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THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

Marvel Comics
(1984-1994)
Japanese
Manga
Other Books
and Titles
Titan Books
(2001-2010)
Club/Con
(2001-2016)
Dreamwave
(2002-2004)
Devil's Due
(2003-2007)
IDW Publishing
(2005-now)

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

Transformers Spotlight: Sixshot
Reviewed by Inflatable Dalek

Issue Review

A very pleasant surprise. I've never been very interested in Sixshot, who's something of an identikit noble character, and Ruffolo's art for Dreamwave was staggeringly bad.

Thankfully though, here his work is much improved (though Raiz's cover makes you long for what might have been), and whilst Sixshot is still a dull variant on Bludgeon, the story itself is well told. It's nice to see some camaraderie between the Decepticons for a change.

The main problem is that it doesn't feel very connected to the ongoing plotlines as the other Spotlights did, and whilst it's not necessary for everything to tie together it does make this issue feel slighter and more throwaway.

Despite that, this is another solid win for the Spotlight series, rapidly on its way to being the best IDW title.

Notes

Sixshot is powerful enough to destroy an entire planet unaided. Presumably he's usually called in as part of the final phase of what we're seeing the Decepticons do in Infiltration/Escalation.

The six Reapers we see include: a Deathbringer (a "Bio-mech" bred for combat), a Ravenous (a mechanical bird with a berserker cy-virus), a invertebrate jellyfish thing which projects a force field and a robot weapon of mass destruction (which looks like an evil Johnny 5), a humanoid dragon and a thing in a robotic cloak. We don't learn anything of the races behind them (though Sixshot describes them as "frightened beings"), nor how the different races were recruited.

The Terrorcon name is a unofficial one they call themselves (Squawkbox has to think for a few seconds before placing it). The same may turn out to be true of the other sub-groups as well (only the Dynobots have been referred to by name in a IDW comic so far). There's no indication they're combiners at this stage.

"Deathbringer" was the name of a equally deadly mechanoid that starred in the eponymous two part story in the Marvel UK Transformers Comic issues 235-236. He also cameos in Dark Creation (Marvel US #65).

In another in-joke, Sixsot's guns make a ZARAAAK sound on the opening page. This is a corruption of the name of Skorponok's Nebulan partner in the original toyline/comics/show/etc.

Rob Ruffolo previously drew the Micromasters mini for Dreamwave.

Goofs

Why is Sixshot so impressed that the six Reapers managed to destroy an entire planet? At the start of the issue he's boasting of having done the same singlehandedly.

Squawkbox has a grey chest on his first panel. It makes him look not unlike Motormaster.

The Terrorcons seem a tad nonplussed about being threatened with death; they don't make any effort to fight back or escape.

 
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