Comic Review: Transformers Robots in Disguise #20

                Another Transformer’s book this week?  You bet.  Buckle up.

Cover:

                This issue deals with the aftermath of the Decepticon uprising and the crowning of Starscream as the new ruler of the Transformers (there are no longer Autobot and Decepticon factions allowed within city limits as Starscream has banished all that were unwilling to throw down those monikers).  Fittingly, all of the covers of this issue prominently feature Starscream.  The cover I picked up (the first one visible) had Starscream standing over the fallen body of Metalhawk, Starscreams “friend” that he killed to further his own personal and political agenda during the last story arc.  This is a poignant moment that relates quite a bit to the book itself as the beginning of the story is Starscream speaking to his dead friend, explaining his actions and the motivations for those actions.  I am a big fan of the stark white background and the way that the figures and Starscream’s cast shadow pop out against it. 

                One major thing to look at in terms of a cover is obviously composition.  Is it composed in a way that draws you in, that makes it an interesting image as opposed to just a stock shot of the characters presented?  This cover by Andrew Griffith does that masterfully, combining a narrative with a shot that you don’t always see on covers (a downshot).  The fact that Griffith went with this particular angle also helps to show Starscream’s importance and prominence.  Not only is he the figure closest to us, but if you combine his figure with his cast shadow it makes a larger, almost suffocating presence on the cover, which works well considering the fact that he has that presence in the book at times. 

9/10 – The cover conveys a powerful message about the rest of the book, especially considering that Starscream is standing over the fallen body of Metalhawk as a victor and not kneeling as a friend might do.  This mixes a strong design sense with the ability to tell a story, something most modern covers just don’t do anymore.

Story:

                This definitely feels like a filler issue.  That’s not necessarily meant as a bad thing either.  It’s just the fact that past issues have been so chock full of action and development that a quieter issue like this is going to feel a little weaker by comparison.  I see that John Barber is starting a slow build up to the Dark Cybertron storyline that will be taking over soon, but this issue definitely feels like it is there to get us to the next issue and not much more (until the cliffhanger at the end).   This issue does a good job of wrapping things up from the previous storyline, but it almost feels like the last forty minutes of The Return of the King.  It’s nice to have but it doesn’t really add a whole lot.

                I like the fact that as Starscream has kind of usurped Megatron’s place as leader, he now has a bot come along and take his place in the form of Rattrap.  Someone that is scheming and sneaking and looking out for his own interests, as Starscream had done throughout the entirety of his existence up to this point.  How Starscream deals with Rattrap moving forward is setting up to be an interesting plotline.  Beyond the introduction of Rattrap (and the subsequent actions to show us that he is basically the new Starscream) and the reveal at the end (a fan favorite is not as dead as you thought he was) this was a pretty tame read.

5/10 – It’s setting things in motion, but compared to the last few issues (and especially compared to its sister title More Than Meets the Eye) it feels kind of boring. 

Art:

                Andrew Griffith provides the art here and it is, as always, well executed.  The level of detail that encompasses every page and every panel of the book, along with the ability for Griffith to transpose human emotion on the faces of these hunks of metal makes for a good read.  He does a great job of taking something that can be clunky and hard to emote feel almost human.  There are artists out there that can’t convey that kind of acting and emotion with human characters as well as Griffith can with robots.

                Griffith does tend to dwell in the middleground in terms of his shot selection though.  He doesn’t usually take the camera to the extremes, which can lead to a bit of a stagnant and boring comic at times.  While I understand that an extreme close up is not always necessary in a story like this that is mainly exposition, backing the camera up and giving us an establishing shot, or just letting the characters breathe a little is something that would be both appreciated and welcomed.

                The coloring does tend to get a little muddy at times as well, especially in the outdoor sequences at night.  A dark blue sky against the dark colors of the various Transformers just tends to lead to an overall dark panel or page (and it doesn’t help that Griffith tends to lay out his panels so that they are smaller and have a large white border around the page itself instead of having the images bleed off the page).  This contrast would look good if it didn’t just highlight the fact that the panels themselves were so dark.

7/10 – The linework and actual drawing is as good as ever by Griffith.  I’d like to see more attention paid to pacing the story a bit better and using the wide range of shots available instead of settling into three or four different medium shots.  The coloring is a bit dark and muddy as well.

Overall: 6/10 – This isn’t the best issue of the series but it serves its purpose to get us to the next chapter while putting a bow on the previous storyline.