Review: Transformers: Unicron by John Barber, Alex Milne, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Andrew Griffith, Kei Zama, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n. pag.
Published 2019 (contents: 2018)
Acquired and read April 2019

Transformers: Unicron

Written by John Barber, with Chris Ryall, David Rodriguez, Brandon Easton, Christos Gage, Magdalene Visaggio
Art by Alex Milne
Additional Art by Sara Pitre-Durocher, Andrew Griffith, Kei Zama, David Messina, Nelson Dániel, Juan Samu, Paolo Villanelli, Fico Ossio
Colors by Sebastian Cheng, David Garcia Cruz
Additional Colors by Joana Lafuente, Alessandra Alexakis, Mattia Iacono
Letters by Tom B. Long, with Curtis Fandango

Though I gave up on John Barber's take on Transformers a couple years ago now, I still had some curiosity about how it would all end, and so I dutifully picked up Unicron, which ties up the IDW continuity that began all the way back in Infiltration-- three-and-a-half years of reading for me, and thirteen years of storytelling for them.

I don't know why Rung of all people would be at the center of Optimus's memories of the fallen, but hey, I love Rung, so I'll take it.
from Transformers: Unicron #6 (script by John Barber, art by Alex Milne)

Anyway, it's about as bad as all post-Dark Cybertron John Barber Transformers comics have been. Too many characters I don't care about, too much ancient Transformer mythology, too many banal human beings, too many shoehorned-in other Hasbro properties, too much indecisive Optimus, too many characters reverting again and again. Why did Starscream undo his progress from Till All Are One? Why am I reading about yet another millennia-long Shockwave masterplan? Didn't the jokes about Thundercracker writing screenplays wear thin years ago?

Why yet another story where Prowl is a jerk and this backfires?
from Transformers: Unicron #5 (script by John Barber, art by Alex Milne)

I guess the biggest point of frustration for me is the title character itself. Say what you will about the 1980s Transformers film, but Unicron is awesome in the original sense of the word. Its coming feels ominous and significant and unstoppable; it is the doom of a universe. Where and why does it come from? Irrelevant. It hungers, and it will have you. Here, though, Unicron never dominates. Neither the writing nor the art give it the immensity it deserves, it always feels squeezed in, instead of dominating. And then to give it an origin story that ties into one of the mediocre Hasbro properties! Visionaries, I think? I've already forgotten. This diminishes Unicron and thus the whole story.

I usually like Alex Milne, but his Unicron just feels really unimpressive. Ooh, it's sucking up some rocks.
from Transformers: Unicron #0 (script by John Barber, art by Alex Milne)

The IDW Transformers universe had a strong start in Infiltration, and despite missteps such as All Hail Megatron, went some very interesting, unprecedented places once the war ended. But John Barber, the same architect of those innovations slowly dismantled them after Dark Cybertron and then piled on the mistakes with the Hasbro comics shared universe-- necessitating the destruction of the entire continuity, because there was no other way to reset things to the way they'd been. But that destruction turned out to be as banal and uninteresting as the writing that made it necessary to begin with.

Next Week: Meanwhile, in another universal stream... the Fall of Cybertron!

Review: Transformers: Lost Light: The Scavengers In: MacGuffin Quest! by James Roberts, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Brendan Cahill, et al.

Lost Light is back! Well, it never went away in the world, but it did go away from my reading habits; when I hit issue #12, I decided to save the remaining issues for the point where I could read one per day and end with #25, the final issue, on the day it came out. This didn't quite work out, though, because #25 was delayed repeatedly, but I came pretty close. Issues #13-18 make up the third trade paperback, but those six issues contain three stories, so I'll be doing the first half of that set this week, and the second half next week.

After The Plotters' Club showed us what was happening on the Lost Light, "Sardines" brings its attention back to "Team Rodimus." Rodimus and company are chasing down Getaway and the Lost Light, using the corpse of a Decepticon who transforms into a spaceship, which they've enlarged via mass displacement. Only, the effects of that are starting to wear off, and it's not a very big space considering it contains Velocity, Anode, Lug, Swerve, Chromedome, Rewind, Nautica, Brainstorm, Ratchet, Drift, Ten, Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus, Nightbeat, Whirl, and Rung. Wow!

