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Series: War Within Volume Two: The Dark AgesSummary: Optimus Prime and Megatron clash high above Cybertron. Optimus propels the pair through the untested Space Bridge, and the two faction leaders disappear into the unknown. The Autobot onlookers are justifiably horrified. Save for Grimlock, of course. He looks more like he's laughing behind his faceplate.
Some time later, crackling energy and flame herald the arrival of a gargantuan warrior in Cybertron's ruins; the Fallen has arisen.
In Iacon, Hound reports to Prowl about a new Decepticon battlestation coming on-line soon. The erstwhile Autobot leader prepares a team to intercept the threat.
The Chaos Trinity (Bludgeon, Bugly and Mindwipe) are conducting some sort of dark ritual to summon what appears to be a glowing orb of insects. Unfortunately they don't seem to have done a particularly good job hiding their base, which allows the Fallen to interrupt their ritual. He offers them a choice: join him or die. Wisely, they choose the former. The Fallen reveals that he is searching for four Transformers who he will use to bring about something called 'The Unbinding'. After leading his new minions deep within Cybertron, the Fallen reveals the name of his first target: Grimlock.
Meanwhile, back on Cybertron's moon, Starscream's Predacons escort a pair of stolen Energon freighters to the surface. As they arrive, Starscream is shocked to be met by the severed head of one of the troops he sent to guard the landing zone. His troops soon find themselves under heavy fire from Grimlock's Lightning Strike Coalition. Grim's men hijack the freighters, making off with Starscream's Energon.
Characters Featured: Optimus Prime (MIA), Megatron (MIA), Prowl, Jazz, Kup, Grimlock, The Fallen (appears out of nowhere), Swoop, Hound, Tracks, Huffer, Mirage, Perceptor, Skids, Cliffjumper (hologram), Gears (hologram), Sideswipe (hologram), Bludgeon, Bugly, Mindwipe, Starscream, Flywheels, Motormaster, Hardcase (decapitated head only), Slag, Snarl, Sludge, Krok (???), Skalor (???) [Note: several 'Cons in the LSC-Pred fight are hard to ID due to mediocre detailing and poor colouring], Wheeljack, Ironhide
Errors: The memorial to Optimus in Autobase reads 'In Memorandum'; the proper term is 'In Memoriam'.
It's technically not an error, since it could conceivably have occurred in the DW universe at some point, but Grimlock referring to Swoop as 'Dive-' is an obvious reference to the UK Marvel stories “What's In a Name?’ and “Grudge Match’.
As Hound's team reports in to Autobase, either Mirage or Tracks (likely the former) is red, instead of blue.
Review: Since this is the first issue of a series, it's not unexpected that it would be taken up mostly with set-up bits for the later issues. But some of the stuff here is honestly a waste of pages. The LSC/Predacon battle served no real purpose at all, other than to underline how 'badass' Grimlock was. This bit could have been left out easily, and the space could have been filled with some set-up for Springer and Ratbat, who will feature heavily in the next two issues.
The Prime-Megatron scene at the beginning is pathetic, made even more so by the terrible cop-out ending that the first volume of War Within suffered from. If Furman had really been on his game he would have had Prime and Megatron disappear in Issue 6 of Volume One, creating a fan-grabbing cliff-hanger and eliminating the major source of fan disappointment with that series.
My third and final beef with this issue has to do with the Fallen. It would have been nice to seem him get a bit of characterization, but so far he comes off as a Unicron-wannabe, nothing more. We've already got one Unicron in the Transformers Universe. We certainly don't need another.
Of course, I do have a few good things to say about this issue. First off, Andy Wildman's art is absolutely amazing. I had doubts about how well his old-style pencils would look with modern computer colouring, but they were apparently unfounded. He captures the characters' emotions as well as ever, with detailed facial expressions and expressive body language.
As an aside, the 'Jetfire' cover by Don Figueroa is one of the nicest covers ever to grace a Transformers comic.
Furman may not match the epic feel of the G2 series or his later US works with this series, but it's clear that his ability to write dialog hasn't atrophied any. Kup questioning the purpose of the war while Grimlock fumes in the background is one of the better scenes DW has produced so far. The dialog in this issue also illustrates very clearly that some of out well-known characters are a lot younger than we remember them, and they act appropriately. The Kup scene I mentioned above shows him as a starry-eyed dreamer, rather than the grizzled old veteran that everyone knows. Bludgeon seems a lot more impulsive, without the deviousness I credit the Marvel version with. While I'd never imagine that Bludgeon attacking a behemoth wreathed with fire, nor can I see him obeying said behemoth without question. At the very least, he'd be busy plotting to stab him in the back at the first opportunity. Hopefully, we'll get to see Bludgeon mature a bit as the story progresses.
Overall, the issue isn't too bad. There are a few bad points, but also a few good ones. Though not an exciting issue in and of itself, it's an adequate start to a six-issue series.
Story: 5/10
Dialogue: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
review by Warcry