Spotlight:

[andersonh1]

From Spotlight volume 3:

Blaster
IDW’s take on Blaster is that he’s “the Voice”, the propagandist for the Autobot cause that gets on the airwaves and cheers them on to victory. “Morale booster” might be a more kind term than propagandist, but regardless it’s a logical and fitting role for Blaster. Such on air attempts to lift the spirits and demonize the enemy are typical in wartime, and thus the concept rings true, even in the fictional Transformers war. Blaster’s on air patter betrays Simon Furman’s British roots, as Blaster sounds more like a DJ from the UK than an American.

The story is a “who tried to kill Blaster” plot. On the eve of a crucial battle, someone shoots Blaster and sets him adrift in space. He survives and is picked up by aliens and returned to the Autobots, where he tries to find out who attacked him. It’s clear that it had to be a fellow Autobot who did it, because no one else could have gotten close enough without warning. This premise is effective in that it allows the reader to get to know Blaster’s character under pressure as he deals with the stress and uncertainty of being targeted for assassination by someone he knows.

One of the virtues of Spotlight: Blaster is that it gives us a glimpse of some characters we haven’t seen much of elsewhere in IDW’s comics, at least not to my knowledge. Silverbolt plays a decent role in the story, as does one of my favorite mini-bots, Beachcomber. Another favorite, Bluestreak, makes an appearance as well. It’s nice to see these guys turn up, even if some of them only get cameos.

I wonder how the use of Bombshell is meant to be reconciled with the character’s use in “All Hail Megatron”? I’ve read that the tiny version we see in this spotlight is now considered a prototype. While that’s a retcon, it works for me. And in just about any other fiction, “mind control” would be a lame motivation for attempted murder, but Bombshell’s cerebro shells are just another of the many exotic weapons that Transformers carry, so their use in the story works. It’s also fitting that in the end, Blaster talks Beachcomber out of killing him rather than using force to stop him, using his signature voice and Autobot morality to influence his fellow Autobot.

This is a strong entry in the Spotlight series, with a logical and effective update to the character of Blaster. And it sets up a logical reason for his rivalry with Soundwave. Recommended.


Arcee
Of all the character revisions that have occurred in the IDW continuity, the changes made to Arcee have to be the most extreme. Gone is the rather sweet figure from the animated movie and Marvel and Dreamwave comics. IDW’s Arcee is pretty much psychotic and consumed with a desire for revenge against Jhiaxus, who experimented on her in an attempt to add gender to the Transformers race. She’s also an incredibly fast and lethal fighter who has no compunction against killing an opponent, Decepticon or Autobot. It’s an interesting choice to characterize Arcee in this way, and it definitely makes her more distinctive than she’s been in the past, even if the character is less pleasant.

She’s captured by Ultra Magnus and imprisoned on Garrus-9, the Autobot prison run by Fortress Maximus. I’m a bit disappointed to see Fort Max is the same size as everyone else. It might have been interesting to have him actually be the prison or something along those lines, but that’s neither here nor there. Prisoners in Garrus-9 have their sparks removed and stored separate from their bodies. It’s highly amusing that Arcee actually finds the experience peaceful and soothing.

We find out what happened to the Monstructor components after Spotlight Optimus Prime, as they’re shown to be imprisoned in the same facility Arcee is taken to by Ultra Magnus. And true to his word, Prime ordered an attempt to help them, though it’s proven less than successful. Decepticons in the employ of Banzai-tron break them out, and Arcee is dispatched to track them. The story is a good mix that establishes Arcee’s character and advances the Dead Universe plotline.

How well you enjoy this story depends on how well you take to Arcee’s new characterization. I’m not a big fan of psycho characters, particularly when they’re supposed to be one of the good guys, but on the other hand Arcee has never been more interesting. So I’m going to have to call the story a success.


Grimlock
Prior to buying Spotlight volume 3, this was the only story from the book that I’d read. It is essentially a prologue to “Maximum Dinobots”. Grimlock is awakened from the stasis he was put into at the end of Spotlight Shockwave. Skywatch is attempting to control him, but Scorponok sabotages their efforts. Grimlock breaks out and heads out into public, where Scorponok confronts him and offers him a place in his organization. As usual, Grimlock uses the slightest of excuses as a reason to refuse and attack, but it backfires on him, as Scorponok is considerably tougher than he is, and nearly kills him. Grimlock escapes only due to the recall teleport device on his spacecraft, now buried in a glacier.

As much as I resisted the idea at first, it’s good to hear Grimlock speaking without the speech impediment, the “me Grimlock” style of speaking. His attitude is shown to be a liability as it nearly gets him killed. In a number of ways, this is Furman writing his favorite character in a far more subdued and less indestructible manner than usual, and it works very well. The spotlight isn’t so much a self-contained story as it is a chapter in the larger storyline, but it’s a good chapter.

[Onslaught Six]

Indeed, I love how Furman is doing Grimlock now--and he does throw in the occasional ME, GRIMLOCK just for kicks.

[Dominic]

Along those lines, it occurs to me that IDW Jhiaxus has been given essentially the same role that Shockwave played in the Dreamwave comic run. Both were dedicated/obsessed with seeing how far they could push the transformation process and "evolution" of the Transformers race. Neither were above experimenting on individuals to achieve their goals. The comparison is again broad, but no broader than the one you've listed above.

Shockwave's experiments in the DW era were not presented the same way as Jhiaxus' or Fabius Bile's. Jhiaxus' mad science is a near duplicate of Bile's Maybe it is cynicism about Furman, but I really cannot shake the idea that he was ripping off GW.

Dom
-wants IDW Galvatron, Jhiaxus, Scourge and Cyclonus to die like Dibny.

[andersonh1]

I don't know how "Dibny" died, but Jhiaxus suffered/is suffering a pretty grisly fate at the hands of Arcee. Killed over and over and over again by a psycho... ouch.

[Shockwave]

A psycho of his own creation, so it's kind of poetic justice.

[andersonh1]

A psycho of his own creation, so it's kind of poetic justice.

True, his fate may be deserved, but it's still pretty grisly.

[Shockwave]

Yeah. Totally didn't see that comin. Course, the whole Arcee story in general is REALLY messed up anyway.

[Dominic]

When "Revelations" first came out, I read that ending as "we are getting rid of these character". But, given that IDW cannot seem to take Galvatron and co away from Furman, they might wind up coming back. (Of course, given that Furman has a known dislike of Arcee, there is hope they will not come back.)


Above, I was refering to Sue Dibny, from a number of DC comics. She was not only killed, but pretty well ruined, (effectively killing any good associations a reading might have), in "Identity Crisis". I would be happy to see such things happen to the over-powered Furman-brigade.

Dom
-or, they could just join Jhiaxus in hell, or wherever he and Arcee are.

[andersonh1]

That's not going to happen though. Costa has said that we'll see Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge at some point, which the setup story in AHM #14 made clear anyway. I'll reserve judgment until I see how the characters are used in future.

[Dominic]

Please let me dream. Please.

Dom
-really hates Galvatron and co.....