It's a fun story. It's been a while since we've seen the whole Lost Light main cast, and this is a fun return to them, as everyone gets their little moments, funny or tragic or both. Velocity helps Swerve with a prank; Anode and Lug try to outprank the prankster; Ultra Magnus reveals that he thinks utopia will be full of paperwork; Cyclonus wonders if he made a mistake leaving Tailgate behind; Swerve is discovered to have a bomb that counts down with each word he says; Whirl shows some psychological insight; and Rung stays out of the way. There are some good jokes, and the whole thing builds to a climax of chaos and an amazing final panel. We're clearly moving into the endgame of Lost Light, and I look forward to seeing how it all wraps up.

MacGuffin Quest! returns us to the Scavengers, the team of Decepticons who have periodically been focal characters. I never can remember which is which, but I still delight in their adventures, a bunch of losers who just want to stay out of the way, but can't. Here, they get caught up in the plot of Scorponok and the Grand Architect to make use of an ancient Cybertronian artifact, the Magnificence.

Though I got a little lost (not sure why the Decepticon Justice Division backstory was needed), I enjoyed it. It's especially nice to see what happens between Grimlock, the deranged Autobot the Scavengers have been toting around, and the rest of the team. It's also nice to see the Scavengers affirm their own unity-- they were pretty dysfunctional when introduced. Here, though, Scorponok offers them a place in his new Decepticon order, and there's a great bit where they're not even tempted by it:

"Scorponok. Mate. It's like this..."
"If there's one thing we learned over the last few years, it's that--"
"We've glad the war's over."
"Yeah, the war sucked."
"Don't get us wrong, being a Decepticon's great... so long as you don't have to fight anyone."
"Hm. If I'm honest, I thought I'd crafted more of a dilemma. Oh well..."

They save the galaxy through their insistence on still being losers-- and are rewarded for their efforts with another great cliffhanger. If this was their final end, it would be a fitting one, but I already know it's not...

Next Week: Meanwhile, on Mederi... the Lost Light crew hear some Everlasting Voices!

"Sardines" originally appeared in issue #13 of Transformers: Lost Light (Dec. 2017). The story was written by James Roberts, illustrated by Alex Milne, colored by Joana Lafuente, lettered by Tom B. Long, and edited by David Mariotte with Carlos Guzman.

The Scavengers In: MacGuffin Quest! originally appeared in issues #14-15 of Transformers: Lost Light (Jan.-Feb. 2018). The story was written by James Roberts, illustrated by Sara Pitre-Durocher and Brendan Cahill, colored by Joana Lafuente, lettered by Tom B. Long, and edited by David Mariotte.

Review: Transformers: Lost Light: The Plotters' Club by James Roberts, Jack Lawrence, Priscilla Tramontano, et al.

Issues #8-12 of Transformers: Lost Light (which roughly correspond to volume 2 of the collected editions) contain two stories, both kind of side stories but clearly also contributing to the long game of this comic book: a two-parter without an overarching title and a three-parter with two different ones.

"An Axe to Break the Ice" and "Chasing the Infinite" is about Nautica and Velocity going to a market planet, ostensibly for information, but actually because Nautica wants to bring Skids back to life; they're accompanied by new characters Anode and Lug, who get into hijinks of their own, before it all comes together. I wanted to like this more than I did. The problem is that the Nautica/Skids friendship and/or romance was never really at the forefront of More than Meets the Eye, so the depth of Nautica's grief never quite comes off. What does work, though, is the Nautica/Velocity friendship, which has been a strongly consistent element of these characters since they were introduced back in Dark Cybertron. The bigger plot elements here a little confusing, but I assume they'll become clear in time and/or the Transformers wiki will explain them to me.

The Plotters' Club takes us back to the Lost Light for the first time since Getaway stole it from Rodimus at the beginning of volume 10 of More than Meets the Eye; First Aid and the "Protectobots," who left the ship during Combiner Wars, finally make it back, only to discover there's been a change in management since they left. At first, things seem pretty chill-- under Getaway's leadership, the Lost Light is actually making progress-- but the longer they stay on board, the more suspicious things turn out...

