In Your Head, in Your Head, they are Crying. Zombie.
Spotlight: Kup. April 25th 2007.
Hey, can I borrow a quart of ener-juice?
We’ve had some very good comics from IDW so far (indeed, the pleasant surprise is we really haven’t had an outright bad one), but Spotlight: Kup is really the biggest milestone yet. An issue introducing a major writer immediately bringing his A-game, that doesn’t put a foot wrong (the odd toe at most) and introduces concepts and plots that will take years to pay-off.
It is also filler, an intended to be entirely self-contained from the main series one-off, padding out the second volume of Spotlights whilst Furman was presumably too busy to write all of them.
It is both these things and simultaneously so much more.
The first thing to note is Nick Roche is writing. This is more impressive in retrospect considering IDW will never cultivate fan writers in the same way they do fan artists. To date, I think there have only been three others (one who got in as a mate of Roche’s, two who wrote one issue as a duo) who have come up through the fan community to do Transformers as their first pro comics gig.
Hey, can I borrow a quart of ener-juice?
We’ve had some very good comics from IDW so far (indeed, the pleasant surprise is we really haven’t had an outright bad one), but Spotlight: Kup is really the biggest milestone yet. An issue introducing a major writer immediately bringing his A-game, that doesn’t put a foot wrong (the odd toe at most) and introduces concepts and plots that will take years to pay-off.
It is also filler, an intended to be entirely self-contained from the main series one-off, padding out the second volume of Spotlights whilst Furman was presumably too busy to write all of them.
It is both these things and simultaneously so much more.
The first thing to note is Nick Roche is writing. This is more impressive in retrospect considering IDW will never cultivate fan writers in the same way they do fan artists. To date, I think there have only been three others (one who got in as a mate of Roche’s, two who wrote one issue as a duo) who have come up through the fan community to do Transformers as their first pro comics gig.
One Crystal, One Kup.
Why, and some of the consequences and how there definitely will be times they don’t appreciate what they have in Roche, is something to speculate on as I go along. But, at least at this time, someone at IDW (presumably Ryall) really believed in Roche and was putting a lot of faith in his as they gave him a shot at the first (intended, again curse you Hearts of Steel retcon making these sentences more convoluted) main continuity comic not written by Furman.
Which as we’ll see over the years, is one of the smartest choices about Transformers the company will ever make.
Though whilst this is his first pro-comic, Roche had written professionally before in the field of pantomimes (oh no he didn’t), which whilst on the surface a very different discipline, probably gave him a little head-start as writing to order on a schedule for a boss is, much like the transition from fan to pro artist, still something that’s very different from working on a fanzine and does take some adaptation time.
Which as we’ll see over the years, is one of the smartest choices about Transformers the company will ever make.
Though whilst this is his first pro-comic, Roche had written professionally before in the field of pantomimes (oh no he didn’t), which whilst on the surface a very different discipline, probably gave him a little head-start as writing to order on a schedule for a boss is, much like the transition from fan to pro artist, still something that’s very different from working on a fanzine and does take some adaptation time.
The famous misprinted page in all its glory.
One of Roche’s underrated talents is The Pitch. And if anything other than Ryall having faith in him sold this comic, it’s the one-line sale: Zombie: Transformers.
Zombie comics were at their absolute peak at this point, thanks to four years of The Walking Dead, everyone had had a crack at them (Marvel Zombies being the most notable example) and the zombie genre was having a renascence in other media as well. We’d had Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, the return of Romero and, most pertinently as the book is a major influence on this comic, the Will Smith I Am Legend was coming at the end of the year.
Doing zombies at this point was as sensible as attempting an Ultimates style Transformers comic was for Furman or a Squirrel Girl one will be for Roberts.
How much Roche was intentionally thinking like that and how much was just the youthful excitement of wanting to tell a good story I’m not sure, but it definitely would have appealed to IDW as ridding a popular trend. But the joy of this comic is it’s much smarter than just 22 pages of zombie smashing.
