Transformers: Ongoing #5 Reviewed and Last Stand of the Wreckers #3 Rehashed!
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 1:18AM CDT
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Last week, we didn't have the opportunity to review LSOTW #3 (of 5), but it needs to be discussed. Since it is no secret about my love of that series as opposed to the Transformers Ongoing, I am going to review each comic, sort of step by step, and you can be the judge. Juxtaposing the plot, characters, and so forth may help me to like TFOngoing more...or less. Hoping maybe it gives you all a chance to sound off on the similarities and differences you like as well.
First of all, Wreckers #3 came out last week. There are not a lot of secrets left about that issue. Transformers Ongoing #5 brings March to a close this week...but does it close in an exciting and stormbringery manner, or just kind of pitter around, quietly going about its business in a petrorabbit like way?
TFOn #5: The first six pages are a dialogue between Major Witwicky and Optimus Prime. Spike is trying to find out what is motiviating Optimus Prime and the Autobots on Earth. Optimus Prime is reflecting on his leadership abilities, and reasons through aloud to Spike, why it is that he left the Autobots. Deeply heartfelt, and sentimental, this section contradicts and yet compliments the other section of the book. Spike seems to start to understand that there is more than a war torn leader here, and that Optimus’ actions may not be some strategic ploy. Optimus is trying to learn, but has been both selfish, and selfless at the same time in his surrender to the humans.
OPTIMUS PRIME:
“We needed to change. And so I chose to abdicate, and to turn myself upon your mercy for what my leadership has brought to your world.”
“You humans have the ability to learn in less than a single lifetime what it has taken me uncountable generations to grasp.”
But what if Optimus leaving the Autobots has caused an even worse fate to be thrust upon them than what would have been if he stayed?
________________________________________________________________
LSOTW #3: The first two pages are Overlord freeing Shockwave from Garrus-9, and Shockwave monocularly seeing through Overlord’s ploy, as an attempt to get Megatron’s attention. The phase six robot idea is brought up again...
OVERLORD:
“Having one eye makes you see the world in unusual ways, Shockwave...”
SHOCKWAVE:
“Thankfully. You’re not the first phase sixer to bait Megatron, Overlord...”
OVERLORD:
“True. But I only need to be the last...”
Fantastic dialogue. One can ‘hear’ these powerful robots having this conversation.
They have reached a bargain, and Shockwave is going to remove a virus that Overlord has, a blindspot, that Shockwave himself installed on Megatron’s orders in exchange for a crew, ship, and his freedom. We are led to wonder what this blindspot is or did? And how will Overlord be without it? Could this be like the kill switch that Sixshot had in him that Starscream used successfully in the -tion series?
Then, the next four pages-- Wreckers getting in over their heads, making a crash landing on Garrus-9, and infiltrating in two smaller groups. A very fun part, Fisitron’s Unofficial Wreckers’ Training Manual narrative absolutely contradicting the actions of said Wreckers’ actions on the pages. A nicely done piece of writing and art there. Very well thought out.
ROTORSTORM:
“Bold words Overlord. But you reckoned without one thing... Wreckers combine!”
*Pause*
ROTORSTORM:
“Well, I thought it was funny.”
An entertained Overlord ends up delivering the real punchline to the joke, and ending the life of Rotorstorm.
_______________________________________________________________
TFOn #5: Ultra Magnus proceeds to the Autobot headquarters cave, and decides he needs to deputize some of Bumblebee’s team to help him arrest the offending group (Rodimus’ group offended Ultra Magnus last issue, Magnus made like the Terminator and vowed to be back after he was summarily dismissed by Rodimus PRIME’s, perhaps, short-sighted thinking).
Ultra Magnus:
“We’re heading out in ten minutes. Get Huffer to bring me some Energon.”
Poor Huffer.
Cliffjumper:
“Who’s Rodimus?”
Witwicky’s new ride (Brakedown) is ‘jacked by Dead End, and Dragstrip with him in it. Spike makes a funny right before he goes for this fateful drive...
