Transformers: Combiner Wars Trade Paperback Amazon Pre-Order

SW's SilverHammer wrote:And Meatloaf as Motormaster (a combiner leader)

Oh man. I love that.

So, funny thing happened to me as I'm organizing my stack of comics: In the Dark Cybertron introduction to the Fembots, Chromia and Magnus are discussing the former's run in with Trion... and Chromia's words are "He was being enigmatic and I wanted to lampshade him." I realize this is not that far from when they were writing Dark Cybertron, but does anyone else find these writers frightening how far out they plan these things?

Synopsis
OPENING SALVO! The Autobots and Decepticons’ uneasy peace is threatened by the flames of war! STARSCREAM—ruler of CYBERTRON—makes contact with WINDBLADE’S homeworld—and the only defense against a new CYBERTRONIAN EMPIRE are COMBINERS—multiple CYBERTRONIANS forming together into huge, dangerous forms!



Story
Days of Deception is over, Windblade was over a long time ago, Punishment saw both its digital and print run, and we have been really setting the stage for Combiner Wars for a long long time now. And yet, The Transformers #39 takes another small step, piecing together the various parts leading up to here, preparing the spark, the casus belli, if you will and giving it all just a gentle prod.




John Barber takes main writing duties for the issues, but both him and Mairghread Scott are palpably present in the plotting of story. The dialogue provides a great framework of power dynamics and hierarchy being subverted at every turn, with some further development for a lot of older faces - and Swindle, of all characters, whose perspective guides the story.



We have Windblade and Optimus and some intriguingly almost 'post-colonial' moments of perspective shifts; we get Wheeljack and Ironhide and Chromia just trying to do their jobs, and being almost entirely confused; we get Starscream being Starscream, and gloriously so; we are introduced to Offroad, and given a *fantastic* explanation for their presence; we get another addition to the chapter in Transformers fiction that is Alpha Bravo, and Powerglide.



As an introduction, the Opening Salvo of Combiner Wars does much more than wht it could've,and is an immensely enjoyable read, with good humour, a good establishing of the playing field and just enough references to older continuity points to keep older fans entertained while bringing in some new ones too. Kapoom.

Art

Livio Ramondelli, as we knew, takes on the whole brunt of the artistic duties for this and the majority. And I have to unfortunately admit this time, we are not seeing the great work he provided in recent publications such as Punishment. The composition is great, and there are really good layouts in the issue, and some of the expressivity is well conveyed.



At other times, however, some of those same faces, especially the newer or less frequently used ones, fall a little short of the full enjoyment of the piece. The tone is captured, and the washed-up, grimy sense of a post everything Cybertron works well - as might Caminus - but sometimes it really does jar a little.



The lettering does work quite well, even so, and Tom B. Long demonstrates once more the craft of a good letterer in some great sound effects and speech modifications. And While we have seen the beautiful Casey Coller/Joana Lafuente regular Menasor cover, and Ramondelli's poster variant for B, the gem of the variants is undoubtedly Sara Pitre-Durocher's Menasor and Swindle - see the thumbnail!


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Being able to follow what is going on on Cybertron from Swindle's perspective is, in and of itself, a treat. Seeing the world how he sees it and through those purple eyes, with the cynicism, degrees of naivete and, well, Swindle attitude, is truly refreshing. We get all of that, plus some very good interactions, and a great cameo from the Lost Light, too.



If this what we are to expect from the crossover event, and the merging of Barber and Scott's plotting minds, then we're certainly in for a fun trip down six or so issues. Combiner Wars is playing on multiple angles without, so far, reaching too far out to be forced to justify the number of players, has a healthy dose of Swindle and Starscream, and is suitable for anyone under or over the age of Galvatron.

I liked this issue. We finally get to see Caminus. The art was ok, it's dark and I think it is suitable for the CW intro. I just felt things were moving a bit too fast. And lots of narration and retelling of old events. I know it's retelling for the new readers, but perhaps this issue should have been stand alone along side RID and MTME. So hopefully #2 should be next week?

Is Swindle a mini-con now? Why is he so tiny on the cover?

I really like the fact that they made Menasor, the 1-time failed experiment of Swindle's the first offender of Combiner wars. With The engimna, I expect Superion will be up shortly and ready to rock. Also really like how Rodimus sends a shuttle with Lost Light delegates, and I bet we all know who will be on that shuttle don't we?
Just wonder if First Aid will be on that shuttle or not, considering the toy still has him a part of Defensor.
Also, considering Starscream has pulled Swindle back to his old tricks, I wonder if that means Swindle will eventually become part of one, wink wink.
Finally a question: I heard a while back in an interview that someone will be returning. Could Scrapper be resurrected to form a new Devastator and Prowl be transferred to Ultra Prime as a limb?

I liked the cameo by Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, and Megs and it would only make sense story wise that they send the protectobots as their representatives, as I think all of them are on the Lost Light, though it doesn't seem wise to be that they would give up their chief medical officer in training. Given the size they've portrayed Swindle at, I wonder if we might seem him downgraded in size, and be a legends class like Groove, with a new bot taking a limb position.

Today; I tunes issued a 3 page preview for Windblade Volume 2 #1. This issue is part of the combiner wars crossover, and takes place directly after The Transformers (formerly Robots in disguise) #39: Opening Salvo. Windblade volume: 2 Issue 1 is scheduled for release on 03/25/15.



I soooo wanna see machine wars starscream done in Sarah Stones art style.

ZeroWolf wrote:Surely you mean issue 39 :p things are starting to heat up

Happy?

The next chapter in the IDW Transformers crossover event between the Transformers ongoing and the return of Windblade in an all-new series has been previewed by iTunes in the usual short short sneak peek - and mirrored below thanks to a tip from Seibertronian SW's Silverhammer; check them out!

THE WAR BEGINS! The first strike in COMBINER WARS is against WINDBLADE’S homeworld—and she’s not happy about it! Her long- lost CYBERTRONIAN colony is found… and the only thing that can protect it is SUPERION.