Comic Review: Transformers (2019-) #14

Transformers (2019-) #14

IDW Publishing

Writer: Brian Ruckley

Artists: Anna Malkova, Bethany McGuire-Smith, & Joana Lafuente

While I’ve all but lost faith in IDW’s “Bold New Era,” this last issue of Transformers was one of its better showings. Most of the story shows Chromia and Springer caught in a deadlock with Rise militants. The latter have camped out in the remains of a Titan, the primordial, gigantic bots treated as holy sites by many on Cybertron. The standoff is very different from the fast-paced combat typically associated with the franchise. The apparent attempt at a diplomatic resolution by the Ascenticons is also uncharacteristic. It’s intense while still character-driven and I wish the book had done more of this in the last 13 issues.

Another well-written character creeps into a series that’s largely avoided them. Soundwave has always been the reserved if a fanatical member of the Decepticons. That’s also true here, as he performs much of the Ascenticons’ official duties through his role as a senator. Ruckley lends him real emotion, something fans rarely associate with the monotone ‘con. To my surprise, the book actually puts this departure from tradition to good use. Soundwave is still tasked with the Ascenticons’ underhanded dirty work and fully believes in Megatron and his ideals. But he’s still troubled by the measures he feels forced to take.

The rest of the characters are still in line with Transformers overall mediocrity. It’s hard to find anyone’s personality beneath all the expository dialogue. Normally I’d chalk the clumsy way the setting and character is delivered to Ruckley struggling with the switch from novel to comic. But it’s reaching a point where I’m actively starting to question that. A good example is the diminutive scientist Geomotus. In an interview with IGN, John Barber stated that “Geomotus is one of the first openly neurodivergent Cybertronians.” I’m sure everyone involved had good intentions but right now he’s closer to a caricature of autistic people than an actual character. He’s hardly a triumph of positive representation or even a meaningful addition to the story. As I’ve said before, Transformers has plenty of big ideas in mind. It just can’t deliver on any of them.

Transformers #14‘s art is both better and worse than the last issue. It’s almost impossible to draw the robots in disguise better than Alex Milne. The opposite is true of Angel Hernandez. Anna Malkova and Bethany McGuire-Smith don’t reach either of those extremes but they do a decent job. Malkova’s art has improved considerably and Joan Lafuente’s color works well with her style. The transition with Bethany McGuire-Smith’s art is almost seamless, which is the first for this book and it’s constantly artists. As good as Transformers #14 might be, it doesn’t offer enough to address my overall concerns with the series or this reboot as a whole.

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