Spike:
“...unless some robot turns up that’s capable of eating the entire planet or something, don’t bother me, I’m heading out for a drive to clear my head.”
Foreshadow? Mr. Costa you do tease.
And the Stunticons true motivations are somewhat revealed as they communicate about the squishing of the pesky human even at the expense of their damaged teammate.
Spoiler and bad news: Spike escapes squashing.
_______________________________________________________________
LSOTW #3: Non-stop action as the Wreckers are in deep doo-doo. Both teams are overrun by cons, but they do not look as sharp, or as powerful as it seems we were led to believe they were in their legendary buildups in Stormbringer and the -tion series.
Jumpstarter fans are rewarded with some cool fan-wank about shared sparks. Turns out these two are like the Tomax and Xamot of the TF G1 Universe. (Don’t know who Tomax and Xamot are? Read G.I. Joe: Cobra II for some insight).
We also get to learn the fate of two Autobots in this issue that we have not heard from since issue #1. Poor Kickoff...You did not choose wisely. Or Overlord is simply sick and messed up.
Overlord issues rewards for the Wreckers’ heads...Decepticons get motivated. Wreckers get sloppy.
_______________________________________________________________
TFOn #5: Swindle tinkers with the Stunticons...‘fixing’ Brakedown. Bluestreak comments on the sudden overwhelming Decepticon interest in this action and how much time they are devoting to it instead of the ship. FORESHADOW!
Magnus and his Barney Fifes head back to the illegal starship created by Team Rodimus and Team Swindle. Ultra Magnus makes his normal decree about being an officer of the Tyrest Accord, he has a warrant, etc. Rodimus says no leave us alone, Bumblebee tries to step in. Magnus dismisses them both.
Swindle comes over to the negotiations, offers to “take over from here” almost giddy. Definitely smug.
Rodimus is confused. Swindle’s and the Decepticons’ true colors are revealed as he offers to take the ship, and kill every Autobot here, starting with Magnus.
Guess who’s doing the killing? Swindle’s creation. Must have some illegal tech specs being the arms dealer and all because he sure did make some improvements...robot has skills.
There is a very nicely rendered splash page here to emphasize the awesomeness of this creation’s 1st appearance in the IDW-verse. Nice work Don!
_______________________________________________________________
LSOTW #3: The Wreckers luck upon Fortress Maximus next. Overlord was using his barely online husk to try to pick the lock codes that will let them in to ‘Aequitas’ cell. This mysterious thing (Aequitas) was introduced last issue, but we don’t know anymore about it now than we did then. All we know is it is important, even Prowl thinks so.
Issue #3 ends with one group of Wreckers being tortured and the other group looking to enter Aequitas’ cell...
PERCEPTOR:
“At last everyone, this is Aequitas. I don’t think introductions are appropriate, do you?” (Wreckers are looking up into very tall, well lit cell)
_______________________________________________________________
Both issues were really solid reads this month. Wreckers is really panel to panel fun, both art and dialogue-wise.
Ongoing, while still the slower of the two stories, has come to a point where there is some good, solid action...that we should see next issue. Of course, being an ongoing series, story arcs can take more issues to build than in the minis.
If you have been reading these issues, you won’t be surprised by what is happening in either. Ongoing is doing its slow build to the excitement we should see in issue #6, where Rodimus’ ideals are ultimately betrayed, and we get some good bot on bot fighting. Fighting like we have been getting from issue #1 of the Wreckers series. The Don Fig TF Ongoing covers are dead giveaways of what is happening next. Looks like it should be a fun time based on the issue #6 wrap-around cover . Don has always been great at his splash pages, and his cover work. No surprise that this issue’s events warrant this ultra-awesome piece.
In the next issue of the Wreckers, we should see the reveal of Aequitas, and somehow, someone should be making a move to help out the Wreckers, or else issue #5 will be it. Maybe that’s why the series is called, “Last Stand of the Wreckers”. *sad*
‘Tales of the Wreckers’ needs to happen. Roche needs to be on it. Just saying.
