Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #1
Written by James Roberts
Art by Nick Roche
Colors by Josh Burcham
IDW Publishing
Release Date: January 11, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

IDW is taking the Transformers universe in a bold new direction. After the events of the previous series, The Autobots no longer wage battles to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons, as the cartoon theme song once said. The war between the Autobots and the Decepticons is finally over. The Matrix was used to purge Cybertron, and the planet has reverted to a primordial state. Also, Optimus Prime has apparently retired, leaving Cybertron to explore the galaxy. In the remnants of the Matrix, the Autobots discover a star map that appears to lead to Cyberutopia, the home of the legendary Knights of Cybertron. Rodimus is now convinced that the Knights are real and he is assembling a crew to travel in space in search of the Knights.

Writer James Roberts does a great job of establishing the alliances on Cybertron. We see that Autobots and Decepticons now share the planet, but old rivalries die hard. Some former Decepticons, such as Cyclonus, appear to be willing to embrace the new reality, while others are not. There are also robots that were totally neutral during the war called non-aligned indigenous lifeforms, or nails.

I also enjoyed the facts that a lot of the “big-name” Transformers are absent from the book, which allows for great character moments from lesser known characters such as Rewind and Chromedome. Roberts’ script also established the divide between the two groups of Autobots. Bumblebee is the leader of the group of robots that remain on Cybertron, while Rodimus leads the group that will serve as the crew of the Lost Light. One of Rodimus’ crew members is Ultra Magnus, one of my favorite Transformers, so I was glad to see him have some interesting character moments in this issue. I have to commend Nick Roche on his unique, cartoony style. The Transformers appear more humanized, yet the serious scenes still have an impact.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye is a very intriguing first issue. I had not been keeping up with the IDW Transformers comics, so I have a few questions, but this is still a great jumping-on point for new readers. As only a casual reader of Transformers comics over the past few years, I never thought I would be interested in a Transformers comic without Optimus Prime, Megatron, or Galvatron. However, Roberts’ script forced me to take notice of the “b-team” Transformers and has set up an interesting status quo for the future. Hopefully, the comic that chronicles Bumblebee and the “home team” (Robots In Disguise) will have an equally captivating first issue.