Transformers - Spotlight: Ramjet

The one significant legacy of the crossover with the Avengers (which I have not and will not be reading as those things are always a terrible waste of all concerned ) was that Ramjet was left on Earth and clearly not part of main writer Simon Furman's plans. Thus the crossover's writer Stuart Moore was basically given a Spotlight to write the guy back out.

The original Ramjet was probably the stupidest of the trio lamentably known as the Coneheads, best summed up by his name being not a reference to the crude engine design but his habit of trying to charge everything with his nosecone in either mode. Moore alloys this minuscule intelligence with a stratospheric ambition and the result is a joy. The page where Ramjet explains his insane, incomprehensible and utterly unfeasible "nonlinear" plan for universal domination and shows complete ignorance of his abilities and resources is worth the price of admission alone. 

And it's not alone, because this comic is hilarious. As in on purpose hilarious. There's the Mini-Constructicons, Ramjet's trio of jive talking minions who make fart jokes. There's Harrison, his barely literate facsimile helper. There's his boasting attempt to recruit an obviously contemptuous Skywarp - yep, even Skywarp thinks Ramjet is an idiot. 

Despite his misplaced arrogance and pettiness it's actually a bit hard not to feel a little sorry for Ramjet when his planning is cut short by Megatron turning up to - wordlessly and effortlessly - kill him. It's clear that Megatron knew his plans from the start and - due to one of the better uses of overlapping with the main storyline - seems to use crushing the ersatz traitor as physical therapy after his humiliation in Brasnya rather than because he actually considers him a threat.

The end result is a funny, clever take on the perennial idea of a Decepticon plotter trying to overthrow the leader, and one that actually adds to Megatron - imagine if he'd done this to Starscream at the end of Infiltration, though.

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