Writer: John Barber
Artist: Andrew Griffith
(Covers by Marcelo Matere, Andrew Griffith, Dan Khanna)
Summary: The war for Cybertron is over--now the hard part begins! This first of two new ongoing Transformers series offers an excellent jumping-on point and all-new direction as BUMBLEBEE and his fellow AUTOBOTS struggle to maintain control of a world without OPTIMUS PRIME!
Comments: I found RID's story to be a little bit more focused then MTMTE #1 was (not to say that Roberts story was bad or anything--just that there were a lot of plot threads set-up in it). RID, by contrast, is a bit more straight forward and I found myself enjoying it. Bumblebee is struggling to keep his own people in-check as well as the Decepticons, who are in a position of being subservient to the Autobots (thanks to the compliance chips in all their heads. If they don't comply, they can be killed by remote control at his discretion). Naturally, the Decepticons are unhappy with their lot in life and Ratbat (who's previously gotten little spotlight in the IDWverse) is planning to do something about it. It's also all-but-stated that Prowl's mysterious assistant sabotaged the Lost Light on-purpose (the partner is there to get his hands dirty so Prowl doesn't have to). (Incidentally, RID #1 is slightly after MTMTE #1 so the characters are reacting to the events of that issue in this one).
A minor story thing: Bumblebee is changed into his WFC Cybertronian form here and--get this--the story bothers to address this change! I think that must be a first for IDW. I'm truly shocked and delighted somebody bothered to do that. Points for that.
The art is by Andrew Griffith and is competent. There are other artists I like better but the art is good enough that you can recognize the characters by and large (and that's all I really ask). I still think Metalhawk's robot mode is a bit weird looking but I'm warming up to it slowly. Some bizarre things though--Horribull is colored gold in this comic for some reason (the toy was grey and previous era comics had him the right colors). Also, Prowl is colored more black then he should be--almost like someone confused Prowl and Bluestreak.
While MTMTE had six different covers, RID takes it to the next level with seven! One cover by Marcelo Matere, then it's split into four variants, another by Andrew Griffith, another sketch cover by Dan Khanna. IDW--enough already! Seriously!
The first recent TF comic I can truly say I liked, with no reservations or caveats... I actually might get the next one to see where the story goes (because I want to and not because I feel like I have to out of some fan duty).
Verdict: Good. Pick it up! :)
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| Cover "B" by Marcelo Matere |
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