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IDW's new Transformers comic series is shaping up to be the most satisfying piece of Robots in Disguise storytelling since Transformers Animated. The plot is moving slowly and inexorably in unpredictable directions with traditional characters and factions being played against each other and old loyalties fraying in the aftermath of disastrous events and tragedy. In a world where all cybertronians are humanity's enemies, Autobots and Decepticons have split off into subfactions for survival and escape.
This issue is bookended by narration from the Decepticon jet, Thundercracker. It's nice that they have managed to give this character a little bit personality as he has always been a bit of a generic Decepticon. Here we see him broken and coming to some important realizations of humanity and earth life.
Hot Rod has become the de facto leader of a group of Autobots and Decepticons who are attempting to build a ship to escape the earth. Smooth-talking Combaticon, Swindle, is clearly buttering him up for something and even talks him into taking the name "Rodimus Prime." It's great that the writers have chosen to feature Swindle so heavily as his character has been memorable in all of his previous incarnations.
The appearance of Ultra Magnus raised the stakes and forces Rodimus farther down the path that he has chosen. Old Ultra Magnus doesn't hold with working with Decepticons, nor many other things that are against all of his regulations. He is written to be appropriately old-fashioned and inflexible. His inevitable return to the cybertronian camp, promises more conflict between the Autobots and Rodimus' camp.
IDW's Transformers is shaping up to be a fresh new spin on the well-explored G1 Transformers mythos. I am also really enjoying the art, which is a happy medium between the 80's animation style and the ridiculously complicated movie aesthetic. It manages to be modern and "cool" without sacrificing character or clarity.
Patrick Garone
Senior Reviewer
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