Sunday, October 23, 2011

Comic Review...

Cover "A" by Livio Ramondelli
Transformers #28

Writer: Mike Costa and James Roberts (story); Mike Costa (script)
Artist: Livio Ramondelli
(covers by Livio Ramondelli)


Summary:  CHAOS part 3 rocks Cybertron as the return of an unlikely Decepticon faces off against Sunstreaker who is looking for a little redemption--Megatron suits up for what might very well be his final battle--and you are introduced to something we had to call--the DeceptiGOD! 'Chaos' goes insane!



Comments:  The battle for Cybertron continues! We still don't learn precisely what's going on in this issue and we get more fighting on Cybertron but somehow I didn't mind this issue quite as much. It felt like the plot was moving along at least a bit.
    We have a prologue with some Autobot refugees in an escape pod (are they from Kimia? Or somewhere else?) who are rescued by Arcee (apparently she finally crawled out of that hole on Gorlam Prime). The prologue's significance, if any, is not revealed in the rest of the story (perhaps it's just an attempt to account for everyone?)  The rest of the issue is about the battle on Cybertron. The Decepticons from Earth come to Cybertron via a space bridge transponder Megatron had on his body (according to a theory by Jetfire anyway. The reinforcements say nothing otherwise). Again, I think they're there to tie up that plot thread more then anything else. The Decepticons stop moving eventually, start spouting binary code and all come together (along with the Sweeps and "Galvatron's army"--which has been visually absent in the art but apparently still exist) to form a giant monster (called "DeceptiGod" in the solicitation). It attacks the Autobots, who try to fight it off. Elsewhere, Galvatron tells Optimus Prime that only the Heart of Darkness can destroy the planet's core and save the Universe. He races off to do that... Optimus is contacted by Cliffjumper--who's communicator is taken by Megatron (he did not merge with the rest of the Decepticons). Prime tells him to hold off the monster, if he can, in order to save the planet. Megatron says he will do his best... Optimus goes after Galvatron.
    The art is still murky as hell, making some panels had to decipher while others look not too bad.
    The story, as I said, is decent and advances somewhat over the previous couple of issues on Cybertron. I wonder why the Decepticons are affected by the darkness/whatever-it-is but not Megatron or the Autobots. One thing that would greatly improve this story is if they would drop a few hints about what is really going on. We got a set-up in the Heart of Darkness mini-series but since then Costa (and Roberts) have played it too close to the chest. I understand we're coming to a big story revelation shortly but dropping a few hints here and there would help pique curiosity and so far we've gotten nothing at all. It is my hope next issue of Chaos actually gets to the pay-off but we'll see...

Verdict:  Average.

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