You’re at Your Best When the Going gets Tough, You’ve Been put to the Test, but it’s Never Enough.
Autocracy Chapter 12: Endgame. June 20th 2012.
Your paltry weapons cease to amuse me.
Well, we’re finally at the finishing line of what has felt like an endless comic. And getting over the line is Prime’s plan, marching his army forward as new recruits (such as a very carefully talking to please everyone Grimlock, his one line being readable as the TV or IDW version without too much effort) appear and join the fight. All whilst Megatron, having decided This Time It’s Personal, has his troops only attack the rear of advancing Autobots, forcing Prime towards him.
Of course, some rear action from Megatron to Prime is what the shippers have wanted for years.
It’s the point Megatron brings out a bigger version of the Vamparc weapon (an annihilator, there’s no mention of who it’s hooked up to for power though) that Bumblebee seriously starts to doubt that their walking very slowly towards in insanely over armed despot plan was a bad idea.
Your paltry weapons cease to amuse me.
Well, we’re finally at the finishing line of what has felt like an endless comic. And getting over the line is Prime’s plan, marching his army forward as new recruits (such as a very carefully talking to please everyone Grimlock, his one line being readable as the TV or IDW version without too much effort) appear and join the fight. All whilst Megatron, having decided This Time It’s Personal, has his troops only attack the rear of advancing Autobots, forcing Prime towards him.
Of course, some rear action from Megatron to Prime is what the shippers have wanted for years.
It’s the point Megatron brings out a bigger version of the Vamparc weapon (an annihilator, there’s no mention of who it’s hooked up to for power though) that Bumblebee seriously starts to doubt that their walking very slowly towards in insanely over armed despot plan was a bad idea.
Evil Starship be like "We wrecked this city."
But he soon has to eat his words when Metroplex flies in and effectively ends the fight in seconds.
Which leads to an odd moment of Prime saying this was his plan all along, to hold Metroplex in reserve until Megatron showed his hand. Which isn’t what happened last issue, where Metroplex was the one who insisted on staying behind.
This ironically makes quite the parallel to the John Barber Megatron we’ll be seeing soon, who always insists everything that happens was always part of his plan all along.
Metroplex making easy work of the citadel leads us, inevitably, to where this comic was always heading: A rerun of the last stand between Megatron and Optimus from the film. Which is done with almost no changed dialogue, the only really noticeable difference before Hot Rod jumps in, is Prime making it clear he’s not going to kill Megatron, because he needs him to reunify both sides.
Now, because we’ve now seen the first draft script of the film, we know the Megatron/Prime fight is the one bit of the entire movie that’s nearly completely unchanged from what Ron Friedman wrote. And this moment suggests Flint Dille didn’t really understand what worked about that scene was the idea and debate over whether Prime actually would shoot Megatron in the head or not, and that his hesitation after his big words is what effectively kills him. Straight out saying “I’ll take you alive” doesn’t just make this a rerun, it makes it an inferior rerun.
Which leads to an odd moment of Prime saying this was his plan all along, to hold Metroplex in reserve until Megatron showed his hand. Which isn’t what happened last issue, where Metroplex was the one who insisted on staying behind.
This ironically makes quite the parallel to the John Barber Megatron we’ll be seeing soon, who always insists everything that happens was always part of his plan all along.
Metroplex making easy work of the citadel leads us, inevitably, to where this comic was always heading: A rerun of the last stand between Megatron and Optimus from the film. Which is done with almost no changed dialogue, the only really noticeable difference before Hot Rod jumps in, is Prime making it clear he’s not going to kill Megatron, because he needs him to reunify both sides.
Now, because we’ve now seen the first draft script of the film, we know the Megatron/Prime fight is the one bit of the entire movie that’s nearly completely unchanged from what Ron Friedman wrote. And this moment suggests Flint Dille didn’t really understand what worked about that scene was the idea and debate over whether Prime actually would shoot Megatron in the head or not, and that his hesitation after his big words is what effectively kills him. Straight out saying “I’ll take you alive” doesn’t just make this a rerun, it makes it an inferior rerun.
You can see why they didn't let Dillie rewrite Friedman's dialogue on this part.
Of course, one thing Dille could do here is directly address 26 years of fan debate over Hot Rod “Killing” Optimus through his actions, by giving him some form of redemption, or providing some commentary on that deathless argument.
