A Whole New World: Windblade (2015) # 1!

FROM the very first time that Windblade, Chromia and Nautica first appeared in the IDW continuity, readers have been wondering exactly where they came from. The three fembots spoke about their home, the lost Cybertronian colony Caminus, and how their home planet was running out of resources. Out of caution, Optimus Prime and the Autobots had stayed clear of Caminus. Combiners can change so many things. After the events of “Transformers # 39,” the Combiner Wars are on. At the end of that issue, the devious Starscream, after taking possession of the fabled Engima of Combination, fooled Swindle and Menasor—the combined form of the Stunticons—to travel to Caminus via the new-operational space bridge to rob the planet. The Combiner Wars continue, with its first full chapter in the second “Windblade” mini-series, which we will refer to as “Windblade (2015).” At the issue’s beginning, we get a quick look at Caminus and its inhabitants. They are clearly Cybertronians but possess what appear to be more ornate forms and a seemingly medieval form of society. There are also a lot of fembots here—but, it is important to note, not all the Camiens are female.

Quick Switch: The Transformers # 38!

After spinning its wheels for so long, “The Transformers” # 38 amounts to an intense conclusion where all the loose ends writer John Barber has laid out need to be definitively tied up because the next issue, # 39, is the first chapter of the much anticipated Combiner Wars storyarc. Thus everything that happens in “TF” # 38 has a purpose, and the issue marches along grimly going about its business. Over Bikini Atoll, Thundercracker sees that the humans’ secret weapon—an armada of automatons based on the corpses of Ramjet and Thurst—is heading towards civilian territory. Thundercracker wants to stop this at all costs, so he strikes a deal with Soundwave, who is busy setting up the Decepticon sanctuary in Tanzania. Soundwave can shut the clones down, but can’t find a reason to do so, considering the humans built the drones without informing the Decepticons, their so-called allies. Whether he is convinced by Thundercracker’s plea or because he is just sick of listening, Soundwave effectively turns the clones off. “Please Thundercracker, I care not for screenplays or Earthlings. Do not contact me again. Our relationship ends here,” Soundwave warns.

Galaxy Shuffle: More Than Meet The Eye # 38!

IT may not seem like it at first, but “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” (“TF:MTMTE”) # 38 is one of the most important TF comic books ever made. That’s because the timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly plot that writer James Roberts has been laying out—with its alternative timelines and time travel bot-hunt—all come to fruition as well as a definitive conclusion in this very issue. Amid the burst of excellent issues, “TF:MTMTE” # 38 is a worthy way of ending the affair. As Rodimus’ team chases him back in time, the Decepticon double-agent Brainstom has finally arrived at his target. And it turns out, everyone was wrong. He didn’t travel back in time to kill Orion Pax so he never becomes Optimus Prime. He traveled back in time to kill Megatron before he becomes, well, Megatron. The double-agent turned out to be a triple-agent. The issue begins on the Lost Light, where Perceptor and Ultra Magnus are trying to stop Megatron from trying to travel back in time so save himself. It turns out that there isn’t enough energy left in the time machine to do it anyway. Rodimus’ team arrives just in time to see Brainstrom aiming a gun at an inert Megatron—a grenade takes him down.

Alternate Reality: More Than Meets The Eye # 35!

This is a very, very complex issue from the fantastic “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” (“TF: MTMTE”) team of writer James Roberts and penciller Alex Milne. Perhaps a bit too complex. But then Roberts has made himself the best TF writer right now by taking chances—this is a big chance taken here—and Milne has shown he can draw anything that Roberts asks him to. “TF: MTMTE” # 35 starts of on a completely unusual scene. It is set on Cybertron, but not one we are familiar with. Rewind is accompanying Minimus (we know him as the guy inside the Ultra Magnus armor) who has just come back from serving in the now-obsolete Primal Vanguard. It’s a peaceful Cybertron but one oppressed by the functionalist faction, which values Cybertronians based on the usefulness of their alt modes. The functionists control the population by cutting down dissenting ‘bots immediately through the detonation of their obsolescence (Obs) chips. Rewind and Minimus are witness to one of the obsolete Lunabots—rendered insane by a malfunctioning Obs chip—being executed by the functionary security officer. Is it a flashback?

Shift Code: Drift Empire of Stone # 1!

