RID #18 *spoilers*

[Hound]

So we have a whole issue dedicated to explaining the [composite word including 'f*ck'] that's been the last 17 issues.

Bumblebee nearly dies but luckily has some earth parts laying around and Fixit rebuilds him as...Goldfire???

Just ... Weird.

[Metal Vendetta]

Yep, really just weird. The Constructicons and Dinobots are drinking together. Shockwave's grown back another hand. Bumblebee's now a sort of Earth-mode/Goldbug/Movie version "Goldfire" hybrid. Ironhide's, uh, doing whatever it is Ironhide does. And Arcee's pining for a simpler time when she got to endlessly slaughter her torturer on the brink of the Dead Universe. It's certainly different, that's for sure.

[Kaylee]

To highlight a minor achievement, Bumblebee just keeps getting uglier. He'll end up like a cross between a Xenomorph and Jim Davison by the end of this.

[Mr_Tigg]

I skimmed this one at the comic shop and decided not to buy it. In fact I'm pretty much done with RID. I'll keep tabs on other people's comments to see if there's a distinct improvement, but this is Costa-level dumb now.

Also is it me, or do all the B-team comic artists used by IDW totally suck? I remember back when they ran that comic cover contest there were a ton of good artists who could do a better job than this.

[Sunyavadin]

So when does the real rid 18 come out, not this overly delayed to the extent of completely missing the point april fool?

[Impactor returns 2.0]

Compared to mtmte this dull. I'm out!

[Shanti418]

Boy, everyone sure hates on RiD around here. Is it as good as MTMTE? No. But that's kind of an impossible standard to live up to. My general sense of these two comics is that MTMTE is for the pre IDW comic fans generally and the Marvel UK fans specifically considering the tone, the complexity, and the characters involved. RiD is for the cartoon fans generally and for the two people who love what Costa did with TF. Hence those characters and the annonying, stereotypical portrayels of Bee, Prowl, Screamer, etc.

I suspect "Goldfire Bumblebee" is just a piece of brand synergy to go along with some new figure, like the recent Spotlights. At least it's less jarring than the "And now...the Throttlebots/Pretenders/Micromasters!" strategy of the old Marvel days.

Don't get me wrong, "we can avoid the crazy waves if we stick together and Superion happened spontaneously" is pretty stupid. And I could have written the Arcee internal monologue if you just told me "Arcee is Michonne." But I enjoyed the Constructicons & Prowl/Swoop cross-faction interactions, I like seeing Prowl deal with his fallout, and just because MTMTE is filet mignon doesn't mean I'm going to throw this pound of coarsely ground turket into the trash.

[Hound]

Even if MTMTE didn't exist, this would still be a bad comic.

[Sunyavadin]

Is it as good as MTMTE? No. But that's kind of an impossible standard to live up to.

I'd say that claim is disproven by the fact that MTMTE exists. MTMTE lives up to that standard, hence it is possible for other comics to.

RiD is for the cartoon fans generally and for the two people who love what Costa did with TF. Hence those characters and the annonying, stereotypical portrayels of Bee, Prowl, Screamer, etc.

DEFINITE agreement here.

I suspect "Goldfire Bumblebee" is just a piece of brand synergy to go along with some new figure, like the recent Spotlights.

Wasn't there supposed to be a "Goldfire Grimlock" a few years back?

"we can avoid the crazy waves if we stick together and Superion happened spontaneously" is pretty stupid.

Quite. And a bit of a cop-out explanation of how Ironhide and the dinobots survived. Especially after Megatron's "Oh they died." and then them showing up shortly after. How incompetent *is* this Megatron anyway?

I enjoyed the Constructicons & Prowl/Swoop cross-faction interactions.

Yes. This made me smile at least.

[Yaya]

At least it's less jarring than the "And now...the Throttlebots/Pretenders/Micromasters!" strategy of the old Marvel days.

Actually preferred that to the tripe we're getting from RID.

I'll say this, Costa's story and ideas sucked, but even his dialogue was better than what we're getting from RID. The characters, every last one of them, you just want to smack upside the head. There are no endearing characters in this whatsover. Bumblebee grows more annoying the longer he carries that stupid cane around. The plot is all over the place. It is nice to have Metalhawk dead instead of hovering around in the background of every panel doing nothing.

Superion spontaneously became a combiner. Talk about cheapening the gestalt process that took Jhiaxus years to perform.

Blllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......................

[bumblemusprime]

The problem with RiD is that everything is so on-the-nose. The series has long projected this image of buried, convoluted plots that stretch into the depths of the TF's history and consciousness. But when the big reveals come, they go thusly...

Cerebro shell.

Combiners.

Metalhawk had faith in Starscream. Just like he said he did in the Annual.

Starscream has no qualms about killing Metalhawk. And this changes our perception of Starscream how?

Larger issues--like the question of what's happened to Cybertron--get skimmed over. Everything is here on the surface in a comic where it should be buried. I would rather see Simon writing this, even with his lesser dialogue, because he's really good at labyrinthine plots.

In fact, the art of a labyrinthine, long-seeded plot seems to be lost in comics after the Bendaissance that brought dialogue and scene to the fore. But this comic is of no such character. It should be excellent. Buying RiD is like buying what looks exactly like a 73 Gibson Les Paul, and getting home to discover it is an off-brand fiberglass POS made in China a year ago.

Okay, that may be a bit harsh. I do enjoy the series, I am just frustrated with its total lack of living up to its potential.

Ah well. Kieron Gillen appears to be a fan of Death's Head; perhaps IDW can snipe him for the TFs when his exclusive with Marvel is up. I really liked his Thor/Journey into Mystery run.

[Yaya]

I'd take Simon on RID in an astrosecond. I'm not the biggest fan of his dialogue, but it's preferable to what we're getting now, and has sprunkinator mentions, at least the plot would be much more solid and enjoyable.

I feel dirty complaining about TF comics when MTMTE exists. Yet I do so anyway.

Oh no....I'm a whiny fanboy Functionist.

[Metal Vendetta]

I'd take Simon on RID in an astrosecond.

I agree with Yaya.

[Sunyavadin]

Agreed. Furman would be preferable, as would Gillen.