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Courtesy of IDW Publishing, we get to take a look at a full preview of this week's Transformers release: the eighth part of the Dark Cybertron event, More Than Meets the Eye #26! Check out the images below, and come back tomorrow for the official Seibertron.com review.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #26: Dark Cybertron Part 8 (of 12)
James Roberts & John Barber (w) • Atilio Rojo, James Raiz, Livio Ramondelli (a) • Casey W. Coller (c)
CYBERTRON FALLS! The monstrous NECROTITAN ravages the world—but is there anyone left to save it? Meanwhile, in deep space, ULTRA MAGNUS and the crew of the LOST LIGHT struggle to make sense of what they find in the depths of the scarlet sea!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
- The biggest Transformers event in comic book history enters the final act—will anything stay the same?
- Variant Cover by Alex Milne!

Hmmm... could Prowl be about to combine with the Constructicons again, but on his terms? (I'm a couple issues behind so they might be dead for all I know.)

krenger99 wrote:Hi Guys. So who draws the first two pages? The page with Chromia and Nautica and then the page with all the head shots. I see three artists listed but I don't know who's responsible for what. Thanks for the intel!:)

The 'Previously' page has art by James Raiz (panels 1-2), Livio Ramondelli (3-4) and Atilio Rojo (5). The Roll Call has a mix of different artists too - Griffith, Ramondelli, Raiz, Rojo, and possibly Milne and Cahill. Which one were you after in particular?

Synopsis
CYBERTRON FALLS! The monstrous NECROTITAN ravages the world—but is there anyone left to save it? Meanwhile, in deep space, ULTRA MAGNUS and the crew of the LOST LIGHT struggle to make sense of what they find in the depths of the scarlet sea!



Story

And here we are, probably the last set-up issue before the big show takes place, as was teased for the next chapter. But before we get to the clash of titans, let's take a look at what this issue does, the new characters introduced, reveals and building up of some old fr--enemies, shall we?



Once again, John Barber and James Roberts focus on multiple plotlines at once, from the Lost Light's crew dealing with Metroplex, Ammonites and newcomers Chromia and Nautica, via Pax and Rodimus in the Dead Universe, dealing with Nova and Kup, to the chaos on Cybertron, with Starscream uniting with Prowl, Soundwave and the other 'outcasts'.



And then you have the three new additions: Chromia, Nautica and Windblade, who play a fairly big role in the issue, and one that nicely sets up what may happen later (mini-series included). They're nicely characterised, and topically enough, there are echoes of other female trios in the three's dialogue lines.



I was a little disappointed in Starscream being shunned once more in favour of other key players, though I suppose ReGeneration One is dealing with his more powerful incarnations. Though what is his actual Chosen role? Megatron is mocked, undermined yet ultimately I can't help but like him on the scene, too - and Bumblebee. Plus we get a better look at Rodimus' hand, and his real thoughts, for once.

Art

We still have the three artists working on different sections. James Raiz masterfully pens the new additions and a magnificent Metroplex; Livio Ramondelli decidedly darkens the mood for Rodimus and Orion, and dastardly Nova Prime; Atilio Rojo expertly blends a beaten Starscream, bombastic Megatron and brilliant Prowl. And Bumblebee.



And then you have the colours, with Ramondelli taking care of his own sections, with a lighter palette this time round, it seems. And Josh Perez on Rojo and Raiz' interiors. He kills it, again, with two very different approaches on each style, but both equally brilliant.



Tom B. Long's lettering is still pretty excellent too, from the flaming title page to the sound effects. Phil Jimenez and Romulo Fajardo Jr offer a nice cover with this issue's Tailgate toy, Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente tower over cover A - and then there's Alex Milne and Josh Perez' mouthwatering RI cover. Look at it. Just. Look.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

This issue may placate the ire of some readers who thought the whole Windblade affair was going to be blown out of proportion in the April series, beginning to reveal why and how she and the other two, Nautica and Chromia show up, and their importance to the story. We don't get to see much, but it's enough to make want to read more!



There was humour, there were revelations, there was a lot of actual rooting for Megatron, after all. There were Nautica, Chromia and Windblade, Rodimus, Whirl, Ratchet - all good characterisation. There was the beginning of the Necrotitan and Metroplex fight we saw teased a while back. There is good art, and an amazing cover. It was good.

since this issue has a lot of fembots in it i hope we get nautica. i know what wingblade will be repainted into. we already know about chromia and arcee.

Well, we know what Windblade turns into (a jet), but until we see Nautica's altmode, it remains to be seen if she could be repainted/remolded from Windblade's toy. Her name would suggest something water-based.

I wasn't terribly interested in this story before, but now that there's fembots in it, but I'm gonna have to pick this issue up!

Best issue of the Dark Cybertron arc so far. Hopefully the next four issues continue this pace, tons of potential being realized at last.

I fine the Art less detracting than previous issues but it's no where near as epic as it used to be.. the panel with the necrotitan and metroplex should've been epic!! like I want it on my wall EPIC. but I find it lacking.

mooncake623 wrote:I fine the Art less detracting than previous issues but it's no where near as epic as it used to be.. the panel with the necrotitan and metroplex should've been epic!! like I want it on my wall EPIC. but I find it lacking.

yep, on the art front it's very much Dank Cybertron. A lot of very 90s-Image/X-Men crossover looking panels and some terrible attempts at making characters look like they're supposed to. I think the guy drawing the Starscream pages has only been shown the model from the front, and doesn't realise these robots change into things. It's like a guy wearing a cereal box.