This is another strong installment of MtMtE/Lost Light, undermined only by the fact that it focuses on some of the lesser characters, and I still find it difficult to distinguish unfamiliar robots from each other even after three years of reading Transformers comics. Like, when Ambulon came back, I wouldn't have known who he was without the TFWiki. But this is one of those James Roberts stories that blends interesting concepts, crazy antics, and chilling darkness into a coherent whole. The descent of Getaway into madness is fascinating, and I like seeing First Aid-- a guy I'd never given much thought to-- start to stand up to him. There are a lot of callbacks to earlier issues (Froid and Star Saber both return), and by and large they tend to work. It's another dozen-or-so issues before this series comes to an end, but things are clearly accelerating into the endgame at this point.

Also there are some good Thunderclash jokes, which I always appreciate.

Next Tuesday: Meanwhile, on Cybertron... the Dinobots are once again searching, this time for Salvation!

"An Axe to Break the Ice" and "Chasing the Infinite" originally appeared in issues #8-9 of Transformers: Lost Light (July-Aug. 2017). The story was written by James Roberts, illustrated by Priscilla Tramontano, colored by Joana Lafuente, lettered by Tom B. Long, and edited by Carlos Guzman.

The Plotters' Club (also known as The Mutineers Trilogy) originally appeared in issues #10-12 of Transformers: Lost Light (Sept.-Nov. 2017). The story was written by James Roberts; illustrated by Jack Lawrence (#10-12), Alex Milne (#11), and Andrew Griffith (#12); colored by Joana Lafuente (#10-12), Priscilla Tramontano (#11-12), and John-Paul Bove (#12); lettered by Tom B. Long; and edited by Carlos Guzman.

Review: Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 10 by James Roberts, Alex Milne, et al.

Some more Bernice Summerfield wittering from me at USF: Lawrence Miles's only Big Finish script, The Adolescence of Time.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2016 (contents: 2016)
Acquired and read January 2018

Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 10

Written by James Roberts
Art by Alex Milne and Brendan Cahill
Additional Art by Hayato Sakamoto
Additional Inks by Brian Shearer
Colors by Joana Lafuente, Priscilla Tramontano, and John-Paul Bove
Letters by Tom B. Long

Megatron has really been the focus of "season two" of More than Meets the Eye, and implausible as I found the idea of four-million-year-Hitler coming aboard the Lost Light as co-captain, his trajectory in these stories has really worked. By this point, the main cast has accepted him... and he has accepted the ways of the Autobots, even refusing to partake in combat.

I want to hear David Kaye say this.
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #50 (art by Alex Milne & Brian Shearer)

But it all comes to a head here, when the non-main-characters decide they've had enough of Megatron leading them, and kick him and the main characters off the ship... and then they're promptly set upon by the Decepticon Justice Division, Overlord, and a whole army of Decepticons.

Once again, James Roberts does his thing, with some edge-of-your-seat writing that had me physically tense or tearing up or both. I've really come to love these characters and their adventures, and this volume is filled with both hero moments and dark ones. Particularly when Rewind reaches the goal of his own personal quest... wowza.

Who would have ever thought I'd say, "I missed Drift"!?
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #52 (art by Alex Milne)

Plus Drift and Ratchet are back! It's the culmination of all sorts of stuff, but it also promises much more to come. More than Meets the Eye is still the best ongoing in comics. How is that possible?

Next Week: Meanwhile, on Earth... humanity discovers that the only thing it can say is All Hail Optimus!

Review: Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 9 by James Roberts, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2016 (contents: 2015-16)
Acquired October 2016
Read December 2017

Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 9

Written by James Roberts
Art by Alex Milne, Brendan Cahill, and Hayato Sakamoto
Inks by Brian Shearer, Alex Milne, John Livesay, John Wycough, Brendan Cahill, and Hayato Sakamoto
Colors by Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long and Chris Mowry

The post-Chaos era of IDW's Transformers comics used to be very easy to follow, alternating between collections of More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise. Since Dark Cybertron, though, it's gotten much more complicated, with a proliferation of limited series and one-shots and crossovers and even a new ongoing in Windblade. The gap between volumes 8 and 9 of More than Meets the Eye was the longest yet, with a full six different collections stuffed into it, taking four months at my own personal Transformers pace.

It's almost like he knew I was away, because James Roberts brought me back with the More than Meets the Eyeest bit of More than Meets the Eye thus far on the very first page, a recap of what the group of Decepticons called the Scavengers have been up to since we last saw them way back in volume 2:

Incredible!
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #47 (art by Alex Milne & Brian Shearer, photography by Maziar Shahsafdari)

This launches us into a story of the Scavengers meeting Fortress Maximus, who became the duly appointed enforcer of the Tyrest Accords in volume 5. I do really like the Scavengers in principle, and the story is a good one, but in practice I struggle with reading about this many unfamiliar robot characters. I just can't keep five guys I haven't seen in literally a year straight, and this undermines a lot of the story's effectiveness. Heck, I didn't recognize Fortress Maximus at first, and he used to be a main character in MtMtE!

