The Energon Pub

[Va'al]

It's been delayed, several times, but this week finally sees the release of IDW Publishing's Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #37 - and you can check out a full preview below! Make sure to head back here for a Seibertron.com review, too.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #37—Days of Deception
James Roberts (w) • Alex Milne (a & c)
DESPERATE 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...
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Days of Deception continues!
Variant Cover by Kotteri!

[Bounti76]

I'll just say it... Tailgate and Cyclonus are cute together as friends.

[prjkt]

I have a feeling Rung is getting tossed around a bar in the next frame...

[jogunwarrior]

I love everything about this book. Art, story, characters, dialogue...It's been firing on all cylinders ever since issue 1!

[Randomhero]

I have a feeling Rung is getting tossed around a bar in the next frame...

I have a feeling that present day rung is sitting outside macadams building his lost light model being spied on by past nightbeat and quark

[Samsonator]

I like that the "C-131" on the rail identifies the train Chromedome is on as the Trainbots/Raiden.

[Samsonator]

I have a feeling Rung is getting tossed around a bar in the next frame...

I have a feeling that present day rung is sitting outside macadams building his lost light model being spied on by past nightbeat and quark

Now that would be some serious full-circle craziness that honestly I would not put past Roberts for one second.

[prjkt]

I have a feeling Rung is getting tossed around a bar in the next frame...

I have a feeling that present day rung is sitting outside macadams building his lost light model being spied on by past nightbeat and quark

Now that would be some serious full-circle craziness that honestly I would not put past Roberts for one second.

I didn't thinks f that - would not be surprised if both end up happening, though with Rung not recalling the brawl at the bar hmmmm

[Va'al]

That Rung a Bell
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
DESPERATE 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 start

Story

As 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 FINE

There 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.

Art

Now, 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.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

As 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 come

With 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.

. - out of

[sol magnus]

I've been reading these reviews for years (but just didn't post on this site...for anything), and in all that time I've never seen anything remotely spoilerish in the "Spoilerish Ahead" section of these reviews...

[ScottyP]

I've been reading these reviews for years (but just didn't post on this site...for anything), and in all that time I've never seen anything remotely spoilerish in the "Spoilerish Ahead" section of these reviews...

Having read the book (edit: not implying you haven't) there are indeed spoilerish things in that section, but indeed, not full blown spoilers. Sometimes that section may frame thoughts or feelings before reading, which is another reason it's marked as such. But you are indeed right, it isn't full blown spoilers because reviews and plot summaries are different things and some sites don't seem to know this

[Va'al]

I've been reading these reviews for years (but just didn't post on this site...for anything), and in all that time I've never seen anything remotely spoilerish in the "Spoilerish Ahead" section of these reviews...

Having read the book (edit: not implying you haven't) there are indeed spoilerish things in that section, but indeed, not full blown spoilers. Sometimes that section may frame thoughts or feelings before reading, which is another reason it's marked as such. But you are indeed right, it isn't full blown spoilers because reviews and plot summaries are different things and some sites don't seem to know this

I dislike spoilers in reviews. But sometimes I feel that I can't appropriately make a comment on the issue as a whole without revealing something. So as ScottyP says, there are parts in there that can be revealing of details I have otherwise only hinted at in the rest of the piece.

I see reviews as an incentive to go out and buy the book, and then think about it again, rather than a stand-in for reading it (the TFWiki does the best job at that, credits to Chris McFeely for it).

[SW's SilverHammer]

I've been waiting a month to post this, but;

[Va'al]

Well played. Good timing.

[sol magnus]

I've been reading these reviews for years (but just didn't post on this site...for anything), and in all that time I've never seen anything remotely spoilerish in the "Spoilerish Ahead" section of these reviews...

