A Statistical Analysis of 9-Ball Pocket Billiards
A Review of Revolution: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye
Story
Spoiler-heavy, but only with fake spoilers
Me Grimlock say this not happen in these stapled picture squares!
A Review of Revolution: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye
Story
Spoiler-heavy, but only with fake spoilers
Me Grimlock say this not happen in these stapled picture squares!
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat when it comes to this final Revolution tie-in one-shot: it's of extreme importance to both the Transformers as well as the shared Hasbro universe being created by IDW. There are stakes, meaningful actions with meaningful consequences, and more snooker references than you can fit in your pocket.
As deadly serious a book as a game of Shoot Shoot Bang Bang
Now that the forewarnings have been tabled, let's take a quick snapshot of where our heroes are at the start of this issue. They are all probably, definitely, almost irrevocably dead, and definitely not coming back next week in a new issue number one. Definitely not.
With Prowl hanging out with Cerebros, Fortress Maximus, and Red Alert, that leaves the Scavengers to pick up the plot and go to Earth. Crankcase is getting set to meet up with an online chat room friend, and the Energon Goodies are chalked and ready.
Nothing can ever go wrong when you've got Energon Goodies!
What they find waiting for them ends up being more than they bargained for, closing back in on a plot from the Furman-era of IDW that was long thought to be over, finished. Right on cue, things ricochet in completely unanticipated ways.
Oh, well, I suppose it can.
It can't be understated how significant the main reveal of this Revolution edition of More Than Meets The Eye is. Not only does it bring back a popular but fearsome character, it neatly ties together every aspect of the crossover, closing up plot-holes and nicely calling its shot for the last ball that clears the rack and readies this universe for what's to come.
I guess maybe things never go well with Energon Goodies.
There are more amazingly well placed references to other franchises than you can shake a stick at, with immediate fan favorite G.I. Joe character MP3 being assigned one of the most famous and ubiquitous of Action Force gadgets. It's moments like this one that show how well studied both authors, Nick Roche and James Roberts, are when it comes to the franchises involved in this incredibly well received event series.
One of my college buddies claims to have invented the slang "obvs". To date, he has not been proven wrong since I cannot go back in time to see who else may have said it first.
The tremendous pacing of the issue allows the story time to work, with the scope of events being illustrated effectively in a way that brings some genuine emotion. For the people of Earth, things may never be the same again, especially since this is the first time any city in the United States has ever been destroyed in any way in the IDW Transformers fiction.
This is probably Spike's fault.
Just when things can't seem to get any worse, the power of the crossover comes full force. The organic yet infinitely complex details of the years long build to Revolution pay off in a big way, and in one masterstroke of plotting, the entire purpose of this three month long, 13 issue event becomes as clear as the right angle for a corner shot.
Got 'em.
Art
On a lighter note, Alex Milne's art is crisp throughout, with panels like the one below this paragraph conveying a fantastic sense of motion. This is not the only example of the dynamic framing and posing that takes place, and Joana Lafuente's colors help define the settings in distinctive ways. Chris Mowry handles the letters for this book, and has not only done well, but really really well in one particular instance dealing with a dire wraith. Full credits and images of all the covers are available at this link for the book in our Comics Series Resources.
Whoosh!
Judgment
There's a reason this writing team is held in such high regard, and this issue again makes it clear exactly why that is. They'll always be held to the gold standard of their own creation, but will they ever come close to capturing that magic again?
Private messages about this review will be promptly ignored.
I think they did, and they may have even surpassed their past achievements. We won't soon forget this one. Hold on to your butts and call your loved ones - Transformers, nay, comics themselves just changed forever.
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out of
out of (Actual review: this issue is a fantastic work of comic relief that manages to move along one major Transformers character's story line in a meaningful way. Be prepared going in to have a good time and you certainly will. Readers should also know that this issue stands alone in a way where no prior reading of other Revolution books is required. The paragraph about the art above is genuine, it's really good. 5 out of 5 is also the real score.)
