Nautica and Brainstorm's first date for Dataglitch. Finally! This is long overdue because I was most of the way through writing it when Brainstorm's reveal hit and that threw me for a pretty hard loop. But I came back determined to write it with that new insight in mind, so what you get is something with a touch of angst in with all the fluff and nerdery. I hope it suits!
Trying to stay unbiased here because I think people are already seeing what they want to see/expect to see with this series, but likely there are some unpopular opinions here regardless. (very light spoilers within)
Plot-wise, It's a remarkably slow start for the level of action we get, but it is a four issue see so we'll see how things pan out. A bit jarring though compared to Roberts' typical three issue arcs that sometimes feel like they should be four or five due to density of information. I personally would prefer something in between.
I'm not seeing the same characterization issues other people are? From the very start of his life, Drift's driving motivation has been to make a difference. It's the core reason he's made most of his choices: joining the Cons and then leaving them later, joining the Wreckers because he couldn't end the war on his own. I imagine it's what mollified him during the Overlord plot, that they were trying to make a difference for the future.
I'm actually intensely pleased to see that Drift is resistant to return to Autobots (though I'd put a $100 bucks down to bet that in the end he will, even if I think it'd be more interesting if he returned to the Lost Light as a neutral.) because it makes sense for his current position in life. It shows that his need to make a difference overrides his desire to belong. As much as he does not like being alone, the truth is that most of his life he has been, and has had to learn to be a surviver, independent, whether truly solo or with a group where he wasn't entirely accepted. It's that history that makes him crave inclusion, and I think it says a lot about his strength of character that he chooses to make the lives of others better over his own.
And when you consider it, who would be eager to go back to the Lost Light after that angry send-off? Even if the crew knows the Overlord debacle wasn't primarily his fault there will still be grudges, and he was never entirely accepted in the first place. So being resistant to returning makes sense to me, and I presume it's Ratchet's job to convince him otherwise, that he still has a contribution to make to the quest for the Knights.
I didn't expect Ratchet's appearance so soon but the dialogue explains it all in a sensible way so I'm good with it, and seeing them have more dialogue than they've ever had since the Delphi arc was really, really nice. Ratchet's stil grumpy and Drift is still teasing him, just like they're were around the bar during Shadowplay. Roberts pointed out that the thing the two will always be at odds over is spiritualism and we kinda see it here too. Drift's making light of the subjec just like he did in Shadowplay, being cavalier, because he knows he can with Ratchet.
That said, I'm still reserving judgement on the whole "will McCarthy hold true to Roberts canon" concern that seems to have people so up in arms. Roberts didn't exactly hold true to previous canon either and it's not like other TFIDW writers have been 100% consistent either. I'll have to see more of the mini-series before I judge on that one.
Overall I enjoyed it and want to see more; it's really great to see more of Drift after almost a year and half. Crossing my fingers for some passing mention of Wing (I know McCarthy wanted to fit that in somewhere if the script allowed). And though I expected Drift to go after Thunderclash, I can totally get behind him being a interstellar space vigilante. He needs to go party with Garrus or something. And his attachment to his shuttle? Oh. I can think of a lot of reasons for that and...oops, feelings. ;-;
