CONQUERORS part 1! Optimus Prime struggles to find his place on Cybertron where half the population hates him and the other half worships him. Meanwhile, on Earth, Galvatron doesn’t care what anybody thinks.
No matter where you are (Cybertron, Caminus, Earth, a disintegrating Ark) tensions are high and getting worse. Click the jump for a review of IDW’s Transformers #46!
John Barber said in an interview that Optimus Prime is one of the hardest characters to write for, and I can see why: Optimus is mentally exhausted after billions of years of war, and wants nothing more than let someone else lead, even if it’s someone as questionable as Starscream. But he still wants to do right by “all sentient creatures,” whether that’s Cybertronians or Earthlings, so it’s hard for him to let go. In the wrong hands Optimus could come off as wishy-washy and whiny, but I think in this issue Barber’s hit the balance just right.
The thing that perplexes Optimus the most is that the Camiens think he’s a deity. Optimus is many things, but he’s pretty sure he’s not a god, and their worship embarrasses him. But he doesn’t want to write off their beliefs, and his conversation with Aileron was very interesting. I think he wonders if maybe being a god would be okay, if used for the right ends.
Currently the Mistress of Flame is making him uncomfortable, because she’s looking at Earth, and wondering if Cybertron can do good things for them. Prime knows it’s a small step from “let us help you help yourselves” to “let us control you for your own good” but it looks like he’s warming up to the idea.
Soundwave is keeping busy with his “commune,” trying to convince Decepticons to come to his version of paradise. Call me cynical, but I really think he’s got something up his, um, sleeve other than a wish for a peaceful home for Decepticons.
Meanwhile, the rest of the issue is pretty dark: last issue Jazz and his team were taken out by what amounts to “zombie combiners;” Cybertronian creatures put together by Blackrock, and much more powerful and dangerous than anyone expected. In this issue we see Jazz, floating in some kind of liquid, no idea where he is, but a burning in his chest lets him know that his spark casing is cracked wide open, probably having something to do with his arm being completely ripped off last issue. Jazz is pretty tough, but he’s started to panic.
On the Ark, Arcee and team are dealing with the fact that the whole ship is enclosed (thanks to Blackrock again) by an opaque bubble that keeps anything from getting out or in. And now the Ark’s defense systems have turned against them and they’re fighting for their lives against their own ship.
Zombies, mutilation, a race against death? Pretty darn appropriate for an issue released ten days before Halloween.
The art (in case you thought I forgot) is excellent (but when isn’t it?) Sara Pitre-Durocher does a fantastic job, both with motion and the squared off bodies of the characters, which could be blocky and confusing, but she makes it look fluid and natural. Her faces are particularly good; Optimus has got to be hell for an artist to draw, since he’s got no mouth and very specific eye-shapes, but she changes the angle slightly and we can get anger, sadness and thoughtfulness very nicely. (Seriously, props to all the IDW artists who can put so much expression into a character without a traditional face.)
But the characters who do have faces are especially good. Windblade’s sneer as she says “Dinobots. Always Dinobots,” was great, and I was really taken with Sideswipe, especially when he said “I thought you’d say something like that.”
And the scene with Jazz in the dark was just brilliant: it’s creepy and chilling, and Jazz looks exactly the way I want Jazz to look.
It’s all very G1, the way I think G1 fans have always wanted; very much like the 1980s cartoon, except better.
What do you think? Shout out in the comments!
John Barber – writer
Sara Pitre-Durocher – art