Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Transformers: Devastation #6
IDW Comics
Furman, Su & Burcham
The concluding issue of the Devastation arc disappoints. This is the direct result of me having high expectations. But, even if I were to step away and think through what I would have wanted to go down and see only what should have been wrapped up, this issue still falls short in my opinion. However, there is one key element I liked throughout this issue and that was the circling back on items in various Spotlight issues. For me, this character development and re-usage was huge and saved this issue from being a big time flop as far as finales go.
You can boil down the bulk of the issue by saying it’s the Reapers versus the Decepticons with some intervening by Galvatron. The Autobots are very much a sidebar in this issue. If you consider where this arc started and what happened throughout there are a ton of issues that never get resolved. In some cases I can understand wanting to leave the door open for future stories, but in this case so many holes are left open I feel like six issues were spent spinning their tires.
So what else goes on in this issue? Well, we do learn of another Headmaster, Scorponok. Hunter becomes “one” with Sunstreaker and they escape the Headmaster’s facility. Two Decipticons bite the big one at the hands of the Reapers. Starscream and Megatron make the peace and obliterate the Reapers. Galvatron turns the Reaper leader into a zombie. I didn’t get this at all. The Autobots escape Earth, but without Hot Rod.
Hot Rod’s couple of pages of dialogue with Hardhead were what saved this issue. Hot Rod refuses to leave behind Sunstreaker. This ties directly to his one shot from last year. It was excellent use of the Spotlight issue and built his character. Add in the fact that it was done with subtlety allowing readers who missed the issue to just assume that Hot Rod just doesn’t leave anyone behind. But the readers of the Spotlight know why he won’t leave Sunstreaker behind. This was excellent.
This issue also ties in events from the Galvatron Spotlight as well as elements of the Nightbeat Spotlight resurfaced. This was all great stuff. Although, the usage of Galvatron was dull in the issue.
The open plots are what bugged me. Some of them are understandable, such as the unveiling of the Dinobot’s identity that the men are about to try to control and use or the final fate of Sunstreaker. However, to not address what became of Verity and Jimmy or what happened to Ironhide (I know they reference him, but did they really find him? We never see this.) or the fate of Sixshot. I mean, so much of this arc was spent on these plot lines and none of them were resolved? That’s not cool.
The issue has plenty of action and the whole scene of the Decipticons versus the Reapers was fantastic. The Starscream involvement was great as well. The artwork was so clear that I could actually make out which bot was which. I liked the artwork a lot this whole arc.
So as you can see I had mixed feelings about this issue. If it wasn’t a finale I might have felt differently about it, but as a finale it wasn’t that great. The issue has plenty for a Transformers fan, but the spinning of wheels isn’t very thrilling issue after issue. At some point something has to wrap up, right?
3 out of 5 geek goggles.
 Transformers Devastation #6 |
