Kirkman Kills The Transformers!
Well, not all of them, yet! With Robert Kirkman’s Void Rivals having launched Skybound’s Energon Universe, he now takes the writing reins of the flagship Transformers comic series as well, with Dan Mora now on pencils and Mike Spicer still on colors.
In this twenty-eighth issue, Megatron has a freakout, Arcee gets a promotion, Miles Mayhem tries his darndest to get a spin-off, and SOMEONE DIES. FOR REAL. PERMANENTLY.
Whut-oh.
Yeah, Kirkman finally gives in to his Walking Dead and Invincible pedigree and brings on the gore here, for both human and Transformer alike! After I felt like he was being remarkably restrained for his first three issues, he really goes for it here and it’s... I dunno... kind of on the nose, maybe? I guess he wanted to show that his run will be chock-full of consequences too, but I feel maybe his choice of victim was a little flawed and a real shame. The victim is a Transformers character that is known for getting the shaft usually, and this might be the poor guy’s most violent death ever (and that’s saying something compared to last time!)
Before death though, is a rebirth, as Arcee formally takes over Ultra Magnus’ title and becomes “Arcee Magnus”. It’s complete with a brand-new design for the classic character that... well, it does look neat but it also comes across a bit like Arcee cosplaying as Ultra Magnus. Magnus himself is still sticking around though, so I guess we’ll see how this new dynamic plays out with Arcee as Prime’s second-in-command now.
What else then?
The Miles Mayhem/Colonel Flagg subplot takes a turn as Mayhem creates mayhem, as is his wont. I’m unsure where this is going; is Kirkman pushing for a M.A.S.K. spin-off or is he just folding those elements into Transformers? I don’t know how interested I am in that, but I must admit he’s doing his darndest to tie the properties together.
Various other subplots advance, including whatever is messing with Megatron’s head, Thundercracker adjusting to his new allegiance, and Spike and Carly moving in together. Kirkman does have a lot of loose strands out there and I’m wondering if he’s gonna weave many together before this first story arc ends. Oh, the art by Dan Mora is great as usual, but that’s pretty much a given.
Cube?
I’ll be honest, this is the first issue of Kirkman’s run that didn’t land with me. The problem is most of the major happenings here happened before, in IDW comics specifically, and they happened with more subtlety and restrain there. We’ve seen Arcee become second-in-command to Optimus Prime and we’ve seen that one guy get horribly killed. If I may backseat write for a moment, it would have been far more fitting for Beachcomber to have been the casualty. He fit the situation better AND has been a major character in this book, so the death would have probably “meant something” to the readership. As it is, I’m only left with a sense of wasted opportunity and gratuitous violence that feels a little TOO gratuitous for this book, even for Kirkman.
Buy Transformers # 28 this week and hey there are only four Aerialbots now and Thundercracker just joined the Autobots and WAITAMINUTE...