Comic reviews: IDW More Than Meets The Eye ongoing

[Sharky]

i didnt enjoy the changes in art and some of it looked overdone with the shadowy inks, there is a panel of brainstorm that could be awesome if it wasnt for the colouring/inking

i laughed at the Hardhead Cyclonus whirl Panel..Whirl as a charactr has been fleshed out remarkably well..

and one other word to sum up the issue

Curious

[i_amtrunks]

Things really started moving in this issue.

Good to know Shockers has his own machinations (no link to Maximum Dinobots!), though the Metalhawk panels were confusing, I am still not sure if he is still Metalhawk, is under control/posessed etc.

Once again, the characters and scenes on the Lost Light are full of one liners, information and filling in of information, while the Cybertron based scenes are slow, plodding and repetitious of themes we have been bombarded with over and over again in RiD. Rattrap is devolving into some "gangsta" sterotype as each issue goes on. It was cool to see that losing half of your body just makes some NAILS angry; Skybyte for example!

The Dead Universe stuff is intruiging, I think it has been wise to only give us snippets of what id going on there. Good to see an old friend, and personally I wonder if Cyclonus is dying in the Dead Universe as he no longer feels aligned to Nova and co.

Lost Light is the highlight here, the Rodpod was more or less what I expected, Magnus is becoming a character again, instead of a caricature (which I found amusing, but its nice to have more than one aspect of him obsevered). The reveal at the end was all the better for the Roche-tacular art.

It is sad, but the art here is either wonderful or pitiful. Lost Light scenes are brilliantly drawn, inks are not too heavy, the colours give off a good sense of "this is somewhere different -alien even" and the Rung splash page is a favourite, I need to try and get that as one image to use as a desktop image.
The Cybertron pages are awful. Prowl's crest shrinks with every issue, is it a physical manifestation of his demasculinity? The characters lack any detail, their expression is almost back to the DW "dull surprise" levels of inanity. Starscream is unsure if he wants to be in an IDW designed Amarda head or more of a Marvel G1 head. It is too simplistic and devoid of interest for what is going on, it makes the Cybertron pages feel rushed and incomplete. Compared to the other two art styles, it feels as though the RiD portion is truly letting the team down, and I wonder how long the other two can drag the half dead mangled carcass of it along before they tire of it and dump it into a river.
The Livio pages are ok, easy to tell who is who, and the style really works, but Hardhead needs to pick a design and stick with it.

Overall a fine issue, lots of pieces being setup. However it is done in a way that does not feel too fabricated, you know in the back of your mind this is still a setup issue, moving characters into place for alter on, but it is done in an enjoyable way, with enough new stuff and hints dropped to keep you engaged throughout.

[GoktimusPrime]

...the space bridge inside Megatron feels a bit deus ex machinaish to me...

though the Metalhawk panels were confusing, I am still not sure if he is still Metalhawk, is under control/posessed etc.

I'm glad I wasn't the one who felt that Metalhawk was acting out of character! Maybe he's just heaps mad cos he can't applaud no more.

Good to see an old friend, and personally I wonder if Cyclonus is dying in the Dead Universe as he no longer feels aligned to Nova and co.

That's an interesting point. Hadn't thought of that.

The Cybertron pages are awful. Prowl's crest shrinks with every issue, is it a physical manifestation of his demasculinity? The characters lack any detail, their expression is almost back to the DW "dull surprise" levels of inanity. Starscream is unsure if he wants to be in an IDW designed Amarda head or more of a Marvel G1 head. It is too simplistic and devoid of interest for what is going on, it makes the Cybertron pages feel rushed and incomplete. Compared to the other two art styles, it feels as though the RiD portion is truly letting the team down, and I wonder how long the other two can drag the half dead mangled carcass of it along before they tire of it and dump it into a river.

^Agreed. Soundwave's head is also missing the side parts. It kinda feels like a "Neo-Delbo" style of art.

The Livio pages are ok, easy to tell who is who, and the style really works, but Hardhead needs to pick a design and stick with it.

Also agreed, though it's not as bad as when IDW kept flipping between Neo G1 (e.g. Guidi, Su), Old Skool G1 (Chee) and hybrid G1-Bayformers (Figueroa). And I totally agree with what you said about Hardhead's model... also the colours for Frenzy/Rumble! So currently it's back to RIRFIB (which I personally prefer), but it could easily flip back to FIRRIB by the next issue! Reminds me of Evil Betty's magic trick ("I am a great magician!") from Kung Pow: Enter The Fist - "Your shirt is red!" "Your shirt is blue!". NYEH-HAR!

[i_amtrunks]

...the space bridge inside Megatron feels a bit deus ex machinaish to me... !

I would agree, but the Space Bridge being built into Megatron has been around since the ongoing.

[Paulbot]

It hasn't happened yet, but the spacebridge inside Megatron could give him the ability to draw antimatter from a black hole....

So far the crossover continues to show MTMTE is the better series, with the MTMTE bits the best part of each issue so far. I'm not yet convinced the crossover needs to be so intertwined yet. (Five months of this?). If there'd been an issue solely with the Lost Light meeting up with Orion and the crew splitting up; and an issue of RID with the bots finally investigating the early Sunrise and Shockwave working with the dead universe... Would that have been so bad? Maybe fewer cliffhanger points but the stories could so far act independently (until things really heat up).

[bassbot]

Now that act one is done (first third) I think it's ready to ramp up quite a bit

[Sharky]

Now that act one is done (first third) I think it's ready to ramp up quite a bit

One would hope it does. Whilst it has been okayish reading it hasn't been the standard I expect we have been spoilt with MTMTE

[Paulbot]

Before I read the next chapter, I did wonder if anyone else saw the last page reveal in the latest MTMTE and thought Unicron? It had to do with him the last time somebody stole Metroplex's eyes. It would be a bit unoriginal but it could be a homage.

[Lordy]

I can't really see IDW using Unicron outside of ex-Marvel G1 stuff

[SMHFConvoy]

Subscription cover for mtmte #26 featuring a bulked up Tailgate.
Source: seibertron.com