The Sacrificers #5: The thing about Remember is that you really never know what he's going to do, like kill (maybe) off a main character in issue #5.
The Foreman returns to his imposing castle where one of the beauticians from issue #3 awaits him. The beautician, Joy, tells the Foreman that the elixir she offers him here is from one of the sacrificers who "figured it out" (i.e., Noom). Joy observes that the Foreman took twice as many sacrificers as was "strictly lawful," resulting in enough capacity for even them to drink. The Foreman takes off his helmet and reveals that he's one of Pigeon's people. He's furious, though, because he doesn't just want to drink like the lords: he wants to be one.
Soluna reveals herself, furious at what she sees as the Foreman's treachery. Haughty beyond measures, Soluna demands to know more about the elixir, and the Foreman reveals his elixir comes from fear not joy. Soluna defeats the Foreman's guards, but one of them grabs her pet. She begs the Foreman not to hurt the pet, and the Foreman demands she drop her father's sword. Furious that Soluna is so confident no one could hurt her that she even brought her pet, the Foreman has his man rip the pet in two. It's...a lot.
A the daycare, Pigeon watches as the other sacrificers, dressed in colorful clothes, play a game. He wonders where they're taking everyone, and the other sacrificers look at him askance. They encourage him to have more faith as they head to lunch. He looks at a drawing that Noom made of them together, which says, "Have faith all will be well!!!" He then dives into the river discovering a tube with a grate that he can't remove.
At the castle, the Foreman has chained up Soluna. He reveals the gods used to grow old and die, but the elixir that he (the Foreman) created changed that. He gave Rokos the key to immortality, and Rokos promised to make him a god. However, he didn't, hence the Foreman's rage. Informing Soluna that Rokos will never turn over his throne, he rails that Rokos takes credit for his elixir. Soluna calls him "low-born trash," and the Foreman drains her essence from her, believing it'll make him a god.
Good-bye, Soluna. We hardly knew ye.
The Space Between #2: I didn't dislike this issue so much as I found myself bored of the repetition. Instead of a pair of star-crossed lovers, the revolution's leader this time is a rabble-rouser born above the Star Line; he uses a maintenance worker as his connection to the people so he can seize power.
The events take place 47 years after Integration, thought automation has left the folks below the Star Line (btSL, if you will) bored. They're also frustrated that Integration only meant they could marry who they wanted; it appears that the Dodona still assigns jobs through some criteria (though not by birth, I think). But they aren't the only ones frustrated. Revla's granddaughter, Bee, is uninterested in becoming a pilot. Revla claims that she's made her peace with that but dismisses Bee's work researching breeding of cats and dogs. Revla feels like it's supporting the Originators view that people were born for their jobs; Bee says their view was monstrous but doesn't clarify what her research is set to achieve.
At a park, a btSL worker named Pari goes with his friend Hirna to see the aforementioned rabble-rouser, Lonan, speak. Lonan invites Pari to his post-speech meeting with his followers, and it definitely feels like a cult. Pari learns that Lonan isn't "exactly from btSL." In fact, he's never been there. But Pari falls for Lonan's pitch and becomes his more "authentic" messenger.
Rallying crowds under the message, "You're not baggage, you're people!", Pari become famous as Lonan's prophet, much to Hirna's disappointment. Pari is shocked when Lonan takes him to meet the Council at a reception, since they're the problem, but he meets Bee there and they click. An explosion interrupts their meeting, and Lonan's security detail whisk away Pari so the public doesn't learn he (and Lonan) were there.
Later, Bee and Revla are watching news of the incident when the reporter plays an altered version of her conversation with Pari, where she refers to the btSL people as "dogs." Another explosion occurs as a riot takes place outside the Council's chambers. Pari is furious at Lanon for recording him at the reception and using his conversation with Bee to advance his cause, but Lanon wants him to focus on exploiting their "luck" with the explosion.
