Transformers: Robots in Disguise Season One #1-22

[Warcry]

I think there was one fairly solid issue to be made out of the last two.

Same here. After last issue I felt like I'd read the first half of a comic stretched over 22 pages. This issue didn't feel any different and there's no reason it couldn't have been a single book. It was a good story, just unnaturally stretched out.

I must also admit to having completely missed that Reflector stole the time machine, I guess that explains the odd panel of Bumblebee and Wheeljack staring in shock at nothing. It was late, I was tired, I must have missed a panel making it clear that was what they did...

I had absolutely no idea what was going on there either. I had no idea the ship had disappeared until I read it on the forum, because I'd assumed that Bumblebee was sitting on top of it like he had been at the start of the issue. I didn't catch on, either, that this was the ship that the Reflectors were found in during Wheelie's Spotlight -- which apparently means that the whole thing is a plot by Shockwave to put the ship in Jhiaxus's hands, since that's where he was headed?

I did like that Bumblebee actually got a bit of focus this issue, though. Aside from the occasional freakout he's been mostly overshadowed by Prowl so far.

[zigzagger]

Transformers: Robots In Disguise Annual 2012 preview @ Full Metal Hero.

[Knightdramon]

So, Nova Prime was the first Prime in this universe. Which, with Rodimus, bring the total count to 6 Primes. Nifty.

He does seem a much nicer bot in the flashback too.

[Bluecatcinema]

Love the 80s-style art in the first few pages.

[Bucquoy]

The dome Nova & Co. are entering reminds me of Iacon as seen in MTMTE Pt. 1, but only slightly so.

Checked the opening panels of Marvel #1 for comparison. Nicely done here! History repeats itself - maybe a hint at OP running the risk of becoming corrupted himself one day?

[Red Dave Prime]

I'm going with the following: This is the best issue that Barber has put out. There's lots to enjoy here. Broadening of the backstory and universe, character development and best yet, intrigue for future issues that doesnt feel forced.

Add to that some really nice art throughout and a tightness to the script which helps it flow really well. In short, its an excellent double issue and works better than the MTMTE annual.

For the first time, I'm intrigued as to where Barber is going.

[Warcry]

I don't think I'd agree that this was better than the More Than Meets the Eye annual, but only because it wasn't as jam-packed as that book was. But it was very, very good, and honestly this is the first time I've read an RiD issue and thought it was in the same ballpark as Roberts' work. It's thoughtful, intelligent and insightful, a big step up from the brooding, muddled and violent stories we get so often in RiD.

[Blackjack]

I like how all the past bits are massive homages to the Marvel-era stories. The speech bubbles above the characters to introduce their names, and the funny-yet-awkward speech where Nova Prime's team introduce themselves to Omega Supreme where their dialogue includes them referring to themselves in the third person whilst describing their personality.

Metalhawk's growing to be an actual person, but both Bumblebee and Starscream are still ciphers.

[inflatable dalek]

Yeah, I liked that. Blowing up the Metrotitan when so much effort was put into saving him in MTMTE could have been annoying but him being the catalyst for important plot development (actual movement on the political side of things!) made it feel less of a cop out.

I really hope this almost Armada-ish portrayal of Starscream (one of the few good things about that cartoon) will be followed through on properly and we won't see him just go all Chris Latta in the end. He's in a very interesting place and I still don't know how genuine he's being.

Very nicely done flashback pages as well, everything looked lovely (it does make me wonder why IDW can do this but have mishandled the Reg colouring though by just slapping their normal digital colours on it even though Wildman's art doesn't gel with it). Full of injokes, but not to the point it should be distracting for me readers.

Only three real flaws, two in comparison to the MTMTE Annual:

There's actually no in-story reason for how the flashbacks are presented. In the other book it represents we're seeing Cyclonus' POV of his take on the creation myth. Here's its an omnipresent narrator (and therefore presumably reliable as well) meaning the use of Marvel style can feel a bit indulgent rather than part of the storytelling.

The MTMTE book was also good at giving just about all of the main characters an appropriately sized role. Here, Bumblebee is pretty much absent, which was a shame as what happens here affects him directly.

The non-flashback art was a bit off again as well, not as much as in MTMTE but everyone did seem to have had botox injected into their lips.

For a minor niggle, how did Omega Supreme know the Metrotitan was the one he met before?

All in all though, after a couple of disappointing issues this feels like a massive step in the right direction.

[Terome]

I'd go with the camp that says this was a better comic than the MTMTE one - Barber's experience wins the contest by a hair, I think. Though I hadn't considered the lack of context for the flashback pages like Dalek mentioned. It's given me pause but I don't think it's really a flaw.

