RID #13 full issue

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:26 pm

New thread to avoid spoilers not in the preview - spoilers will abound from here on in.

So it seems my largest gripe about the series so far has been addressed: all (or at least most of) those dead Decepticons are no longer dead. I'll be interested to see an explanation for this that makes a lick of sense but that aside, I'm rather pleased to see the Constructicons and Bombshell back among the Decepticon forces. I'm not sure I like my 'Cons without a few of those green and purple buggers lurking in the background - ever since that fight with the Dinobots during In the National Interest they've been pretty much indispensable for me as part of the "core" Decepticon force and now they're up and running again (well, five out of six ain't bad) my interest in RID has increased, gotta say it. Oh, and Laserbeak sitting on Megatron's shoulder? Joy.

As for the rest of it - well, it doesn't make any sense, but I'm willing to forgive that, purely because now the previous 12 issues haven't been a pointless exercise in Decepticon-wasting after all.

Post by **snarl** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 11:08 pm

This opens up a lot of new questions...

But I actually am interested in RID again.

Took a while to get here, and they very nearly lost my interest completely... but I'll second MV's point about gripe being addressed.

Now it looks likely that Arcee merely killed a load of Facsimiles, which when I thought she hadn't was really pissing me off.

Still not in love with the art, some of the dialogue and the pacing, but this issue has definitely raised my interest in the series again.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:45 am

Still not sure what the freak is going on here. Why is Prowl siding with every Decepticon baddy known to man? I mean, who the hell is Prowl anyway?
His master plan was to "fake" the deaths of Decepticons using Arcee until Megatron showed up?

I mean, sure it's surprising to see all the Decepticons standing there at the end, but how does that make up for all the lackluster storytelling again?

You guys might be curious about all this, but I'm still in the "frustrated" department.

Somebody bring out the finger puppets and explain to me using cute animal voices what's going on.

Post by **snarl** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:31 am

Yeah, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying this now makes up for everything, but I am more curious now as to what the [composite word including 'f*ck'] is happening.

It's still quite the **** storm.

Really, I'm hoping Arcee has become over confident and gets killed next issue

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 10:19 am

Yaya wrote:Somebody bring out the finger puppets and explain to me using cute animal voices what's going on.

Not a clue. I think Jack nailed it in the preview thread: http://transfans.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic ... 990#126990

Sunyavadin · Post by **Sunyavadin** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 12:10 am

I dunno, either Prowl's been enjoying a friendly cerebro shell for some time, or he just completely snapped. Or, I dunno, he decided Megatron in charge would be the lesser evil. I mean hey, it's not like he could be worse than Zeta or Nova, right? RIGHT?

Porrima · Post by **Porrima** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:08 pm

Hello. Figured opening a new thread for this would cause righteous fury, so I'd like to ask here:
I'm somewhat older and read the original g1 Transformers run in the 80's, both US and Furman's UK specials.

I really loved it. As I grew older I realized most of it was total ****, but I still loved it.

From several sites I've recently heard that the two new IDW ongoings are really good. So I want to read them. But I've read nothing since original G1.

While I'm sure you CAN start from the new two ongoings and do just well, are they in continuity with all the earlier IDW stuff? Is all that in the same continuity? I'm not even sure what's the order for them.

If it is in continuity, how much does not reading the previous IDW transformers, of which there are.. mixed opinions.. in the internet hurt reading the new continuities? Are there a lot of stuff you only could get and enjoy by reading the previous things?

I'm happy if someone can spend some time to answer. Thanks.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:31 pm

Porrima wrote:Hello. Figured opening a new thread for this would cause righteous fury, so I'd like to ask here:
I'm somewhat older and read the original g1 Transformers run in the 80's, both US and Furman's UK specials.

I really loved it. As I grew older I realized most of it was total ****, but I still loved it.

From several sites I've recently heard that the two new IDW ongoings are really good. So I want to read them. But I've read nothing since original G1.

While I'm sure you CAN start from the new two ongoings and do just well, are they in continuity with all the earlier IDW stuff? Is all that in the same continuity? I'm not even sure what's the order for them.

If it is in continuity, how much does not reading the previous IDW transformers, of which there are.. mixed opinions.. in the internet hurt reading the new continuities? Are there a lot of stuff you only could get and enjoy by reading the previous things?

I'm happy if someone can spend some time to answer. Thanks.

The current two series are Robots in Disguise and More Then Meets The Eye. You really don't need to know anything prior to those books to enjoy them and understand why people like them so much. Prior to them, there was a much maligned era of IDW Transformers revolving around things like "Chaos Theory," "Lots of Humans," "Hail Megatron," and "Mike Costa." Before that, the initial period of IDW Transformers was largely written by Simon Furman, who likely wrote most of the Marvel TF stuff that you enjoyed. You might like it, but the story was cut short without being able to play itself out. I believe theoretically, both prior eras (Furman and Costa) are supposed to all exist in the same continuity.

Main point: Current stories ARE in continuity, but continuity not necessary. 1st Era IDW Furman continuity less attached to current status quo than 2nd Era IDW Costa. I would say that the key point here is less continuity and more history: you don't need continuity to understand what's going on in the current runs, but you WILL have your interest piqued by the historicization of Transformer pre and early war culture.

