Spotlight # 4
Written by Simon Furman
Pencils and Colors by Rob Ruffolo

SIXSHOT

Summary:

A massacre is taking place on the planet Ys’Devian- the natives are being attacked and utterly slaughtered by a single opponent; the Decepticon Sixshot.  Switching between his multiple alt-forms, he easily manages to lay waste to the entire planet’s civilization.  A stellar span later and Sixshot is back aboard a Decepticon space station, contemplating his existence.  He ruminates on how his entire purpose is destruction and when he’s not in combat, he is unable to adjust to the calm.  Most of his fellow Decepticons avoid him because they’ve witnessed his frightening power on the front lines and Sixshot feels a void in himself that he cannot fill anywhere else but on the battlefield.  His only “company”, as it were, is a group of fellow Decepticons that constantly attempt to match up to the level of destruction he leaves in his wake.  This group of five is dubbed the “Terrorcons” and has as of late, appeared to be missing.  Sixshot decides to find out what happened to them; he reasons to kill his boredom if nothing else.  He walks into the main control center of the space station and up to Squawkbox, who is manning a console.  Squawkbox is somewhat nervous around the Decepticon Six-Changer, but complies with the request to locate the Terrorcons.  The report has it that the quintet of Decepticons went to the planet Mumu-Obscura to pacify the locals and prepare the planet for conquest, but contact has since been lost with them and any further information-seeking missions have been repulsed.  Squawkbox adds that word is the planet must have fallen to the “Reapers”.  Upon hearing this, Sixshot gathers what raw data there is on these so-called “Reapers” and takes off in jet mode towards Mumu-Obscura.  Apparently they are considered cosmic “bogeymen” throughout the universe; dreaded beings who take no prisoners.  If that is indeed the case, Sixshot knows that the Terrorcons might already be dead.  As he reaches the planet and begins to head to its surface, he is immediately beset by incoming seeker missiles.  Sixshot simply flies straight through them, but then is met with floating, hidden sentry guns that de-cloak and fire upon him.  The Decepticon Six-Changer deftly maneuvers through the web of blasts and transforms to flying gun mode.  A single blast from him eliminates the sentry guns and Sixshot continues onward toward the planet’s surface, thinking to himself that he and the Reapers are apparently similar in the fact that they rigorously enforce their personal space.  When he finally gets close enough to see the planet’s surface, Sixshot finds the entire planet has been ravaged and contaminated; wholly and utterly ruined.  He realizes that the scant data that was compiled on the Reapers doesn’t do them justice.  He lands and converts to tank mode, surveying the surrounding wasteland.  Sixshot wonders how this level of destruction could possibly be warranted; Mumu-Obscura is of no use to anyone now, Decepticons or otherwise.  He converts to beast mode and begins scouting around, hoping to find some answers.  Even the atmosphere itself has been broken down and poisoned; the Reapers clearly do a thorough job.  Suddenly, Sixshot senses a presence behind him and whirls to behold the Reapers themselves.  They appear to be a collection of alien life forms, some Sixshot can recognize and some he can’t.  One thing is certain; they all exist to destroy!  The seeming leader of the fearsome group, identified as a “Deathbringer” bio-mech by Sixshot, welcomes the Decepticon to Mumu-Obscura, revealing that they had been waiting for him.  Sixshot isn’t interested in exchanging pleasantries and wants to know where the Terrorcons are.  