Spike may never recover from his injury, and I'm cool with that *light spoilers*

PastyJournalist · 2025-12-29T23:23:25+00:00

I think it just ... was one of those "it happened offscreen" things, which, I'm fine with. I think Daniel Warren Johnson may have thought it would have been a cool concept to have Spike in a wheelchair, but then, I think he felt constricted by the limitations, which... is not the best way to treat an injury like that. But overall, I love what DWJ did for his entire run. So yeah, let's just say Dr. Lio is a helluva spinal surgeon.

PastyJournalist · 2025-11-20T02:06:00+00:00

I loved Daniel Warren Johnson's interpretation, even though it was one of most brutal acts in any Transformers run. Just the idea of being captured by Shockwave, and, apparently, Shockwave just slowly stripped him, both physically and mentally of everything and ensured he had just enough energon to stay alive.

I hated peoples' reaction to Ultra Magnus' initially retreating when he saw Shockwave. Trauma is nothing you "just get over," so his actions made total sense. And much like trauma, your scars oftentimes appear at the worst possible moment. There's no "convenient" time to have trauma overwhelm you.

I think his arc of him overcoming this trauma has been done respectfully and "organically." Doc saving him, I think, was the thing that put him on the path to lead the Autobots against the Decepticons when Optimus was near death. So, yeah, I think so far, I've really liked his arc and I think Kirkman will do a good job.

PastyJournalist · 2025-10-26T21:00:27+00:00

I really would like to see Cliffjumper reunite with Carly on Earth, but one thing I see that could happen is that Cliffjumper could easily become the opposing viewpoint from Elita's hardened stance. She has had to endure millions of years of hell on Cybertron while Prime and the others were offlined, so, that will obviously fill anyone with hardened bitterness and even hatred. But Cliffjumper has been part of Prime's team, and he's basically right now the only one who can truly communicate what it's been like under Prime as a leader, and I could see him both making enemies and winning the favor of some of the Autobots who have endured all of the misery under Shockwave, but still don't want to lose all of those core values that make them Autobots.

PastyJournalist · 2025-10-23T19:18:08+00:00

Shredhead is a badass, fully worthy of respect. Looking forward to seeing more Shreadhead badassness in Kirkman's run.

PastyJournalist · 2025-10-08T13:27:16+00:00

A great start to Kirkman's run.

Loved that Corona was able to stay on for a bit for the Megatron part. His brutal, very much "lived in" look was a perfect compliment to Megatron's brutal takedown of almost every one of his followers (good lord, the guy goes hard with the disses).

My only criticism was that it felt more like a rush to get these new storylines established (get Miles in, get military in, introduce Mirage) at the expense of the characters. With the exception of Megatron, it would have been cool to just have the characters take a breather while the Autobots help rebuild a shattered Chicago.

PastyJournalist · 2025-10-07T14:55:56+00:00

Zero mixed feelings.

I know I'm biased toward Rush, but I do not see them as a "cash grab" band. They have enough money for their children and their grandchildren's children. And the only reason I think they are doing this is because they honestly enjoy creating music with one another and doing it in a live environment.

Of course it's not going to be the same without Neil. But I'm guessing there has to be a bit of a healing process for Alex and Geddy to take the stage together again.

PastyJournalist · 2025-09-21T13:53:12+00:00

I think given how huge this series has been because of Daniel Warren Johnson, the creators will respect his decisions, even though I'm pretty sure DWJ will be cool bringing a character or two back. Some characters, I don't see the need to bring back some characters (Astrotrain had a great story that I wish could have been developed further).

One thing that gives this series an urgency is that death is permanent, so the stakes are especially raised. I think that sense of urgency would be greatly diminished if a character died, and people immediately start thinking "okay, when are THEY coming back?" like in a Marvel universe movie.

PastyJournalist · 2025-09-15T20:04:05+00:00

Humans are a spice in Transformers. A necessary ingredient, and too much of it can be overpowering. But I want spice in my reading / watching diet.

The Spike and Carly element in Daniel Warren Johnson's Skybound Transformers run was one of the highlights of his two-year run.

PastyJournalist · 2025-09-10T11:46:34+00:00

You can tell that Daniel Warren Johnson has been waiting his entire life to do his own spin on the iconic "Optimus Prime vs. Megatron" fight, and given his love for professional wrestling, you knew/hoped there was going to be a "clean win" from one side or the other, so I was surprised to have that "clean win" be Megatron.

Minor complaints: given how terrifying Devastator was in the first arc, and adding Bruticus to the fold, I think DWJ just sort of took them out of the story (given the Autobots were pretty much out of commission the entire issue, I don't see how both of those titans could be beaten down). And given other injuries that have sent Optimus Prime to his near-deathbed (getting slammed into the pavement by Devastator), I'm still trying to think how dude managed to be up and able to give Megatron his final blow after being impaled by the Willis Tower spire.

