heels of completing their biggest mission ever, BUMBLEBEE and his team are hoping for a little downtime. Unfortunately… a sinister new DECEPTICON has other ideas—and it’s right back into full-throttle, 100%-adventure down the rip-roaring RID road!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet Points:
Set in the world of the TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE animated series on Cartoon Network!
All-new stories, all-new art, all new excitement!

"Yibba Yibba"

Adorable little squirrel. yippa yippa looking forward to this. Poor Steeljaw: damaged ego

Synopsis
Hot on the heels of completing their biggest mission ever, BUMBLEBEE and his team are hoping for a little downtime. Unfortunately… a sinister new DECEPTICON has other ideas—and it’s right back into full-throttle, 100%-adventure down the rip-roaring RID road!




Story
Picking up after season 1 of the Robots in Disguise cartoon, this comic gives us a little look at what has happened since the big finale. We’ve got some fun looks at what the team is now trying to do after defeating a great evil, and we even see some nice character interaction. And of course we see Sideswipe ridiculing Bee for his speech patterns, but that should not be spoilerish by now.




On the flip side, Steeljaw once again finds himself abandoned and in need of assistance, and he finds some in very surprising ways and places. Who knew that so many years after prime, we would get some callbacks, and even some inside jokes for those who love a good nameless drone?




[underline]Art[/underline]
Art duties for the issue are taken up by both Priscilla Tramontano & Travis Sengaus, with inks being provided by a large cast including John-Paul Bove, Josh Burcham, Joana Lafuente, & Priscilla Tramontano. Inks are, as usual, provided by Tom B. Long, and despite the mix of artists and colorists, we get an issue that really has uniform shape and beauty, and no real difference between the art. But the one thing that stood out for me: Steeljaw’s nose is a thing of beauty!




Not to mention the fact that there are some awesome slashes and hacks going on here. The quiet, peaceful moments and the times of chaos and destruction are all beautiful in their own way, and the issue overall carries on the proud tradition of good art RiD had given us.




Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Overall, the issue was quite good. Not as big as it could be, but still impressive nonetheless. Afterall, we are picking up in the aftermath of season 1, so it’s hard to get the ball rolling again. At least Bee found and likes his new rollout call, and at least Grimlock is trying to find some new disguises. As the first issue in a new series of books, it starts off well, and it has a nice setup for the remainder of this series that has looked and performed really well story wise.




Overall, not bad, and this certainly has the potential for a great storyline to come.

Sabrblade wrote:

STEVE!!!

I had really been hoping for a Gary

A couple of Transformers comic updates courtesy of IDW Publishing digital assistant Mariel Romero and iTunes, starting with the final issue of the Robots in Disguise series. Check out below the first three pages of the conclusion of this second arc - featuring an old friend from this continuity!

VEHICONS AMOK! When the DECEPTICON called STEELJAW stumbles upon three lost VEHICONS, he convinces them he's on a mission from MEGATRON-a deception that puts them on a collision course with BUMBLEBEE and company!

Um are these the same vehicons bumblebee used to destroy easily at the end of TF Prime? Man I'm sure he was taking out lots of 30 plus on his own, and now 3 are a problem? Bee, you gone soft.

Yeah, really. As weak and ineffectual as they portrayed the Vehicons in later seasons and episodes of TF Prime? Now we're supposed to believe they're a threat, and be all impressed and intimidated? They may as well bring out Foofie the Woo-Goo Fairy to try and scare us.

Well, Predaking returns! and we finally have the fate of the Resonance blaster!! Finally!! (even if both kinda don't make much sense in terms of location)

Optimall wrote:Um are these the same vehicons bumblebee used to destroy easily at the end of TF Prime? Man I'm sure he was taking out lots of 30 plus on his own, and now 3 are a problem? Bee, you gone soft.

Shockwave7 wrote:Yeah, really. As weak and ineffectual as they portrayed the Vehicons in later seasons and episodes of TF Prime? Now we're supposed to believe they're a threat, and be all impressed and intimidated? They may as well bring out Foofie the Woo-Goo Fairy to try and scare us.

Law of Conservation of Ninjitsu, guys. The more ninja, the lesser the threat level. The fewer, the greater the threat level. Same goes for the Vehicons.

After all, just two Vehicons alone were too much for Arcee and Bumblebee in the first episode of Prime.

But what gets me is how did Predaking get back to Earth, and why?

