Ricky Church reviews Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two – Vol. 8…
While IDW has started a new Transformers series with a fresh continuity, the publisher is still releasing its previous series in deluxe format with Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two – Vol. 8. Collecting several issues from Transformers, More Than Meets The Eye, the Drift: Empire of Stone miniseries and a one-shot prominently featuring the Dinobots, this is a fairly hefty collection with some strong focus on the various characters, particularly Megatron in More Than Meets The Eye, that should please many longtime fans of Transformers.
In James Roberts’ More Than Meets The Eye, Rodimus and the crew of the Lost Light deal with the ramifications of the previous volume of learning one of their own has not only been an apparent Decepticon spy this whole time, but has travelled back in time to change the past by assassinating Orion Pax before the war fully broke out. It’s a pretty fun adventure as Rodimus and a select group follow Brainstorm to various points in the past as they try to protect Orion with each point tying into other events from Roberts’ stories. There are some nice surprises as Brainstorm’s objective isn’t as clear cut as they all believe with some clever subversion by Roberts, especially with a look at how much worse Cybertron might have turned out without the war. His characterization on Rodimus, Megatron, Ultra Magnus and the others are pretty good as they share some insightful and funny back-and-forth with each other. Of the other bots, Rewind and Whirl get some pretty good examination as their situations are a bit unique among the cast as Rewind’s records memory is slowly being over-ridden by the new timeline and Whirl actually drops his sarcastic facade and gets a bit serious as he contemplates his place in Cybertron’s past society. It shows that even with all the jokes and fantastical nature of the story, Roberts nails the character moments very well.
The other side of IDW’s Transformers features a bit more of the classic Autobots versus Decepticons action as Optimus Prime and his team deal with the Decepticon faction under the leadership of Galvatron and their unlikely, but tenuous, human alliance. John Barber writes a fairly compelling story as both factions search for a mysterious and ancient Cybertronian device which also sees the return of a controversial human from the Autobots’ previous time on Earth – Spike Witwicky. Barber writes Spike in a better manner than his old appearances before Barber and Roberts came onboard to the franchise, but he’s still a pretty arrogant character that you don’t feel too bad when he’s being chased by Galvatron or comes face-to-face with Prowl and the vengeful Constructicons. Some of the humans come off a little one-note in their quest against the Autobots, though the newer character Garrison Blackrock is fairly intriguing with his personality and knowledge of Cybertronian artifacts.
Barber’s characterization on the bots is one of the best aspects of the book. He continues writing a compelling take on Prowl as he manipulates his allies to achieve his own goals in his ‘ends justifies the means’ beliefs. Galvatron is also presented as a more complex figure than most iterations, one that is just honourable enough but follows his strict warrior’s code to a tee as he deals with his allies and enemies in any way he sees fit. Many of the bots are characterized well and have their own voices, coming across as individual characters. Barber strikes a nice balance with the tone of the story as he blends the lighter moments with the seriousness of the plot.
The other two stories included are a one-shot featuring Optimus Prime and the Dinobots and a miniseries focusing on Drift and Ratchet. Punishment has some good interactions between Prime and the Dinobots, led by Slug now, as they, Windblade and Starscream investigate a number of murdered Decepticons. Barber presents a good story that relies less on the action and more on the mystery of who did it while examining the animosity that still lingers between the two factions in peacetime, especially the crimes that were committed on both sides of the war and the Dinobots role in them.
Meanwhile, Shane McCarthy returns to Transformers with a story on the Autobot he created during his All Hail Megatron tenure, Drift: Empire of Stone. The miniseries sees Drift reunite with Ratchet as the Autobot medic tries bringing him back to the Lost Light, but they get waylaid by a group of Decepticons Drift knew before he defected and a mysterious, powerful army. Of all the stories in the collection, this one is probably the weakest as it doesn’t necessarily reveal anything new about Drift, though his interactions with Ratchet are quite good and McCarthy’s humour lands fairly well, particularly in a scene where Drift, Ratchet and a Decepticon prisoner are locked in a cell together attempting an escape. It’s still somewhat forgettable though, especially on the villainous front, though one of Drift’s old comrades stands out from the big villain of the series.
One of the main draws to this collection is the art featured throughout the book. With artists like Alex Milne, Brendan Cahill, Hayato Sakamoto, Livion Ramondelli and Andrew Griffith, the art is very well done with the bots being emotive and some nice, clear choreography during the action sequences. Guido Guidi’s artwork in the Drift miniseries is a little rougher than the other artists, but he still presents nice imagery and some interesting designs for the Decepticons. The colours from Joana Lafuente, Josh Perez, John-Paul Bove and Ramondelli make everything very vibrant. Lafuente and Perez in particular have a good use of colours throughout the stories they’re featured on.
Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two – Vol. 8 is a great collection for Transformers fans. The stories are a good mixture of fun and drama with some pretty interesting ideas from John Barber and James Roberts that build upon the overarching story they’ve been doing in their respective series. The artwork from all involved is well done and makes the imagery pop off the page whether the transformers are battling each other or just standing around debating what to do. Fans of IDW’s Transformers will be happy to add this to their library of Transformers media.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church
