THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

Beast Wars: The Ascending #3 (of 4)
Reviewed by zigzagger

Hmm. A bit more dense, which is usually a good thing, but considering this is the second to last issue of this arc, it seems to have come a bit too late. Though, I suppose there is some progression: Shokaract makes his move on Cybertron, while the Maximals and Predacons on Earth allign. That, essentially, is about it. The threat of Shokaract continues to come across as less apocalyptic as suggested. Come to of think of it, the more I read it, the more that this Angolmois fever feels like a rehash of the “Hate Plague” in Return of Optimus Prime. Just a little insight or background as to who Shokaract is and who his heralds are (as they are the ones using him) would have placed some much needed emphasis upon the supposed threat. With one issue to go, I fear this story’s revelation will feel a bit rushed by the time the fourth issue arrives.

Since the three current issues have focused primarily on various battles, not enough room has been left to further develop the story in any significant way, only in fragments. It's still, well, kind of all over the place and it is still not entirely clear what is going on other than a superfluous amount of characters fighting each other. I'm left with the feeling that, and this is my opinion, when I read The Ascending, it genuinely feels like its a story about battling toys (as the license suggests) under the pretense of something more deep.


This is Don’s final farewell to not only the Beast Wars comic but Transformers media as well…For now. A “secret” message can be seen on the fourth panel on Page 21, which reads “Goodbye everybody”.


Lio Convoy (to Ravage): Make light of Razorbeast’s bold defiance one more time…and I’ll de-spark you where you stand.