Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #31 Review

When a character like Megatron enters a very comical list of characters, it’s often hard to represent new story lines in the same light. Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #31, however, does a good job at succeeding in this for the most part.

The official description from IDW:

FLYING BLIND! Trapped inside a giant replica of RODIMUS’s head (don’t ask), MEGATRON and the crew of the Lost Light have to solve the biggest mystery of their lives. And they have to do so quickly—because every time the lights go out, something terrible happens…

The set-up for this issue is simple and mostly dialogue driven: people keep disappearing while the remaining crew attempt to figure out what’s happening. Various key characters play to their respective strengths and, the larger plot aside, More Than Meets The Eye is really an excuse to flex personalities rather than anything else.

This, in its own way, is a good thing. James Roberts knows this cast, even with the new line-up, and effortlessly gets into writing for each voice. A great example of this would be the Mexican stand-off, which is a fresh and dynamic way to show character allegiances and interactions, while also tying into new plot elements. Similarly, Roberts finds a few ways to hint at further future events, even if they aren’t that subtle.

Visually, More Than Meets The Eye #30 looks as good as it ever has, although the cramped environment doesn’t give much room for variation. Atilio Rojo’s pencils are very well thought out  and do a good job distinguishing figures in such small spaces and panels, while Joana Lafuente provides enough variation in terms of color to make this clear to the reader. While the setting itself more or less takes place in one room, the sheer variety of vibrant color allows this title more visually freedoms than most, which is something it chooses to draw on.

All in all, More Than Meets The Eye #30 manages to stay fresh and interesting, taking its unique elements and running with them rather than trying to hide them out of sight.