Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 9:40AM CDT

Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews
Posted by: Va'al Views: 27,166

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The funeral issue
(Spoiler free-ish)

Disclaimer: while the review is relatively spoiler-free, the discussion in this thread may not be. If you do not want to ruin your reading experience, please do not read the comments until you've picked up the issue!

Synopsis
AFTERMATH! The battle for the Lost Light is over. As the survivors bury the dead, one Autobot begins a secret journey that will change everything. This special issue marks the beginning of “Remain in Light”—the game-changing finale to the first More Than Meets The Eye mega-story arc!

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review

Aaaand we're up to speed

Story

There's a definite lack of exclamation marks this issue, whatever the solicitation may say. Overlord and Rewind are dead (it seems), Ultra Magnus is dying (apparently), Rodimus, Chromedome and a lot more are hurt and hurting. Get your tissues out, there's some emotional stuff going on.

U sad bro?

I'd say there are three main plots running through, with all the usual addenda. Rodimus having to deal with what has happened behind his back and yet right under his nose (try working that out, physically): I love the portrayal of him in this issue, I simply love it. He's furious and feels, justly, betrayed, while still trying to keep a level head as captain of the ship. Drift is complementary to this section, and quite rightly has not a lot of excuses to offer.

Cameo appearance: Rotorstorm!

Ultra Magnus, on the operating table, with the Death Clock, surrounded by his 'friend' Swerve, Ratchet and Tailgate, who is having a real hard time keeping everything together. Somehow, Swerve's usual humour does not seem to work, and all of this issue is, fortunately, toned down. Tailgate, actually, gets some nice lines, and serves his function heartbreakingly well. (And those initial pages provide some rushed but good background to all his obsessions, too.)

Skids sure does talk a lot

Chromedome, trying to get over Rewind's death. There are some excellent moments here, unsurprisingly. The scenes with Skids outside the ship, hinting at the real ties between him and Rewind, the talk after the funeral revealing a big secret, the final pages. Especially towards the end, although a tad confusing in some frames.

Art

Artist on board this time is Agustin Padilla, who has previously worked on the Rage of the Dinobots miniseries, with Jose Aviles on inks. While I do like the work overall, something does quite feel right in terms of proportions and scale, especially with the smaller bots like Tailgate and Swerve.

Someone went to the Hasbro masterclass on scale

Burcham's colours really are something. This issue is toned done, almost muted, in remembrance of the events from the previous one, and the colouring just makes sure we get the gravity of the situation. There isn't that much space for Long to play around with lettering, but the captions in the final sections of the issue are really well executed.

Dem shadows

Overall, the artwork leaves me a bit unsure, but there are some gems in there, and the colours really do help. The images really suit the text, in hue, tone and saturation, and not just for flashbacks. The amount of work going into those last pages is impressive, and needs commending, though.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

I liked it. I really liked it. I appreciated what Roberts did in the almost final pages, although it was a bit confusing at times. I'm glad there was no need for subtlety. I enjoyed how everything was turned down a notch, in terms of action, pacing and even colour saturation. One minor negative point I do have concerns the artwork, which doesn't always work. But it is a minor point.

Bobbing along..

I'm still unsure at the Overlord situation having been resolved so quickly, and similarly with Ultra Magnus' condition – although it wasn't entirely unsurprising, actually. The final page, while it will undoubtedly work in upcoming issues, felt almost forced after Rewind's message. We'll see where this goes, and whether what is left of the crew will indeed Remain in Light.

- out of

Credit(s): IDW, Va'al

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Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481207)
Posted by sabrigami on April 23rd, 2013 @ 10:12am CDT

It needs to be Wednesday. Now.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481289)
Posted by Blurrz on April 23rd, 2013 @ 3:47pm CDT

I really loved the art this issue. The story arc drove me crazy, so many feels.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481293)
Posted by Va'al on April 23rd, 2013 @ 3:54pm CDT

Indeed. The Rewind sequence can be confusing for non-native English speakers though. :-?

