Transformers: Robots in Disguise #32 – Review

By: John Barber (writer), Andrew Griffith & Brendan Cahill (art), Josh Perez & Joana Lafuente (colors)

The Story: I come from the Cybernet Space Cube. Through systems, robots, and alt modes to this place: Earth. My format: kind of an asshole…

The Review: Things were looking bad for Optimus Prime and his Earth-based Autobots at the end of last issue, but it’s slowly becoming clear that this era of Transformers: Robots in Disguise is one of ideological warfare. Without Megatron to unite them, both Cybertronian factions have begun to squabble, using their newfound freedom to fight for their own personal version of their chosen cause.

Even if he hadn’t stated as such prior to the start of the arc, it would be painfully clear that writer John Barber holds a special place in his heart for Prowl, eclipsing even the prominent position he held in the title before “Dark Cybertron”. We know that he holds a special resentment for Spike Witwicky’s betrayal, that he’s still struggling with the disconnect from his peers that Bombshell’s manipulations instilled in him, and that Megatron’s defection severely upset his worldview – but, nonetheless, it’s hard to tell exactly what is driving him. Barber opens the issue with a scene that implies that such issues have weighed on Prowl for a long time, it seems like there must be a more recent trigger. The unraveling of “Cybertron’s greatest mind”, as he so humbly puts it, is a fascinating character study, but I’m ready to actually see some movement on this plotline.

As the second arc of this new wave of IDW Transformers comes to an end, it’s hard not to notice that the vast majority of RiD’s action since “Dark Cybertron” has just been Prowl toying with everyone. Excluding Prowl and, perhaps, two exceptions, I believe you could remove any one character from the rather large cast of this series and the majority of the plot would occur exactly the same way. The Autobots are completely subsumed into Prowl’s scheming. Thank goodness for Decepticons.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #31 – Review

By: John Barber (writer); Andrew Griffith, Guido Guidi, and Brendan Cahill (art); Josh Perez and Joana Lafuente (colors)

The Story: Welcome to the Second Terran-Cybertronian War, the conflict where everything’s made up and the sides don’t matter.

The Review: One thing that I believe was a big part of Transformers’ success and longevity was a side effect of their, quite literally, commercial origins: character. While all comics and television shows have to demonstrate some level of characterization, Transformers had a mandate to sell toys, not only Optimus Prime and Bumblebee but of all of the bots. As such there was a necessity to endear each of the characters to the children watching.

This month’s issue not only reaps the rewards of such a strategy but continues the trend. After a long period of silence, John Barber finally gives Jazz some time in the spotlight. This issue’s take on Jazz does a great job of combining the upbeat attitude and easygoing outlook that have traditionally defined the character with the angst he picked up during the Transformers ongoing series. Admittedly, Jazz’s inner monologue is much stronger towards the beginning of the book where attention is squarely on him, but his presence helps to focus the book and gives us someone to root for.

While Jazz, Prime’s free spirited lieutenant, brings a dose of character to the story, the plot still belongs to Prowl, Prime’s master planner. Even as Optimus begins to chafe against Prowl’s…shall we say hands on style, it’s becoming clear that the Autobot commander is not fully in control of his unit. There are some big surprises for those who love, or perhaps love to hate, Prowl this issue and what he’ll do with the revelation of Scavenger’s uncertain loyalties may be the least of them.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #30 – Review

By: John Barber (writer); Andrew Griffith, Casey W. Coller, and Brendan Cahill (art); Josh Perez & Joana Lafuente (colors)

The Story: “Galvatron! What is best in life?” “To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their Mini-Cons.”

The Review: Things are quickly heating up in this title. Transformers fans will no doubt be excited by the prospect of a Galvatron/Devastator throw-down and the issue delivers on that promise. Still, as exciting as a match between two of the most popular Decepticons sounds, John Barber is intent on moving things forward. The course that this story takes already moves the current status quo onto unsteady ground and, while I’m sure some readers would enjoy a little more time exploring the current state of things, it’s hard to deny that this lack of attachment creates an engaging maze of separate schemes and moving parts.

