I Fought the Law, the Law Won.
The Transformers issue 23: Chaos Theory Part 2. August 10th 2011.
Can’t you “channel the wisdom of the Matrix” or something?
A part two to this story was not part of the original plan until Hasbro made the aforementioned request to have a comic “define” Autobot, so it’s ironic that, if the first part was just largely about filling in gaps before Megatron: Origin from an author not expecting to ever write much Megatron in the future, the second winds up intentionally doing a huge amount of setup for forthcoming James Roberts ongoing.
And also has The Page that people probably know best out of all IDW.
The huge amount of world building we’re about to get is immediate from the first page, as we pan round the police station office from the end of last issue, intercutting with a new report on the TV.
The news (hosted by Blaster) is that the brand new and never mentioned before Nominus Prime has barely survived a mysterious assassination attempt, by someone they can only so far confirm was not part of the Militant Monoform Movement (MMM) as the assassin transformed. The Matrix Flame (from Marvel) is flickering, but still holding, suggesting Nominus’ status is critical, but still alive.
In the office, we see a cabinet full of trophies for outstanding behaviour and Autobot badge shaped awards for sharp shooting. All in the name of Orion Pax.
Can’t you “channel the wisdom of the Matrix” or something?
A part two to this story was not part of the original plan until Hasbro made the aforementioned request to have a comic “define” Autobot, so it’s ironic that, if the first part was just largely about filling in gaps before Megatron: Origin from an author not expecting to ever write much Megatron in the future, the second winds up intentionally doing a huge amount of setup for forthcoming James Roberts ongoing.
And also has The Page that people probably know best out of all IDW.
The huge amount of world building we’re about to get is immediate from the first page, as we pan round the police station office from the end of last issue, intercutting with a new report on the TV.
The news (hosted by Blaster) is that the brand new and never mentioned before Nominus Prime has barely survived a mysterious assassination attempt, by someone they can only so far confirm was not part of the Militant Monoform Movement (MMM) as the assassin transformed. The Matrix Flame (from Marvel) is flickering, but still holding, suggesting Nominus’ status is critical, but still alive.
In the office, we see a cabinet full of trophies for outstanding behaviour and Autobot badge shaped awards for sharp shooting. All in the name of Orion Pax.
What friendly looking fellows.
One bit of clarity for last week, I’ve had chance to properly reread the scripts and, though the stage directions do mostly just call him “Optimus”, his full name there is actually “Optimus Pax” in it, except for one instance of it being just plain old Orion Pax. Suggesting some real debate was going on behind the scenes as to what to call pre-Prime Optimus was going on, with some back and forth before the choice of the then very new Aligned Continuity. It’s easy to forget that before that, Orion Pax hadn’t actually been used as a name since the original cartoon, with Dreamwave coming up with something else entirely.
This is a far more mood setting opening that that to the first, more character driven, part, clearly meant to immediately give the feeling of a 1970s conspiracy thriller and emphasise that Orion Pax is an extremely skilled and capable cop.
And, yes, Coptimus Prime. The one big IDW idea that has since become Dare Not Speak Its Name, with the reputation the US police has having taken such a deserved beating in the last decade as more people outside the groups they target start to realise what they’re actually like, it’s unlikely that this version will ever be used again. Indeed, we’ve just had some toys announced of characters who feature in this very story that are specifically meant to be the IDW versions. Senator Ratbat, Miner Megatron, Senator Spoiler and… Data Clerk Optimus Prime.
This is a far more mood setting opening that that to the first, more character driven, part, clearly meant to immediately give the feeling of a 1970s conspiracy thriller and emphasise that Orion Pax is an extremely skilled and capable cop.
And, yes, Coptimus Prime. The one big IDW idea that has since become Dare Not Speak Its Name, with the reputation the US police has having taken such a deserved beating in the last decade as more people outside the groups they target start to realise what they’re actually like, it’s unlikely that this version will ever be used again. Indeed, we’ve just had some toys announced of characters who feature in this very story that are specifically meant to be the IDW versions. Senator Ratbat, Miner Megatron, Senator Spoiler and… Data Clerk Optimus Prime.
Worried he has no moral compass, as any cop should be.
The chain of logic of making Prime a cop in his pre-war life is actually perfectly sensible considering the time. It gives him all the skills a military commander would need, without going so far as to have him be just career military, like in the Marvel days.
I think a British writer (assuming it was all Roberts idea, but I’ve never seen any indication it wasn’t) a decade ago would easily have had a more charitable idea of US cops as well. Roberts is a little older than me, so I suspect he was watching shows like NYPD Blue where, as corrupt as The Man upstairs might be, beat cops are straight up blue-collar working-class guys doing the best they can. Just like docker Orion Pax was in the cartoon, keeping the best of all worlds.
