@fantasist-art You asked for an elaboration on my opinions on DWJ’s run of Transformers. Looking back, a lot of the issues I had with Transformers in the last year were minor but had built up so much that it tainted my perception of the series as a whole.
At the beginning, Optimus' empathetic nature was (and is) a defining trait of this run, contrasting the violent and vulgar actions that surround him. Bumblebee’s death gave the entire audience a wake up and highlighted that empathetic nature of OP. However, a lot of scenes are framed in a manner that upholds that idea. This is where a lot of my disdain towards this series comes from. From how Elita One was framed in comparison to Optimus as if we have to disagree or even antagonize her to ensure Optimus is seen as ‘good’, to how Bumblebee is constantly shown again and again to be told that Optimus is a saint for mourning the dead (Where was Slingshot in the Dead Autobots Montage? That was my immediate thought since Optimus was so upset about losing him at the end of Issue 21)
War is integral to the make up of this franchise and there have been plenty of times where TF writers delve into the subject with sincerity and nuance about what’s being told. I don’t think there’s been a TF story that took the subject of war serious and told it in a way that is not one-sided or flawed when carefully examined. It’s a subject that can be difficult to tell faithfully since a writer’s background greatly influences how they create The Enemy and why they are The Enemy. Other people here have discussed it in greater lengths, but Optimus being mirror to Sparkplug’s time in a war (we are not told which war, thought its best estimated to be the Korean War) brings a point of how DWJ wants the audience to form some connection between the Autobots and the US Military. Outside of Skybound, this relationship has been made many times in TF’s history and is ingrained to the creation of TF itself (i.e. TF was made during the Cold War; how were Good Guys and Bad Guys framed?). Now focusing on Skybound again, how are the Autobots and USA Korean War Veterans alike? Are we supposed to see that they are one in the same? That the cause they fought for are just? (DPRK, South Korea, and China are all ready to sign a peace treaty to end the Korean War. The US is not).
TLDR; How DWJ framed Sparkplug and Optimus’s experiences in war as similar speaks volumes to how he thinks of War as a USamerican.
Going back to Elita-One and Optimus. Many have acknowledge that her feelings surrounding Optimus and his focus on Earth are valid. She has spent millions of years fighting against the Decepticons on Cybertron as her comrades dwindled in power and resources whilst Optimus had been in stasis during that time. Of course, her mentality about the war would be different than his! But why is her reality and reasonings treated as if it is wrong or is not the correct way of handling things? Why is it that she must have the same care Optimus has for a place that she’s never seen? Why must her army and her home continue to suffer for the safety of others that she’s never known? To frame her perspective and opinions as antagonistic towards Optimus’ own deliberately contradicts the realities of war that are an integral part of this story.
I think Issue 13 and the introduction of Utchlar added depth to Starscream and to the war before its galactic expansion. But a lot of people viewed this Issue as a death, as a reminder of what was, leading the audience to pity, sympathize, or even infantilize Starscream. It doesn't help that after this, DWJ puts Starscream through a Saw Trap. He becomes a puppet, continuously beaten to death only to be revived as a punishment, and diminished and tossed aside. In the end, Starscream is reflective of his past actions and takes actions (aka shoots himself) that marks an end for him. This is the biggest cop out that could’ve been done. Starscream before Issue 13 is cruel. He’s completely dismissive of Soundwave and the other Decepticons. He’s theatrical about his brutality against humans and sees them as nothing. Him taking leadership of the Decepticons gave us the opportunity to see just how much he can do to enemies and his own faction. All of these traits were subtly shown in Issue 13! He’s dismissive of Genvo and Jetfire when he flew off and broke into an enclosed area with no regard for his surroundings, all this just to be seen! This issue has more to do with how DWJ couldn’t make Starscream layered and instead made him like Newton’s Cratle.
How Megatron has been framed goes back to my problem of the uplifting of Optimus, how Megatron has been shown is to ensure that Optimus comes out as the better of the two. Megatron is made to step on the same deer Optimus had killed and disregard it. He commands and expects obedience. Even his speech in Issue 25 makes him message of Peace Through Tyranny all the. All this does is makes Megatron more cartoonishly evil than cruel. His backstory in Issue 19 had been neglected up until this month’s Issue. Soundwave at one point asks Megatron if they should kill the innocent humans. I see this as more of an annoying thing I’ve noticed than valid critique but whatever.
Other annoyances: The use of color to distinguish good and bad. Trust your audience that they’ll be able to pick up on the subtleties of a character. If you’re telling, that probably means you don’t trust your audience or yourself (and if you trust yourself, what does that say about the audience? Hmm?)
Bumblebee callbacks made me want to pull my hair out! We get it! He’s dead! We don’t have to see his rotting corpse again and again!
Lastly, where are the Aerialbots?! I know this probably has to do with shrinking down the cast for less logistical issues, but I think this, along side other narrative inconsistencies, made it apparent to me that DWJ doesn’t plans his stories all too well…
At the end of the day, I’m really just talking out of my ass about an elaborate toy commercial.This is the first comic I’ve ever engaged with and I feel I’m critiquing unfairly, but critiques are needed more than blindsided praise and admiration.