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THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

Marvel Comics
(1984-1994)
Japanese
Manga
Other Books
and Titles
Titan Books
(2001-2010)
Club/Con
(2001-2016)
Dreamwave
(2002-2004)
Devil's Due
(2003-2007)
IDW Publishing
(2005-now)

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye

| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #Annual | #10 |

More than Meets the Eye #1: Liars A to D, Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It

Published Date: January 2012
Written by: James Roberts
Art by: Nick Roche
Colours by: Josh Burcham
Edited by: John Barber
Cover price: $3.99

Synopsis: With Optimus Prime reverting to the name Orion Pax and once again leaving his fellow Autobots to their own devices, a split has appeared in the ranks. On one side are those that wish to rebuild Cybertron and create Peace with the non-combatants (Nails). On the other side are those that feel they can never escape the stigma of the war and want to seek out a new adventure away from Cybertron. Leading the latter exodus is Rodimus, flanked by Ultra Magnus and Drift.

Rodimus announces his plans to leave Cybertron and a grand mission to seek out the Knights of Cybertron using the map contained within his half of the Matrix in the hope of gaining answers and enlightenment. Under the watch of both opponents and proponents, he makes a proposal to anyone who wishes to join to be on board his ship, The Lost Light, when it leaves the planet the next day. The issue follows various ‘bots journey to that launch.

Ratchet is the first to announce his exit, indicating to Bumblebee that he feels he is too old to start again. Another supposedly vital Autobot, Chromedome, is also joining the crew of the Lost Light, much to the annoyance of Prowl. There doesn’t seem to be too much love lost between Prowl and Chromedome's friend Rewind who is also signing up.

Also on his way to the launch, Cyclonus reminisces about how Cybertron was before the war. A faint life-sign is mistaken for his former partner, Scourge. However this is revealed to be a tomb of Scourge Facsimiles, the Sweeps – in a one-sided post-mortem conversation with former Wrecker, Whirl. Fearing that Cyclonus may tell others about this strange scene, Whirl immediately attacks and despite Cyclonus's protests, the two battle across the Cybertron landscape.

Over at the launch site, Head of Security Red Alert is questioning several new recruits. First up is Brainstorm who is very attached to his briefcase and also exempt from Red's security checks. Following Brainstorm is motor-mouth Swerve, who is only let aboard provided he doesn’t speak. Finally we get Rung, the Autobot psychologist who Red Alert doesn’t seem to remember despite being his patient for over half a millennium. Their conversation is interrupted by the battling Cyclonus and Whirl, with Rung losing his arm in the process.

The battling duos' next interruption is the group of Ratchet, Rewind and Chromedome, who are having to walk to the launch due to Rewinds alt-mode (it would appear he is a USB key of some sort). Just as Whirl claims victory over the former Dead Universe robot, he is knocked offline by a massive explosion from underneath the ground. Upon inspection, Ratchet and co. find the Autobot Tailgate, who has been trapped there for 6 million years (unknown to himself). Before he passes out, Tailgate mentions that he is late for the launch so the other Autobots bring him along, but not before Rewind picks up some gold discs from Swindle in a clandestine meeting.

Finally, with a crew of over 200 Autobots on board, Rodimus prepares to begin the quest and sets off. Just as they begin to quantum jump, the Lost Light suffers a massive explosion and is sent hurtling into unknown space. As they finally gain control they realise that there is a hull breach and over 40 Autobots have been jettisoned over their nearest planet. Landing on the planet, Magnus and Rodimus begin to plan a rescue mission.

Back on Cybertron, Bumblebee and Prowl are shown to be in mourning for their colleagues, as they believe that the Lost Light was destroyed in the explosion. Meanwhile an unheard transmission from the future is received, containing several severe warnings.

