THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

Transformers #26: Chaos, Part Two: Numbers
Reviewed by Blackjack

War has begun! Wheelie won't run.
A mixed bag, this. It's a huge, huge improvement from the first three arcs that Mike Costa had written, but then it's not without its faults as well. Personally, I adore the art. It's beautiful, it's amazing, it's epic... I can't deny that at some parts the watercolor art does become a drawback, but personally I don't mind the art. It's pretty. Pacing... well, there are battles all around, and I think Costa handles the characters that he's been using throughout the ongoing (Optimus, Rodimus, Cliffjumper, Wheelie, Ironhide and Sunstreaker) pretty well. Wheelie in particular is very fun, and Rodimus is again a far cry from Costa's angry Rodimus from the first ongoing arc. Silverbolt and Trailbreaker seemingly pop out of nowhere, but it's not really a big deal. Just... well, where the heck were they during the Earth arcs, where they could've been so useful? Bah. Giant Sweep armies are epic, and the battle scenes are well done. Galvatron is still in his insane-yet-calculating phase, which is again good. I also like the little argument between Silverbolt and Optimus about whether to destroy Kimia or not. And both Rodimus and Lightspeed taking matters into their own hands... Lightspeed and Afterburner, well, their characterisation isn't exactly the same with their G1 tech specs (Afterburner is a redneck, not a wussy scientist, dammit) it's hardly Costa's fault. Furman was the one who turned them into scientists... and well, it's a nice enough send-off. The other characters are done well, though.

Still, it still bugs me that we're leading up to a confrontation with D-Void, a rubbish concept. While hopefully Costa and Roberts might make D-Void work better, I seriously doubt that. Megatron returning with a massive armour made up of the Megatron guns (is there any reason that the Autobots don't destroy these guns? I mean really?) isn't really well executed. How did he get past Omega Supreme? While it does get Megatron back into play, it isn't the best way of doing it. Again, a great issue in and by itself, but considering what it is building up to, I'm not surprised if it falls apart mid-way, Roberts and great art notwithstanding.


The Megatron guns were last seen in the 'Revenge of the Decepticons' arc. Megatron seems to have absorbed these guns into himself to form a brand-new suit of coral-like armour with boosters on his back and massive blades on his arms. Also, he has a faceplate.

Afterburner and Lightspeed survived the Kimia massacre (albeit to die afterwards) so guys like Crosshairs or Brainstorm might as well survive it somehow.

Quite a bunch of generic Autobot jets are seen in the two pages where Silverbolt's troops roll out, and some of the Autobot cars in the rear of the formation is unidentifiable. They're probably either miscoloured, or just generics.

The scene where Wheelie snipes Galvatron with a massive rifle seems to be a homage to the first cartoon episode of G1, where Cliffjumper did the same thing to Megatron.

When the ground-bound Autobots roll out, some 'lamp posts' similar to Soundwave's cartoon Cybertronian alternate mode are seen.


Not so much a goof as an inconsistency, but here it is established that the Autobots have an entire armada of flying troops that aren't Jetfire or Cosmos. So why was there so much trouble in the Earth-Skywatch days because they don't have air support?

Sandstorm can fly in space despite being a helicopter.

As always, Galvatron's troops are referred to as Decepticons. It's still entirely made up of Sweeps as well, instead of the random generics seen in 'Heart of Darkness'... although it's a much better artistic choice in my opinion.

At one point Lightspeed calls Afterburner 'Nosecone'.

Why didn't Omega Supreme activate the VVH when Megatron tries to break free? Or isn't he aware of the tiny Megatron guns walking around?