The X-Files Conspiracy -Transformers #1: Review

After receiving a message from the future that an alien virus has wiped out half the planet, the Lone Gunmen are on the hunt to stop doomsday before it arrives. And now the Transformers want to help out, too.

Here’s the official word from IDW:

The Lone Gunmen’s trail of secrets leads them to evidence of extraterrestrial life—mechanical extraterrestrial life! Will OPTIMUS PRIME and his allies trust these human interlopers—and what secret conspiracy could involve CYBERTRON, anyway?!

Confession: this was the crossover I was looking the *least* forward to — I just couldn’t imagine a script that would put giant robot cars and the Lone Gunmen together in one issue without reading dumb. But writer Paul Crilley totally proved me wrong. Yes, this is the best book in this megarc so far. Not only is the interaction between these two sets of radically different characters quirky and engaging, but the plot, which has wavered in previous crossovers, takes off like a rocket. Crilley crafts a plot that addresses the alien virus head on, and provides much needed twists to the Skylogic mystery of previous issues.

All that said, the weakest part for me was Dheeraj Verma’s art which feels muted and unnecessarily fuzzy. For those of you who’ve followed Verma’s work in other comics and have come to appreciate the rich style and confident lines he’s usually known for, this issue feels off. Or maybe it’s that I’ve come to expect stronger work from him.

Overall, X-Files Conspiracy -Transformers #1 is one of the best reads of this series yet.