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481346)
Posted by Stormrider on April 23rd, 2013 @ 6:51pm CDT

Why does Rotorstorm need to walk through that goop instead of flying over it? I guess he didn't want to show off in front of Ultra Magnus.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481366)
Posted by 1984forever on April 23rd, 2013 @ 7:48pm CDT

Yuck! Transformers were never this emotional when I was a kid. Roberts has the whole crew acting like a bunch of girls toys!

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481474)
Posted by Va'al on April 24th, 2013 @ 2:58am CDT

84forever wrote:Yuck! Transformers were never this emotional when I was a kid. Roberts has the whole crew acting like a bunch of girls toys!

Could you please re-phrase the last part of that statement?
Some of us, me included, can find it offensive that, apparently, girls cannot enjoy Transformers, or that emotions are not something that boys have.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481498)
Posted by Matrix. on April 24th, 2013 @ 6:20am CDT

84forever wrote:Yuck! Transformers were never this emotional when I was a kid. Roberts has the whole crew acting like a bunch of girls toys!

One day, my friend. One day you'll discover fiction for adults. You'll find out all about emotions, relationships and how they're key to telling a good story.

And then! Then the wonders of relationships will be open to you as well. You'll be sensitive, you'll be caring. You'll understand the opposite sex. You'll enjoy good literature.

My friend, I envy you. You are about to take your first step into a larger world.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481517)
Posted by sabrigami on April 24th, 2013 @ 8:35am CDT

Omg I could just cry. I just bought this off of comixology but the stupid site loads RID #16! I wanna read this so bad! anyone else having this issue?

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481519)
Posted by Va'al on April 24th, 2013 @ 8:42am CDT

I only read the print issues, and the digital review copies.
Sorry to hear that, have you been in touch with ComiXology?

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481520)
Posted by sabrigami on April 24th, 2013 @ 8:44am CDT

Va'al wrote:I only read the print issues, and the digital review copies.
Sorry to hear that, have you been in touch with ComiXology?

Yeah. I sent them an email. apparently I'm not the only one though according to the IDW Forums. Just hope they fix it soon. it's so close and yet so far :BANG_HEAD:

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481521)
Posted by wulongti on April 24th, 2013 @ 8:46am CDT

no mention of poor Pipes? I'll remember you buddy.

*pours out bottle of distilled energon*

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481592)
Posted by sabrigami on April 24th, 2013 @ 12:13pm CDT

wow. The message from rewind just crushed me good. The art marred it a little but the message brings it home. so many feels. It's so bitter sweet.

The funeral scene kinda confused me a bit. But no body means that he's probably still alive. Great moments for Chomey and Branstorm. Really a shocker there. That part made me gasp.

A good issue. really wish Milne did this one though. the art was really hit or miss.

I also enjoyed the new Meet the Crew page. I also really want a matrix cape for my rodimus figure now.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481593)
Posted by Va'al on April 24th, 2013 @ 12:22pm CDT

I had some issues with the religious aspect of the funeral, to be fair.
Wasn't Drift the only religious nut in the crew?

But that cape is glorious.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481630)
Posted by Blurrz on April 24th, 2013 @ 2:47pm CDT

Matrix. wrote:
One day, my friend. One day you'll discover fiction for adults. You'll find out all about emotions, relationships and how they're key to telling a good story.

And then! Then the wonders of relationships will be open to you as well. You'll be sensitive, you'll be caring. You'll understand the opposite sex. You'll enjoy good literature.

My friend, I envy you. You are about to take your first step into a larger world.

I.
Love.
You.

Va'al wrote:I had some issues with the religious aspect of the funeral, to be fair.
Wasn't Drift the only religious nut in the crew?

But that cape is glorious.

Cape custom on my MTMTE Rodimus coming asap

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481711)
Posted by El Duque on April 24th, 2013 @ 6:39pm CDT

As always the official Transformers facebook page has posted their Creator Commentary for this week's new Transformers comic release, Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16. Series writer James Roberts gives us his thoughts on the first five page, which we've mirrored below for those without facebook access.

Click here to read the Seibertron.com review of this issue and join the ongoing discussion.

PAGE 1: Kicking off with a very large fight in the Battle for Hell’s Point. This is a battle that has been mentioned a few times during other issues of TRANSFORMERS: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE. Why start here for this issue?

