Well, we have the usual Meet The Teams/The Story So Far at the front. It seems a bit pointless this far into the series to introduce all the characters at the front, especially as most of them are sidelined in this issue. Wheeljack (sorry -- I mean 'Jack
) doesn't even turn up for the second issue running, though he's probably glad he sat this one out. Ms Marvel gets a whole one line to herself and Falcon only gets three, one of which is "I know." Jazz and Bumblebee spend the entire issue in car modes and say one line each through their holoavatars. All in all, it seems like a bit of a waste of pagespace, since even the most casual comics reader will recognise Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-man and Optimus Prime, and the others are either ignored or unrecognisable from their mugshot anyway. All this coupled with the fact that Iron Man, Dr. Doom and all of the Decepticons are missing from the page serves to highlight the inflexibility and unworkability of the gimmick. It's starting to annoy me a bit now, and no doubt it will still be there next issue.Anyway, onto the story proper. Prime's down, but Tony Stark has stepped up to the breach. He knows all about Transformers so he's built a super-suit to fight them. Captain America disappears for a bit and returns singing the star spangled banner and flying a little spaceship. Ms Marvel takes what appears to be an air-to-air missile to the face. Wolverine stabs a battlecharger while Luke Cage and Ratchet stand around and have a little chat, and after all the talk of how impenetrable the array was last issue, Ratchet and Prowl just drive into the array, along with Luke. Prowl is a dick, so Ratchet and Cage go to find Spiderman. Ratchet blows a hole in the wall to find Megatron behind it, and he and Cage get owned. Prowl kicks down a door to find Ramjet behind it. They chat for a bit, and then he gets owned by the Decepticons' new ally. Outside, Iron Man, powered by Jazz and Bumblebee, wastes the remaining Decepticons. Megatron reveals his new ally - Doctor Doom - and he orders the Autobots and Avengers to surrender. When they don't, Megatron smacks Doom around, then goes outside to finish the job himself.
Phew, it's hard to write an impartial summary of this issue, because it's so arse-clenchingly bad.
As well as the fact that half the cast are once again relegated to the sidelines, those that are featured are a little out of character. For example, although Jazz's sole line is about getting a tune up, Bumblebee points out that a few humans are expendable. I remember him saying something along these lines in Infiltration, that Verity, Jimmy and Hunter were "acceptable losses", but the way he seems to keep on about it suggests something far more sinister. I've never really trusted that creepy yellow bastard, and now I know why. He's just itching to off some fleshies. Sure, sure, it's all for the greater good...that's what Hitler said too, Bumblebee. Except in German, obviously.
And of course the worst treatment handed out to the Transformers this issue has to be the lack of transformation. Bumblebee, Jazz, Skywarp, Thundercracker and the Battlechargers spend the entire battle in vehicle modes, which renders the entire sequence as a bunch of superheroes being chased by planes through a car park. Oh, and the jets are classic seekers again. For some reason.
Will post more later...my rant about Doctor Doom can be found on the IDW board though...
Megs is acting very, very stupid here. If he's so soaked up on Spidey juice, why does he need Doom and the whole hostage idea at all? Gah. 
