Transformers The War Within: Dark Ages #2
SCENE ONE: Inner Cybertron
+ The Fallen takes Bludgeon, Bugly and Mindwipe to the Well of All Sparks. He commends the Decepticons for doing their tasks well. Bludgeon grows impatient and demands to know more about the Dark Power that the Fallen keeps on promising them. The Fallen gives him a taste and we see Bludgeon going through something akin to Dante's Inferno for a moment. The Fallen promises them more if they continue to serve him well. Bludgeon is both impressed and inspired.
+ The artwork in this scene is cool... and... why does the Well of All Sparks have a giant ceiling fan? :p
SCENE TWO: Tagan Heights
+ The Wreckers have pushed the UltraCons back to the Eastern Industrial Quadrant of the Tagan Heights.
+ The Wreckers get into a spot of bother when they bump into Devastator.
+ I like how Springer uses his springing ability! Looks cool!
SCENE THREE: Iacon, former Council Pavilions
+ The Protectobots learn of Devastator's allegiance with the Ultracons. We learn that the Gestalts were created as a response to an escalating arms race. This contradicts G1 comic book canon (although it can fit into cartoon canon), but it's still an interesting idea.
+ The Protectobots decide to get involve before the situation escalates and other Gestalt teams decide to take sides. For some bizarre reason, Streetwise is called... Streewise. Methinks it's Roger Lee's bad editing striking again!
+ The "Dark Ages" theme really hits home here. In the first War Within series, Cybertron is at the tail end of the Golden Age. Iacon is still in a sort of Babylonian-esque state of decadent glory. Here, we see that Iacon is dark and abandoned. Cybertron has entered its Dark Ages -- an image of Cybertron that we're far more familiar with from G1.
SCENE FOUR: Tagan Heights
+ Springer and Sandstorm try to stall Devastator whilst Springer orders the rest of the Wreckers to retreat. Springer becomes isolated and the other Wreckers disobey orders and join the fight. Sandstorm gives up and together they Wreck and Rule.
+ Springer is trapped and he is at the mercy of four Ultracons - Ratbat, Venom, Chopshop and Barrage. Ratbat's robot mode is... weird. Although this is by far not the first time that Ratbat has had a speaking role, nor the first time he's had a command role, since Ratbat was Decepticon commander for a while in G1.
SCENE FIVE: Inner Cybertron
+ Bludgeon, Bugly and Mindwipe are putting some secret plan in motion. They talk about having lured a target, and about how they will use Grimlock to lure the third target. As is typical with Furman's storytelling, this stuff will only make sense towards the end. :p
SCENE SIX: Tagan Heights
+ The Wreckers are giving Devastator a run for his money, then the Protectobots come along and merge into Defensor. IMO, War Within Defensor looks rather plain... so do the Protectobots in general for that matter.
+ Ratbat is about to shred Springer, but a tremor from the battle above sets Springer free. The scene ends with both Springer and the Ultracons staring up at the two Gestalts fighting.
SCENE SEVEN: Autobase, Cybertron
+ Once more, the idea that Cybertron is in the Dark Ages is reemphasised here. The exterior of Autobase is dark and in ruins. The inside of the central command is awash with red emergency lighting...and is utterly abandoned (whereas in the previous issue it had proper lighting and was still manned by Autobots). Jetfire walks in to find that everything has fallen apart in his absence.
Overall it's a comic that's worth picking up if you're a dedicated Transformers comic fan, as AU$7.30 is a hefty price to pay for such a thin comic book. It suffers from a minor and careless errors that to me, detract from the overall book.