The Sacrificers #3: Ho boy. This issue confirms this story goes where we all probably suspected it was going, as the first group of children make their sacrifice.
In the land of the gods (or whatever they are), Soluna narrates their arrivals at the Harvest Gala, which happens every 20 years. She refers to them as the lords of "every municipality," though her descriptions evoke god-like portfolios, such as Kronious' position as lord of labor and gears or Mithera's as paramour of climate. Soluna notes she'll enter this world one day but swears to her hog-like companion Doto that she won't become one of them.
A trill of excitement falls over the Gala as Queen Luna, master of the tides, arrives. (She looks like Cassandra Nova if she were made of water.) Soluna is joyfully surprised Luna came, and Luna engages in barbs with Xia as she crosses the room
In the daycare center-like room we saw at the end of issue #2, the Sacrificers enjoy a puppet show and games, and Noom introduces Pigeon to tag. Later, Pigeon confesses to Noom that he's waiting for the other shoe to drop, and she encourages him to "never waste what precious time we have predicting the wreckage of the future." Fair point, Noom.
Suddenly, a troop of Oompa Loompa-esque men whisk away several children for the first "feast." Noom is one of the ones these hype men choose (as is Blond), and she encourages Pigeon to work on his faith so they'll choose him next time. The men lead the chosen Sacrificers into a colorful salon with '50s-esque hair dryers. I'll admit I became instantly worried, a feeling the hope on Blond's face only exacerbated.
The "beauticians" work on the children until flipping a switch, at which point the "hair dryers" suck the life from them. For some reason, no one switched on Noom's, so she panics when she sees the husks next to her. They force her into a chair to die like the others, and one of the beauticians laments that Noom's terror means they'll only get fear from her. Looking at a tube, she comments that she knows" someone who adores the stuff."
The beauticians then pull levers that drop the kids' bodies into grates below the floor. Meanwhile, their energy is literally distilled into a blue liquid the gods drink at the Gala as they exclaim they ask only for the one small sacrifice so everyone (else) can live "in return for life on a perfect world."
Remender, man.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #39: Poor Kligson. It must be hard to be messianic and an idiot.
Three days ago, Kligson reveals to a still-sentient Telemark that he threw in his lot with the Scourge and invited "the contagion," as Telemark calls it, to the station. Kligson informs Telemark that Ajax returned weeks ago but left without knowing his followers were still alive, thanks to Kligson erasing the data logs. (He's definitely an asshole, you guys.) Telemark reminds Kligson that they saved him, and Kligson rages that they left him a cyborg, neither droid nor human. He rips off Telemark's head, explaining why the Telemark is so...spacey.
Yesterday, on the Enigma Catalyst, Valance tells T'onga to kill him if Kligson can't restore his memories, and T'onga reluctantly agrees.
Today, T'onga looks in horror at the empty vessel into which Kligson turned Valance. Bossk comments that Valance might've been a sleemo, but he was their sleemo. (Heh.) Before Valance can attack T'onga, Zuckuss saves her. Bossk takes on Valance as Kligson exposits that he's turned Valance into the perfect empty vessel for the Scourge. (I wonder if the Scourge gave up trying to convert Vader. The editor's note references "Star Wars: Dark Droids" #3, which came out October 11, so maybe.) In return, Kligson expects the Scourge to turn him into a machine. Meanwhile, Deathstick takes on Valance after Bossk and then it's Durge's turn.
On Kirkeide Station, Losha's boss, Syphacc, tells her to register a new bounty hunter looking for work as he tries to fix the various problems that his droid bounty hunters have caused his clients. Of course, said bounty hunter is Vulkorah, who's surrounded herself with tooka cats, including one she calls Furball Two. (Oof, Vulkroah. Sacks seems to change her personality with each arc, but this iteration - the carefree bounty hunter looking to make friends - feels too far removed from the brutal striver we originally met.)
Losha is obviously pissed, and Vulkorah hands Losha her gun and invited Losha to killl her as revenge for the Furball's loss. (Again, this part doesn't feel believable at all. The Vulkorah we've seen hasn't sacrificed all she has just to let someone shoot her.) But their discussion gets interrupted when possessed droids grab Syphacc, who's a hybroid. Losha and Vulkorah manage to save him, but Losha realizes that, if the droids are after cyborgs, T'onga and the crew are in trouble.
Meanwhile, at the Haven, T'onga and the crew are definitely in trouble as they're now fighting off the Scourge-possessed droids. Kligson bids farewell to the Haven as the droids load Valance onto a shuttle, but the Scourge informs him that he's not coming, because he's too human. Durge then crushes his head and hilariously wipes the blood on Zuckuss' robe. Ha! Good riddance.
