Optimus Prime was supposed to have led the Autobots to victory. Instead, the fate of Cybertron is unknown, and his allies have crash-landed far from home, alongside their enemies—the Decepticons. As these titanic forces renew their war on Earth, one thing is immediately clear: the planet will never be the same. New alliances are struck. Battle lines are redrawn. And humanity’s only hope of survival is Optimus Prime. Transformers #1 continues the “Energon Universe” that Skybound began with Void Rivals and the next chapter is… ok.
My love of Transformers goes back to Gen1 and the animated series that debuted in 1984. I have fond memories of making sure I caught each episode, and being bummed when it was a repeat. The toys, puzzles, books, and more were mine to collect and I absolutely did that. There’s been many iterations since, but the original cartoon holds a special place in my heart. So, I’ve been excited to see what Skybound does with the property, and G.I. Joe, as part of its “Energon Universe.” We’ve gotten teases in Void Rivals but not an issue squarely focused on the beloved property.
Daniel Warren Johnson handles the writing and art and delivers a debut issue in Transformers #1 that’s a bit too familiar. Like the original animated series, the Transformers have crashed on Earth all in the same ship and are awaken. The details from there change a bit but overall, the opening chapter is something we’ve seen before. That’s both good and bad.
Beyond some shocks in the action taken, ahem Starscream, the comic hits the beats of the debut episode. In that way, it plants a flag of what we might expect going forward, a comic series more in line with the original animated series. Johnson doesn’t shake things up or veer too much, instead giving us those opening moments as the Transformer’s battle continues.
Where the comic stands out is in some small details. The relationship between Spike and his father is a bit more fleshed out with the loss of someone playing an important part. They’re more than just observers and already are getting depth. Johnson also has no issue killing characters off. There’s at least one, maybe two, that should upset fans but it again plants a flag that this isn’t just going to be a story where lasers go back and forth and there’s little at stake when it comes to that. Finally, the cast is kept small. There’s less than 10 characters total in the beginning, including humans, instead of spiraling things with an already bloated amount. That also makes the “resurrection” of specific characters a much bigger deal.
Johnson’s art is good. It breaks from what we’ve seen for quite a while with other publishers and instead mixes the traditional look with Johnson’s flair. There’s some good focus on the emotion and expressions of the human characters and the action when things get rolling is good. We get to see more than the traditional type of fighting with a bit more physicality thrown in. Johnson is joined by Mike Spicer on color who adds an almost muted look in that aspect.
Overall, Transformers #1 is good. It’s familiar in a lot of ways so for those who are fans, your enjoyment will hinge on how much you wanted a comic that was different than before. I myself think it’s a bit too much like the original but where it deviates in its focus it excels. It’s enough to get me intrigued as to what comes next but definitely dampens the excitement I had a bit. In the end, it feels like it’s back to basics.
Story: Daniel Warren Johnson Art: Daniel Warren Johnson Color: Mike Spicer
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.4 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: 7.5
Skybound provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – Amazon/Kindle
Source: Graphic Policy
