Beast Wars Issue #2

 

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THIS ISSUE

The first issue of IDW's new Beast Wars comics got things off to a great start - retelling the events of the show's new episode in order to get newcomers to this iteration of the Transformers franchise up to speed while also including new elements in order to prevent the whole thing feeling like a complete rehasing to those already familar with the conflict between the Maximals and Predacons. The first issue ended with the two factions crashing on an unfamiliar prehistoric planet, with the characters then taking on the forms of various animals. Following this set up, this second issue instantly begins to take the story in a different direction to the TV series that inspired it. 

The plot of this issue is primarily spent with our various characters investigating their new surroundings, allowing us more time to get to know these new versions of the characters. At the same time, a mysterious alien race observes from the distance - taking a keen interest in the planet's new settlers.

The first characters we get to spend time with this issue are Rhinox and Rattrap - and both characters feel exactly like their counterparts from the TV show. Rhinox begins by surveying the planet with the ship's scanners, and is bemused at to how various different ecosystems which shouldn't normally coexist with each other are able to coexist, and is equally confused about the presence of a floating mountain. This is perfectly in line with how he was in the TV series, where he was the most scientifically minded of the Maximals. He quickly loses patience when he notices that Rattrap isn't paying attention, and seems more interested in the juicy fruit that he's currently eating. 

One thing I thought was intriguing about this issue is the inclusion of The Vok. They aren't named in this issue, but they were the mysterious alien race who made occasional appearences throughout the Beast Wars TV series. Their agenda wasn't really explained as such in the TV series, and what they were after seemed to change every time they appeared. What's interesting is how we instantly see them talking to each other, and they express concern about how the Maximals and Predacons could disturb some kind of project they're working on. However, they are also intrigued about these new settlers, and claim they aren't above wiping out the entire planet if they cause too much of a disturbance. Like the TV series, there's a real sense of intrigue and mystery surrounded the Vok, and I'm interested to see how this is played out in future issues.

On the Predacon side, we get some interesting characterisation for Scorponok. As I've expressed when discussing the TV series, I've found him a bit of a one note character who doesn't really go beyond being Megatron's loyal second in command. Here, we learn that he's one of Iacon's top codebreakers, and we can see that he's impatient with regards to just waiting around on the base, and insists on Megatron providing him with orders.

We also get some moments with Dinobot and Tarantulas. Tarantulas seems to be more interested about some curious readings that he's uncovered than surveying the planet (possibly the Vok), which matches the TV series where he was the character who was the most interested in the Vok. This brings him into conlfict with Dinobot - possibly something which will lead to the character's inevitable defection to the Maximal side. Dinobot wants Tarantulas to focus on surveying the planet rather than whatever else he's investigating, but Tarantulas doesn't pay him any attention - reminding Dinobot that the Predacons only follow Megatron as long as their interests align. Another nice touch with regards to the Predacons is that we see that, much like in the TV series, Megatron is the proud owner of a rubber duck.

For me, however, the character who has really stolen my heart this issue is newcomer Nyx - the Maximal's pilot. I already thought she was a great character based on the time we spent with her in Issue 1, but this issue has made her my favourite character in the comic series thus far. She seems incredibly excited and enthusiastic about the situation she's in, and is ecstatic when Optimus asks her to test out her new bat form and survey the planet. We can also see that she's also willing to put other priorities first since, in spite of her enthusiasm, she knows the ship needs to be fixed and she really needs to stay on board to get the ship back in working order. 

She also gets a fun (albiet brief) chase sequence with Terrorsaur, who ambushes her. We can see from this sequence that, while she's in danger, she's not above making wisecracks as she taunts Terrorsaur for being unable to catch her. This of course provokes the Predacon into transforming back to robot mode, using his wrist cannons to down her, allowing him to take her back to the Predacon base.

This issue is a lot of fun, and does a good job of showing readers that this is not going to be a retelling of the TV series with a couple of new characters thrown in. I'm hooked on this version of the story, and I look forward to reading future issues to see where this story ends up going.