Dynamic duo Mairghread Scott and Sarah Stone are back with another Windblade story to thrill fans of the first female Transformer. This new mini-series, Windblade – Combiner Wars, uses plot elements from both the original Windblade storyline and the Transformers Combiners saga, so I don’t know if I’d recommend it for complete newcomers, but if you’ve wanted more stories of the airplane city speaker, you’ll want to jump in with the first installment.
In the final pages of Windblade’s original mini-series, a spacebridge activated between Cybertron and her home world, Caminus. Of course, this opens up a whole new set of issues for Bots on both planets. Starscream secretly hopes that Caminus will be a lucrative source of metal and fuel, but he doesn’t intend to get it in any legitimate way; he’d rather embrace his Decepticon roots and have someone steal it for him! Unfortunately for him, Caminus is neither defenseless nor loot-worthy, and Windblade may have to play a well-concealed hand to prevent a nasty, trans-planetary incident!
The Windblade in the first issue of Combiner Wars seems more mature and politically savvy than even the girl from the Windblade finale. It’s unclear whether she and Chromia have healed the rift yet, but the young city speaker isn’t holding an obvious grudge. I found a few of the early events in this volume confusing, because I don’t regularly follow Transformers, but the climax clarified the focus: a political story involving negotiations between several powerful Bots. The explanation about Camian religion especially fascinated me, because up until now, the differences between them and the Cybertronians were left vague. The concept of robots following a complex faith structure adds to the rich cultures in the Transformers universe and promises to play a major role as the plot progresses.
If you like artwork, this is the issue for you! Several variant covers will be available, plus six retailer specific exclusives. Sarah Stone gets to stretch her artistic abilities by including a multitude of characters, including a combiner, several fight sequences, and some of the most emotive Windblade panels done thus far. I continue to be amazed at Stone’s ability to make robots express feelings, and she does not disappoint here.
I enjoyed the original Windblade a little more than the first installment of Transformers: Windblade – Combiner Wars, but I’m intrigued by the mixture of religion and politics coming into play. Scott’s previous work has taught me not to try anticipating where she’s going, so I’m sure there are fascinating and potentially heartwrenching adventures in store as the saga plays out!
4 Explanations of the Flame within All Bots out of 5
