Ricky Church reviews Transformers: Shattered Glass #1…
Transformers fans have seen many different iterations of the classic war between the Autobots and Decepticons in the 30+ years the franchise has been around, but things are quite different in IDW’s new miniseries Transformers: Shattered Glass. The series takes place in a post-war Cybertron where the Autobots have won the war and the few Decepticons left are in hiding and hunted. Oh, and the Autobots are the evil galactic tyrants with the Decepticons in place of the heroes. The miniseries’ first issue takes the concept into some interesting areas from newcomer Transformers writer Danny Lore with neat twists on the characters that Transformers fans should find exciting and intriguing.
The introduction to this twisted Transformers universe comes from Blurr, reimagined as an Autobot bounty hunter who enjoys the thrill of the chase and adding to his legacy. When a bounty for Starscream, Megatron’s most trusted (!) lieutenant, opens up Blurr immediately takes it, hoping to add one of Cybertron’s most wanted to his long resume while getting a really cool story out of it.
Throughout the issue Lore gives a brief rundown of the history of this new world, revealing even in victory the evil Autobots are infighting each other more than worrying about any Decepticon uprising since so few are left. Lore doesn’t concern himself too much with the exposition or which details are exactly different from the normal universe. Instead, he just takes the concept and runs with it, creating an intriguing introductory issue. His characterization of Shattered Glass‘ Blurr is pretty entertaining as he captures the cocky, arrogant and bloodthirsty attitude of this bounty hunter, but its with Starscream that is attention grabbing. The usual Decepticon schemer and betrayer is instead presented as an honourable, idealistic yet realistic and trusted hero who talks about how Decepticons won’t accept the lies the Autobots spread. He is It’s quite a stark contrast to how normal Starscream is typically presented, especially since the Shattered Glass Starscream is actually a skilled warrior both in fighting ability and cunning.
Guido Guidi’s artwork is solid and it seems like he has a lot of fun in visualizing the new versions of the bots, including a few subtle cameos here and there of other well known transformers. Both he and Lore hold back on revealing some of the bigger names like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee (or Goldbug as he is called here) to focus more on the secondary characters. Guidi’s detailed in his imagery and the choreography of the few action beats we see. John-Paul Bove’s colours are vibrant and it’s clear he is also having fun with the different takes on the characters. His colours on Starscream more resemble Jetfire, which is pretty fitting considering their history in most continuities, and the issue shows off a lot of varied colours for the settings as Bove depicts cities, lava mountains, battlefields and other areas.
Transformers: Shattered Glass #1 gives the concept a new yet familiar feeling. Lore does a nice job ingratiating himself into the Transformers franchise and gives each character a unique voice and moves the story along at a nice pace, even with the exposition for how Cybertron and its characters got to where it is now. The combined artwork from Guidi and Bove creates a very vibrant issue that has some fun with how drastic the characters look and act. As tired as the alternate universe trope can sometimes be in franchises, this is definitely something Transformers fans should check out.
Rating: 8/10
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