Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #30 – Review

By: James Roberts (writer), Alex Milne (art), Joana Lafuente (colors)

The Story: “You’re out of order! You’re out of order! The whole trial’s out of order!”

The Review: As Megatron’s trial comes to an end, James Roberts takes the opportunity to make it something to remember. It’s pretty impressive when a Seacon invasion is the least interesting part of a trial!

Punctuated with cruel cliffhangers that are all rewarding enough to justify themselves, the flashbacks in MTMTE #30 will keep you on the edge of your seat. Megatron is a natural star and you’ll find it hard not to sympathize with Cybertron’s imperialist mass murderer. Far from the cowardly conqueror of the 1980s or the cackling madness of G1 Galvatron, Roberts writes an intense, Byronic Megatron. Tortured without seeming self-indulgent, Megatron’s inability to accept a failed life presents all kinds of fascinating ideas and propels the story forward, taking him from masterful manipulator to broken old warrior for justice and more in the span of half an issue.

Likewise, Roberts brings the best out of Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime. With a splash of humor and an appropriately straight face, each of the truckformers act as a voice of reason, even as their actions inspire a fist pump or two. Optimus is especially interesting. The mythic connection between Prime and Megatron is strong and you can feel Optimus, almost desperately, trying to nurture what he sees growing in Megatron’s spark.

While every scene in the book could probably be described as character-driven, Roberts really shows off how strongly he can structure an interaction. Exposition, character, and comedy are woven throughout the entire script and moments like Ratchet’s final line to Rodimus hit you like a punch to the gut.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #28 – Review

By: James Roberts (writer), Alex Milne (art), Josh Burcham (colors)

The Story: Megatron ended the war with a badge and fought it with a canon, but he started it with a pen. Only now does he look down at the story he’s written to find that it’s a tragedy.

The Review: Say what you will about IDW’s handling of the Transformers brand, but it’s been a while since you could honestly say that they’re getting stale. John Barber and James Roberts have done an impressive job of recombining the desperate elements of the classic franchise in new and fascinating ways. Two years of reconstruction and five months of “Dark Cybertron” and transformers is trying something new again. Last week Optimus Prime set off for Earth to find that the more things change the more things stay the same and before that, Transformers: Windblade showed us that the classic TF political reformation story need not be a series of grandiose battles but can thrive using simple effective character work. Both reintroduce classic elements of the mythos, but move in new and interesting directions.

In this new world that the it falls, most of all, to More Than Meets The Eye to keep the spirit of the past few years alive and the shared universe expanding.

Caught, like all of the Dawn of the Autobots issues, between “Dark Cybertron”’s fallout and the present day, MTMTE #28 returns us to the Lost Light and its group of rag-tag crusaders. The roster has changed slightly, but the ship’s character remains the same.

Transformers: Dark Cybertron Finale – Review

By: John Barber and James Roberts (writers), Phil Jimenez (layouts), Brendan Cahill (pencils), Brian Shearer (inks), Josh Perez (colors)

The Story: At the end of time all things are possible. Up is down, black is white, past and future are one and the same, and Megatron even finds himself indulging in “heroic nonsense.”

The Review: “Dark Cybertron”. What a long, strange event this turned out to be. I remember reaching the half-way point and thinking that this was only really exciting because it was supposed to be. This was the culmination of my IDW Transformers, in the late Furman days, and yet it dragged on. Could a story come back from an opening that sluggish?

With a smirk worthy of Starscream, himself, John Barber and James Roberts have answered, “yes.”

To quickly address the content of my opening paragraph, this issue does not redeem six, eight, ten issues of bided time, though it provides important context for much of it. Indeed this whole affair might have worked better without the branding, as this is less a finale for “Dark Cybertron” and more of one for the whole of IDW’s phase 2, possibly even one for the entirety of this universe so far.

There’s a lot going on this month but Barber and Roberts do an excellent job of keeping the action clear. Transformers; especially Transformers filled with Headmasters, comics-only characters, and other relatively obscure bots; can sometimes have trouble differentiating among their larger casts, but not only are all of the characters visually and narratively distinct, many of them are effectively reintroduced for new and confused readers – and not an infodump in sight!