Having read the book (edit: not implying you haven't) there are indeed spoilerish things in that section, but indeed, not full blown spoilers. Sometimes that section may frame thoughts or feelings before reading, which is another reason it's marked as such. But you are indeed right, it isn't full blown spoilers because reviews and plot summaries are different things and some sites don't seem to know this

I dislike spoilers in reviews. But sometimes I feel that I can't appropriately make a comment on the issue as a whole without revealing something. So as ScottyP says, there are parts in there that can be revealing of details I have otherwise only hinted at in the rest of the piece.

I see reviews as an incentive to go out and buy the book, and then think about it again, rather than a stand-in for reading it (the TFWiki does the best job at that, credits to Chris McFeely for it).

I read it. But without having read it, there is no way I would draw the "spoilerish" conclusions you suggest. It's not a gripe, it just seems like a misrepresentation of "spoilerish" - and yes, if I want a synopsis of the issue I hit the wiki.

[Samsonator]

I just read the issue... sh*t's about to get real!

I also wonder if present Rung's interactions with past events was planned from the start. I wouldn't doubt Roberts being capable of it, but one has to wonder how long ago this time travel insanity was planned...

[CrankyOldTruck]

I've been waiting a month to post this, but;

So much Awesome in this!! I can't even imagine how you've been able to sit on this one for a whole month. Well worth it though.

[ScottyP]

So now that I've re-read this a couple times, I like it a lot. The art is definitely much more striking on the printed page.

On that note, Milne's pre-war Cybertron is just glorious. It reminds me of what I always thought Cybertron would be - huge beyond imagination. Getting some serious Floro Dery vibes. Rodion really looked like some of that Autobot City concept art he came up with. I adore that style in sci-fi, where everything is so large and detailed and complex that your brain can fill in gaps wherever it pleases and there's still more to explore. Really cements these as robots, that would build and build and build because they live practically forever and could be that good to do something that complex, but the beauty of it gives the human-like sentience side of it as well. It also draws such an amazing contrast to the current ruined Cybertron and even the dark insecticon-swarm abandoned Cybertron from the AHM era.

Anyway, that's my gushing about that. Search for Floro Dery's art if you haven't, it'll knock your socks off. Would love to see some sketches by Milne like that, I'm sure he's got some amazing stuff like that in his head that we may never see in the actual books.

[Va'al]

Look at ScottyP, giving in to his art critic side.

I do think that the book does wonderful wonders from a visual perspective, and as I've said in the review, the blend is magnificent. There's enough of a difference to notice it, but not enough to look like a rushed copy-paste job. And the colours are just fantastic.

Still stupidly intrigued by Rung's role in all of this, too.

[ScottyP]

Look at ScottyP, giving in to his art critic side.

My past (aka "college and the silly few years thereafter") life as a "hippy", if you will, are ashamedly what made me start to really appreciate art, and the effect lingers to this day. You can probably fill in the blanks as to what I mean by that.

Also, I just realized what color Megatron's spark is at the end of this issue. It is not the same as previously stated which means that's certainly significant, right? Last time blue sparks were mentioned was in Zero Point, and it was hinted that this color had something to do with potential matrix compatibility.

[Va'al]

Look at ScottyP, giving in to his art critic side.

My past (aka "college and the silly few years thereafter") life as a "hippy", if you will, are ashamedly what made me start to really appreciate art, and the effect lingers to this day. You can probably fill in the blanks as to what I mean by that.

Also, I just realized what color Megatron's spark is at the end of this issue. It is not the same as previously stated which means that's certainly significant, right? Last time blue sparks were mentioned was in Zero Point, and it was hinted that this color had something to do with potential matrix compatibility.

[Russimus Prime]

Just a thought, and I'm sure someone mentioned it before but, I'm wondering if Brainstorm replaces the exposed spark with the point one percenter spark he took from Luna 1.[

[Va'al]

Well, there is definitely something up with the cover to #38.

[SW's SilverHammer]

Does it Have anything to do with how dashing brainstorm looks on the cover?

[Va'al]

Does it Have anything to do with how dashing brainstorm looks on the cover?

It's almost arcane how attractive he is. My head is masterfully over heels.