Beast Wars Issue 4

 

WARNING: This post contains spoilers for this issue of IDW's Beast Wars comic

Issue 3 was a pretty big turning point in this version of Beast Wars - depicting the inevitable defection of former Predacon Dinobot. Rather than him defecting due to the percieved incompetence of Megatron (as was the case in the initial series), here, tired with the lack of honour displayed by his comrades, Dinobot steps in to put a halt to their cruel torture of new character Nyx. Issue 4 is a much quieter in comparison, mostly dealing with the fallout of Dinobot's decision.

We begin the issue with Nyx, alone in the jungle after escaping from the Predacons. She's in pretty bad shape, and her weapons are offline. After nearly meeting a grizzly fate at the hands of one of the planet's native creatures, she is saved by Dinobot, who then proceeds on a journey to bring the Maximal back to her base so she can recover from her injuries.

As stated in the opening paragraph, this issue mostly deals with the aftermath of the events of Issue 3 with Nyx now stranded after fleeing the capture of the Predacons and Dinobot now effectively a traitor. This issue does a good job of showing this through the perspectives of Nyx and Dinobot as well as the Predacons, now trapped in their own base thanks to Dinobot.

The opening scene in the jungle does a good job of showing the toll the events of the previous issue have had on both Nyx and Dinobot. We open with Nyx attempting to get back to base, but thanks to the injuries sustained during the torture (as well as Tarantulas locking her weapons), she doesn't quite have the strength to fly in her animal mode, and she is unable to fend off a fearsome predator who encounters her. One thing I think is a cool character trait is that, in spite of the situation she appears to be in, Nyx is trying her best to stay positive and even makes light hearted comments about her situation such as saying 'this will make for a great story'. We even see her trying to fend off the predator with a makeshift club she's made out of a branch. 

The predator she encounters is an interesting one since it's a green cat with red spikes protruding from it's back. This is something that contrasts heavily from the other creatures we see as it's clearly more alien to the other creatures seen in Beast Wars which are all relatively based in reality. Without getting into spoilers (due to the fact we haven't reached that point in the retrospective of the show), this could mean that the prehistoric planet the characters have found themselves on could have different origins to what was depicted in the show.

The big character this issue, much like the last issue, is Dinobot. Here, he finds himself on the run after turning his back on the Predacons. He finds Nyx and saves her, and then rushes her back to the Maximal base once she gets completely incapacitated due to staying in her robot mode for too long. We end the issue with him bringing Nyx to the Maximals with the two parties meating on a chasm which looks identical to where Dinobot met the Maximals in the TV series. Of course, the Maximals are initially hostile, but we end the issue with Dinobot offering to join the Maximals. How they'll react to that is something we shall have to wait until next issue to see, but I do think it's interesting how this heavily differs from what was depicted in the show.

In the series, Dinobot's wish to join the Maximals was more out of a want to destroy Megatron. His initial wish was to command the Maximals after defeating Optimus Primal in a fight to the death. Here, this is not the case, as Dinobot is not after leadership - he just feels that the Predacons lack honour and fighting alongside them no longer sits right with him. Feeling that a war is on the horizon, Dinobot merely wishes to fight alongside the side which has honour.

We get a great scene before this with the Maximals explaining the relationship between the Maximals and the Predacons. Here Rhinox states that the two sides are at peace and maintain peaceful relations with each other to ensure that no one gets left behind. Cheetor is distressed when he picks up a Predacon signal that instantly deletes itself, and Rattrap expresses his distrust at all Predacons. This is great at establishing the character's views towards Predacons, hinting at how they might feel about one of them joining their ranks.

Speaking of the Predacons, they start the issue stuck inside their own base. Here we see that Tarantulas is arrogant as he brands himself as the 'greatest genius Cybertron has ever known' which is a neat character trait. They are all furious about Dinobot's betrayal, and after they escape their base, Megatron states they have a score to settle with their former ally, and all six Predacons head off after him.

