Review – Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #24 (Dark Cybertron part 6 of 12) (IDW)

Posted on January 14, 2014 in Reviews

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: John Barber & James Roberts
Artist: James Raiz (Lost Light), Atilio Rojo (Cybertron), Livio Ramondelli (Dead Universe)
Release Date: 15th January 2014

Welcome back Cybertronians! Big Dave back here bringing you my review of the latest adventures of everyone’s favourite robots in disguise! Part 6 of the Dark Cybertron is finally here, it feels like an AGE since the previous issue. Last time we left the ‘bots and ‘cons things were looking rather dire. Galvatron had ripped Megatron in half, Shockwave was in control of the Necro-titan – poised to attack New Iacon and Rodimus’ dead universe expedition had taken a turn for the worse with Nightbeat leading them into a trap and Nova Prime himself about to deal with the Orion Pax et al! So… how does this issue stack up?

At this point I think we all know what we’re getting from this series – it’s a slow burn and the pace is somewhat glacial but if you can get on board with that (and I can) then you’re in for a good ride. With three plotlines moving in tandem and all of them arguable taking priority it’s understandable that there’d be pacing issues. Had this event been published monthly then I think the pace would have really hurt the series but as it stands we’re getting 40+ pages of the story every month so while individual issues may feel a bit slow, in the over-all scheme it’s actually going at a fair speed. Naturally all the characters are written well and plotting is water-tight but that’s almost a given with Roberts and Barber.

I felt like this issue is where James Raiz really came into his own. His inks are still a touch heavy but his style is really growing on me. While MTMTE is undoubtedly Alex Milnes book I’d be happy to see Raiz do some fill-ins. Hell, he’d be fantastic as a regular on RiD too although I think he’s got some work for DC comics coming up soon. Rojo is perhaps the weakest link but by no means the worst artist to have worked on TF books. His Necro-titan has a nice blocky G1-ish feel to it which sets it apart from the rest of the cast – fitting considering how old the titans are supposed to be. Ramondelli’s ethereal art is perfect for the Dead Universe – his colouring and inking make everything feel so completely different from the rest of the book that it conveys a real sense of foreboding and dread. That said his work can be slightly murky at times and the last panel reveal is kinda ruined by not being able to identify the character in question.

Cover shout-out this time around goes to the Retailer Incentive cover – can’t beat some bad-ass Dinobots firing some BFGs! Speaking of Dinobots – Sludge doesn’t even get a mention on the cast list page, poor Sludge – he never gets anything to do! Dark Cybertron, for all it’s faults, is still the best Transformers comicbook event to be published. We still have 6 more issues to go so there’s plenty of room to really blow our socks off. Oh, and we need a Trailbreaker remold into Flatline – like, yesterday.