The Energon Pub

Courtesy of IDW Publishing, we have a full preview for this week's issue of Dark Cybertron, the fourth chapter - Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #24! Check out the images below, and come back tomorrow for the Seibertron.com review.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #24: Dark Cybertron Part 4 (of 12)
James Roberts & John Barber (w) • Atilio Rojo, James Raiz, Nick Roche, Livio Ramondelli, Robert Gill (a) • Casey W. Coller (c)

TRAPPED! Alone on a strange world, the crew of the Lost Light struggle against an unknown enemy—but what does this have to do with SHOCKWAVE’s master plan? Answer: everything. Meanwhile, OPTIMUS PRIME finds an old friend in the Dead Universe!

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
• The biggest Transformers event in comic book history continues!
• Variant cover by James Raiz!

The Dead Universe is dying? Ironic...

Loving that cover for obvious reasons, lol.

Nightbeat has returned!!!

But anyway, are these all based off Minicons we already know of? You know, like the one next to Ratchet's left forearm and the two above his right shoulder?

Seriously hoping that the only time we hear them called "Mini-cons" was Brainstorms one failed attempt at humor. As far as I'm concerned, they're Micro-Masters. Mini-cons are part of the A/E/C string and should STAY there and never should the two branches cross. It's bad enough 'Screams new body was directly pulled from that series but now to bring those irritating little ****'s in too is just going to screw up what has otherwise been a brilliant run in this series. Sure I've got a ton of the Mini-con figures from the series but I didn't much like them in the cartoon or the comics and only got them because I thoroughly enjoyed the Micro-Masters back in the day.

Ok, that gripe aside I'm stoked for whats coming up with this run. Was a bit leary of it. Always thought the Dead Universe was something they should have left alone after the last time they touched on it but they seem to be approaching it smartly and we'll be getting a few characters thrown into the mix, if only briefly I'm guessing, that will make things a lot more exciting and fresh.

T-Macksimus wrote:Seriously hoping that the only time we hear them called "Mini-cons" was Brainstorms one failed attempt at humor. As far as I'm concerned, they're Micro-Masters. Mini-cons are part of the A/E/C string and should STAY there and never should the two branches cross. It's bad enough 'Screams new body was directly pulled from that series but now to bring those irritating little ****'s in too is just going to screw up what has otherwise been a brilliant run in this series. Sure I've got a ton of the Mini-con figures from the series but I didn't much like them in the cartoon or the comics and only got them because I thoroughly enjoyed the Micro-Masters back in the day.

Ok, that gripe aside I'm stoked for whats coming up with this run. Was a bit leary of it. Always thought the Dead Universe was something they should have left alone after the last time they touched on it but they seem to be approaching it smartly and we'll be getting a few characters thrown into the mix, if only briefly I'm guessing, that will make things a lot more exciting and fresh.

But they are minicons...? They have the ports, they have the faction logo, what more do they needs? I think oull be in luck, as this is largely thesame kind of repurposing the club does to sell figures. Remeber, this is a 12 part Hasbro Holiday Catalog 2013 after all. And anyway, IDW has already set aside the Micromaster term for the now missing members of Gorlam Prime. So these Ammonite minicon guys can't use that term.

Synopsis

TRAPPED! Alone on a strange world, the crew of the Lost Light struggle against an unknown enemy—but what does this have to do with SHOCKWAVE’s master plan? Answer: everything. Meanwhile, OPTIMUS PRIME finds an old friend in the Dead Universe!



Story

Underwater, outerspace, aftermath. Boy, there's a lot of stuff going on. The Necrotitan boomed, the mini-nites swarmed, Cyclonus is doomed, and all for the sake of my own rhymes. Though something really is up with Cyclonus. Did John Barber and James Roberts deliver on all fronts this issue? Maybe. Are we moving in full-on Infinite Crisis? Possibly.



Crossing universes, everything is connected, the Ammonites turn out to be pretty cool (well, it is their in-pack issue after all). The tones shift adequately and appropriately between the different sets, but actually all maintain the established darker undertones to them, which is good for a sense of continuity.



I think I figured out what worked in this issue. The settings are clearly fine, we're all expecting them by now, and there's not too much stalling. But the dialogue is better. A lot better. The interaction between characters, interrupting each other, arguing, the whole thing - it's working, it feels like a cast.



Interesting. There are so many revelations, reveals, twists and turns that I almost got tired of them on the first couple of reads. It felt crammed. And yet.. I enjoyed it, I like just how devious Shockwave is, and his treatment of Megatron. I like Magnus commanding the Lost Light. I even like the very little happenings in the Dead Universe. Onwards!

Art

Oh wow. How many artists again? Nick Roche, James Raiz, Livio Ramondelli, Atilio Rojo and Robert Gill - five. Five art styles. Two for the Lost Light, two for Cybertron, one for the Dead Universe. I don't mind them as much as I did with chapter 2, Rojo and Gill blend well together, I have no clue why Raiz and Roche did two parts for the same thing (well, I do, but still), though.. they fit the tones, really well, too. And Ramondelli's Dead Universe is definitely dark, I'll give you that.



With so many artists, just one colourist - even if it is Josh Perez - would not have been enough, so I'm glad to see a second: Romulo Fajardo Jr. There's definitely a different texture to some of the colours, if I've spotted the pages right, but they still manage to work with Perez' already established stuff. Good to see wide-spread damage, after the Necroboom (my word).



And good to see Gilberto Lazcano on letters again, too! Some good work in terms of giving voices where needed, and not getting in the way of the action with sound effects. I appreciate that in lettering. A shout out to Raiz' cover, which is stunningly powerful, and Casey Coller's main cover, too!

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

It was fun. I said above, I got annoyed at all the reveals crammed into one issue, but then reread them all and couldn't stop chuckling. I almost want Barber and Roberts to leave Megatron in his current state, before it all goes combiner-shaped again. Dialogue has picked up, action has picked up, pick this one up.



Five artists and two colourists? Could be very very bad. But it wasn't! Sometimes it feels a little odd, especially with the final pages and the later Shockwave moments, but it didn't stop me from having a good read. I'd rather it were toned down again next time, though (I know I know, time constraints). NEXT!

Liked this issue a lot. Not perfect, but it moves quick and, gasp, things happen!

Good call on not spoiling the Rodpod in the review. Quite possibly the best part of the book. The deep space misadventures of the Lost Light crew is something I thought would be on hiatus until Dark Cybertron ended, but I was wrong, and that is awesome.

Erm, I think your going a little OTT. If any thing Hasbro are paying attention to the popular characters in the comics. Who would have thought that you would be getting a Swerve or Tailgate figure. I doubt if the comic hadn't been so popular that you would not be getting a whirl or Brainstorm figure.

Any way, the comics a good one, I especially like the final page.