Review: Transformers: Titans Return by John Barber, James Roberts, Livio Ramondelli, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, 118 pages
Published 2017 (contents: 2016)
Acquired January 2018
Read February 2018

Transformers: Titans Return

Written by Mairghread Scott, James Roberts, and John Barber
Art by Livio Ramondelli and Priscilla Tramontano
Colors by Livio Ramondelli and Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long and Chris Mowry

In this volume, recent events in the title formerly known as Robots in Disguise have repercussions for the whole Transformers galaxy, as an ancient Prime returns, reanimating Titans with him. This is more of the kind of Transformers stuff I haven't really cared for: ancient cosmic evils, big robot fights, blah blah blah.

The events of Titans Return connect to all three Transformers ongoings (the subtitle-less Transformers, More than Meets the Eye, and Till All Are One), but it is structured differently than previous Transformers crossovers. While Dark Cybertron and Combiner Wars had a unified story that alternated between the two titles involved in the crossover, Titans Return has a kick-off issue that involves all three series, then a two-issue Transformers story, and then a two-issue More than Meets the Eye one. This is good, because it lets each series maintain its own unique identity.

Sentinel Prime starts out on Cybertron, fighting Ironhide's new police force seen in Till All Are One, Volume 1, as well as Windblade and Starscream. There's some Windblade-Starscream banter, and both Tankors turn up-- it's not much of a role for TAAO, but it does allow for some reflection on how far Cybertron has already come, as Sentinel Prime views with disgust the achievements that Windblade and company have made in reintegrating postwar Cybertron. It does get a bit too technobabbly. (Relative spark temperatures are a significant plot point, and I would contend that this should never be the case.)

I do kind of like that Sentinel Prime's alt-mode is a gigantic, bad-ass space train with cannons. I mean, why not?
from Transformers: Titans Return #1 (script by Mairghread Scott, James Roberts, & John Barber; art by Livio Ramondelli)

From there, Sentinel makes it to Earth, where the by-now normal John Barber tediousness happens. I enjoyed this guy's character driven writing at first, but since the move to Earth, it has almost disappeared. And geeze, if Garrison Blackrock and Marissa Faireborn never appeared in this comic again, I don't think I'd even notice. But now there are G.I. Joes for some reason?

I do like that Soundwave is now an ally to Optimus Prime, seeing in Optimus's leadership the best chance for the ideals that originally drew him to Decepticonism. But why has he started describing everything he does as an "Operation"?

When he sits on the toilet, does he say "OPERATION: DEFECATION" aloud to no one?
from Transformers vol. 2 #56 (script by John Barber, art by Livio Ramondelli)

The crossover contorts a little bit to get More than Meets the Eye involved, given that when we last saw the series, the main characters had been kicked off their own ship and the planet they were exiled to exploded. So we get a flashback to the Lost Light before the events of volume 10 that is just there to deliver some exposition (but in a funny way) and the main involvement of MtMtE is through some of its side characters no longer on the Lost Light, like Fortress Maximus and Red Alert-- Sentinel Prime runs from Earth to the planet where they're hanging out.

It does kind of throw me whenever Livio Ramondelli draws the Lost Light characters, since I associate him with the Cybertron-based ones so much.
from Transformers: Titans Return #1 (script by Mairghread Scott, James Roberts, & John Barber; art by Livio Ramondelli)

Prowl also turns up, but it turns out that my problem was never with Prowl, it was with John Barber writing Prowl, because in the context of MtMtE, Prowl is hilarious. Fortress Maximus kicks him as soon as he comes through the spacebridge; when Cerebros wants to know what Prowl did to make Fortress Maximus so made, it's very difficult for Prowl to remember:

I guess what this proves is that reading about an asshole is annoying, but reading about a funny asshole is always good.
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #56 (script by James Roberts, art by Priscilla Tramontano)

So I don't really care about Sentinel Prime and his plans, but it kind of feels like James Roberts doesn't either, because the story's best parts have nothing to do with that. Instead we get a meta-gag about how the weird conventions of comic book dialogue only make Red Alert paranoid, the story pays off contrivedly but hilariously a running gag about Prowl's propensity for flipping tables, and given that this is More than Meets the Eye's final issue, there's even a nice bit of reflection about endings themselves.

The callout about how you can't actually emphasize twelve sequential syllables is probably my favorite.
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #56 (script by James Roberts, art by Priscilla Tramontano)

The series formerly known as Robots in Disguise also ends in this volume, and for me that makes it a nice jumping-off point-- I don't think I'll be picking up any volumes of its relaunch as Optimus Prime unless they turn up for dirt-cheap in Humble Bundles-- but I loved More than Meets the Eye more than any ongoing comic I can remember, and I can't wait to dive into its sequel series, Lost Light. Everything ends, nothing ends.

And that's a wrap.
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #57 (script by James Roberts, art by Priscilla Tramontano)

Next Week: Meanwhile, across the entire universe... it is a time for Revolution!