Plan for Everything
(Spoiler free-ish)
(Spoiler free-ish)
Synopsis
THE END OF THE WORLD! When Cybertron collapses—who will pick up the pieces? MEGATRON stands poised to triumph—locked in final battle with BUMBLEBEE, STARSCREAM, METALHAWK, and PROWL! One will stand… the rest will fall.
So they fight
Story
Last issue, the big revelation (or cop-out, depending on which side of the argument you are) took place: Megatron is in control of everything, thanks to Bombshell's cerebro-shells controlling Prowl – who is now Devastator's headbot. But Ironhide, the Dinobots and Superion are back from the wastelands, and it's time for a bigger robot than usual to fight with another bigger robot.
And fight
Yes, Ironhide's back. The Dinobots are back. The Aerialbots are back. But... something's missing. If this is the big climax to all that has been building since issue 1, it's a bit disappointing. It's all a giant fight scene, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I expected a little more.
Twist?
Arcee's motives are revealed, and they are entirely unsurprising. Although there are redeeming features to her over the top characterisation since her Spotlight. Sort of. Ironhide and Jazz are the token tough bots, and that may go down well with some, may not with others.
Just in case it wasn't clear
The thread running through the whole issue is Prowl's inner monologue, as he sees the devastation he causes to Cybertron, now that he's part of the big green. And he refers to events from Costa's ongoing, and Spike. I can't shake off the feeling that Barber is trying to explain and fix continuity and characterisation, and this time it just doesn't work. I didn't mind the exposition with floating heads in RID #14, personally, but this one is a bit off. Until the very end.
Art
Andrew Griffith is on pencils, with Brian Shearer on inks. Shearer did a really good job on MTMTE 15, so I wonder if it's Griffith's robo-facial expressions that don't work for me this time. Superion, Megatron, Bumblebee, Jazz all seem to have at times a wonky (can't think of a better term) mouth. This may be me, but I think perspective is a bit off.
Wonky?
I do like Mowry's lettering though, and the colours by Perez are really well executed. There are not as many variations in the lettering designs, but sound-effects really pop, both in font and colour. (There are a lot of colour metaphors running through the issue, actually, and art and story really do work well in that aspect.)
It's not easy to speak green
I think the biggest problem, in terms of artwork for the issue, is the amount of action and characters per panel: there's just too much going on in the story, and a price has to be paid for it. The artistic team have done a fabulous job at conveying the absolute chaos of a whole (ish) planet at war, and something's bound to slip. But well done to them anyway!
Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
I'm not convinced about this one, to be honest. The Arcee twist was predictable, there's a lot of fighting, fighting and more fighting, and some of the facial expressions really didn't do it for me. I'll admit, though, that the final panel was not what I, and I think most readers, was expecting. Personal highlight, however, was Shockwave's absence, and how other characters are trying to cover it up or dismiss it. Purple reign, anyone?
Er...
This issue is a little disappointing, in my opinion. The artwork is there, the story is ok, but Barber seems to be taking a long time to do things, so let's throw in some fighting, shall we? Here's hoping to a satisfying and, dare I?, logical conclusion in the next issue.
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out of
out of 