I think we are all much more aware of the flaws in that viewpoint now, and indeed, when an actual American in John Barber gets his hands on the idea, he will start deconstructing and calling out Orion Pax a great deal harder. Though, as with the stuff with Megatron last issue, there’s certainly plenty of milage to be gotten out of this as we go along.
The news is interrupted by both a storm, and three, as the script calls them, “Enforcers”, three big beefy intimidating guys who just want a nice, friendly word with the famous “Super-cop” who’s been turning the Dead End around, about their pal Whirl. Who is currently in jail for beating Megatron, suggesting Pax did actually notice his wounds. Or Springarm is a narc.
I think a British writer (assuming it was all Roberts idea, but I’ve never seen any indication it wasn’t) a decade ago would easily have had a more charitable idea of US cops as well. Roberts is a little older than me, so I suspect he was watching shows like NYPD Blue where, as corrupt as The Man upstairs might be, beat cops are straight up blue-collar working-class guys doing the best they can. Just like docker Orion Pax was in the cartoon, keeping the best of all worlds.
I think we are all much more aware of the flaws in that viewpoint now, and indeed, when an actual American in John Barber gets his hands on the idea, he will start deconstructing and calling out Orion Pax a great deal harder. Though, as with the stuff with Megatron last issue, there’s certainly plenty of milage to be gotten out of this as we go along.
The news is interrupted by both a storm, and three, as the script calls them, “Enforcers”, three big beefy intimidating guys who just want a nice, friendly word with the famous “Super-cop” who’s been turning the Dead End around, about their pal Whirl. Who is currently in jail for beating Megatron, suggesting Pax did actually notice his wounds. Or Springarm is a narc.
Wants to be Tony Benn, is actually Tony Blair.
Turns out Whirl has “Friends” in Very High Places, and their perfectly amiable advice is Whirl has learnt his lesson and should probably be let go now. To which Prime’s response is basically to bugger off, he is the law and he’s going to do things properly. Making the enforcers leave, but with the lead one sadly shaking his head about what a shame it is how, the more you build up something worthwhile like Pax has done, the rougher it is when it all comes crashing down.
It's a nice, ominous scene where Roberts gets to show more range than we’ve seen from him yet, and Milne gets to go to town on the enforcers being both intimidating but also very, very cordial.
In this second part, the ratio of past to present scenes is switched from the first, meaning that this is just followed by one page on Omega Supreme, with Prime confessing to Ratchet that he feels how Megatron played him has made him feel his decision is going to be flawed, and when Ratchet sarcastically (even using air quotes) asks about using the wisdom of the Matrix, Prime recalls how much it hurt when he first took the object on, making him feel like he was being tested for worthiness. But now he feels like he’s come to rely on it too much…
Which is really just a setup page, but it’s nice Ratchet has stopped being your racist uncle after a few pints.
Back in the past, Springarm and fellow cop Wheelarch are both returning from a surprisingly quiet patrol (where the script makes a careful note that their “Akira” style bike modes could be ridden by another Transformer), with Springarm in awe of their new boss and how he’s cleaned up the Dead End. Turns out, if Pax was ever going to quote a British Labour politician, it would be Tony Blair and “Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”.
It's a nice, ominous scene where Roberts gets to show more range than we’ve seen from him yet, and Milne gets to go to town on the enforcers being both intimidating but also very, very cordial.
In this second part, the ratio of past to present scenes is switched from the first, meaning that this is just followed by one page on Omega Supreme, with Prime confessing to Ratchet that he feels how Megatron played him has made him feel his decision is going to be flawed, and when Ratchet sarcastically (even using air quotes) asks about using the wisdom of the Matrix, Prime recalls how much it hurt when he first took the object on, making him feel like he was being tested for worthiness. But now he feels like he’s come to rely on it too much…
Which is really just a setup page, but it’s nice Ratchet has stopped being your racist uncle after a few pints.
Back in the past, Springarm and fellow cop Wheelarch are both returning from a surprisingly quiet patrol (where the script makes a careful note that their “Akira” style bike modes could be ridden by another Transformer), with Springarm in awe of their new boss and how he’s cleaned up the Dead End. Turns out, if Pax was ever going to quote a British Labour politician, it would be Tony Blair and “Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”.
We only ever meet two people so religious they have the Cybertronian equivalent of a cross necklace, and nothing good happens to either one of them,
Something represented by how, when they get back to base, the reason the streets have been so quiet turns out to be that Pax, needing to vent has gone out and arrested everyone he could get his hands on.