Thankfully, we're back on more familiar ground with the volume's second story, a big development in the lives of Cyclonus and Tailgate, who have perhaps faded into the background in the Megatron-focused post-Dark Cybertron era of More than Meets the Eye. Well, this story more than makes up for it, as it's another heartrender from the pen of James Roberts, as you plead and plead with Tailgate not to do something that seems like a grand romantic gesture from the naïve Transformer's perspective, but will in fact lead to ruination, and plead with Cyclonus to not bottle himself up so much-- and to not finally let out his feelings to the exact wrong person. It's a perfect demonstration of how much Roberts has succeeded in making the reader emotionally connected to these robots.

Some really effective use of silent panels here.
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #47 (art by Brendan Cahill)

The only complaint I have is in how its intense cliffhanger is resolved, almost off-handedly in the book's final story, one which delves into the past of Rung, everyone's favorite nondescript psychiatrist. It's a clever, well-plotted story, with a lot of cool twists and clever reveals, punctuated by a last-page revelation that promises a lot for the next... and final... volume of this still-excellent series. Would be that all ongoing comics could move me as often as this one does.

Also: would be that they had as many jokes.
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #49 (art by Hayato Sakamoto)

Next Week: Meanwhile, on Cybertron... the Dinobots head into the wilderness looking for Redemption!

Review: Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 8 by James Roberts, Alex Milne, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2015 (contents: 2015)
Acquired October 2016
Read August 2017

Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 8

Written by James Roberts
Art by Hayato Sakamoto, Brendan Cahill, and Alex Milne
Additional Inks by Brian Shearer
Colors by Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long

This volume of More than Meets the Eye is less focused than the last few, in a good way. Instead of featuring one big story, this one gives us a number of one- or two-chapter tales, spotlighting the broad cast of this book in a variety of situations. Among other events, the Decepticon Justice Division learns that Megatron's gone Autobot, Brainstorm is put on trial for the events of volume 7 while Ratchet weighs up what's important, the Lost Light finally catches up to the Vis Vitalis and has multiple dance parties, the entire crew visits a sitcom version of Earth, and the Lost Light discovers a clue to the existence of the afterlife. Phew!

After what I saw as getting overly convoluted in volume 7, volume 8 is largely a return to form. The D.J.D. plotline continues to burble away in the background, but this volume makes it more likely that some kind of confrontation is coming, as the D.J.D. learns of Megatron's heel-face turn, considers ending it all, but then realizes that Decepticonism is not a person, but an ideology. Nice enough, but of course the best part of the whole issue was the jokes, particularly learning how much the D.J.D. is into forms:

The D.J.D. has to fill out the same kind of forms my wife does as a high school teacher!
from Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #39 (art by Hayato Sakamoto)

The next story is cute, mostly for Ratchet's considerations of his friendship with Drift, who departed the Lost Light all the way back in volume 4. I look forward to seeing where this goes, because I miss Drift. (Words I never thought I'd say after All Hail Megatron.) Hopefully Ratchet does bring him back to the Lost Light.

Review: Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 7 by James Roberts, Alex Milne, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2015 (contents: 2014-15)
Acquired October 2016
Read July 2017

Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 7

Written by James Roberts
Art by Alex Milne
Additional Art by Atilio Rojo
Additional Inks by Brian Shearer
Colors by Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long

The series name of More than Meets the Eye has slightly changed, with the removal of the leading article from "The Transformers." Beyond that, though, this volume is more of the same in both good and bad ways, with More than Meets the Eye at its most character-based but also perhaps its most obscure. After a prologue with a couple minor characters running afoul of the Decepticon Justice Division (poor guys), the main story kicks in with the reveal of an alternate universe where the Functionists (a political faction which believes Transformers' functions are defined entirely by their forms) are in command. This appears to be the responsibility of Brainstorm, who is secretly a Decepticon and has traveled back in time to kill Orion Pax (the future Optimus Prime).

