Robots in Disguise #6 Review (spoilers)

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:54 pm

Wow, that was thrilling. The cast by itself got me out of my seat. Have to say, I think this issue was the best of the series just far.

For one, the art by Ramondelli is the best we've seen from him yet. He really sets the darker tone that this series is shooting for. Dark and mysterious, but things are very clear. It's always a plus when the artist captures the vibe that the writer is obviously going for.

Which brings me to Barber. His dialogue here is the best I've seen from him, very polished, which almost makes me beg the question did he really write this himself? Cause whatever weaknesses he showed in prior issues they are absent here. The transition from present to past, particularly regarding the monologue by Prime suddenly transitioning to that of Shockwave in the past with a nice big splash page of ole one-eye himself was a very nice touch. Loved the way Barber just sets up question upon question with this introductory issue.

Dare I say this issue has me as intrigued as MTMTE. I mean, I won't spoil it for others who have not yet read it (despite my Spoilers tag above), but with the cast introduced here, we're in for a treat!

Granted, some things aren't clear, and some of the connections and conclusions Prime, er, Pax come to don't quite make much sense, but I can live with it.

Best issue of RID thus far, give it an "A+". As an issue that really gets you hooked and wanting more, it works great. Whether Barber will be able to deliver the answers in an exciting way without them being contrived and nonsensical remains to be seen. But I have high hopes.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 1:08 am

Whoa--this is out already?

Post by **snarl** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 11:49 am

I liked that a lot - definitely the best RiD, massively looking forward to it again.

And it was the bloke who does the gorgeous stuff on art, but he's toned it down so you can see what's going on a lot more easily - good job.

Oh dear. It looks like I'm agreeing a lot with yaya, does this mean I've gone mental?

Post by **Best First** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 12:54 pm

It means you should check your garden for bodies

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:18 am

This was brilliant. Surprised me at every turn and the art is gorgeous. Best RID so far

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:24 am

Managed to miss this thread somehow despit checking first on the assumption little gets past Yaya. Any chance of a sneaky merger?

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 2:57 pm

Must admit I'm surprised by the praise for this issue. I thought it was quite average myself.

It left me feeling both underwhelmed and if I'm honest a little bit lost. I've read some of chaos, admittedly not all of it, but I'm confused as to why Hardhead is alive again.

Also the last time we saw Bludgeon wasn't he flying around with Monstructor? So the twist at the end, where - *dun-dun-duhhhh* - it's a trap set by Bludgeon was frankly, a bit obvious.

Speaking of which, why is Bludgeon sane again? Has any writer explained this yet? One minute he's brain-dead inside his pretender shell, the next he's a zombie controlled by Jhiaxus, and now...well he's back to the Bludgeon we know and love! So ummm...how did that happen? Did someone flip and on/off switch on his back to reboot him?

The dialogue for Wheelie was pretty poor, and Optimus / Pax came across as same old Prime (addressing Wheelie as "old friend" made me cringe no end).

IMO it was same old Barber - good story ideas, but let down by generic and clumsy dialogue, coupled with weird pacing.

And the art...I really don't get what you all see in it. The dude constantly gets the perspective wrong! It's one of the fundamental basics of drawing and he's hashing it up way too often for my liking. I'd take Griffiths any day over this.

Anyway, I hope my negativity doesn't offend those who liked the issue. I'm still going to keep on buying RID because I want the current split ongoing project to be a success, but it's still got a long way to go to close the gap of quality with MTMTE.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:20 pm

I didn't really understand any of what I just read.

Prime ran off to go be someone else, and now has decided to come back in the space of one issue with no real exposition as to why he decided to f-off or what's now changed to make him come back.

Naturally I got none of the references to previous story arcs, as I've never read them, so that will have generally added to the air of confusion.

Shockwave is now back, and Bludgeon and Jhiaxus why not.

When did Hardhead go looking for Prime? Did I miss that story?

The art was lovely but my old bugbear has once again reared itself up: half the time I have to reread a page two or three times to try and work out what's happening. It's beautiful art but very unclear in places.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 7:54 pm

Mr_Tigg wrote: Also the last time we saw Bludgeon wasn't he flying around with Monstructor? So the twist at the end, where - *dun-dun-duhhhh* - it's a trap set by Bludgeon was frankly, a bit obvious.

