There's a fun action sequence in this week's Transformers.

[thanekos]

It's enhanced by Daniel Warren Johnson's work on the book so far - how he's scripted and drawn sequences of tightly focused panels that're snapshot camera views from many different angles, bits of panoramas occasionally exposed more in larger splashes.

One side of the action's the Decepticons, who started menacing Earth at the end of issue #1.

The other side of it's the reaction to that.





" - is that one of ours?! "

The question was answered by the jet-form alien Starscream attacking the jet piloted by a human diverted from transporting his colleague.



There came another noise, outside the cockpit.



" Got it! "



(" Decepticons cheerfully pulping humans " really sells them as " titanic alien menace to Earth ".)



(Skybound's separate-from-Hama G.I. Joe stuff starts in a month, and will reflect them existing in a world with Transformers.

Colors here're Mike Spicer - letters're Rus Wooton.

Pagecount's 3 and under 17/20ths of 20.)

Comments

[dragontail]

The reason Starscream's abhorrent cruelty, and delight in same, "works" for me in this issue (and the first issue) is because DWJ contrasts it so beautifully with how gentle, peaceful, caring and remorseful Optimus Prime is. It's... not shock-for-shock's-sake, it's showing how villainous the villain is by emphasising how empathetic the hero is. Great stuff.

[dan_ingram]

This feels like 1980s Transformers with more blood and guts.

Hard pass.

[beyondthefringe]

I dunno, I'm willing to give it a chance. You're right, it feels very "Gen 1 Transformers only with 2023 sensibilities" but IDW drifted so far from that, (especially with their last run) that I feel it's okay to circle back again now and see what works and what doesn't.

As long as it's not just a rehash of 1984 storylines, and tells something new with the same vibe, it might prove interesting.

[akodo_rokku]

I won't lie, I am a huge simp for the back half of the 2005 IDW run.

[beyondthefringe]

The MTMTE/Lost Light run? Top-notch in my opinion.
The reboot after that? Meh. Started off okay but really fell short for me.

[dan_ingram]

Same.

But IDW at least made an attempt to explain, and explore, the divide between 'Con and Bot.

This seems to be falling back on 'Cons evil, Bots good'.

[angelophile]

Same. We've circled round to the exact same approach Dreamwave took in their early issues. It's G1 but now the Decepticons smash humans to pulp on panel! It just reads like a teen's idea of what edgy is.

I was hoping something would get me back into Transformers comics but this isn't it .

[thanekos]

It's not " edgy teen " - it's a consciously done visceral depiction of stupid cruelty.

The Decepticons' attitudes towards humans have generally been exactly that - and Starscream is generally petty enough to indulge in this sort of thing.

[dan_ingram]

Yeah, but this is especially stupid on Starscream's part.

He's stranded on an alien planet, with few resources and fewer soldiers. And he's going to provoke local retaliation?

[shakalooloo]

This is just a more violent version of the 'baseball' game the Decepticons played in season 2's 'Child's Play'. There they were flinging humans around quite carelessly, with no regard for consequences.

[dan_ingram]

In the cartoon, the Decepticons were an actual army, with a headquarters and new soldiers as demanded by the toys/plots.

Here, it's just Starscream and a couple of other 'Cons. Seems stupid to surrender their main advantage (ability to transform), just to be cruel.

[shakalooloo]

Starscream's gonna Starscream. It's also not too smart to continually tell your boss you plan to kill and replace him. Cowardice, cruelty and lack of forward planning, that's what little Starscreams ar emade of.

[angelophile]

You can show that attitude with humans getting smooshed on panel.

It's not the attitude it's the execution.