ASIDE from the original fembot Arcee, there is no Transformer as controversial as the Autobot Drift. Created by writer Shane McCarthy and first appearing in the 2009 IDW Publishing series “All Hail Megatron,” Drift was criticized as being a fan’s fever dream. He was a former Decepticon named Deadlock who had seen the error of his ways and switched sides. More than the back story, it was his character, a samurai-like robot with ridiculously large swords that rubbed some fans the wrong way. But just like Arcee, many fans embraced Drift, turning him into, ironically, a fan-favorite character who would go on to appear in not one, but two mini-series as well as his own Spotlight issue. Back when it was still very uncommon, Drift got a comic-accurate toy from Hasbro. Drift proved so popular that he even appeared in the Michael Bay-directed film “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” as a triple-changer voiced by Ken Watanabe. In the comics, Drift had shifted from being a samurai to more of a crusading knight character when he joined the crew of the Lost Light in “Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.” In the aftermath of the Overlord fiasco, Drift had elected to take the blame and was stripped of his Autobot status, leaving the ship afterwards. Where is he now?

The First Issue: The Transformers # 35!

This of course is technically just the continuation of IDW Publishing’s “The Transformers: Robots in Disguise” series under the new, streamlined title “The Transformers,” but it also heralds what amounts to a fresh start for the series particularly its creative team of writer John Barber and artist Andrew Griffith. After spinning its transformed wheels with some flashback and cutaway stories for the last two issues, “The Transformers” # 35 bring readers back to the main dramatic issue: the tricky relationship between humans and Cybertronians. To dot this, it reintroduces some people we’ve known for a while, as well as tying in what has emerged from the memories of the rescued Alpha Trion. The issue begins in Tokyo, where the IDW’s version of the industrialist G.B. Blackrock is introducing to the world his new operating system Onyx. “See, living in post-Cybertronian world… it’s not all bad,” he tells his audience. At the same time, we see a robot being hunted down by armed men. Then the transmission is hijacked by Spike Witwicky, who is leading the group that has captured the aforementioned robot. He reveals that Blackrock’s company has been supplying Cybertronian weapons to the Earth Defense Command, before executing the robot.

The Last Issue: Transformers Robots in Disguise # 34!

THIS is the last issue of IDW’s “Transformers: Robots in Disguise”—technically speaking. But it’s not going away, it’s just changing titles next month to just plain “The Transformers” # 35. Read into that what you will, but “TF: RID,” though well-written and well-illustrated, still somewhat remains overshadowed by its even-better-written and better-illustrated sibling title, “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye.” That is not helped by the fact that “TF:RID” is now jumping all over the place. Originally, the series seemed focused on the Earth-bound adventures of Optimus Prime and the remaining Autobots, but it’s since jumped back to life on a bittersweet Cybertron and then back to Earth now that the humans have aligned themselves with the Decepticons. But now, it’s going back in time with some surprising and defining back stories.

All-Out War: Transformers Primacy # 3!

IT’S rare to see the Autobots and Decepticons depicted in a real knockdown throwdown, and that’s exactly what you get with “Transformers: Primacy” # 3, no more and no less. This penultimate issue in the four-issue mini-series brings the reader right into the middle of a massive Decepticon attack on the Autobot-controlled Cybertron. Millions of years in the past, Trypticon has rocketed to the surface while Metroplex has risen to repel his attack. This issue is dominated by the blow-by-blow duel between the two TF city robots. It’s a fascinating panel-by-panel battle. Meanwhile, Optimus Prime is getting ready to insert Omega Supreme into the fray. Omega admits something unexpected to Prime and Prime reacts to it. But Megatron is more cunning than Prime thinks—he has plans within plans, and those are revealed as the issue continues. The all-out attack by the Decepticons turns out to be as “all-out” as you imagine. All kinds of ‘Cons get into the action. The outnumbered Autobots must protect the city and so they make a stand. “Let Iacon burn,” Megatron growls. “Whatever unfolds, we must protect the city at all costs,” Prime answers. “We will hold the line!”

Big Bot Books: The Total Package in Transformers Legacy!

