Review: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron by John Barber and Dheeraj Verma

Comic PDF eBook, n. pag.
Published 2013 (contents: 2012)
Acquired August 2014
Read April 2019

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Written by: John Barber
Art by: Dheeraj Verma
Colors by: Sanjay Kharwar & Priscilla Tramontano
Letters by: Chris Mowry

After making my way through all of IDW's original continuity, I'm finally free to explore some other Transformers comics I've picked up along the way, beginning with this, the first of two stories about the Dinobots set in the so-called "Aligned" continuity, an initiative from 2010 to 2017 to create a common continuity for videogames, novels, cartoons, and of course comic books.

I have often thought one of the marks of a good leader was inability to control anger that leads to the destruction of one's own property.
from Transformers: Fall of Cybertron #1

It's a pretty typical John Barber Dinobots story. That guy loves his Dinobots, but is often unable to make me love them. Here, we see where they came from in the Aligned continuity; they were the Lightning Strike Coalition, but when they disobeyed orders to rescue one of their own, they were captured by-- who else-- Shockwave, and he experimented on them to turn them into the Dinobots, though they-- of course-- refused to work for him.

Oh, good. MORE Shockwave monologueing. I sure missed that.
from Transformers: Fall of Cybertron #4

It's okay, you know? Lots of narration, and not as fun as I think a story featuring giant robot dinosaurs ought to be. I think after Barber's frequent use of the Dinobots in the IDW continuity, he doesn't say anything here that he didn't say there. They're angry, and they don't obey the rules, but they have regrets and hidden depths. Sure.

Note: despite the title, Cybertron does not actually fall in this story. That happens in the next Aligned Dinobot story.

Next Week: Later, still on Cybertron... it's time for the Rage of the Dinobots!

Review: The Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Volume 5 by John Barber, Livio Ramondelli, Andrew Griffith, et al.

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

The Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Volume 5

Written by John Barber
Art by Livio Ramondelli, Atilio Rojo, Dheeraj Verma, and Andrew Griffith
Colors by Livio Ramondelli, Priscilla Tramontano, and Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long, Chris Mowry, and Shawn Lee

This volume is sort of a mixed bag-- there's clearly a lot of set-up going on here for the imminent Dark Cybetron crossover. While in More than Meets the Eye, that was seemingly all done in a bonus text story at the back (and one throwaway comment in the final issue), a lot of what's here are stories about the secret agenda that Shockwave's been running in the background for almost the entire duration of Robots in Disguise. We get a flashback tale that integrates some of the revelations about Shockwave from More than Meets the Eye with the backstory shown in Autocracy (appropriately drawn by Autocracy's artist, Livio Ramondelli), yet another tale of Orion Pax and company chasing Shockwave's mentor Jhiaxus but failing to accomplish anything, and a two-part story that parallels Shockwave and Soundwave fighting in the present with their relationship in the past.

This stuff is okay. Some of it feels belabored and stretched out: Shockwave and Soundwave's fight, for example, was never particularly interesting. I did really like the insight I got into Soundwave's relationship with his cassette servants; probably the best bit of the whole two issues is where we see their first meeting. Soundwave has the power to basically hear all things, which leaves him overwhelmed, but the Cybertronians who will become his cassettes reach out to him and teach him how to filter his perceptions to make them manageable. It adds a bit of pathos to a Decepticon character I hadn't really thought about before. (I still don't get why his cassettes are cassettes, though.) Other aspects of the flashbacks, though, were informative, but not entertaining, more like reading the Transformers wiki than a story-- as always, Barber seems to be sewing up a lot of continuity details for the faithful.

And then they all became evil.
from The Transformers: Robots in Disguise vol. 1 #22 (art by Livio Ramondelli)

Orion Pax chasing but not getting Jhiaxus is becoming dull, but I suppose this formula will come to an end with Dark Cybetron. It was fun to see a Beast Wars character make a significant contribution to the story in the form of Waspinator. Those are the Transformers stories I'm nostalgic for!