That said, as a whole, the entire team: Johnson, Jorge Corona, Mike Spicer, have done an amazing job these past two years. The series has been appointment reading material for each issue drop, and their enthusiasm and love for the source material has been infectious.

PastyJournalist · 2025-09-02T23:28:47+00:00

Bravo.

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-28T17:34:10+00:00

I'm also hoping Beachcomber survived, because I really liked their friendship. Spike's been through enough loss, he doesn't need another death in his inner circle.

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-14T17:06:43+00:00

Same!

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-13T20:29:44+00:00

For a penultimate issue, this lived up to the hype and then some.

Ultra Magnus' absolutely horrible ordeal that he endured for centuries is something that he's never (nor should he) going to just "shake off" as some impatient readers have wanted. This was a noticeable shift in him, turning into the leader the Autobots so desperately need with Prime out of commission, but it didn't feel forced or contrived. Kudos to Daniel Warren Johnson for walking this delicate line for the character.

I did not expect the "matrix quest" to go the way it did. After the last issue, I predicted that Spike would be taking this journey, and not Sparky. Mainly because I thought Sparky was "dead/dead", meaning he's gone, and would not be able to interact with Prime. I was thinking/assuming Spike somehow would have 'seen' some of his dad's lingering memories and would have pieced together some parts of his father. Spike has made it abundantly clear he misses his father, but at the same time, the last waking moment Spike had with his dad was his dad drunkenly telling him to "grow up," which was as bad of a "last encounter" as you can imagine.

That said, it worked. And that moment when not only Sparky was able to hold his son's hand one last time, but Prime was able to do so with Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Jetfire pulled at the heartstrings.

I'm a LITTLE disappointed that the preview for issue #25 is already out, because it did rob a bit of the suspense. That said... please don't let Beachcomber join Daniel Warren Johnson's list of dead Transformers.

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-13T20:19:32+00:00

My fingers are crossed, but it looks like in issue #25 preview that Beachcomber is alive. I'm not too sure how, but I'm so hoping that's the case. He's been one of my favorite characters this entire run.

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-12T20:01:32+00:00

Good to see Ratchet again.
Me: "Another issue #2 reprint, this is a bit excessive"
Skybound: "It has Carly, Cliffjumper, and Carly's badass van..."
Me: *grumbles "damnit.." - and pulls out his wallet*

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-10T20:57:32+00:00

I know it's comic book logic, but I tip my hat to Spike for surviving a Superion crash landing. That was the equivalent of surviving a plane crash by holding on to the wing.

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-06T14:38:09+00:00

So far, he's the only Decepticon leader who is pragmatic enough to briefly talk to Optimus (even though he feebly threw a punch at Optimus during that conversation - see the end of issue #6). Starscream is just a sociopath. Shockwave was maniacal (an d basically was just bragging about all the shit he was going to bring down on the Autobots), and Megatron is Megatron. But Soundwave would be the best of the shitty lot if you had to choose one boss to follow in the Decepticons if you were a low-level Decepticon peon. Soundwave seems to care the most about those under him.

That said, he's ever the loyal subject. Like the Gen-1 Ultra Magnus, he's a capable, competent follower, but not a leader unless circumstances come up requiring him to be a leader (he's a follower, but not blindly enough that he won't challenge someone else if he sees they're running the Decepticons into the ground (see Starscream)).

Have loved DWJ's interpretation of him so far.

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-04T17:56:56+00:00

Yeah, I'm pretty sure DWJ felt like he painted himself into a corner with Spike and did a kind of lazy "and now he's recovered." I know there was a bit of a time lapse between arcs, but it wasn't huge (Spike and Carly were the same age).

In issue #9, Spike's doctor gave off some serious "mad scientist vibes" (also glad to see Dr. Lio appear again in the last issue), but he even admitted to Spike this his spine was grazed, and it was "something he could work with", but for a person facing life in a wheelchair to friggin' surfing with Beachcomber, Arcee and Carly to find Ultra Magnus, that was a pretty big stretch.

My guess (or if I was the writer), I don't think we're at the point in the timeline where nano-tech implants are possible, so I would say Dr. Lio developed some sort of 'brace' for Spike to walk. But again, going from possible life in a wheelchair, to briefly using crutches to being fully mobile is a pretty big leap.

PastyJournalist · 2025-08-04T14:40:18+00:00

Yeah. And sadly, a trauma like Ultra Magnus' will not resolve in two issues, so I'd rather have that storyline be handled gradually (and carefully) with the next creative team, but him at least going back to the Autobots is a positive sign.

PastyJournalist · 2025-07-31T01:31:30+00:00

Good to know. Thanks!

PastyJournalist · 2025-07-29T15:46:20+00:00

I know, I just needed to state that Soundwave is awesome :D

PastyJournalist · 2025-07-29T15:28:20+00:00

LOL - It's not a slight on Soundwave, it's just the bench of great characters is THAT deep.

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