Comic Review: Transformers Galaxies #2

Transformers Galaxies #2

IDW Publishing

Writer: Tyler Blezinski

Artist: Livio Ramondelli

In Transformers Galaxies #2, see all the hallmarks of a Constructicons story. Destruction. Combining. Hard drugs? The Transformers franchise is in an interesting position where it gets away with a lot more than its peers, mainly by the merit of having robotic protagonists. This has led to lots of regrettable stories where the author desperately tries to convince you that transforming robots are nothing to play around with. Others use the mature content as a contrast with the more childish aspects of the franchise. That leads to more interesting and even intelligent at times. Transformers Galaxies #2 is closer to the former.

Left to their own devices, the Constructicons end up in a rut. They fight and they ponder when they aren’t building up what’s essentially an uninhabited wasteland. Or they get high on artificial Energon, a plot point nicked from Transformers Prime. Once again, a genuine attempt is made to give the individual bots more personality. But as in the previous issue, it doesn’t really work. Try as Galaxies might, I still can’t see the Constructicons as anything more than components of the towering Devastator. As much as I fault the main Transformers book for being pretentious, I think this comic could use a little more of its ambition.

Offering some much-needed direction is Bombshell’s scheming with future Decepticon and present-day villain Shockwave. It gives Galaxies a stronger link to the main book, as well as a much-needed sense of direction. It also brings in the Insecticons as cannibals with delusions of grandeur, cast out for their nastier eating habits after loyally munching on Cybertron’s junk. While it feels a bit overdramatic, there’s bizarre humor to Bombshell’s narcissism. It also strikes me as more interesting than the book’s take on the Constructicons and I suspect the bugs will end up overshadowing them.

While it wasn’t great in the previous issue, Livio Ramondelli’s art has declined this time around. When you take away all the grungy coloring and lighting, Transformers Galaxies feels like someone playing with their toys. A handful of artists make that work but Ramondelli isn’t one of them. Scrapper getting high off of a waste-based stimulant is hard enough to take seriously as is. The clumsy art, paired with the weak story and dialogue, makes Transformers Galaxies feel more like a fan comic than a major pillar of IDW’s new reboot.

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