Last time I was here, I had the privilege and honor to be able to read and review the new Transformers #1 from Skybound. To say I enjoyed it would be putting it mildly. It was a slam dunk in every way, with Daniel Warren Johnson’s art and writing being further elevated by Mike Spicer’s excellent coloring. The book took the entire comics world by storm that week, so how in the hell is anybody supposed to follow that up? Well, you come out swinging again.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Transformers #2!
This issue has the same creative team as mentioned up top, and managed to pull me in immediately with possibly the best possible characterization direction for Optimus Prime I could have hoped for. He is every bit the kind, softhearted hero enamored with life that I always hope him to be. Johnson comes out the gate swinging this issue by having Prime, on page 1, witness the majestic beauty of Earth and its nature – and his first encounter with the sanctity of its life in a touching, heart-wrenching display of kindness and humanity. In his elation, Optimus accidentally steps on and kills a deer. He is horrified by his clumsy action taking a life, and cradles the innocent creature for page upon page before gently setting the animal down for rest. I cried. I genuinely teared up. That is everything Optimus should be. He’s kind, he’s sorrowful, he’s strong enough to be gentle. I have no more words for that, it’s just… it’s perfect.
Image Comics/Skybound
Outside that masterful display of writing, we learn more details about this version of the Transformers’ world, and it’s revealed that Optimus himself is actually quite the young bot- hell, the WAR is young, at least from the crash landed bots’ perspective (I don’t think we know how long they’ve been offline yet, so it’s hard to say, but Void Rivals suggests the usual couple million years). Optimus explains that they had only been fighting the war for 200 years, a far cry from the standard couple million of nonstop battle that’s become franchise standard. That’s an interesting new angle to explore, as is the notion that Optimus was a young man (bot?), barely out into the world when the war broke out. He’s a person who seems to have had most of his life shaped by war, and yet he remains the gentle soul we know him as. That’s some great subtle character stuff.
Image Comics/Skybound
On that note, the rest of the issue mainly focused on the Decepticons and their toying with local human authorities (and a sly setup for Joshua Williamson’s Duke). It’s a pretty brutal affair, putting even the cliffhanger in the first issue to shame in its brutality. I will say it really dances the line between gory ultraviolence and standard comic book fare, but the lack of outright blood keeps it strictly on the latter side. I do think however, that the Decepticons having a bodycount – a gleefully passionate one at that – helps in very strictly framing who’s a villain and who is not. It’s a direct contrast to Optimus’ distraught situation with the deer, and even builds the subtle background detail of Soundwave being a bit less… murder hungry, let’s say, through his sympathy for Ravage last issue and the fact he calls humans, well, humans. It’s always been a popular practice to frame the villains of a story as sympathetic, and the Decepticons on the whole are no stranger to that in past media, especially the IDW comics. I think this book firmly and brutally sends a pretty clear message that this isn’t exactly the direction we’re gonna be seeing out of this universe… well, for now anyway.
Image Comics/Skybound
The art of course is just as fantastic as last time. Johnson and Spicer just ooze talent right onto the page. I ate this entire book up in about five minutes, reread it again, and again, and then another time. It’s so easy to just go through over and over and enjoy the subtle details and choices being made with the art. The use of a bright reddish pink to punctuate Optimus’ accident with the dear, or just the general way in which the colors make every character stand out and pop right off the page. The beauty that Prime is enamored by on the first page is entirely believable due to how gorgeous the art itself is. And I feel like I don’t have to say that Johnson is a master as choreographing an action scene again, because the book totally speaks for itself there.
Honestly, I was almost as impressed with this issue as I was the last. There were some misgivings I had with the brutality on display that I think might prove a bit much for younger readers, but upon further reflection, it’s more about the tone of the situation rather than any actual blood or guts. It’s a mature book, for sure – not in the gritty, 2cool4skool way, but in a genuine, thoughtful way. Maybe don’t let your ten year-old read it, but your thirteen-and-ups should have no problem.
Man, what a book. I’m just so excited for the future of this comic, and for what Johnson does with Transformers. I’m already impatient for the next issue, and I get to read these friggin’ things early.
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