Maybe Tomorrow, I’ll Want to Settle Down, Until Tomorrow, I’ll Just Keep Moving on.
Drift Issue 4, October 20th 2010.
This could have been prevented. I was a fool.
One of the basic and most famous rules of writing is Chekhov’s gun, the idea that you don’t just randomly introduce something your plot depends on at the moment you need it, but set it up beforehand. The classic example being that if you have a gun hanging on the wall in the first act, you fire it in the fourth.
I don’t know how Chekhov found the time to be so wise amidst all that time he spent looking for nuklear wessles, but all credit to the little Monkee haired helmsman.
This issue features what is technically a working example of this, but, it’s more like introducing the gun you’re going to use in the fourth act slightly earlier in the fourth act as, whilst they wait outside for the Slaver attack, Wing makes it clear the Circle of Light only use swords, and even then he won’t use the special Great Sword on his back as it uses the very spark of the wielder. Hmm, I wonder if Drift will wind up using it?
This could have been prevented. I was a fool.
One of the basic and most famous rules of writing is Chekhov’s gun, the idea that you don’t just randomly introduce something your plot depends on at the moment you need it, but set it up beforehand. The classic example being that if you have a gun hanging on the wall in the first act, you fire it in the fourth.
I don’t know how Chekhov found the time to be so wise amidst all that time he spent looking for nuklear wessles, but all credit to the little Monkee haired helmsman.
This issue features what is technically a working example of this, but, it’s more like introducing the gun you’re going to use in the fourth act slightly earlier in the fourth act as, whilst they wait outside for the Slaver attack, Wing makes it clear the Circle of Light only use swords, and even then he won’t use the special Great Sword on his back as it uses the very spark of the wielder. Hmm, I wonder if Drift will wind up using it?
"I love being a pacifist who has a friend with guns!"
As the Slavers begin their attack, a surprisingly fight happy member of the team does cheerfully tell Drift that now is the time to betray them if he’s going to do it. To which Drift replies by shooting and stabbing. Because, is a similar area of ethical dubiousness to the Baku in Star Trek: Insurrection, the Circle of Light have rules on what they will not do, but they’re absolutely happy to have outsiders come in and fight dirty for them.
As a grumpy Dai Atlas watches from inside the city, the Slaver leader, who turns out to be called Braid and I honestly couldn’t swear if he’s been called that before or not, decides Wing is the best fighter, and so goes to take him on, at the same time Lockdown wants a little word with Drift. Not that he’s interested in Drift’s idealistic view of a better Cybertron, and Drift himself loses interest in their little fight as Braid manages to lethally stab Wing through the chest.
As a grumpy Dai Atlas watches from inside the city, the Slaver leader, who turns out to be called Braid and I honestly couldn’t swear if he’s been called that before or not, decides Wing is the best fighter, and so goes to take him on, at the same time Lockdown wants a little word with Drift. Not that he’s interested in Drift’s idealistic view of a better Cybertron, and Drift himself loses interest in their little fight as Braid manages to lethally stab Wing through the chest.
He's been wing-clipped.
Well, if nothing else, this series is cheerfully hitting every single beat of this sort of story, all that’s missing (and you could call a nice subversion) is Wing doesn’t get a chance to pass on any last wisdom, all Drift and the still watching Dai Atlas can do is do a big scream.
Drift switches fighting partners in response but isn’t doing well. Luckily, Dai Atlas cares more about Wing than anyone else who’s died, so the entire Crystal City rises out of the ground…
Wait, they were doing their distraction from Crystal City on top of Crystal City? That seems… ill-advised.
Drift switches fighting partners in response but isn’t doing well. Luckily, Dai Atlas cares more about Wing than anyone else who’s died, so the entire Crystal City rises out of the ground…
Wait, they were doing their distraction from Crystal City on top of Crystal City? That seems… ill-advised.
So only swords, except for that guy with a missile rack on his back?
Still, Dai Atlas and everyone else comes out, making short work of the slavers, except Braid, who is left to a now Great Sword waving Drift. Considering how the start of the issue made a thing of how special this was, it’s actually a surprise that we don’t get a moment of him dramatically grabbing the sword from Wing’s body. Maybe they didn’t want to show him as a corpse robber?