Starting with an opening teaser that immediately sells the potential of a comic being created by just one person (though colourist Andrew Elder is completely in sync with what this is aiming for), as the art is used as a storytelling tool in a way that won’t immediately be apparent on a first read.
Zombie comics were at their absolute peak at this point, thanks to four years of The Walking Dead, everyone had had a crack at them (Marvel Zombies being the most notable example) and the zombie genre was having a renascence in other media as well. We’d had Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, the return of Romero and, most pertinently as the book is a major influence on this comic, the Will Smith I Am Legend was coming at the end of the year.
Doing zombies at this point was as sensible as attempting an Ultimates style Transformers comic was for Furman or a Squirrel Girl one will be for Roberts.
How much Roche was intentionally thinking like that and how much was just the youthful excitement of wanting to tell a good story I’m not sure, but it definitely would have appealed to IDW as ridding a popular trend. But the joy of this comic is it’s much smarter than just 22 pages of zombie smashing.
Starting with an opening teaser that immediately sells the potential of a comic being created by just one person (though colourist Andrew Elder is completely in sync with what this is aiming for), as the art is used as a storytelling tool in a way that won’t immediately be apparent on a first read.
Kylie, Crocodile Dundee, Steve Irwin, Bouncer... your boy took a hell of a beating.
On a planet with two suns, a ship crashes and a mechanoid survivor crawls out of the wreckage and is confronted by an approaching, almost steampunk (today we’d say it’s Fury Road energy), old and battered pollution emitting disaster vehicle mode Kup.
Who transforms to an equally weedy and weak looking (though that’s something that shifts across the issue, one of the toe’s put wrong is IDW decided, without consulting Roche, he looked too skinny and therefore they added extra think outlines to his body in some panels) robot, that gets greeted with gratitude by a being expecting help.
People familiar with Kup from the 86 film might expect a Universal Greeting at this point, and he gives one of a sort. The Universal Greeting when you don’t like someone as he uses a strange metal pole to smash off the robot’s head and into the distance. Simply thinking “Last thing I need is another set of eyes staring into my soul”.
As well as being an arresting (and blackly comedic) opening, it’s notable that the art is washed out, sketchy and unlike anything we’ve seen in Transformers since the roulette wheel of artists on the Marvel days. But the alien mechanoid is drawn and coloured in the more traditional Roche style we’re already used to. An important clue...
Who transforms to an equally weedy and weak looking (though that’s something that shifts across the issue, one of the toe’s put wrong is IDW decided, without consulting Roche, he looked too skinny and therefore they added extra think outlines to his body in some panels) robot, that gets greeted with gratitude by a being expecting help.
People familiar with Kup from the 86 film might expect a Universal Greeting at this point, and he gives one of a sort. The Universal Greeting when you don’t like someone as he uses a strange metal pole to smash off the robot’s head and into the distance. Simply thinking “Last thing I need is another set of eyes staring into my soul”.
As well as being an arresting (and blackly comedic) opening, it’s notable that the art is washed out, sketchy and unlike anything we’ve seen in Transformers since the roulette wheel of artists on the Marvel days. But the alien mechanoid is drawn and coloured in the more traditional Roche style we’re already used to. An important clue...
Kup seeing those Matt Hancock macking out pictures.
What’s interesting about what follows is Roche has clearly seen the first few Spotlights and accepted a lot of first-person narration is a required part of the format. But how he uses it is very different despite a surface level similarity. To Furman, it’s straightforward character and plot exposition. It aims to have a good turn of phrase, but it’s mostly about telling the story in as direct a way as possible.
For Roche, it’s a key storytelling deice. This is a comic that at heart is about an unreliable POV (something he’ll explore more in future), the florid voiceover from Kup is a key part of that, the exposition that actually matter buried in oblique mystery and confusion.
So as Kup drives along, he muses on his own crash, how he doesn’t really remember how long he’s been there, but he’s in much better health than he used to be because of the amazing, beautiful crystals that that drain away his paranoia, make him stronger and “I know my life is worth livin’ cos’ they sing me so”.
He also assumes the robot was one of Them, even though They only come out at night, when Kup is sleeping.
