Comic review: Robots in Disguise ongoing

Just re-read all the issues released back to back (bar the Prime and Jhiaxus) ones.

Nowhere is it shown when Bombshell had a chance/opportunity to plant a bug on Prowl. When he mentions that he had to make sure that there were easy to find control bugs (like he had on Sunstorm, man does Bombshells speech make more sense now!) on Prowl I thought I was going nuts as I didn't remember Prowl getting hit by anything or Wheeljack checking him out. There was no mention or panel showing any such thing going on. I assume we are meant to take that single panel in 14 showing a bombshell bug on Prowl's eye.

The only kind of clue we get that something changed in issue 4 is that Prowls internal monologue ceases for e rest of the issue, and never returns. Since no other story or issue requires Prowl's thoughts to be shared, so it never took my notice.

Still not overly happy with the evnts as they have played out, I'm stewing on it still I know, but it has been irking me. I am going to be under the impression that Arcee is also being controlled in the same manner, it makes no sense for her to be helping the cons after what she went through and dealt to Jhiaxus.

Why we got the talk from Arcee to Shockwave in 11 I do not understand, seeing as Shockwave, Bombshell etc were all in on the plan...

I'm really wondering about it now as well. Especially Arcee's part in it, seems like she's a bit key to it all based on June's solicitations

#15 Preview

Jazz is back and I have no idea how many Autobots there will be left standing at the end of this. I have my predictions on who will survive and what will happen 24 hours or less and I'll be right and very sad, or wrong and probably very sad. :p

Well my prediction that Prowl would self sacrifice for the greater good was wrong.

This issue did not really do it for me, that is now two in a row that have been unimpressive, after all the slow burn setup that was completely padding, my taste for RiD has dwindled down to smouldering ashes.

Art is okay, without ever being great, the fact there is too much damage to be consistently displayed like in RiD #3.

The "twists" were alright and the story can once again move forward next issue, but Megatron is too smart and cartoony for his own good, he needs to just step up and take control like he has been portrayed in Pre-history and the "-tion" stories.

For what effectively boils down to a long fight scene with lots of talking to break it up, nothing was exciting or altogether interesting. Even the final page was unexciting. I cannot say I expected it, but I also find myself not caring too much. Roberts has been trying too hard to tie all of the crappy writing from AHM and the ongoing together and has lost the chance to write a comic worthy of his weaving and building.

The final text box says "to be concluded". I sure hope it is.

I loved the bit where Shockwave was mysteriously absent.

Aww, Bumblebee survived. :p (shouldn't really be surprised really... he's clearly joined Optimus Prime on Hasbro's "Don't kill fer real" list :rolleyes:). I liked seeing Arcee finally coming around, but given her skill set I'm sure she could've acted a whole lot sooner. It was also interesting seeing Autobots and Decepticons fighting side by side against Megatron's Decepticons - like Sky Byte insisting on fighting alongside Jazz; that was heaps cool. :) I'd really like to see Starscream lead these Decepticons in an alliance with the Autobots and Neutrals --- simply falling in line with Megatron and his Deceps again would just be too mundane IMO.

I think Sky Lynx should lead...

Okay gang, no spoilers but man there are some wicked twists in #16!!! It truly does 'end the season' of the first year of RiD, and leaves lots of things ready for the next.

So Rumble is red again!? :confused::rolleyes:

Okay look... I _like_ how Rumble is red... as you all know I prefer FIBRIR over FIRRIB... and I see how they've made him accurate to the United toy (and Frenzy too as previously seen)... but the inconsistency here is driving me NUTS!! :eek: While I'm not a huge fan of the G1 cartoon's FIRRIP, at least they were consistent with it! So in the IDWverse, it's FIBRIR, the FIRRIB, then FIBRIR again?!? Make up your damn minds, IDW!!!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._shoulders.gif

This is like this scene from Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (clothes are red/black) :p

Back to the comic after Gok's meltdown.... :D

So some "twists" in this issue that I think all readers would have suspected coming at some point. I was unsurprised by all of the revelations bar the final one, where the bots and cons were booted from the city, I expected them to remain and there to be no more badges of allegiance.