WHEN the Transformers Generation 1 toys first came out from Hasbro in 1984, I fell in love with the idea of toys that turned into another toy. There was just something about the ingenuity of action figures that turned into vehicles or other machines that sparked interest with the coherent themes of subterfuge and duality. But as the years went on, I came to a stunning conclusion: As much as I loved the toys, what I really loved was the packaging! The packaging for the G1 TF line was just perfect. The boxes or cardback were coded red for heroic Autobots and purple for evil Decepticons, with that splashy and iconic Transformers logo. On the front was this amazing depiction of the robot poised to attack, on the back was a sweeping battle scene with so many TFs transforming to face their counterparts, the tech specs (which could “only” be decoded by the provided red plastic strip, and, of course, the bio complete with motto, function and personality (provided by, among others, Marvel comics writer Bud Budiansky).

Wake-Up Call: Robots in Disguise # 33!

FROM the beginning, “Transformers: Robots in Disguise” (“TF: RID”) has been considered good but not as good as its sibling title, “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” (“TF: MTMTE”). Since the resident artists are quite similar in talent and style (Andrew Griffith on “TF: RID” and Alex Milne on “TF: MTMTE”), the difference lies in the books’ writers (John Barber on “TF: RID” and James Roberts on “TF: MTMTE”). This is interesting since together, Barber and Roberts have ushered in the most critically acclaimed era in TF comics history. But the observation is that Roberts simply knows how to get the best out of the big ideas that have characterized the resurgence. That’s important to note because Barber is pretty good—just not as good as Roberts. “TF: RID” # 33 is typical of the kind of issue where Barber has something really interesting to run with but doesn't quite go as far as he can go with it. That being said, “The World of Tomorrow” has some fascinating moments. One of the two best moments comes at the very beginning, when a character thought dead returns to a world that he does not recognize, and Barber plays this up really well.

Big Ideas: More Than Meets The Eye # 33!

“Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye” (“TF: MTMTE”) # 33 should be dubbed “The Explanation Issue,” because writer James Roberts literally explains everything that’s been going on in the series, all the way back to the beginning. He explains both the big ideas (the disappearance and the subsequent reappearance of The Lost Light) and small details (a certain crewmember’s faceplate). And he does so with style. After the events of last issue, the surviving crew of The Lost Light have boarded the other Lost Light and found a lot of mutilated Cybertronian corpses as well as the ship’s engines surrounded by quantum foam. The big shocker is that they have found the previously-dead Rewind—alive but unconscious. It is notable that the crew has been shrunk to the point that there are only six Autobots left (Megatron, Skids, Getaway, Nautica, Nightbeat, Nautica, Riptide) plus the discoveted stowaway Ravage. From the suddenly spacious roll call page on, “Slaughterhouse Part 2: The Road Not Taken” is a blow to the head and a kick to the stomach. As they work to revive Rewind, Nautica, thanks to a joke by Riptide, figures out the mystery of The Lost Lights and manages to explain it in a satisfying manner, with a little help from Nightbeat...

Gathering Storm: Primacy # 2!

Whew, that’s a lot of activity for a single issue. “Transformers: Primacy” # 2 goes by furiously. Megatron is getting the gang back together, so that means he’s sending out the Seekers to carry the all-important message: Scorponok is out, Megatron is back. The Seekers go to different planets, using different techniques, but it turns out what they were looking for were the Combiner teams. Though skeptical at first, the Stunticons, Combaticons and Predacons are back. To make sure he has enough back-up, Megatron even journeys to the Planet of Junk and recruits the no-silly-dancing versions of the Junkions. Meanwhile the Autobots wait around for something to do. Optimus Prime confides in Alpha Trion that though he is happy to have brought back Omega Supreme from the planet’s polar region and out of the futile wait for Nova Prime’s return, Prime is disturbed that Omega Supreme has instead taken up a sentry position watching over Prime’s quarters. Trion tells Prime that it might be awhile before Omega Supreme regains his soul. Then, of course, the Decepticons strike. Out of the atmosphere comes hurtling the terrible Trypticon, back for round two. Prime once calls on the mighty Metroplex as Autobot City is evacuated. “All will be well,” booms Metroplex as he transforms and looks up. Trypticon slams into him. Boom. End of issue.

Present Tense: More Than Meets The Eye # 32!

