| Transformers Spotlight: Optimus Prime #1 |
|
|
|
| Posted by Chuck Pope |
05:06 AM Wednesday, 10 October 2007 |
Permalink
|
 Of all the Transformer characters we've seen over the last twenty-five years, there is one that stands above them all. Without a doubt no other character can compare to the leader of the Autobots. Since the creation of the character, and for that matter the entire Transformers franchise, Optimus Prime has been the definitive Autobot whose name has become synonymous with the name of his people. In this special issue of Transformers Spotlight, perhaps the most definitive TF writer and TF artist, Simon Furman and Don Figueroa, take an introspective look at the Leader of the Autobots.After a string of wildly escalating conflicts with the Deceptions, and a near death experience at the hands of Megatron, Prime turns to the one Autobot he can confide in and find counsel from: Omega Supreme. Traveling across the universe to speak with the one Autobot who can provide the leader with wise insight and commentary to his recent experiences, Optimus reveals that in his time spent off line, he sensed an unruly presence within infraspace whom he conflictingly recognized as Nova Prime, a bearer of the Matrix before Optimus. The elder Omega, who served alongside Nova Prime, begins to shed light on Nova's character and his beliefs to Optimus while mysterious beings track Omega down. According to Omega, as former leader of the Autobots, Nova Prime took a much more proactive approach to spreading Cybertronian ideals across the galaxy. Omega confesses to Prime that Nova's belief in Cybertron's manifest destiny of sorts caused the two not to see eye to eye. But their conversation is interrupted when the Combiner Monstructor breaks into the Omega's base. Omega Supreme and the obviously unstable creature go toe to toe before Optimus steps in to take action. The Autobot Leader blows a hatch sending the three hurtling into space, and buying himself and Omega a few moments to regather themselves. Noting that the combiner also has history with Omega, Optimus demands an explanation. Omega then reveals that Monstuctor is the result of Jhiaxus, Nova's chief strategist, created the first combiner out of six Transformers. Unfortunately, the untested process caused the combiner to go insane. When Nova and Jhiaxus disappeared aboard Ark 1, and Monstructor could not be controlled. Omega imprisoned them in another dimension from whence they escaped to seek revenge. Together Optimus and Omega are able to defeat Monstructor, but Optimus shuns Omega for not trying to do more for the tortured Transformers. As Prime turns the creature over to an Autobot Science team, Omega offers a blunt warning that the combiner technology must not fall into the hands of the Decepticons. While on the surface this may seem like just a look at the leader of the Autobots, as the saying goes, there is more than meets the eye. This is a look at what IDW is reshaping the Transformer history to be, and how that past will shape the stories to come. The title Transformers Spotlight has been doing several things well. First of all, it is providing a closer and more intimate look at a number of fan-favorite Transformers on adventures that are usually self contained but have an effect on or are heavily effected by the events in the main Transformers title. Second, the stories showcased in Spotlight have done a great job of re-imagining great Transformers characters who have been lost to continuity or have not see the light of publishing since Marvel lost the rights to the Transformers franchise in the early nineties. Either way, Furman's new take on them is exciting for readers and should provide for interesting conflict in the future. Figueroa's art is spectacular. The Transformers rarely look better than when this ex-Dreamwave artist breaks out his pencils to draw everyone's favorite robots. The only way this comic could have been better would if their was a Peter Cullen voice track in it that read Optimus Prime's lines out loud as you read. That said, this is a must buy for any Transformer fan. Comments (0) |
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|