Which, considering the Dead End is the Cybertron equivalent of Skid Row, is definitely an almost immediate sign of how the Coptimus idea has aged badly. These aren’t criminals, they’re the homeless and drug addicts. The best the script can do is suggest there are some dealers amongst their clients in the crowd. A cop has gone out and beaten up and arrested every vulnerable member of society he can get his hands on in his patch just because a big beefy man was mildly intimidating to him. And it’s presented unironically as a “Wow, this guy is cool” moment. It’s almost certainly not a scene you’d do now, at least not from a generally very left-wing writer.
And this is after Pax has had chance to let Megatron’s writing sink in on him, telling Springarm (who for some reason, needs reminding who Megatron is, despite him being the reason a fellow cop is in sing-sing right now) about his earlier experience with the Enforcers, how he thinks they were, from their design, senate security, making him wonder about Megatron’s claims about corruption and conspiracy. Even though, despite having had to throw one of his own guys into sing-sing for brutality, he can’t quite countenance that idea yet. Because he’s an idiot.
He also mentions Megatron has three questions he’d like to ask the Senate, which, for those who know how this story ends, is the pin being pulled out of the grenade.
Which, considering the Dead End is the Cybertron equivalent of Skid Row, is definitely an almost immediate sign of how the Coptimus idea has aged badly. These aren’t criminals, they’re the homeless and drug addicts. The best the script can do is suggest there are some dealers amongst their clients in the crowd. A cop has gone out and beaten up and arrested every vulnerable member of society he can get his hands on in his patch just because a big beefy man was mildly intimidating to him. And it’s presented unironically as a “Wow, this guy is cool” moment. It’s almost certainly not a scene you’d do now, at least not from a generally very left-wing writer.
And this is after Pax has had chance to let Megatron’s writing sink in on him, telling Springarm (who for some reason, needs reminding who Megatron is, despite him being the reason a fellow cop is in sing-sing right now) about his earlier experience with the Enforcers, how he thinks they were, from their design, senate security, making him wonder about Megatron’s claims about corruption and conspiracy. Even though, despite having had to throw one of his own guys into sing-sing for brutality, he can’t quite countenance that idea yet. Because he’s an idiot.
He also mentions Megatron has three questions he’d like to ask the Senate, which, for those who know how this story ends, is the pin being pulled out of the grenade.
"It's hard being this amazing"
Springarm tries to offer Pax religious consolation, which is mainly a good excuse to get in some concepts that More Than Meets the Eye is going to develop, such as Mortilus, Adaptus, and Springarm’s face tattoo of a little Matrix. Whilst fore fronting the idea that Pax doesn’t believe in any of it, regarding the Matrix as more of a powerful bauble and preferring more direct ways to work through his problems.
So, after dropping that irony, he goes out to assault more people committing the crime of being homeless.
In the present, Optimus uses an opportunity he’s never had before to ask Rodimus something only he can answer: What was it like to merge with the Matrix?
Now, I’m not sure if I’ve just misunderstood what Costa meant to have happened in those issues, or if Roberts simply hadn’t read them and is guessing, but I’m not sure “Wearing it round his neck and using it as a car battery” counts as being a proper Matrix bearer, but it is very, very funny how hard Rodimus lays it on about what a great, pleasurable experience it was. To the point of making Optimus uncomfortable as he remembers his own pain the first time.
It's even more amusing in retrospect as, though they won’t have many scenes together, Optimus will largely treat Rodimus like something nasty he’s stepped in for the rest of the run, so this really did get to him.
In the past, Pax must be having a slow night, as he’s only found a couple of people to charge with existing with intent, and he returns to the station to first find Wheelarch’s dead body on the steps. He draws his gun (and at this point in the script, Roberts specifically asks for a realistic room sweeping, with a throwaway bit about not being sure if things have changed as “It’s been years since I was on the force”, he may well be joking there, but interesting if not that he gives Pax his old job) and finds the heads of his two assistants in the trophy cabinet.
So, after dropping that irony, he goes out to assault more people committing the crime of being homeless.
In the present, Optimus uses an opportunity he’s never had before to ask Rodimus something only he can answer: What was it like to merge with the Matrix?
Now, I’m not sure if I’ve just misunderstood what Costa meant to have happened in those issues, or if Roberts simply hadn’t read them and is guessing, but I’m not sure “Wearing it round his neck and using it as a car battery” counts as being a proper Matrix bearer, but it is very, very funny how hard Rodimus lays it on about what a great, pleasurable experience it was. To the point of making Optimus uncomfortable as he remembers his own pain the first time.
It's even more amusing in retrospect as, though they won’t have many scenes together, Optimus will largely treat Rodimus like something nasty he’s stepped in for the rest of the run, so this really did get to him.
