Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #26 – Review

by James Roberts, John Barber (Writers), James Raiz, Atilio Rojo, Livio Ramondelli (Artists), Josh Perez (Colorist)

The Story: Prowl begins to strategize how to fight back, while those in Metroplex try to find a way to help the others.

The Review: It’s never a good thing when a storyline, an event or a crossover slows things down. Whenever a title get stuck with a story that isn’t normally its own, it’s hard not to anticipate the return to normalcy, to the regular casts and problems that the writer has planned for them.

This is majorly how I feel with the Dark Cybertron crossover, which in itself is not a bad thing, as it is filled with plenty of characters I enjoy and ideas that are genuinely interesting. The problem, here, lies in many smaller ones that manage to slow things down, with the execution being in the way of some of these concepts.

What this issue does exceptionally right, though, is the characterization. Be it the growing dissatisfaction of Bumblebee over how people treat his decisions, Megatron and his strange vision of how he serves the Cybertronian, Prowl and his decisions or Starscream and his growing despair, there are several character arcs that come to a certain climax here, which is in itself a very satisfying progress.

Another aspect which is rather great is in how the tension and some of the situations are being set up wonderfully, with the Metroplex situation reaching a new step, the war against Shockwave getting farther and the rampage being even higher. The stakes are high, which bodes very well in term of actions for what might follow up next.

To continue on this streak of positive observations, the dialogue is also well done here, with hints of characterization, humor and exposition being balanced just right, never sacrificing one for the other. There is just the right tone set for many characters, to the expediency of Prowl to the prompt but honest dialogue of Orion Pax. The dialogue, in most cases, has been one of the greatest strengths of both John Barber and James Roberts, so it is nice to see that both are still in shape here.

Not everything is particularly great in this issue, though, with the pacing being a bit slow at times. The scene dealing with Rodimus, Orion Pax and the others, as good in terms of characterization as it is, does not advance the plot that well, with some information and some characters coming back, but nothing much is being accomplished in the meantime.

Another problem is the cohesion, with the issue jumping around quite a while, with mot much contributing to a wholesome experience until the very end of the issue. While both writers do understand dramatic tension, there is simply too many jumping around here, making it so the development is somewhat limited with each moments dedicated to a particular set of character, which is not helped by the impressively large cast this book has in the first place.

Another problem, which is utterly specific, is the fact that this lack of cohesion is further enhanced by the different styles of each artists. While they are talented in their own right, their approach don’t really work well with each other. Livio Ramondelli’s very graphic and atmospheric approach to characters and their setting is decidedly beautiful, yet it comes at odds with James Raiz and his darker and thicker lines.

However, not all artists are equivalent here, with James Raiz being a bit off his game. There is an abundance of claustrophobic panels, with too many elements without any space to let each details be precise and concise enough. Creating some confusing pages because of this, many of the scenes dealing with the crew inside Metroplex works mostly because of the dialogue and the ideas instead of the clear and fluid storytelling, which is at odd here with the rest of the issue.

Atilio Rojo, however, is very good here, with a great sense of atmosphere and scope, dealing with giant robots, many characters and destroyed architecture to great effects. The characters are expressive with both their poses, body language and their faces, which is always rather interesting to see considering some of them don’t exactly sport humanoid faces, which enhance the more personal and satisfying moments further.

The colorization, in its own right, is mostly good, with a very good sense of design in terms of destruction and despair. The pages in which the Titan walks and crush everything in its progression are rather impressive, with a good focalization on warm and darker colors with a very low amount of colder colors. Never letting the rather high diversity of color designs assigned to the characters get in the way, Josh Perez makes it work instead of making them an hindrance, playing with shading and light superbly to simulate a disaster area. Where he seems to have a bit more difficulty, though, is with James Raiz and his pages, with an heavy emphasis on darker and warmer colors that doesn’t fit quite well as much as invade the pages to their detriment. Livio Ramondelli, though, is very good as he works with his own pages, with the colors depicting the dead universe really well. Playing with colder colors primarily, this sets a nice contrast against the other pages, setting further the difference between the main and dead universe.

The Conclusion: There are many satisfactory moments in terms of development and characterization, yet the weird lack of cohesion for most of the issue and some problems with some of the scenes in terms of art makes this a bit of a lesser reading experience than it could be. A fine read, but it could certainly be better.

Grade: C+

Hugo Robberts Larivière