Ricky Church reviews Transformers #4…
We’re another chapter into IDW’s Transformers reboot, but with four issues it doesn’t feel like the story has advanced in any meaningful way since the reboot began. Brian Ruckley continues to extensively explore this new version of Cybertron, but it comes at the expense of the murder mystery as well as even character development. While Transformers #4 still presents interesting ideas to the mythology, the lack of plot progression makes the issue a bit of a frustrating read.
When it comes to the mystery behind Brainstorm’s murder, we’re no closer to any answers than we were after his death. Windblade and Chromia are still looking for clues while Prowl continues searching for a voin scavenger that might have witnessed something. The only progression to this part of the story at all is Windblade and Chromia having a chance encounter with Cyclonus, now imagined as a recluse living in Cybertron’s outlands who lives close to the murder scene. Though Cyclonus tells the pair he didn’t see anything, it is apparent from his remark to his ghostly imaginations that he did in fact see something, potentially a bot that looks like Rubble. This isn’t particularly anything new, though, as Chromia has suspected Rubble as a possible suspect from the beginning. Much like other elements of the story so far, Ruckley could also be laying down a red herring to make readers suspect Rubble as well. There’s not even any kind of follow-up to Orion’s strange meeting at the conclusion of the last issue or the assassination attempt on Megatron, leaving some important questions in the air, though Ruckley does drop some intriguing pieces about other characters amidst the world-building.
And that is what most of Transformers #4 deals with: more world-building from Ruckley as Rubble and Bumblebee witness another bot being born and further discuss the importance of having a mentor. It feels like the same discussion between them has been going on since the first issue as Rubble is introduced to more aspects of Cybertronian society. Their scene is the longest in the book at 8 whole pages – a third of the 22-page book – but doesn’t reveal much new about their society beyond how excited they get at the creation of a new bot or Starscream getting name dropped. It’s the scene after that at Brainstorm’s funeral that more information about another religious faction is revealed, making the length of Rubble’s scene a bit unnecessary. Ruckley’s world-building is still nice, but his slow-burn to the story is starting to feel repetitive. At least the series is twice-monthly, otherwise the speed of the story would feel much worse.
The art in the book is at least a high point for the issue. Cachet Whitman is off this time and in her place is both Sara Pitre-Durocher and Andrew Griffith, two Transformers veterans from IDW’s previous continuity. Pitre-Durocher covers Windblade and Chromia’s encounter with Cyclonus and her familiarity with the pair after working extensively on them for Till All Are One makes it the best looking sequence of the issue. The brief action between the trio is quite energetic as Pitre-Durocher does well illustrating their body language, expressions and transformations. Griffith handles Braintstorm’s funeral and gives Orion, Megatron and Ironhide a good presence even when they’re just standing having a discussion. The detail Griffith provides on Orion’s body or the Reversionist leader is quite well done. Angel Hernandez tackles Bumblebee and Rubble once again and if there is one thing that is impressive about his work, it’s his crowd scenes. Hernandez manages to put quite a lot of detail into large scenes like this. Joana Lafuente and Josh Burcham’s colours also give the art a vibrant look in the first two sequences before switching nicely to a more somber tone in the funeral scene. The art at least makes up for some of the story’s shortcomings.
While it’s clear Ruckley’s is playing long game with the series, his approach is making the issues feel a bit repetitive as nothing totally new has been revealed about the plot or the characters to a large degree yet, making it feel like Transformers hasn’t progressed very far from its first issue. The art from the team at least improves the issue, but the lack of momentum in the plot drags it down a lot. Hopefully the series will start picking up soon and feel less repetitive.
Rating: 6/10
Ricky Church