In the past, Pax must be having a slow night, as he’s only found a couple of people to charge with existing with intent, and he returns to the station to first find Wheelarch’s dead body on the steps. He draws his gun (and at this point in the script, Roberts specifically asks for a realistic room sweeping, with a throwaway bit about not being sure if things have changed as “It’s been years since I was on the force”, he may well be joking there, but interesting if not that he gives Pax his old job) and finds the heads of his two assistants in the trophy cabinet.
He just found out about that Pride NYDP car where the artist snuck "ACAB" onto it.
Which is a wonderfully macabre image, very in keeping with both the style of Wreckers and the sort of the dark humour we’ll be seeing even more of next year.
Prime’s reaction is pure horror, turned to anger as he sees the enforcers dragging off Whirl (not really treating him as a friend as they do so, expect more of that backstory in the future) and dramatically shouts “DON’T MOVE” whilst pulling the most Billy Big Balls pose.
Which is the fundamental conflict of the human soul, knowing that Cop Prime is a terrible idea, but also that Roberts writes him in a damn cool way. Indeed, Roberts probably writes the best “Hero” Prime of any IDW writer, with the others focusing more on his angst and tensions. Pax’s earlier statement that he works through his issues more directly (with his fists) is more in keeping with Marvel Prime, and actually kind of a refreshing change.
It’s also a good example of what the artist brings to the table, as in the script, this panel isn’t especially called out that it should slap so hard, but Milne makes it a standout (whilst also ignoring the direction that Prime should have a small handgun pulled from a hip compartment. More on Milne and guns in a minute).
In the first of two rapid instances of undercutting such heroic nonsense, he realises too late that one of the Enforcers isn’t with the other two and gets attacked from behind by the third. Who smashes half his faceplate off (he likes to see the screams), and in a nasty dirty smackdown, Pax winds up at his trophy cabinet. From which he dramatically grabs a riffle (which isn’t really as the script describes a “Blunderbuss” style weapon, instead both weapons Milne gives Pax are more like prototypes of his most famous gun), declaring “I’m not really one for macho sound bites, but in your case, I’ll make an exception!” …
Prime’s reaction is pure horror, turned to anger as he sees the enforcers dragging off Whirl (not really treating him as a friend as they do so, expect more of that backstory in the future) and dramatically shouts “DON’T MOVE” whilst pulling the most Billy Big Balls pose.
Which is the fundamental conflict of the human soul, knowing that Cop Prime is a terrible idea, but also that Roberts writes him in a damn cool way. Indeed, Roberts probably writes the best “Hero” Prime of any IDW writer, with the others focusing more on his angst and tensions. Pax’s earlier statement that he works through his issues more directly (with his fists) is more in keeping with Marvel Prime, and actually kind of a refreshing change.
It’s also a good example of what the artist brings to the table, as in the script, this panel isn’t especially called out that it should slap so hard, but Milne makes it a standout (whilst also ignoring the direction that Prime should have a small handgun pulled from a hip compartment. More on Milne and guns in a minute).
In the first of two rapid instances of undercutting such heroic nonsense, he realises too late that one of the Enforcers isn’t with the other two and gets attacked from behind by the third. Who smashes half his faceplate off (he likes to see the screams), and in a nasty dirty smackdown, Pax winds up at his trophy cabinet. From which he dramatically grabs a riffle (which isn’t really as the script describes a “Blunderbuss” style weapon, instead both weapons Milne gives Pax are more like prototypes of his most famous gun), declaring “I’m not really one for macho sound bites, but in your case, I’ll make an exception!” …
Milne just cheerfully handing those pages in, forefronting the canons, with not one person noticing till it was too late.
But, before he can get a macho soundbite out, turns out the gun won’t fire. And the script makes it clear that it’s not jammed, nor has Pax forgotten that you don’t keep a display gun loaded. No, it’s a fake gun. Which, considering it’s his trophy cabinet, makes him a bit of a prat.
Stuck behind a desk with only Springarm’s body and his scattered trophies for company, the smug Lead Enforcer starts to ask what use all those commendations and awards are to him now?
To which Pax has a literal answer, using his Autobrand awards as throwing stars, which not only creates enough of a distraction for him to escape to a cupboard (oddly, taking Springarm with him), but also, and this is clearer in the script, killing one of the Enforcers with a stab to the forehead.
In the cupboard, we get one of the most unintentionally funny moments of the series. In his one-page appearance last issue, the script makes it clear that Pax should be in his Spotlight: Blurr design. Instead, Milne draws Prime’s standard “Past” look, as seen in Stormbringer. A look with two arm canons, something that wasn’t a problem last issue, but creates an issue here were Prime is meant to be desperate and unarmed. And absolutely no one seems to have realised this till the very last second, with no chance to at least ask Milne to not draw the canons on him this issue. So, Pax has to randomly state out loud that he’s trapped with only “decorative” arm canons.
