Comic Review: Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #1

Image courtesy IDWPublishing.com

The Geek Bits
Title: Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
Issue #: 1
Title: Liars, A to D — Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It
Price: $3.99 US
Release Date: January 11, 2012
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Written by: James Roberts
Art by: Nick Roche
Color by: Josh Burcham
Letters by: Shawn Lee
Editor: John Barber
Worth the price? Emphatically YES. Not only is it a great starting point for new readers, it’s a hell of a good issue.

“Spiralling out of the literally world-changing events of the “Chaos” storyline, Transformers: More than Meets the Eye (hereafter referred to as MTMTE) is the first issue in a brand new storyline that will change the Transformers forever!”

As far as I know, that line never was used as hype for this issue, but it sure sounds like it could have been. But here’s the wacky thing.

It’s true.

The Synopsis

“Chaos” left Cybertron in a primordial state, teeming with Transformers who allied themselves with neither Autobot nor Decepticon. Rodimus feels cramped on his new old homeworld and decides to head off to Cyberutopia, home of ancestors who left the planet. These original voyagers faded into the legend called the Knights of Cybertron, and Rodimus says that they are real and can be found.

Rodimus’ words drive a schism between the Autobots. Many doubt him, Prowl and Bumblebee included. Many believe him, including Ultra Magnus. And Ratchet feels himself as too old to live on Cybertron anymore and decides to head off with Rodimus and company.

While all this is going on, Cyclonus thinks he’s found Scourge, but instead finds Whirl who has been desecrating the corpses of the Sweeps. Cyclonus isn’t in a mood to fight, but Whirl is, and the end up fighting all the way to the surface, where he is found by the leaving Autobots… and then injured by Tailgate.

Oh, Tailgate. Poor Tailgate. Got stuck in the catacombs, legs blown off, trying to make your way to the Ark. Too bad it took you six million years to get to the surface. Good thing Ratchet takes you and Whirl aboard.

So when all is said and done, Rodimus has 200 Autobots on his side. They leave, and then everything goes to hell as the Lost Light quantum jumps prematurely, the hull is breached, forty ‘bots start burning up as they re-enter the planet that the ship has just landed on. The Autobots are lost, some presumed dead — it’s not a good start.

And then, back on Cybertron, we hear a message supposedly from the future, warning Prowl to warn Rodimus certain things, or else it’s bad news for Cybertronians.

To Be Continued

Whew! That’s one heck of a lot of story to put into 20 some pages. My synopsis is a bit rambling, but it’s hard to summarize these separate yet converging stories.

The Good

The writing is fantastic.  Although the “going on a quest” storyline has been used countless times before in many genres (and even Marvel’s Transformers comics), this story feels fresh and new. It feels like an epic that Simon Furman would have written in the early 1990’s, and it’s fantastic! MTMTE is not the same-old, same-old Transformers story, and for the first time in a long time, I’m extremely excited about where this story is headed. Kudos to you, John Roberts.

Fan favorite Nick Roche handles the art duties. I loved his work on Transformers Spotlight: Kup, but I must admit, this issue seems like a huge experiment. His art is more cartoony than I remember it being, and I’m sure that a lot of people will not like it. I do find some of his art strangely Geoff Senior-esque with the line weight and detail. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not consistent.

The Bad

There’s really not a “bad” to this comic.  Yeah, the art is different than what we’ve seen before, but it’s not horrible.  Inconsistent, but definitely not a murky muddled mess that we’ve had before.

The Final Rewind

BUY THIS BOOK. Don’t let the art style turn you off. The story is solid and worth the read. If you’ve stayed away from Transformers comics, jump on board now.  The rocket is leaving the planet, and you want to be on board.