Windblade 1

[inflatable dalek]

SPOILERS HO!














So, after all the fuss? Was Windblade any good then?

It was OK. It's was nice the female issue was dealt with in the way it always should have been (basically boiling down to "And why not?", mind, if other characters are going to keep asking about it, it'll get old real quick), the art was a nice change of pace and- assuming the other two books are going to be full on verbose wit and action respectively the more whimsical tone makes for a good contrast as well.

I also really liked the idea of the Cybertronian colonists, the fact all those who had left the planet had adapted their cultures and physiologies was the sort of thing RID tried to imply with the all the bonkers NAILs designs but never really did much with. I doubt (well, hope) that with only four issues this won't be making much play of being a stranger in a strange land either, but it could be an interesting avenue for whichever book picks up on Cybertron afterwards to follow through on (anything would be better than the poorly handled political stuff of the last year).

The big problem though is that the lead character is several pages behind the reader- we all know Starsceam is an untrustworthy bastard, everyone else on Cybertron knows it (which makes him not only being in charge again but that it's lasted six months even odder, does no one give a toss?), so all of her angst and back and forth over her working relationship with him really feels like treading water. Whilst it makes sense for someone new and who is presented as naive (frankly almost stupidly naive if it's taken her six months to reach this point), it doesn't make having to sit through her learning something everyone else has known for thirty years any less tedious.

Still, cautiously optimistic assuming that, with intros out of the way, things pick up a gear next month (the Barberish first person narration will hopefully be cut back on a lot as well, this is a character with not one but two pals she can confide in, conveying her personality and beliefs can be done just as well through interaction than voiceover).

Mind, I really can't see it swaying anyone who wasn't expecting to enjoy it.

Oh, and it was nice at least one of the writers cares about the new Tankor toy enough to give him something more to do than a really forced "My name is Tankor and I am important!" moment. Best writing for Rattrap so far as well. As in all his words seemed to be written normally rather than in a desperate attempt to be phonetic.

[Hound]

Loved the art. Enjoyed this overall.

[Yaya]

Quite Barbarish actually. Meh.

Art was okay. A little cartoony for my taste. But different.

[Brendocon]

Quite Barbarish actually. Meh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbar,_Bahrain ?

[Metal Vendetta]

Windblade: Yawn of the Autobots

I thought I'd give it a chance, but this is just dull - so Windblade is new on Cybertron and she doesn't know Starscream's a schemer. Even after he directly threatens to dump all the blame for the power outages on her. Then she finds out Starscream's a schemer. Well, duh. Then she pouts and mopes for a couple of pages and then there's an explosion for some reason. Oh, and Ironhide's in it. Ugh. I don't think the twee, cutesy art helped either - at points it looks like Transformers Babies.

I dunno, I'm vaguely interested in where this is going but it's kinda superficial. I'll probably pick up the next issue but only in the hope that I'll be pleasantly surprised and it won't be just Starscream scheming and Windblade moping.

[Shanti418]

I was fine with it. Went in expecting very little. I enjoyed the whole "fresh eyes" POV, even if we all know who Screamer is. Like the CitySpeaker thing (Is this the first time in the history of TF that Metroplex has talked?), but I do hope that this isn't Screamer-centric. Fun times at the bar. Two Tankors is addressed, and honestly, the whole "Caminus" or whatever it's called origin thing is fine enough addressment of the "she" thing for me.

The art was different, but I thought it was well done aside from Ironhide. But then again, I also liked Muppet Babies.

[Metal Vendetta]

I don't get why - more than six months after Starscream ripped off his badge and evicted all those who wouldn't do likewise - Blurr and "Tall Tankor" (Christ, what a stupid ****ing name) and the rest of them are still running around with faction symbols.

[snarl]

This was ok.

Didn't seem like it was blatantly pitched at people with lowbrow, simplistic expectations.

[bumblemusprime]

I enjoyed it. It isn't going to win any "good as MTMTE" awards, but I enjoyed it. Swindle's drunken rambling was good.

I'm not always one to be sensitive to this stuff, but Windblade felt super Mary Sue. Not enough flaws except for innocence in the face of social injustice.

[inflatable dalek]

I don't know, considering the potential pitalls of such a character (I mean, she's fan created...) I think she just about avoided being a Mary Sue, mainly because the cliché of such a character would be for her to be the only person who could see Starscream who who he really was and rather than slightly dim as she appears to be.

The interesting thing for me about this book is that, unless I've repressed something, it's the first TF comic I've read by an author I've not encountered before since John Barber came onboard. Whilst with him, Roberts and Furman I've a reasonable idea of their strengths and weaknesses by now, this really could go anywhere at this point. That makes it feel fresh and interesting, even with the possibility it might wind up going really tits up before the end.