Revisitation 26: There's only one way to find out...

17/6/2021

This week, Ironhide smashes down a door and Hot Rod gets a cuddly toy.

And that's about it for plot as this issue is all about one word:

Fight.

And what a fight, as I look at Escalation issue 5!

3 Comments

Llama God

19/6/2021 10:03:46 am

Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said?

Okay, I'll start with the big negative I can think of, although to be fair it was only a negative at the time. And that is that Prime is killed off rather early. Yes, Prime's death - and inevitable subsequent resurrection - have become something of his defining character trait, but nevertheless it feels odd to play it so soon. Especially since every expectation is that he'll come back anyway, so it's a bit of a cheap shot.

But.

BUT.

At the same time, this does indeed get that trope done and out of the way quickly, so that's actually a good thing. (Animated would come along shortly and do it even sooner.) And also, at the time, this was a whole new iteration of Transformers, and despite the expectation, there was no certainty that Prime would actually come back. With no tie-in toyline or other property to really promote, aside from the brand in general, it was entirely possible that this would be it for him. So actually, despite what I've said, that uncertainty did actually make this work at the time.

So actually, there's nothing really bad about this issue at all.

If I was going to pick turbo-nits I'd ask why Prime didn't finish Megatron off with his rifle after blowing up Megatron's fusion cannon - there was no need to rush in with his bare fists. That's what being a "hero" does to you, I guess. But that's a minor point, and I don't really care.

Because the art. THE ART. E.J. Su's work is SO GOOD here. That sequence of Prime transforming into combat is one that's stuck with me ever since first reading this issue. And the whole battle sequence just looks so damned good. As does the rest of the issue, really, including Ironhide ramming his way into IDW. So much good stuff.

So yeah, great issue, and a first final confrontation worth waiting for. This is definitely one to get you buying the next issue. So job done.

LiamKav

1/1/2022 09:54:57 pm

Yeah, that Prime transformation sequence was so good that it seemingly made the Takara engineers think "let's copy that" when it came to the second Masterpiece Prime's gun.

Llama God

3/1/2022 11:06:28 am

I *think* (although I could well be wrong) that most of Su's Optimus Prime is based on the The Hybrid Style Optimus Prime (THS-02), which I *think* has a gun that does exactly the same thing. I'd have to dig mine out to be sure though.

Revisitation 26: There's only one way to find out...

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