Which is the most hilariously ham-fisted fix, that makes the whole Cop Prime thing much worse, because how provocative is it for a policeman to pretend to have drawn guns at all times? Perhaps saying he’d used up his ammo on patrol would have been better, but then, he’d have been using it on homeless people.
Stuck behind a desk with only Springarm’s body and his scattered trophies for company, the smug Lead Enforcer starts to ask what use all those commendations and awards are to him now?
To which Pax has a literal answer, using his Autobrand awards as throwing stars, which not only creates enough of a distraction for him to escape to a cupboard (oddly, taking Springarm with him), but also, and this is clearer in the script, killing one of the Enforcers with a stab to the forehead.
In the cupboard, we get one of the most unintentionally funny moments of the series. In his one-page appearance last issue, the script makes it clear that Pax should be in his Spotlight: Blurr design. Instead, Milne draws Prime’s standard “Past” look, as seen in Stormbringer. A look with two arm canons, something that wasn’t a problem last issue, but creates an issue here were Prime is meant to be desperate and unarmed. And absolutely no one seems to have realised this till the very last second, with no chance to at least ask Milne to not draw the canons on him this issue. So, Pax has to randomly state out loud that he’s trapped with only “decorative” arm canons.
Which is the most hilariously ham-fisted fix, that makes the whole Cop Prime thing much worse, because how provocative is it for a policeman to pretend to have drawn guns at all times? Perhaps saying he’d used up his ammo on patrol would have been better, but then, he’d have been using it on homeless people.
This fight has some of *the* great Prime panels.
As the enforcers call him out (making jokes about the other two cops meeting them “Head-on”), Pax realises Springarm’s Transformation Cog is still warm. Though the script has one last valiant attempt by Roberts to get his old fanzine days term “Morphcore” into official canon over the actual term from the cartoon.
So, with deep regret to wherever Springarm is watching from, we get the payoff to the rule of three as, after two attempts to look really cool have been immediately subverted, Pax finally gets to fully show what he can do as he auto-transforms Springarm, and rides his bike form out of the cupboard, its guns blasting away.
Which, as well as being more wonderfully morbid black comedy, also looks much cooler than that paragraph sounds.
And yes, Orion Pax comes out of the closet.
The rest of the fight is short work, with Pax reading them their Cybertronian rights (“You have the right to deactivate your vocal circuits!”) as he knocks them out, in exactly the same way Gene Hunt would, making the flow of inspiration very clear.
Outside, Whirl is crawling away as Pax catches up to him. He pleads that none of this was his idea (which will turn out to be true) and makes a desperate point that crossing the senate would be a terrible idea, for they’ll end Pax’s world, “Anything you say will be used to destroy you”. Which, we’ll find out, Whirl knows first-hand. So, what are you going to do, Captain?
So, with deep regret to wherever Springarm is watching from, we get the payoff to the rule of three as, after two attempts to look really cool have been immediately subverted, Pax finally gets to fully show what he can do as he auto-transforms Springarm, and rides his bike form out of the cupboard, its guns blasting away.
Which, as well as being more wonderfully morbid black comedy, also looks much cooler than that paragraph sounds.
And yes, Orion Pax comes out of the closet.
The rest of the fight is short work, with Pax reading them their Cybertronian rights (“You have the right to deactivate your vocal circuits!”) as he knocks them out, in exactly the same way Gene Hunt would, making the flow of inspiration very clear.
Outside, Whirl is crawling away as Pax catches up to him. He pleads that none of this was his idea (which will turn out to be true) and makes a desperate point that crossing the senate would be a terrible idea, for they’ll end Pax’s world, “Anything you say will be used to destroy you”. Which, we’ll find out, Whirl knows first-hand. So, what are you going to do, Captain?
The decorative non-working canons, smoking away there.
Well, I’d say killing three of their guys is already crossing them pretty hard, so it might be a moot point. But we clearly see the answer as we cut to the Senate, which has a massive statue of Primus bearing the legend “Freedom is the right of all civilised beings”.
I was going to say what clever foreshadowing this was that this story opens with the first on-panel appearance of Rung and closes with the first on panel appearance of Primus. But, in the script, it’s only an obelisk bearing this inscription, so maybe this was entirely a Milne touch? Either way, I believe Primus here is the first appearance of an Aligned design in IDW, but not the last.
Senator Protus is attempting to give a speech about the attack on Nominus Prime that Sentinel (no last name, yet) thinks will change everything, though the interrupting Ratbat is the one really laying some pipe, talking of rogue groups like the “Cyberutopians”.
A slightly confusingly Ironfist coloured guard keeps interrupting Sentinel on the progress of an intruder, who is successfully beating off every attempt to stop him entering, which the security chief cheerfully ignores until it becomes too late, and a battered and bruised Orion Pax presents Whirl ass first to the government.
