Comic review: Robots in Disguise season 2: #28 onwards

I just read the last two issues. Trying to get them straight in my head from the Windblade issues, since they are pretty much one and the same comic/storyline at the moment.


But yeah, Whirl started a 4 million year war beating up Megatron in a cell, Swindle just started the Combiner Wars trying to get rich :rolleyes:. I understand why they had to use Swindle, given his history with the creation of Menasor, but kinda a shame to see the way they have used one of the few characters that over the past few years had really embraced the end of the war and was quite comfortable spending time with his former enemies.

Some of the abilities of the new Combiners are weird, Superion opening up bits in his body here and there is interesting but odd.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigTransformerTrev

Some of the abilities of the new Combiners are weird, Superion opening up bits in his body here and there is interesting but odd.

---

I love that you can actually recreate one of those scenes (sort of) with Superion's opening chest... In fact I think I have a photo of this from a while ago, will have to find it....

Hah! here it is, from the Action Pose thread.

http://prjkt.net/gallery3/var/albums...w/IMG_7961.jpg

Twice now we've had combiners made by a group of bots being in the room at the same time as the story needed them to be.

Art is getting harder and harder to tell what is going on with Livio's art. His face work is clearer and better than before, still not great, Sunstreaker looks odd to put in mildly.

Barber does well weaving all of the old plot points, raising elements from Primacy, AHM, ongoing, MtMtE, and more. The Prowl and Prime scenes are the highlight, however I would love some more information on Rattrap to explain why he does what he did.

I'm a little disappointed in the way that Scoop has become the replacement Scrapper.

It serves an interesting note on the nature of a combiner, and ultimately makes Devastator loyal to Starscream, but it could I would have liked to see it done almost against his will with greater repercussions to his unique identity. Unfortunately the nature of Combiner Wars means that this aspect has had to be rushed over. And we no longer have Prowlestator. :(

Kinda hoping that Hasbro will stay out of the comics for a while once this is over.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seraphim Prime

Kinda hoping that Hasbro will stay out of the comics for a while once this is over.

---

this was one thing that I originally liked about idw they were not swayed by the current t of the month and had to give it exposure...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seraphim Prime

Kinda hoping that Hasbro will stay out of the comics for a while once this is over.

---

Ya know... normally I'd disagree with you and fully advocate a toy-lead focus on the franchise. But after seeing the last page of the latest issue, I'm fully inclined to agree with you. That has got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in Transformers. (-_-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

Ya know... normally I'd disagree with you and fully advocate a toy-lead focus on the franchise. But after seeing the last page of the latest issue, I'm fully inclined to agree with you. That has got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in Transformers. (-_-)

---

You see, I don't actually mind the idea of Ultra Prime in the comics, but the timing of these 5 issues have really prevented any interesting investigation of the issues surrounding combining.

I'm interested to see who's actually in control of this combined form - is it Prowl or Prime? But with only 1 issue left of this story line and a few plot threads to wrap up, I'm not going to get the story that I know could be told. (Although the solicits indicate that there will be some fall out in the upcoming issues.)

And that's the overriding feeling I've had with not-RiD since Dark Cybertron - the stories that Barber could be telling are getting hamstrung by production schedules and Hasbro influence to the point where the interesting plot threads don't get enough air time or get wrapped up so quickly that it's no longer the character-based story that it was initially.

Overall I feel that Barber gets about 10 issues of his own creative work, before he's drafted to do the next Hasbro drive, which prevents long term set up and pay offs which made RID 1-16 interesting.

Latest issue really is a better ending and wrap of combiner wars, as well as being a decent setup issue for things moving forward both in the ongoing and Windblade comics.

Art is split between Griffith (Arcee and Galvatron on Earth) and Livio (on Cybertron). Griffith is as fantastic as we have come to expect, his robots aer detailed and full of expression, the colouring job by Perez is another masterclass. While I loved seeing Griffith again, it is Livio who has blown me away. I dont mind his style at all, but lately his work was getting very hard to follow, especially with the punch-a-thon that was combiner wars. This issue with just Prowl and Prime was sublime. He frames it like an interrogation scene from a spy thriller film.

While Arcee and Galvatron together is a nice combo and I love that they both know exactly what the other is doing, the Prime and Prowl stuff is where the true meat and bones are in this issue. Every panel (even the ones with a single sentence) just grab you. Prowl has been the undeniable star ever since the AHM Coda of the IDW verse, and I am glad to see that will continue into the future as I feared Screamer was going to pack him away for a spell on the sidelines while his political machinations continue.

I am very interested in the future of Prowl and his rescuer, we know that he has had his own agenda for a while, but what that agenda is remains a mystery!

I'm glad that Optimus Maximus appears to be a one hit wonder (at least for now), cos I'm still not really fond of that concept. Having said that, I think that they're getting better and working in these special cameos. It's cool how they managed to weave Optimus Maximus' appearance into the overall tapestry of the ongoing saga, making it more than just a mundane gratuitous appearance. ;) Still... could've been much worse. :p

Has anyone ready the combiner Hunters One Shot..

cant say I was really interested in it or it blew me away story wise.. infact I think the whole issue bored me...and it would of made no difference if I read it or not....

its pure toy propaganda.