Transformers: Windblade #1 – Review

By: Mairghread Scott (writer), Sarah Stone (art)

The Story: Typical, Starscream ran on a platform of bringing change, and yet he’s still a jet…

The Review: Despite a slow start “Dark Cybertron” came to a triumphant conclusion, one that leaves the Transformers universe in a particularly interesting place. That said the changes were centered around a few important characters. Unlike “The Death of Optimus Prime” very little was torn down by “Dark Cybertron” and instead we find ourselves in a period of building. As the Lost Light prepares for another voyage and Robots in Disguise prepares to return to a more traditional setting, what will become of Cybertron?

Thankfully, despite my worries and a bit of ambiguous dialogue, Transformers: Windblade #1 finds Starscream still in control of Cybertron. The series treads familiar but lively ground for the franchise, setting our titular heroine up as an idealistic civil servant within the hierarchy of a corrupt Cybertron – very much in the tradition of Orion Pax.

Although she fits a familiar archetype, Windblade is thankfully original. From the first panel Mairghread Scott sends a tidal wave of characterization crashing over the book’s pages. Windblade may not have been particularly well-defined during “Dark Cybertron” but after just one issue you’ll feel like you’ve known her forever. She’s an everyman without the neutral mask that normally plagues the concept. She’s optimistic, nervous, grounded, naïve, and eager to do something meaningful, all standard heroic traits but Scott combines them in such a way as to carve out an incredibly specific character for her. The result is endlessly charming.