Dark Cybertron has been a bit of a mixed bag so far, but Chapter 9 in Transformers: Robots in Disguise #26 is where things get seriously epic. Multiple writers and artists have made for a good but not always fluid read, but now we’ve got Andrew Griffith back in the saddle, and he’s one of the few guys who I’ve often said was born to draw Transformers. Also, it’s got a city punching another city many times.
Of course, they aren’t cities while they’re punching each other, because they have robot modes with fists. Metroplex is the Autobot city who has a giant fist which we can say is probably the size of the Bronx, and the Necrotitan is the bad guy city whose face is the size of Santa Monica, which is getting clobbered in the image above. Also, you may have noticed the Necro part of Necrotitan, and wondered if that means the bad guy city is also a corpse. You would be right. Hence the name ‘Necrotitan.’ This undead city-bot has been trashing the regular old city-city on Cybertron at the behest of Shockwave, mastermind behind the evil shenanigans going on throughout this story, and Metroplex just showed up in the nick of time to beat the shit out of Zombie Los Angeles.
The fight between two unimaginably giant robots is not the only thing happening in this issue. There’s the revelation to the Autobots on Cybertron that the crew of the Lost Light, presumed dead since issue #1, is actually alive, well, and about to save their bacon by bringing Metroplex and his Hoboken Haymakers (TM) to bear. It’s a big happy reunion. There’s also the Dead Universe saga – the other necrotic dimension where Orion Pax goes toe to toe with Nova Prime and, by proxy, the entire corrupt lineage of Primes stretching throughout Cybertron’s history and reclaims with pride his title as the one and only Optimus Prime. The whole ‘Prime’ thing kind of implies the one and only thing, but there are a lot of Primes, but there’s only one Optimus, but he used to go by Orion Pax before he Optimused up.
Then there’s the crazier thing where a legless Megatron is becoming a hero.
That’s right. Megatron saves the world.
I’ve got no idea where this is leading, beyond seeing promotional images for upcoming issues that have Megatron sporting the Autobot symbol, which is absolutely crazy if you’re a TF fan. However, this isn’t the first time in IDW continuity that Megatron’s been the one to save the day. He fought off the D-Void whatever-the-hell during the Chaos arc, and it was thought that he sacrificed himself for the cause. Of course, he came back and tried to conquer everything, but he was outfoxed by Wheeljack, held in stasis, experimented on, used and abused by Shockwave and has been relying on Bumblebee to cart him around since he lost his legs. Furthermore, in the IDW world, Megatron started out as a blue-collar miner and a conscientious agitator against a truly corrupt government, and harsh circumstances pushed him down the road of sadistic tyrant. Maybe this where he finally reconnects with his roots and realizes what he’d become over four million years of savagery. Whatever it is, it’s a great hook.
Livio Ramondelli handles the art duties for the Dead Universe part, which is a drastic difference in style from Griffith, given that he’s into really dark, paints, but it works well for a dimension where everything is dead and weird and creepy. Pax’s fight – and more importantly, his dialogue with Rodimus during his fight with Nova (who shape shifts metaphorically into looking just like Optimus Prime) – is a great summation of Pax’s internal debate about what the Prime name represents vs. what it was supposed to represent. Rodimus’ inspiration – after Pax had belittled him for his leadership mistakes last issue – is all the more compelling, and it makes the “I am Optimus Prime!” moment feel earned. It’s a little difficult to suss out what’s happening in each panel where Optimus fights Optimus, but that’s just Ramondelli. He could be great but there always seems to be a bit of a clarity issue.
However, James Roberts and John Barber are synched up better as the arc moves on, and it’s pretty exciting now – the Roberts dialogue remains on point, fun and funny – and they’ve thankfully revealed that Shockwave’s grand plan wasn’t as obsequious as we first thought. Shockwave is better than that, and it’ll be great to get to see it.
Also, two cities punch each other in this issue. That’s just unassailably awesome.
