Luke Owen reviews Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #18…
‘DON’T LET THEM TAKE SKIDS!’ The crew of the Lost Light left CYBERTRON before they could hear those words-part of a message from the future warning of terror and catastrophe and a threat to the entire Cybertronian race. Can the AUTOBOTS do anything to stop the beginning of the end?
Fellow Flickering Myth contributor Rohan Morby was talking on the podcast recently about his displeasure in the constant need for comic relief. His main points of contention where Iron Man 3 and Tony’s need to make a joke every other scene and Star Trek Into Darkness that had the same issue with Simon Pegg’s Scotty. While he doesn’t read comics, I’m sure he’d really hate Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #18. Really, really hate it.
It’s almost like a different writing team took over the reigns for this issue. I know I’ve had my issues with it in the past and have been known to tell the comic to lighten up, but this is a 180 turn from the seriousness of the More Than Meets The Eye #17.
Of course, the series has always had Tailgate to provide the comedy relief (he’s like the Scotty of More Than Meets The Eye) but in this issue it seemed everyone was written to sound like him. Even Rodimus Prime, a reliable source of seriousness, was reduced to nothing more than one liners and ‘witty comments’. I’m not saying this is an overly bad thing as it did get some laughs out of me, I’m just so surprised by it all.
That’s not to say that this is a 100% laugh out loud comedy romp, far from it. In fact More Than Meets The Eye #18 has got some of the more intriguing and darker moments of the whole series. There is one visual towards the end that is almost taken straight from a horror movie – it’s really, really good. The final page reveal is also really interesting and I look forward to where this is heading.
The artwork is bad once again, but I think I’ve harped on about that long enough while reviewing this comic. Block colours, dull backgrounds and not enough detail.
I’m not sure whether I really liked Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #18. Aside from the two stand out moments, it is such a departure from what came before it. And when it’s not cracking wise or making jokes, it’s really not that interesting. I’d probably suggest enduring it to get to the good stuff at the end, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to read this.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published June 18, 2013. Updated November 7, 2019.
