Transformers: Robots in Disguise #29 – Review

By: John Barber (writer); Andrew Griffith, Guido Guidi, and Brendan Cahil (art); Josh Perez and Joana Lafuente (colors) The Story: “Prowl’s got it all planned out.”

The Review: Having left us with a shocking cliffhanger last month, John Barber steps back to provide some clarity on who the Autobot’s opposition is and how they came together before stepping back into the conflict at hand. The robot fighting is actually pretty limited this month but, say what you will about this issue, it’s full of character. Barber’s assurances that Prowl will  be a major character going forward are already coming true as we get a Prowl’s side of a story that, thus far, has taken the unspectacular position that he is a prick. It’s fascinating to hear him talk about his strained relationship with the recently deceased Bumblebee, but now that Optimus Prime has retaken command of the Autobots, I’m interested to see how a stronger willed commander will deal with Prowl’s “hero they need, not the one they deserve” shtick. Likewise, it’s great to see him interact with the Constructicons, who find their loyalty torn between Megatron and a bot who wishes him dead. Interestingly, this conundrum doesn’t seem to bother them terribly. What does it mean for the balance of power that Prowl has the beginnings of a small army, and a powerful one at that? Meanwhile a fascinatingly similar issue seems to be brewing within the Decepticon camp. Despite presumably having a hand in writing him during “Dark Cybertron,” Barber’s Galvatron seems different from the nostalgic old soldier we met there, himself somewhat different from the bot with a savior complex from “Chaos”, who was different from the calculating usurper of the Simon Furman days.

This Galvatron burns a little hotter. His rivalry with Prime from Expansion remains, as does his longing for the Cybertron of old, but his new toy-accurate tank-mode seems to have awakened a more baldly militaristic side. The result is a leader not entirely suited to matters of diplomacy, forcing Soundwave to step up and keep the peace within the tenuous Earth/Decepticon Alliance. It’s obvious that Soundwave is lying when he claims that Galvatron’s arrival has “ferment[ed] our journey towards universal harmony”, but one has to wonder whether he’s being honest about his view of the Decepticon cause, or about his loyalty to this new, less subtle leader. Marissa Faireborn gets some development this issue, her transition from protester to commander is an effective demonstration of the effect the Cybertronian Civil War had on the earth. While she makes most of her actions from one end of a walkie-talkie this month, the military bent of human involvement and the increased technology at their disposal seems, so far, to alleviate  the problems that fans most commonly have with terrestrial characters in the Transformers mythos. It’s also worth noting that Thundercracker remains amazing, even if we don’t get quite as much of him. Though Prowl brings out the best in Barber and the writing is generally of good quality, this is not the most exciting issue. It’s a little theoretical even in action scenes, with a lack of immediacy that hurts the book. Jetfire’s scenes actively drag. At times it feels almost as though Barber really wants to just write a chess game between Faireborn, Prowl, and Soundwave but his other responsibilities keep getting in the way. That’s not entirely a bad thing, it makes the scenes where these characters appear great fun to read, but it doesn’t get the blood pumping the way some of Barber’s other work has. Andrew Griffith’s art is looking a little stiff this month. The compositions lean a little more towards basic profile, head-on, and three-quarter views than in most of his work and Optimus Prime is looking a little bulky. Despite these problems most of his bots are attractive as ever. Galvatron and Jetfire are particular stand outs and the Constructicon’s entrance is great…in fact, both of them are! I also have to give him credit for his layouts aboard the Ark-7, which manage to cram a lot of information into a lot of panels in a very small number of pages. Director Faireborn is the only human to appear unmasked in Griffith’s sections. He’s still having trouble with her, it seems. While it’s apparent what he’s trying to convey, the scale of her features changes too much not to distract and her face shape remains odd. On the bright side,  a couple of strong panels, notably one of her checking in with her troops and a pair during a discussion with Thundercracker, show that Griffith has the capacity to draw some lovely humans. Contrastingly, the other two artists’ robots actually look a bit too human. Guido Guidi’s Galvatron simply has too many wrinkles in his face for a metal being. Thankfully that’s not a problem for his humans. The images of Marissa during the Decepticon invasion do a great job of conveying her heroism and powerlessness. It’s clever to have the artist of All Hail Megatron do the flashbacks to that era. Guidi’s art has a cartoonish pop to it. Some readers will appreciate the bold lines and classic looks the Transformers are sporting, while others might find it a little too cartoonish. Brendan Cahil is terrific at drawing emotion out of his mechanical protagonists, but at times he overshoots the mark. A howling Prowl on his first page is too asymmetrical to be taken seriously and a particularly pouty version of the Autobot strategist on the second feels excessive. It might not be worth mentioning but for the fact that these are probably the most eye-catching panels on their respective pages. Nonetheless, Cahil handles blocking, scenery and body language wonderfully and does some great facial work on his final page. It’s a brief appearance for Cahil, but it proves to me that his excellent work on the “Dark Cybertron” Finale issue can’t be attributed to Phil Jiminez’s help.

The Conclusion: It’s something of a slow issue this month, but one that lays the ground work for big things. While the story merely simmers, it’s the details that shine, whether it be Thundercracker’s choice of words when he threatens what will happen “if that dog gets a scratch” or Jazz’s guilt over his actions during his last visit to earth, or even Bonecrusher chowing down on a microbot. The book features three very talented artists who bring the script to life though Griffith’s sections are not up to the standard we’ve come to expect from him. Overall there’s enough to keep fans of the series interested, but they’ll be happier when they get the payoff next month.

Grade: C+

-Noah Sharma