Transformers #9 continues the slow burn, ratcheting up the tension from the previous issues as well as providing a truckload of pewpew and explosions for those who might be feeling the story has been a little slow up to this point.
While Sideswipe and a small team go to investigate just who the bots were who attacked Cyclonus, Prowl is busy banging heads against walls as he continues to look into Rubble’s death. We are introduced to more of the bots that, presumably, are working with The Rise. One of them is Sixshot, who has been slightly scaled back in lethality since his appearance in the last continuity where he was a “Stage Sixer”, a planet killer sent in to eradicate everything and anything that might still be standing. Meanwhile suspicion begins to swirl around one member of Security who seems to be both concealing information and suddenly shifting allegiances.
The last panel focusing on his face says it all, a smug grin and a comment that “The Senator recognises someone who can make a real contribution to the cause“. Whatever Megatron’s end game is, it is obviously continuing uninterrupted while the Autobots desperately rush to try and put the pieces of their individual investigations together.
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There’s not a great deal to be said about the story in this issue as most of it focuses around Sideswipe, Chromia and Windblade tangling with the members of The Rise, so while more narrative tidbits for the overall story arc are dropped, this issue is mostly about bots beating up, blowing up and shooting up other bots.
This is going to be something of a short review as so much of this issue is taken up with this fight and nobody wants to read a paragraph of “And then the thermal lance went FWOOSH but then her lasers went TZOW!” which are, in all seriousness, sound effects from the issue. To them you can add “Zrak Zrak”, “Tak Tak Tak” and my personal favourite “Zrrt”. Onomatopoeia is a wonderful thing.
There is a distinct impression that Megatron might well be waiting for the return of Sentinel Prime and the others before he begins to truly put his (more than likely nefarious) plans in motion so while there’s a lot of action in this issue, it almost feels like right now everything is in a holding pattern, waiting for the other shoe to drop, hence the somewhat low score for this individual issue.
Transformers #9 is out now from IDW and available digitally and from comic stores.
