Let’s do the Time Warp Again.
Robots in Disguise issue 10: Syndromica [2]. October 10th 2012.
Er… rhyming they call it…
Happy Spooky month 2012! I’m not sure how intentional it was to put out a darker story with monsters and Bludgeon as the October issue, but at the very least it’s a happy coincidence.
What isn’t a coincidence though, is Barber using the second part of his Optimus Prime obligation to resolve some long-standing and confusing continuity issues, whilst also do some long-term teasing that shows his increasing confidence in the future of this era.
As if he hadn’t set himself enough of a challenge in pulling off a good issue from that, he’s also decided to do it all via a homage to Lost, in particular the last season of Lost, the one that made even the most devoted fans look within their souls and realise they’d wasted five years of their lives.
In order to keep the resultant back and forth narrative clear, designated artist for the Weird Stuff Livio Ramondelli has to show off some skills he’s not often credited with, a strong and clear structure.
Er… rhyming they call it…
Happy Spooky month 2012! I’m not sure how intentional it was to put out a darker story with monsters and Bludgeon as the October issue, but at the very least it’s a happy coincidence.
What isn’t a coincidence though, is Barber using the second part of his Optimus Prime obligation to resolve some long-standing and confusing continuity issues, whilst also do some long-term teasing that shows his increasing confidence in the future of this era.
As if he hadn’t set himself enough of a challenge in pulling off a good issue from that, he’s also decided to do it all via a homage to Lost, in particular the last season of Lost, the one that made even the most devoted fans look within their souls and realise they’d wasted five years of their lives.
In order to keep the resultant back and forth narrative clear, designated artist for the Weird Stuff Livio Ramondelli has to show off some skills he’s not often credited with, a strong and clear structure.
What a view, to a kill.
As immediately shown by a first page that is carefully split up into 9 panels, showing the Reflector trio in their stolen time machine, arguing about what Shockwave actually wanted them to do now they’ve arrived at their destination, before a planet suddenly appears in front of them from nowhere, their energon store (which was supposed to last 100 years) has been completely depleted and an Autobot shuttle is now chasing them.
And in the middle row of panels amidst all this, Viewfinder is sat in his command chair… they suddenly dead with a massive shard of SPACE glass through his chest in the same chair, as voices around him discuss how long he’s been deceased, before being back in command and thoroughly confused.
The success with which this is conveyed is essential for the following 21 pages to work.
The second page repeats the trick, with the same layout and same middle time-jump panel, as the pursuing ship turns out to be Pax’s, having lose Jhiaxus, but found a new enemy to pursue (interesting that, despite being post-war, Pax’s first reaction to seeing an unknown Decepticon ship is to chase it), with Hardhead equally as confused by the appearing planet as the Reflectors were.
And in the middle row of panels amidst all this, Viewfinder is sat in his command chair… they suddenly dead with a massive shard of SPACE glass through his chest in the same chair, as voices around him discuss how long he’s been deceased, before being back in command and thoroughly confused.
The success with which this is conveyed is essential for the following 21 pages to work.
The second page repeats the trick, with the same layout and same middle time-jump panel, as the pursuing ship turns out to be Pax’s, having lose Jhiaxus, but found a new enemy to pursue (interesting that, despite being post-war, Pax’s first reaction to seeing an unknown Decepticon ship is to chase it), with Hardhead equally as confused by the appearing planet as the Reflectors were.
"I've heard of a glass jaw, but never a glass chest"
Their debate about this is interrupted by Garnak, who is helping a full on panicking Wheelie, the new planet is the one from his Spotlight (which, because this is Barber, Garnak is careful to point out isn’t the same one as he and Wheelie were on when Costa picked up on that story), LV-117, with the panic really setting in after the middle panel shift to the dead Viewfinder sends him over the edge. But, showing his harder edge (especially as, at this point, there’s nothing to connect these Decepticons to his actual self-appointed mission), Pax has them follow the possible course of the now oddly vanished ship as well.