Somewhat unsurprisingly in light of the last few issues, Galvatron is a focus character. With this issue, Barber firmly nails down his version of Galvatron, a xenophobic old barbarian with his own code of honor. It still seems like a step down from the more stoic “Dark Cybertron” version, but it is interesting to see Galvs back up his claims that he’s not a Decepticon. Indeed, it appears that Galvatron has his own motives for aiding the Cons and no sympathy for, perhaps even some distain for, the Decepticon cause. The delicate balance between Soundwave’s reformationist optimism and his need for the clearly unstable Galvatron as a figurehead continues a long tradition of TF antagonists being among the most interesting elements of their series.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #29 – Review

By: John Barber (writer); Andrew Griffith, Guido Guidi, and Brendan Cahil (art); Josh Perez and Joana Lafuente (colors) The Story: “Prowl’s got it all planned out.”

The Review: Having left us with a shocking cliffhanger last month, John Barber steps back to provide some clarity on who the Autobot’s opposition is and how they came together before stepping back into the conflict at hand. The robot fighting is actually pretty limited this month but, say what you will about this issue, it’s full of character. Barber’s assurances that Prowl will  be a major character going forward are already coming true as we get a Prowl’s side of a story that, thus far, has taken the unspectacular position that he is a prick. It’s fascinating to hear him talk about his strained relationship with the recently deceased Bumblebee, but now that Optimus Prime has retaken command of the Autobots, I’m interested to see how a stronger willed commander will deal with Prowl’s “hero they need, not the one they deserve” shtick. Likewise, it’s great to see him interact with the Constructicons, who find their loyalty torn between Megatron and a bot who wishes him dead. Interestingly, this conundrum doesn’t seem to bother them terribly. What does it mean for the balance of power that Prowl has the beginnings of a small army, and a powerful one at that? Meanwhile a fascinatingly similar issue seems to be brewing within the Decepticon camp. Despite presumably having a hand in writing him during “Dark Cybertron,” Barber’s Galvatron seems different from the nostalgic old soldier we met there, himself somewhat different from the bot with a savior complex from “Chaos”, who was different from the calculating usurper of the Simon Furman days.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #28 – Review

 

By: John Barber (writer), Andrew Griffith (art), Josh Perez and Joana Lafuente (colors)

The Story: Optimus Prime returns to Earth to find his insistence that “Autobots wage their battles to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons” is not a good enough excuse, not to mention an increasingly hard one to make.

The Review: While it’s not the way that all interpretations have gone, I’ve always seen the Transformers as being something of an inherently progressive premise. After all, the basic conceit of the franchise is that this race of technologically advanced aliens have destroyed their planet through overuse of its natural resources and now must protect humanity from about as literal a representation of a military-industrial complex as you can get and prevent him from killing our planet as well. It may not be accurate to link those values to any one political party, but I think it’s safe to say that Transformers has always valued the consideration of how your actions affect others. Though these themes have been downplayed a little as the story shifted to a newly revitalized Cybertron, a return to Earth brings them back to the fore. As Prowl puts it, “”Cleaning up our messes” has always been a defining Cybertronian trait.”

Flashing back and forth between the immediate aftermath of “Dark Cybertron” and six months later, John Barber sets about detailing the series’ new status quo. The cast is very much different, with one protagonist dead and the other back on Cybertron things have to change for this title, but Barber’s work with Prowl, Jazz, and Orion Pax keeps it feeling like the same book. It’s too early to tell which characters will rise to prominence but it seems clear that Barber has plans for these three, debatably three of the five most prominent 1984 Autobots – Ironhide and Bumblebee being the missing two.

The rest of the cast is made up of slightly smaller names, 86 movie characters like Kup and Arcee, and comfortably middle-tier G1 Transformers, like Sky Lynx, Cosmos, and Jetfire. Interestingly, about half of the crew of the Ark-7 seem to be a separate unit under Prowl’s command. You can believe that that tension will bear some interesting fruit.