Now, having just spoken at length about how important the narration is, the irony is that on the fourth page (yes, I’m only on page four, this is going to be a long one), the original printing left all the narration off and no one noticed anything was wrong. This has been fixed for all the trades though, which makes this as good a time as any to confirm something from last week, whether Brasnya is still a Soviet rather than Russian state in Escalation issue 5 depends on which edition you have (I read the Hachette trade which has it as Soviet, the scans I use on the site are of the original issue where it’s Russian).
For Roche, it’s a key storytelling deice. This is a comic that at heart is about an unreliable POV (something he’ll explore more in future), the florid voiceover from Kup is a key part of that, the exposition that actually matter buried in oblique mystery and confusion.
So as Kup drives along, he muses on his own crash, how he doesn’t really remember how long he’s been there, but he’s in much better health than he used to be because of the amazing, beautiful crystals that that drain away his paranoia, make him stronger and “I know my life is worth livin’ cos’ they sing me so”.
He also assumes the robot was one of Them, even though They only come out at night, when Kup is sleeping.
Now, having just spoken at length about how important the narration is, the irony is that on the fourth page (yes, I’m only on page four, this is going to be a long one), the original printing left all the narration off and no one noticed anything was wrong. This has been fixed for all the trades though, which makes this as good a time as any to confirm something from last week, whether Brasnya is still a Soviet rather than Russian state in Escalation issue 5 depends on which edition you have (I read the Hachette trade which has it as Soviet, the scans I use on the site are of the original issue where it’s Russian).
Monstah Monstah
This and the next page cover Kup arriving at a ramshackle home made from the remains of “Their” crashed ship. Yes, Kup is not the full Ben Gunn as he has a pal to keep him company and sane! Someone “Always willing to lend a hand!” ... Outback!
Who is a corpse with half his body melted off, propped up in a chair. With the metal stick Kup has been using as a weapon being the guy’s arm. The first of many, brilliant, dark and sick jokes from the lad Roche over the years.
Also, the first of many times a character you’d not expect to have fans turned out to have fans who were annoyed at them being killed without getting to do anything.
Which in retrospect has a certain point, it wouldn’t make any difference to the plot if this was a newly created to die Autobot and his death here denies Outback the chance to have the sort of revival Tailgate and Swerve will get later.
But it’s also much funnier in this instance that it’s an Autobot who had a toy and a decent role in one of the Marvel UK issues and even got to be in the cartoon. He’s exactly on that right level between being second fiddle and totally obscure for the joke to be perfectly pitched.
Who is a corpse with half his body melted off, propped up in a chair. With the metal stick Kup has been using as a weapon being the guy’s arm. The first of many, brilliant, dark and sick jokes from the lad Roche over the years.
Also, the first of many times a character you’d not expect to have fans turned out to have fans who were annoyed at them being killed without getting to do anything.
Which in retrospect has a certain point, it wouldn’t make any difference to the plot if this was a newly created to die Autobot and his death here denies Outback the chance to have the sort of revival Tailgate and Swerve will get later.
But it’s also much funnier in this instance that it’s an Autobot who had a toy and a decent role in one of the Marvel UK issues and even got to be in the cartoon. He’s exactly on that right level between being second fiddle and totally obscure for the joke to be perfectly pitched.
Big Willie Style.
Plus, it’s far more memorable than anything Outback did when he was alive.
Someone at IDW also apparently had it in for the Australian minibot as he was also killed off in the concurrently written Megatron: Origin, though in that case (and unlike some of the poor coordination between books we’ll be seeing next year) someone noticed in time to rename that into a new character before printing.
This also fully confirms to the reader than Kup is not just a bit eccentric, but so far out of the tree he’s all the way back round to being in the tree.
Still, as handy as Outback is, the guy doesn’t do much around the house, so by sunset, Kup is knackered and ready to sleep on the floor. When a green ghost suddenly appears and starts declaring “We’re coming to get you Kup!”, making Kup wonder “One of us must be dead, but I ain’t sure who” and trying to deny the ghost is real.
