Transformers #7 is where the gas pedal is pressed firmly to the floor. After last issue’s reminiscences we return to the present and a certain poem by Yeats seems very apt here:
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
Prowl’s investigation into the murder from issue #1 takes on a far more urgent air as now it seems that there is more than one killer on the loose. Meanwhile, despite his efforts not to get involved in things, Cyclonus and the ghosts in his head keep finding themselves getting involved in things and by the end of this issue it’s definitely time for a rumble, and we don’t mean the cassette that Soundwave normally carries around with him. It’s difficult to go into too many plot details here without major spoilers about major events from prior issues.
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There’s a running theme throughout this issue, a phrase that more than one character utters: “It’s not your fault”, or “I’m sorry”; regret piling atop regret for missed opportunities to somehow change the course that the story and characters seem locked into. That said, we are all assuming that this will end with the by-now-familiar battle lines being drawn. Megatron and his Decepticons will turn on the Autobots, kickstarting a war that lasts for millenia… but will they? It would be interesting to see the writers taking a different path with this. It’s been established that we already have unfamiliar factions in play, characters that used to be allied with one faction now allied with another, or with none at all.
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It’s a difficult thing for the writers. If you go too far, make too many changes, then it can invite fan backlash, cries of “that’s what the ‘What If?’ stories are for” or mirror universes where Megatron has a beard and Optimus Prime is purple! But if you aren’t willing to make these changes, why even bother rebooting the universe if you’re just going to tell the same stories? The last series ended with Megatron allied with the Autobots – why not have someone else helm the Decepticons in this shiny new continuity, or perhaps even just stick with the Ascenticons and forego the Decepticons entirely?
It’s going to be interesting to see how brave the writers are feeling, and how much they’re allowed to get away with. There’s a feeling in this issue that the writers are being allowed to take the gloves off at last. Issue #8 should be a blast.
