Hey folks, I’m back again for another issue of Skybound’s Transformers! Issue #8 here is wonderfully written by Daniel Warren Johnson with fantastic art by Jorge Corona. Am I burying the lede by saying it’s good already? Aw, you all know that already, so let’s not dawdle.
This is one densely packed issue, I gotta say. Coming off of the Free Comic Day Special (which, by the way, since I didn’t cover it myself: HOT ROD!!!! AAAAAAAHH!!!! MY FAVORITE!!! Ahem.), us robot lovers are sure eating well this month. Theres a lot of story going on in this issue between the various unfolding subplots, a real meaty one to make your money’s worth I’d say. We start with a somber and quiet little scene of Carly, Spike and Cliffjumper hanging out and trying to cope with recent events, understandably so after all they’ve gone through. It’s a nice bit of character development for them all, and shows how different they all are in how they process what’s happened to them. It’s certainly a lot more interesting and involved characterization than Spike and Carly ever got in previous incarnations (except maybe Marvel for Spike), so as a fan of the human/robot dynamics in this franchise, I’m happy to see that.
We next get a small glimpse at what Elita-1 is doing now that she’s saved that mysterious (probably Ultra Magnus) prisoner back on Cybertron, before switching over to what the Decepticons have been up to, and one of my favorite ‘cons, Thundercracker, proves to have retained some of his popular IDW characterization as being reluctant about the whole murder and destruction cause, and as a fan I like that. Maybe someday far down the line we can see more payoff to that, but the real point of this entire Decepticon subplot is to establish the triple-changing Astrotrain! A classic fan favourite for sure, with a radical Megatron-hating characterization, didn’t expect that one, but I’m fascinated by the implication that Soundwave of all bots would be willing to offer his leader’s head on a silver platter like that. There’s also the surprise appearance of another favorite of mine, Shockwave! Hmmm… much to think about.
Skybound Entertainment
Even with all that said, theres still so much more. A very heartfelt exchange between Optimus and Jetfire (yet another fave of mine, man this really is my week, I guess), and an even more heartwarming scene where Arcee essentially adopts Carly now that they both feel like they’ve got no family left. It’s very cute, and it offers a spin on the always beloved O.G female Transformer (don’t say Chromia or Elita, I know the history, I’m as big a nerd as all of you, trust me) and her role on the team as a big-sister type, similar to what she had in Transformers: Prime. Do we need to talk about what’s going on with Optimus having those memory flashes of baby Spike? We can all figure out where that’s headed after what happened to Sparkplug, right? Yeah? Cool, on the same page then, that’s one of the things I like about you.
Skybound Entertainment
With a book so packed with story, a great artist like Corona really helps carry it along smoothly. I’d somehow forgotten last time that he was also the artist on the Batgirls book from last year (of which I reviewed some early issues of, Cass Cain fan that I am), and I don’t know how I did when his art was by far my favourite thing about that book. He did fantastic work there, and I’m kicking myself for not recognizing the style until after I’d written the last review. I’ll say it now though, great talent, loved his work there, and he’s a fantastic successor to Johnson’s pencils in this book. I have zero reservations about him, not that I had any last time, but I have even less now! That make sense? Ah, you get it.
What an issue, huh? I sure can babble on when I want to; good books tend to do that to me. Seriously though, I’m impressed with how much this book has going on for itself in such a relatively average page count, everything is very tightly packed while still not feeling overly dense or wordy. Really professional grade work there, and another example of why this book is – no, wait, I used that one last time. They’re… Cyberv- Uh… Robots In Dis- Whatever, it’s a great book, all right? Buy it, ya turbo revvin’ punks.
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