Brimstone wrote:I'm not sure that's true. I read it as Prowl saying, "get your story straight, for when the questions start coming." Not that he actually wanted it done.
That's how I read it too.
I'm not sure how I feel about this issue, to be honest. Ratbat was my favourite Decepticon leader in the comics, and I was hoping he'd get a decent run as the lead villain here. But the arrogant, corrupt senator we saw here really doesn't really have anything in common with the banal, pencil-pushing bureaucrat portrayal that made him so much fun in the old Marvel comics, so it's really no great loss.
I definitely enjoyed Starscream's portrayal, which is probably a first when it comes to G1 Starscream. Ironically enough I think his personality and skill set make him ideally suited to thrive and maybe even become a
good guy in this environment, insofar as it'll be in his best interests to prevent violence and help Bumblebee and Metalhawk keep the peace.
Bumblebee, on the other hand, felt like a kid throwing a tantrum when he didn't get his own way. A big part of the point of this series obviously is that he's just not cut out to be leader (yet) but that doesn't mean I like to see him written as petulant and unlikable. Bumblebee will always be the happy kid-friendly character to me, and seeing him become a hugely unsympathetic jerk without any real lead-up (since in spite of being 'leader' he was rarely an important character in Costa's run) makes it hard for me to care about him here. And weaponized or not he
really needs to get rid of that idiotic 'walking stick'. It was stupid when Costa came up with it and it's still stupid now.
Shockwave not giving a **** about what's going on was a nice touch, and fits in well with his previous IDW characterization of just wanting to be left alone to do mad science. I don't know if that was a deliberate twist they decided to put on the character or if that's just how it's worked out as he's been passed off from Furman to Roberts to Costa to Barber, but it's a nice synthesis of all the previous takes on the character (Marvel, the cartoon and DW) distilled into a single personality.
Soundwave not being able to talk annoys me though, and whether it's Barber being 'cute' by referencing the current cartoon or Hasbro ordering IDW to make the character more like he is in TF:Prime I think it's a bad idea. Furman always did a great job writing Soundwave back in the 80s, but other than a short interlude in Spotlight: Soundwave I don't think anyone's ever even tried to explore the character in modern fiction. He was promoted as a major character in this series and I was hoping to see some character development, but so far at least the best we can hope for is him being a plot device and silent sentinel toward whoever becomes leader now that Ratbat's gone.
Oh, and I know this one is Furman's fault rather than Barber's...but Psycho Transsexual Arcee is still ridiculous. I read this issue right after watching the latest episode of TF:Prime, and the contrast between the comics' one-dimensional bloodthirsty crazy person and the relatable, sympathetic, intelligent and caring (and much more 'badass' for all of it) Arcee in the cartoons is just painful. IDW Arcee is just embarrassing, frankly, and the sooner someone puts a laser beam through her head the better.