Sentinel then makes the slightly odd choice to do nothing, telling his people to hold fire because he wants “to see how this pans out”, which just makes me think of that Simpson’s episode where Lisa gets to interrupt a TV broadcast because the person up in the gallery is being sacked tomorrow and doesn’t care.
Pax then gives a very rousing, angry speech about Whirl, how he’s a tool of the senate that lets them keep their hands clean as they sit in detached judgement over everyone else, punishing anyone who has a rogue thought, and it took a miner from Tarn to teach him that (and I should say, in my attempt to get through the second half of last issue a bit quicker than the first, I didn’t touch on any of the apartheid constructed cold/forged stuff Megatron took exception to, but plenty of that to come).
I was going to say what clever foreshadowing this was that this story opens with the first on-panel appearance of Rung and closes with the first on panel appearance of Primus. But, in the script, it’s only an obelisk bearing this inscription, so maybe this was entirely a Milne touch? Either way, I believe Primus here is the first appearance of an Aligned design in IDW, but not the last.
Senator Protus is attempting to give a speech about the attack on Nominus Prime that Sentinel (no last name, yet) thinks will change everything, though the interrupting Ratbat is the one really laying some pipe, talking of rogue groups like the “Cyberutopians”.
A slightly confusingly Ironfist coloured guard keeps interrupting Sentinel on the progress of an intruder, who is successfully beating off every attempt to stop him entering, which the security chief cheerfully ignores until it becomes too late, and a battered and bruised Orion Pax presents Whirl ass first to the government.
Sentinel then makes the slightly odd choice to do nothing, telling his people to hold fire because he wants “to see how this pans out”, which just makes me think of that Simpson’s episode where Lisa gets to interrupt a TV broadcast because the person up in the gallery is being sacked tomorrow and doesn’t care.
Pax then gives a very rousing, angry speech about Whirl, how he’s a tool of the senate that lets them keep their hands clean as they sit in detached judgement over everyone else, punishing anyone who has a rogue thought, and it took a miner from Tarn to teach him that (and I should say, in my attempt to get through the second half of last issue a bit quicker than the first, I didn’t touch on any of the apartheid constructed cold/forged stuff Megatron took exception to, but plenty of that to come).
Welcome to Transformers political Twitter.
Which is a good start, but then Pax has to oddly segue into the Hasbro mandate of getting “Autonomous robots” in there, claiming aliens call them “Autobots” to mean “Automaton”, but he’s reclaiming the term to mean free thinking robots, masters of their own destiny!
And it’s very white cop to try and reclaim a slur to white people that isn’t a slur.
Which is when we get the most famous page of this comic, possibly the most famous page IDW ever did. Where Pax asks Megatron’s three questions. Which are just a full quote of British politician Tony Benn, where the third question is “And how do we get rid of you?”
Benn was, effectively the Jeremy Corbyn of his day (and Corbyn would certainly hope to be as fondly remembered as Benn is now, however divisive he could be in life), a socialist campaigner who stood up to what he would consider to injustices and compromises too far within his own party, regardless of consequences to himself. Generally, a good solid egg, if unfortunately, very anti-EU.
Also, someone you’d have to be either old enough to remember them in their peak in politics during the 70s, or a dedicated student of British politics generally or Labour in particular, as he never quite managed to attain a high enough office to be the sort of person you’d learn about in school. Indeed, I was surprised researching this that he was alive and active (especially against the Iraq war) until 2014, he felt like such a part of the pre-Thatcher pipe smoking world of Westminster.
Which means someone could have shown him this comic. Possibly in 2014.
So, it’s fair to say, a good chunk of people, especially Americans, had no idea this was a real quote. I certainly didn’t.
That means this page gets shared all over the internet by people as an Optimus Prime quote, to the point it’s bordering on parody that any time a Transformers fan wants to comment on anything political, up it pops.
And it’s very white cop to try and reclaim a slur to white people that isn’t a slur.
Which is when we get the most famous page of this comic, possibly the most famous page IDW ever did. Where Pax asks Megatron’s three questions. Which are just a full quote of British politician Tony Benn, where the third question is “And how do we get rid of you?”
Benn was, effectively the Jeremy Corbyn of his day (and Corbyn would certainly hope to be as fondly remembered as Benn is now, however divisive he could be in life), a socialist campaigner who stood up to what he would consider to injustices and compromises too far within his own party, regardless of consequences to himself. Generally, a good solid egg, if unfortunately, very anti-EU.
Also, someone you’d have to be either old enough to remember them in their peak in politics during the 70s, or a dedicated student of British politics generally or Labour in particular, as he never quite managed to attain a high enough office to be the sort of person you’d learn about in school. Indeed, I was surprised researching this that he was alive and active (especially against the Iraq war) until 2014, he felt like such a part of the pre-Thatcher pipe smoking world of Westminster.