While this issue is quieter than the previous one, it still manages to do an excellent job at pushing the story forward and setting the stage for what's coming next. As always, I'm excited to see where things are going to go from here.

Beast Wars Episode 13 - Dark Designs

 

So far, Rhinox is a character who has been more of a background presence in comparison to the rest of the Maximals. His main purpose has been to be a voice of reason when Optimus isn't around as well as being the most scientifically/technologically knowledged of the group - allowing him to both understand the strange planet they've landed on as well as construct devices that will aid them in their fight against the Predacons. He's also proven to be a major badass, as witnessed by his usage of duel chainguns in combat that allow him to obliterate Predacons. This episode brings the character to the forefront as he ends up becoming a Predacon.

During a hunt for Energon, the Maximals get ambushed by the Predacons. After Optimus Primal gets downed, Rhinox uses his duel chainguns in order to start a landslide that crushes the Predacons, allowing the Maximals to escape. This feat impresses Megatron, who feels he has underestimated Rhinox up until now, and tasks the Predacons with capturing him, with his plan being to turn him into one of them.

Much like Gorilla Warfare, this is an episode where the script feels more akin to something that could have been an episode of the 80's Transformers (featuring a similar 'one of the heroes goes through a personality shift' plotline), but what makes the episode so watchable are the hallmarks that elevate Beast Wars beyond your typical animated series made to sell plastic figures to children. Another aspect that makes this episode so fun is that we get to spend more time with the Predacons.

I really like this episode's opening scene - it's a fun battle sequence where Rhinox gets an opportunity to flex and show off the badass combatant side of his personality. It does a great job of establishing Rhinox and showing why Megatron views him as a potential good asset for his forces.

Rather than go and rescue Rhinox, Optimus decides that the Maximals should wait a while (even mimicing Megatron's habit of saying the word 'yes' in an elongated and exaggerated manner) before storming in. The reason for this is because the Predacons haven't realised that they've bit off more than they can chew by trying to convert Rhinox into a Predacon.

A large chunk of the episode is spent on the Predacon base, and we can clearly see why Optimus decided to hold fire, as Predacon Rhinox quickly proves that he's not one to take orders. Rather than being a soldier willing to fall in line, Rhinox instantly starts plotting to overthrow Megatron and take command of the Predacons. Rather than going all guns blazing, Rhinox initially does this covertly - sabotaging the Predacon's computer systems and taking out the Predacons one by one. This eventually gets observed by Terrorsaur, who we of course know has his own plans to overthrow the Predacons, so him and Rhinox agree to work together in order to achieve this goal.

The idea of Rhinox acting this way as a Predacon is an interesting concept. It would have been easy to make it so that Rhinox was a loyal Predacon, but that wouldn't have been as exciting. Having Evil Rhinox have his own agenda makes the episode feel more unpredictable and throws another spanner in the works. This detail gets explored a little bit more in Beast Wars' sequel series Beast Machines, but sadly it's execution isn't handled as well (but we'll get to that later).

One fun detail of this episode is Waspinator going through a personality shift after getting a knock on the head from Rhinox. This makes him believe that he is actually a Decepticon named Shrapnel. Black Arachnia refers to him as a Decepticon who fought in the 'Great War' - confirming that the Great War that Optimus referred to in the first episode was in fact the war between the Autobots and Decepticons that was depicted in the original Transformers cartoon. This is the first major link between the two shows, and as we get into the second season of the show, the series will become more and more intertwined with G1, something which helped the show win over the fans who were more cynical towards Beast Wars due to it's differences from the original show.

Megatron, being the meglomaniac that he is, isn't going to give up control easily, and realises that he got more than he bargained for in converting Rhinox into a villain, and ends up reversing the procedure since he knows that he has no chance of taking on Rhinox in a fight. This proves to be perfect timing, as the Maximals storm the Predacon base at this very moment in order to rescue their ally, leading to this episodes explosive climactic battle.