Drift has the power of Greyskull… erm…Crystal City though and does an elaborate backflip as he declares “I am not a Decepticon!”, slicing the slaver in two.
So, I guess only one of them feels divided now.
Lockdown decides now is a good time to bugger off, and Dai Atlas declares the Crystal City will no longer hide, but will send out its message of peace like a beacon.
We’ll see how that goes.
Drift has the power of Greyskull… erm…Crystal City though and does an elaborate backflip as he declares “I am not a Decepticon!”, slicing the slaver in two.
So, I guess only one of them feels divided now.
Lockdown decides now is a good time to bugger off, and Dai Atlas declares the Crystal City will no longer hide, but will send out its message of peace like a beacon.
We’ll see how that goes.
He won't be shouldering much responsibility after this.
Drift is equally full of declarations, saying he’s going to fulfil his promise to Wing, and take all the slaves back to their homes. Though he doesn’t know what to do after, does he really belong to any side now?
Dai Atlas is so impressed he lets Drift keep the sword. Well, Wing won’t be needing it. But it’s also a memento, to stick true to what he’s learnt till he finds a place he can be at peace.
Which turns out to be “Now”, in Japan, as Earth mode Drift goes for a nice drive through the countryside.
Now, Drift hasn’t really appeared as more than a background figure in the ongoing, so we can’t really judge his state of mind. But it would be remarkable if Drift is at peace and content on Earth during that series, even if “Now” isn’t meant to be taken so literally as to mean right after an assassination attempt on his leader.
Dai Atlas is so impressed he lets Drift keep the sword. Well, Wing won’t be needing it. But it’s also a memento, to stick true to what he’s learnt till he finds a place he can be at peace.
Which turns out to be “Now”, in Japan, as Earth mode Drift goes for a nice drive through the countryside.
Now, Drift hasn’t really appeared as more than a background figure in the ongoing, so we can’t really judge his state of mind. But it would be remarkable if Drift is at peace and content on Earth during that series, even if “Now” isn’t meant to be taken so literally as to mean right after an assassination attempt on his leader.
Go buy him, kids!
Still, it means a four issue series that only exists (and presumably had an accelerated release schedule for the same reason) to promote the first Drift toy, features in in the design of that toy for a while two pages.
I’ve breezed through a lot of this series, and right to the end, there’s been very little to really say about it. It tells an old story in an obvious but harmless way, the Alex Milne art is fine, there’s very little outright bad here.
But, with Drift now relegated to non-speaking roles in the main book (I may be proven wrong here, but I don’t think he does anything of note again till the end of the Costa run, when he’s being set up for James Roberts), it’s a strangely timed miniseries, even with a toy to sell. And I don’t think you learn any real insight into Drift that you don’t get from his Spotlight. That the Circle of Light will be treated by later writers as very disposable can be seen as harsh, but it's also a fair reflection of this story.
The main bonus here is that, in context, a completely harmless run of issues is rather welcome. But compared to how we started 2010 with the secondary series being the Wreckers, it feels more than a few steps backwards.
Next week, will 13 be unlucky for Hot Rod?
THE TRANSFORMERS ISSUE 12
2010
COMMENT
KO-FI
I’ve breezed through a lot of this series, and right to the end, there’s been very little to really say about it. It tells an old story in an obvious but harmless way, the Alex Milne art is fine, there’s very little outright bad here.
But, with Drift now relegated to non-speaking roles in the main book (I may be proven wrong here, but I don’t think he does anything of note again till the end of the Costa run, when he’s being set up for James Roberts), it’s a strangely timed miniseries, even with a toy to sell. And I don’t think you learn any real insight into Drift that you don’t get from his Spotlight. That the Circle of Light will be treated by later writers as very disposable can be seen as harsh, but it's also a fair reflection of this story.
The main bonus here is that, in context, a completely harmless run of issues is rather welcome. But compared to how we started 2010 with the secondary series being the Wreckers, it feels more than a few steps backwards.
Next week, will 13 be unlucky for Hot Rod?
THE TRANSFORMERS ISSUE 12
2010
COMMENT
KO-FI
