Upcoming Creators and Covers for IDW's Transformers Galaxies #NYCC2019

All 3 of those covers look pretty great! I love the cliffjumper one

Thanks to iTunes we have a three page preview for the highly anticipated upcoming IDW Transformers Galaxies Issue #2 written by Tyler Bleszinski with art by Livio Ramondelli. This issue features the cover Insecticon fans have been buzzing over for weeks, the three original Insecticons feeding on...bits. Yikes! From the look of the preview pages we're getting to see even more detailed aspects of the jade giant's gestalt personality resonating through the individual Constructicons. Here's the publisher description:

"Transformers Galaxies #2
Tyler Bleszinski & Livio Ramondelli

Pre-Order
Expected Oct 30, 2019
$3.99
“CONSTRUCTICONS RISING,” PART 2! The Constructicons are training—they know their time is coming. They’re almost ready to stand at their once glorious height. They just need a sign and some energon. When a mysterious benefactor arrives promising to provide both, how can the Constructicons resist?"

Enjoy the view and share your thoughts in the forum. As always stay tuned to Seibertron for the ultimate in Transformers news!

I'm getting this purely for Bonecrusher's action film bad guy lines. This actually looks awesome!

Bonecrusher's into some kinky stuff. Properly villainous, dig it.

I'm liking Bonecrusher right now

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I'm liking Bonecrusher right now

So you have a Bonecrusher crush?

Rodimus Prime wrote:

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:I'm liking Bonecrusher right now

So you have a Bonecrusher crush?

Just a Bonecrush, that's all

Given the early look we were given of Transformers: Galaxies #1, it feels like ages ago that the first issue hit. Not much has hit in between for Transformers fans other than issue 13 of Transformers and a couple issues of a Hulkling & Wiccan book with "Death's Head" as the title but we aren't really even covering that here.

Transformers: Galaxies #2 is a very good issue that shows this four issue story might end up being something truly great. Read on for some elaboration, but if you want the shortest version of this review possible here it is: this is a fantastic follow-up to the first issue with plenty of depth and none of the typical second issue let-down you might have expected. Transformers fans would do well to pick this up today!


Picking off where things left off after issue 1, we find the Constructicons still on the mysterious planet of Malayx where they've just completed an energon processing facility. Thinking their duty is complete, the group is getting restless wondering when they'll be able to return home. Construction bots wanting to go home after a construction job is a simple setup but one that's quite welcome because it lets the subtler details of the characters - or not so subtle in Bonecrusher's case - shine through via plenty of dialogue that never got itself bogged down. Tyler Bleszinski puts a lot of words on some pages and panels but I found that everything flowed smoothly and kept me engaged through to the end. Put another way, larger word count in a comic is never a bad thing when you want to read those words and see what they're adding to the pictures they're accompanying.


While Scrapper, Hook and the other Constructicons are still no doubt the stars of the show, for this issue some others may have stolen it: the Insecticons, whose presence on the issue's cover hopefully make this firmly not a spoiler. There's so much that they bring to this new Transformers universe and some of its wider historical context that it felt like one of the best issues of the old Spotlight books. Finer details and intriguing moments of potential foreshadowing help make the conflict beginning to boil over in the current Transformers ongoing simultaneously clearer and muddier. Throw in some genuinely gruesome panels just in time for Halloween and it's a recipe for a great introduction to this version of Kup's doormats.


Livio Ramondelli handles the art duties once again and, once again, does so expertly. The continued use of blacks around panels adds to the feeling of isolation conveyed throughout which is a very welcome additive on a book set on an alien world. I could go for a little less red in the color temperature from time to time, but given my TV settings this is almost undoubtedly personal taste more than actual critique. The panel sequencing works in a way that prevents the pace from stalling and turning the book into a 20 page exercise in exposition. Editors David Mariotte and Tom Waltz surely deserve praise for the pacing as well, because this definitely felt like a serial to me and not like a purposefully decompressed chapter out of a bigger book coming out later.

Tom B. Long masterfully handles both the volume of dialogue sometimes present and creates some fantastic onomatopoeia graphic text for sounds I never thought I'd hear in a Transformers book. I'm not sure if this is his last work for IDW yet or not, but if it is, a special salute is in order for the years of phenomenal contributions he's made to our favorite robots in disguise.