Which means someone could have shown him this comic. Possibly in 2014.
So, it’s fair to say, a good chunk of people, especially Americans, had no idea this was a real quote. I certainly didn’t.
That means this page gets shared all over the internet by people as an Optimus Prime quote, to the point it’s bordering on parody that any time a Transformers fan wants to comment on anything political, up it pops.
It'll take a long time for any sort of Megatron sentence to be carried out.
So naturally, now I’ve reached the era of IDW comics people actually want to read about, my first act is to immediately alienate them by saying I loathe this page. Partly because it’s very on the nose to just do a massive, long real quote. Roberts will enjoy a bit of on the nose topical humour (some dark times ahead when we get to Trump and Farage days), but once he’s more settled as a writer, it’ll usually just be a pithy soundbite at best.
He surely only got away with this because the American editors didn’t know it was a quote. Imagine them letting Prime walk into a room and do a big chunk of “I have a dream” whilst attributing it to Megatron (obviously not a perfect analogy, but Americans, insert your own moderate level fame political figure and one of their moderately famous quotes).
And that’s where the real issue is, and as with some of the Cop stuff and a few things we’ll see later when it comes to things like the treatment of neurodivergent characters, I think Roberts is a very passionate about his politics writer who wants his work to say something, which he’ll do very successfully. But there are times where he simply hasn’t thought through the actual implications of how he’s tying those views to the story of outer space robot people.
And saying Megatron, future SPACE Hitler/Stalin, genocidal killer of billions, started out with leftist British style politics is baffling. And ironically exactly the sort of thing Roberts would get annoyed about when the British press would later do stuff like putting Corbyn in a little Russian hat and on a red background to suggest that following him will inevitably lead to Stalinism.
It's a very odd, back to front take that feels like it has only achieved its level of memefication because not many of the people sharing it know the wider context and is the biggest sign in both issues that this is a writer new to professional work. Something added to when Pax is dragged out and Sentinel cheerfully comments that it doesn’t matter what his name is, as they won’t be hearing of this guy again. A line that on TV would be delivered with some serious mugging to camera at the irony.
One final visit to the present is also the only appearance of Megatron in this issue, something that’s easy to forget now this story is normally read as a whole rather than individual part.
Prime lays down the facts: He once gave a speech in defence of Megatron when he smoked a pipe and would do the same today, but a choice has to be made. And, as he truly believes freedom is the right of all sentient beings, the choice is Megatron’s. If found guilty, death, or imprisonment?
And Megatron choses death.
After the failure of the last scene, this much simpler more direct one packs more of a wallop with far less. It also has a nice coda of it turning out that, to make sure he isn’t too reliant upon it, Prime has left the Matrix with Ratchet (who assures him that he could have told Prime the answer to that question) during the interview. So, it was a page of present-day Orion Pax.
And whilst Ratchetius Prime had the Matrix, it fixed Sunstreaker’s legs, so I’m assuming he’ll now firmly believe in mystical powers. Even if the Matrix having such never mentioned before in IDW powers is a rather clunky way of foreshadowing a reveal on the very next page.
He surely only got away with this because the American editors didn’t know it was a quote. Imagine them letting Prime walk into a room and do a big chunk of “I have a dream” whilst attributing it to Megatron (obviously not a perfect analogy, but Americans, insert your own moderate level fame political figure and one of their moderately famous quotes).
And that’s where the real issue is, and as with some of the Cop stuff and a few things we’ll see later when it comes to things like the treatment of neurodivergent characters, I think Roberts is a very passionate about his politics writer who wants his work to say something, which he’ll do very successfully. But there are times where he simply hasn’t thought through the actual implications of how he’s tying those views to the story of outer space robot people.
And saying Megatron, future SPACE Hitler/Stalin, genocidal killer of billions, started out with leftist British style politics is baffling. And ironically exactly the sort of thing Roberts would get annoyed about when the British press would later do stuff like putting Corbyn in a little Russian hat and on a red background to suggest that following him will inevitably lead to Stalinism.
It's a very odd, back to front take that feels like it has only achieved its level of memefication because not many of the people sharing it know the wider context and is the biggest sign in both issues that this is a writer new to professional work. Something added to when Pax is dragged out and Sentinel cheerfully comments that it doesn’t matter what his name is, as they won’t be hearing of this guy again. A line that on TV would be delivered with some serious mugging to camera at the irony.
One final visit to the present is also the only appearance of Megatron in this issue, something that’s easy to forget now this story is normally read as a whole rather than individual part.