Overall I am glad this 16 issue run is over. It moved nowhere, dragged its feet, ruined some really interesting chance it had, killed off characters that were not developed in any way and characters that have grown or changed, it could have been done in 3 or 4 issues. I think that is my main gripe, it took too long to do too little. I love that Barber has done an amazing job with tying all the terribly inconsistent continuities together, but all that effort has subtracted from his own storytelling.

I don't mean to sound like I hate RiD, I don't, it has had some interesting ideas and good issues (Wheeljack front and centre) but if after the Death of Optimus Prime you dumped the RiD cast on Cybertron with Wheeljack dead, had Megatron, Sky Byte, Arcee arrive back with the nails, you could have the events needed occur and be at this point with an annual sized issue and be done with it.

Oh and I lied there were two things I didn't expect that happened, I did not expect Megatron to try and replace Prowl, and I didn't expect Metalhawks murderer to be who it was, but it makes sense perfectly.

Hopefully with all of this malarkey out of the way, we can move onto something more substantial and interesting that moves forward at a decent pace. I figure the next "season" of RiD will be about overthrowing Starscream or watching him self destruct over the death of MH, which is kind of what we already had with Bee. The characters thrown out of the city will not be disregarded and thrown by the wayside, unless we now follow them and ignore the new Cybertron and Starscream. With a side story to Shockwave of course, and frequent interludes to Jhiaxus and Prime.

I really like the cover that had Bumblebee, Metalhawk, and Starscream together. Kinda disappointed that Starscream did what he did towards the end of the issue - thought he had actually changed beyond that. But no. :0

I just read 15 & 16 and quite enjoyed both of them, though naturally 16 is where we see the big payoff.


While I enjoyed Starscream being developed more as a character and someone who had finally realized that 9 million years of war had gotten them nowhere it was time to try something new, the twist at the end of 16 (I'm assuming if you are reading this thread you have already read issue 16 of the comic) was unexpected but in a way welcome, it showed Starscrem had grown but in the end he would sacrific anything and anyone for power - and he got it.

Megatron showing up, then getting done over - somewhat lackluster. He's a big hitter, should have done more. Also in issue 15, I think Arcee could probably have found a chance to get to Bombshell sooner, considering her skills as an assassin.

I'll be interested to see if the likes of Dirge, Swindle & Beastbox actually stay in the city with Starscream. Considering they fought against their fellow Decepticons I assume that they would. One question: Who was the other Decepticon, the one with the purple shoulders, that was fighting alongside the Autobots & Neutrals? Can't place him. Don't know if any Autobots will stick around with Screamer in charge - Blurr maybe?

Dirge! Dirge, my first Transformer - actually doing something! Go Dirge!

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Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev

One question: Who was the other Decepticon, the one with the purple shoulders, that was fighting alongside the Autobots & Neutrals?

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Octane/Tankor. Which is appropriate, since that was also his general allegiance in season 3 of the G1 cartoon.

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Originally Posted by Sky Shadow

Octane/Tankor. Which is appropriate, since that was also his allegiance in season 3 of the G1 cartoon.

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I thought it was him when they were all hanging out in the bar before it got demolished. And the shoulder pads kept making me think it was him. However his head looked different and he had no propellors so I was thinking I was wrong and it was someone else. Cheers for that :)

I enjoyed this latest issue more than the previous two, writing exciting action scenes is not the writers forte and fortunately this had less of them. The death of you know who was kinda obvious really.

I also didn't mind how they defeated Megatron, it was anticlimactic, but it's nice to see at least one Autobot took some safety precautions, with arguably the most dangerous member of their race. Overall I like that they have changed the balance of power, it will be interesting to see who is where, and whether any bots joined with Starscream. Sadly while the situation has changed it does look like it will be mainly the same old bots in the spotlight, sigh! I wish they'd promote some lesser characters to the spotlight, at least Needlenose survived the issue, that's a small victory in itself, I expected otherwise.

