Your Promises, They Look Like Lies, Your Honesty, like a Back That Hides a Knife.
The Transformers Issue 24: Chaos Part 1: Lamentations. August 24th 2011.
Oh man, irony really is a b--
Well, here we are, the big grand finale epic of the last two years of the book, in particular the everything that has been building up since the Ironhide miniseries (the alternating story will cover the Earth side of things).
So, that, broadly speaking, it’s remembered as the thing treading water between Chaos Theory and the start of the real new era in December is not the greatest sign of things to come. But perhaps it will surprise me?
Two key things to note going in: The first being that though this is officially all Costa, James Roberts does have share a “story by” credit with him, which apparently mainly boiled down to suggesting the things that needed to be seeded for the next phase and writing the dialogue for the characters he’ll be using in his own book, though that second part is not as apparent in this first issue.
In retrospect, the surprising thing there is it’s not John Barber doing the setup, as Roberts will very much go increasingly into his own niche as the years go on, leaving Barber to control the overall direction and core stories far more than him.
Oh man, irony really is a b--
Well, here we are, the big grand finale epic of the last two years of the book, in particular the everything that has been building up since the Ironhide miniseries (the alternating story will cover the Earth side of things).
So, that, broadly speaking, it’s remembered as the thing treading water between Chaos Theory and the start of the real new era in December is not the greatest sign of things to come. But perhaps it will surprise me?
Two key things to note going in: The first being that though this is officially all Costa, James Roberts does have share a “story by” credit with him, which apparently mainly boiled down to suggesting the things that needed to be seeded for the next phase and writing the dialogue for the characters he’ll be using in his own book, though that second part is not as apparent in this first issue.
In retrospect, the surprising thing there is it’s not John Barber doing the setup, as Roberts will very much go increasingly into his own niche as the years go on, leaving Barber to control the overall direction and core stories far more than him.
What a villain.
I’m not a huge fan of the “Two writers on a crossover with their individual characters neatly divided” idea, it feels like it misses the chance to enrich characters by letting a new voice speak for them, and, though Barber and Roberts will get better at it as they go along, more often than not, you can feel the divide.
The other thing to note is this is the first issue on art for Livio Ramondelli. Who is going to be the most Marmite Transformers since Dan Reed in the Marvel days, with people either loving the painted look and scale to his art or loathing the poor perspectives and proportions.
Myself, I am a fan, but think he has very specific strengths, such as big imposing fights, and very specific weaknesses, he’s not a guy you’d want for a walk and talk scene as facial expressions are definitely not a strength, and therefore how well his art will work will depend on how it is deployed.
Not that you’d tell that from the first page which is peak Cost writing: A full spread establishing shot of nothing. In this case, the Kimia weapons research facility from Last Stand of the Wreckers.
The other thing to note is this is the first issue on art for Livio Ramondelli. Who is going to be the most Marmite Transformers since Dan Reed in the Marvel days, with people either loving the painted look and scale to his art or loathing the poor perspectives and proportions.
Myself, I am a fan, but think he has very specific strengths, such as big imposing fights, and very specific weaknesses, he’s not a guy you’d want for a walk and talk scene as facial expressions are definitely not a strength, and therefore how well his art will work will depend on how it is deployed.
Not that you’d tell that from the first page which is peak Cost writing: A full spread establishing shot of nothing. In this case, the Kimia weapons research facility from Last Stand of the Wreckers.
"I remember nothing of the last few chats we had"
Aboard, Grotusque (apparently having given up his maverick mercenary ways), Cloudburst (who does remember he’s a Pretender) and Downshift talk about not having a home, living in shuttles and space stations and how, honestly, security is really great there and that’s a security chief Downshift guarantee.
It’s a silly gag, but this immediately being proven wrong as Cyclonus and an army of Sweeps (everyone else in Galvatron’s forces has gone, where won’t be explained till next year), and blast their way in, killing everyone—though Grotusque at least will get better—bashing up the frankly not great looking statue of Ironfist and taking control of the satellite. Which the listening in Galvatron then orders come to Cybertron.
This is a strong action opening that should nicely set the scene for a fast romp.
Aboard Omega Supreme, Megatron has called Prime down to his cell to ask about what has happened on Cybertron, with the entire sequence feeling like it’s ignoring the last two issues very hard by repeating the very basic part of it and ignoring any development between them.
Something emphasised by Prime’s following conversation with Ironhide, which sees his old friend (though Prime appreciates his new young look) cheerfully say that Megatron is just a psychopath they should ignore.
Tell us how you feel, Mike.
It’s a silly gag, but this immediately being proven wrong as Cyclonus and an army of Sweeps (everyone else in Galvatron’s forces has gone, where won’t be explained till next year), and blast their way in, killing everyone—though Grotusque at least will get better—bashing up the frankly not great looking statue of Ironfist and taking control of the satellite. Which the listening in Galvatron then orders come to Cybertron.
This is a strong action opening that should nicely set the scene for a fast romp.