I am curious as to how Mike Costa and Nick Roche were allowed to choose up characters for their series. Was it like a draft? After ‘All Hail Megatron’ and what we saw as a group that was Wreckers and a few others combined, we get split into groups that have Wreckers long time roster members left on Earth (noticeably Roadbuster, and Sandstorm), and new members joining in space.
The Earth-bound bots in ongoing don’t make sense to me. Why can’t they be extracted? Why didn’t the Wreckers come after Roadbuster, Sandstorm, Drift, Blurr, Hot Rod, Blaster, or any others that were with them before the great team meld of AHM?
I think my sense of time is off here. And I am confused by the end of AHM and who ended up where, and why, and what resources the Autobots have where. Who wasn’t confused by the end of AHM though?
Anyway, Wreckers is worth it, pick it up last week, Ongoing #5 comes out this week Wednesday, and well, same art, same story, slow build, and an exciting issue coming up next month! This issue is okay, and needed for story, but lacks the excitement of last week’s Wreckers. You can enjoy it for some fun puns, the Swindle-ness, or the art...
March’s Transformers comics end like a lamb-bot this week offering us something to get excited about in April anyway.
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Posted by Dead Metal on March 30th, 2010 @ 3:39am CDT
Yea this comic's starting to get pretty good, the faces get better and I love how Swindle looks like his TF Animated self.
I think I'll wait and see where this is going before I restart my subscription.
Posted by Oilspill on March 30th, 2010 @ 6:45am CDT
Last I rememeber he was on Earth. Am I forgetting something from Max Dinos or something?
Posted by Dead Metal on March 30th, 2010 @ 7:44am CDT
Oilspill wrote:Fill me in. When did Shockwave get taken to Garrus-9? I forget.
Last I rememeber he was on Earth. Am I forgetting something from Max Dinos or something?
It happened in between issues, which has to do with the whole taking place 3 years after Max Dinos.
Posted by Oilspill on March 30th, 2010 @ 7:50am CDT
Dead Metal wrote:Oilspill wrote:Fill me in. When did Shockwave get taken to Garrus-9? I forget.
Last I rememeber he was on Earth. Am I forgetting something from Max Dinos or something?
It happened in between issues, which has to do with the whole taking place 3 years after Max Dinos.
Ah ha. Cheers my good man!
Posted by Dead Metal on March 30th, 2010 @ 8:03am CDT
Oilspill wrote:Dead Metal wrote:Oilspill wrote:Fill me in. When did Shockwave get taken to Garrus-9? I forget.
Last I rememeber he was on Earth. Am I forgetting something from Max Dinos or something?
It happened in between issues, which has to do with the whole taking place 3 years after Max Dinos.
Ah ha. Cheers my good man!
Don't mention it, I was a little WTF?! myself when I saw what happened to Shocky. God I love idw Shockwave.
I bet we'll get a bit more on the Shockwave on G9 though, maybe as a mini series.
Posted by JRFitzpatrick7 on March 30th, 2010 @ 8:32am CDT
Not a rant,
I love these reviews,
just a letter to the editor,
JRFitzpatrick7
p.s. Keep the reviews coming, just maybe a day or to later :smileyface
Posted by Darth Bombshell on March 30th, 2010 @ 8:40am CDT
Dead Metal wrote:It happened in between issues, which has to do with the whole taking place 3 years after Max Dinos.
So essentially, it amounts to little more than "it happened off screen, so we don't need to explain it." Which pretty much sums up the whole of the ongoing, really.
It sounds like Costa continues to have no clue how to write for a Transformers comic, and has all the subtlety of a runaway train when trying. (Re: the Unicron gag. Ugh.)
Posted by Cyberstrike on March 30th, 2010 @ 8:59am CDT
Darth Bombshell wrote:It sounds like Costa continues to have no clue how to write for a Transformers comic, and has all the subtlety of a runaway train when trying. (Re: the Unicron gag. Ugh.)
Like Transformers: Animated were any better on the subtlety of the homages/nods/winks/gags durning all 3 seasons of that show.
Posted by Darth Bombshell on March 30th, 2010 @ 9:05am CDT
Cyberstrike wrote:Like Transformers: Animated were any better on the subtlety of the homages/nods/winks/gags durning all 3 seasons of that show.
