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.

Twin Twist: More Than Meets The Eye # 37!

FOR a change, I’m going to keep things as short as I can—to encourage readers to actually pick up IDW Publishing’s “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye” (“TF: MTMTE”) # 37 because writer James Roberts and artist Alex Milne continue to produce one superlative issue after another. Last issue was a mind-blowing issue, and this one starts off seeming like it’s going nowhere, begins to turn towards a different direction, and then plunges right into a shock ending.

            There is so much going on in this issue that I will just keep to the most important bits (since it can be argued that every little and big thing here is really important). After missing the time-traveling Decepticon double agent Brainstorm, Rodimus’ own time-traveling squad has arrived in the City of Rodion in the past. It’s the time of the Clampdown, when the oppressive Senate has enforced curfews and the functionist movement is gaining strength—just as the Decepticon movement is growing. Cyclonus is shocked by how beautiful Rodion is. Back in the present, Perceptor and Rodimus realize that time itself seems to be starting to re-write itself, because the very act of Brainstorm traveling back in time has already created a new timeline even if he hasn’t succeeded yet in assassinating Orion Pax, the future Optimus Prime. The funniest scene is the Maccadam’s Oil House in the past, where Rung, distracted by seeing his past self, misses Brainstorm completely. We get an insightful conversation between Nightbeat and his partner Quark about the oppressive nature of the Clampdown. “The dirtier your job, the greater your chances of survival,” says Quark of the coming Decepticon revolution.

           

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?