The Deathbringer confirms that they still live, but the only way to get to them is going through the Reapers!  Sixshot is more than willing to oblige, transforming to robot mode and opening fire with his twin sonic barrage rifles.  One of the aliens, described as an unidentifiable, invertebrate life form by Sixshot (it looks like a jellyfish), creates a reflective barrier which repels the Decepticon’s blasts.  Not discouraged, Sixshot transforms to flying gun mode and shoots out the ground under the Reapers, causing them to scatter.  Sixshot decides the Deathbringer is the biggest threat, and goes after it first, knocking it to the ground with a blast.  The other Reapers quickly retaliate, hitting Sixshot with their combined powers.  Knowing that he’s outnumbered, Sixshot knows he has to do this quickly and by the numbers, and transforms to tank mode.  He blasts one of the unidentified Reapers, a short energy-based alien wearing a cloak, as a flying one that Sixshot recognizes as being of the species “Ravenous” swoops in and slashes at his exo-structure.  Sixshot manages to blast the flyer away before it can do more damage and turns his attention to two others; an unidentifiable battle-mech on tank-treads and a strange dragon-like creature.  These two Reapers unleash their firepower on Sixshot as he advances in tank mode.  The cloaked, energy-based Reaper raises its arms and the ground around Sixshot begins to break up, forcing him to convert to pistol mode and fly up and away.  Sixshot begins to realize that the Reapers are either toying with him or testing him.  Finally, they all cease their attacks and gather around the Deathbringer again.  There is a flash of blue light, and the somewhat confused Terrorcons appear nearby, having been held prisoner in another dimension by the Reapers.  Sixshot transforms to robot mode and lands, inquiring of the aliens as to what exactly they want.  The Deathbringer responds that they want the Decepticon Six-Changer to join them.  The Reapers were all very much like Sixshot at one time; bred for destruction and mayhem, with very little other purpose in life.  They wished to break the cycle of destruction, isolation, desperation, and finally madness that they all would all eventually succumb to, and so joined together in alliance.  Sixshot asks what they intend to do, and the Deathbringer tells him that their new purpose, instead of waging war, is to END it once and for all.  Sixshot points out that the way they go about it seems a bit flawed, as he surveys the ruined landscape of Mumu-Obscura.  The Deathbringer vehemently defends their actions, saying that they have granted mercy to this planet, as now there is nothing worth fighting over.  And so forth they shall do to all disputed worlds until they have ended war once and for all.  The Deathbringer offers Sixshot a place with them, saying that all he need do to prove himself worthy is eliminate his former comrades the Terrorcons himself.  The Terrorcons are obviously not happy with this, as Sixshot mulls it over.  Finally he turns to face them, as Hun-grrr and the other Terrorcons look apprehensive and plead with him.  Suddenly, Sixshot transforms to gun mode, jet mode, and tank mode in rapid succession, unleashing fire each time and causing a massive explosion.  When the dust clears, the Terrorcons are relieved to find that the Six-Changer merely shot the ground in front of them.  Sixshot transforms back to robot mode and lands with his chosen Decepticon comrades.  Knowing he’s made his decision, the Reapers abruptly turn and leave, as the Deathbringer promises that Sixshot WILL end up joining them one day.  As he watches them depart, Sixshot admits to himself that he can “feel a part of him go with them”.  For now, however, he decides to be satisfied with his present company and role in the Decepticon army.