Actually, it was Banzaitron who was flying around with Monstructor. So the twist remains. If Barber doesn't explain the switcharoo though, could end up being a major gaff.

Speaking of which, why is Bludgeon sane again? Has any writer explained this yet? One minute he's brain-dead inside his pretender shell, the next he's a zombie controlled by Jhiaxus, and now...well he's back to the Bludgeon we know and love! So ummm...how did that happen? Did someone flip and on/off switch on his back to reboot him?

I think that's part of thy mystery that has yet to be explained by Barber.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:05 pm

Yaya wrote:
Mr_Tigg wrote: Also the last time we saw Bludgeon wasn't he flying around with Monstructor? So the twist at the end, where - *dun-dun-duhhhh* - it's a trap set by Bludgeon was frankly, a bit obvious.
Actually, it was Banzaitron who was flying around with Monstructor.

Nah, in was Bludgeon in AHM 15.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:10 am

inflatable dalek wrote:
Yaya wrote:
Mr_Tigg wrote: Also the last time we saw Bludgeon wasn't he flying around with Monstructor? So the twist at the end, where - *dun-dun-duhhhh* - it's a trap set by Bludgeon was frankly, a bit obvious.
Actually, it was Banzaitron who was flying around with Monstructor.
Nah, in was Bludgeon in AHM 15.

Huh. Someone on the IDW boards said it was Banzaitron and I kind of remembered that too.

So where's Banzaitron and when was he last seen?

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:12 am

From the TF Wiki about Banzaitron:

Banzaitron and his Decepticons only made it as far as the Orcibe Cluster, where their captives were reactivated by parties unknown, allowing them to escape. The damaged Banzaitron was found by Arcee, with whom he formed an alliance. Spotlight: Hardhead Arcee joined him and his group in tackling Monstructor... but Arcee was convinced by Skram to give up that fight and go hunt down her creator, leaving Banzaitron and company to fend for themselves. How they fared in the battle is unknown. Spotlight: Sideswipe

Wow. I recall none of that.

Post by **Kaylee** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:54 am

Yaya wrote: Wow. I recall none of that.

Largely the story of this whole issue

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:16 pm

Yeh - a lot of it is implied rather than shown in panel. One of the many loose ends created by IDW in their urge to rush Furman's run into a swift wrap-up.

With regards to Bludgeon, I believe Denton wrote a mini-spotlight about how Perceptor became a sniper (thanks McCarthy!) which features Bludgeon and Monstructor. Still no explanation for Bludgeon's returned sanity though.

On a positive note, I do like that Barber is trying to pull together the fragments of the 'loose ends' from previous runs into some sort of decent storyline.

It just needs a little bit more craft to elevate the story-telling. I honestly think he would benefit hugely from a co-writer of sorts.

Post by **Best First** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:14 pm

Mr_Tigg wrote:Must admit I'm surprised by the praise for this issue. I thought it was quite average myself.

It left me feeling both underwhelmed and if I'm honest a little bit lost. I've read some of chaos, admittedly not all of it, but I'm confused as to why Hardhead is alive again.

Also the last time we saw Bludgeon wasn't he flying around with Monstructor? So the twist at the end, where - *dun-dun-duhhhh* - it's a trap set by Bludgeon was frankly, a bit obvious.

Speaking of which, why is Bludgeon sane again? Has any writer explained this yet? One minute he's brain-dead inside his pretender shell, the next he's a zombie controlled by Jhiaxus, and now...well he's back to the Bludgeon we know and love! So ummm...how did that happen? Did someone flip and on/off switch on his back to reboot him?

The dialogue for Wheelie was pretty poor, and Optimus / Pax came across as same old Prime (addressing Wheelie as "old friend" made me cringe no end).

IMO it was same old Barber - good story ideas, but let down by generic and clumsy dialogue, coupled with weird pacing.

And the art...I really don't get what you all see in it. The dude constantly gets the perspective wrong! It's one of the fundamental basics of drawing and he's hashing it up way too often for my liking. I'd take Griffiths any day over this.

Anyway, I hope my negativity doesn't offend those who liked the issue. I'm still going to keep on buying RID because I want the current split ongoing project to be a success, but it's still got a long way to go to close the gap of quality with MTMTE.

The above basically saves me having to type anything - totally agree.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 7:41 pm

Yaya wrote:
Wow. I recall none of that.

That's Revelation in a nutshell that is.

