IDW Transformers: Galaxies #3 Review

Another day before a holiday with another issue of Transformers: Galaxies has arrived, this time bringing "Constructicons Rising, Part 3" to Transformers comic readers. Due to said holiday this review is a little late and needs to remain a little truncated, so pardon the haste as we go straight into thoughts on this latest installment.


Issue three bridges the gap in narrative between the first two issues - recall that issue one was primarily a back and forth affair between present and past - which can be a dangerous place to go after ending the previous issue with fantastic momentum and a really juicy cliffhanger. The jump back actually helps here as Bombshell's words from issue #2 now carry more weight. While they sounded cool the first time, now there's a very clear reason for them as well. The same thematic elements remain in play as well with fear driving the actions of many of the issue's characters.


This doesn't mean that this is just an "origin story" type of issue where nothing happens. The relationship between Termagax and a debuting character only previously mentioned in passing has some depth provided, while Wheeljack gets some meaningful time as well. The Constructicons are still the star of course, with Devastator's history being the focal point of the narrative. If you were a fan of what Mairgread Scott did with Bruticus back in Till All Are One, you're also really going to like what writer Tyler Bleszinski has cooked up here. This is not your father's gestalt, but it could be your mother's if you like your mecha stories to give you that nice "I'm a little disturbed but also can't look away" kind of mood.


Livio Ramondelli continues to devastate the line art and colors on this book. Pictured above is what's maybe my favorite panel from the entire three issue run so far. It takes the context of the issue's events to truly appreciate what it does for the visual storytelling and it's just one example of several where that shines through. There are probably a couple panels Livio wouldn't mind another pass at without a deadline, but they're few and far between and easily something a deadline can cause. Additionally noteworthy is his approach towards the aforementioned debuting character, who was originally an Alex Milne design (if I recall correctly, please don't shoot me if that's wrong!) and here keeps a look that's surprisingly faithful to that incarnation but subtly departs from it in a very good way. Tom B. Long navigates some lengthy speech bubble terrain with ease, while the editorial team of David Mariotte and Tom Waltz deserve credit for their role in placing this issue here as it easily could have served as this arc's second installment and not have worked as well.

On covers, the Livio Ramondelli "A" cover is probably the most appropriate to the book's contents and thankfully the (likely) easiest to acquire option. Ramondelli's cover is pictured in the thumbnail for this review's front page post. Winston Chan provides a "B" cover that fans of Termagax will want to track down, with the ongoing's regular artist Angel Hernandez in tandem with colorist Josh Burcham providing the ten-copy retailer incentive option if your shop has those available. As always, you can also find all the cover images, full credits for the issue and a list of all the characters that appear in the book through our Vector Sigma Database page for Transformers: Galaxies #3.


This was a tough one to score because it's doing things that the larger story requires, but this also means it takes a step back on briskly moving everything along. I had to ask myself how much I enjoyed reading it and how much was I still thinking about it days later, with both of those questions proving to have highly satisfactory answers for me. Questions about the story and characters I didn't even know I had yet were answered, making this a worthy use of an entire issue for more flashback storytelling. This moment of slight decompression plus a couple of stray panels keep me from putting this one in "perfect score" land like issue 2, but all in all that might still be nitpicking because Galaxies #3 is a highly recommended piece of Transformers reading that you're sure to be thankful for.



Look out for this issue today, November 27th, where you can pick it up at the Seibertron.com eBay store or at your local shop, check here to find the closest shop to you.