Spotlight: Mirage *SPOILERS*

[Hot Shot]

I got it today and here's how it goes:

Alternate universe evil Mirage is having dreams of his good counterpart's future(Autobot Mirage's death and Optimus Prime's apparent death at he hands of Starscream) and good regular universe Mirage is having dreams of his evil counterpart's future(leading the last battle against the badly damaged remaining Autobots, killing Hound and himself being killed by Optimus Prime).

Guido's art is great as it usually is. Strangely, the only covers made for this comic are Cover A and the black and white incentive. I wonder why that is.

The whole issue seemed like a drawn-out Mosaic by the end, but after re-reading bits and pieces it feels a little more like a traditional spotlight. It gives us a glimpse into future events but it hardly impacts the ongoing story. I enjoyed seeing the Autobots on the brink of destruction for some reason.

I give the issue a 7/10.

[Sunyavadin]

Whu.....?


And I thought Transformers had left evil universe doppelgangers behind with Rythms of Darkness.

Cool.

[Yaya]

Let me start by saying the art was fantastic, some of my favorite by IDW to date. Guido really rocks when it comes to creating that cartoonish vibe.

As far as the story goes, I just don't get it.

This is the first time I've been stumped by a Transformers comic.

Maybe someone could bring out the finger puppets and explain it to me, cause I'm a bit confused.

Was the whole thing a dream? Was that Zodiac thing a different dimension? Some fans have said it's the future Mirage vs. the past Mirage?

If it's a tale that is intentionally left nebulous, open to reader interpretation, then mission accomplished. But if was meant to have a conclusive moment of clarity and revelation, it fails miserably.

I have always liked Mirage as a character and his indecisiveness. But it felt kind of odd to see him treacherously leading a Decepticon seige. Just seemed too evil for him. Then again, it's a dream. Or is it?

This tale, like Ramjet, is purely stand alone, which is fine by me. As long as it delivers the goods, I don't think it's crucial for a Spotlight to always tie directly into the main events. Certainly, it should be in the same continuity though.

Anyway, I enjoyed the art so much, I have to go up from a "C-" to a "B-".

[spiderfrommars]

Who wrote it?

[Hot Shot]

George Strayton. As far as I can tell he hasn't worked on anything Transformers until now.

[Manchester Devil]

I can see why people would see this as a bit of a ["mindfunk" - Simon Pegg] but the identical scenes at the beginning and end are a glimpse into Mirage's head. He thinks he's dreaming but I think they're the final memories of his life in the reality he left behind, jumbled up after going through the Zodiac Energy.

The Mirage we see in the majority of this spotlight is what he would be if he was a Decepticon; a murderer who tries to pull deals on his leader as opposed to the Mirage we see as an Autobot.

EDIT: Oops, clicked submit when I was thinking of the anomaly that leads to the Dead Universe, is there more to Spotlight: Mirage than meets the eye?

Then again, I'm probably one of those freaks who thought Strayton wrote something of a clever tale for Mirage.

[Sunyavadin]

I'm quite looking forward to this. My first thought with alternate universes was the idea of some backstory to the dead universe - but who knows?

[sprunkner]

I thought it was fun. Strayton didn't make the Holmes or McDonough-esque mistake of cluttering the page with word bubbles. Though I wasn't crazy about phrases like "rust-hearted son of a glitch." I wonder how much this will figure into the main continuity.

[Predabot]

'twas ok, really. I could see Strayton writing some more TF-stuff.

Not sure I agree with the sentiment about Guido tho... to me the lines didn't feel at all as strong as his non-cartoony stuff, in fact, felt like some of his weaker stuff so far in IDW. Maybe I'm just biased against his cartoony style..

Pretty good colouring by the other Josh tho. I think it was the other Josh, right?

[Best First]

i thought it was ok, but there was a lot on rereading that i didn't really like:

- the composition of the decep attack squad seemed odd, Soundwave especially
- the scenes at the start made no real sense, nor did the scene at the end on earth, which made it feel very out of continuity . I don't mind stand alone stuff at all but this felt like it existed in its own little bubble
- all earth modes was a shame
- The notion Prime could be restrained by that lot for more than a second
- "rust hearted" - gah

all things which kind of took me out of the story.

