#skybound blaster

Oh hey Blaster's here! ....Aaaaaaand he's gone.

My first introduction to him was in IDW's Shattered Glass run, and I really liked him in that. I would love to see how he's like in a regular continuity. (Please don't tell me that he has a tendency to die like Cliffjumper)

I knew that the contrast between Optimus & Sparky is going to be so juicy (＞∀＜) Sparky pulled out from a war after one tour, and that was enough to shatter his faith in humanity for good, resulting in him only focusing on the people dearest to him (with questionable success). Meanwhile, Optimus has been in a war for so long that he has lost track of how long it has been going on, and he's painfully aware that as the leader of the Autobots, he's a huge part of why it has lasted for so long. Despite all that, he still has faith.

When I said that I wanted the use of Skywarp's parts to leave an impact, I didn't mean his repurposed corpse should be installed onto Teletraan 1 for everyone to see (ToT). Instead of a "his body may be gone, but he's still with us in spirit", we got "yeah whatever is inside him is gone now, but we got his corpse on display as a constant reminder" lmaoooooo

So I got spoiled that Starscream kicked Ravage, but I didn't expect that he literally PUNTED AN INJURED LITTLE KITTY LIKE A GODDAMN FOOTBALL. 

I thought that he lightly kicked it to the side 'cause it was getting in his way or something. Whatever Soundwave is going to do to him later, he totally had it coming. (Although, I'm surprised that this wasn't Soundwave's breaking point. Even a light kick will be enough to rile up any pet owner)

I'm still trying to sus out whether Starscream himself believes in the Decepticon propaganda he's spouting. He's very obviously a might-makes-right kind of person, but does Decepticon propaganda exist hand-in-hand with that or in spite of that? I personally headcanon that a part of him does honestly believe in the cause, however small that part is.

I like how the comic subtly gives out the reasons why Starscream was the Decepticon's 2nd-in-command and why they all listen to his orders even when Megatron's gone. Despite the way he treats them, he's actually able to keep their morale & loyalty up through propaganda (which is an amazing addition to his character btw. I swear some people forget that the cons need a reason to follow him in the first place) and despite acting childishly, he does prioritise strategic potential above all else, which keeps them alive and winning. 

He agreed to scout for energy sources after he was told that he has the most reserves within him

He abandons the heavily injured but salvageable Skywarp to take the chance to finish off the lone, armless Optimus carrying fragile humans. 

He orders a retreat once the Decepticons are outnumbered and losing. 

While the cons have energon, they don't have the raw materials to heal themselves and are currently outnumbered, so between healing a single soldier with what little they have or resurrecting many others, the choice was easy to him.

While the cons do have an energon supply now, they don't have a continuous one, which is why he shoots down the idea of fixing the smallest one first. (at least, I assume that's the reason)

(I'm aware that Starscream goes about all of these choices cruelly and takes the chance to have fun in his own way whenever he can, both of which often lead to his downfall)

Ayyy Rachet got Wheeljack back. Shame that he only got the top half working, but they can work with that~

Man, Reflector is a relatively obscure Decepticon. He might be useful for espionage down the line. I wonder if his character is going to be more than just camera references-- Oh. Guess he couldn't reflect that shot, huh.

I can see why Blaster's not around. Jazz is already the music guy so adding Blaster to the mix might get repetitive. (Aw dangit I ship them now. I know pairing up two people with similar interests doesn't require too much mental gymnastics, but I have a feeling that this one's a rarepair. Everyone gotta at least agree that these two have to be buddies or rivals in some way.)

Ohmygosh Starscream does honestly believe that the Decepticons are in the right and the Autobots are evil, despite everything that they've done, despite everything that HE has done. YIIIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! XDDDDDDD In a lot of continuities, it is implied that he's with the Decepticons mainly or entirely for the sake of power and is self-aware that they're the bad guys (and I love him for that, really), so seeing that not only he has a moral compass here, but a really fucked up one too, is so cool!!!!! Dissecting his brain is going to be so much fun~ ₍₍⚞(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)⚟⁾⁾

Dang Optimus does have some sass in him. Successfully ragebaiting Starscream must've been so satisfying after what he did to the hospital. (Well, even if Starscream dodged the first shot, he still got hit by the 2nd one)

Wow they're not only bringing in the Constructicons, but also got them to form the Devastator on issue 5?