THIS review’s title isn’t really a statement about what
happens in “Transformers Drift: Empire of Stone” # 3. Quite the contrary; more
stuff happens in this issue that an any other previous issue of the mini-series.
After
Hellbat reveals that he has control over the titular stone warriors, Drift,
Grit and Ratchet are in the fight of their lives when attacked by the stone
soldiers. It turns out that Hellbat had gained control over the stone warriors
by transplanting parts from captured Transformers. All this Hellbat did under
the nose of his Decepticon boss Gigatron, who had been futilely searching for
the same stone warriors. It turns out that Hellbat is really Hellbat-sh_t crazy
and wants use the empire of stone to destroy, in his words, everything. “What
is the point of us,” Hellbat monologues. “Kill. Our own kind. Others… That is
why we’re here. Machines of war, of death.”
The
back story is that Drift, under his former name the Decepticon Deadlock, and
his partner in crime Turmoil, had discovered the empire of stone previously and killed all the peaceful
monks who had been protecting the stone warriors. “I kind of feel like this is
all my fault,” Drift says, referring to both what happened in the past and the
present.
In
the middle of the fight, Drift manages to lead the stone warriors away to
Gigatron’s throne room and reveals Hellbat’s duplicity. Gagtron singehandedly
disposes of the stone warriors chasing Drift. Drift then says: “What is going
to happen is you and I joining forces… We’re both going to put an end to
(Hellbat’s) madness forever.”
That’s
a lot of action and plot for one issue and it is welcome development for the
plodding mini-series, setting up the fact that there is all to play for in the
final series.
Now
back to that title. “Nothing much” is the answer to this question: What does
“Empire of Stone” have to do with the Transformers’ ongoing story. Nothing
much. And that’s the problem with this mini-series. After it’s over, it’s like
it never happened.
Don’t
get me wrong. I enjoy Drift as a character and like the toys made in his image;
I don’t agree with the idea that he’s just fan service with an alt mode. But
his previous two mini-series, both written by Shane McCarthy, who writes this
one, had greater weight towards telling readers who Drift is. “Empire of Stone”
feels like Drift doing more Drift-y stuff. But nothing of consequence can
possibly happen in this mini. They’re certainly not going to kill Ratchet. If
they try to kill Drift here, he will most likely be revived in another series,
most likely James Roberts’ “Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye,” where Drift
was featured as part of the Lost Light crew before leaving. In that series,
Drift was an excellent cast member, proving himself to be the odd man out but
vocal and deadly.
Those are qualities which have
been exaggerated to the point of saturation in “Empire of Stone.” If there’s anyone who faces the
prospect of being deactivated permanently here it’s the surprisingly
well-written Decepticon Micromaster Grit (sorry, dude, it’s the truth) though
having him keep Drift company in the future seems like something I’d like to
read.
It’s also worth mentioning that
artist Guido Guidi’s proportions in this issue are even more out of whack than
usual. That being said, I’m
looking forward to the ending of the series because I’d like to see Drift go
out and do something else. His being stuck on the planet with the empire of
stone with crank Ratchet, whacko Hellbat and pompous Gigatron just isn’t much
fun. Perhaps the mini’s most damning quality is the fact that, despite the
buildup, nothing surprising has happened, even in the last two issues, where Hellbat
betrays his boss and Drift makes a deal with his enemy. You could see all of it
coming.
Even
with one more issue to go, you kind of get the feeling what Drift will be doing
after “Empire of Stone.” It starts with the letter A and sounds like “gotobots.”
And that may be the best thing to happen to Drift in a long time.
Next: More Than Meets the Eye” # 37.
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