Comic Review: Transformers More Than Meets the Eye #20

                Does More Than Meets the Eye retain its title as best comic you’re not yet reading?  Let’s see.

Cover:

                Yes, there are multiple covers (it’s and IDW book so of course there are), and yes I grabbed the one on the top (the Alex Milne cover).  This one depicts Rodimus carrying Tailgate (who has been dying for the last few issues) as they are being chased by the Legislators (personality-less robots that were bred to kill by Tyrest – the main villain in this book as of the last couple issues). 

                I like the art on the cover as it is telling a story while featuring two of the prominent characters from the book.  It also forces us to ask questions if we are a new reader such as “what is chasing Rodimus?” “Why is Rodimus carrying Tailgate?” or just a general “Who are these characters?”  The composition leads us to Rodimus’ face as the main focus of the cover, however the coloring actually forces our eye to the giant bright yellow triangle over his right shoulder.  While I understand that that actually makes sense based upon the overall lighting scheme of the cover in general, it doesn’t help the composition when the coloring is in direct contrast.  That being said, shrouding a good portion of Rodimus’ face in shadow doesn’t help force the eye there either.  This is the unfortunate cross to bear with more “realistic” computer coloring.  If this comic was produced twenty-five years ago, the reds would be red, the white’s would be white and the yellows would be yellow, and distinctions would be able to be made because of it.  Now the Transformers comics are some of the best on the market in terms of combining the lineart with the color to create a cohesive image, but it just doesn’t work well on this cover (which is unfortunate as the cover is where you want it to work the most).  There is also a slight tangent if you look at the tip of Tailgate’s right foot and Rodimus’ knee.  This is exacerbated by the fact that they are pretty much the same color as well, so even with the heavier outline it is difficult to determine where one stops and the other begins.

                The only other gripe that I have is with the signature.  It’s huge!  Believe me, I’m all for signing your artwork and taking ownership of it in terms of receiving the due credit, but holy crap.  This is along the same lines as the 1990s Todd McFarlane or Greg Capullo signatures that were, at times, oppressive to the artwork itself.  While Milne at least kept his signature confined to the lower right corner (and he avoided putting a box or some other device around it to draw even more attention to it) the signature itself is just too involved in the artwork, and something that should be present but not oppressive is quite the opposite.  

6/10 – While the overall design is good, the execution hurts the image. 

Story:

                The story by James Roberts is nearing its conclusion, something that has been building up since issue number one.  Reading a lot of the Transformers comics every month, it took me a little time to remember what happened in the last issue.  The “story so far” box on the inside front cover helps a bit, but seeing the ramifications of the events unfold as jump cuts on the first page caused me to pause and search my memory banks for some semblance of what happened last issue.  While I am glad that there is a page in the back specifically dedicated to showing each of the Transformers involved in that story (especially since this book doesn’t use a whole lot of the traditional Transformers that we all know and love) not having that info available at the outset causes me to try and remember who everyone is, and sometimes the color-scheme and designs are so similar that it becomes confusing. 

                The story itself is great.  It doesn’t really tie up any loose ends as much as it forces them to their next logical stage before the conclusion.  Roberts does an excellent job of juggling at least four different aspects to the story, each part focusing on different characters and then bringing nearly all of them together by the end, ensuring that the final part is laser focused.  When you have a stable of characters, both heroes and villains, in which to pull from, it may seem difficult to develop some of the lesser known characters and give them the same weight that a franchise staple would have.  Take for example Tyrest, the villain.  When you have villains such as Megatron, Shockwave, or Bludgeon at your disposal, building up Tyrest to that kind of level might seem like an insurmountable task, but Roberts does it, and it only takes a few short issues to do it.  His actions, and more importantly the motivations for those actions, are as heinous as anything you would expect to see from any of the aforementioned villains.  Roberts writes him as almost a delusional cult leader, with his actions being justified (in his own mind anyway) by the fact that they will bring him closer to eternal light.  The fact that there may be actual credence to his claims by the end of the issue is a shock in its own right. 

                Not only do we get all of that story development, but Roberts also takes the time to weave in character development for Skids, everyone’s favorite memory wiped Autobot.  We as readers finally get to learn how Skids got in the condition he’s in (think Men in Black memory wiping device, but with the ability to implant a thought or suggestion in the brain of the target).  It’s actually a bit more complicated than that, but it brings us back to Tyrest and shows that he has been in the thick of things from the beginning.  The fact that Roberts said that this “Remain in Light” storyline was the big payoff to all of the previous issues, and then to actually exhibit the skill  to pull off that bold claim is incredibly impressive.  Roberts is by far one of the best writers in the business today, and hopefully IDW can keep him attached to this book for a long time to come.

9/10 – The story itself is top notch, the little parts in the beginning where things just progress naturally from the last issue takes a couple panels to get used to.  The cliffhanger ending is one of the best I have seen in recent memory, and actually gets me excited to read a comic book again (who knew that was possible).

Art:

                Alex Milne, with Brian Shearer’s assistance on the inks and Josh Burcham and John-Paul Bove on colors, provide another artistic tour de force.  I’m not going to lie, sometimes the artwork can be a bit confusing with all of the different moving parts going on, but the fact that Milne and Co. pack so much into each page, hell, each panel and it doesn’t become an unintelligible mess speaks to their own individual abilities.  Milne is a master of expression with these characters as well, making them feel more like human beings in disguise as opposed to giant hunks of metal.  The thing that makes me hesitant to really embrace Andrew Wildman’s classic Transformers work (the stiff blocky nature and overall feel that everything looks like the old toys) is the exact opposite here.  There is so much movement in the characters as well as the overall design of the panels that everything feels organic and animated. 