On covers, the Livio Ramondelli "A" cover is appropriately spooky for the issue and season, with this cover being the one used in this review's news story's thumbnail image. A "B" cover featuring an intimidating group shot from Alex Milne and Josh Perez will also be available at most shops, with Andrew Griffith and Priscilla Tramontano also delivering a ten-copy retailer incentive option also featuring the Constructicons as they prepare to drop the season's hottest tracks. 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 #2.


Transformers: Galaxies #2 is a comic I found to be pretty great and I'm not going to get too picky about making the verdict here complicated. If that sounds inconsistent, well, let's just say I'm no Ultra Magnus. The point here is that while reading panel after panel and page after page, two things were true. First, I didn't press on out of any obligation to this review or Brand Loyalty or anything else, it was because I genuinely wanted to keep reading. Second and finally, reading this made me feel like the magic is back in Transformers comics, at least for this one issue.



Look out for this issue today, October 30th, 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.

This was a good issue 2! I like the insecticon backstory, and the insecticons themselves are pretty dang cool (and creepy). First time I've given more than a thought about them, it was well written!

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:This was a good issue 2! I like the insecticon backstory, and the insecticons themselves are pretty dang cool (and creepy). First time I've given more than a thought about them, it was well written!

Definitely the most "human" Insecticons I've ever read, or as much as they can be. They still eat metal and turn it into Energon. Kickback might be the exception, he still felt one sandwich short of a picnic.

Thanks to the folks over at iTunes, we have a three page preview of the upcoming issue of the Transformers Galaxies series. While these few pages don't reveal a ton about the story that Tyler Blezinski is telling, they are very nicely illustrated by Livio Ramondelli.









This issue is due to be released next week on November 27th, just in time for Thanksgiving (if you live in the U.S.). Of the two current Transformers series, Galaxies seems to be the better reviewed of the two. Will you be picking up your copy next week?

Looking forward to it! Eager to read more about Wheeljack and the Constructicons and Insecticons

Still not sure why this series is called 'Galaxies' when it's about specific groups of Transformers (so far). Having said that, Mars bars don't come from Mars.

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.

Good review! I really enjoyed this backstory chapter, and I'm liking how they are treating combiners. They are doing it right from the start

Thanks to artist Alex Milne on Twitter, we have the new cover for Transformers Galaxies #5 to show off to you today. The new cover features Cliffjumper surrounded by the star-struck masses who all believe he is Bumblebee, which will be the central plot point to his 2 issue arc that will run from issues 5 to 6. His issues of Galaxies will feature both him and Deathsaurus, and we can only hope that this Cliffjumper doesn't follow the past few new Cliffjumper's trends for survival.

Milne didn't only just show us the cover either. He was cool enough to share with us the process of creating the cover, which includes his rough lines all the way to the completed cover.

The colors for this cover were done by Josh Perez.

Check it out below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

So @IDWPublishing has been kind enough to allow me to show off the cover to Transformers Galaxies issue 5 which is part 1 of the Cliffjumper story.
Shown is the process from pencils to inks to colors and finally with the trade dress on it
Awesome colors by @dyemooch

I don't think I have ever so hard at anything this hard since animated wrek-gar.

I can almost hear Casey Kasem's voice in my head screaming "I'M NOT BUMBLEBEE REPAINTED!"

I'm excited for these 2 issues solely because of the amount of CJ/BB jokes about to be made

Did IDWverse ever do anything significant with Cliffjumper, following DoOP? I'm not quite sure where they were going with the set up given in his Spotlight, so I was curious if Roberts or Barber made use of him?

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Did IDWverse ever do anything significant with Cliffjumper, following DoOP? I'm not quite sure where they were going with the set up given in his Spotlight, so I was curious if Roberts or Barber made use of him?

No, he made a cameo in RiD/TF 51 getting shot by Galvatron, and then when he died in Unicron/OP. that was literally about all the significant stuff he did outside of a bit in the 2009 ongoing, All hail, and his spotlight

Greetings Seibertronians! This is a treat for all the comic fans out there, Apple Books has posted a three page preview of the concluding part of the "Constructicons Rising" arc in Transformers Galaxies!

