And so it goes. Up to this point, Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye and Robots In Disguise had been two self-contained sagas where two writers with starky different voices expanded the mythos of the franchise in cool and compelling new directions. Now, under the banner of the new Dark Cybertron storyline, the two series are smashing together, and the results are a little uneven, as you might expect.
After the special opening issue, the story continues in TF:MTMTE #23, where writers James Roberts and John Barber combine their efforts with a trio of artists – Atilio Rojo, James Raiz and Livio Ramondelli – to explore the old continuity threads left hanging in IDW’s version of the Transformers universe. On one end of the galaxy, the crew of the Lost Light – led by Rodimus – have come across the former Optimus Prime and current Orion Pax while investigating a planet called Gorlam Prime, which is collapsing into a portal to a nefarious alternate reality called the Dead Universe. Back home on Cybertron, it seems a portal to that universe has opened up right over their heads, thanks to a mysterious plan engineered by Shockwave involving a massive Metrotitan robot and a pair of twisted former heroes from Cybertron’s history, Nova Prime and Galvatron. Those two conquerors appear to be stuck in the Dead Universe while Shockwave seemingly engineers a plan to help them cross over. Meanwhile, that massive Metrotitan has drawn the attention of Bumblebee and his fellow exiled Autobots, and the newly elected leader of the fledgling new Cybertronian society of Iacon – a fellow you might know as Starscream – is warned of an ancient, forgotten prophecy of doom that calls him by name.
The thing about being a writer with a standout voice like Roberts is that when you’re co-writing something with somebody else, you know exactly who wrote which parts – that would be the sections where the dialogue starts to crackle with a lot more life. Instead of a standard Roberts issue of MTMTE, where that energy lasts throughout the whole issue, here it ebbs and flows – not that Barber’s work is bad, but he tends to be dealing with the darker, more serious issues, and has less opportunity for amusing flair. That kind of hodge-podge feeling is amplified by the vastly different art styles involved. The Cybertron stuff is very clean, bright and shiny, whereas the Lost Light business is highly detailed, dark and gritty – and then there’s the painted Ramondelli work that comes in once Pax and Rodimus make their way into the Dead Universe with Hardhead and Cyclonus. Ramondelli’s relentlessly dark style finally finds its perfect fit, in this twisted reality where the dead may yet exist.
While this issue doesn’t have the sheer joy of Transformers greatness that MTMTE usually has, the Dark Cybertron story has potential, and when Roberts gets a hold of the old continuity elements, he remembers to explain them and deal with them as if they’re new to the reader. I’ve read all of the stuff, and I still need a refresher on the plots gone by from time to time. Still looking forward to Shockwave’s master plan – it can’t simply be in service of an old crackpot despot like Nova Prime.