Devastated, T'onga pledges to go after Valance, though Khel is pissed, asking how many people have to die to save Valance. T'onga tells her that they're done trying to save him: they have to kill him. Oof. T'onga gets the short end of every stick.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #39: This issue is excellent. Pak uses the "Star Wars: Dark Droids" event to tease out an unexpected truth about Vader.
On Mustafar, Arex, Gee-Ninety, and Ought-Six are looking for Zed. Arex warns Vader that Zed may've fallen to the Scourge, and "Zed" arrives and confirms the Scourge possesses him. "Zed" then unleashes an enormous octuptarra droid on Vader, which "Zed" exposits is (conveniently) immune to Vader's staff's bolts and (somehow) the kyberite shield's blasts. (Sure, OK.) The Scourge then notes Vader could dismantle the octuptarra piece by piece if he had control over his powers, which he clearly doesn't. We're then treated to the rare spectacle of Vader getting his ass handed to him.
Arex leaps to Vader's defense, attacking "Zed," who takes him down quickly. "Zed" exposits that he can't control Arex because he used all his resources on the octuptarra, but he'll consume him and the other droids once his fleet arrives and expands his operating capabilities. Arex goes after "Zed" again, and the Scourge scans his mind, learning the Jedi phrase, "Hate leads to suffering." Vader emerges from his battle and corrects it to the Sith version, "Hate leads to power." The Scourge comments that Vader is so full of hate and "so lacking in power." OMFG, can you believe anyone spoke to Vader that way? Like, I was nervous for the Scourge!
Figuring more hate means more power, Arex and Gee-Ninety attack Vader (Ought-Six wisely sits out that round). Realizing Vader is just returning their fire, Arex beseeches Vader to think about who he really hates. I was honestly kind of awed by the way Pak presented this sequence of flashback leading here: hating himself the most, Vader ditches the staff and shield and uses his powers directly to take out the octuptarra.
Misunderstanding, the Scourge gloats that Vader hates him (the Scourge) the most. Arex tells the Scourge that he's nothing and the Force is everything. After destroying "Zed's" body, Vader destroy's Arex's, committing, "No, droid. I am everything."
But it isn't over. Vader gets into his bacta tank and communicates with the Emperor, who comments that he finally dug enough to find himself, "the person you hate the most." In a surprise twist, though, Vader says that he looked deeper, and the Emperor laughs, realizing Vader means him, and comments, laughing, "Ah. Then I will see you soon."
Seriously, it's a great fucking issue, one of the series' best. After the long nightmare of the Sabé arc, it's marvelous to experience this sort of issue that channels Vader's unstoppable determination and energy.
Transformers #1: Y'all, this series is *not* your father's (i.e, my) Transformers, which I mean in the best possible way. I'll also say upfront that this issue merits a second read as Johnson drops us into the story in media res.
We begin with Spike finding Sparkplug at the VFW hall, where he's been drinking since noon. Danny the bartender provides that last bit of information to Spike, pissing off Sparkplug and making it clear that folks are worried about him. Sparkplug is even more annoyed when he sees Spike with "Jimmy's" telescope, telling him it's best to "forget all that." "All that" is clearly the fact that Spike's brother Jimmy was an astronaut who died when his space shuttle exploded, an image we see on the first page along with Sparkplug's war memories and Optimus Prime's lifeless body on the Ark as it plummets to earth.
Sparkplug and Spike's conversation is interrupted when Sparkplug's coworker, Davey, comes to give him a lift to work. (I'm guessing Sparkplug has a DUI or a few.) Still annoyed, Sparkplug tells Spike that he has to grow up, and Spike retorts, "...and be like you?" Oof. It's hard to see them this way.
Carly overhears this exchange, waiting for Spike next to her kick-ass van. As planned, they head up Hanger's Rock as night falls to use Jimmy's telescope to look at the full moon. Carly is an artist, which we learn when she tells Spike how her dad got her the new airbrush she used to draw the fantasy scene on her van). Underscoring the tension with Sparkplug, Spike is apparently applying to Berkeley to become an astronaut. Carly talks about how she and her dad are working to try to make the money happen for art school and, in a lovely moment, takes Spike's hand and says that she wished it was easy for him.
