Comic reviews: IDW More Than Meets The Eye ongoing

[Paulbot]

I love the new twist on Magnus, it is something completely different to what we have seen before, I want to know the details now, in relation to the new body.

Its after these kinds of things that I always go back to the Necrobot list, could this be the death of Magnus we saw all those months ago? I also now fear for Ratchet, and am intrigued with how Pharma returned, does it have anything to do with the ancient space bridge?

And Crystal City and Drift? And Skids? And Dai Atlas? Could this be why we've had a little more focus on him in other comics, to remind us that he is still around?

At least the Legislators make sense, we get to finally see a character who has been referenced many times and another layer is added to the mystery of Luna 1.

The thing about Ultra Magnus is when you look again I think you can see a certain inner-robot quality to the new appearance, particularly at the head.

Oddly I feel Ratchet's safe. He's in a precarious situation but if he was going to be killed off I don't think it would be drawn out like this. Even so it's one of the most disturbing things I've seen in a TF comic in a long time. The look on Ratchet's face...!

Pharma described how he was rescued, the question is who's the genius that gave him those nifty hands.

And I just assume the space bridge is how the Legislators, and Skids' other foe, are getting onto the Lost Light.

What I also like about this issue that, despite Lockdown, the Insecticons and the surprise other continuity robots, it seems like the actual bad guys are Autobots?!?

[i_amtrunks]

The thing about Ultra Magnus is when you look again I think you can see a certain inner-robot quality to the new appearance, particularly at the head.

Pretender technology?

Oddly I feel Ratchet's safe. He's in a precarious situation but if he was going to be killed off I don't think it would be drawn out like this. Even so it's one of the most disturbing things I've seen in a TF comic in a long time. The look on Ratchet's face...

Pharma described how he was rescued, the question is who's the genius that gave him those nifty hands.

Thats the part I wanted to know more about! Who has the tech to give such useful hands to such a deranged madman (and why?)

And I just assume the space bridge is how the Legislators, and Skids' other foe, are getting onto the Lost Light.

That was my thinking as well, especially the final bot Skids confronted.

What I also like about this issue that, despite Lockdown, the Insecticons and the surprise other continuity robots, it seems like the actual bad guys are Autobots?!?

And bots that were Autobots until a very recet amount of time. I think that either the Aequitas trials drove Tyret to these actions, or to search for who is actually in charge as only 25 years does not seem that long to amass the collection that he has at his disposal. I wonder who is the shadow puppet behind all of this, above Tyrest (if that is the case).

I worry that the answers promised next issue (it has been mentioned in the creator commentary, it will relate to Skids) that the answers may not necessarily be to the questions we're asking!

[SMHFConvoy]

I wonder if Sean Chen realised he drew the 3rd party Buffer on this issue's variant cover

Very nice reveal btw. Very nice.

Man I need a new PC. Sick of my nexus 7 auto correcting and me not noticing

[Jinto]

The thing about Ultra Magnus is when you look again I think you can see a certain inner-robot quality to the new appearance, particularly at the head.

Pretender technology?

That's what I was thinking. It's certainly unlikely that Ultra... er, Minumus Ambus' original body just happened to be on Luna 1. Although I suppose Tyrest may have had something to do with keeping it around since he 'appointed' U.M. he may have planned a reunion.

Pretender tech could also be a way of saving Tailgate. Since he's potentially older than Kup, he'd need the same treatment. That'd solve his crumbling body. Perhaps there's a way to revitalize his spark at the hotspot?

[Lordy]

I wonder if the death clock was for Ultra Magnus' "large" body, rather than his inner body.

I didn't notice that the latest issue had come out so soon (compared to the past two issues which were just released in their months). Love the reveal, and how Roberts has been peppering little bits into MTMTE which are now building into really interesting stories.

[Jinto]

Ooh, interesting idea. You think the smaller 'Minimus' body was wearing the larger body? Surely Ratchet or someone would have noticed while performing repairs?

The death clock was specifically supposed to measure a bots spark, so I don't think he's safe yet.

[Lordy]

Yeah, good point about the repairs being done on UM in issue 16, it would've been obvious then if there was an inner bot when Ratchet had UM's chest open.

Just don't wanna see the big guy die

Will be interesting to see what gets revealed next issue in regards to answers to what's been happening the past couple of issues

[SuspectimusPrime]

Ooh, interesting idea. You think the smaller 'Minimus' body was wearing the larger body? Surely Ratchet or someone would have noticed while performing repairs?

The death clock was specifically supposed to measure a bots spark, so I don't think he's safe yet.

Yeah, good point about the repairs being done on UM in issue 16, it would've been obvious then if there was an inner bot when Ratchet had UM's chest open.

Just don't wanna see the big guy die

Will be interesting to see what gets revealed next issue in regards to answers to what's been happening the past couple of issues

A little late to the party here, but would just like to throw in some juicy speculation before we get some more clues on Wednesday (Issue #19)...

Warning: Everything below is purely speculation based on events up until Issue #18 (this is all fun, please don't get upset if you intend to continue reading)

Mininus featured here definitely confirmed that he had been detained by Ultra Magnus years ago and is awaiting retrial. Should be noted that he appears to be healthy and in full control of his mental faculties.

At the same time, the UM stabbed by Overlord definitely had his own spark and aspirations (he was lamenting the fact that Tyrest has promised him things and was given those promises), revealed a few issues back when he went drinking with Swerve and used Verity as his holomatter. So the UM we know from LSOTW to date is the same robot that got stabbed to death (?).

Minimus confirms that "you have always known me as...".

Another interesting point is Minimus' body kibble - in the last two pages, we see that he has some rounded turtle-like backpack, and his shoulder pads look like they fold inwards. Roberts' character designs, and more importantly alt modes, has previously been anything but whimsical (seems like nothing is a coincidence with Roberts') - see Pharma, Rewind, Fulcrum, the DJD, and Rung (? - or at least the science bot who revealed that he transformed into a microscope featured in Shadowplay that was of a similar build to Rung). There was another issue where Chromedome and Brainstorm revealed that they had a friend who transformed into a head (sorry, that off-panel character's name eludes me).

Could Minimus be a -master, who had his original body taken away and used by Ultra Magnus?

I guess all this speculation of mine really falls to exactly, how long the Ultra Magnus we know has been featured here - he appears to be the same Ultra Magnus that fought the 'Warriors Elite' comprised of Megatron, Heretech, Overlord, Black Shadow, and Sixshot.. ages ago. Like thousands of years ago. The length of time that Minimus mentioned that he has been here is unknown, only that his sentence was 'a thousand years', and that he is 'still awaiting retrial'.

Could he have ridiculously spent more time awaiting retrial than the actual length of his sentence?

"I'd rather wait and win my appeal. Justice can't be rushed." - that little four letter word was definitely bolded and written in italics

...
...
It might also be worth noting that all of the Autobot Legislators are 'big robots' - UM, SS, '1984' robots, and even Tyrest is revealed to be huge. If UM has an inner-robot inside, then what about SS?

...
... Another thought...
Many if's! Last one - if SS is a Brainmaster, the can UM be one as well?

[i_amtrunks]

This 4 page preview is going to cause a lot of angst, anger, ridicule, surprise and satisfaction, plus a whole lot more for the readership.

Lets just say that some theories put forward here and elsewhere are bang on the money.

I won't say anything spoilerish, except that for no real reason I feel better about Tailgate surviving. No evidence for my thought, just a hope.

[Paulbot]

The teaser cliffhanger I saw (page 3) is worse than the last issue cliffhanger! I can't wait to read the next sentence! Only about 30 hours to go though so not too bad.