Sabrblade wrote:But what gets me is how did Predaking get back to Earth, and why?

Forgot his wallet, had to go back.



Really though, an interesting twist, can't wait to see where it goes!

Whifflefire wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:But what gets me is how did Predaking get back to Earth, and why?

Forgot his wallet, had to go back.



Really though, an interesting twist, can't wait to see where it goes!

Or maybe he ran when Cybertron repopulated

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Whifflefire wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:But what gets me is how did Predaking get back to Earth, and why?

Forgot his wallet, had to go back.



Really though, an interesting twist, can't wait to see where it goes!

Or maybe he ran when Cybertron repopulated

Okay, that's probably a more plausible idea, but until the issue comes out my theory's as valid as yours.

Optimall wrote:Um are these the same vehicons bumblebee used to destroy easily at the end of TF Prime? Man I'm sure he was taking out lots of 30 plus on his own, and now 3 are a problem? Bee, you gone soft.

Shockwave7 wrote:Yeah, really. As weak and ineffectual as they portrayed the Vehicons in later seasons and episodes of TF Prime? Now we're supposed to believe they're a threat, and be all impressed and intimidated? They may as well bring out Foofie the Woo-Goo Fairy to try and scare us.

They did some power leveling while they were in the cave.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Whifflefire wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:But what gets me is how did Predaking get back to Earth, and why?

Forgot his wallet, had to go back.

Or maybe he ran when Cybertron repopulated

Maybe Shockwave cloned him again.

No matter what though, I think we can all say we never saw the resonance blaster or Predaking coming. Now what about Soundwave....

Certainly there were a lot of questions unanswered at the 'end' of TF Prime / Beast Hunters movie.

It's true that in the very first couple episodes of TF Prime, the Vehicons were a lot tougher. Bulkhead was having trouble with just one of them (at least until after he ordered Miko to look away). But as the series progressed, they became total non-entities. So the writers of RiD will have to do a lot of explaining to get me to suspend my disbelief after all the TF Prime scenes that showed even the weakest Autobots mowing down entire armies of Vehicons bare-handed, blindfolded and hopping on one foot. Before? The writers of the show said that they couldn't 'afford' to foot the bill for CGI and animation of lots of new characters, so the Vehicons were their stock cannon fodder. What's their excuse now?

As for the Predacons... It never seemed that, well, ANYTHING could stand up to the Predacons. Predaking especially seemed to have everybody on the run and be completely invulnerable. Even if the 'returning to Cybertron after a long long exile' autobots outnumbered Predaking (and the other 2 Predacons) by a million to one, they gave the impression that Predaking would be more than a match for all of them.

In the Beast Hunter 'movie', it kind of looked like some Vehicons were helping Bulkhead work on some of the buildings and reconstruction on Cybertron. But they never really said what happened to Shockwave.

What about Zombie Airachnid and her zombie insecticons? Supposedly one of the moons of Cybertron is full of them by now.

And Soundwave is supposedly wandering around in 'the phantom zone' still. Why not bring him back? Wouldn't be the first time that someone who 'died' on a show by being blown up by a grenade somehow got 'blasted into another dimension' instead, only to come back later...

And then there's Megatron himself - who flew off into space at the end of the 'movie' to contemplate his navel or whatever. What if he comes back?

Then there's the question of what happened to Miko, Raf and Jack. I mean, the whole TF Prime series was devoted to how the Autobot team bonded and formed lasting friendships with these three misfit human kids. As fond as they were supposed to be of each other, Bumblebee hasn't even tried to get back in touch with Raf now that he's back on Earth. Unless so many years have passed now that they're all dead or something (if that's what they mean by 'several')...

So many plot holes to fill....

Via Comic Book Resources, we have the other full preview for the upcoming week from IDW Publishing, with the final issue of their Transformers: Robots in Disguise series. Check it out mirrored below, and head back to Seibertron.com for our very own review come Wednesday!

Transformers: Robots in Disguise Animated #6
Georgia Ball (w) • Priscilla Tramontano (a & c)
VEHICONS AMOK! When the DECEPTICON called STEELJAW stumbles upon three lost VEHICONS, he convinces them he’s on a mission from MEGATRON—a deception that puts them on a collision course with BUMBLEBEE and company!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
All-new stories set expanding the universe of the hit Cartoon Network series!
More fan-favorite characters from TRANSFORMERS PRIME enter the world of TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE!

