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by: Ruel de Vera
The odd thing about "Infestation" (last month's issue) and this issue's
"Extermination" story is that they represent a departure in Dreamwave
techniques. The creative team of James McDonough, Adam Patyk and Don Figueroa had previously distinguished themselves by crafting somewhat complex storyarcs of four issue or more, usually with some subplots included that would continue into the next storyarc.
But with its compact, close-ended nature, "Infestation/Extermination"
instead resembles the structure of an 1980s Sunbow/Marvel Transformers TV
episode. In fact, aside from one scene depicting possible changes in the life of fan favorite Bumblebee, virtually the entire issue is focused on the weird events in San Desto, California. When last we saw them, Bumper had been captured by the emerging Insecticons, and the sibling team of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker seemed to be at the verge of the same. At another part of town, Jazz and Earth Defense Command's Commander Marissa Faireborn were similarly surrounded by an Insecticon clone army.
Now, the Autobots, through their own means, try to fight and survive. They discover that the Insecticons are building a hive and are controlling the townspeople using Bombshell's cerebro-shells. Through a vintage TV effort, the Autobots manage to turn the tables of the Insecticons and survive the buggy experience. While there are a few twist and turns, "Inesftation/Extermination" is by far one of the weakest arcs so far in terms of writing. Everything is so linear and predictable that's is actually a surprise just how predictable the issues are.
One gets the feeling like these two issues were just traditional "fillers" between big stories, a breath between deep dives.
While it was nice seeing the Insecticons back (who doesn't like these creepy crawlies, after all), there's only so much of them we can take. This arc might be a breather after the tumultuous events of the last Jetfire/Sunstorm epic, but perhaps we expected more from this talented team.
That being said, I do like the fact that this storyarc was chockful of
little winks to TF continuity and fandom. And well, it was admittedly a funthrowback.But the real action seems to be reserved for next issue, as Shockwave and (see that familiar outline) a certain Decepticon leader seems to be back.
Reports from Vector Sigma (formerly Hardcore TF tidbits):
1) Jazz's comment, "I've never seen Decepticons that have a chewy center" seemslike a funny reference to how easy it was to dispatch the Insecticon clones, a phenomenon that happened even back in the Sunbow cartoon.
2) There's something weird going on with the word balloons for Faireborn. In some panels, they're translucent, almost to the point of being unreadable.
3) The scene where Fairebon and Jazz have a conversation while Jazz is in his alt mode is another reference to cartoon continuity. Jazz talks to Marissa through a pop-up screen that shows Jazz's robot face, something we've seen as lately as RID. Later on, we have a scene where Bumblebee talks to Spike while in alt mode, but this time he doesn't have a pop-up screen, just a glowing orb, just like in the Sunbow cartoon.
4) In yet another reference to traditional G1 trivia, Sunstreaker deploys his shoulder missles while Sideswipe uses his alternative hand weapons. Similarly, the two tone down the machomecha banter and get to business with characteristic grimness, something the two warriors do when under fire.
5) Again, in classic TF tradition, the Insecticons are spot on. Shrapnel uses his electrical powers and speaks in that "sibilant" repeating manner. Bombshell uses the infamous cerebro-shells and even has a conversation with Shockwave reminiscent of Bombshell's prickly dealings with Decepticon leadership. It actually reminded me more of Beast Wars Tarantulas dismissively talking to Megatron. Also, aside from the clone army, the Insecticons (the originals) are shown rising from eggs after recharging or something. That, and the scene with the hive, is "Alien"-cool. The ribbing Sharpnel gets about seemingly handing control over to Bombshell is obviously something that will be revisted later on.
6) By the way, I think it's nice seeing Jazz drawn consistently with this
shoulder-mounted weapon, something that was missing in past comic appearances. He even gets to use it this ish.
7) Bumper the heroic Autobot. Pretty cool for a figure who gained fame for being a production oversight. Bumblejumper's one of the big boys now.
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