RID #16 *Spoilers*

[Mr_Tigg]

Thought it was an ok issue, though the usual silliness crop up.

Off the top of my had -

Why can Ironhide jump as high as a gestalt now?

What happened to Superion? Is he just lying dead somewhere? Why didn't Ironhide / Dinobots mourn his loss?

What are the dinobots doing other then chilling on panel occasionally?

How come Prowlestator can rip off his own head (surely part of Prowl?) yet Prowl be all fine and in one piece afterwards? How come all it took to beat Devastator was a quick natter with Ironhide?

How did Megatron get wired up with a containment field without noticing? And how did Wheeljack ensure it went unnoticed from one body to the next (surely Soundwave or Bombshell would've noticed something up with his spark)?

What's going on at the end with Megatron and the Constructicons? Are they about to merge?

Quite liked seeing Starscream off Metalhawk. Didn't expect it myself, but felt like the sort of thing ol'screamer-schemer would do. In fact of all the characters in RID, he's probably one of a handful that comes out with any credibility.

MTMTE this ain't.

[snarl]

Forgettable, throw away wank with pretty aids art... Worst thing about it is the promo for next issue - RiD is doing the origin of Shockwave,

FFS.

[Jack Cade]

This was really bad. Really, really bad. I defended some elements of the last issue of RiD on these boards (or was it the one before?) but the attempt here to pull everything together is a total mess, in my opinion.

Why can Ironhide jump as high as a gestalt now?

The art didn't do a great job of conveying it, but that's meant to be Sludge throwing Ironhide up there with his tail. Yeah. Who needs physics, eh?

What's going on at the end with Megatron and the Constructicons? Are they about to merge?

Yes, Megatron's plan all along was to merge with Devastator. How unbelievably, gobsmackingly rubbish is that?

And oh no! The Autobots exiled! I guess they'll just take their infrastructure and resources, which was the only thing keeping the place going, and set up a new town down the road. Or anywhere on the entire planet, really. What a calamity for them.

How long is a town led by Starscream, Zetca and Tappet going to last considering what Starscream's leadership did to the Decepticons?

Prowl and Ironhide are great friends now? The same Prowl and Ironhide who squared off against each other in Infiltration and came to angry blows in AHM are now so close that Ironhide only has to horse-whisper sweet nothings into Prowl's ear to break his Decepticon programming.

And let's all trust Swindle! It's not like he's pretended to be reformed before, is it?

No, Prowl, don't you dare arrest those Constructicons who just spent two issues murdering everybody - they deserve to be as free as you or me.

Good Christ, what a mess.

[Hound]

Awful. I don't actually understand what I just read.

The art is horrible too.

What a waste

[Metal Vendetta]

So...Megatron shouts "Constructicons combine!" and then they just sort of hand in mid-air for, what, a page and a half? Time enough for a chat with Dirge and for the Autobots to have a conversation about what they're going to do next, at least. And it's ludicrous that he would have gotten an entirely new body but left Wheeljack's force-field belt strapped to his spark.

[Hound]

And those who didn't renounce their factions were asked to leave - and left?!

Autobots I can sort of understand, but Megatron and co? Who were just on the verge of killing everyone? They leave because Starscream asks them to? Are we to believe they are somehow moved by the death of Metalhawk?

[Kaylee]

Nyarg.

So Ironhide said 'blah blah Prowl blah Texan accent' and that made Prowlestator turn back into Prowl + friends.

I'm also impressed how big Devs was. I mean, size inconsistencies are par for the course with TF but he seemed to be the size of a small planet.

Bumblesnatch bores me to the point of tears.

Metalhawk is an idiot for trusting Starscream. The Dinobots did [composite word including 'f*ck'] all. Megatron is an utter tool. And Bumbletwat et al just left because something something something.

[composite word including 'f*ck']. Ing. Hell. That was pure, distilled, Dreamwave levels of ****.

[Hound]

I like Comic Book Resources but are they reading a different book?

Transformers: Robots In Disguise #16
(IDW Publishing)
Shakespearean in its staging, grandiose in its scope and relentless in its pacing, this issue settles accounts for so many characters and so many plots that it's ridiculous. Bumblebee gets a new name, Metalhawk the unaligned pacifist proves a point, Megatron pulls out all the stops, Wheeljack left a surprise and Starscream, that magnificent bastard, may be the smartest one of all. This issue was busy, but in all the right ways, rushing towards a new vision for the planet Cybertron and its virtually immortal, relentlessly violent native species. Acree's a quote machine, Bumblebee would make a fitting King Lear and Ironhide provides the grit and temerity one needs in a traditional hero. John Barber is writing some of the best science fiction on the market today, and the art from Andrew Griffith, Brian Shearer, Rick Ketcham and Josh Perez portrays this smoky, ruthless tableau perfectly.

[Kaylee]

I like Comic Book Resources but are they reading a different book?