Megatron is starting to suspect he's in a different, more ridiculous comic than he used to be...
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #35 (art by Alex Milne & Brian Shearer)

So what we get is time travel hijinks, More than Meets the Eye-style, as Brainstorm skips through time, and Rodimus and company skip after him, blundering into key historical events and trying to stay out of trouble, but not very well. It's fun-- of course-- and funny-- of course-- and gives us some nice moments of insight into our characters, including Megatron and Rung. The Functionists are terrifying, and we get to see some flashbacks scenes from volume 3 in a new light, which is clever.

...but he's starting to figure out the rules whether he likes it or not.
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #38 (art by Alex Milne)

Almost too clever. I've been reading IDW's Transformers comics for almost three years now(!), and still a lot of the intricacies went over my head. Dramatic revelations were only comprehensible because I read the articles on the Transformers wiki. There were definitely moments where I felt like this story was in danger of disappearing up its own self-referential backside, unfortunately. It's so clever you can admire what Roberts is doing, but it's hard to enjoy it. I mean, don't get me wrong, I always enjoyed it. More than Meets the Eye is, as always, replete with details large and small that make it one of the sharpest comics on the stands. But being its most typical isn't its best.

Next Week: Meanwhile, on Earth... Optimus is dumb enough to leave Prowl in command in First Strike!

Review: The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 6 by James Roberts, Alex Milne, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2014 (contents: 2014)
Acquired March 2015
Read May 2017

The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 6

Written by James Roberts
Art by Alex Milne
Additional Art by Atilio Rojo
Additional Inks by Brian Shearer & John Wycough
Colors by Josh Burcham & Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long

This picks up six months after Dark Cybertron, and major changes have taken place on the Lost Light, the biggest one being the assignment of Megatron as co-captain. I'm of two minds about this. One the one hand, Megatron as captain provides possibilities, for both jokes:

I always like it when someone calls Rodimus out on his crap.
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #30 (art by Alex Milne)

...and for drama and character introspection:

Yeah, at least try to be good.
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #33 (art by Alex Milne and Brian Shearer & John Wycough)

But on the other hand, I find it implausible that a dictator and committer of genocide, whose five-million year reign of terror makes any human monster look like someone who was at most mildly rude, would be accepted aboard the Lost Light (or anywhere in Autobot society) under any circumstances. It's like once World War II ended they made Hitler captain of an American aircraft carrier and everyone acted like it was a minor inconvenience, only a million times more unlikely. So, I like it and I don't like it at the same time.

Other than that, this is another solid volume of More than Meets the Eye, not the best, but definitely of the consistent quality that James Roberts and Alex Milne have maintained since volume 3. Having all of the crew except for those who joined after issue #1 vanish is a smart move to give some time to new characters; so far I like Nautica, the earnest ex-teacher, and the appearance of Ravage has some potential. Plus all the old characters get nice moments and promises of interesting developments, like what's happening with Tailgate and Cyclonus, or Rodimus, or Chromedome, or Brainwave, or, well almost everyone. Also this pays off some ongoing plot threads seeded so far back I'd forgotten about them, so thank goodness for the Transformers wiki! Dark Cybertron was a bit of a dull derailment, but More than Meets the Eye still knows how to make you laugh and make you cry. (No actual tears this time, just metaphorical ones.)

Gotta love a space chalkboard.
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #31 (art by Atilio Rojo)

Next Week: Meanwhile, on Earth... Optimus Prime returns as one of many Robots in Disguise!

Review: The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 5 by James Roberts, Alex Milne, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2013 (contents: 2013)
Acquired March 2015
Read March 2017

The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 5

Written by James Roberts
Pencils by Alex Milne and James Raiz
Inks by Brian Shearer, Alex Milne, and James Raiz
Colors by Josh Burcham
Color Assist by John-Paul Bove and Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long

No actual tears this time, though I did feel my eyes misting up at one point.

I read a review that described volume 5 as the perfect jumping-off point for More than Meets the Eye, and though I haven't read what comes after yet (before we get to volume 6, there's a crossover with Robots in Disguise, Dark Cybertron), I can see why. Most of volume 5 is given over to "Remain in Light," a story about the Lost Light making it to Luna-1, the lost moon of Cybertron, and what they find there draws together a number of the ongoing character and plot threads of the series: Rodimus's often misguided brashness, Ultra Magnus's love of the rules, Ratchet's lack of confidence in his own abilities, Skids's inability to remember large chunks of his own past, the mysterious "legislator" robots from way back in volume 1, Tailgate learning about the importance of semicolons, the missing Circle of Light on Theophany, Fortress Maximus's postwar aimlessness, and so on. It's not quite as good as volume 4 (but it seems unlikely to me that anything could be), but it is a solid tying up on the main ideas of this series-- yet at the same time it sets up revelations for future issues.