This is a fun episode that allows us to spend more time with the show's antagonists and allows a character who has primarily been a background presence to get a moment in the spotlight. It's also an episode that really begins to build the bridge between this show and it's predecessor and establishing the continuity between the two shows.

Next time: Megatron attempts to clone Dinobot in 'Double Dinobot'

Beast Wars Episode 12 - Victory

 

Dinobot is probably the most complex character in Beast Wars. This is down to the fact that he is effectively a Predacon fighting alongside the Maximals against his former comrades not because he believes in their cause, but because he wants to take down Megatron. Last week's episode saw Dinobot briefly grappling with his potential fate once they return to Cybertron, and this episode explores that more as he's faced with what to do in light of the Maximal's supposed victory in the Beast Wars.

At the start of the episode, The Maximals are monitoring the Predacon base through a spy camera they planted within the base when a sudden mutiny from Terrorsaur seemingly leads to the Predacons destruction. With their supposed victory in the Beast Wars at hand, the Maximals start to use components from the Predacon's ship to repair their own and prepare for their return to Cybertron. However, Dinobot is left to question what to do now that the fight is supposedly over.

This is a great episode which is more story and character driven than some of the other episodes we've seen this season. I like that the story doesn't feel the need to shoehorn in loads of action to keep the young audience invested. Sure, there is a battle at the climax of the episode, but most the episode is spent with the Maximals dealing with their apparent victory, and the central conflict for most the episode is Dinobot trying to figure out what to do next.

Last episode brought up the question of Dinobot's fate upon returning to Cybertron, and showed that he was reluctant to return due to him having to return as a prisoner as well as that he's reluctant to be referred to as a Maximal. This episode sees him struggling with this notion even further. Rattrap in particular also questions Dinobot's loyalty - feeling that now the Beast Wars are over, he will turn on them. Dinobot ends up deciding to stay on the planet, feeling it would be a preferable option to returning home as a prisoner. His departure with the Maximals is a great scene, showing that in spite of his clashing with them, he has a deep respect for them. 

Another really neat scene comes from Tigatron's first steps onto the Axalon. Seeing as Tigatron is used to being in the wild, he expresses how uneasy he feels being in a non organic environment. It's not a massive moment, but I thought it was a cool little scene that shows Tigatron's differences to the other Maximals.

Of course, the Predacons weren't really dead. It turns out this was a trick they pulled after discovering the Maximal's spy camera. With the Maximal ship up and running, their plan was to comandeer the ship and convert the floating stasis pods into Predacons. Thankfully Dinobot was able to discover this before the Predacons were able to put this plan into action.

While the Predacons don't succeed in this mission, they do end up preventing the Maximals from returning home as Megatron (after Rhinox gets to yet again show off how badass he is by flinging Megatron out of the ship)

plunges his claw into a control panel, sending the Axalon hurtling back to the planet. This is saved at the last minute by Optimus Prime emulating Superman and preventing the ship from plummeting on the surface of the planet (backed by music with a similar vibe to John Williams iconic Superman theme). This is a fun little homage started with the Maximals onboard saying 'Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Optimus!'. This kind of feels like something that wouldn't be out of place in Beast Wars' predecessor ReBoot which frequently had similar homages.

The important thing about this episode's final conflict is that the Maximals decide to go and help Dinobot rather than abandoning him to the cruel mercy of the Predacons. Optimus decides to go and help him, with Cheetor deciding to tag along, and Optimus ordering the ship to leave without them if they aren't back in time. This shows how loyal the Maximals are to Dinobot that they were willing to risk not getting back to Cybertron to save him.

With this episode and the previous one, you can really feel the show beginning to hit it's stride and begin to tell more compelling stories to match up with the already great direction and characters. While there may be a couple more bumps along the road, from this point the show is only going to go from strength to strength.

Next time: Rhinox gets reprogrammed as a Predacon in 'Dark Designs'