As a matter of fact, I didn't very much like that, either, especially in Season 3, when it obviously got out of control.
Posted by MYoung23 on March 30th, 2010 @ 9:10am CDT
Oilspill wrote:Fill me in. When did Shockwave get taken to Garrus-9? I forget.
Last I rememeber he was on Earth. Am I forgetting something from Max Dinos or something?
In Maximum Dinobots #5 Grimlock blew up a building filled with explosives with he and Shockwave in it and it incapacitated Shockwave.
When Ultra Magnus is talking to Grimlock in his cell after Scorponok was defeated he mentions to Grimlock that he has both Shockwave and Scorponok in custody.
Garrus-9 must have been the place where Ultra Magnus took them.
Posted by Dead Metal on March 30th, 2010 @ 10:01am CDT
MYoung23 wrote:Oilspill wrote:Fill me in. When did Shockwave get taken to Garrus-9? I forget.
Last I rememeber he was on Earth. Am I forgetting something from Max Dinos or something?
In Maximum Dinobots #5 Grimlock blew up a building filled with explosives with he and Shockwave in it and it incapacitated Shockwave.
When Ultra Magnus is talking to Grimlock in his cell after Scorponok was defeated he mentions to Grimlock that he has both Shockwave and Scorponok in custody.
Garrus-9 must have been the place where Ultra Magnus took them.
I just rechecked my copy, and noticed that I had missed reading the final page. Yes I managed to not read the final page of a comic.
Posted by Oilspill on March 30th, 2010 @ 11:14am CDT
Posted by sol magnus on March 30th, 2010 @ 11:43am CDT
Posted by zodconvoy on March 30th, 2010 @ 5:18pm CDT
Posted by Supreme Convoy on March 31st, 2010 @ 1:59pm CDT
I love Swindle now
Posted by Mechabreaker on March 31st, 2010 @ 3:55pm CDT
Posted by Random on April 1st, 2010 @ 2:31pm CDT
Is Swindle considered a Combaticon at this time? It seems to be that he will be the creator of Bruticus if it ever comes to that. Have they showed the other Combaticons yet?
I was hoping at some point Devastator would have been brought into play during the building of the ship. Does he even exist yet? He may have been in AHM and I can't recall at this time.
All in all, the story is interesting...just having some issues with timelines and various versions of the same story.
Posted by Calvatron on April 2nd, 2010 @ 6:46pm CDT
Random wrote:I'm really liking this series so far. Just have a few questions:
Is Swindle considered a Combaticon at this time? It seems to be that he will be the creator of Bruticus if it ever comes to that. Have they showed the other Combaticons yet?
I was hoping at some point Devastator would have been brought into play during the building of the ship. Does he even exist yet? He may have been in AHM and I can't recall at this time.
All in all, the story is interesting...just having some issues with timelines and various versions of the same story.
The Combaticons were shown in Spotlight:Arcee. They invaded Garrus 9 for Bonzaitron and captured the Monstercons. But swindle has never been seen near them in this incarnation. He seems to be an bit of an outcast among the other decepticons.
Posted by Darth Bombshell on April 2nd, 2010 @ 7:48pm CDT
Calvatron wrote:The Combaticons were shown in Spotlight:Arcee. They invaded Garrus 9 for Bonzaitron and captured the Monstercons. But swindle has never been seen near them in this incarnation. He seems to be an bit of an outcast among the other decepticons.
Or we can chalk it up to the fact that Costa, obviously having no knowledge of what happened in the IDW TFverse before he started to work on it, just decided to have him there.
Posted by Calvatron on April 2nd, 2010 @ 10:41pm CDT
Darth Bombshell wrote:Calvatron wrote:The Combaticons were shown in Spotlight:Arcee. They invaded Garrus 9 for Bonzaitron and captured the Monstercons. But swindle has never been seen near them in this incarnation. He seems to be an bit of an outcast among the other decepticons.