The solution they find on the planet brings us full circle, as the ship is exactly as it was the end of Wheelie’s Spotlight, complete with the very dead for a very long time Viewfinder. With the conversation around how odd this is turning out to be what we saw in the flashforwards on the previous two pages.
Which gets Hardhead musing on déjà vu, and it’s probably a good thing this wasn’t written by Roberts as we’d likely have been into a full on “So what is it?” homage to White Hole. But instead, Pax explores the ship, finds the heart of the time machine (which triggers another one panel time jump, to him being told Jhiaxus has stolen the ship, but Wheelie wouldn’t leave without him), musing on how Prowl and Wheeljack would have loved this, but slow investigative work isn’t his style.
Which is quite the thing for a former cop to say, and shows the more cynical than Roberts direction Barber will take that aspect of the character down the line.
The solution they find on the planet brings us full circle, as the ship is exactly as it was the end of Wheelie’s Spotlight, complete with the very dead for a very long time Viewfinder. With the conversation around how odd this is turning out to be what we saw in the flashforwards on the previous two pages.
Which gets Hardhead musing on déjà vu, and it’s probably a good thing this wasn’t written by Roberts as we’d likely have been into a full on “So what is it?” homage to White Hole. But instead, Pax explores the ship, finds the heart of the time machine (which triggers another one panel time jump, to him being told Jhiaxus has stolen the ship, but Wheelie wouldn’t leave without him), musing on how Prowl and Wheeljack would have loved this, but slow investigative work isn’t his style.
Which is quite the thing for a former cop to say, and shows the more cynical than Roberts direction Barber will take that aspect of the character down the line.
Literally contemplating his orb.
Contemplation not being his strong suit is why he decides, not even knowing as we do that this is a time machine, to reach out and touch the big glowing ball that seems to be powering the entire thing.
Amazing he lasted long enough to stop being a cop, really.
His touching the big glowing ball is, with the basic rules of the hoping back and forth through time setup now established, is where the story escalates, as he suddenly finds himself outside and feeling as sick as he did after Chaos (same). He’s confronted by Monstructor fighting some of the monsters from Spotlight Wheelie, accompanied by Jhiaxus’ voice (seemingly coming from a fleeing ship) gloating how is student Shockwave has sent Monstructor and Bludgeon here, all of which confuses Pax. Understandably as he, unlike the reader, doesn’t know a time machine is involved here.
Amazing he lasted long enough to stop being a cop, really.
His touching the big glowing ball is, with the basic rules of the hoping back and forth through time setup now established, is where the story escalates, as he suddenly finds himself outside and feeling as sick as he did after Chaos (same). He’s confronted by Monstructor fighting some of the monsters from Spotlight Wheelie, accompanied by Jhiaxus’ voice (seemingly coming from a fleeing ship) gloating how is student Shockwave has sent Monstructor and Bludgeon here, all of which confuses Pax. Understandably as he, unlike the reader, doesn’t know a time machine is involved here.
What you hire Livio for.
All under a red sky that will be instantly ringing bells for long time fans, bells that only get louder later in the issue.
His confusion is added to by Bludgeon appearing, as it turns out, he’s going backwards in time in relation to Pax, so this is the end of their ongoing conversation to him.
He is helpful in explaining Jhiaxus has fled in the crashed Decepticon ship, with Monstructor about to go after him, because the combiner is a follower, unlike Pax and himself.
Bit presumptuous there, especially as Jhiaxus is returning for him (so this is indeed the end of his time jumping), so he’s just a follower as well. Making it a bit rich that he leaves by telling Pax he’s not as important as he thinks he is.
Leading to the next time jump, and the earliest setting yet, as Pax finds himself confronted by the believed to be dead by him Turmoil.
To keep it as simple as possible: This is Turmoil from four years ago (just after the events of Spotlight: Drift), though set further in the past thanks to the weird planet. Shockwave has sent him and his ship to collect data on what turns out to be one of his Regenesis ores (what will turn out to be Ore 1, finally and years later making something of the numbering), and has been using the indigenous population (as seen in his last appearance, and a species very familiar to the Spotlight: Wheelie die hards) as slave labour. Effectively giving an origin to the time machine, with the presumably converting the ship for him after they leave the planet, before being killed.