The Perceptor story is actually OK (despite the lack of explanation over Bludgeon), it had the great misfortune of being in the same issue as the Kup story and thus got completely overlooked. If it had been paired up with any of the other, atrocious, Coda issues it would have been noticed a bit more.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 4:33 pm

Best First wrote:
Mr_Tigg wrote:Must admit I'm surprised by the praise for this issue. I thought it was quite average myself.

It left me feeling both underwhelmed and if I'm honest a little bit lost. I've read some of chaos, admittedly not all of it, but I'm confused as to why Hardhead is alive again.

Also the last time we saw Bludgeon wasn't he flying around with Monstructor? So the twist at the end, where - *dun-dun-duhhhh* - it's a trap set by Bludgeon was frankly, a bit obvious.

Speaking of which, why is Bludgeon sane again? Has any writer explained this yet? One minute he's brain-dead inside his pretender shell, the next he's a zombie controlled by Jhiaxus, and now...well he's back to the Bludgeon we know and love! So ummm...how did that happen? Did someone flip and on/off switch on his back to reboot him?

The dialogue for Wheelie was pretty poor, and Optimus / Pax came across as same old Prime (addressing Wheelie as "old friend" made me cringe no end).

IMO it was same old Barber - good story ideas, but let down by generic and clumsy dialogue, coupled with weird pacing.

And the art...I really don't get what you all see in it. The dude constantly gets the perspective wrong! It's one of the fundamental basics of drawing and he's hashing it up way too often for my liking. I'd take Griffiths any day over this.

Anyway, I hope my negativity doesn't offend those who liked the issue. I'm still going to keep on buying RID because I want the current split ongoing project to be a success, but it's still got a long way to go to close the gap of quality with MTMTE.
The above basically saves me having to type anything - totally agree.

Thirded, with a generous helping of Karl's "I skipped Chaos Whatever, so everything is even MORE confusing."

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:27 am

inflatable dalek wrote:
Yaya wrote:
Wow. I recall none of that.
That's Revelation in a nutshell that is.

The Perceptor story is actually OK (despite the lack of explanation over Bludgeon), it had the great misfortune of being in the same issue as the Kup story and thus got completely overlooked. If it had been paired up with any of the other, atrocious, Coda issues it would have been noticed a bit more.

I personally thought the first two issues of Revelation were excellent. The last two however suffered from the story condensing - something I blame IDW for rather than Furman.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:00 pm

Mr_Tigg wrote:
inflatable dalek wrote:
Yaya wrote:
Wow. I recall none of that.
That's Revelation in a nutshell that is.

The Perceptor story is actually OK (despite the lack of explanation over Bludgeon), it had the great misfortune of being in the same issue as the Kup story and thus got completely overlooked. If it had been paired up with any of the other, atrocious, Coda issues it would have been noticed a bit more.
I personally thought the first two issues of Revelation were excellent. The last two however suffered from the story condensing - something I blame IDW for rather than Furman.

Yeah, the whiplash in quality between the first and the second half is actually staggering, I remember being so optimistic after Cyclonus, "Ha, Furman's going to pull it off! This'll show Shame McCarthy!". Alas, I still think the storyline could have been wound up perfectly well in four issues, what undid it is the wrong characters being picked for the final two Spotlights. If it had been two more central to the actual plot, Jetfire and Nemesis Prime say, it could have worked just as well as the first two issues.

Is that IDW's fault or Furman's? It's hard to say. I can't see them having been over keen on doing a Double Dealer Spotlight after being put off doing more obscure non-TV characters after even Nightbeat couldn't manage to sell as well as Shockwave or Hot Rod.

I certainly don't blame IDW for moving Furman on and wrapping things up quickly (the rather drastic loss in sales figures would have had us clamouring for a change if anyone else had been writing it), but I do think how they handled it completely buggered everything up and seem determined to annoy as many people as humanly possible. It's telling it's taken, what, three years to get thing vaguely back on track.

Fully agreed that a big part of the problem here is that the issue (that as well as being part of what's supposed to be a fresh start has the whole return of Prime angle that might have drawn some new/faded readers back in) is far too involved with old business.

I was as annoyed as anyone when the Ore 13 thing was dropped without explanation (as it was a perfectly good motivation for the Decepticons behaving differently in AHM and everyone continuing to hang about on Earth during Costa's run) but the time to deal with it would have been on Earth, the moment has more than passed.