I was a little disappointed that everything resolved so quickly, and how after 16 issues of trying to develop a new status quo, it so quickly is made into something else.

I was looking forward to seeing how the robot-politics would play out and what the new status quo would be, but it's become that the NAILS have claimed Cybertron for themselves alone and the Autobots and Decepticons are cast out with nothing. And it's a shame that it's come to this when a year and half ago Optimus exiled himself to prevent this very thing from happening.

It seems selfish on the part of the NAILS, and disappointing on the part of the Autobots who gave up much and are left with nothing.

So after 16 issues of going nowhere really, we get this.

This game changer.

I'll have to do some more reading of all things Dai Atlas to double check, but I am not sure if this ties in seamlessly with the established pre war history, but it is an awesome revelatory issue that twists all the Shockwave related stories nicely into one comprehensible braid. It ties in the Shockwave spotlight, Maximum dinobots, Spotlight Kup and the Orion pax single issues together with Shadowplay.

Funny that the best (and in retrospect, only decent Cybertron based) issue of RID is a follow up of a MtMtE story. Barber continues to do wonders with continuity.

Again Ramondelli's art will polarise, but I find it suits these kind of stories. The only time I was unsure what was going on was with Dai, Shockers and Proteus, I think the projector Shockers was using was an actual transformer, but not sure.
It is a minor thing, but I liked it, Starscream talks like a ruffian, very thuggish. It suits who is was back before the war, I think (do we know what Starscream was in the IDW-verse before the war? was he elite guard or something?)

If you were planning on giving up on RiD, as I had thought about, DONT. If this issue is an indicator of where RiD is going, (doubtful seeing as next issue goes to Arcee feeling sorry for herself) then RiD will be worth reading for months to come.

So 18......

One entire issue after I gush on and wax lyrical about #17, is issue comes along and puts a dampner on it all. Like most of RiD, it isn't terrible, but it isn't great or all that enjoyable, I feel like I am reading it for the sake of reading it. It does a good job of letting us see the aftermath brought Arcee's eyes, and her unique outlook on life post Iacon.

The other stuff regarding Constructicons, Dinobots, Prowl and the last two page reveal is interesting in a way, but at the same time I find myself not really caring because I know itis all going to take a back seat and be glossed over so that Barber can try and squeeze in the Dark Cybertron arc before the release of Tf4 comes along and Hasbro bully IDW into focussing on movie based "stories" to fix the continuity and make theft unrecognisable once more.

Also hate that all the injured auto bots are languishing and barely able to be fixed and Bumblebee is fixed in hours, with the lame revelation that his auto-waste from his previous earth mode (which just so happens to look like his upcoming toy!) made it an easy fix. :rolleyes:

Did not like the art in this, it was very human form and plain. Colours were nice but had so little to work with, there is no "wow" factor in this issue, not even the final page reveal. I is a very down eaten issue that is a quick read and easily forgettable. There is nothing here that we will be coming back to for clues and pointers in later re-reads. Barber is brilliant with continuity but his writing has been bland and plodding for some time now. He needs to stop bothering with tying to fix he mistakes of his predecessors and get on with telling the tale he wants us to read.

Final note: the Bumblebee change in this will be made into a big deal. The way Prowl thinks will probably be better explored in MtMtE in flashback too. The a Prowl we see in this issue is like a little kid version of what we have had elsewhere for the last few years.

Only worth getting to complete the set, otherwise wait for the comixology app to drop it to $1. You won't miss anything between 17 and 19 in the grand scheme of things.

Next issue, is back to Optimus, Orion Pax and he Jhiaxus story. Sad when I wan mor Wheelie over Bumblebee and co.

Spoilers yo

















Uh, why do they keep saying that Monstructor is comprised of five Cybertronians when he's actually made from six??? :confused: There's also a typo in one of Shockwave's speech bubbles, which makes it look like he can't pronounce his words properly. Most illogical!