His confusion is added to by Bludgeon appearing, as it turns out, he’s going backwards in time in relation to Pax, so this is the end of their ongoing conversation to him.
He is helpful in explaining Jhiaxus has fled in the crashed Decepticon ship, with Monstructor about to go after him, because the combiner is a follower, unlike Pax and himself.
Bit presumptuous there, especially as Jhiaxus is returning for him (so this is indeed the end of his time jumping), so he’s just a follower as well. Making it a bit rich that he leaves by telling Pax he’s not as important as he thinks he is.
Leading to the next time jump, and the earliest setting yet, as Pax finds himself confronted by the believed to be dead by him Turmoil.
To keep it as simple as possible: This is Turmoil from four years ago (just after the events of Spotlight: Drift), though set further in the past thanks to the weird planet. Shockwave has sent him and his ship to collect data on what turns out to be one of his Regenesis ores (what will turn out to be Ore 1, finally and years later making something of the numbering), and has been using the indigenous population (as seen in his last appearance, and a species very familiar to the Spotlight: Wheelie die hards) as slave labour. Effectively giving an origin to the time machine, with the presumably converting the ship for him after they leave the planet, before being killed.
Now coming to a toy shelf near you!
This is, unfortunately, where we get the first genuinely confusing moment to me (though maybe I’m just dumb), which I suspect is down to issues with the visual storytelling, after Ramondelli had made such a solid start on conveying these ideas.
This sees Bludgeon suddenly be there, gloat and kill a native (whilst taking some mysterious object from him), before running off as Pax fires at him. Not only is this confusingly laid out (it initially looks as if Bludgeon is right in front of him alongside Turmoil, then it turns out Pax is actually on top of a cliff above the Decepticon, a cliff that isn’t visible in any other panel during this scene), but Turmoil being completely non-plussed by appearing high ranking Transformers in the middle of nowhere just makes if Bludgeon is meant to be there or is indeed the time displaced version something you have to work out in your head for a few seconds.
Turmoil is far more interested in threating the person he still thinks of as Optimus Prime by putting a gun to a hostage’s head… which just gets him an eye-removing punch to the face (explaining the eyepatch in his last appearance) before Pax and the alien time-jump together. Finding the Regenesis missile gone, but an oddly familiar almost five faced carved rock behind them in their new (still unstable, the middle panels of pages continue to switch places to the confusion of the characters) timestream.
This sees Bludgeon suddenly be there, gloat and kill a native (whilst taking some mysterious object from him), before running off as Pax fires at him. Not only is this confusingly laid out (it initially looks as if Bludgeon is right in front of him alongside Turmoil, then it turns out Pax is actually on top of a cliff above the Decepticon, a cliff that isn’t visible in any other panel during this scene), but Turmoil being completely non-plussed by appearing high ranking Transformers in the middle of nowhere just makes if Bludgeon is meant to be there or is indeed the time displaced version something you have to work out in your head for a few seconds.
Turmoil is far more interested in threating the person he still thinks of as Optimus Prime by putting a gun to a hostage’s head… which just gets him an eye-removing punch to the face (explaining the eyepatch in his last appearance) before Pax and the alien time-jump together. Finding the Regenesis missile gone, but an oddly familiar almost five faced carved rock behind them in their new (still unstable, the middle panels of pages continue to switch places to the confusion of the characters) timestream.
I dunno, maybe it's just me struggling with this bit?
The alien is pissed, but, and astute readers will have recognised the translation device around his neck, it turns out this is indeed Varta from Spotlight: Wheelie. Leading to what is probably, and amusingly considering how hard this story is trying to do new and clever things structurally, the best part of the issue, Orion Pax having to resign himself to talking in rhyme to communicate.
The rhyming leaves it somewhat oblique, but it does become clear that Shockwave not only dumped the ore on this planet, growing up in the shadow of the missile gave the inhabitants “Skills”, for which they are now paying the price as time becomes unstuck, as shown by Pax seeing the Decepticon ship he chased come in to land… over and over again.
