Sorry this is late, I was having a little trouble concentrating the last few days for some reason. It feels really nice to jump into a new Transformers issue, better late than never. Keep reading for a quick review of Transformers #27.
(Some minor spoilers below.)
The TF Wiki does a great job breaking down the whole issue point by point (bless you, TF Wiki) but in short: after the Tether to the Winged Moon (one of Cybertron’s biggest sources of energon) was broken, a group of mechanics saved it from falling into the sun. But then Team Stream showed up (that’s such a goofy name and everybody knows it, which is why I love it) to try and take over the moon for the Rise. Not that the Rise even exists anymore, since Megatron stopped pretending they weren’t on his side, and now they’re all Decepticons. But the mechanics on the moon don’t know that. I’m not sure Team Stream knows it either, but they wouldn’t care either way, they’re just very enthusiastic about killing things.
This issue a group of Autobots shows up on Sky Lynx, and after that it’s a free-for-all, with some of Team Stream tunneling down towards the mechanics, and the rest facing off against the incoming Autobots.
There’s a lot of callbacks this issue, both to G1 continuity, the Valentine’s Day special issue, and even the Dreamwave comics (once again, thanks to TF Wiki for reminding us about Sunstorm’s personality over there, and how what happens to him this issue could explain it.)
It was fun to see Sky Lynx split himself up to fight in two places at once, and I liked how they limited that ability by pointing out that his higher functions are also split when he does that, so one side or the other is going to be better in a fight. And they kept his somewhat arrogant personality quirks too. (And if you want more fun reading, check out the TF Wiki entry on his G1 continuity, it’s all written in that bombastic, over-confident, aren’t-you-lucky-I’m-here style.) (Yeah, TF Wiki’s getting all the love from me this week. There were 20 different characters in this issue, I needed help.)
In the end a decision has to be made between two very bad options, and the fallout will definitely have a part to play in the growing war on Cybertron.
Just as a quick aside, I think this is my only problem with the new IDW series: we already know what’s going to happen. (SPOILERS IF YOU’RE A NEWBIE.)
The war will go badly for the Autobots, a bunch of them will end up crash landing on Earth, hibernate for a few million years, wake up and meet the humans, and then the war continues.
How all this happens exactly is up to interpretation, there’s a lot of wiggle room for individual stories, and that’s what I’m trying to focus on: all the little details that could be completely new in this series, all the individual journeys we’ll get to see. Also, this new series was meant to be a good jumping on point for people new to the story, because the previous IDW continuity had gotten really convoluted and intimidating for new readers. I get that, absolutely.
It’s just sometimes I miss the previous IDW stories that were telling the story of a time period we’d never seen before: after the war. Because now, watching everyone be surprised about how bad things are, how evil and ruthless Megatron is, the absolute shock that the Decepticons are killing people…I feel like I’m always waiting for everybody to just catch up. (Which is totally not fair and I’m trying not to be a killjoy about it, but I figured I’d just put it out there.)
Anyway, I enjoyed Fico Ossio’s art (with David Garcia Cruz’s colors) this issue. I think we last saw their work in the Transformers vs. Visionaries series, which I won’t hold against them. (As I’ve said before, one of my favorite characters went out LIKE A CHUMP.) The lines have this slightly sketchy, angular look to them, which I like, it’s an angry style that matches well with all the battles. There’s a shot of an explosion at one point (trying to be vague because spoilers) that was very impressive.