Here's the publisher's description:

“Constructicons Rising,” Part Four! With the help of their benefactors, the Constructicons have once more been empowered. And with power, comes a way for them to escape their exile... and tear everything down in the process! The devastating conclusion to the first arc!

Transformers Galaxies #4 is written by Tyler Bleszinski with art by Livio Ramondelli, and is expected February 19th.

Are you getting this? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

This arc is really good and I'm glad it will finally wrap up, i've been eagerly awaiting this issue

84 days have passed since Transformers: Galaxies #3 was released. Revolutionaries had a 63 day gap between issues 3 and 4 back in 2017 and Lost Light had some rough gaps in between on a few occasions but 84 feels unprecedented and alarming. I'll stop short of saying that IDW (not the book's individual creators) owes any sort of explanation, but will say that this is the kind of thing that kills series and you don't have to take my word for it - ask a comics retailer.

With that out of the way the rest of the review can follow without another mention of it, but it was the elephant in the room here that had to be addressed. If you're reading this review and haven't read Galaxies #4 yet, know that it's a good read that's worthy of your time and the $3.99 (plus tax for many) cover price but do yourself a favor and read issues 1 through 3 again first. You won't regret it!


The issue's events pick up with the Constructicons and the Insecticons ready to execute their plans. The pieces set forth in the preceding issues coalesce here in more-or-less the way you'd expect, which may sound like it's detrimental but this issue is primarily about the action. Each group of Decepticons (yes, they're not technically that yet but c'mon) is doing what they feel they must to survive and break the cycle of control that's caught their lives and suppressed their means to achieve freedom. This issue invites the reader to witness how destruction can be used as a means to an otherwise empathetic end, and while there's some dialogue to catch-up a lapsed or forgetful reader it does bear repeating that the full impact of what Galaxies #4 does is greatly bolstered by recent memories of the trio of issues before it.


Said destruction is very well executed thanks in part to both Livio Ramondelli's art, with its stellar as usual sense of scale, as well as writer Tyler Bleszinski's choice to make sure that by the end of the arc Devastator isn't some mindless behemoth. There was a process taken to get him there, to be sure, but it was laid out convincingly without a huge over-reliance on the earlier introduced Enigma of Combination. Devastator is fully aware of himself as the seventh, shared consciousness of six other sentient beings and while it would have been nice to see him kill at least one character of real consequence, a symbolic panel featuring a representation of such will have to do for now.


The Insecticons have been used sparingly so far but they very nearly steal the show here. While their backstories are almost pitiful, the full brunt of their sociopathic nature is presented and while gruesome isn't a term I'd use to describe it, disturbing might fit the bill here instead. G1 fans will be happy to see some of their signature verbal tics persist along with their general appetite for energon. These feel like the original Insecticons just taken up to 11 and made more brutal, so here's hoping the main book picks them up soon.

Where it all ends up is quite open ended, which is good in one sense as it means the door's left open to more of this story. On the other hand, given the pace of events in the other ongoing there's likely no continuation coming anytime soon making this a great meal that doesn't quite fill you up all the way. That's almost definitely on purpose given an eleventh hour tease of some other characters yet there's still a sense of finality lacking for me, but your mileage may vary.


The quality art continues for this installment, with Ramondelli not only bringing wonderful scale in the line work but also smart colors to distinguish the time of day, giving perspective to the length of time the issue's story takes. The lighting doesn't stand up to close scrutiny in from panel to panel on every occasion, but when it looks so effectively dramatic I struggle to find much detriment in that. One thing I've noticed over time is that Ramondelli's art looks best to me on a bright phone or tablet, then on paper, then on a conventional computer monitor and writing this review on multiple decices throughout the day confirms this for me once again. The lettering from Jake M. Wood has balloons that jump back and forth swiftly at times but the dialogue remains easy to follow. I do have to offer some criticism to the onomatopoeia insert shown above. While it gets the idea across, associating an un-combining gestalt with a computer keyboard sound is certainly less than familiar.

