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 Dark Cybertron #1 – Review

by John Barber, James Roberts (Writers), Phil Jimenez, Andrew Griffith, Brendan Cahill (Artists), Josh Perez, J.P. Bove (Colorists)

The Story: Something huge is looming on Cybertron as many of the players wonders just what it is. Meanwhile, Orion Pax meet with the crew of the lost light.

The Review: After close to two years of pretty great storytelling, it’s finally time for the promised crossover to happen. Combining the cast of Robots in Disguise along with More Than Meets The Eye, this story itself had been built up in both titles (though RiD did most of the job) as characters like Orion Pax and Shockwave kept on teasing about something rather ominous coming. However, does this opening issue live up to the potential and the greatness of both titles?

It does, but not on the very same level of excellence that the other IDW Transformers comic reach. There are interesting elements and the comic does provide plenty of reasons to be rather excited for this gigantic tale that will be there for five months, yet it does take its time to get there.