As readers, we recognise the “Ghost” as Springer, drawn in almost a halfway style between the sketchy and more “Real” looks, and as SF literate readers we can begin to work out what is really going on here.
It’s also the first real example of unintentional setup for things down the line, as Springer not realising appearing as a green ghostly hologram can be terrifying is going to be something that gets revisited.
Someone at IDW also apparently had it in for the Australian minibot as he was also killed off in the concurrently written Megatron: Origin, though in that case (and unlike some of the poor coordination between books we’ll be seeing next year) someone noticed in time to rename that into a new character before printing.
This also fully confirms to the reader than Kup is not just a bit eccentric, but so far out of the tree he’s all the way back round to being in the tree.
Still, as handy as Outback is, the guy doesn’t do much around the house, so by sunset, Kup is knackered and ready to sleep on the floor. When a green ghost suddenly appears and starts declaring “We’re coming to get you Kup!”, making Kup wonder “One of us must be dead, but I ain’t sure who” and trying to deny the ghost is real.
As readers, we recognise the “Ghost” as Springer, drawn in almost a halfway style between the sketchy and more “Real” looks, and as SF literate readers we can begin to work out what is really going on here.
It’s also the first real example of unintentional setup for things down the line, as Springer not realising appearing as a green ghostly hologram can be terrifying is going to be something that gets revisited.
"TWO FACE THEY CALL YOU HARVEY TWO FACE"
Also being revisited is Kup, as this is the prelude to Them attacking. Red eyed monsters that visually have as much in common with Nosferatu (or the David Soul Salem’s Lot if you’re still old, but not that old) as traditional zombies. Likely a nod to the fact that, though it was a massive influence on the zombie genre, I Am Legend is actually about vampires.
As they shamble towards the shack, chanting “Kup”, he has to accept Outback is not going to do anything and (because, as a key point, using an energy weapon is dangerous around the crystals), goes wading in with the arm in his hand, more scared of never hearing the music of the crystals again than the monsters, because “Age, tiredness, fear, fatigue. Their claws’re sharper than those of my tormentors”.
Amazingly, he wins, holding off and killing many of the creatures till the sun comes up again and they retreat. Whilst he goes out and bathes in the energy of the crystals, determined never to lose this.
The next night, the pattern repeats, but his reaction (and strength even he doesn’t understand) is turned up to 11, wading into the monsters and brutally beating them over and over till his face is drenched in their blood as he shouts “What are you looking at?!” at Outback.
Which is the sensible moment Roche plays his Rod Serling twist card before Springer being in league with the zombies makes it too obvious. The monsters beam out, the art style switches from Kup POV to the more traditional and it turns out these creatures are in fact Autobots in radiation suits.
As they shamble towards the shack, chanting “Kup”, he has to accept Outback is not going to do anything and (because, as a key point, using an energy weapon is dangerous around the crystals), goes wading in with the arm in his hand, more scared of never hearing the music of the crystals again than the monsters, because “Age, tiredness, fear, fatigue. Their claws’re sharper than those of my tormentors”.
Amazingly, he wins, holding off and killing many of the creatures till the sun comes up again and they retreat. Whilst he goes out and bathes in the energy of the crystals, determined never to lose this.
The next night, the pattern repeats, but his reaction (and strength even he doesn’t understand) is turned up to 11, wading into the monsters and brutally beating them over and over till his face is drenched in their blood as he shouts “What are you looking at?!” at Outback.
Which is the sensible moment Roche plays his Rod Serling twist card before Springer being in league with the zombies makes it too obvious. The monsters beam out, the art style switches from Kup POV to the more traditional and it turns out these creatures are in fact Autobots in radiation suits.
Siren verging on mutiny there. Could be habit forming.
In I Am Legend, the twist famously is that everyone is fine after becoming a vampire bar a few eccentrics that have given the one surviving hero some serious misconceptions and his acts of violence against them make him the real boogeyman of their society, the legend of the title.
Kup is also a legend, but in a different context creating the same result.