Livio Ramondelli provides the "A" cover as has been the case for this series so far and this is the cover you can find in this review's news post thumbnail. Sara Pitre-Durocher provides a clean looking Devastator with slick coloring effects for the "B" cover while a pixel-art Shockwave and Devastator grace the ten-copy retailer incentive cover from newcomer (to Transformers, at least) Christina Neofotistou. 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 #4.


Transformers: Galaxies #4 is a worthy finish to a first arc featuring these characters that left me wanting to see more of their journey. The Constructicons managed to introduce some much needed action in a setting and series somewhat devoid of it or even, as it feels at times, the potential for it. A clear plan with careful plotting is evident in this four issue run, further evidenced to me by how it only introduces one really notable element of lore that isn't thoroughly followed-up on by the end of this fourth issue. While a product of happenstance, there's even some nice synergy with Transformers #17 and what's seen from one of its featured characters.

I can't bring myself to call this one perfect but I almost did. It could be the delay's fault, it could be the extremely open-ended nature of its resolution, or you could just know that despite some minor, Scotty-being-picky quibbles Transformers: Galaxies #4 finishes up a four issue arc that on the whole is easily the best Transformers comic output of the past year. Don't forget about this one, show it some support so more Constructicon stories can be made in the future.



Look out for this issue today, February 19th, 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.

The arc is only 4 issues so I'm guessing it won't get its own trade. It would be nice to read the story as 1 book even if it's thinner.

Rodimus Prime wrote:The arc is only 4 issues so I'm guessing it won't get its own trade. It would be nice to read the story as 1 book even if it's thinner.

Nope, it's being lumped in as a hardback with a bunch of stories from the main story.

Which is sad, I wanted this alone as a trade, I don't want any of the mainline story

Thanks to iTunes, we have the latest 3 page preview for the upcoming Transformers Galaxies #5!

Transformers Galaxies is a 12 issue series that will follow 4 different characters or sets of characters. The first 4 issue arc just concluded and focused on the Constructicons and the origins of Devastator. This issue kicks off a 2-issue series that will focus in on Cliffjumper, and will feature him alongside the Decepticon of Victory Fame Deathsaurus. The 2 issues will revolve around Cliffjumper trying to negotiate an energon deal while using his similar appearance to Bumblebee to make that happen, since the natives practically worship Bumblebee.

You can check out the 3-page preview below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

I'm sorry but in a time of peace, a name like deathsarus would set off so many alarm bells Not surprised the natives think he's bee though if they can't see colour.

Thanks to a tweet from Sara Pitre-Durocher herself, we have news that her cover for the coming Transformers Galaxies #5 has been revealed!

Transformers Galaxies #5 will be focusing in on Cliffjumper, and will take a fun take on how Cliffjumper always looks like a red Bumblebee, and will include Cliff alongside a character famous as the Decepticon Emperor of Destruction of Victory Fame, Deathsaurus. The 2-parter is being written by Kate Leth and Cohen Edenfield, with art by the always popular Alex Milne.

Pitre-Durocher's cover dives right into this Bumblebee/Cliffjumper lookalike business by including a sad and downtrodden Cliffjumper walking alongside a window with Bumblebee smiling back at him from the reflection, with Bee clearly upbeat in the reflection and Cliffjumper surely grumpy at his lot in life.

Check out the covers below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

I'd planned to have a timely review of issue 5 up but IDW didn't get us the media review stuff for the week until late in the day on Monday (usually this happens Friday morning), thus eliminating the weekend time normally available that would have been used to write a review.

Not sure if anyone cares to know that much, but if anyone was looking for a review and wondering what's up, there you have it.

The short version is that it made me smile and Alex Milne is still awesome.

ScottyP wrote:The short version is that it made me smile and Alex Milne is still awesome.

Both of these are very true. Alex Milne is the best TF artist ever, to me.

And the story itself was pretty good! I loved both bots that starred in it

After four issues of the Constructicons and Devastator wreaking havoc, Transformers: Galaxies #5 arrives to start a new sidestory with a new creative team featuring everyone's favorite Mini-Bot Bumblebee...

...as the setup for a running joke about the issue's actual lead character, Cliffjumper. Paired up here with Deathsaurus in one of the most unlikely Transformers tandems imaginable, an off-Cybertron mission to retrieve Energon completes all the setup you need to know. Does the issue pull off this strange alliance? Read on to find out.