Instead, Hot Rod just slips out of Megatron’s arms by transforming, the shot goes down and, because no one can die here, we skip straight to everyone retreating in Astrotrain, Megatron being grabbed on the way.
Though one Decepticon being surprised at the idea of them retreating is a very funny commentary on the cartoon we could have done with more of.
That just leaves the wrapping up. Where Metroplex is now Autobot headquarters, and no one is really sure what is going to happen next. Though Prime is determined to not use Zeta’s secret arsenal of terrible superweapons, ordering Prowl to destroy them (I’m sure he will).
This is another moment where in-jokes work against the story as filling the armoury with nods (including the Infinity Gauntlet, in an issue called Endgame. Spooky) means lots of stock Transformers weapons are in there, including things like Wreck-Gar’s axe. Yes, an axe is one of the most fearsome and terrible could destroy the entire planet weapons.
The issue then ends with Hot Rod and Prime having a mutual appreciation meeting, with Prime even saying Hot Rod might carry the Matrix one day.
Imagine that, hey?
Instead, Hot Rod just slips out of Megatron’s arms by transforming, the shot goes down and, because no one can die here, we skip straight to everyone retreating in Astrotrain, Megatron being grabbed on the way.
Though one Decepticon being surprised at the idea of them retreating is a very funny commentary on the cartoon we could have done with more of.
That just leaves the wrapping up. Where Metroplex is now Autobot headquarters, and no one is really sure what is going to happen next. Though Prime is determined to not use Zeta’s secret arsenal of terrible superweapons, ordering Prowl to destroy them (I’m sure he will).
This is another moment where in-jokes work against the story as filling the armoury with nods (including the Infinity Gauntlet, in an issue called Endgame. Spooky) means lots of stock Transformers weapons are in there, including things like Wreck-Gar’s axe. Yes, an axe is one of the most fearsome and terrible could destroy the entire planet weapons.
The issue then ends with Hot Rod and Prime having a mutual appreciation meeting, with Prime even saying Hot Rod might carry the Matrix one day.
Imagine that, hey?
This becomes much funnier considering how carrying the Matrix will go for IDW Rodimus.
That was pretty much appalling at the end there, a nothing battle that was just making time till Metroplex appeared and switched the plot off, and the most lazy and half-arsed of the many, many lazy and half-arsed rip-offs of the film.
Whilst I still think this comic would have been better as a just cartoon continuity thing, even that wouldn’t have solved the many, many issue the lazy writing has here. It does read better in trade at least (which is, of course, how normal people read it now), where you can get through the whole thing in about half an hour, but read this way, basically in real time, it has dragged.
And, whilst I remain a Livio Ramondelli fan, one artist working to a tight deadline can’t compete with a multi-million-dollar Hollywood movie with a large team working on it. So, his work only comes off poorer in comparison from being forced to ape the animation.
The main shame here is that the lesson took from it seems to have been digital firsts don’t work (I believe there isn’t anything going forward that doesn’t have its physical issues release planned in from the start) rather than this team didn’t work. It’s also frustrating that, though not necessarily a larger audience (though digital sales are still a mystery, it’s early days for the format), it did reach a different audience from the usual IDW comics thanks to the “From the writer of the movie” promotional factor. Meaning, this is not the end…
Next week, it’s also not the end for the issue facing Fortress Maximus.
ROBOTS IN DISGUISE ISSUE 6
2012
COMMENT
KO-FI
Whilst I still think this comic would have been better as a just cartoon continuity thing, even that wouldn’t have solved the many, many issue the lazy writing has here. It does read better in trade at least (which is, of course, how normal people read it now), where you can get through the whole thing in about half an hour, but read this way, basically in real time, it has dragged.
And, whilst I remain a Livio Ramondelli fan, one artist working to a tight deadline can’t compete with a multi-million-dollar Hollywood movie with a large team working on it. So, his work only comes off poorer in comparison from being forced to ape the animation.
The main shame here is that the lesson took from it seems to have been digital firsts don’t work (I believe there isn’t anything going forward that doesn’t have its physical issues release planned in from the start) rather than this team didn’t work. It’s also frustrating that, though not necessarily a larger audience (though digital sales are still a mystery, it’s early days for the format), it did reach a different audience from the usual IDW comics thanks to the “From the writer of the movie” promotional factor. Meaning, this is not the end…
Next week, it’s also not the end for the issue facing Fortress Maximus.
ROBOTS IN DISGUISE ISSUE 6
2012
COMMENT
KO-FI