                Milne also does a good job of mixing up camera angles in this one.  He still tends to rely too much on midrange shots, with very few, if any, long establishing shots thrown into the mix, which is either a blessing or a curse with his amount of detailed work.  Even without the long shots, he does a decent job of changing the angle of the camera up enough to ensure that the exact same shot is not repeated over multiple panels (unless it’s for dramatic effect). 

9/10 – Milne is the quintessential Transformers artist in my opinion and regardless of the title he works on I will be a longtime fan of his work.

Overall:  9/10 – The cover aside, this book was a masterpiece of storytelling.  Showing how to successfully move a story along (and actually move it along, not just give the impression that it is) while setting up the next issue to blow the minds of the readers.  I don’t know why I have to repeat myself by now, but if you aren’t reading this series, pick it up now.

Comic Review: Transformers More Than Meets The Eye #19

                In light of certain recent financial restrictions, I am only reviewing comics that I would normally purchase during a given week for the foreseeable future.  We dip back into the Transformers well again this week, reviewing the newest issue of probably my favorite book being produced right now.

Cover:

                It took two comic stores for me to even find this issue (Syracuse comic shops, what are you gonna do?) and when I did, I grabbed the last copy available.  I didn’t have my choice of covers, but I think I got the better end of the deal anyway as the Sean Chen cover is very well done.  The cover is actually more than just a pinup of two characters (in this case Whirl and Cyclonus) and actually depicts a part of the story from the comic itself (as many of the Transformers comics tend to do).  All of the angles present here, between swords and Whirl himself do more to help the eye move around the page than they do to hinder it (which is the exact opposite of what you would assume).  Those angles serve to frame the figures and take what could have been a very static, boring cover and jazz it up a bit.  Don’t get me wrong, it still feels a little generic, but the flourishes that Chen provides, including the details on the swords themselves, serve to distract, at least momentarily from the relatively standard cover.

                Something should be said for the linework and detail put into the characters.  While it’s a bit of a departure from what we are used to seeing in the interiors (which are usually left more open for color) this works incredibly well, and I would buy the shit out of a Sean Chen illustrated Transformers book.

8/10 – Incredible art jazzes up a generic cover.  In the hands of a less experienced or talented artist this would have been a flop of epic proportions.  Chen makes it work with an almost Travis Charest level of attention to detail.

Story:

                The art on Transformers comics rarely disappoints, but I’ll tell you something: the writing on this batch of titles is some of the best I have ever read (and I’ve been reading comics for a looooong time).  This issue is right up there with the old Claremount-era X-Men books in terms of fitting so much together into one issue.  James Roberts has been building this universe and everything feels like it is starting to pay off as old mysteries are starting to be solved (what’s up with the lack of memory for Skids) while new and interesting narratives are being started (the fact that Ultra Magnus is an ideal, not a person anymore (that was incredible), the Ratchet/Pharma dick measuring contest that takes an unexpected and unfortunate turn, Whirl and Cyclonus finding and freeing the Circle of Light, and the artist formerly known as Ultra Magnus confronting Tyrest take place in this regular sized issue. All of this is on top of the fact that we are still watching the clock tick down on Tailgate in terms of his life expectancy, and it just keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire book.

                Roberts does an incredible job of juggling every single storyline without letting any feel jilted in any way.  He takes what could have been mass confusion and chaos and uses that to craft a mood where we feel like we are with the captive Autobots.  He expertly handles every big reveal (and there are a lot of them) while moving the story along naturally and with all of the humor and flair that you are used to when he puts pen to paper. 

10/10 – Roberts continues to live up to the lofty expectations he has put into place throughout the series.  Between plot, pacing and dialogue he is firing on all cylinders.

Art:

                Alex Milne (with inks by Brian Shearer) do an incredible job of keeping the artwork at a consistently high level throughout the book.  The settings are all the same, but there are so many characters and so many moments that you could easily see the art team focusing on their favorites and letting the quality slip in other parts of the book.  Milne is as consistent as they come, providing crisp, clean artwork that works so well with the coloring (done by Josh Burcham) that you would think he does it all himself. 

                Actually, I need to take a minute to single out Burcham because of the work he does on this title.  Milne’s pencils cannot be the easiest things to color and still maintain some semblance of separation based on the lack of solid black in his artwork.  It pretty much all falls to Burcham (there’s not much Shearer can do in terms of spotting lacks without taking away from the style of the artwork in general) to provide us with the feeling of space, grounding each scene in “reality” while also providing separation between objects in the foreground and background (both with so many components that most normal colorists would either go crazy or say to hell with it and just start throwing solid colors around).  Burcham’s design sense as well as his ability to interpret the artwork is something that cannot be understated here.  For a visual sample of that, look no further than the sequence where Whirl and Cyclonus are infiltrating a weapons cache.  There is an alarm sounding and a red light flashing, bathing the entire scene in a red glow.  Without the ability to use various colors as separation mechanisms, the characters tend to get lost in the background elements.  Burcham is kind of hamstrung by the color palette, I understand that, but it does a good job of highlighting what Milne’s artwork could be like in less capable hands.

9/10 – Never underestimate a good artist-colorist combination.  These guys are at the top of their game and the art itself marries perfectly with the script from Roberts to create a cohesive masterpiece.

Overall: 9/10 – There’s a reason this hasn’t relinquished the crown of “favorite comic” in my current library.  All of the creators involved are performing at a high level, and the fact that Hasbro and IDW are letting the characters be (seemingly) killed off and altered significantly shows that they believe in the creators, which goes a long way when it comes to licensed comics.