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Ultra Magnus, Rodimus, Drift, Xaaron, Dipstick, Wheeljack, Prowl, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Cyclonus, Rewind, Chromedome, Tailgate, Whirl, Sweeps (sort of…), Red Alert, Brainstorm, Swerve, Rung, Swindle, Jazz, Mirage, Sky Lynx, Hound, Mainframe, Perceptor, Fizzle, Sureshot, Rollout, Polaris, Rad, Waverider, Hyperion

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Red Dave Prime

More than Meets the Eye #2: Liars A to D, Part 2: Hangers On

Published Date: February 15 2012
Written by: James Roberts
Art by: Alex Milne
Colours by: Josh Burcham
Edited by: John Barber
Cover price: $3.99

Synopsis: Following the hull breach, the crew of the Lost Light are on a rescue and recovery mission. Rodimus and Ultra Magnus have picked up half of the fallen autobots who are offline since planet fall, while Hoist fishes Cyclonus out of a nearby lake.

Back on the lost light, Brainstorm and Perceptor conclude that the quantum generators malfunctioned due to coming into contact with one of the duo-bots, Ore.

Meanwhile overhead a mysterious shuttle warps into view. On-board is the Autobot Skids but he has a few problems, the most obvious being amnesia. An ominous scrawl on the wall behind him reads “you haven’t escaped, they’re all around you”. Skids switches off the shuttles mode lock, and ejects to safety before the shuttle crash lands – all done on instinct it would appear. Before he can comfortable he is engaged by the remains of the shuttle – 3 giant robots armed with swords.

Thankfully for Skids, one has been destroyed on impact. As he engages the other two, the robots only communication is the numbers 1984. Skids uses the remains of 2 fallen autobots – Polaris & Hyperion to take down one of the robots but one still remains.

Back on board the Lost Light, Ratchet tends to Rung, Tailgate and Whirl. After a small altercation between Whirl and Rung (his psychologist), Ratchet allows Swerve to inform Tailgate that he had been buried underground for over six million years. Naturally enough, this doesn’t go down well.

Rodimus confronts Cyclonus about coming on board as a member of the crew. Rodimus agrees to give Cyclonus a chance but can’t forget about Cyclonus’s role in the attack on Kima. Ultra Magnus is less positive about Cyclonus but tries to organise a truce between Whirl and the former Dead Universe Soldier.

Planet side, Swerve and Tailgate meet up with Chromedome and Rewind. As they head back to the Lost Light they encounter Skids in combat with the remaining robot. Chromedome removes the inhibitor claw attached to Skids back, along him to unleash his full arsenal on his assailant – impressing Swerve immensely. Chromedome is curious why Skids never used the gun in his right hand. Skids didn’t seem to notice it. Tailgate inspects the head of the defeated robot and overhears it still saying “1984”.

At a general meeting of the crew, Rodimus outlines his plans to set a course for Crystal City and locate the Circle of Light. However another snag rears its head. Red Alert has discovered the body of the other duo-bot, Shock, with his spark ripped out. It looks like a Spark eater is on board…

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Brainstorm, Perceptor, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Pipes, Rollout, Groundshaker, Sureshot, Ore, Rewind, Chromedome, Hoist, Cyclonus, Skids, Whirl, Ratchet, Rung, Swerve, Tailgate, Drift, Hyperion, Polaris, Blaster, Hound, Sunstreaker, Trailbreaker, Gears, Mainframe, Inferno, Grapple, Huffer, Brawn, Cosmos, Powerglide, Smokescreen, Pointblank, Animus, Red Alert, Shock

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Red Dave Prime

More than Meets the Eye #3: Liars A to D, Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things

Published Date: March 14 2012
Written by: James Roberts
Art by: Alex Milne
Colours by: Josh Burcham
Edited by: John Barber
Cover price: $3.99

Synopsis: The issue begins with Shock conversing with Ore – or at least, what’s left of him, Ore being fused to the quantum drive of the lost light last issue. Shock laments his partners passing and cleans up his personal effects. This involves deleting all the calls on his communicator, one of which was to Prowl, and locating the tracer that Ore was meant to attach to the engines of the lost light. Unfortunately for Shock, just as he finds the tracer he is attacked by a mysterious assailant and killed in a gruesome manner -- his brain module is pulled out through his mouth and his spark explodes from his chest. Nice.

Returning to where last issue ended, Red Alert informs Rodimus that there’s a Spark Eater on board. Rodimus response is to only inform a select few of the crew and orders the remaining crew members to pair off and head to the habitation suites. Unknown to the rest of the crew, he orders Magnus to seal them in as a precaution. Rodimus gathers together Magnus, Drift, Chromedome, Trailbreaker and Ratchet and head off to Shock's body, picking up the uninvited Rewind along the way. Tailgate asks Cyclonus to help him to the hab suites as he is still stuck halfway between modes (see last issue).