Prime lays down the facts: He once gave a speech in defence of Megatron when he smoked a pipe and would do the same today, but a choice has to be made. And, as he truly believes freedom is the right of all sentient beings, the choice is Megatron’s. If found guilty, death, or imprisonment?
And Megatron choses death.
After the failure of the last scene, this much simpler more direct one packs more of a wallop with far less. It also has a nice coda of it turning out that, to make sure he isn’t too reliant upon it, Prime has left the Matrix with Ratchet (who assures him that he could have told Prime the answer to that question) during the interview. So, it was a page of present-day Orion Pax.
And whilst Ratchetius Prime had the Matrix, it fixed Sunstreaker’s legs, so I’m assuming he’ll now firmly believe in mystical powers. Even if the Matrix having such never mentioned before in IDW powers is a rather clunky way of foreshadowing a reveal on the very next page.
What pals.
A page set in the past, when Pax, now free and repaired, is meeting an as yet unnamed Senator who arranged for his release without charges, at the Ark 1 Memorial. Which is intentionally very Cold War, though considering his stance towards people living on the streets, it’s hard not to wonder if Prime is thinking the bench they’re sat on could be replaced with anti-homeless architecture.
The Senator (and there were genuinely no plans for reveal for him at this point, not the last time that’ll happen) reveals the shock truth: The Senate is so corrupt they arranged the assassination attempt on Nominus, all to hide that “the Creation Matrix”, as the Knights of Cybertron called it, can create life, and they want complete access to it whilst Prime is out of the picture.
This shocks Pax, who is then told to go back to work and wait to see what his role against this will be.
Leaving Pax just one last question, he feels different since his repairs. Making the Senator admit that modifications have been made, and Pax should look within himself next time he’s alone. I think he meant metaphorically, but Pax has already shown he’s not the brightest so, in the reflection of his rebuilt trophy cabinet, he sees (in sharp contrast to how it appeared when damaged getting into the Senate earlier) the inside of his chest now has a Matrix shaped hole in it…
Boy, this Senator guy sounds kinda unethical. I hope he doesn’t have a history of this sort of thing.
For all I dislike Cop Prime and the Tony Benn thing (and it’s amusing to me his Wikipedia page mentions he was on a Doctor Who DVD special feature but leaves this part of his legacy out. I thought Transformers fans loved to edit a Wiki), the sheer pace, action and even if occasionally fumbled thoughtfulness of this story is still so much stronger than anything we’ve seen on the ongoing, or indeed, arguably even from IDW.
I’ve waffled on a lot, this may actually be the longest thing I’ve written yet, so I’ll end by simply saying a fresh and eager Roberts and a hitting the peak of their powers art team (Milne is especially outstanding) have created a two issue story that got more to it that any six issue arc we’ve had so far, with a breath of fresh air that sets up so many right threads that will take years to pay-off. The real IDW starts here.
Or will in a few weeks anyway, first… back to Chaos. In more ways than one.
THE TRANSFORMERS ISSUE 22
2011
COMMENT
KO-FI
The Senator (and there were genuinely no plans for reveal for him at this point, not the last time that’ll happen) reveals the shock truth: The Senate is so corrupt they arranged the assassination attempt on Nominus, all to hide that “the Creation Matrix”, as the Knights of Cybertron called it, can create life, and they want complete access to it whilst Prime is out of the picture.
This shocks Pax, who is then told to go back to work and wait to see what his role against this will be.
Leaving Pax just one last question, he feels different since his repairs. Making the Senator admit that modifications have been made, and Pax should look within himself next time he’s alone. I think he meant metaphorically, but Pax has already shown he’s not the brightest so, in the reflection of his rebuilt trophy cabinet, he sees (in sharp contrast to how it appeared when damaged getting into the Senate earlier) the inside of his chest now has a Matrix shaped hole in it…
Boy, this Senator guy sounds kinda unethical. I hope he doesn’t have a history of this sort of thing.
For all I dislike Cop Prime and the Tony Benn thing (and it’s amusing to me his Wikipedia page mentions he was on a Doctor Who DVD special feature but leaves this part of his legacy out. I thought Transformers fans loved to edit a Wiki), the sheer pace, action and even if occasionally fumbled thoughtfulness of this story is still so much stronger than anything we’ve seen on the ongoing, or indeed, arguably even from IDW.
I’ve waffled on a lot, this may actually be the longest thing I’ve written yet, so I’ll end by simply saying a fresh and eager Roberts and a hitting the peak of their powers art team (Milne is especially outstanding) have created a two issue story that got more to it that any six issue arc we’ve had so far, with a breath of fresh air that sets up so many right threads that will take years to pay-off. The real IDW starts here.
Or will in a few weeks anyway, first… back to Chaos. In more ways than one.
THE TRANSFORMERS ISSUE 22
2011
COMMENT
KO-FI