Transformers: Robots In Disguise #16
(IDW Publishing)
Shatneresque in its staging, inconsistent in its scope and relentless in its ********, this issue settles accounts for so many characters and so many plots that it's ridiculous. Bumbleclown gets a new Ford Focus, Metalhawk the unaligned poltroon proves Thermat's Last Theorum, Megatron pulls out all the bones from a nice bit of monkfish, Wheeljack left a stain and Starscream, that magnificent berk, may be the smartest one of two. This issue was batshit, but in all the wrong ways, rushing towards a lack of vision for the planet Cybertron and its mindless, relentlessly dimwitted native species. Acree's a cliche machine, Bumblebee would make a fitting King Rollo and Ironhide provides the gumbo and stew one needs in a traditional hero. John Barber is writing some of the best science fiction on the market today, but this aint it. And the art from Andrew Griffith, Brian Shearer, Rick Ketcham and Josh Perez portrays this smoky, ruthless stealing of the reader's money perfectly. This would make Thatcher's corpse orgasm with rage.

Fixed.

[Computron]

I want to use the phrase "orgasm in rage" in normal conversation. Karl, your word choice is perfectly cromulent.

In any case sometimes I wonder if other people are getting different versions of this comic than I am. I read their reviews and I'm quite at a loss as to whether I've gone mad or they have.

As much as it would pain my namesake, I really would not object to gestalts being retconned out of existence until someone can actually do something useful with them.

Oh well. I'll just file this under the "Devastator attacks...again!" file and leave it be.

[Best First]

Replacing Shakespearean with Shatneresque is quite frankly Hicksien in its comedy genius

[Kaylee]

I'm no hero, I was just trying to be offensive :3

[RiD Sucks]

Good grief, it's like this is the last place on the internet where anyone tells the truth about Transformers comics.

If you were to believe any of the other boards or reviews, RiD has been great since day one, and issue 16 is so amazing that any one who has any doubts whatsoever will be converted to pure LOVE for the series by the sheer awesome of these 22 pages.

Oh, and the art is supposed to be amazing too.

But this is almost Costa level horrible. THe only reason it isn't is there's no Spike. This issue even repeated what I hated so much about issue 15, with Bumblebee engaging Megatron in battle one minute and then they miraculously end up in different parts of the city the next.

What is it exactly, that gets this crappy series a free pass all over the internet? I read reviewer after reviewer encouraging people to follow this giant, awkward slice of boredom all year and it finally bottoms out with it's worst issue yet and it's all "this issue puts naysayers to rest" or "RiD #16 is INCREDIBLE!"

Finally, why didn't Wheeljack just activate the force field himself when he was in the same room as Megatron two or three months ago!?

[RiD Sucks]

Forgettable, throw away wank with pretty aids art... Worst thing about it is the promo for next issue - RiD is doing the origin of Shockwave,

FFS.

It may not be that bad. Fingers crossed.

[RiD Sucks]

I like Comic Book Resources but are they reading a different book?

Transformers: Robots In Disguise #16
(IDW Publishing)
Shatneresque in its staging, inconsistent in its scope and relentless in its ********, this issue settles accounts for so many characters and so many plots that it's ridiculous. Bumbleclown gets a new Ford Focus, Metalhawk the unaligned poltroon proves Thermat's Last Theorum, Megatron pulls out all the bones from a nice bit of monkfish, Wheeljack left a stain and Starscream, that magnificent berk, may be the smartest one of two. This issue was batshit, but in all the wrong ways, rushing towards a lack of vision for the planet Cybertron and its mindless, relentlessly dimwitted native species. Acree's a cliche machine, Bumblebee would make a fitting King Rollo and Ironhide provides the gumbo and stew one needs in a traditional hero. John Barber is writing some of the best science fiction on the market today, but this aint it. And the art from Andrew Griffith, Brian Shearer, Rick Ketcham and Josh Perez portrays this smoky, ruthless stealing of the reader's money perfectly. This would make Thatcher's corpse orgasm with rage.

Fixed.

OMG that's hilarious!

[Yaya]

Forgettable, throw away wank with pretty aids art... Worst thing about it is the promo for next issue - RiD is doing the origin of Shockwave,

FFS.

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Of all the ******* characters, why Shockwave?

At least the writing in all those Ramandelli art issues of RID seemed more refined as opposed to the fanwankery we've been subject to. Still very concerned about this.

This series should be entitled "Transformers: Things Happen Just Because".

[Sunyavadin]

Good grief, it's like this is the last place on the internet where anyone tells the truth about Transformers comics.

Because it is.

At least the writing in all those Ramandelli art issues of RID seemed more refined as opposed to the fanwankery we've been subject to.

They're still the only issues of RID I've actually ENJOYED.

[bumblemusprime]

Um... it wasn't MTMTE, but having read 14, 15 and 16 in one sitting... which shows you how much I care about keeping up with it... I didn't think it was all that bad. Plotholes? Yes. Inconsistencies? Yes.

But all things considered, this initial arc of RiD read like a first draft of what could have been a much better arc. It was a decent first draft, it just needed a good pass to clear up inconsistencies. The Starscream part of the plot was well-done. The Prowl part was overexposed. Metalhawk and Bumblebee sat around too much, and the Ironhide & Dinobots bit needed more explanation of what happened out in the wastelands.

The frame is there. The execution should have been shorter and more effective. But... shoot, I enjoyed it.

