Luke Owen reviews the latest issue of Transformers: Robots in Disguise…
“ON THE PROWL! It’s “no more mister nice guy,” as CYBERTRON burns and one AUTOBOT is all that stand between order and anarchy. Meet the new PROWL—deadlier than ever, colder than any other AUTOBOT, and ready to end the DECEPTICON threat—forever.”
I came under fire last month with my review of Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #12 because I lambasted it and said reading it gave me a headache. While many of the comments were a little ‘on the nose’, the point still remains that I was in the minority of people who didn’t like it. I stand by my comments of the series and praise Prime that we thankfully we have the Robots in Disguise run to ease the pain.
Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #12 was a badly written and badly paced comic that was a complete mess, which is a stark contrast to Transformers: Robots in Disguise #13 which is a totally different kettle of fish. The writing is streamlined and tight, the artwork is smooth with good definition and the pacing is note-perfect bringing you to a fantastic conclusion. It doesn’t have the same baggage that More Than Meets The Eye #12 has and it’s all the better for it.
However I can see there being some problems arising from this issue. John Barber bringing back Megatron to lead the Decepticons raises concerns that the comic series will return back to its classic ‘Autobot vs. Decepticon’ roots whereas the previous instalments had been taking the series down a different and more political route. For me personally, I love it. I’ve always liked Megatron as an antagonist and the dialogue exchange (although only one way in terms of speech) between Starscream and the battered Megatron reminded me just how great of a character he is. Their relationship has always been a strong glue for the Transformers franchise and it’s great to see more of this highly engaging and gripping dynamic. The re-design of Megatron as this battered and withered being is very imposing which adds a lot to his newly revived character. In fact, a lot of Andrew Griffith’s artwork in this issue is fantastic with a lot of moody shots of a devastated Cybertron along with the awesome battles really couple well with the well-crafted plot threads.
Transformers: Robots in Disguise has never been the best comic money can buy, but it’s a lot better than its sister More Than Meets The Eye series. Transformers: Robots in Disguise #13 is a prime example of this and with the cliff-hanger we get at the end, I’m sure it will continue.
Originally published January 10, 2013. Updated April 10, 2018.
