Well, things are back on track! I knew my conflicting feelings about the last volume of Robots in Disguise couldn't last forever. Really, I just needed some forward movement and... well... John Barber gave me a lot of that in this volume. Holy moly, did he ever. I think the panel below is probably the best example of the amped up tension that hits these pages. Megatron is back, and things are getting heated. There is so much death and destruction here, and at the center of it all is the fact that the fighting just never ends because prejudices always exist. Loyalties always exist.

Mostly I feel sorry for Bee, who up to this point has really done everything in his power to keep the peace on Cybertron. This story repeatedly points out the fact that when it comes to politics, and power struggles, there is really never a correct choice. Bee's heart is in every choice he makes but, as he says below, it doesn't really end up counting for anything. What a terrible lesson to learn.

There is of course a ton of action in this volume too. The Dinobots and Ironhide came back! You have no idea how happy that made me, since I adore Ironhide and missed him.Oh, and Arcee! I told you before that she's pretty much my favorite in this series. This volume sealed the deal. I love stories where there's this crazy gray area in between the stark black and white. Arcee falls right into that space. Looking out for number one, but not always. It's crazy, but I love it.

The final fight scene in this just floored me. Guys, let me tell you, this is getting good. I wasn't sure I was a fan of all the political intrigue flying around on the pages, but the ending of this particular volume changed all of that. I can't wait to get to the next one, and find out what happens to our heroes. I'm thinking it will be nothing good. ( )

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

EVERYTHING YOU KNEW IS WRONG!

It's maybe not quite like that, but John Barber totally upends the situation on Cybertron by returning Megatron to Iacon, disrupting the carefully calibrated peace between Autobots, Decepticons, and neutrals, as Megatron not only mobilizes the Decepticon remnants, but reveals that much of what had been happening since the beginning of the series was actually his own doing, down to the fact that he had a key Autobot under mind control as far back as volume 1! Iacon suddenly goes from a city under Autobot rule to one besieged, as the Decepticons move across the city in the night, the Autobot forces are scattered and leaderless, and Starscream insists that he could have won through democracy but Megatron messed it all up.

It's the most compelling Robots in Disguise has been thus far, building on hints Barber has been dropping all along, large and small-- thank Primus for the Transformers wiki and its careful unearthing of minute details. Some of the book is still a little underwhelming: I think this is because Barber's twists and reveals are often less character-based than James Roberts's over in More than Meets the Eye, relying heavily on technology. For example, Megatron tells us that the space bridge technology in his old body allowed him to manipulate the energies of the reborn primordial Cybertron, causing the madness outside Iacon. Well, um, okay, sure, why not? As an answer to an ongoing mystery, it's not exactly satisfying. The mind-control reveal is also a bit meh, I think, as it doesn't actually tell us anything about the character in question. (Well, I guess it does tell us he's not as bad as he seemed.) And there's a key moment that really relies on you knowing about the attitudes of multiple characters toward Spike Witwicky from the previous ongoing... which I only read the first volume of...

That said, there's good stuff here. I like the growing group of former Autobots and Decepticons who feel they have more in common with the neutrals. I like how Wheeljack manages to save the day retroactively with a nice callback to an earlier issue.

And best of all is the developing friendship between Metalhawk, leader of the neutrals, and Starscream, the Decepticon Who Would Be King. At one point I gasped aloud. Very enjoyable stuff-- I spent volumes 1-3 feeling like Barber was continuously setting up, and here he finally pays off, and it's definitely worth the wait. I look forward to seeing where Robots in Disguise goes more than ever.

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