On the plus side, I liked how Prime was handled. He isn't reinvented or all emo as he could have been, he's still Optimus Prime despite the name change. A constant in an ever changing Universe. He may thing Cybertron doesn't need him anymore but he still has no doubts over who he is or what he needs to do. As much as I like the more doubt filled Prime of the Marvel comics these days I think this the best way to handle Prime over all.

Post by **Kaylee** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:10 pm

A minor additional thought, I'm curious to know if I'm the only one who feels this way too, but the whole Orion Pax nomenclature I find cliché and cloying. It was cute in the cartoon, but I find it one of the dullest pieces of cartoon lore to enter the mainstream canon.

1. It sounds like a brand of stuffing.
2. It reminds me of Dylan.
3. It feels so incredibly fanwanky.

Couldn't his pre-Prime name have just been Boff or Squidlington or something?

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:44 am

Karl wrote:A minor additional thought, I'm curious to know if I'm the only one who feels this way too, but the whole Orion Pax nomenclature I find cliché and cloying. It was cute in the cartoon, but I find it one of the dullest pieces of cartoon lore to enter the mainstream canon.

1. It sounds like a brand of stuffing.
2. It reminds me of Dylan.
3. It feels so incredibly fanwanky.

Couldn't his pre-Prime name have just been Boff or Squidlington or something?

Oglaff Piddlingsquire.

Post by **snarl** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:29 am

Yeah, Orion Pax is a ******* stupid name isn't it.

tbh, I had no idea why all these chaps were in ice on some dodgy planet, or why Hardhead can live away from Gorlam Prime... but I stopped reading the comic for ages when it went to **** so just assumed they all ended up there in during the 2-3 odd years that the book was absolute ****.

Or that it will be explained in this story.

Thought the art pretty easy to follow, didn't really notice any odd perspectives, but then the colouring tends to distract my eye from that.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:08 am

why can't his pre prime name just be ****ing Optimus?

Orion Paxo can stuff off.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:12 pm

He wasn't optimal until he became a Prime.

I actually liked this quite a bit; seemed like Barber will thrive away from that Prowl storyline he just can't leave alone. Wasn't perfect--as JC pointed out all over the IDW forums, Wheelie's iams are terrible! Rhyming doggerel speech is bad enough; he should at least match up in syllables and stresses.

The plot had me a bit distracted. First Shockwave, then Jhiaxus, with no hint of Shockwave, then Monstructor and Bludgeon. I didn't have a problem remembering that they were alive again, because Chaos = Costa ripping absolutely everything off of Revelation + some not as good stuff. I figured he brought back Bludgeon and Monstructor again.

I find myself missing Verity and Jimmy. Hell, shouldn't Jimmy be drifting around space with the Autobots somewhere? Maybe he should help Ratchet out in the repair bay. Most humans in the TF franchise are just dumb, but Verity, Hunter and Jimmy were such oddballs compared to Mary Sues like Buster.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:41 pm

Anyone remember the even sillier name Dreamwave came up with for pre-Prime Optimus? Optronix or something like that (though IIRC it thankfully didn't make it into any comics). We've got off lightly with Pax now being the accepted form.

Even though it's unintentional (as the idea of "Prime" being a title didn't come in till when into the run) I love the way Marvel comics treated Optimus Prime's old name as... Optimus Prime. Reminds me of the Robert Rankin character Hugo Rune who changed his name by deed poll to Sir Hugo Rune on the grounds that of course he would get a knighthood eventually so he might as well save the Queen some time and effort. "It's an honorary title. I bestowed it upon myself in honour of myself".

Post by **Best First** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:01 pm

Lets just call him Sparticus and be done with it.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:21 am

Best First wrote:Lets just call him Sparticus and be done with it.

"What is a robot's name?"

"Optronixl."

"No, that is not it."

"Orion Pax."

"A robot is closer."

"I am Optimus, of house Prime."

"Now a robot tells the truth."

Jaqen H'ghar meets the TFs. Too awesome an idea for words.

Onion Paxo · Post by **Onion Paxo** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:46 pm

Best First wrote:why can't his pre prime name just be ****ing Optimus?

Orion Paxo can stuff off.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 6:39 pm

The way I see it, Hot Rod = Rodimus Prime, so therefore Opt-something should be his last name originally. Stevie Optical perhaps.