Wow, it feels like forever since the last issue of IDW Publishing’s “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” (“TF: MTMTE”) How many mega-cycles has it been since “TF: MTMTE” # 31? The answer is 12.387 mega-cycles (that’s 48 days for us non-Cybertronians). That wait feels especially long considering that “TF: MTMTE” is the best of IDW’s TF comic series, and that writer James Roberts has the crew of the Lost Light is the middle of a major mystery. Good thing “TF: MTMTE” # 32 is here or fans would start breaking the Tyrest Accords in frustration. “Slaughterhouse” is an apt title for this issue as the remaining crew of the Lost Light have just discovered that all those on the ship’s original crew have vanished, as has the ship itself. But the accidental skeleton crew led by disliked captain Megatron and the detective Nightbeat are surprised to find an older, virtually destroyed version of the Lost Light has appeared covered in quantum foam, meaning –time travel! As the survivors enter the dead hulk, they discover body after body of dead Autobots (including Ultra Magnus, Tailgate, Drift, Ratchet, among others) in various states of mutilation.

Book of Revelations: Robots in Disguise # 32!

Comic books sometimes require a period of time to really get going. That was clearly the case with “Transformers: Robots in Disguise” (“TF: RID”) after the “Dark Cybertron” arc, probably because of how difficult it is to accept the human-Decepticon alliance. But as writer John Barber and artist Andrew Griffith have gotten a few more issue into their “Earthfall” storyline, the series has gotten a lot better. With the last issue, “TF: RID” has come out with guns blazing. “Earthfall Chapter 5: I Dream of Wires” starts off with a flashback of Prowl and Bumblebee having a conversation half a million years ago as they watch Metroplex leaving Cybertron. Prowl isn’t so sure about the direction that Optimus Prime is taking the Autobots toward. “The Autobots need someone who can plan,” Prowl says. He’s referring to himself of course. We flash forward as the Autobots are returning to Earth and Prowl continues to have misgivings about Prime’s plans, having a quirky conversation with Cosmos, which is fun just to hear the incredulous personality Barber has given Cosmos. Finally, on to the present, as the Autobots storm Bikini Atoll, where the humans’ Earth Defense Command (EDC) has been hiding Autobot sage Alpha Trion...

Legion of Doom: Primacy # 1!

Sometimes the best stories are those before the story even began. When Dreamwave Productions still had the Transformers license, they decided to start doing comic books about what happened before the Transformers arrived on Earth. Those comics, “Transformers: The War Within,” were some of the best comics that Dreamwave ever made, featuring familiar characters in unfamiliar settings, especially the Cybertronian alt modes and old allegiances. IDW Publishing have done the same thing by introducing their own in-continuity pre-Earth stories beginning with the digital-first series “Transformers: Autocracy” in 2012, followed by “Transformers: Monstosity” the next year. In these tales set millions of years prior to the discovery of Transformers on Earth, Orion Pax (not yet Optimus Prime) and Megatron wage war in Cybetronian cities like Kaon—but the battle lines are not clearly drawn yet. At the end of “Monstrosity,” Pax and his Autobot regulars had barely succeeded in shutting down the walking Decepticon fortress Trypticon in the city of Harmonex. The rest of Cybertron is still figuring out what to make of the violence in Harmonex. At Maccadams Oil House, Hot Rod is listening to a skeptical broadcast by Blaster when he is threatened by his old friend Slinger, now a Decepticon soldier.

Surprise Party: Robots in Disguise # 31!

It has taken a few issues, but “Transformers: Robots in Disguise” (“TF: RID”) finally put forward an issue that is equal to the quality being displayed by its acclaimed sister series, “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” (“TF: MTMTE”). “TF: RID” has much to live up to, as its premise—Autobots back on Earth led once again by Optimus Prime—is a classic one. Writer John Barber, who together with “TF: MTMTE” scribe James Roberts—has redefined the TF comics for a new generation of writers, and he finally hits it out of the ballpark for the first time since the “Dark Cybertron” arc. Barber’s current arc, “Earthfall,” has suffered from the ridiculousness of the new alliance between Galvatron’s Decepticons and the Earth Defense Command led by Marissa Faireborn. It seemed like such a patently bad idea at the beginning, but as the issues went on, it became clear that the humans have some pretty big secrets that even their Decepticon allies know nothing about. All that expositional heavy-lifting comes together with this issue, “Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five.” “TF: RID” boasts of a great artist in Andrew Griffith but for this issue, he has reinforcements, with Guido Guidi providing the flashback art for Jazz and Brendan Cahill providing the flashback art for the Decepticons. That makes it clear that there are three narratives in this issue, all of which tie together in the end.

