Autobots continue resurrecting each other slowly as they gather more Energon - but will the returning comrades forgive Optimus for something that happened way back whenever… In the wake of Starscream’s failure, Soundwave takes control of the Decepticons so they can… bring back their spaceship to steal all the fishies out of the ocean?!
Hmm. Yeah, this was a disappointing follow-up to a decent first volume. You know what I realised? I don’t give a fig for the Transformers’ backstory - not a fig! It stinks. It’s boring. The lore is dumb and silly. And that’s what takes up most of this book unfortunately.
Timestamps in the flashbacks would be useful. It’s kinda clear but - because the cast is increasing so quickly, and, if you’re unfamiliar with Transformers generally like me - it can feel like maybe the flashbacks are a different storyline taking place concurrently. I don’t know what it would’ve hurt to caption those scenes with “Back then” or whatever.
Also, are all “female” Transformers pink or is that just a coincidence with Arcee and Elita (who I thought were the same character for most of the book, and not just because of the colour and near-identical design but also because their characters are the same flat strong female character cliche)?
One of the other revelations that came to me reading this book was: a little Transformers goes a long way. Why the first book worked better was that we saw the massive scale and power of the Transformers from the perspective of the human characters, Spike and Carly. Their story was complemented well by the Transformers’ inclusion and elevated it in fact by playing into their personal tragedies.
This book? The few scenes we see him in, Spike’s just moping in a wheelchair. Carly’s pretending she and her van still have some effectiveness against giant robots with guns the size of tanks! They’re sidelined for the most part and this book is all Transformers, all the time. It’s too much, the balance is way off, and this approach will only click for the fanboys who know every minor character already.
Jorge Corona’s art style is similar to Daniel Warren Johnson’s so there’s a visual continuity with the first book, if that’s important to you. Johnson’s writing is serviceable but his story was completely unengaging. All I saw was obvious toys saying dull things and then smashing into each other.
I’m trying to think of anything I enjoyed about Transformers, Volume 2: Transport to Oblivion, and I can’t. Forgettable, dull - it embodies all the things that put me off reading IDW’s Transformers, and I hope for the next book the team gets back to making this the best Energon Universe title (hint: involve the humans more!).
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