Comic Books

‘Transformers’ #4 shocks and excites

‘Transformers’ #4 is immensely cool.

January 10, 2024

Another month, another Transformers home run by the Skybound crew of writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson and Colourist Mike Spicer. As I’ve made plenty of aware over these past few months, this book has consistently been a jaw-dropping, exciting experience with amazing twists on classic ideas and fantastic characterizations. Nothing has changed here. This book STILL managed to floor me by the end, in the best way possible.

Once again, the characterization of Optimus Prime takes center stage as the best aspect of this entire book so far; almost every page and line of dialogue from the guy feels spot on and perfect, with that warm, compassionate leader we all know and love has never felt more like himself. In particular, everything Optimus does at the hospital is stellar writing from Johnson. Between his heartfelt conversation with Spike’s father Sparkplug, the time he took to entertain a sickly child (while immensely injured and low on energy at that), and the ultimate act of selflessness being his use of the Matrix to restore power to the hospital and save every life within, this issue somehow manages even to top the last 3 for fantastic Optimus moments.

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This is the warmest, most heartfelt, and kindest version of Optimus that has perhaps ever existed, which is really saying something. Contrasted to this is Starscream and Soundwave’s brutal dismantling of their ally Skywarp for spare parts, which is pretty damn horrific when you really think about what’s going on. The cruelty of the Decepticons and the heroism of the Autobots, and Prime in particular, have been the running theme of this opening storyline thus far, and every issue only seems to continue to push even harder to showcase that. There is NO ambiguity here on who the heroes and villains are; that’s for certain.

Credit: Skybound

I’ll also praise the way my expectations were subverted with Sparkplug (or Sparky as this book calls him, but I’m used to Sparkplug so I’m gonna keep calling him that). I was fully expecting the standard, superhero type of plot where the father disapproves of the potentially dangerous company their kids keep, given how he’s been set up in the past few issues, which, in all fairness, would have been a perfectly logical place to take the character. However, that type of story, of would-be human allies having a suspicious chip on their shoulder about the Autobots, was one of my most hated aspects of the classic IDW continuity, so I couldn’t be happier that Johnson swerves around that expectation and has Sparkplug become an ally like the classic incarnation from the 80s cartoon and comics (though I will note that him being on good but still iffy terms with the Autobots was part of his Marvel characterization too, so it’s entirely possible we’ll get a version of that here going forward).

Credit: Skybound

I won’t even spoil the ending pages because, HOLY MOTHER OF PRIMUS, what a goddamn stinger to end on. Just… wow, that is something I don’t think I ever saw coming a light year away, and I am commending Johnson on every level for such a “holy shit” moment. If you need ANY reason to read this book this month, check it out for the ending alone.

The art is also stellar, as usual, with some immensely cool pages and shots that I’m sure are going to become iconic, like the previously mentioned final few pages. The shot of Optimus using the Matrix is as “You Got The Touch” worthy of a moment as I’ve ever seen, which is about the highest compliment a Transformers fan can give to such a drawing. The way the bots in this issue are just so beaten down and battered is reflected very well in Johnson’s work here, with them all scratched up, grimy, and covered in dents and carbon burns from all the fighting they’ve endured. It’s a great level of detail very much worthy of the high standards of art that Transformers books of the past have set.

Another fantastic issue of this fantastic comic. Transformers is absolutely my favorite book on shelves right now, and that’s saying a lot with how many books I like right now from the Big Two alone. It’s a book that’s managed to shock and excite me literally every single time, and I can’t say that about many comics. Get yourself a copy, and roll out.