That Rung a Bell
(Spoiler free-ish)
SynopsisDESPERATE MEASURES! Four million years ago, as CYBERTRON teetered on the brink of all-out war, a group of Autobots decided it was time to take matters into their own hands. Everyone concerned would subsequently agree that this was a very, very bad move...
Off to a good startAs More Than Meets the Eye continues its solitary trajectory through space (on the Lost Light) and time (through the IDWverse as we know it) we follow up on Rodimus and his team in search of duplicitous Brainstorm, his evil plan and whatever he might be up to in Cybertron's past - will history change forever?
Percy impressed - good or bad?Writer James Roberts had stated a while back that Elegant Chaos would be the third and final chapter to his Cybertronian trilogy, after Chaos Theory and Shadowplay. This issue dissipates all doubts about the execution of that promise, as we look once more into previous (past) storylines to develop the current (present) one, by literally revisiting them from another angle.
(future?)The device is extremely amusing and satisfying (and touching, at times, when Whirl, Chromedome, Rewind, Cyclonus, Rung, and Tailgate are involved), for a good deal of the book, but sometimes feels as though there is still too much stalling given the previous issues in this arc. The time travel plot does feel much fresher here, however, which can only be a good thing.
EVERYTHING IS FINEThere are a number of twists, yes, towards the very end. I would not call the 'major' reveal entirely surprising, and the parallels present in the issue with Chaos Theory and Shadowplay only aided in finding all the similarities with those scripts and books - but it is very satisfyingly executed nonetheless, with some great secondary developments along the way.
ArtNow, the artwork. As mentioned, the script reuses lines from Chaos Theory and Shadowplay - and the same holds for the visuals, as Alex Milne's work from The Transformers #20 and MTMTE #9 is re-proposed as part of the larger mosaic of the old-but-new story, and it all works fantastically well, even and perhaps especially with the noticeable differences in style. And the new facial expressions are priceless.
Happy Whirl!And the credit also goes to the combined efforts of previous colourist Josh Burcham, and the current regular Joana Lafuente, with the latter finding a great balance of hues to highlight the pacing of the two timelines in one without making the difference too obvious or jarring. It is a thing to behold.
*speechless*Tom B. Long's letters, especially the ones used when Whirl is involved, capture perfectly the moment and tones of the scenes they feature in, and a joy to trace in backgrounds and captions. While the Milne/Josh Perez A cover captures the and Nick Roche/Burcham introduce some new arrivals, so to speak, in the B cover, the thumbnailed Kotteri anniversary cover is a great representation of the lighter MTMTE vibe.
ThoughtsSpoilerish aheadAs far as the aesthetics are concerned, MTMTE #37 is a magnificently laid out, formally and structurally arranged piece of comics art. Reusing old material in such a way that it works with the new was extremely well done, and the multiple angles help with the tone and themes of the arc's script. And what is new is very very new, in such a way that there are no feelings of 'shortcuts' in material.
#38, here we comeWith the plot doing what it does, the stories weaving as they do, and the art blending as it can, what really stood out, once again, were some of the interactions between the very extended cast of the book. Not only the usual suspects, or even the ones present on the page, but there is some very good dialogue that meshes wonderfully with the pre-existing scripts, and gives it that little boost which really encourages a reader to go back and revisit older material. In light of next month's big bang finale. Maybe.