Alsoi did not feel that this actualy offered any real insight into Mirage's moral ambiguity which for me would be the point of such a tale.

Oh, and Ratchet could totally have Mirage. "Fun?!"

On the up side the art was lovely and i got a kick from how much a$$ Hound kicked.

[BB Shockwave]

Quite frankly, I didn't like it one little bit.

Alternate universe tales can be written very well - see the JL cartoon episode "A better world" for example... or horribly wrong. This Mirage is neither - it's simply, bland and not really imaginative.

One of the things that bothered me is that although this is a spotlight of Mirage, it shoudln't mean other characters must be reduced to cyphers... I'm especially talking about the Cons, can you imagine Starscream being present at the last moments of OP and not getting in an insult or bragging? (missile with a mouth...) And the Bots were pretty bland too.

This could have been handled so much better. I like mirror universe tales and even thought out some ideas for a TF one, and without bragging I can say I could have written a better Mirage spotlight then this one... I mean, in a mirror universe, Mirage wouldn't be simply evil - he would still be the pampered 'aristocrat' who's forced to fight in the resistance - but 'what if' he'd get an offer that he could get his old lifestyle back if he'd work for 'insert villain here'? Seeing Mirage betraying his friends WHILE living amongst them would have been much more interesting, though I guess that's what Spotlight Doubledealer will be for...

[Metal Vendetta]

Throwaway fun.



[edit] @IDW:

Eh, it was throwaway fun. Didn't really ask or answer any questions, and tbh, none of it came off as real. It was a dream, and that's about it. It reads like fanfic, and pretty poor fanfic at that. In many places it asked a lot of the reader's suspension of disbelief. Oh, and the cartoony style was well below par. The whole thing reminded me of the Blackthorne 3D comics, the Choose Your Own Adventure books or even the Ladybird classics - too many characters acting out of character and looking completely different to the main continuity to have any real relevance for me.

Give me 'ation titles any day.

[Hound]

i thought it was ok, but there was a lot on rereading that i didn't really like:

- the composition of the decep attack squad seemed odd, Soundwave especially
- the scenes at the start made no real sense, nor did the scene at the end on earth, which made it feel very out of continuity . I don't mind stand alone stuff at all but this felt like it existed in its own little bubble
- all earth modes was a shame
- The notion Prime could be restrained by that lot for more than a second
- "rust hearted" - gah

all things which kind of took me out of the story.

Alsoi did not feel that this actualy offered any real insight into Mirage's moral ambiguity which for me would be the point of such a tale.

Oh, and Ratchet could totally have Mirage. "Fun?!"

On the up side the art was lovely and i got a kick from how much a$$ Hound kicked.

Pretty much agree with all of this really. Another thumbs up for the art. Isn't Guido going to be doing the 'All Hail Megatron' series? Makes me look forward to it that little bit more.

[Best First]

You should be happy mate - you pulled soundwave's head off....

ooer.

[Hound]

You should be happy mate - you pulled soundwave's head off....

ooer.

My wildest fantasy fulfilled!

[spiderfrommars]

Alternate universe evil Mirage is having dreams of his good counterpart's future(Autobot Mirage's death and Optimus Prime's apparent death at he hands of Starscream) and good regular universe Mirage is having dreams of his evil counterpart's future(leading the last battle against the badly damaged remaining Autobots, killing Hound and himself being killed by Optimus Prime).

How do we know which reality is the right one?

[Hot Shot]

Alternate universe evil Mirage is having dreams of his good counterpart's future(Autobot Mirage's death and Optimus Prime's apparent death at he hands of Starscream) and good regular universe Mirage is having dreams of his evil counterpart's future(leading the last battle against the badly damaged remaining Autobots, killing Hound and himself being killed by Optimus Prime).

How do we know which reality is the right one?

Mirage as an Autobot appeared in Spotlight Blaster. Decepticon Mirage is disturbed at the thought of being an Autobot, implying he has never been one(at least since the start of the war). That makes betrayal between Spotlight Blaster and the present unlikely.

[spiderfrommars]

I'm confused by it to be honest.

So is this building up to anything like a crossover between dimensions? Do we really need that? Or is it a one-off?

What's the point, basically.

