Transformers: Dark Prelude
Trade Paperback | Kindle Edition
Written by James Roberts, John Barber and Nick Roche
Art by Steve Kurth, Chee, Nick Roche, David Daza, Matt Frank and Agustin Padilla
Inks for Orion Pax by Juan Castro
Colors by J. Aburtov, Graphikslava, Ronda Pattison, Len O’Grady, Zac Atkinson, Thomas Deer and Joana LaFuente
Letters by Shawn Lee
Series Edits by John Barber and Carlos Guzman
Collection Edits by Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon
Cover by Nick Roche
IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 14, 2013
Cover Price: $19.99

Transformers: Dark Prelude collects the storylines of Orion Pax, ThunderCracker, Megatron, Bumblebee, TrailCutter and Hoist in an overarching story that spans millions of years, from the distant past, to now. Each story shows a major event from each character’s life. This allows for a more in-depth view into each character’s make up and driving forces.

The abrupt changes between the different stories can be a bit much but do help to distance each story from the last. This was also helped by each character’s changes in appearance between stories. These stories add to lore of this Transformers universe in a wonderful way.

Transformers Robots in Disguise
Written by John Barber
Art by Andrew Griffith
Colored by Priscilla Tramontand
Lettered by Shawn Lee
Edited by Carlos Guzman
Covers by Andrew Griffith, Casey W. Coller and Livio Ramondelli
IDW Publishing
Release Date: August 7, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Proving to be a great run, Transformers: Robots In Disguise #20 is an amazing continuation of this series. It starts out with somewhat of a recap, and brings us through Starscream’s first day as the leader of Iacon. Trying to do his best in the aftermath of the battle the night before, many obstacles are definitely testing the new leader. Top of the list is dealing with the blackout. This is made more difficult with the added hassle of a pesky conniving Z’Verian Mole-Rat. But it’s also made more difficult by some disturbing revelations about Scoop.

The artwork of Transformers: Robots In Disguise continues to impress me, fitting not only the story but also the spirit of the characters. The detail of the wear and tear on the machines helps bring grittiness to the comic.

Transformers: Monstrosity #1
Written by Chris Metzen & Flint Dille
Art by Livio Ramondelli
Letters by Tom B. Long
Edited by John Barber
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 19, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Transformers: Monstrosity #1 is the first issue in the definitive origin of the Transformers. And I mean that in every way possible. You can’t go back much further than this in the history of Cybertron.

Writers Chris Metzen and Flint Dille dive DEEP into the past of the Autobots and the Decepticons. Going back to when Optimus Prime was just a security guard and him and Megatron where fighting side by side. Not only do we get an origin story for the two most popular Transformers, we see a lot of familiar faces in VERY different roles, An intelligent Grimlock? Yes, please! What I was impressed by in this first issue is that even though the characters are far removed from what they’ll eventually become, they’re all still the same characters that we know and love. Starscream is still a lying, manipulative bad guy. Prime is a leader at heart. And Bumblebee is still too courageous for his own good. Metzen and Dille have set things up in a way, that, even though we know what’s going to happen, we have no idea HOW they’re going to get there. Plenty of fun surprises in this issue.

Transformers: Regeneration One #92
Written by Simon Furman
Penciled by Andrew Wildman
Inked by Stephen Baskerville
Color by John-Paul Bove
Lettered by Chris Mowry
Editor: John Barber
Editor-In-Chief: Chris Ryall
Covers by Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi & Geoff Senior
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 12, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

Transformers: Regeneration One #92 is the latest in a long line of books that IDW is publishing for the FANS. And, as a fan, I don’t think we can thank them enough. Yes another case where the publisher ACTUALLY does something because YOU demanded it!

Transformers Godfather Simon Furman continues doing what he does best – writing Transformers. This series picks up where the original Marvel series left off, just like IDW has done with G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The series has been running since last year, and it’s given Transfans exactly what they wanted, and that is a proper ending to the series. Now, I know most of this is old news to a lot of you, but since this is my first time reviewing the series, I thought a brief catch-up would be nice.

G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files #2
Written by Mike Costa
Pencils by Antonio Fuso
Inks by Emilio Lecce
Colors by Arianna Florean
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Consulting Editor: John Barber
Editor: Carlos Guzman
Covers by Michael Lark, Antonio Fuso and Dan Matutina
IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 22, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files #2 is all around a great comic. It’s heavy on the talking, a little light on the action, but all in all, it serves it’s purpose by being both interesting AND entertaining.

Mike Costa writes an issue here, that’s a LOT of set up, and you can tell that, when it hits, the payoff is going to be HUGE. He does some really great character work here. You’ve got the Chameleon, Flint, Lady Jaye and others trying to figure out what the first Cobra Commander’s son, Billy, does and doesn’t know about the Cobra organization. One thing that I wasn’t quite clear on, is just WHY they think Billy is such a threat to national security. But, I’m guessing that that will come out in a future issue. Overall, it’s a very interesting issue.