Comic Review: Transformers (2019-) #3

Transformers #3

IDW Publishing

Writer: Brian Ruckley

Artists: Angel Hernandez & Cachét Whitman

IDW’s newest Transformers series is insistent that the plot is starting to escalate but it doesn’t actually feel that way. The comic has certainly done a lot to build a living, breathing Cybertron. But as I’ve been wont to point out, you can say this about dozens of other Transformers stories. Competent worldbuilding isn’t enough to sell the narrative author Brian Ruckley is eager to tell. At least not without more help from the rest of the plot. I think there’s a good series somewhere in Transformers but the book just can’t put the individual pieces where they need to go.

As Megatron’s Ascenticons prepare to retaliate for grievances both real and perceived, Optimus’ cadre struggles to contain the Rise. This is certainly an interesting take on the origin story of the Autobots and the Decepticons. But it’s in an unfortunate position where both sides do a lot of talking about what’s been done to them and what they intend to do. And not a whole lot else. I certainly don’t object to a comic that’s trying to be thoughtful. But if Transformers is going to spend so much time showing speeches and recordings, it could at least properly establish what the different factions actually believe. Right now they have a nasty habit of getting cut off before they can get to any of that.

With each issue, I sour more and more on the plotline following Rubble. I’ll concede that the newly forged bot is an easy vector for communicating exposition to the audience. Frankly, I find it to be a little too “easy,” and I wish Transformers was a little more clever when establishing the setting and circumstances of the story. Alternatively, Transformers could have just used a better-written character. Rubble’s plotline quickly smothers any momentum the rest of the story builds. The other characters aren’t much better. Robo-therapist Froid and the obsessive Geomotus feel too stereotypical, especially when considering the tone Transformers is going for. One of the few genuinely unique additions is the Trifold Spark, an army of Cybertronians defeated years before the events of the story.

I was hoping the longer Transformers went on, the more I’d warm up to the art. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Angel Hernandez’s work just doesn’t work for the vast, diverse vision Transformers clearly has in mind. This is particularly evident when the book shows the streets of Cybertron, which despite the crowds, still feel downright lifeless. Hernandez does excel when it comes to the larger elements of the story but his art is generally just a poor fit. Cachét Whitman’s art is still preferable but otherwise, it’s not very impressive. While she handles the individual characters better than Hernandez does, her rendition of Cybertron’s environs doesn’t have the same mystique. If this is the new direction for Transformers comics going forward, I hope there’s a course correction in the near future.