Comic review: More Than Meets The Eye season 2: #28 onwards

[GoktimusPrime]

I love these little breadcrumb clues which only make sense in hindsight. I find it reminiscent of Furman's writing during G1. The things that seem to matter the least matter the most. Ooooh, what is with that missing number?

[Lordy]

He's on board, the scene with him and Skids checking on Chromedome is "today".

All those things "missing" must be connected, but I assume it's also connected in someway to what Megatron says about rewriting history: "every day, little edits"... As if someone is editing the Lost Light in a physical way. Another behind the scenes villain perhaps?

I reckon it has everything to do with that "blackout" and the coffin.

[i_amtrunks]

So, no spoilers as yet, but wow.

We are shown who/what is in the coffin already, see some great stuff in Megatrons trial, heaps of fun goofing off at Swerves, some more Nightbeat, as well as seeing the monster bots back. To top it all off, we see an old friend for a bit, which leads to more mysterious disappearances.

There's some great stuff with Megatron and a former b lister, as well as the usual plethora of one liners and other clever references to previous issues.

Art is brilliant, colours are not as bright as Burchams, but still very nice.

When you read it, check out Prowl's shoulder missiles... The missiles have mini missiles on missiles... Overkill in a courtroom setting? (Not the dinosaur tape either!)

[Paulbot]

This issue seemed like a middle act, which I guess it is. Still great moments though. Playing who's who with the crew is fun. There seemed to be a Doctor Who joke but I'm not totally sure.

Starscream's testimony was amazing. I'm really glad Roberts gets to do the trial of Megatron.

Last issue the "things are missing" seemed like a subtle background plot that would simmer for a while. Seems I was wrong about that.

[GoktimusPrime]

I quite liked the "Data Ghost" thing... makes the story actually feel like a scary movie to me!

heaps of fun goofing off at Swerves,

Speaking of which, if you look closely you can see Groove practising Diffusion, having placed Streetwise into submission (with Streetwise furiously tapping out ). Considering Groove's pacifistic nature, it would be completely in character for him to be proficient in a passive/non-aggressive Cybertronian martial art like Diffusion. Later when we see the response team enter Megatron's quarters to confront Trailcutter, you can see that Groove has also drawn his gun... I'm assuming that it's set to Stun.

Also special kudos to Tailgate for being the only dude in the entire issue who transforms!

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'm kinda glad that Megs permanently activated Trailcutters FIM chip, I didn't really like how Trailcutter was just becoming a drunk and it will expand his character by putting him in a security role. The mysteries for this new adventure are already being set up well (Rodimus' corpse, Rewinds ghost etc) and interesting that they mixed up the crew while keeping the staples such as Magnus, Swerve, Whirl, Skids etc. I have yet to see Getaway in the new crew, I hope he stayed because I was enjoying his character.

Full marks MTMTE writers - only 2 issues in post Dark Cybertron and this is already shaping up awesome!

Also special kudos to Tailgate for being the only dude in the entire issue who transforms!

Yeah, like you also said in the Windblade review (that I forgot to quote) that I totally agree with, it really bugs me how little Transforming actually goes on in transformer comics these days. MTMTE is the worst of the lot in that regard. At least in the latest RID comics, while the stories are not nearly as interesting as whats happening here, there is a lot of alt-mode action

[Sharky]

Also special kudos to Tailgate for being the only dude in the entire issue who transforms!

i dont get the need for them to transform all the time. they are transformers that is what they do but as a race they are cybertronians and they are currently residing on a spaceship, how often to you run on a plane?

because you can do it doesnt mean you have too

[BigTransformerTrev]

i dont get the need for them to transform all the time. they are transformers that is what they do but as a race they are cybertronians and they are currently residing on a spaceship, how often to you run on a plane?

because you can do it doesnt mean you have too

Yeah, I agree you dont want them transforming gratuitously, but its still nice to see them actually use their alt-modes now and then. There have been issues where it would be appropriate for them to be in alt-mode (battles, getting from A to B etc) and they havent bothered.

Now that I actually remember, Nightbeat and Cromedome did transform in that issue as well to get to Nightbeats office

[i_amtrunks]

Goks not going to like this one, I do not recall a single transformation!

The story more than makes up for it as it twists, turns and pulls the wool over your eyes multiple times.

The courtroom drama comes to a conclusion that I was underwhelmed with, but makes sense. It'll be setting up the DJD in the future. The coffin saga is the main focus for much of the issue, but the disappearing ship takes centre stage at the end. Through in some lovely Ratchet, Nightbeat, tailgate and Megatron lines, as well as a brilliant invention and it is another solid and enjoyable read.

[GoktimusPrime]

I mentioned the lack of transformations to Chris Ryall, and he conceded that it was a fair point and that in trying to write the Transformers as "people" (which is what allows IDW writers to make them such great characters), they can at times 'forget' that these are transforming alien robots. For example, when they were abandoning the Lost Light, surely there would be a different evacuation procedure for Transformers with interstellar flight modes (e.g. Cyclonus) as opposed to those who don't. Wouldn't it make sense for those w/ flight modes to say evacuate to a hangar where they can immediately transform and fly out, while the rest of the crew board life boats? It would make evacuations a lot more efficient and faster rather than attempting to force everyone to queue up for life boats when some of them could just fly out themselves. As I mentioned to Ryall, transforming should be second nature to the Transformers. Something they would naturally do without having to think about it. One example I mentioned to him was when Tyrest escaped, and the prison guard ran a long distance to inform Ratchet(?) and was described as being utterly exhausted by time he made the report. Why didn't he transform and roll or fly (or even run as an animal)? Why run when you can transform and put the pedal to the metal?

But storywise I found it enjoyable. Megatron's become a more interesting character, and the mystery of the Lost Light is also quite intriguing. Some of my favourite bits from the dialogue included the banter between Brainstorm and Perceptor about comparing the size of their theories (and Perceptor ultimately owning Brainstorm ), and the "crisises," "crises" thing between Rodimus and Ultra Magnus.