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #27 – Review

By: John Barber & James Roberts (writers), Andrew Griffith (art), Josh Perez (colors)

The Story: Shockwave’s final gambit forces us beyond Autobots, beyond Decepticons, beyond Megatron’s wildest imagination.

The Review: It feels like forever since “Dark Cybertron” started, but as we close in on the end, things are starting to come together. With Shockwave’s gambit revealed last issue, things have gone from bad to worse. Not bad considering that we started with the return of Nemesis Prime and the extermination of the Cybertronian race.

RiD #27 opens with an extremely clever reveal that reminds us the kinds of great comics concepts that the Transformers brand can and often does play with. From there Barber and Roberts begin setting up their finale. The massive casts of both series come together for this clash and everyone has a part to play. It’s an impressive design, but at times it can feel like the issue slows down to accommodate the sheer number of bots involved.

That said, it’s not the big picture that’s important. While the book loses energy to focus on Soundwave or Metroplex’s individual locations, the character work remains extremely strong. Even minor characters like Dreadwing are full of life. And though the positioning could have been handled a little better, the matchups themselves are pretty great. It’s a little weird seeing Jhiaxus take a backseat to his former pupil, but his strategy suits him perfectly. We get to see our favorite Autobots, Decepticons, and even a beloved Predacon take on fan favorites like Shockwave and Bludgeon. Each one has their own sinister style and seems to promise a solid conclusion to one of the series’ major threads.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #26 – Review

by James Roberts, John Barber (Writers), James Raiz, Atilio Rojo, Livio Ramondelli (Artists), Josh Perez (Colorist)

The Story: Prowl begins to strategize how to fight back, while those in Metroplex try to find a way to help the others.

The Review: It’s never a good thing when a storyline, an event or a crossover slows things down. Whenever a title get stuck with a story that isn’t normally its own, it’s hard not to anticipate the return to normalcy, to the regular casts and problems that the writer has planned for them.

This is majorly how I feel with the Dark Cybertron crossover, which in itself is not a bad thing, as it is filled with plenty of characters I enjoy and ideas that are genuinely interesting. The problem, here, lies in many smaller ones that manage to slow things down, with the execution being in the way of some of these concepts.

What this issue does exceptionally right, though, is the characterization. Be it the growing dissatisfaction of Bumblebee over how people treat his decisions, Megatron and his strange vision of how he serves the Cybertronian, Prowl and his decisions or Starscream and his growing despair, there are several character arcs that come to a certain climax here, which is in itself a very satisfying progress.

Another aspect which is rather great is in how the tension and some of the situations are being set up wonderfully, with the Metroplex situation reaching a new step, the war against Shockwave getting farther and the rampage being even higher. The stakes are high, which bodes very well in term of actions for what might follow up next.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #23 – Review

By: John Barber & James Roberts (writers), Atilio Rojo & James Raiz (art), Josh Perez (colors)

The Story: Starscream gets a thumbs down from the Necrotitan as Ultra Magnus gets the universe’s most intense thumbs up from Metroplex.

The Review: Three issues into Dark Cybertron half of the notable Decepticon commanders through G1 history have shown up and many look to be siding against one another. In fact, the Autobots play a fairly limited role in this issue. Honestly, that’s the way I like my Transformers, but that twelve part timeline means we’re still firmly in this story’s rising action. Indeed, while the infighting within the Decepticon cause looks to be a large part of this event, right now we don’t get to see much of it. This issue spends most of its time moving pieces around the board, setting up for the arc’s second act.

Starscream is back in the spotlight this month, but he spends a lot of the issue reacting rather than acting. It’s fun to watch Screamer adapt to his circumstances, but it’s a shame to see him on the ropes so quickly when the premise of Starscream in power held so much potential.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #22 – Review

by James Roberts (Writer), James Raiz (Artist), Josh Burcham (Colorist)

The Story: ”Lost Light: The Movie” starring the crew of the Lost Light!