Then we get underway. An earthquake of sorts happens suddenly, and Carly and Spike fall into a sinkhole. They crawl to the light to find themselves in one of the Ark's engines. (One criticism I have here is that I'm not sure how this part happened. Spike and Carly fall down a vertical shaft but the Ark crashed perpendicularly to the mountain. So I don't know how they land horizontally if they fell vertically.) The engine is (oddly) connected directly to the Ark's bridge, where Carlie and Spike stumble upon the non-functioning Transformers.
While looking for an exit, Carlie and Spike are surprised when Jetfire arrives. (One of the benefits of re-reading the issue is that I caught one of the barflies telling an unbelieving Danny that he saw Jetfire, based on his description.) Jetfire exposits that he used his remaining power to trigger the earthquake to reveal the Ark and then enters a data disc, which looks like a VHS tape, into Teletraan One.
The disc clearly contains Earth vehicle forms, and Jetfire first resurrects his old friend Starscream, who immediately blasts Bumblebee in the face. Jetfire is appalled, and Starscream informs him that they've been at war with the Autobots for a century. Meanwhile, Teletraan is now randomly resurrecting Transformers, and Optimus awakens. Meanwhile, Starscream shoots Jetfire. Pointing to an Autobot insignia and sounding like a Nazi, Starscream says that it's the sign of "true evil" and they must be "vigilant in wiping it out."
Optimus then punches him, shouting, "Never." He tells Starscream that he thought he was a warrior, not someone who'd shoot helpless beings (like Bumblebee). Starscream retorts that he does whatever it takes and launches himself at Optimus. Carly and Spike make a break for it, though Optimus sees them. Spike introduces himself (yes, in the middle of the fight) and Optimus shields them as Starscream opens fire. Ratchet and Skywarp, now revived, join the fray. Starscream orders Skywarp to bring Decepticons in front of Teletraan's ray, and Optimus orders Ratchet to load the Autobot's bodies into his trailer. Seeing his gun, Optimus goes to work.
Soundwave then awakens (all hail) and opens fire. Prime stumbles upon Bumblebee's body and cradles it in mourning as Spike watches. Starscream ridicules him for mourning the weakest Autobot, and Soundwave dispatches Ravage as Optimus reaches for his gun. Spike bolts to push it toward him even though Carly, who helps, thinks he's nuts. With the gun, Optimus shoots Ravage and engages in fisticuffs with Starscream and Skywarp as Teletraan rebuilds Thundercracker and (yes!) Reflector. With little choice, Optimus destroys Teletraan. Optimus then runs like he's in a, well, Michael Bay movie, cradling Carly and Spike with fire billowing behind him.
With all the Auotbots loaded, Optimus and Ratchet transform and burn rubber with the Seekers in pursuit. A weakened Jetfire transforms to help Optimus, engaging the Seekers in battle. Skywarp tells Starscream that his energon's too low to fight, but Starscream correctly notes they've never been so close to ending the Autobots for good. But he admits in a fury they can't continue.
Spike directs the Autobots to the old quarry, and a dying Jetfire apologizes that he didn't know Optimus was the new prime. Optimus goes to use the Matrix to heal him (fascinating), but Ratchet stops him, saying Jetfire is too far gone. Jetfire rues the fact that he spent centuries searching for a way to heal Cybertron (interesting) and asks if Cybertron has any hope. Optimus admits he doesn't know, and a devastated Jetfire dies lamenting that "everything will die." Oof.
At the Ark, Soundwave tells an irate Starscream that he can't fix Teletraan without more energon and raw materials. That said, Laserbeak found the kind of fuel they need to create energon, and Skywarp and Soundwave tell him he has to retrieve it because he has the most energon. Soundwave begins saying, "It's what Megatron would've done," but Starscream cuts off the sentence at "Meg--," reminding them that he's the Decepticon's leader.
At an oil rig, Davey tries to intervene with Sparkplug, telling him that Spike needs him. Sparkplug is furious, telling him that he doesn't understand. As Sparkplug tells Davey to keep his "naive opinions to himself," Starscream attacks, complaining about how he's tired, too, and pissed he has to get the energon himself. (It's pretty hilarious. It's like a workplace comedy.) Davey runs for his car, but Starscream grabs him and Sparkplug watches as he crushes him to a pulp. We end the issue with a bloodsplattered Starscream laughing about the pathetic humans.
In other words, it's great. Johnson's art is as kinetic as his script. Honestly, if we only got these issues every two months to give him time to deliver this sort of performance, I would be totally fine by that. This issue alone reinvigorates the Transformers, giving us the type of story that I haven't seen since the original. Also, as someone who broke his Optimus Prime's leg as an elementary school student, I am so fucking right there with Johnson. RIP Optimus.
No comments:
Post a Comment