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: 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 #21 – Review

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

The Story: Tyrest gets what he deserves, secrets are revealed and the fate of Tailgate and the rest of the Lost Light is shown.

The Review: People who read the MTMTE reviews I write can usually see me showering this title with many positive comments, praising it’s ingenuity and what it accomplishes. Skeptics might see it as merely as a way to sell them on a book that perhaps only a few might really enjoy, yet this series has been a real joy to read and discover from start to finish. As James Roberts closes up many of its plot threads and give a certain amount of conclusion to the development of several characters, this issue shows exactly why this title has been a shining exemplar of long-form storytelling.

While this issue clearly isn’t exactly a fine example of being reader-friendly, Roberts manage to direct his characters and conflicts from point A to B without breaking the pacing or the narrative flow of his issue, which is remarkable considering the high number of them he had in play. Pharma’s fate, Tyrest and his desire to kill to those who were constructed cold, Skids and his identity problems, Tailgate and his cybercrosis, everything gets resolved as Roberts also manage to surprise the readers by showering the readers a lot of various elements.

However, not all of these elements are equally interesting, as the character of Cyclonus, Rodimus, Tailgate and another one who I shall not reveal really do steal the spotlight. While the other elements are nonetheless captivating, there are many character defining moments attributed to them that really makes them the more fascinating aspects of this month’s issue. The amount of humanity that those characters possess is nothing short of astounding, as Tailgate gets even closer to death by cybercrosis, with Cyclonus being the unfortunate one that has to see his close friend nearing his demise.* There is something in how each character reach a certain step in their evolution in this issue that shows that the seed planted in the 20 previous issues have bloomed, resulting in something quite satisfying for long-time readers.

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 #19 – Review

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

The Story: Ratchet prepares for a confrontation with Pharma, Whirl and Cyclonus gets ready to get their companions out of jail and we get the whole story behind Ultra Magnus.

The Review: James Roberts is a master.

There, that’s the review. Go buy the issue now.

…

Of course, that would make for a rather boring review, yet this first statement, made in a humorous manner, still stands as the truth when talking about the quality of this comic. With so many comics nowadays being decompressed, being unable to truly flesh out their ideas or with too many characters that aren’t allowed to be brought in interesting directions, there are comics like MTMTE here that proves that comics that defies expectation on a monthly basis does still exists.

How Roberts seem to manage such a feat seems rather simple, yet it’s how effectively he does such a thing that is remarkable: by juggling with a whole variety of plots attached to a whole plethora of characters that keeps on going. In this issue, we see more about Ultra Magnus and his history with the Tyrest accord, the tension between Cyclonus and Whirl, the mystery behind Skids, the antagonism behind Ratchet and Pharma as well as some more of the great development and explanation of the Transformers lore that James Roberts is able to provide. While it seems like a lot of plot to juggle with, the writer is able to give enough panel time and development to each of them in order to provide setups, surprise, action and all that we may need in order to enjoy them in a seamless manner. None of these plots or subplots feel forced or rushed in any way, which gives us a lot to read and enjoy.

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.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eyes #15 – Review

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

The Story: Overlord is free to be the psychopath he has always been on the Lost Light. Hilarity and carnage ensues.

The Review: James Roberts does not pull any punches, does he? Just when he made me like and care about all those transforming robots, he goes ahead and do things like this. He unleash the big bad right in their midst and let us see the chaos and violence that soon follows. If this sounds like the beginning of a rant, I do apologize, as it is the very opposite of such a concept that I am trying to bring here.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eyes #14 – Review

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

The Story: Chromedome investigates the whole memory of Overlord as he tries to understand some things about the psychopathic ex-Decepticon.

The Review: This is a tough one to grade and to properly review. For a very simple reason, some people will probably enjoy this issue a lot more than others and it is due to a single thing: whether or not you have read Last Stand Of The Wreckers or not. It is a splendid miniseries that showed for the first time what kind of wonder James Roberts could do with the Transformers universe, but if you haven’t read it before picking up this issue, you’ll get a lot less from this issue.

The main reason for that is due to Overlord, the big bad of said miniseries being the very focus of this issue alongside Chromedome, a regular member from the cast of this book. Overlord, an actually very interesting villain in his own right, works much better in this context if you really know who he is. While they make quite a lot of efforts to provide the necessary background here for other people to follow just what kind of person he is, it is just much more efficient if you have read the mini in question; doubling the impact of everything he does and says.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #13 – Review

By: James Roberts (Writer) Guido Giudi (Artist), Josh Burcham, Joana Lafuente (Colorists)

The Story: Some members of the Lost Light take a shore leave on Hedonia, wishing to relax in a bar.

The Review: Sometimes, a series need to take a little break once in a while, stopping the constant plot twists and huge action to deliver a small tale, something a bit mundane that focus more on the various characters and their relations. It can be humorous or analytic, yet those chapters are usually here to give a break to the readers or the usual artist of the series.