Before he can really take this in, Bludgeon appears and attacks again, with a lovely beat of Pax having had more than enough of his crap, even as the situation escalates (with another time jump) as they’re back on the red skied future, as rocks life up from the surface around them…
Just like the attack on Lithone by Unicron at the start of Transformers: The Movie, with even a moment where Pax seems to recognise what’s causing this attack, before it turns out he’s just seen the now long after their Spotlight Wheelie and Varta.
The rhyming leaves it somewhat oblique, but it does become clear that Shockwave not only dumped the ore on this planet, growing up in the shadow of the missile gave the inhabitants “Skills”, for which they are now paying the price as time becomes unstuck, as shown by Pax seeing the Decepticon ship he chased come in to land… over and over again.
Before he can really take this in, Bludgeon appears and attacks again, with a lovely beat of Pax having had more than enough of his crap, even as the situation escalates (with another time jump) as they’re back on the red skied future, as rocks life up from the surface around them…
Just like the attack on Lithone by Unicron at the start of Transformers: The Movie, with even a moment where Pax seems to recognise what’s causing this attack, before it turns out he’s just seen the now long after their Spotlight Wheelie and Varta.
Worst day of his life.
This will, after many a twist and turn and changed plan, eventually turn out to have indeed been Unicron. But, at this point, the plan was for Unicron to be the final villain of More Than Meets the Eye. Which makes me wonder to what extent this was meant to be a tease for that (and a character having had a vision of the replacement for Unicron in the future will be incorporated into Roberts plans), or if it was meant to be a complete red herring.
Wheelie is mildly baffled at the leader of the Autobots personally coming to rescue him after so long, and as he’s worked out his own escape plan. Varta is equally bemused a guy he met once years ago has suddenly turned up, but it’s a bemusement that doesn’t last long as Bludgeon runs him through with his sword.
Well, that’s one loose end tied up definitively.
Wheelie is mildly baffled at the leader of the Autobots personally coming to rescue him after so long, and as he’s worked out his own escape plan. Varta is equally bemused a guy he met once years ago has suddenly turned up, but it’s a bemusement that doesn’t last long as Bludgeon runs him through with his sword.
Well, that’s one loose end tied up definitively.
They'd put a "YOU KNOW THE SONG (unicron['s theme)" sound effect on this today.
It turns out Wheelie’s escape ship is, in either another tease for Roberts original plans or another red herring (and one that I don’t recall getting elaborated on), a Quintesson vessel, one he’s even called an Ark. Though it’s one in every meaning of the word as he’s also planning to rescue some of the local lifeforms, to explain why they showed on LV-118 with him in Space Opera.
Which feels a pretty elaborate way of explaining what was probably just Costa getting the planet name wrong in his script.
For the moment though, Jhiaxus is lording it up from the Quintesson ship’s little balcony, smugly revealing that he was never calling Orion when shouting “PAX,” he had also had the same vision of the future as Ironhide, of the reborn Gorlam Prime at the heart of the new Cybertronian empire. He was shouting about “Pax Cybertronia,” and he’s going to make it happen using Ore 1 to bring Gorlam Prime from the past to the future. Using the “One true Matrix-bearer” to help him.
Well, he is mad.
Which feels a pretty elaborate way of explaining what was probably just Costa getting the planet name wrong in his script.
For the moment though, Jhiaxus is lording it up from the Quintesson ship’s little balcony, smugly revealing that he was never calling Orion when shouting “PAX,” he had also had the same vision of the future as Ironhide, of the reborn Gorlam Prime at the heart of the new Cybertronian empire. He was shouting about “Pax Cybertronia,” and he’s going to make it happen using Ore 1 to bring Gorlam Prime from the past to the future. Using the “One true Matrix-bearer” to help him.
Well, he is mad.
The greatest threat of all: Costa continuity.
But not as mad as Wheelie, who unleashes some of his cargo of beasts to fight Monstructor (bringing us back to where we were earlier in the issue), giving Pax chance to take on Jhiaxus, grabbing what he has worked out to be the control device for these plans, as he saw Bludgeon steal from the dead alien earlier. He also works out that the Decepticons won the moment he touched the sphere, that’s when they stole the time ship, the running back and forth through time has been a combination of distraction and grabbing that doohickie from Turmoil.