Slagged!:

-Sixshot is the Decepticon’s one-bot army, able to lay waste to an entire planet by himself.  The issue opens with glimpses into his destructive campaign on Ys’Devian and how he took the whole planet by his lonesome.

-Sixshot takes on the six Reapers and manages to come out alive…although how seriously the Reapers were fighting is in question.  They apparently judged him worthy enough to join them, so that’s saying something.


Sightings:

-Sixshot displays most of his modes throughout the issue; robot, jet, tank, gun, and wolf-creature- well, I guess I should just say “beast mode”, unless there are alien wolves somewhere out there in the universe.  However, aside from an appearance on the Ruffolo cover, he never gets to using his armored car mode in the story.  C’mon, Furman, his name isn’t “Fiveshot”!  In gun mode he’s very much like Shockwave, being an over-sized, flying pistol.

-We get some cameos from Decepticons on the space station.  Spectro of the Reflector trio is the Con who runs by and sees Sixshot staring out the window.  There’s someone right behind him, I can’t tell who, although logic would say it’s one of the other Reflector components.  In the command station, we see from left to right, Ransack, Squawkbox, and Treadshot.  You can also see either Pounce or Wingspan in the background, but obviously, being Clones, you can’t really tell which one it is, as they are practically identical in robot mode.

-The Reapers are all original designs by Rob Ruffolo, but the “Deathbringer” actually has its roots in the original Marvel UK issues.  The Deathbringer in the Marvel comics was an alien that was transformed by the missing-at that point Creation Matrix and ended up coming to Earth, where it fought Optimus Prime and some other Autobots.  The Deathbringer here obviously takes some design cues from the original, particularly the face, which looks more or less the same.  Interestingly, it almost looks like Rob Ruffolo mixed some Unicron-influence into the new design as well, what with the curved horns and spiked wings.

-It’s unknown if the Terrorcons have “beast” alt-modes at this point, as they never transform and we don’t really get a good look at them.  And there’s unfortunately no way to tell what they transform into from this issue.


Hearings:

-Nothing of note, actually…except for the Deathbringer namedrop.


Wreck and RULE!:

-Rob Ruffolo has been pretty much universally panned by the Transformers fandom for the dismal artwork he showcased in Dreamwave’s Micromasters mini-series.  The announcement that he would be penciling this issue was NOT taken well.  However, much to my surprise, the art is decent- more than decent in some cases.  And the fact that he also handled the coloring and inking for this issue probably helped that quite a bit; he definitely knows how to make his own penciling stand out.  Now that he’s not forced to conform to Pat “Superstar Funana” Lee’s house style, Ruffolo shows he’s capable of producing fairly solid artwork.  Sure, there are a few rough spots and “float-y joints”, but nothing major.  His first rendering of the Reapers is particularly cool, although the layout could use some work; the tank-tread mech doesn’t over-lap too well with the Deathbringer’s wing.  And there are some awkward close-up panels, but all in all, a pleasant surprise and as long as he keeps this level of work up, I’ve got no major quarrels with Mr. Ruffolo penciling future Transformers issues.

-I like how Sixshot never can quite admit that the Terrorcons inspire feelings of camaraderie and maybe even friendship in him.  An interesting take on concept in the Decepticon ranks by Furman.

-The Reapers are an intriguing lot, an even more intriguing concept, and yet another set-up for a future story by Furman.  I certainly hope they appear again.


Wreck and ROT!:

-Well, I’ve already discussed the ups and downs of the art above, so I see no need to retread.  Ruffolo’s art isn’t by far the best, but it is fairly solid.  I can only hope he refines his skill even further over the rough spots.

-Furman’s story doesn’t quite strike dead center this time around, but I think that’s because Sixshot just isn’t that complex a character, no matter how deep Furman tries to make him.  Plus, we’ve already seen an unstoppable, world-threatening badass in this continuity thus far; Thunderwing, so Sixshot doesn’t quite impress like he should (Thunderwing can obviously destroy a world on his own as well, no favoritism there, it’s true!).  Plus, the whole shooting the ground in front of the Terrorcons thing just seemed confusing and unnecessary.  Wouldn’t a simple “no” have sufficed to the Reapers’ offer?  I guess Sixshot is just a self-assured show-off, which admittedly does fit the character.


Final Judgment:

A good showing for Rob Ruffolo, although I don’t think his art quite captured the “epic-ness” that Sixshot should command.  A generally solid script from Furman, although I don’t think he made Sixshot stand out enough either.  The theme of belonging somewhere seemed to be the main driving point of the story, and I guess it did hit home in that aspect.  The concept of the Reapers is a pretty intriguing idea, and of all the plot threads Furman has seeded so far, I hope he follows this one somewhere down the line.  I’m fairly intrigued also to see how Sixshot and Megatron interact, so I hope Sixshot gets sent to Earth soon.  In the end, I think people will mostly like this issue because of the popularity of the character, but honestly I think it was a weaker effort overall than the previous Spotlights.  Peace.