The Review: Humor isn’t the easiest thing to write. No matter how funny any creative team think they are, there’s a certain sense of timing and a pre-established knowledge of the humor material that is needed in order for anything to produce laughs. Some books may create a line or two that may cause chuckles or amusement, yet comedy that actually do make people laugh is actually pretty hard.

Well, it seems that James Roberts can very well proclaim that he can actually do comedy well, as this transition issue before the big crossover event is a fun and laugh-worthy entry to this series as the writer continues what he does great: characterization.

Simply put, Roberts let the character speak for themselves as the context of a sort-of documentary film allows for some kind of study in how most of the crew of the Lost Light are pretty dysfunctional. Close to every important characters from this series get to appear here, with some funny lines that adds to the whole experience. The jokes are not only a bonus here, as they are the key to what makes the issue works as they not only bring laughs, but characterization as well.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #20 – Review

James Roberts (Writer), Alex Milne, Brian Shearer (Artists), Josh Burcham (Colorist)

The Story: Chaos happen as Ratchet tries to save a dying Ambulon, Tyrest tries to enact his insane plan and Rodimus try to stop him.

The Review: This is how you do it. A bold statement to be sure, but one effective nonetheless as James Roberts shows how you can plant seed for future storylines as he connects multiple threads together, some from the very first issue of the series. Long-form storytelling is something that not every writer is able to pull off, yet it can be incredible when done well and James Roberts can be categorized as being able to do so wonderfully.

One of the best thing to come out in this issue would be the explanation for Skids, detailing just how he got in a ship with the binary gun in the second issue as everything is told from Getaway’s point-of-view. It explains close to everything about the character while adding up to the conflict at hand while doing what James Roberts does best: throw in new concepts that fit perfectly with the Transformers themselves.

That’s not the only point hat is brought forward, as the quest for the knights of Cybertron even goes forward a bit, connecting with the confrontation with Tyrest. This is one of those big issues, where the antagonist is up for a confrontation, where the stakes are high and everything move along at a brisk pace to make sure the importance of the situation is straight for the readers.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #18 – Review

By: James Roberts (Writer), Alex Milne, Brian Shearer (Artists), Josh Burcham (Colorist)

The Story: The crew of the Lost Light fight an invasion of seemingly single-minded robots that are out to take Skids while Rodimus and those that went with him in his exploration are waiting for justice.

The Review: I have to admit, I know close to nothing of the Transformers lore. It is kind of foolish of me to review a series such as this, one that relies on the knowledge of its readers to make sure they get most of everything out of each issue, yet my impulsive streak always gets the best of me.

Despite my confusion over some of its terminology and some of the events, James Roberts fills this book with so much energy, so much humor and with a colossal amount of innovation that I find it hard not to enjoy. Under his pen, we have seen love, religion, medicine, a caste system and politics adapted to this universe in ways that not only made sense, but were also incredibly fun to read, making this title one that the readers could easily invest their time into.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #17 – Review

By: James Roberts (Writer), Alex Milne (Artist), Josh Burcham (Colorist)

The Story: The crew of the Lost Light arrives on Luna-1 as they make several discoveries, while some weird robots arrive and want to take Skids.

The Review: If there’s something that always astound me when I read this title, it’s the fact that despite the huge number of characters that I have no knowledge about and the huge lore around those transforming robots, I always manage to understand close to everything. At least, I manage to understand the very important facts about what’s happening, along with the emotional impact it’s supposed to have.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 – Review

By: James Roberts (Writer), Agustin Padilla, Jose Aviles (Artists), Josh Burcham (Colorist)

The Story: People reacts in different ways to the fact that Overlord had been on the Lost Light as blames get pushed on someone. Meanwhile, Chromedome has to live with the fact that his most important person has just died.

The Review: I have no words.

Okay, that’s not entirely true, I have a good lot of things to say about this issue, but I feel like nothing I will say shall do justice to what I have just read. To say that this is an emotional issue would be underselling it. To say that the character work here is majestic would be just superfluous as it is something that I do believe should be experienced before anything else is said or written about it. With all the huge stuff that just happened in the last issues, with characters dying, being beaten to near death, with all the chaos just laid down on the cast and the book, we now see the fallout of all that.