Comic Quick Look – Transformers: Robots In Disguise #20

Yeah, I know this book came out last week.  Wizard World kept me busy.

“Three Monologues” is a great character study by John Barber into the psyche of Starscream, and more specifically, Starscream as leader.  What he had wanted for millennia has finally come to pass, and he’s the leader of Iacon.  What he didn’t realize is how hard it would be to get the civilians on his side.

This issue is interesting, though, is that we learn about Starscream not through his own words. No, this is a character study based on his actions and other character’s reactions to them.  Iacon is plagued by power outages, and on the surface, this comic is how Starscream is trying to be seen as the hero-of-the-hour by turning the power back on, when really, it appears that Scoop and the Construction Patrol are doing all the good work.

But is that truly the case?  A newly-arrived Rattrap has done some digging, and it might just be sabotage that is causing the outtages, not overloads.  Barber plants the seeds for a mystery, although the answer is revealed by the end of the issue.  That’s the point, though — it’s not the mystery that’s the story.  It’s about the players — Starscream, Scoop, Rattrap, Dirge, Blurr, the civilians.  It’s not about fixing the power; it’s about who holds the power in the government.

And leave it to Barber to give us a cliffhanger that makes us want more.