Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #21 Review


Hmm.. I’m not sure how to define Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #21. The bigger half of it is an epilogue but – wow – it’s some very impressive epilogue-ing. You don’t need action to be entertaining or interesting – but there’s plenty of action too.

The official description from IDW:

ENDGAME! A handful of heroes stand in the way of a tyrant with the power to destroy AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS alike. But what if stopping him carries an even higher price? Get ready to say goodbye to some old friends as More Than Meets The Eye delivers on two years’ worth of promises.

This issue packs a punch and has pretty much a little bit of everything. At it’s core though, it’s a very personal issue. Various characters have their moments and there is plenty of personal developments and characterful moments. Yet it still fits in a fitting finale to the current arc and some great teasers for the next.

Credit has to be given to James Roberts – the writing is what underlines every panel of this issue. It’s exceptionally well crafted and I find the pacing to be the near perfect amount. This issue could of been stretched into two, but having the two halves together is just what it needs. Its the definition of satisfying. I’m sure some may find it corny but, this is a series about talking robots – you take some salt with your cybernetic sentient organisms and get on with the show.

Of course while I praise the writing, it would fall apart without visual treatments to back it up. Alex Milne does a lot of penciling in this issue. If it’s not a crowded scene it’s something personal, with close up detail and all the little extras to make the difference between a panel and a doodle. The color helps too as Josh Burcham and Joana Lafuente define the various scenes. It contrasts internal white lighting with the moody blacks and purples of a space battle.

In short, both the writing and the art teams brought their a-game to the table. Whether this is the best for the series in the long run doesn’t matter – right now, as a pick-up-and-read issue, it definitely rocks.

5/5

S#!T Talking Central