The lead Autobot turns out to be Siren, and he’s pissed (if not as constantly shouting as he’ll be later one, where despite not getting a huge amount to do it’s hard to imagine him leading anyone) at the finally arrived from unspecified, but probably Stormbringer, events Springer.
Quickly we’re told Kup is indeed crazy and superpowered from the crystals and it’s proving too difficult to get him out without the guy killing numerous Autobots, all of whom were there as admires of Kup, the great hero and trainer of many of them.
Springer attempts to show some bluster (and points out a specialist he’d promised is soon to arrive) to Siren, but as it’s pointed out to him no Autobot deserves to die at the hands of a hero, you can see his own choices weighing on him.
Kup is also a legend, but in a different context creating the same result.
The lead Autobot turns out to be Siren, and he’s pissed (if not as constantly shouting as he’ll be later one, where despite not getting a huge amount to do it’s hard to imagine him leading anyone) at the finally arrived from unspecified, but probably Stormbringer, events Springer.
Quickly we’re told Kup is indeed crazy and superpowered from the crystals and it’s proving too difficult to get him out without the guy killing numerous Autobots, all of whom were there as admires of Kup, the great hero and trainer of many of them.
Springer attempts to show some bluster (and points out a specialist he’d promised is soon to arrive) to Siren, but as it’s pointed out to him no Autobot deserves to die at the hands of a hero, you can see his own choices weighing on him.
To find out what Springer is repressing, come back in ten years.
And more unintentional foreshadowing comes from a throwaway mention that the radiation suits are extremely old. Next time we see them will indeed be in a long-ago flashback involving Springer. Sadly though, the also mentioned stealth suits that can’t be used amidst all the radiation will never appear, denying us invisible Autobot high jinks.
Even more unintentional foreshadowing is all over the next scene, as Autobot High-Command calls in the shape of Prowl, chewing out Springer for wasting lives and resources on one Autobot because of his personal bias.
Which lets Springer cut lose (coining the phrase “Spawn of a glitch”) about Kup absolutely being that important to everyone, including Prime as the only reason Prowl hasn’t snitched on him is because if their leader found out, he’d be down on the planet as well.
Though Prowl gets the last word by saying OK, on your head be it, but really think if this is worth it.
This is, of course, completely at odds with what we’ve seen of Prowl in Furman’s stuff, where he’s a lowly field commander stumbled into something bigger who is absolutely not High Command and just two issues of Escalation ago had to eat shit when given an order he doesn’t like.
Even more unintentional foreshadowing is all over the next scene, as Autobot High-Command calls in the shape of Prowl, chewing out Springer for wasting lives and resources on one Autobot because of his personal bias.
Which lets Springer cut lose (coining the phrase “Spawn of a glitch”) about Kup absolutely being that important to everyone, including Prime as the only reason Prowl hasn’t snitched on him is because if their leader found out, he’d be down on the planet as well.
Though Prowl gets the last word by saying OK, on your head be it, but really think if this is worth it.
This is, of course, completely at odds with what we’ve seen of Prowl in Furman’s stuff, where he’s a lowly field commander stumbled into something bigger who is absolutely not High Command and just two issues of Escalation ago had to eat shit when given an order he doesn’t like.
"He's scared, confused and we love him, so let's be terrifying"
This is where Roche’s Marvel fanboy credentials come through of course, and it’s the take on Prowl that will stick, and begins the shift to all the Infiltration Autobots turning out to be the most important Autobots.
But there’s also so much that will be picked up on later. Whether it’s Springer being as unknowing as Roche as to how significant “You owe Kup” really is, or Prowl absolutely knowing what he’s saying with “I’m not the one in denial about my past, Springer”, a few paragraphs here lay the foundations for years of stories.
And Prowl’s parting barb does hit, as Springer sounds a bit too desperate to get reassurance from Perceptor afterwards, but the scientist (who doesn’t get much here, but it does also lay the foundations for his strong secondary role over the years) can only agree with Prowl that this is too much.
But things take an upturn as Sizzle rushes in (Roche is really enjoying the Marvel UK deep cuts) to announce the arrival of The Specialist.