Which brings him back to the present, or at least back to where he started, with both the control device, an awareness of Jhiaxus’ plans, and a new appreciation of Wheelie, who is in turn relieved Pax is now fully on the same page as him.
Simply leaving the planet loses them another two weeks of time, leaving the trail cold, but his determination to stop Jhiaxus hot. But another question looms large… what will eventually destroy LV-117?
Which brings him back to the present, or at least back to where he started, with both the control device, an awareness of Jhiaxus’ plans, and a new appreciation of Wheelie, who is in turn relieved Pax is now fully on the same page as him.
Simply leaving the planet loses them another two weeks of time, leaving the trail cold, but his determination to stop Jhiaxus hot. But another question looms large… what will eventually destroy LV-117?
This never happened in Lost.
A question that will be a very long time in getting answered.
Long term readers will know I’m not a huge fan of Barber’s continuity fetish, and in particular his desire to explain plot holes that most readers had long since ceased to care about, consigning them to just being from bad and best forgotten comics.
So, an issue that has at its starting point explaining both how Reflector appeared in All Hail Megatron after they died and Wheelie being on a different planet in Space Opera wasn’t the most promising start for me going to enjoy something.
But tis is actually a very bold and inventive issue all around, and smart enough to know it still needs to keep character at the heart of structure, so Pax’s directness and rising anger make for a solid centre to the issue, especially alongside Wheelie’s breakdown and subsequent relief that time has caught up with the events he witnessed.
The structure itself is also something Barber and Ramondelli just about pull off, even if there are moments where both stumble and leave me a bit confused (and who knows, maybe the replies will be full of people telling me I was more confused than I thought and I’ve badly misread this one), and the ambition can only be admired.
Long term readers will know I’m not a huge fan of Barber’s continuity fetish, and in particular his desire to explain plot holes that most readers had long since ceased to care about, consigning them to just being from bad and best forgotten comics.
So, an issue that has at its starting point explaining both how Reflector appeared in All Hail Megatron after they died and Wheelie being on a different planet in Space Opera wasn’t the most promising start for me going to enjoy something.
But tis is actually a very bold and inventive issue all around, and smart enough to know it still needs to keep character at the heart of structure, so Pax’s directness and rising anger make for a solid centre to the issue, especially alongside Wheelie’s breakdown and subsequent relief that time has caught up with the events he witnessed.
The structure itself is also something Barber and Ramondelli just about pull off, even if there are moments where both stumble and leave me a bit confused (and who knows, maybe the replies will be full of people telling me I was more confused than I thought and I’ve badly misread this one), and the ambition can only be admired.
Now Wheelie is finally respected.
It is a little amusing that, if only by coincidence, Roberts came off the Annual with an Orion Pax focused issue that works perfectly as a jumping on point for new readers, whilst Barber has followed up his special with a Orion Pax focused issue with an unconventional structure and plot points you need to have been reading the books for years to keep properly on top of (indeed, him meeting characters from across the years means even if it’s “Orion Pax” or Optimus Prime” can get a little confusing if you’re not completely on the ball with the timeline).
So, a John Barber issue I wasn’t that excited about hitting has turned out to have aged very well, even with some flaws, at least some of which are down to my personal tastes rather than anything wrong with the story as such. Which is turning into a recurring theme, so perhaps we are into a real Barberenaissance.
Next week, it’s even more Pax and the supercop keeps on rollin.’
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE ISSUE 9
2012
COMMENT
KO-FI
So, a John Barber issue I wasn’t that excited about hitting has turned out to have aged very well, even with some flaws, at least some of which are down to my personal tastes rather than anything wrong with the story as such. Which is turning into a recurring theme, so perhaps we are into a real Barberenaissance.
Next week, it’s even more Pax and the supercop keeps on rollin.’
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE ISSUE 9
2012
COMMENT
KO-FI