Kate Leth and Cohen Edenfield make their writing debut for Transformers comics in this issue, providing some possibly welcome levity after the tonally serious previous arc of Galaxies. A somewhat simple plot is aided by extra helpings of character, as both of the issue's stars receive plenty of time and context as they depart for and commence with their mission. Most of the unnecessary world-building-through-wooden-dialogue from certain other issues of the other ongoing series is absent here, with cues about the status of the world such as the now persistent Energon rationing being presented much more naturally in conversation. Another positive about the writing here is that there's no worry about one main character being the surrogate for one writer with the other for the second, as the characters' voices are distinct and generally true to what G1 fans would expect.


Almost as soon as I typed that last sentence, a realization swept over that Cliffjumper has zero weaponry throughout this issue and presents little desire for it, immediately offering an obvious counterpoint to said previous conclusion. Since this is a two-parter, we'll let it stand as a TBD. Deathsaurus does live up to a more G1-like characterization, coming off at times as the terrifying Emperor of Destruction and during others as exactly the kind of villain that would be in an '80s cartoon show. Despite the relative faithfulness to his original incarnation, I can't help but miss the excellent, imaginative take on Deathsaurus from More Than Meets The Eye and his fascinating, dramatic inner conflict which added another dimension to him that's missing here.


Speaking of MTMTE, Alex Milne makes a welcome return on this issue, bringing with him the outstanding work that we've all come to expect. Deathsaurus looks as familiar and imposing as ever with the scripting work giving Milne ample opportunity to depict his alt mode in several great sequences. The Probat race depicted within is both unfamiliar and reminiscent of some of his previous depictions of alien races, but where he really shines on this issue is in his depiction of the planet, also called Probat. A gorgeous double-page spread near the beginning of the issue and another scene with Cliffjumper by a fireside later on really show Milne's range, and it's an absolute delight to look at. It likely helps that Josh Perez handles the colors on this issue, making excellent use of lighting and shadow to help cast the mood. A unique palette is also present in a short flashback sequence that leaves no doubt in the reader with regards to what they're looking at.

More of this artistic "Dream Team" is welcome at any time, IDW!


Jake M. Wood is now our regular letterer it would seem, and he deserves credit as well for his role in the artistic presentation. The distinct bubble style and font used for Deathsaurus in alt mode avoids looking like gimmickry and instead elevates the character during the book's later sequences. Series editors David Mariotte and Tom Waltz keep the book well paced throughout and have kept it very accessible to readers that don't follow the ongoing series while also ensuring it fits in with the rest of this new-ish universe.

Four cover options await for this installment, with Milne and Perez's "A" cover used as this review's news story thumbnail image. The other regular cover available features a cheeky Bumblebee by Sara Pitre-Durocher that fits in thematically, while the 10-copy retailer incentive cover from Anna Malkova helps deliver an idea of some of the book's tone. Fans that frequent especially busy shops can possibly look forward to Kei Zama and Josh Burcham's intimidating depiction of Deathsaurus on a 25-copy incentive cover. 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 #5.


The stunning art alone is enough to recommend that Transformers fans keep reading the stellar Galaxies series as it continues to outshine its parent publication in practically every way. The story here is simple and has some twists and turns, though there are a few times where it gets so wordy that one can't envy Wood's job of bubble placement. As the first half of a two-part story arc, the issue's momentum is stymied just as it picks up and releasing its follow-up a week later would have made sense while also clearing some of the backlog of delayed issues that IDW is working through. While that's not to be, it's also something that would only ameliorate a minor negative factor as the issue's characters elevate it in a significant way.

The art on Transformers: Galaxies #5 is a 5/5 while the story, for me, is a 4/5 so let's split the difference -



A late review means this issue is out now, and 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.

Anybody figure out where these Constructicons Rising fits into this reading order?

NOBODY LOVES WHEELIE wrote:Anybody figure out where these Constructicons Rising fits into this reading order?

Anytime after 12 and before 15, in my opinion. Not tied in tightly enough to have one "correct" place so putting it in the roughly intended publication order works for me. The second hardcover coming out in June will provide a more definitive spot.