Or we can chalk it up to the fact that Costa, obviously having no knowledge of what happened in the IDW TFverse before he started to work on it, just decided to have him there.
As much as you are pretty good about expressing and validating your opinions, i fail to see what Costa's writing and placement of Swindle on Earth has anything to do with Furman's portrayal of Swindle and his relationship to the other Combaticons.
Posted by Blurrz on April 2nd, 2010 @ 10:45pm CDT
Posted by MYoung23 on April 2nd, 2010 @ 11:11pm CDT
Random wrote:I'm really liking this series so far. Just have a few questions:
Is Swindle considered a Combaticon at this time? It seems to be that he will be the creator of Bruticus if it ever comes to that. Have they showed the other Combaticons yet?
I was hoping at some point Devastator would have been brought into play during the building of the ship. Does he even exist yet? He may have been in AHM and I can't recall at this time.
All in all, the story is interesting...just having some issues with timelines and various versions of the same story.
As mentioned above the Combaticons were in Spotlight: Arcee. I think Swindle is part of the Combaticons. He was seen in a battle with Monstructor alongside Arcee, Bonzai-Tron and the other Comabaticons in Spotlight: Sideswipe after Arcee agreed to help Bonzai-Tron track down Monstructor as part of her quest to find Jhiaxus in Spotlight: Hardhead.
In regard to Devastator he was wreaking havoc in New York in AHM and wound up getting ran through by Omega Supreme in AHM #12 and the Constructicons have seemingly been either been split up or some are not operational. In Transformers Ongoing #4 Swindle wants to bring in more Contructicons but Rodimus wisely objects. The last thing the Autobots need is to have all the Constructicons together and once the ship is finished they form Devastator, kill the Autobots and take off. I haven't read TO #5 yet but I guess Swindle quickly moved on to Plan B.
Posted by Supreme Convoy on April 4th, 2010 @ 7:10pm CDT
I knew that the Decepticons were up to something. Hell, we even saw the cover of #6 with Menasor but it was still shocking to see Swindle admit that they're stilling a ship and just built Menasor.
I was legitimately surprised.
Posted by Darth Bombshell on April 4th, 2010 @ 7:43pm CDT
Calvatron wrote:As much as you are pretty good about expressing and validating your opinions, i fail to see what Costa's writing and placement of Swindle on Earth has anything to do with Furman's portrayal of Swindle and his relationship to the other Combaticons.
Well, for starters, the fact that he was actually with them in Spotlight: Arcee, yet seems to be very much operating on his own in the ongoing. Of course, there could actually be a reason for it, but I doubt very much that anyone involved is willing to tell us.
Supreme Convoy wrote:Did anyone see Swindle's plan coming?
You could spray my eyes with Windex and it wouldn't be any more clearer. Of course, they're letting the cat out of the bag far too late for anyone to really care.
Supreme Convoy wrote:I was legitimately surprised.
Really?
Posted by Calvatron on April 5th, 2010 @ 10:08am CDT
MYoung23 wrote:Random wrote:I'm really liking this series so far. Just have a few questions:
Is Swindle considered a Combaticon at this time? It seems to be that he will be the creator of Bruticus if it ever comes to that. Have they showed the other Combaticons yet?
I was hoping at some point Devastator would have been brought into play during the building of the ship. Does he even exist yet? He may have been in AHM and I can't recall at this time.
All in all, the story is interesting...just having some issues with timelines and various versions of the same story.
As mentioned above the Combaticons were in Spotlight: Arcee. I think Swindle is part of the Combaticons. He was seen in a battle with Monstructor alongside Arcee, Bonzai-Tron and the other Comabaticons in Spotlight: Sideswipe after Arcee agreed to help Bonzai-Tron track down Monstructor as part of her quest to find Jhiaxus in Spotlight: Hardhead.
Swindle actually wasn't at the battle with monstructor in Spotlight: Sideswipe.
Darth Bombshell wrote:Calvatron wrote:As much as you are pretty good about expressing and validating your opinions, i fail to see what Costa's writing and placement of Swindle on Earth has anything to do with Furman's portrayal of Swindle and his relationship to the other Combaticons.