Neither of those things were spoilers.... Only complaints. :p

It's hard to suspend disbelief when the Autobots agree to let the Constructicons hang around. In what universe can those guys be trusted, exactly?

It's a shame about Bee's rebuild. I was liking his weathered politician look.

Sorry to drag this topic right back to the beginning (I've only just started reading the IDW ongoings...) but has anyone ever noticed Terrorsaur sitting at the bar in Maccadam's on the second last page of Issue #5?

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Originally Posted by Jinto

It's hard to suspend disbelief when the Autobots agree to let the Constructicons hang around. In what universe can those guys be trusted, exactly?

It's a shame about Bee's rebuild. I was liking his weathered politician look.

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In terms of the Constructicons, I think most of them are past it, past the disbelief, etc. Prowl was the freakin head of Devastator... And Ironhide is saying to let em be... So the main veteran voices aren't telli em to leave and they don't wanna shoot them, so they stay.

Preview for #19 is out. This issue will deal with Gorlam Prime (loving the way that all the Furmanverse stuff is coming back in force). It is another "off world" issue with Prime, Wheelie, Hardhead and Garnak front and centre. Art is not by Livio but in his vein.

I am sure it will be very important for the upcoming crossover, but I think it will ask more questions than it will answer!

Well there goes any hope I had of Nightbeat returning on Gorlam Prime.

Besides some minor artwork and character design niggles this is a nice looking comic, but I would've preferred Livio.

Story is a wrap up of the Orion Pax and Jhiaxus storyline and really paints out what is happening over the next few issues of RiD. It won't surprise anyone.

In a way I hope this overarching focus on titans comes to a close soon, I'm bored with them being this mystical super elite force that can be nullified or terminated by weapons that only do minimal damage to regular transformers.

Also, how is Gorlam Prime going to be the world Ironhide and Alpha Trion are on in 15 million years time if it is getting eaten from the core out now by Ore 2- Death?

Wonder how this will be rectified? The revival ore on Cybertron? Is that going to be too bug a powerful McGuffin, Magnificence style?

The art style isn't bad at all, but I'm not fond of the character designs. They just don't look like Transformers, but rather just generic scifi robots, or even just humanoids in mechanised space armour. It's not only a noticable departure from the traditional Japanese mecha style of drawing Transformers, but also they generally lack alt mode kibble hanging off them, 'cept Optimus Prime cos his alt mode parts are such an visually iconic part of his design. I know that Wheelie and Hardhead aren't the most kibblicious designs out there, but they could've emphasised the treads on Hardhead more as well as wheels on Wheelie. Hardhead should've felt more bulky/armoured IMO. He looks more like one of Captain Power's Soldiers of the Future. :o

^ Totally agree. My gripe with character designs is that Hardhead looks more like a Pretender than a Headmaster - as much as I have grown to enjoy existing Pretenders vicariously through the Marvel comics, I wouldn't like to see more of them. If there was one piece of iconic kibble that should have been included, it would have to be his shoulder cannon.

I'd like to see RID aim for the same standard of consistency in character designs as MTMTE, where toys are now being produced out of them (who would've thought an originally obscure minibot like Swerve would get an updated toy in front of a long list of contenders?).

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Originally Posted by SuspectimusPrime

(who would've thought an originally obscure minibot like Swerve would get an updated toy in front of a long list of contenders?).

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It's be even more awesome if he had a faceplate you could remove to represent when he blasted his own face off, or came with "Swerves first gun". :D

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Originally Posted by i_amtrunks

It's be even more awesome if he had a faceplate you could remove to represent when he blasted his own face off, or came with "Swerves first gun". :D

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+1 :p

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Originally Posted by i_amtrunks

It's be even more awesome if he had a faceplate you could remove to represent when he blasted his own face off, or came with "Swerves first gun". :D

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3rd Party Addons????

id buy them

If you like Starscream monologuing to dead/statised characters, being interviewed by reporter bots or making half baked deals with never seen before is issue characters, you'll love the latest issue.