Endgame: Windblade # 4!

It all comes down to this last issue of the “Transformers: Windblade” mini-series—well, at least until the coming of the announced second mini-series, “Transformers: Windblade Returns.” In the meantime, IDW Publishing lucked out on choosing to go with a very unusual approach to the TF franchise and a talented creative team, just the elements needed to push the first post-Arcee fembot star, the sword-wielding Windblade. After the mysterious power outages and the attempt on her life, Windblade has journeyed into the bowels of Metroplex to discover that Starscream is secretly mining a powerful ore. After being captured, tortured and escaping, Windblade realizes that Starscream was not behind the assassination attempt. Then, the spacebridge at Metroplex’s heart spins up. Where is it going and who is behind it? Probably caused by the fact that this is the last issue of the current run, “Windblade” # 4 feels very cramped and condensed. There’s a lot of exposition at the very end, explaining everything that has to be explained.

Vanishing Points: More Than Meets The Eye # 31!

Wow, just when you thought James Roberts couldn’t write a better, more jam-packed issue of the excellent IDW Publishing series “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” (“TF: MTMTE”) # 31. Not only does this issue go back to the earliest issues Roberts wrote for IDW and answers many questions that TF fans didn’t expect would be answered so soon or so well. The issue starts with a flashback two years back, where we see Drift, Riptide and Pipes trolling New Iacon for a new ship, encountering a group of rogbots who communicate by moving their fingers. Drift succeeds in acquiring a ship—which is soon renamed The Lost Light. So that’s where that came from. Back to the present, the Autobots (Megatron is now officially one of them) are floating in shuttles (and Rodimus’ Rodpod) after the aforementioned Lost Light started to disappear part and part, before vanishing completely. Swerve and Skids kibitz. But even before they can get around to figuring out what happened, there is a sudden blackout on the Rodpod. When the lights come back on, several of the crew have vanished into thin space air. An upset Tailgate points a pistol at Megatron and soon guns are drawn in an old-fashioned (if space-set) Mexican standoff.

Enemy Mine: Windblade # 3!

THE good news is that our new female Autobot protagonist Windblade will be returning in another mini-series from IDW Publishing in 2015, a series called—what else—“Windblade Returns.” That revelation does give away that fact that Windblade will be surviving her current series, “Transformers: Windblade,” but then again, it would have been a real shame if this intriguing new fan-favorite creation met her demise at the end of her first four-issue solo run. That doesn’t mean writer Mairghread Scott and artist Sarah Stone won’t be putting Windblade in dangerous situations because it can be argued that Windblade is dangerous situations throughout the entirety of “Transformers: Windblade” # 3. At the end of “Windblade” # 2, Windblade had rallied some Autobot back-up (and Swindle) to dive deep into the bowels of Metroplex’s filtration system in order to stop Strascream from mining a powerful ore. Unfortunately, the motley group of heroes (and Swindle and Waspinator) get pinned down by the Terrorcons. While they put up a pretty good fight, the heroes are captured when Starscream himself shows up to do the dirty work.

Moving Parts: More Than Meets The Eye # 30!

TALK about a big issue. It’s already been established that “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” (“TF:MTMTE”) is the best among IDW Publishing’s current TF comic book series. Writer James Roberts has packed so much into this series that it feels like so much is happening at the same time. “TF:MTMTE” # 30 is therefore the best issue of the series so far. Oh, where to begin? One of the series’ great mysteries is how Megatron—being tried on the Cybertronian moon Luna 2 for war crimes as leader of the Decepticons—got off without being executed and then appointed captain of The Lost Light as the quest for the Knights of Cybertron and Cyberutopia continued. The previous issues had shown what happened before the trial and what happened after. This issue fills in that huge gap. The solution is smart and ambitious; it just depends if you buy it or not. The turning point of the trial and the Megatron-as-captain development are all crammed into this issue and at times it’s almost like we’re spoiled for choice in terms of story. And, wow, Cybertronian law is weird.