Meanwhile, Bee is furious they plan to send Revla into space to fix the hole the explosion caused, though the Council claims they lost all their best pilots in the explosion. Pari visits Bee and explains he didn't record their conversation, though this conversation is interrupted when Lonan announces, via a broadcast, that he's the new chancellor and the mission to seal the hole failed. However, Bee manages to get into her grandmother's room and records Revla revealing that she did seal the hole, but Lanon came into her room and injected her with something. Lanon was using the Council's failure to seal the hole as justification for his coup d'état, but Bee's revelation ends his plan.
The issue ends with Hirna joining the Council, which we learn Bee made happen when she suggested someone from maintenance take Revla's spot after her death. Bee and Pari are together now, their hope renewed.
Again, it isn't a bad issue. Given the scope of the story Beckho is telling, though, it feels like we could move off the Marxian analysis of the ship and onto more compelling matters. We'll see what happens next issue.
Subgenre #2: I get what Kindt is trying to do here, but I'm not sure that it's as interesting as he wants it to be in implementation.
Our hero finds himself in a sword-and-sandal story that goes meta quickly, when the wizard (i.e., the author of the hero's story) is a version of the hero himself. But the hero suddenly awakens in a more futuristic setting, where a woman tells him that he needs to sign some forms because they own the story in his head. I wonder if Kindt is hinting that the company for which the woman works puts people through these travels through subgenres to generate intellectual property? Maybe?
At any rate, I think I'm getting off the train here.
Transformers #3: Holy fucking shit, this issue.
Sparkplug tries to comfort a hysterical Carly, who demands to know what type of "giant robot" killed her father. Before Sparkplug can answer, Laserbeak breaks into the house and grabs Sparkplug. He throws him into a wall and moves on Carly, but Cliffjumper arrives to save her. However, Sparkplug opens fire on him, grabs Carly, and flees in a cop car.
At the Ark, Starscream is furious when Soundwave informs him that Earth's raw materials are "lacking" in their ability to bring Cybertronian technology to 100% and Earth also lacks the "advanced compound structure" he needs to fix Teletraan 1. He suggests other Earth material could help and begins to comment that Megatron would've had them scouring Earth already, but Starscream smacks him before he can finish the thought. Meanwhile, Laserbeak reports that he found an Autobot, and Starscream dispatches Skywarp - who's hilarious drinking Energon with a straw - to take care of Cliffjumper.
Sparkplug brings Carly to the bar, where the patrons have armed themselves. Carly tries to convince "Sparky" that all the Transformers aren't bad, but Sparky - not incorrectly - comments that, "It doesn't matter whose team they're on, or what glorious cause they fight for. When the shooting stars, people die." On that note, Cliffjumper arrives, and Sparky shoots him again. Skywarp then arrives and all Hell breaks loose. Optimus and Spike are on the road and see the smoke, which they follow. Carly jumps in front of Cliffjumper before Skywarp can send him "to the Black" when Optimus arrives to save them.
The battle sequence is fantastic. Skywarp opens a portal and sticks his arm through it, punching Optimus from behind. Meanwhile, Sparky and Danny the bartender fire a RPG at Optimus, ripping open his arm. Skywarp grabs said arm, exacerbating the damage, as Sparky tells the men to pour on the fire. Spike starts running to help Optimus...
...and, in a truly shocking scene, we watch a bullet tear through Spike. I honestly gasped when I saw it. Johnson's art is so kinetic, the impact just floored me. Given it's a reboot, I really thought that Johnson might've really killed Spike. Optimus and Sparky clearly thought along the same lines, as Sparky calls on everyone to hold their fire.
Optimus looses his shit and attacks Skywarp, amazingly ripping off his broken arm to beat him with it. After defeating Skywarp, Optimus looks upon Spike's blood covered body and thinks about the deer he killed. Sparky arrives and pulls a gun on Optimus, and Optimus transforms holding Spike, telling Sparky to get in the cab so they can go save his boy. Is Spike going to be a cyborg?
I am all on board here, folks.
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