And in just these few preview pages, Steeljaw proves just how competent, wise, and well-learned a leader he is. Many a Decepticon leader could learn a thing or two from him.

Sabrblade wrote:And in just these few preview pages, Steeljaw proves just how competent, wise, and well-learned a leader he is. Many a Decepticon leader could learn a thing or two from him.

Don't forget the deceit is still there, of course.

According to the online preview of the IDW Issue #6 of the RID comics, Thunderhoof re-appeared in the comics, meaning that he is schedule to return in season 2, as issues 5 and 6 took place after season 1. When he does, expect him to use his machine gun, as this is shown on the toy itself. If that is true, this might also seems very likely for other captured Decepticons to return for season 2, including Quillfire, Springload, Clampdown, and many others. In your own words does this mark the return of the captured Cons for season 2? Will Steeljaw form an army in Season 2 this time for sure?

psj333 wrote:According to the online preview of the IDW Issue #6 of the RID comics, Thunderhoof re-appeared in the comics, meaning that he is schedule to return in season 2, as issues 5 and 6 took place after season 1. When he does, expect him to use his machine gun, as this is shown on the toy itself. If that is true, this might also seems very likely for other captured Decepticons to return for season 2, including Quillfire, Springload, Clampdown, and many others. In your own words does this mark the return of the captured Cons for season 2? Will Steeljaw form an army in Season 2 this time for sure?

Or he and the rest of the rereleased Decepticons will be captured again by the end of the issue so it doesn't create a continuity error.

If anything, this shows that Steeljaw may not release all the prisoners in season 2 if he ever would as he has trust issues following Megatronus. But that's if the cartoon ran following events from the comic, so yeah. Just a thought though

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:If anything, this shows that Steeljaw may not release all the prisoners in season 2 if he ever would as he has trust issues following Megatronus. But that's if the cartoon ran following events from the comic, so yeah. Just a thought though

Well, you saw what Steeljaw, did to Kickback, right? He has a deep hatred for bugs. Does that mean that won't release Pseudo and Zizza? Luckily, Kickback got away. If he is scared of bugs, then why he hired Clampdown in the first place? Clampdown in a crustacean. Pseudo, Kickback, and Zizza are insects. Chop Shop is a spider. Together, these animals are arthropods. So does that mean that Steeljaw hates all arthropods in general? If so, which ones?

I really think you're way overthinking the animalistic part of this. they just look like that, they really haven't shown anything to indicate hatred towards a particular type, like constructed cold guys in IDW. I just mentioned how Steeljaw is being smarter and more cautious with his force. loyalty is what he needs.

Synopsis
VEHICONS AMOK! When the DECEPTICON called STEELJAW stumbles upon three lost VEHICONS, he convinces them he’s on a mission from MEGATRON—a deception that puts them on a collision course with BUMBLEBEE and company!



Story
Well here we are, end of the road for the RiD IDW comic. And let's just say things did not go quietly. Ever wanted some of your old plot threads from Prime answered? Well this seemingly answers a few, and in a way that I am cool with. And I am very appreciative of the answers that it gave. The biggest thing being we finally have some canonical ending to some old threads!



And then there was the final battle, which really was short unfortunately, but with this story arc clearly intended to last at least 2 more issues, they had no choice. And they did a good job for what they were given. I give a well done to the team for that. I wish there would have been those extra issues, but I still enjoyed the ride.



Art

Artwork and colors are as always done by the marvelous Priscilla Tramontano, and she does not disappoint in the finale. Beautiful lines and awesome scenery make up this issue as we travel through a scrap yard, several caves, and a mine. I have come to love this art, and I will miss it. The art perfectly fits the comic that you hold in your hands.



Lettering is done by our old friend Tom B. Long, and he delivers great lettering that matches up with the artwork and with the action within. He never fails to disappoint and I for one am very happy to have him around.



Thoughts (spoilerish ahead)



Well here we are, and there it goes. End of the road, and for such a fun loving not overly serious comic, I am sad to see it go. In Transformers, it felt like that Sunday comic page you would read, where you got some life lessons and a lot of laughs. And I am a lover of Sunday comics. This was enjoyable and a great run, and I wish all of you would take the time to read through the stories. They may only be 7 in number (there is issue 0!) but they are a fun time. And they show that you can have a goofy cast in a fun comic that makes for some great stories.

I recommend reading this and its predecessors, and while I cannot give it a full score simply due to trying to do too much in too little space, I can tell you this is awesome and go find it.