ScottyP wrote:

NOBODY LOVES WHEELIE wrote:Anybody figure out where these Constructicons Rising fits into this reading order?

Anytime after 12 and before 15, in my opinion. Not tied in tightly enough to have one "correct" place so putting it in the roughly intended publication order works for me. The second hardcover coming out in June will provide a more definitive spot.

Works for me.

Very good review, I fully agree!

I loved the pairing, it was a pairing of bots I didn't realize would work but yet it really worked well

Thanks to Alex Milne on Twitter, we have some line art from the just released IDW Transformers Galaxies #5.

The line art that Milne shared with us today comes from 2 different pages: Page 11 and Page 16. Page 11 features Cliffjumper and the Probats around a fire enjoying the light, while Page 16 features a beast mode Deathsaurus losing his temper, what one might call a "Catastrophe". The pages show the level of detail Milne puts into his pages, and the results can be nothing short of stunning.

Also, we get to admire just how good looking Deathsaurus is, and just how great Milne draws him in this comic.

Check out the pages below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

incredibly gregarious as usual.

It's great to have different artists take their hand at Transformers, but man Alex Milne should ALWAYS be on the back-burner for that EXCELLENT art.

I really can't help thinking this series is being intentionally delayed to sell the mainline series? This book is only two stories in, and a vast improvement over that one.

I'm thinking this is definitely the IDW book I'll trade wait for.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:I really can't help thinking this series is being intentionally delayed to sell the mainline series? This book is only two stories in, and a vast improvement over that one.

I'm thinking this is definitely the IDW book I'll trade wait for.

As far as I'm aware, it's only been collected in with the mainline series and not getting its own seperate volume. Meaning that you have to buy the collected trades for the main line just to get Galaxies, at least, at this junction.

Interesting. I'll wait and see until we've crossed the '6 issue' Trade threshold, to see what's occurring. I definitely refuse to support the mainline book, so if need be, I'll grab back issues of this one.

Stormshot_Prime wrote:incredibly gregarious as usual.

It's great to have different artists take their hand at Transformers, but man Alex Milne should ALWAYS be on the back-burner for that EXCELLENT art.

Alex Milne should be attached to almost every Transformers project in some form ever. He is far and away my favorite artist

Best active artist for IDW Transformers by a country mile.

His pencils are probably in the top 3 all-time greats for the IP.

Thanks to Apple Books Preview, we have our first preview for the upcoming Transformers Galaxies #6!

Transformers Galaxies #6 follows up to Galaxies #5, serving as the 2nd and final chapter in the Bumblebee, er Cliffhanger, um dangit! Cliffjumper saga! In the previous issue, we were left on the last page with Deathsaurus standing menacingly over Cliff, not even able to get his name right, asking if he was ready to stoop to his level. And here we start with a look at Cliffjumper's birth, which itself was apparently unexpected, unwelcomed, and he was apologizing for existing from his first moments.

We must now see if Cliffjumper can rise up and make a true name for himself, and stand tall against a fearsome Deathsaurus!

Check out the preview below, and let us know what you think in the comments section below!

galaxies has been so good, no real bad parts to it at all yet, not even really subpar.

I am excited for the issue!

Hilarious and sad all at the same time. Best Galaxies so far.

ohhhh pretty

A flurry of recent releases culminates just in time for a partial shut-down of the comics world* with the conclusion to Transformers: Galaxies' second short arc featuring Cliffjumper. Issue five provided mostly one joke to carry the proceedings and readers of the preview for this sixth issue will know that it carries the torch of this same humorous case of misidentified Autobots. Can that carry the story somewhere meaningful? Read on.

*Transformers: Galaxies #6 is still being released today, this only impacts books scheduled for release from 4/1 onwards


The same writing team of Kate Leth and Cohen Edenfield continue on for this issue and pack in much of the same humor as before, but it manages to work throughout and not approach a level of overkill. Transformers fans are certainly familiar with the concept of slight variations on the same thing and while a critical eye could pierce the humor for that reason, I find the creativity that it took to come up with said variations remarkable enough to give the repetition a pass. If you're just looking to this one for the jokes, there are a few less of them here but you'll Bee happy to know they continue aplenty.


