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Series: War Within Volume Two: The Dark AgesSummary: The Fallen compliments Bludgeon's posse on their work so far, but Bludgeon demands some tangible reward. The Fallen agrees, giving his (apparent) chief acolyte a taste of what lurks in 'a dark, forgotten corner of every Transformer'. Satisfied, Bludgeon prods the Chaos Trinity to get to work.
In the heart of Cybertron's manufacturing district, Springer's Wreckers hunt for troops under the command of Ratbat. They bite off more than they can chew and find themselves in an engagement with Devastator. Meanwhile, news of Devastator's having joined the Ultracons reaches Hot Spot, who decides that the Protectobots have to stop Devastator before the other combiners pick sides in the fragmenting civil war. They arrive on-scene and form Defensor.
Springer, having been temporarily incapacitated by Devastator, is confronted by Ratbat and his goon squad. The two faction leaders spar verbally, but before Ratbat can kill Springer, he escapes. Before the fight can go any farther, they are interrupted by the battle between Devastator and Defensor.
Back at the Autobase, Jetfire arrives to find an empty control center.
Characters Featured: The Fallen, Bludgeon, Bugly, Mindwipe, Springer, Roadbuster, Whirl, Topspin, Twin Twist, Broadside, Sandstorm, Ratbat, Devastator, Hot Spot, First Aid, Groove, Streetwise, Blades, Chop Shop, Venom, Ransack, Grimlock (hologram), Jetfire (hologram), Defensor, Jetfire (physical version)
Errors: Chop Shop appears to be 100% toy-accurate in robot mode (this may or may not be an error; I suppose he could turn into some sort of jet with huge beetle mandibles, but it's incredibly unlikely. But in the absence of evidence to the contrary, I feel comfortable calling it an error). The other Deluxe Insecticons I'll give a pass, since their robot modes don't flagrantly flaunt parts of Earth insects.
Review: As a stand-alone story, this issue is the best that DW has output so far. You don't really need to have read the previous issue to know what's going on, and even though it ends with a cliff-hanger you won't feel totally unsatisfied at the end. The story moves at a breakneck pace, introducing many characters familiar to fans of the old Marvel comics, then tossing them into a wonderfully choreographed battle scene.
Unfortunately, I'm kind of worried that an issue like this means that the final few issues are going to be extremely cramped as Furman tries to close the arc. Were War Within an ongoing series, I'd be more than happy to see issues like this (in fact, I hope the G1 ongoing does stuff like this from time to time) but in the context of a six-issue mini it might have wasted valuable pages on something not important to the overall plot. I'm afraid that I'll love this issue now, then look back after I read #6 and hate #2 for wasting time.
Still, there's no point dwelling on that now. And for now, I have to say that I was entertained by this issue. Fast pacing, crackling dialogue and interesting characterization make for a good read.
The Marvel fanboy in me was insanely happy to see the Wreckers again. Furman did an adequate job capturing the characters of Springer, Sandstorm, et al, and the fight against Devastator reminded me of some of the romps that pack had in the UK comics. Springer especially was interesting, since he doesn't seem to be either the 'badass' warrior from the UK comics or the wisecracking smartass from the Cartoon. He falls somewhere in between, and I think the character is much better for it. Also, his redesigned modes are awesome. I would kill for a War Within Springer toy.
Ratbat and his crowd were interesting, too. I find it incredibly hard to believe that Chop Shop would possess his toy robot mode at this time, complete with mandibles from a type of beetle that won't exist for millions of years. But since he doesn't actually matter to the story, I'll let it drop. Ratbat himself was menacing and genuinely evil, which was a disturbing contrast to his Marvel persona of lovable B-movie villain. But his design is…truly bizarre. I can't be sure whether I love it or hate it, but it's certainly memorable.
It was wonderful to see the Protectobots get a bit of page time. I'm a fan of both First Aid and Hot Spot from their relatively brief but memorable roles in earlier media (Hot Spot in G2#2 and First Aid pretty much everything he's ever had a role in). However, they've been one of the more neglected special teams, and if any combiner had to take an important role in this series I'm glad it was them.
As an aside, Wildman's art is slightly worse than the first issue, but not enough to make any true difference. Part of this is because so many of the characters featured in this issue don't have conventional faces, nullifying his ability to draw amazing facial expressions.
A good second issue with a good hook to force readers to buy Issue 3. No one wants to miss a Gestalt War, after all…
Story: 8/10
Dialogue: 9/10
Art: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10
review by Warcry