No action, boring time wasting drivel that moves no one or thing forward, shows no already known insights into characters and doesn't set anything up for the future. The last page "twist" is not even good or unexpected. Though I do have to ask that if the tech required for what we see on the last page is available then why not use it more on the wounded?

No sight nor sound of the dregs of the last two issues either.

Art is ok, nothing special, but they had nothing to work with either.

My only slight interest with this Starscream angle is what will his new body be? He only got a new body at the beginning of the run...

Dark Cybertron cover

Kind of spoilery if you are a few issues behind in terms of characters utilised. Also shows Screamers new body. Looks very similar (in this shot) to a bot firmly entrenched in MtMtE to me.

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Originally Posted by i_amtrunks

The last page "twist" is not even good or unexpected. Though I do have to ask that if the tech required for what we see on the last page is available then why not use it more on the wounded?
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Oh my god a gewwun character thought dead is revealed to be alive, what a twist!!!!!!!!!! it's only the umpteenth hundred time it's happened. So yeah I completely agree with you, the only interesting thing in this issues was Scoop and Ratrap getting some page time.

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Originally Posted by i_amtrunks

No action, boring time wasting drivel that moves no one or thing forward, shows no already known insights into characters and doesn't set anything up for the future. The last page "twist" is not even good or unexpected. Though I do have to ask that if the tech required for what we see on the last page is available then why not use it more on the wounded?

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Stuff like this is what makes RID the 'poor brother' of the two series.

I wasn't too impressed or surprised by the 'twist' either. I was expecting it to happen at some point but I guess I held out too much hope for an interesting angle to it.

Like others, I am curious about Starscream's new body and Rattrap having some presence was good. However everything else about this issue is pretty forgettable.

Am I the only one who's not hugely fond of Rattrap? The smell thing is funny and harkens back to his original BW tech specs bio... but the whole making him dastardly and backstabby like a rat... cos he transforms into a rat... umm... 'kay. :rolleyes:

SSooooooooooooo i read Issue 21 of RID, and i must say i have not read a more boring book

call it Spotlight Soundwave II

Anice tie in to the events that saw sound and shock meet but what a boring read... more boring then the rest of RID that is for sure, it really does not generate any excitment for me for Dark Cybertron

So far behind on this book. Gone from being my favourite to being an absolute 'who gives a crap'.

Did get the RI covers for the issue though, and grabbed an RI for another boardie too.

I'm not in any hurry to read it.

I didn't mind 21. No idea why it was 2 weeks late.

Art was lovely, it really was spotlight Soundwave 2: the continuity fixer. Lots of little details like an extension of Megatron instructing to Bludgeon to follow up Shockwaves studies, more stuff between shockers and Soundwave set in the first spotlight, as well as maximum Dinobots.

Loved the little nod that Shockwave did not in any way become part of the Decepti-god which makes him stand out from all his cybertron in breatheren.

A time filler, but with lots of lovely art and plenty of little things still fixing the lazy errors made by McCarthy, Costa and the terrible editors the preceded him.

Barber still struggles as a writer, but if fixing convoluted continuity is needed, he has proven himself more than capable.

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Originally Posted by i_amtrunks

I didn't mind 21. No idea why it was 2 weeks late.

Art was lovely, it really was spotlight Soundwave 2: the continuity fixer. Lots of little details like an extension of Megatron instructing to Bludgeon to follow up Shockwaves studies, more stuff between shockers and Soundwave set in the first spotlight, as well as maximum Dinobots.

Loved the little nod that Shockwave did not in any way become part of the Decepti-god which makes him stand out from all his cybertron in breatheren.

A time filler, but with lots of lovely art and plenty of little things still fixing the lazy errors made by McCarthy, Costa and the terrible editors the preceded him.

Barber still struggles as a writer, but if fixing convoluted continuity is needed, he has proven himself more than capable.

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So Megatron and Shockwave didn't combine into Decepti-God... I wonder who else might be in this category?