[sprunkner]

Isn't Guido going to be doing the 'All Hail Megatron' series?

cooooooewwwwl

[Hot Shot]

Isn't Guido going to be doing the 'All Hail Megatron' series?

cooooooewwwwl

I thought that too until I saw this.

I'm beginning to get a Dreamwave vibe off this page. Everything's cramped. The awkward poses. And wouldn't changing from a Raptor alt mode to a F-15 be a downgrade?

I had hope for the series but now I'm not so sure.

[BB Shockwave]

Isn't Guido going to be doing the 'All Hail Megatron' series?

cooooooewwwwl

I thought that too until I saw this.

I'm beginning to get a Dreamwave vibe off this page. Everything's cramped. The awkward poses. And wouldn't changing from a Raptor alt mode to a F-15 be a downgrade?

I had hope for the series but now I'm not so sure.

Gotta agree. It reminds me of Joe NG's art, that DW balooney style. The only thing remotely like Guido's style are the seeker faces. I'm guessing Guido only did the sketches and maybe Pat Lee had one of his stooges ink it?

Seeing the seekers in Masterpiece Form is a nice touch, but why on Earth would they bother to 'downgrade' themselves from F22 to F15? Especially since disguise doesn't really matter anymore as the USA and Russia is already aware of the TFs existence (heck, Skywatch even knows where the Con bunker is).

I'm wondering how much damage this will do to the continuity. And whether Simon's Revelations was pushed into 4-parter cramped spotlights because Chris Ryall simply wants to bring in new blood... I mean, doing an in-contiunity story with a TF noob writer is nice, but giving him a 12-parter? Why didn't Furman get that option before, even though he often expressed he doesn't like the 6-issue formats?

[sprunkner]

wait... so there's news about AHM?

[veritech]

Don't we already have one alternate universe in the Dead Universe?

[Manchester Devil]

It's not just the use of MP designs that bothers me but the sight of Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker blowing stuff up while going on a Sunday Stroll after all the things we saw in Infiltration et al.

I just hope Hot Rod, Sunstreaker and the Dynobots aren't regressing back to old designs/habits just to please people who don't like new things. Grrr.

[Guest]

Those are the MP designs, are they? So what's the main differences between them and the Classics models, that IDW have been using so far?

[Best First]

It's not just the use of MP designs that bothers me but the sight of Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker blowing stuff up while going on a Sunday Stroll after all the things we saw in Infiltration et al.

I just hope Hot Rod, Sunstreaker and the Dynobots aren't regressing back to old designs/habits just to please people who don't like new things. Grrr.

eh, IDW have got a bit defensive on this one saying they are not pandering to anyone - there's 30 pages of fun to wade through on the board.

Bottom line - MacCarthy has stated its his idea and his alone and its not pandering to anyone no sir.

he has also stated we will love it - i dunno why but i always find assertions like this a bit unsettling.

One thing that strikes me about the art is it looks a bit cramped, after the Holmes/Milne dynamic on M:O makes me wonder if when writing for giant robots one has to think slightly differently? Hmm.

[spiderfrommars]

With Revalations shrunk to 4 issues and a different writer taking on a pivotal 12-issue in continuity tale I'm a bit WTF to be honest.

Hope to be surprised.

[Manchester Devil]

One thing that strikes me about the art is it looks a bit cramped, after the Holmes/Milne dynamic on M:O makes me wonder if when writing for giant robots one has to think slightly differently? Hmm.

"Oh my funking God! Giant robots! How can I make this look epic? I know, giant robots rampaging through a city! I am a genius, now when is my next assignment of Batman?"
It's strange that a guy who did Batman, a man who dresses up as a flying animal and turns a cave under his mansion into a massive hi-tech den to fight crime after his parents were killed by a mugger, gives us a page with the seekers, in F-15 MP togs, on a sunday stroll blowing up american taxis.

At least Eric had the (weak) excuse of being new to writing a comic, not that it make M:O any less of a major disappointment.

Shunting Furman's good work aside for a new writer to play with a large portion of continuity is like me asking IDW to plant my embryonic Megaman X/Transformers epic cross-over into the mix!

Still, I hope to [have my trousers shatter in waves of epic awesomeness - ed]