Admit your love, Cyclonus!
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #17 (art by Alex Milne)

The emotional core of this volume was Tailgate. Tailgate has been a wannabe and and outsider this entire series. He woke up from a four-million year deactivation in volume 1, having missed not only the Great War, but even its political context, and volume 4 revealed that he wasn't the bomb disposal expert and potential Ark-1 crewmember he had claimed to be, but a waste disposal expert who was supposed to prepare the Ark but not crew it. Tailgate is obviously in love with Cyclonus, who's from the same time period as Tailgate, but lived through that four million years, much of it as (if I understand correctly) a resident of the Dead Universe and sort of a zombie(?). Tailgate is excited to be on the Lost Light because he finally belongs somewhere doing something, but Cyclonus would rather be nowhere at all. He hates everyone else, and he hates himself, and he hates Tailgate for trying to get him to open up. Yet sometimes they bond (in one of the previous volumes, they sang songs of ancient Cybertron together).

Review: The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 4 by James Roberts, Alex Milne, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2013 (contents: 2012-13)
Acquired March 2015
Read March 2017

The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 4

Written by James Roberts
Pencils by Alex Milne, Brendan Cahill, Guido Guidi, and Agustin Padilla
Inks by Atilio Rojo, Alex Milne, Brian Shearer, John Wycough, Juan Castro, Guido Guidi, Marc Deering, Phyllis Novin, and Jose Aviles
Colors by Josh Burcham with Joana Lafuente and Jose Aviles
Letters by Tom B. Long

WARNING WARNING WARNING

I don't normally do this, but it seems warranted here: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE. That said, I went into this volume knowing some of what I'm going to talk about, and if anything, I think it made the book more effective.

BUT ANYWAY

I don't often cry at works of fiction. It happens on occasion, though, perhaps more as I get older. The death of the Tachikomas at the end of season one of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Penelope Wilton chaining herself to the bus at the end of episode 4 of Bob & Rose. Moira taking her suicide pill in the last chapter of On the Beach. Evelyn Smythe's contemplative last moments in Doctor Who: A Death in the Family.

But I don't think I've ever cried at a comic book.

I cried three times reading this one.

The first time came in the first issue collected here. The Lost Light crew assaults a rogue Decepticon stronghold. James Roberts tells the story in two parallel tracks, switching back and forth between the attack and its aftermath. Rewind is injured, and his conjunx endura Chromedome is freaking out about it. Now, I was spoiled a while ago on the fact that Rewind would die, so as the book came to a climax, I started tearing up. Rewind doesn't die here, but the end is still fraught with emotion, as we learn how Rewind and Chromedome first met, and then the last thing we see is the moment of Rewind's near-fatal injury. It wasn't a Decepticon who injured him; rather, Whirl purposely locked him in a room with an exploding bomb because Cyclonus was also in that room. Plus, misanthropic Cyclonus actually threw himself on the bomb to save Rewind. Oh wow so many feelings as everything that's happened throughout the issue slots into place.

You don't mean that, Cyclonus!
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #12 (art by Brendan Cahill & Brian Shearer)

I didn't cry at the second issue here, but it was good fun: the Lost Light arrives at a pleasure planet, and everyone goes out drinking. Jokes are had, we get to see the crew's humanoid holomatter avatars, Ultra Magnus tries to lighten up (and fails), and Tailgate reveals his dark secret to Cyclonus. If you love when a tv show does the wacky side episode where the crew lets loose, you'll love this.