Also, FYI, IDW also has a series called "Regeneration One" which directly continues the Marvel TF storyline.

Porrima · Post by **Porrima** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 9:29 pm

Shanti418 wrote:

Main point: Current stories ARE in continuity, but continuity not necessary. 1st Era IDW Furman continuity less attached to current status quo than 2nd Era IDW Costa. I would say that the key point here is less continuity and more history: you don't need continuity to understand what's going on in the current runs, but you WILL have your interest piqued by the historicization of Transformer pre and early war culture.

Also, FYI, IDW also has a series called "Regeneration One" which directly continues the Marvel TF storyline.

Thank you. As an additional question, I do know that in the new ongoings, the war in Cybertron is over or "over." If the previous stories are in continuity, would it help knowing how the war ended?
I believe there was no Unicron thingies this time.

And also, I forgot about regeneration one. While opinions of course vary, is there some sort of consensus on its quality?

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:24 pm

How the war 'ended' was a point of some confusion for us who read it at the time!

First it was 'over' because the Decepticons had won. Megatron was all poised to conquer Earth (despite it never being established what was so important about Earth) when the surviving Autobots err... 'rallied' and chased him off.

Then the war was 'over' because this final rally meant the Autobots had won and Megatron was out of action with a head injury. For some reason, most of the Autobots hung around on Earth while the Decepticons skulked on an asteroid.

Then Megatron made a big comeback, then immediately surrendered. The Autobots took him to Cybertron to stand trial and got mixed up in some affair with Galvatron. All the Decepticons turned up and merged into a giant monster which Megatron, after freeing himself by using tiny duplicates of himself to create special armour, had a big fight with.

The Autobots therefore 'won' because Megatron and the big Decepticon monster disappeared over the horizon, Cybertron (which had been a dead planet) suddenly came back to life and the Decepticons, apart from Megatron, because prisoners.

Yeah, exactly. It's bewildering.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:36 pm

I didn't read the previous stuff, and the understanding I've come out of these current books with is: Decepticons won the battle (enslaved Earth for a bit), but lost the war (at the beginning of current series, Autobots are running Cybertron and Optimus Prime decides to take a vacation)

As for Regeneration One, I think for anyone who has a soft spot for the original Marvel run should definitely pick it up. As you were saying, some of the original Marvel stuff didn't age well, and you will definitely get cheesy, cliche-ridden writing in this series.

So sadly, I don't think there is a consensus. The people who don't have a nostalgic, wistful, and emotional relationship with Marvel TF see this series as a bit hackneyed and simplistic. The people who DO have a nostalgic, wistful, and emotional relationship with Marvel TF (which is a large portion of the folks you'll find on these here boards) overlook the warts and simply enjoy seeing a conclusion to these stories and a revisit with these characters. Personally, I think the quality has been choppy issue to issue, but it's like watching the final season of your favorite show that you know probably already hit its creative high watermark.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:37 am

So basically Season 5 of Babylon 5.

The war thing, as jack states, is bizarre - at one point the Autobts have aparently been all but wiped out (off camera) and subsequently the Decepticons seem to have been all but wiped out (sort of on camera but the art was so confounding it was hard t tll) - yet pretty much everyone still seems to be about.

The way the current series seem to be treating it is basically;
- there are a bunch of bots and cons on Cybertron and the status quo is that the bots are notionall in control
- there are lots of pockets of cons and to alesser extent bots scattered around the galaxy as a result of the war endin and there is still plenty of scope for conflict as a result, even if it's not part of some orchestrated war
- there are a bunch of nuetrals around, eitehr characters who fled Cybertron before the war and have now returned or who, for whatever reason, pre-dated the war and have only recently come back into play

Porrima · Post by **Porrima** » Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:26 pm

Thanks for all, I smiled reading at your comments on the war.

It probably was perfectly clear and reasonable in the writer's mind and if asked we simply are unable to comprehend his thoughts. Or I have such experiences of writers (among others, of course) at least..

Post by **Best First** » Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:14 am

That's almost definitely how the previous writer viewed fan criticisms.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 3:27 pm

This conversation is great. Welcome, Porrima, and fear not to make new threads. We don't bite, except Snarl, and you'll like it.

Anyway, finally got the issue. So I wait to buy any TF comics until MTMTE is in the shops... so what?

I really liked this. I am scared that, like the other issues of RiD I've really liked, it will be undone next issue.

But Starscream was pretty good. Silly for him to run screaming from Megatron, but I love the way he is vainly grasping for the power he might finally get. There's even a good bit of meta-commentary here about politics. Starscream is a raving psychopath hungry for power... but if he has a chance of winning a free election and ruling in a perfectly legal manner, he's cool with that.

If Prowl is, as JC said, mind-controlled or otherwise messed-up and part of some master plan... perhaps

then this series will really take on a new light for me, and I will forgive much of what has come before.

With issue #13, Barber has now given me three issues that I really like, three that were middling, and eight that were blah out of the fourrteen in this series' run (counting the annual). Numbers are still against him. I hold out hope, though. Don't screw this up next issue, John...