I like how all the past bits are massive homages to the Marvel-era stories. The speech bubbles above the characters to introduce their names, and the funny-yet-awkward speech where Nova Prime's team introduce themselves to Omega Supreme where their dialogue includes them referring to themselves in the third person whilst describing their personality.

Yeah, it's so on-target it makes me think that Guido is being criminally underused. I also like how heroic and Camelotty Nova's crew are presented here. Galvatron's a much nicer blunt intrument than, say, Sideswipe. Slipping in another massive civil war in there also helps - it explains why guys like Cyclonus can be so ridiculously hardcore and very war-weary.

It was a good use of Metalhawk too. Shame about the lips though. Metalhawk looked like a rubber puppet from the CBBC broom cupboard in some panels.

Dalek: For a minor niggle, how did Omega Supreme know the Metrotitan was the one he met before?

Transformers are always very good at sussing each other's identities at a glance. Maybe one day this will be acknowledged. It's easy to come up with explanations though - eusocial insects are very good at telling each other apart even though they look pretty damn similar to us. Maybe it's a bit racist to say that Metrotitans all look alike?

So now I'd like to see Starscream win the elections and actually be a good robo-mayor / annointed saviour. That would be different.

[inflatable dalek]

I insist he be called Robo-Mayor as well.

[Rack 'n Ruin]

I insist he be called Robo-Mayor as well.

Boris-scream?

[Knightdramon]

Hmmm, good issue but I find it a tad odd when flashback sequences that have very little to do with the present interest me much more than the current story.

Obviously Nova had charisma and was pretty much the biggest MF in the planet at that point, but how exactly did he get to be the leader? No matrix, no nothing...he just...united them all? If so, is he truly the first Prime, his name beginning the linage, or did he inherit the title from somebody before him? I really like how heroic and noble [even surpassing Optimus] he sounds at the beginning and how power corrupted him later on.

On present day things, I'm trying hard to like Starscream but can't do it, can't do it at all. Mostly because he's been written so differently from each writer [Furman, McCarthy, Costa and now Barber], and last time he tried to persuade someone, he shot Thundercracker in the back.

With few exceptions [Ironhide, Blurr, Silverbolt and Dirge] I'm really not feeling the cast at all.

[inflatable dalek]

Oh, and...

Transformers are always very good at sussing each other's identities at a glance. Maybe one day this will be acknowledged. It's easy to come up with explanations though - eusocial insects are very good at telling each other apart even though they look pretty damn similar to us. Maybe it's a bit racist to say that Metrotitans all look alike?

I'd buy he'd be able to tell different Metrotitans apart on sight, but he doesn't get to see this one. There's not even a hint he's seen a picture.

[Red Dave Prime]

I'd give them a pass on that. Omega probably has strong enough sensors to identify the metrotitan once he knew where to look. Its probably a gaff but not anything worth going into too much.

Also loved the cameo of tailgate in the early cybertron panels.

[Denyer]

Okay, the early art's nice... might get a copy depending on the rest.

[Red Dave Prime]

http://www.fullmetalhero.com/content/tr ... view-4998/

This looks really interesting. It could all go pear-shaped but the idea with time messing about should make re-reading fun.

[zigzagger]

Sooo...Barber wants to resolve all those conflicting plot threads from AHM #15 and Spotlight: Wheelie?

They were hiccups, sure, but they never really struck me as all that important.

[inflatable dalek]

Hmmm, think it'll take the print version coming through the post before I'm completely sure on this one. On the screen of my phone with one panel at a time it was hard to follow all the time jumping, I suspect it'll be easier with the whole page in front of me (or even on a bigger device).

Not remotely bothered about explaining cock ups from AHM nor the tie in to Costa's final issue (but then, it might mean more to anyone who has read it). Hainvg missed the issues that explained how Wheelie got off the planet I felt at a bit of a loss there as well.

On the plus side, Pax was nicely written again, as was Bludgeon. I think this will be a better issue for anyone who followed the dark years and still has investment in long abandoned plotlines.

I don't think Livio's art will sway anyone who doesn't like his style, but I thought it was mostly his best work yet (though there was a few bits where it seemed hard to follow the flow, but at this stage I'm not sure if that's the art or the jumping).

[Red Dave Prime]

Not terrible but I felt a bit let down by the end of it. Instead of using the time travel to really hammer home a good issue I kinda felt it was really just set up for "the big picture" - whatever that may be. We get what looks like a quint ship and mentions of chaos coming (again). The whole situation could work out interesting but there's nothing really here to move things that much along.

That said, I loved some of the scenes. Monstroctor fighting off the two giant animals was a great idea - 2 established monsters being ripped apart really gets over how strong this gestalt is. I also loved the picture with Bludgeon behind prime/pax. That looked great!

This plot still feels very much in set-up mode (I honestly think that the two issues covering this plot could have been streamlined into one) . Curious to see how it pans out.