In a slight narrative turn to prevent the entire story from becoming a joke, Cliffjumper does team up with one of the alien inhabitants to accomplish his goals. While this part of the structure made sense for carrying the plot where it needed to go, there was a bit of lingering that made the issue feel ever-so-slightly, and I really mean slightly stretched out. Maybe it was the nine-panel page repeating a sequence of narrative captions from issue five that caused me to feel this way, as they extended the length of reading time for what should have been a fast-flowing sequential action scene without adding anything to the story's themes that most readers couldn't have figured out on their own already.


Despite the Spotlight: Cliffjumper vibes which didn't work for me, the character building here for Deathsaurus was well done. This is definitely not the "Victory" incarnation or is it the More Than Meets The Eye war general. While that could have been said after issue five, Galaxies #6 makes this continuity's version of the character much more clear. Alex Milne's contribution to this via his line art can't be denied, as the facial expressions he gives to the character in both modes helps convey his tone quite effectively.


Milne is joined this time by David Garcia-Cruz on colors, and while the quality doesn't take a dip there's also just enough inconsistency between the two issues to be noticeable. Cliffjumper is more red in issue 6 than in 5, the landscapes and interiors aren't the same grays and in something only noticed by putting the files side by side, Deathsaurus' alt mode's "eyebrows" are colored in by Garcia-Cruz whereas Perez left them white. I'll concede that last point is a bit picky, but hopefully the other things aren't as noteworthy on a printed copy. Jake M. Wood and Val Lopez combine for a "letters and design" credit and do well navigating a script that varies between too busy and just right. Tom Waltz and David Mariotte's touch here seems to have kept most things in order and progressing in a tidy way throughout, but the nine-panel page mentioned earlier in this review really should have leaned in more to the high-level of skill Alex Milne delivers with visual storytelling rather than rely on the amount of words that it had.

The three cover options provide an "A" cover by Milne and Perez, which serves as this review's news story's thumbnail image. Another readily order-able "B" cover by Bethany McGuire-Smith is also available though in a rare turn given her usual quality work this cover frankly looks unfinished, to me. George Caltsoudas shows that at least someone understood the "horns and guns" nature of Cliffjumper with the ten-copy retailer incentive cover for this issue. 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 #6.


Transformers: Galaxies #6 is still a very good comic but not quite as fun as the first half of the story from issue 5. The continued fantastic humor and art are held back to a small degree by an attempt at adding emotional gravity that felt somewhat superfluous, though it did take the story where it needed so it's tough to call it any super serious detriment.

Put together, this short two-issue story arc provides an ample dose of entertainment featuring robots and levity at a time when at least the latter is sorely appreciated. Cliffjumper lives up to the jokes about him to some degree but shows a little of his mischievous streak by the end and Deathsaurus gets enough characterization to know he'd probably call me a peon for giving the score below, so the strong production and characters leave me feeling this is a job well done.



This issue is out today, March 25th, and 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, but you may want to call to get their operational status before making a trip.

sucks over 3/4 of the readership cant actually get a copy due to Diamond shutting down and all comics being in quarantine.

Cant even buy it digitally for some reason

Ol corona really got me out of the comics habit, will try to get back in the review horse soon. We've been slacking ><

So Galaxies 7 had some good sequential art. It was a nice comic to look at. Holy cow though, that was more boring than any of the Ruckley stuff. A chore to read. A pretty chore, but still a chore.

Rounding out our three previews for Transformers comic books being released tomorrow, September 2nd, here's a look at the first five pages of Transformers Galaxies #9. Check out the synopsis, main cover and preview pages below for a look into the conclusion of this three part story arc following Gauge, Arcee and Greenlight as they duck and cover to avoid Heretech. Obviously that's not the actual story, so check out the actual book for the full details.

Look for this issue tomorrow at your local comic shop, on the Seibertron.com eBay store, or via digital release on Comixology, Apple Books and other authorized digital retailers.

(W) Sam Maggs (A) Bethany McGuire-Smith (CA) Umi Miyao
"Gauging the Truth," Part Three! The Reversionists have a plan, a way to bring their world closer to purity and Primus. Arcee and Greenlight have a plan, to save the world from the Reversionist plan since it seems pretty drastic. Gauge has a decision to make: which side does she help?