Srsly, I'm going to be the Yaya when even Yaya won't be the Yaya. Prowl and Arcee finally get a clear motivation for their actions. Megatron has an ill-thought-out plan, based on a big super-weapon. Are we surprised? Starscream is blinded by his own narcissism--well done. Metalhawk finally served a purpose. I had fun watching the machinations come together. Wheeljack activated a force field thingie because he's smart, and we see why we spent extra time on Wheeljack, of all people. Ironhide says some motivational stuff to Prowl. Call me a retconner, but I thought it worked precisely because of their history of animosity. You get to know someone well when you spend four million years working around their administrative decisions.

At some point, poking plotholes in franchise sf and comics becomes an exercise in futility. The Doctor is an immortal alien god with knowledge of all time. But every episode we accept that he is in danger. Why? How? If the rules of the Whoniverse are ultra-clear, I must be really missing something. So gestalts are overused? Megs-gestalt is a bit too much of a second Death Star? Wheeljack sabotaged something when Megs should have seen through it?

I just don't come to TF comics expecting an airtight plot. Don't look for it in Who, either. John Scalzi? Yes. Airtight plots. Tolkien? Eh... there's that thing with the eagles that no one has ever truly explained. Shakespeare? What the hell do you mean, Hamlet got magically rescued offstage by pirates? You see where I'm going because I'm going to the place where it's a comic about shape-changing robots...

This series is on a higher order than 70% of what we've seen since the license came back 11 years ago. The griping reminds me a bit of the halcyon days of 2007 around here, when certain elements of the board were saying that Furman was getting old and tired. I'd rather have Barber on RiD for another thirty issues than see McCarthy and Costa return, and have another "big shake-up."

[Kaylee]

Frankly that's specious, IMO. Airtight plotting isn't the crux of my criticism, more the fact it had me scratching my head and going 'Zwah?!' I think you're conflating suspension of disbelief with naff writing.

[Best First]

Yeah the probem remains with the execution for me.

The pacing is off, the timing of character beats seems random, the revelas are stored up and unleashed at seemingly annual intervals and any clues as to what is going on seem apparent only to the author.

There's good ideas in there and good ambition too, and bits of it work (Starscream mainly) but it's messy.

It's not Costa bad - i'd characterise Costa's run as terrible ideas and terrible execution, this is good ideas with muddled execution.

And as a result it all seems a bit throwaway.

[Yaya]

At first, I wondered whether running side by side with MTMTE made RID look worse than what it is. I've concluded that it hasn't, and that it really is as weak as it seems to be. For the very reasons Karl and the BeeFster mention.

In fairness, I think it did start off pretty good, and I do think the concepts held much potential. But it has fallen well short. For example, with Ironhide going out into the 'wilderness' with the Dinobots, that could have been a very strong subarc. I think it would have been cool exploring that more. Instead, they just pop up at the end with some lame explanations of panel events.

In the end, I think I enjoy this as much as I enjoy McCarthy's run, maybe less.

Still not as bad as Costa though.

[bumblemusprime]

Frankly that's specious, IMO. Airtight plotting isn't the crux of my criticism, more the fact it had me scratching my head and going 'Zwah?!' I think you're conflating suspension of disbelief with naff writing.

I didn't mean to set up your comments as a straw man. I read this from 14-16 in a row, and I didn't have much trouble following the plot or understanding the grand scheme. After reading this thread, it seems that suspension of disbelief is held to a higher standard for this series than it is for multiple other comics.

Suspension of disbelief goes away with bad writing. The two are connected. I never lost my suspension of disbelief... for a TF comic. I would have if I were seeking something deeper. This is, of course, why Roberts is leagues above other TF writers, because his stuff is so rich it holds up better than most "literary" comics.

But I am with BF on the execution. Multiple things are off, characters come out of nowhere, and far too much time is spent on things that don't matter. The balance is weird. We never figured out how Ironhide and the Dinobots made it back, etc.

I just didn't think that the plot twists were unbelievable, or badly done.

[Kaylee]

That's, naturally, reasonable- opinions will differ on a subject- just not the same as 'it's a comic about toys therefore you'd be a chump to dislike a story because you felt it didn't make sense', spread out over three paragraphs, which was my original, flawed interpretation of your thoughts.

[Computron]

In the spirit of unity can we all agree that Sludge's head looks ridiculous?

[Best First]

I just didn't think that the plot twists were unbelievable, or badly done.

i'll give you a, but totally disagree on b.

[Kaylee]

var u = new UnityContainer();
u.RegisterType<ITransFanConcord, SludgeHeadRidiculousnessProvider>();
Func<bool> callback = () =>
{
Console.Writeline("Nosh.");
return false;
}
u.Resolve<ITransFanConcord>().BeginAsync(callback);

[bumblemusprime]

That's, naturally, reasonable- opinions will differ on a subject- just not the same as 'it's a comic about toys therefore you'd be a chump to dislike a story because you felt it didn't make sense', spread out over three paragraphs, which was my original, flawed interpretation of your thoughts.

Definitely not chumpishly harsh. I love you like a branched spark, Karlypoo.

[Kaylee]

<3