“This will help me save billions on my electric bill!”
Transformers: The War Within – The Dark Ages #6
FINAL ISSUE
Dreamwave (April, 2004)
WRITER: Simon Furman PENCILER: Andrew Wildman INKERS: Erik Sander & Rob Ruffolo COLORIST: Alan Wang LETTERER: Ben Lee
As the Fallen uses the four unique sparks–Grimlock, Jetfire, Blitzwing, and Hot Spot–open the seal of Primus, Grimlock bashes his way out (because Simon Furman’s Grimlock can solve anything by punching it) but Jetfire, despite not being into the metaphysical, knows something primal is going on. He is able to contact the Autobots and have them use a force field to cause a feedback, destroying the Fallen and ending the spell. Meanwhile, the Decepticons and the Lightning Strike Coalition take out his flunkies (so much for making Headmaster and Pretender, but I wouldn’t put it past Furman trying to squash those gimmicks like he attempted in the IDW TFU) and everyone, Autobot and Decepticon, decide to seal off the Well, at least until they know exactly what it is.
Okay, this miniseries isn’t the worst thing I’ve read, and it sets up the more metaphysical parts of Dreamwave’s TFU that we’ll see way later on. I can’t bring myself to hate it, but there are big parts of it I don’t like. Grimlock saves everyone by proving he’s strongest one there is, fine. (I want to see Grimlock versus the Hulk…if Furman wrote it the fight wouldn’t last long before Grimlock wins. Also the grammar error on display would make most English teachers wince in pain.) The Fallen is overpowered but at least the method of destroying him worked in kind. It does set up a mystery that will be followed up later (although not completely since the company folded) but nothing about this story outside of all the subfactions needed to be done without Optimus and Megatron, Dreamwave edict being the reason why it even happened. It is nice to see Wildman not draw Transformers as if they were people in costumes, though.
I don’t know how much of the universe was thought up before they started making the series so I don’t know if Brad Mick and Adam Patyk, who wrote some of my favorite Dreamwave Transformers comics, had any influence on this story or built off of it to create their own look at the more mystical side of Transformers I never really care for, but it worked better with them. Maybe it’s my bias against Furman or something, but nothing about this story really felt it needed to be told. Next week we start the unfinished third installment of The War Within but only get this one if you really want to see the original Fallen and follow the history of the mystical part of Dreamwave’s TFU that will come up later.
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