Night three on the planet initially repeats the pattern, ghosts and zombies, all of whom would maybe have lived longer if they’d tried sounding less scary (“Not leaving till we have you”), and violence.
But there’s also so much that will be picked up on later. Whether it’s Springer being as unknowing as Roche as to how significant “You owe Kup” really is, or Prowl absolutely knowing what he’s saying with “I’m not the one in denial about my past, Springer”, a few paragraphs here lay the foundations for years of stories.
And Prowl’s parting barb does hit, as Springer sounds a bit too desperate to get reassurance from Perceptor afterwards, but the scientist (who doesn’t get much here, but it does also lay the foundations for his strong secondary role over the years) can only agree with Prowl that this is too much.
But things take an upturn as Sizzle rushes in (Roche is really enjoying the Marvel UK deep cuts) to announce the arrival of The Specialist.
Night three on the planet initially repeats the pattern, ghosts and zombies, all of whom would maybe have lived longer if they’d tried sounding less scary (“Not leaving till we have you”), and violence.
Less Tony Head, more Gareth Hunt.
But the energy from the crystals have now gotten too much, and Kup is now ready to explode and doesn’t care.
Which is when there’s a knock at the door and, presumably happy to let his colleagues die if it means waiting for the right moment to do his Nescafe commercial joke, Trailbreaker appears, asking if he can borrow a “Quart of ener-juice?”, before enveloping Kup in a force field that saves him and lets everyone beam up.
This role was originally going to be for Blurr doing some sort of speed-based explosion containing thing and allowing Roche to feature the majority of the 86 film bots who hadn’t yet appeared elsewhere.
An unexpected Trailbreaker, a character who rarely gets anything to do, is very welcome as a substitute though. And yes, more unintentional foreshadowing as his first IDW line is asking for a drink and he’s only wanted because of his force field.
But what is also nice is he gets the sort of scene a character like this rarely does (and rarely will again), getting to listen to another seriously and offer advice and support as he becomes the one guy Springer is prepared to admit to that he did go too far and should at least have waited until Trailbreaker arrived before sending Autobots in and all those deaths may not be worth what they got back.
Because, though Trailbreaker won’t judge, Kup’s age (or more his refusal to upgrade his body over the years, meaning using modern Transformers medicine on him is like trying to fix a Model T Ford in a Quickfit) and the long exposure to the crystals means his mind and power core are permanently gone. Meaning all that death and sacrifice has been to hook Kup eternally to a life support system with no idea who, where or what he is.
Which is when there’s a knock at the door and, presumably happy to let his colleagues die if it means waiting for the right moment to do his Nescafe commercial joke, Trailbreaker appears, asking if he can borrow a “Quart of ener-juice?”, before enveloping Kup in a force field that saves him and lets everyone beam up.
This role was originally going to be for Blurr doing some sort of speed-based explosion containing thing and allowing Roche to feature the majority of the 86 film bots who hadn’t yet appeared elsewhere.
An unexpected Trailbreaker, a character who rarely gets anything to do, is very welcome as a substitute though. And yes, more unintentional foreshadowing as his first IDW line is asking for a drink and he’s only wanted because of his force field.
But what is also nice is he gets the sort of scene a character like this rarely does (and rarely will again), getting to listen to another seriously and offer advice and support as he becomes the one guy Springer is prepared to admit to that he did go too far and should at least have waited until Trailbreaker arrived before sending Autobots in and all those deaths may not be worth what they got back.
Because, though Trailbreaker won’t judge, Kup’s age (or more his refusal to upgrade his body over the years, meaning using modern Transformers medicine on him is like trying to fix a Model T Ford in a Quickfit) and the long exposure to the crystals means his mind and power core are permanently gone. Meaning all that death and sacrifice has been to hook Kup eternally to a life support system with no idea who, where or what he is.
The machine Nick Roche gets his ideas from.
As Springer wonders, what would Kup himself think of all that has been done for such a result?
Which feels like obvious foreshadowing and sequel hunting (and of course, Nick is a freelance writer, he’s not going to be averse to setting up future gigs), and something that will, eventually and after many left turns caused by other writers, get a payoff as well.
