Ricky Church reviews Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two – Volume 7…
Throughout the history of Transformers, there are several tropes which are often repeated no matter the interpretation of the franchise: Optimus Prime dies and returns at least once, Unicron plays a role of some kind and the Decepticons, in almost every case, start the war that swallows Cybertron for millions of years. Every once in a while, however, there comes along one thing that adds something new to the mythology, something that hasn’t quite been done yet. In Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two – Volume 7, we see perhaps one of the biggest shake-ups to the Transformers franchise in a long time: Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, actually becomes an Autobot!
Writers James Roberts and John Barber craft an intriguing start to their ‘second season’ of Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye and Transformers: Robots in Disguise. During Dark Cybertron, Megatron finally realized the error of his ways and defected from his own cause, taking on the Autobot standard and turning himself over to be tried. The book begins six months after the big event for both titles, occasionally flashing back to how Megatron became captain of the Lost Light or why Optimus Prime and several other Autobots decided to head back to Earth after so many years away. The new direction of Megatron as an Autobot opens up several doors for the former tyrant as well as those around him, offering some fresh perspectives on life post-war.
Roberts writes a compelling take on Megatron in More Than Meets The Eye. This is a bot who hasn’t exactly softened in his personality, but feels a lot of remorse for his past actions and what his lofty revolution turned into. Its funny to see him contrasted against that of Rodimus; the one transformer we see with Megatron the most is obviously Optimus, so its great to see Megatron instead interacting with Rodimus, Ratchet, and Ultra Magnus a fair bit as well as other bots, both well and lesser known, from the franchise.
Roberts’ handling of the other characters is well done too. He continues writing a dense plot that’s rewarding upon a second reading as he packs callbacks to previous issues and hints towards the future of the series throughout the story. Those hints are also helped by artists Alex Milne and Atillio Rojo who give some subtle clues in certain panels. Even without the hints, though, Milne and Rojo’s visuals are one of the best aspects of the book, creating clear character movements with some impressive facial expressions for the bots. Sometimes their panels can be a bit crammed with characters, but its not too confusing about what’s going on or who’s who.
Meanwhile, Barber handles Optimus’ mission back to Earth with an equally compelling story. He and a handful of Autobots return to the planet after they learn Alpha Trion is somewhere there, most likely being held prisoner by the humans. Unlike nearly every other Transformers iteration, human/Cybertronian relations are not the best as most of the planet blames the transformers – regardless of Autobot or Decepticon allegiance – for the destruction they’ve wrought with their war. With Earth being out of the picture for so many years, we don’t get too much of a look at how Earth has changed, but what Barber does present is an interesting exploration of what has changed within the military and the aggressive stance they take.
Part of that aggressive stance is coming into a loose alliance with the Decepticons, now led by Galvatron (who in this continuity is a separate being from Megatron). Why anyone would willingly enter into an alliance with the Decepticons, especially after what they did in All Hail Megatron, is crazy, but Barber does spend some time on why the humans would do that with Soundwave and Galvatron manipulating them with the notion of pinning everything on Megatron, who is now ‘leading’ the Autobots. Its clear, though, the humans don’t trust the Decepticons either and have made arrangements to end them as well, a fact that brings some more logic to the alliance as their using them for their own ends too.
Barber’s got a good take on the characters and writes some interesting humans. Some may seem a little one-note, but they’re still presented well. He shines, however, with his characterization of Optimus and Prowl, the latter of whom is just as manipulative and ruthless as ever. The growing schism between the two longtime friends is captivating to see as Barber explores Prowl’s questionable tactics even further. His take on Galvatron is just as compelling too, giving a fresh take on the villain now that he is free from Nova Prime and in charge of an actual army.
Andrew Griffiths art for the Robots in Disguise issues is quite good, though his work on the humans doesn’t look as impressive as the bots. He illustrates some clear action scenes, though, and is able to make each bot fairly expressive whether through the action or just standing still. Sarah Stone and Livio Ramondelli also do a couple chapters later in the book and their art is also good, though Stone’s is a bit more ‘cartoony’ than Griffith’s while Ramondelli uses a lot of dark colours that make the issue quite atmospheric, but also makes it a bit hard to tell what’s happening in some panels.
Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two – Volume 7 is a nice new chapter for the ongoing Transformers series that places familiar characters in entirely unique settings. The emphasis on Megatron and his changing perspective is one of the best things to come out of the series and adds so much to the character while the plot on Earth is intriguing. Roberts and Barber certainly do know how to play around in this world and their story is a compelling one for longtime and new fans.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church