Well, for starters, the fact that he was actually with them in Spotlight: Arcee, yet seems to be very much operating on his own in the ongoing. Of course, there could actually be a reason for it, but I doubt very much that anyone involved is willing to tell us.
He also wasn't in spotlight:Arcee either. So far he's never been seen with the other Combaticons in any of Furman's writing for IDW. And i haven't noticed any Combaticons in the ongoing.
Posted by Dead Metal on April 5th, 2010 @ 10:38am CDT
Posted by Hairball178 on April 6th, 2010 @ 8:25am CDT
Posted by Prime Evil on April 6th, 2010 @ 10:52am CDT
Supreme Convoy wrote:Did anyone see Swindle's plan coming?
I knew that the Decepticons were up to something. Hell, we even saw the cover of #6 with Menasor but it was still shocking to see Swindle admit that they're stilling a ship and just built Menasor.
I was legitimately surprised.
Really dood? And old hat like you? I think Helen Keller saw that one coming. Not dissing you, but story-wise, that was pretty basic Swindle to me. The twist would have been for Swindle to NOT turn on Rodimus and the bots. Now THAT I wouldn't have seen coming.
Posted by Calvatron on April 6th, 2010 @ 3:34pm CDT
Hairball178 wrote:We've seen Onslaught in Ongoing #3, page 4: he's right there with Hook, the 'Masters (Mixmaster & Motormaster), Wildrider, and Dead End.
ahoe! My bad, didn't notice him as just a vehicle mode, especially with a blue color-scheme as opposed to greenish-brown.
But something i was thinking, i wonder if swindle was ever really part of Meg's invasion? Thundercracker mentions that the bunch who find him are a ragtag lot, and how they don't know about his expulsion (makes sense as the Skywarp's the only decepticon who knows and he's been alone while on earth it seems). But anyways, my point being that he hasn't been see with any group before (meg's Origin not withstanding since it's pre war) in idw, and UM seems to see him as a convict/fugitive. As the tyrest accord appears to be beyond faction, would he not be still an outlaw with the decepticons? And while Megatron might throw that out the window with total victory in sight, i could see him not wanting a Swindle who can make gestalts running around when so much is at stake.
Makes me wonder if he was there for the assault, or just hanging around anyway possibly searching for tech-scraps from Scorpinok's leftovers. Also, his source for gestalt tech. The tense Magnus uses with his accusations, it seems like swindle would have been involved with the construction of devastator as no other gestalts had yet been made. Makes one wonder weather he was just off panel during the Garrus-9 raid, traded info with Banzaitron (who seems to have his own love of secrets and black market goods), helped crack the tech to make devastator, or simply learned from the constructicons during his time on earth. To me, him helping Megatron crack the technology makes the most sense. It is his specialty after all, and it would be a good way for him to get back in the good graces of the decepticons. Also explain why he seems to be able to do it with very little equipment, him being a black market guy and all a little MacGuyver action seems right up his alley.
Posted by Chaoslock on April 7th, 2010 @ 3:01pm CDT
"the writers nods are as subtle as he would drop Fortress Maximus on your leg"
My problems with issue 5:
- Spike still driving Breakdown: it is an alien, dammit! How could any agency let an agent use an alien as a sportcar?
- Spike: "wake me up only when something is eating the planet" - see the quote above
- the car chase: if you want to see a good car chase, look for it in one of the very first issues of Infiltration (Ratchet and the Runs) - hidden weapons, turbo mode, etc... where are these here? Spike crashing and jumping out of car - I doubt he would lived that through
- the war over just because Megatrons abscence? Last time I checked, Starscream saved him, and while the autobots are stuck on Earth, the Decepticons could rule the entire Galaxy.
- the lack of Decepticon fortresses - there were lots of them in the -ation series. I doubt they just disappeared.
Altogether, I don't like the new Ongoing, it is a separate continuity. I hope if Furman returns, the first things he would do:
1. Kill Bumblebee. For good, this time.
2. Take Spike and the humans mood from getting near transformers - see: DW Armada comics