Conquerors: Conclusion! The most dramatic action ever taken by an Autobot sets the stage for next month’s mammoth issue 50. Earth and Cybertron. Optimus Prime and Galvatron. Soundwave and Cosmos. It all comes together at four billion miles an hour.
Click the jump for a review of Transformers #49.
In this issue everybody has just had it. Spike’s had it with Blackrock’s crazy ramblings, Skywarp’s had it with being told what to do, Kup and Jazz have had it with being held prisoner and tortured, Optimus has had it with everybody fighting all the time, Galvatron’s had it with pretending to be anything other than a power-hungry tyrant, Starscream’s had it with people not paying attention to him, Soundwave’s had it with people crushing his dreams of sanctuary and peace…
Wait, sanctuary and peace?
That was probably the most surprising thing for me in in the whole issue: this whole time Soundwave has honestly and truly been building a sanctuary for all beings tired of war. Buzzsaw and Laserbeak are even comforting him when things don’t work out, for crying out loud. I really thought it was a devious plan of some sort, but nope. Peace for all. Who knew?
Sara Pitre-Durocher’s art was excellent, as always. The G1 element was very present (except for Arcee, who looks much tougher than she ever did in the original cartoon) and there’s a particularly cool panel of Galvatron, Rumble, and Frenzy rising up into the air. (Which reminds me: if Rumble and Frenzy are hanging out with Galvatron instead of Soundwave, have they had a falling out? What’s that all about?)
Sara’s work had a hand in the other surprise of the issue: the return of Victorion, the very new (female) combiner. She looks fantastic. And lest you think she’s all feminine and sweetness and light, she’s just as no-nonsense as all the other combiners.
I like how, due to her origins, there’s very little chance Victorion is ever going to answer to Starscream, who was particularly whiny and sulky in this issue.
A third surprise? Spike throwing in his lot with the Autobots. He’s been pretty anti-Cybertron for a long time now (having your planet stomped on for a few decades will do that) but Galvatron has made his move: he and the other war-prone Decepticons are going to take over Earth, and Spike doesn’t feel like he has a choice anymore.
He’s probably going to regret that. The very last page of the issue is the final surprise, and I’m not going to tell you what it is. As a hint though: Optimus has had it with looking out for everyone’s feelings. He’s made a call and it’s going to make a lot of people very angry, but I don’t think he’ll care. Because he’s HAD IT.
Description courtesy of IDW.