Aboard Omega Supreme, Megatron has called Prime down to his cell to ask about what has happened on Cybertron, with the entire sequence feeling like it’s ignoring the last two issues very hard by repeating the very basic part of it and ignoring any development between them.
Something emphasised by Prime’s following conversation with Ironhide, which sees his old friend (though Prime appreciates his new young look) cheerfully say that Megatron is just a psychopath they should ignore.
Tell us how you feel, Mike.
How Sunstreaker will be treated for the rest of IDW:
As Prime and Jetfire discuss how they’ve not been able to reach Chief Judge Tyrest (definitely a James Roberts written bit), Ironhide joins the troops and regals them with his story about punching Alpha Trion, something that gets a good amount of awe from Cliffjumper.
Sunstreaker tries to join in with his own take on Trion but is immediately given the cold shoulder and only Bob has any time for him. Which means that Costa isn’t just ignoring the last two issues, he’s cheerfully overriding his own issue that revealed everyone forgave him as well.
Now, Sunstreaker will wind up on the Lost Light, so this might be a James Roberts bit, but if Roberts ever had any plans for Sunstreaker beyond standing in the background, it’s never been revealed.
Sunstreaker tries to join in with his own take on Trion but is immediately given the cold shoulder and only Bob has any time for him. Which means that Costa isn’t just ignoring the last two issues, he’s cheerfully overriding his own issue that revealed everyone forgave him as well.
Now, Sunstreaker will wind up on the Lost Light, so this might be a James Roberts bit, but if Roberts ever had any plans for Sunstreaker beyond standing in the background, it’s never been revealed.
At least Rodimus remembers previous issues.
Arriving on Cybertron, there’s a nice flex from Galvatron of him calling down Omega Supreme by having all his troops fire their guns at once in binary code, creating a message that can be seen from space. Which, as Prime points out, sends a double message of telling them how big Galvatron’s army is.
On the surface, we get a very strange scene as it’s just Galvatron repeating his “Join me to fight a bigger evil” speech, and Prime’s refusal of it because he doesn’t trust the guy or his promises, with neither acting like they’ve done this before.
Maybe Mike Costa just doesn’t like any previous Transformers comics.
This leads to a big fight between Autobots and Sweeps, where Drift gets to have his first line of dialogue in a Cost issue after nearly two years, that line being “Whoa”.
Still, with the seal broken, after a bit more fighting (and Cyclonus joining in after Kimia arrives), Drift starts to wonder if maybe Galvatron is being genuine as he clearly hasn’t raised this army just to fight them.
Something Cliffjumper finds dubious, but there’s no further time to chat as it turns out Kimia isn’t just a satellite, it has an alternate mode of a big space gun, and, in an actually sensible use of a full-page spread, it starts to fire on the surface…
On the surface, we get a very strange scene as it’s just Galvatron repeating his “Join me to fight a bigger evil” speech, and Prime’s refusal of it because he doesn’t trust the guy or his promises, with neither acting like they’ve done this before.
Maybe Mike Costa just doesn’t like any previous Transformers comics.
This leads to a big fight between Autobots and Sweeps, where Drift gets to have his first line of dialogue in a Cost issue after nearly two years, that line being “Whoa”.
Still, with the seal broken, after a bit more fighting (and Cyclonus joining in after Kimia arrives), Drift starts to wonder if maybe Galvatron is being genuine as he clearly hasn’t raised this army just to fight them.
Something Cliffjumper finds dubious, but there’s no further time to chat as it turns out Kimia isn’t just a satellite, it has an alternate mode of a big space gun, and, in an actually sensible use of a full-page spread, it starts to fire on the surface…
WHOA
I said Ramondelli is an artist where the writer needs to play to his strengths and this one largely does, giving us some great striking visuals throughout. His zombie-like crawling poking Sweeps are especially great, and the double-page splash fight is also very good.
The art might be carrying it, but the plot, though very slight, is broadly harmless as well. There is this odd contempt for previous issues, including ones by the same writer, but something you can read through in about five minutes is actually something of a needed break after the intensity of the last two issues.
What it doesn’t really do is feel much like the start of an epic climax, being quite muted for all the action. But, so far, it’s not as bad as it could be and, with the way this series has gone over the last two years, I’ll take that.
Next week, back to Earth and Prowl on the prowl.
THE TRANSFORMERS ISSUE 23
2011
COMMENT
KO-FI
The art might be carrying it, but the plot, though very slight, is broadly harmless as well. There is this odd contempt for previous issues, including ones by the same writer, but something you can read through in about five minutes is actually something of a needed break after the intensity of the last two issues.
What it doesn’t really do is feel much like the start of an epic climax, being quite muted for all the action. But, so far, it’s not as bad as it could be and, with the way this series has gone over the last two years, I’ll take that.
Next week, back to Earth and Prowl on the prowl.
THE TRANSFORMERS ISSUE 23
2011
COMMENT
KO-FI