This issue is one of those and it unfortunately does not deliver the same complexity and creativity that the previous issues did, breaking the streak that had been set on this quality series by giving us a so-and-so issue. Here, James Roberts tries to give us a funny tale of some of the crew member going to a bar on a planet called Hedonia, where Swerve and some of the other cast members tries to make Ultra Magnus, the resident rule-freak, relax a little bit. Some scenes here are actually quite funny, but most of them seems a little bit forced and hinder on the whole thing, mainly for one reason: Swerve. As the loud-mouthed and funny character, Swerve is better in small doses, giving him a line here and there to add some humor to some otherwise dark or tense movements. Giving him a whole issue is a bit much, as his charms wanders off after a while, making him a little bit annoying as a result.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eyes #12 – Review

By: James Roberts (writer), Alex Milne, Brendan Cahill (artists), Josh Burcham (colorist)

The Story: The crew of the Lost Light fights against a bunch of Decepticons and deals with the aftermath.

The Review: I have a strange history with the Transformers franchise. I never actually watched the show and never had any nostalgia toward any of the concepts or any of the characters. I watched Beast Wars on the television sometimes, but that was pretty much it. I’d even say that ever since I’ve seen the first two Michael Bay movies, I have every reason to hate Transformers with a passion. Yet, there seemed to be a buzz about a particular title that was almost made for skeptics like me, a book called Transformers: More Than Meets The Eyes (or MTMTE for short).

Reading the trades and several issues, I was rewarded with actual depths to a whole universe and concept that I thought was actually quite stupid–which can also be found in this issue as well. It seems that James Roberts knew very well that a lot of people dismissed the whole franchise as something dumb and without any complexity. Now there is an history full of societal structures, ancient prejudices and political struggles, which makes the whole wars between the Autobots and Decepticons factions so much more fascinating to me.

Maximum Dinobots #1 – Review

By Simon Furman (writer) Nick Roche (pencils) Josh Burcham (colors) Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: Unsure who to trust, and trapped on Earth and on the run from the Autobots, Decepticons, and Scorponok, Grimlock is the last free Dinobot. To clear his name and rescue his fellow Dinobots, he’ll need to fight to uncover the truth behind Epsilon Holding’s CEO, who holds a secret that may enslave all the Transformers in the galaxy.

What’s Good: Grimlock. You can’t go wrong with the big guy. I really like the loner personality he’s developed over the years. I doubt a standalone series would hold up too long, but there’s some room to work a few one-shots I think. The IDW art style rarely disappoints. The battles are chaotic but clear, especially the flashback of Cybertron. I’m not sure how effective it is outside of Transformers titles, but here the exquisite details really get to shine.

What’s Not So Good: As good as the writing is, it’s difficult to determine where this story falls in the overall Transformers continuum. We have Scorponok, Headmasters, and enslaved Dinobots. There’s no real explanation or setup, which is what makes me think it’s part of the larger IDW story. But Maximum Dinobots implied a separate story to me. We’re also left with a lot of questions. How did this company capture the Dinobots? How did Grimlock escape? Why can’t they go to the other Autobots for help? The story centers on these events and none of those questions are answered in this book.

Conclusion: I’ve always thought of the Dinobots as Autobot SWAT. Not so much the weapons or tactics portion, more the taking on dirty jobs with an ends justifying the means feel. That said, other than Grimlock the Dinobots are barely in the book. I’m sure that will change, but so far it’s “Maximum Grimlock.”  The book makes a lot of assumptions about the reader’s working knowledge of the story, and you know what happens when you assume. Despite an unclear continuity, the book makes for a fun read. Be patient though, I feel like answers are coming in due time.

Grade: B-

– Ben Berger

Transformers Spotlight: Optimus Prime 3D – Review

Simon Furman (writer), Don Figueroa (pencils), Josh Burcham (colors), Hoon (cover), Chris Mowry (letters)

The Story: “Heavy is the head that wears the crown” would be a good analysis of this story thematically. After a near-death experience while fighting Megatron, Optimus Prime senses something he knows to be impossible, the consciousness of another Prime. After seeking the council of Omega Supreme, Prime discovers the identity of the other is Nova Prime. The pressures of leadership were too much for Nova, and before Prime can get the answers he seeks, Omega is attacked by Monstructor, a failed experiment of Nova Prime. Looks like the legacy of Prime’s is not as immaculate as Optimus would have hoped.

What’s Good: Prime’s dialogue is fantastic. There’s an added weight and realism that never existed in the cartoon. Each battle isn’t a half-hour adventure, it’s war– with casualties. Every choice he makes could be his last in the campaign against Megatron and we as the audience get to feel that. His resolve was already at its limits, to the point where it seemed like the linage of Prime’s was all that kept him going. Without getting heavy-handed or emo, Simon Furman beautifully depicts his heartbreak when he discovers the truth about Nova Prime’s experiments.

What’s Not So Good: Being 3D is this book’s biggest problem. The art has the same excellent level of detail that we’ve come to expect from IDW, but the addition of 3D washes out the colors and makes everything look blurry. Even worse is the fact that most of the images still look flat with the glasses on. The glasses themselves are another problem. They’re tiny and clearly designed for kids, but IDW had to know that some of the older fans would want to pick this up. The glasses are also really flimsy. Once you pull everything out of the perforated page, you’ve gotta put the glasses together which only damages them further. It’s a nice idea, but one that misses the mark across the board.

Conclusion: While the idea of a 3D comic sounds great, this is clearly an attempt to snatch a few extra bucks. They reprint a decent story, and charge an extra three bucks for crappy glasses that won’t make it through a single read? No thanks. If you can find it, get the original run of this comic because six bucks is just way too much for this.

Grade: C-

-Ben Berger