The Energon Pub

More Than Meets The Eye has established itself as a standalone comic series gem in it's first five issues. Despite holding a cast of characters you wouldn't exactly expect to hold interest in, MTMTE captivates you into feeling for their every day lives. While many stories can simply destroy themselves by assembling a massive roster of bots with no emotions or progressive character building, MTMTE expands and extrapolates the great personalities within the series - something I haven't felt since Last Stand Of The Wreckers.



Opening Issue #6, a question might be asked. Has the bar been raised too high from the previous five issues? And I'll answer, no. The bar keeps getting raised higher and higher. With D.J.D. territory behind the team and the realization as readers as why you don't go to Delphi, the Lost Light and its crew get acquainted with their newest inhabitants; the new chief Medical Officer First Aid, the ever handy Ambulon, and the venerable giant among Autobots, Fortress Maximus.



Fort Max hasn't had the kindest of stories since coming into the limelight in MTMTE. Getting turned into a combination of jello and cabbage by Overlord in LSOTW did a number on one of the most powerful Autobots in recent millenia. I find it rather poetic that among all the crew on the Lost Light, it's Fort Max who's the one who has the most potential to lose his edge. Whirl is a loose cannon, Red Alert has enough mind games to keep him busy for a decade, Tailgate's been asleep for six million years, Cyclonus was Galvatron's lacky, Rodimus is Rodimus and Magnus never smiles. Yet among all of the Autobots, it's the biggest, strongest and most powerful who is the first to break, the first one to show the signs of instability.



#6 is essentially a story focusing on Fort Max and his trials and tribulations within his mind and with what happened on Garrus 9. However the issue also shines the light on other characters and their personalities. We see Rung and his profession at it's best. We see Whirl's cunniving character, Rodimus' leadership capability or lack of and Ratchet's amazing anaylsis. We see why Swerve is a Metallurgist and should be nothing else, and how Red Alert's paranoia will only lead him to his end.



While this issue is phenomenal in itself, it's also leading towards greater things. That however does not deter from its wonderful storywriting. As we look back on one of the craftiest foreshadowing techniques in Transformers comics used in Issue #1, #6 gives closure to a couple of those tips. While the past issues focusing on Delphi might give reason as to why they shouldn't have gone there, this issue gives me reason that it wasn't what was there, but rather who was there. #6 shows me that MTMTE is truly a LSOTW sequel, as we know have reasons why you do not - i repeat - do not - look in the basement.



out of

I cant wait to pick my copy up tomorrow. Can. Not. Wait.

I actually thought that issue six was going to be a a slower issue, setting the scene for the next story arc now that we have left Delphi. But going by your review it sounds as if nothing is slowing down!

Cheers for the spoiler free review. This is a great series. I even lol'd when I saw the panel of Swerve getting taken away in cuffs in the preview.

Why can't it be Wednesday already? This is the only thing keeping my TF flame alive right now... Great review btw Blurrz. Funny and concise, and not too spoilery. Just the way I like it

Thanks Blurrz. It's reviews like yours that have gotten me interested in comics again. I have a whole bunch to read. MTMTE and LSOTW are written by the same group of people, correct?

sabrigami wrote:Why can't it be Wednesday already? This is the only thing keeping my TF flame alive right now... Great review btw Blurrz. Funny and concise, and not too spoilery. Just the way I like it

quickmixed wrote:I cant wait to pick my copy up tomorrow. Can. Not. Wait.

I actually thought that issue six was going to be a a slower issue, setting the scene for the next story arc now that we have left Delphi. But going by your review it sounds as if nothing is slowing down!

Cheers for the spoiler free review. This is a great series. I even lol'd when I saw the panel of Swerve getting taken away in cuffs in the preview.

You won't be disappointed by picking this one up!

Stormrider wrote:Thanks Blurrz. It's reviews like yours that have gotten me interested in comics again. I have a whole bunch to read. MTMTE and LSOTW are written by the same group of people, correct?

Yes, Roche + Roberts are quite the combo.

Damn, Roberts CAN write. Just when you feel a bunch of tragedies is more than enough for the issue, there's the biggest freakin' shock you can get (I was thinkin' like everybody else: "Duh, 'Me kill'... it's surely Grimlock went crazy in the basement" well, WRONG!)

Where the Pit did Rodimus get the ship, anyway?

Chaoslock wrote:Damn, Roberts CAN write. Just when you feel a bunch of tragedies is more than enough for the issue, there's the biggest freakin' shock you can get (I was thinkin' like everybody else: "Duh, 'Me kill'... it's surely Grimlock went crazy in the basement" well, WRONG!)

Where the Pit did Rodimus get the ship, anyway?

I have to agree with this.

One of the best issues I've read so far, engaging, thrilling, and keeping me glued to the page (which is really messy when it comes to turning it).

I liked all the references to Chaos Theory and LSTOW, and was quite shocked at how the situation was resolved.
Also, this may have shed some more light on Whirl, but I still think he's a dick.

Rung was pretty interesting, sad to see him killed off. I hope they don't feel an obligation to kill a character every issue, I for one don't need that to keep reading.

Another awesome issue overall. This series just keeps getting better!

James Roberts must have been planning this issue for months.

Looking back, we can now see that Pipes wasn't just some random autobot chosen for the mission to Delphi, and the scene between Skids and Rung in the elevator shaft in issue #3 comparing Grappling hooks to Thumb microphones wasn't just for comedy purposes.

BlackKnight75 wrote:James Roberts must have been planning this issue for months.

Looking back, we can now see that Pipes wasn't just some random autobot chosen for the mission to Delphi, and the scene between Skids and Rung in the elevator shaft in issue #3 comparing Grappling hooks to Thumb microphones wasn't just for comedy purposes.

Totally forgot about that issue - that's what I love about Roberts' style - you never know what will be a useful piece of information until the time comes, but everything HAS a purpose. And I doubt this was the last surprise we've seen (I'm looking at Sunstreaker and Bob now...)

Can we assume all the from the future tips are all used now? 'Don't let them take Skids' was referring to the Lost Light perhaps?

Blurrz wrote:Can we assume all the from the future tips are all used now? 'Don't let them take Skids' was referring to the Lost Light perhaps?

But what about the coffin? And the message so far seemed to be addressing the crew of the Lost Light, or else it would say things like "Don't let <i>them</i> go to Delphi/Don't let <i>them</i> look in the basement", but the only time it said "them" is when it said not to let them take Skids. So we know someone is going to take Skids and we know that they're probably going to look in a coffin. Not to mention the last part that got ominously cut off.

Ah yes, the coffin. Well here's hoping $7 is as awesome as it's predecessors! \

At the end of Maximum Dinobots, Ultra Magnus shipped off three prisoners to Garrus-9: Grimlock, Shockwave and Scorponok. Now Shockwave was put back together and freed from Garrus-9 by Overlord. Grimlock was driven mad, and also freed from the prison. But what happened to Scorponok? Could he be the dark secret hidden beneath the prison?

As Whirl was pinned to the floor of Rung's office, he mentioned that at one point he changed his name and worked as a flight instructor. I wonder if he ever went by the name of Jetstream and had a student called Rotorstorm. Read 'Bullets' if you don't know what I am talking about.

Also, Whirl wasn't totally honest about why he was kicked off the Wreckers team. He was booted off before the mission to Garrus-9, but attempted to euthenise Springer after he was left in a coma from the beating Overlord gave him. Which then makes me doubt his sad 'watchmaker' story as well.

Damn it. I actually flipped through this at the comics store, and it looks like I'm gonna have to pick up the TPB. That means I have to get LSotW as well. I hate my love for Overlord.