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dirtydragonthoughts · 2 years

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Rise of the Decepticons: All Fall Down (IDW2 Issue 19 Review)

Pitch: Cybertron is in crisis. Calamity has befallen the planet. This is Megatron's moment to show just how much power he has and to deal with any problems accordingly...

Review

And we're back to the main story! The tether has fallen, and Cybertron's got about a billion crises happening at once. Meanwhile, Megatron seeks to take what control he can in the chaos.

After having the break of the short, character-focused stories of the Galaxies miniseries, getting back into the main comic is a bit of a head spin. There are so many different plot threads weaving through this one issue, it's no wonder that some people were getting lost. You've got Windblade waking up to find out what happened while she was out of commission, Megatron commanding his followers, Elita-One and Bumblebee discovering that they are now persona non grata with the Ascenticon guard, Orion Pax trying to get Sentinel to see reason, Novastar assembling a new team, and Shockwave getting some bad news. It's a wild ride.

I think that's been my main complaint about this run so far. Yes, there is a lot happening! Weaving together a story of an empire crumbling takes time and care. But consider how it would have read if the story was told by limiting it to one or two POV characters per issue. You could still tell this grand story, but it would have more of an impact since you could spend more time in each character's head.

Anyway, there's a lot going on in this issue. You can tell it's another set up issue (both settling out the story of the tether falling, and laying the groundwork for the next climax). That said, there is some gorgeous art and very fun panels in this issue. It was hard to choose a favourite!

Favourite Panel

Like I said, there were some incredible panels in his issue. I absolutely love this panel of Bumblebee having The Worst Day Ever.

But also, this one. Soundwave just wants to help!

Culture

Like we've seen a few times before, when the Rainmakers are all reunited, they press their hands together in greeting.

This set of panels is SUPER interesting to me, as it relates to titans and their cityspeakers. Reading between the lines, it sounds like having Skystalker connect to Vigilem from the ground resulted in the titan just buggering off to wherever, once he got out of range of the broadcast equipment. (Maybe?) But also, more interesting, is Skystalker's phrasing that he "can't be with" Vigilem. There's a deep connection there, one that we caught a glimpse of with Lightbright and Lodestar, between a titan and their cityspeaker. ...Something that bots who aren't cityspeakers just don't understand.

Man, I want to know more about that.

Planet

We get another look at the voin asserter that's arrived on Cybertron. It's not entirely clear, but I think the whole thing is the asserter: the floating globe (with the voin inside), the leashed primates, the big arthropod thing, and the bug thing. No wonder Prowl looks utterly stressed out.

Physiology

In Windblade's brief discussion with Ratchet, we get a couple of interesting bits. Ratchet is rebuilding Javelin's head after she was shot in a previous issue. So, a bullet through the head can be something survivable, which also calls back to what Ratchet said much earlier: how Cybertronians are very hard to kill. Also, there are two more patients in his clinic (Ruckus and Kaskade) who have "spark flickers" but no brain activity. This must be the Cybertronian equivalent of brain death.

The two who attacked Bumblebee, Treadshot and Catgut, are apparently mode-locked. That happened because they were on a ship called the Iron Will, and had to use nucleon for fuel for too long.

Politics and History

Pyra Magna is a prisoner, and is being held in stasis. Apparently, they wake her up every so often just to remind her that she's a prisoner. Really? Is the cruelty the point?

There's a big mystery as to where Smokescreen's been. Intelligence? Xenorelations? Security? All of the above? He's not telling. But look at this cutie.

Final Thoughts

This issue felt like it was all over the place, and I wish it had been more focused. There's so much going on in the story, but I still wish it would just get on with it already. Honestly, Malkova's art was the saving grace for this issue!

😐

#idw2 review #idw2 spoilers #transformers #maccadam #world building stuff

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