Hey folks, it’s Crooker here again with another review for Daniel Warren Johnson and Jorge Corona’s Transformers from Skybound! This is issue #17, and we’re a year and a half deep into this run. Crazy, right? This one’s a bit of an “in-betweener” of an issue, with lots of little threads moving forward, so let’s break it all down.
Theres a lot of stuff going on here. We don’t get a follow up on Megatron yet, but we do get to see what’s become of Ultra Magnus, Thundercracker, Cliffjumper and the main Autobot team on Earth, so there’s plenty packed in. The Optimus portion is fairly good, with him diving in to try and save as many human lives as possible despite Wheeljack’s insistence that it would be better to get him checked out for his increasingly common breakdowns. This is a good bit of subtle character work, and presents a flaw in Optimus that he’s kindhearted to a fault, even when it might be more risky to people’s lives to be so. It’s clever, and again, pretty subtle.
The Ultra Magnus portion is pretty fast, but I think goes a long way in exploring just how immensely traumatized the poor guy is, to be followed up on later. The most significant though, to me, is Cliffjumper and the gang. Back on Cybertron, we get a conversation between Bluestreak and Elita-1 that calls her on her actions with Optimus in the previous arc, which I think was needed. Elita’s actions are a bit divisive, and while she fully believes in the rightness of her cause, it’s important to show that she’s not angry or bitter to the point of blindness. She will actually give ground and admit that maybe her thinking hasn’t been completely congruant with the greater needs of everybody, which I think was needed. Elita has been presented as a very tough, uncompromising character in this incarnation, so I think showing that she’s not just a complete un-moving rock was a good call.
Skybound
The most important thing about that whole sequence though, is the first new Autobot character from Skybound: Shredhead! What a delightfully ’80s name, feels right at home in that Bob Budiansky naming style from back in the day. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles homage too, perhaps? Oh DWJ, you spoil me. This new character’s design is also pretty cool! I don’t know who to credit for that, I’m going to assume Corona, but the heavily Diaclone-inspired sensibilities are very much on display. They look like they have bit of a lot of classic G1 guys without being a Frankenstein’s monster of borrowed kibble, and I’m eager to see what they can do (and more importantly… what they turn into!).
Skybound
Speaking of design and art, we’ve still got Corona and Spicer, so things are still gorgeous and immensely detailed. As I’ve said many times before, I do love how much Corona’s style has sort of adapted to Johnson’s over time, creating a sort of midway point between the two artists’ usual styles that helps give this book and it’s world a very distinct identity from all other Transformers comics before. Spicer’s coloring does a lot of lifting there too, obviously.
So, how do we feel about Transformers #17? Good! At least I think so, but like I said, it’s a bit of an in-betweener. So there’s a lot of little scenes helping move every thread along rather than fixating in on one at a time. I have to wonder if maybe it would have been better served the other way around? Not that this doesn’t work as is, just food for thought. Let’s hope we get to see our new guy in action next time.
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