Review: The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 3 by James Roberts, Alex Milne, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2013 (contents: 2012)
Acquired March 2015
Read February 2017

The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 3

Written by James Roberts
Art by Jimbo Salgado, Emil Cabaltierra, and Alex Milne
Flashback Art by Guido Guidi
Additional Inks by Juan Castro and John Wycough
Colors by Juan Fernandez and Josh Burcham with Joana Lafuente
Letters by Chris Mowry and Shawn Lee

I knew from, like, page three of this volume that it was gonna be a good one. The book opens with Hot Rod and a number of the other Lost Light Autobots on some kind of vaguely defined mission:

Sometimes I worry this is me.
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye Annual 2012 (art by Jimbo Salgado & Emil Cabaltierra)

There's some running around, some banter (I laughed), and then you discover that the characters have been miniaturized and are running around inside the mouth of Ultra Magnus, Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, fighting off an infestation of nanobots. Ultra Magnus is so grim that the pistons he needs to smile haven't been used in centuries:

Review: The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 2 by James Roberts, Alex Milne, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2012 (contents: 2012)
Acquired August 2014
Read December 2016

The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 2

Written by James Roberts
Art by Alex Milne & Nick Roche
Colors by Josh Burcham & Joana Lafuente
Letters by Shawn Lee & Chris Mowry

Even when reading a good Transformers comic, I still struggle. I guess I'll just have to accept this as a fact of life. But seriously, it is hard to tell robots apart when they don't have voice actors to provide you with another dimension of recognition. The problem with volume 2 of More than Meets the Eye is that the first two issues here are part of a story about medical robots-- and most medical robots are colored red. So keeping track of which guy is which was very taxing, and sometimes I made bad identifications that hampered my enjoyment of the story. The third story here introduces a group of scrappy Decepticon deserters, an idea I fundamentally enjoy, but man if keeping track of a whole new set of characters is just a bit too taxing for me. On the whole I didn't like this as much as the first volume, and I think it might be because of those factors; it's hard to get emotionally invested if you can't remember which robo-guy is which!

However, there's still a lot to enjoy. I do like Ratchet, the Lost Light's chief medical officer, a lot, and there's even a nice throwback to the Furman-written -ations series when Ratchet manifests his holomatter avatar, which I (like the characters) had totally forgotten about. Plus the way Ratchet gets his hands back is awesome and unexpected and dark.

The second story here was very good-- it's a hostage tale, where Rung the unassuming psychoanalyst is captured by Fortress Maximus, and the crew has to figure out a way to liberate him (as well as Whirl, Rung's current patient). A recurring theme of More than Meets the Eye is how psychologically damaged all these bots are by years of unremitting war, and this story brings a lot of that to the surface. My favorite moments are often those where the characters forge real connections between themselves, like when the hostage situation causes Whirl to confess something he never would in years of sessions with Rung:

Aw, poor Rung.
from The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #6 (art by Nick Roche)

And like I said, though I found all the new characters hard to keep track of, I was predisposed to like a tale of Decepticon failures (the Scavengers) working to avoid the Decepticon Justice Division coming after them for desertion. The story is simultaneously dark and hilarious, something I'm quickly learning is a trademark of both James Roberts in general and this series in particular. Take for example this exchange:

Review: The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 1 by James Roberts, Nick Roche, Alex Milne, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2012 (contents: 2011-12)
Acquired August 2014
Read November 2016

The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Volume 1

Written by James Roberts & John Barber
Art by Nick Roche and Alex Milne
Colors by Josh Burcham
Letters by Shawn Lee

This is one of those books that you keep laughing aloud at, and your wife is like, 'what's so funny,' and you're like, 'um... it's a Transformers comic?' The new status quo for IDW's Transformers is that the Autobot/Decepticon war is over, and both sides have returned to Cybertron, along with the "NAILs," the nonaligned Cybertronians who fled the chaos of the war. So there's a lot of conflict between these three sides. The Autobots don't know how to exist in a world without war, the Decepticons are all in prison right now but that can't possibly be sustainable, and the NAILs don't see the Autobots as having any more legitimacy than the Decepticons. The first issue here sets up the basic conflict, which seems very ripe with storytelling potential, and it ends with Optimus Prime abandoning Cybertron, his argument being that he's a living symbol of the war, and peace can never truly come to Cybertron as long as he hangs around.

He's not wrong, you know.
from The Transformers: Death of Optimus Prime (script by James Roberts & John Barber, art by Nick Roche)

This leaves the remaining Autobots conflicted about what to do. Rodimus wants to hunt down the mythical Knights of Cybertron and implore them for guidance; Bumblebee wants to make a go of it on Cybertron, mending the conflict between the three sides. So once Rodimus's Lost Light takes off, the book essentially splits, with More than Meets the Eye following the Lost Light and Robots in Disguise staying on Cybertron.