Howdy folks, Crooker here once again with another review for Daniel Warren Johnson and Jorge Corona’s Transformers from Skybound. This is issue #22, and pardon my haste, but already an instant classic. We’re now only two issues away from the ending to this epic, award winning saga, so let’s dig in and enjoy what we have for the month.
What an issue. Man oh man, what an issue. I think this one has come the closest to re-igniting that initial spark of excitement and satisfying level of human and robot drama that characterized the opening arc. If there’s one thing I missed in the intermediary, it was more Autobot and human interactions. They’re the backbone of any truly fantastic Earth-bound Transformers narrative, and DWJ is himself a master at Budianskian style stories. This issue brings the human town from the first arc back around and finally returns to the theme of working together with the Autobots for mutually assured survival. God, I truly love that. I cannot name you a Transformers comic that does this idea better – and I would know, I’ve practically read them all! So many Transformers books struggle with “the human problem”, but well, if you seem their inclusion as a problem to be solved instead of a great opportunity… you’ve already made the first wrong step.
Skybound
This issue helps show just how easy it is to pull off if you just have a really good idea. It calls to mind the town of Clairton in Marvel’s seminal ROM: Spaceknight comics from back in the day, the small close knit band of Human allies and their strange friend and protector from beyond the stars. It’s crazy to me how this is such a unique idea for this story, it sounds so obvious in hindsight, doesn’t it? Could almost make one mad that human drama is so rarely attempted at all, it feels like we should have been mining these themes this effectively DECADES ago.
Oh, also, Megatron does the most evil thing in the history of evil things in this one. Screw you, Megatron!
Skybound
The art of this issue is genuinely fantastic, as it tends to be, but something feels so much more impactful this time. Probably because it’s light on action, I would guess. Action is great, and Corona is fantastic at it, but so much of this run has been characterized by action that an issue with minimal feels honestly pretty refreshing. The emotional beats hit immensely hard, and everyone’s feelings palpable. Instantly iconic shots too, like Spike looking back from in front of the matrix, hand outstretched and asking Prime to be proud of him. Optimus reverting to Marvel Comics-y colors (very nice Mike Spicer, very nice) when experiencing his “hall of Primes” vision, Megatron’s treatment of the infamous dead deer… god damn man, what a visually stunning issue this one is.
Transformers #22 might genuinely be the best issue since the opening arc of DWJ’s run. Not that anything in between has been bad or even subpar – far from it – but this issue really knocked it out of the park and gave me a lot to chew on. I love when Transformers and humanity work together, I love love love love love it. It’s the truest fulfillment of the original vision for the franchise as penned by Bob Budiansky for Marvel back in the day, and an elevation of the most profound ideas the series ever toyed with. Any issue at all that plays with these, even a little, its doing so, SO much more than what most Transformers comics have ever given. Moments though they all have, every previous publisher of this franchise has struggled to care about how humanity is important to the entire concept.
Skybound’s take has proven time and time again that it truly understands, better than most, the heart behind the spark.
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