But to a large part, it’s unintentional as anything else, this was only ever meant to be a one-off, something that both did not tread on the main book and could also be ignored by it. I suspect the downbeat “What if?” ending is a combination of paralleling the ending of the book (not the film!) of I Am Legend (a fate worse than death as opposed to the literal execution there) and because, like the narration, a question mark ending is just what Spotlights do.
Certainly no one was planning to show us what Prowl owes Kup 12 years later.
This is an amazing comic. I think if you had to use just one single IDW issue (as opposed to a miniseries or arc) to sell someone who’d never read any on diving in, this is the one to pick, it’s clever, funny, scary, thoughtful and gorgeous to look at even with the art alterations. It tells a perfect standalone story whilst dropping threads like a cross-sticher having a heart attack.
It’s also a game changer in showing what Transformers can do in the 21st century, something it largely achieves by looking backwards.
I think it’s fair to say Nick Roche was the first new writer on the new century’s comics to actually have been a big F fan of the Marvel comics, as opposed to the cartoon being their main point of reference. And it shows.
Which feels like obvious foreshadowing and sequel hunting (and of course, Nick is a freelance writer, he’s not going to be averse to setting up future gigs), and something that will, eventually and after many left turns caused by other writers, get a payoff as well.
But to a large part, it’s unintentional as anything else, this was only ever meant to be a one-off, something that both did not tread on the main book and could also be ignored by it. I suspect the downbeat “What if?” ending is a combination of paralleling the ending of the book (not the film!) of I Am Legend (a fate worse than death as opposed to the literal execution there) and because, like the narration, a question mark ending is just what Spotlights do.
Certainly no one was planning to show us what Prowl owes Kup 12 years later.
This is an amazing comic. I think if you had to use just one single IDW issue (as opposed to a miniseries or arc) to sell someone who’d never read any on diving in, this is the one to pick, it’s clever, funny, scary, thoughtful and gorgeous to look at even with the art alterations. It tells a perfect standalone story whilst dropping threads like a cross-sticher having a heart attack.
It’s also a game changer in showing what Transformers can do in the 21st century, something it largely achieves by looking backwards.
I think it’s fair to say Nick Roche was the first new writer on the new century’s comics to actually have been a big F fan of the Marvel comics, as opposed to the cartoon being their main point of reference. And it shows.
The original issue also included some character designs.
Not because he’s aping Furman’s style. Instead, he’s someone who fell in love with that comic as a kid, and he’s trying to write the comic (that, for all I’ve written about and loved it was rarely completely perfect) he saw in his mind’s eye as an 8 year. A funny mad experimental book where you’d never know if you were getting zombies or comedy every week. He, and James Roberts later, is writing the book he remembers that managed that every issue and in every way. An idealised nostalgic version.
And the bugger pulls it off.
And will keep pulling it off time after time. Because, whilst not the most prolific (you only need to take off one sock to count all his Transformers writing credits), as far as quality and impact of work goes, Nick Roche may well be the best writer of Transformers comics ever.
This is a good comic in and of itself. But it’s also the kick-starter for an era we might not reach for a while in this read-through, but which will in and of itself change everything.
So yeah, bit of a good one.
What idiot decided to put this out in April rather than October though?
Next week: Optimus Prime is dead! Maybe he’ll be back as a zombie as well?
ESCALATION ISSUE 5
2007
COMMENT
KO-FI
And the bugger pulls it off.
And will keep pulling it off time after time. Because, whilst not the most prolific (you only need to take off one sock to count all his Transformers writing credits), as far as quality and impact of work goes, Nick Roche may well be the best writer of Transformers comics ever.
This is a good comic in and of itself. But it’s also the kick-starter for an era we might not reach for a while in this read-through, but which will in and of itself change everything.
So yeah, bit of a good one.
What idiot decided to put this out in April rather than October though?
Next week: Optimus Prime is dead! Maybe he’ll be back as a zombie as well?
ESCALATION ISSUE 5
2007
COMMENT
KO-FI