At the scene of the crime, the various Autobots argue over whether it is indeed a Sparkeater that has killed Shock. After a bit of squabbling, Chromedome uses his mnemosurgery skills on shock to try and find out exactly what attacked him. The resulting image is disturbing, to say the least.

Meanwhile, Cyclonus and the partially transformed Tailgate arrive at their Hab Suite, getting a few suspicious looks from Hoist along the way. Despite trying to make polite conversation, Tailgate is unceremoniously dropped on the floor of the hab suite. The two converse and Cyclonus fills Tailgate in on the war between the Autobots and Decepticons.

Nowhere near a Hab Suite, Swerve and Skids discover a Bar. Swerve brings up his dream of owning his own bar with Cybertronian racing star Blur, but it falls on deaf ears as Skids is more concerned with escaping through the ceiling. Which he does.

Back at the corpse, Ratchet concludes that it was a Sparkeater that had taken Shock's life and notes that the creature will be looking for the 'brightest spark'. Using this knowledge, Rodimus comes up with a clever plan which has only a slight flaw; he intends to draw the Sparkeater to himself as, naturally, he is the strongest spark onboard. Only he isn’t. Rung is. And after a brief snack of the spark of Animus and a small skirmish with Magnus and the others, that’s who the Sparkeater heads straight for. Luckily for Rung, Skids pulls him out of harms way and into a nearby elevator shaft just in time.

Realising he has made a mistake, Rodimus instructs Rung and Skids to head to the engine room. As they make their way there, the two encounter Brainstorm, who the Sparkeater oddly chooses to ignore in its hunt for more food. Reaching the engine room, Rung is used as bait for the charging Sparkeater, allowing Rodimus to pin it against the side of the ships quantum generators just as Perceptor engages the quantum jump. The end result for the Sparkeater, and Rodimus’s hands, is the same as what happened to poor Ore in issue 2 –- it becomes entombed within the quantum engine.

Later in the Medbay, as he is getting repaired after his transformation glitch from the previous issue, Tailgate decides he wants to pledge allegiance… to the Decepticons.

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Shock, Ore, Prowl, Red Alert, Swerve, Brawn, Tailgate, Grapple, Cosmos, Smokescreen, Powerglide, Hoist, Whirl, Pointblank, Animus, Xaaron, Drift, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Huffer, Inferno, Rung, Skids, Chromedome, Rewind, Cyclonus, Trailbreaker, Ratchet, Boss, Nominus Prime, Megatron, Sentinel Prime, Sideswipe, Black Shadow, Proteus, Sideswipe, Impactor, Sunstreaker, Grimlock, Starscream, Brainstorm, Perceptor

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Red Dave Prime

More than Meets the Eye #4: Life After the Big Bang

Synopsis: TBA

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: TBA

Reviews & Commentary: TBA

More than Meets the Eye #5: How Ratchet Got His Hands Back

Synopsis: TBA

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: TBA

Reviews & Commentary: TBA

More than Meets the Eye #6: Interiors

Synopsis: TBA

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: TBA

Reviews & Commentary: TBA

More than Meets the Eye #7: Scavengers, Part 1: Rules of Disengagement

Synopsis: TBA

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: TBA

Reviews & Commentary: TBA

More than Meets the Eye #8: Scavengers, Part 2: Who's Afraid of the DJD?

Synopsis: TBA

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: TBA

Reviews & Commentary: TBA

More than Meets the Eye #9: Shadowplay, Part 1: Post Hoc

Synopsis: TBA

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: TBA

Reviews & Commentary: TBA

More than Meets the Eye 2012 Annual: Primus: You, Me and Other Revelations

Synopsis: TBA

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: TBA

Reviews & Commentary: TBA

More than Meets the Eye #10: Shadowplay, Part 2: Patternism

Synopsis: TBA

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: TBA

Reviews & Commentary: TBA

 

| Transformers: Chaos | IDW Comics Guide | More than Meets the Eye #11-20 | Robots in Disguise | Spotlights V5 |

 
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