Luke Owen looks at Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #15…
DEATH IN THE RANKS! Rodimus and his crew are confronted by the enemy within—and not everyone will survive the encounter. Everything has been building to this: all-out war aboard the Lost Light!
Read the previous issue review here.
After months and months of below average issues, James Roberts’ Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye finally has something to write home about.
The rise of Overlord aboard the Lost Light was set up brilliantly in last month’s issue and More Than Meets The Eye #15 follows up on it excellently. The story, while annoyingly fragmented, is gripping and the dialogue is more or less kept to the bear minimum. I’ve been very harsh on Roberts for going overboard with dialogue but here he’s done a good job of keeping it all relevant – which really helped the story move along.
On top of that, we are treated to an almost Transformers: The Movie style regard for its cast as we get several deaths to established characters. Two of these in particular are captivating for different reasons. One is outstanding because it catches you off guard and it shows the power and devastation of Overlord as a character. In the last issue Roberts portrayed him as this unstoppable badass but all we saw was him getting his metallic butt kicked by Megatron time and time again. This first kill though establishes him as the unstoppable machine he should be.
The second on that really got me was the death of one of my all-time favourite Transformers. Not only did it hit me right in my nostalgic heart, it was also well written, well-timed and perfectly executed.
However there was a major problem with it.
When you look back on memorable comic book deaths like Captain America and Superman and you remember the colours, the detail, the lines, the contours, the emotion. You remember these for a reason. Because comics are a visual medium and these images are the ones that stick with you due to their incredible artwork. What Milne has chosen to do however is use his usual mash of different shades of turquoise and draw both characters in positions that make them look similar in shape and size, ultimately blending them into one. Ironically, it shares the same problem with Michael Bay’s live action Transformers – if you can’t make out what’s going on, you can’t invest in the action.
What annoys me is that I know Milne is better than this. You’ve only got to look at the cover of this issue and the stunning level of detail and life it holds. In fact, there is a superb two-page splash in the opening moments of the comic which is so vibrant, colourful and everyone looks unique with their own character – which is what made Transformers great in the first place.
It could very well be just a personal gripe, but Milne’s artwork is ruining what is not that great a comic to begin with. Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #15 was pretty good and it certainly had its moments – but it hasn’t really made up for the past few months of below-average affairs.
Originally published March 20, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