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: Robots in Disguise #26 – Review

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

The Story: Well That’s Just Prime or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Matrix.

The Review: As this issue opens, Iacon is infested with a death plague and Orion Pax finds himself at the mercy of Nova Prime. With only one-third of the crossover remaining, this would be a fine time for the climax to begin, or at least for things to finally start happening. Thankfully, that’s exactly what this issue provides, if not quite in the expected fashion.

This is probably the most exciting issue of “Dark Cybertron” so far, but it seems that no one told the writers. Though the content of the issue is a step above, the constant switching between settings feels more than a little artificial. Stepping away from the Orion/Nova showdown mid-punch is a strange choice, especially if it’s only to check in with Ultra Magnus. It also doesn’t help that the artists drawing the two halves of the book couldn’t be more different, but more on that later.

Barber and Roberts cushion the blow by having dialogue trail from one sequence into the next, however this technique is most effective when the dialogue comments on each scene differently and the issue is rather hit-and-miss in that regard.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #25 – Review

By: John Barber and James Roberts (writers); James Raiz, Atilio Rojo, and Livio Ramondelli (artists); Josh Perez and Livio Ramondelli (colors)

The Story: Spread across two universes, Bumblebee, Orion Pax, and Ultra Magnus all find themselves in the belly of the beast.

The Review: Things are looking pretty grim this issue; Orion Pax and Rodimus are captives of Nova Prime; the Lost Light and crew are beset by a horde of murderous mini-cons; Iacon is burning; Megatron has been bisected; and, perhaps worst of all, Shockwave informs us that “we are far from the endgame.”

Yes, even at this late stage, Shockwave still stands amidst his Crystal City headquarters twirling his metaphorical mustache, awaiting the beginning of his mysterious master plan. Luckily for the cyclopean Cybertronian, his scenes feature someone eager to steal the spotlight. Galvatron is a delight in this issue. His grumbling is simultaneously intimidating and humanizing and helps to highlight the line between the mostly Golden Age bots that are part of Shockwave’s conspiracy and the post-war factions who oppose them. The scenes in Crystal City are probably the issue’s most exciting and benefit from a cast that includes strong personalities like Megatron, Bumblebee, and Waspinator.

Atilio Rojo provides the art for the Cybertron sequences. His style has a clean, traditional Transformers look and seems well suited to some of the more dramatic compositions featured in the issue. That said, at times the bots don’t look quite mechanical enough, their slender forms resembling humans in armor a bit too much. This problem affects Galvatron far more than any of the others, but Starscream remains rather off model and the normally hunchbacked Jhiaxus is looking mighty generic. Despite these problems, Rojo does provide a number of lovely close-ups that not only avoid his misteps but are extremely expressive.

Transformers: Robots in Disguise #24 – Review

By: John Barber and James Roberts (writers), Robert Gill and Livio Ramondelli (art), Romulo Fajardo Jr. and Livio Ramondelli (colors)

The Story: Shockwave proves that you don’t need a face to smirk as Cyclonus makes a new friend.

The Review: “Dark Cybertron” has been full of interesting moments but, so far, it’s moved at a fairly leisured pace. Though the stakes are increasingly apocalyptic, there’s definitely been a sense of preparation rather than action.

With its fifth chapter, “Dark Cybertron” is finally beginning to pick up steam. Shockwave’s plans have been millions of years in the making but finally they begin to come to completion. The consummate master planner, it doesn’t bother the cycloptic Cybertronian one bit when a joined Autobot-Decepticon coalition bursts through his wall.

Though it’s hard to tell what’s occupying some of the bots, especially as Shockwave’s troops are handily outnumbered, the issue opens with a suitably impressive battle scene. The book focuses in on individual conflicts, allowing for good character work and solid storytelling. It even has Waspinator. The team dynamics are strong and familiar, even if I’m getting a little tired of Prowl complaining and Bubmblebee…well, bumbling. Shockwave gets the best of it though, absolute arrogance apparently being eminently logical.