JAMES ROBERTS: I’m a fan of Stephen Moffat’s Doctor Who (I’m a bigger fan of Russell T Davies’ Doctor Who, but that’s another story), and I remember being thrilled at the openings to two of his grand finale-type episodes, “The Pandorica Opens” and “When A Good Man Goes To War.” In both cases you get this frenetic pre-credit sequence that tears through about a dozen mini-scenes, all of them in different times and different places, all of them vaguely (but not obviously) connected, and it really felt EPIC.

“The Gloaming” (issue 16’s story) is essentially the prologue to “Remain In Light,” and with the four Magnus-centric mini-scenes, hopping across time and space, I wanted to emulate that vertiginous rush of those Doctor Who episodes. Also, Moffat has talked about “The Pandorica Opens” being a sequel to every episode in Series 5 of Doctor Who, and I’ve always intended for “Remain in Light” to have a similar feel–lots of threads from the last 16 issues finally being tied together.

Also, all of the battles that we witness in this “teaser” are already embedded in MTMTE/LAST STAND OF THE WRECKERS lore: Hell’s Point, Simanzi and the fight for the Nightmare Engine. To date, they’ve all been referenced in passing but we haven’t actually seen them. Until now.

Finally, issue #16 is quite a contemplative, emotional issue, so I wanted to kick things off with some action. Don’t get me wrong, there are some big, big character beats and plot developments in the rest of the issue, but for those who like proper TF battle scenes–and who doesn’t–then there they are up front.

PAGE 2: We learn that Hell’s Point is a ship, and Ultra Magnus wasn’t always the character that he’s been shown to be during MTMTE. Here, he’s just a warrior like his fellow Autobots. Is this a part of his history that you’ve been wanting to show for a while? Was writing the scenes more fun than a Magnus scene on the Lost Light?

JAMES ROBERTS: I’ve treated Magnus in a very particular way since issue #1, playing up the stiff, rules-obsessed, “can’t-have-fun” side of his character. As we saw in issue #4, in his conversation with Rodimus, he’s struggling to cope with postwar life. His peculiarities – purging ostensibly unimportant words from his vocabulary (like “fun” and “relax”), insisting that badges are straight, arresting people for minor infractions – are his response to conditions that he’s simply not capable of coping with.

What I’m saying is, he wasn’t always the “joke” (to borrow Overlord’s insult) that he seems to be now. There’s a reason why he’s regarded by some as the Autobots’ greatest warrior; there’s a reason why he’s such an effective enforcer of the Tyrest Accord. In these first few pages, we see Magnus the Warrior, unencumbered by the personality traits that have come to the fore since the war ended. It seemed appropriate to remember him as he was, given what’s going to happen over the next few issues…

PAGE 3: Magnus (note the crooked badge), the Duobots and the Powerdashers (yes, you heard me right!) are getting ready to battle when yet again Magnus is taken down. Powerdashers haven’t had much done with them in almost 30 years of the franchise. Had you always wanted to get them in somewhere and show them as more than toys?

JAMES ROBERTS: Truthfully? I saw that Simon Furman was playing the super-obscure character card well in TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE and I thought “I’ll have me some of that.” Also, we’d seen Zetar in issue #9 (in an advert for bodygloving), so – much like Rotorstorm’s appearance on Page 4 – it was another opportunity to mix in some callbacks and continuity nods. Shock and Ore are there for the same reason.

Of course, the biggest link to a previous issue – and a deliberate one – is the reappearance of Torque, the Decepticon k-class officer seen in the opening and closing scenes of #8. Although it’s literally just occurred to me that no-one will realize that the Decepticon bomb with “Ultra Magnus” written on it is Torque’s alt mode, because I edited out that part of his conversation with Fulcrum in issue #8. Oh well.

PAGE 4: Another flashback where Ultra Magus suffers at the end. What’s your thinking with these flashbacks? Is it to demonstrate that we might not know the character quite as well as what we thought?

JAMES ROBERTS: The Autobots and Decepticons have been fighting for millions of years, which means there’s scope for change in how they approach the world. But the purpose of the flashbacks, aside from what I said earlier, was to show that Magnus has been through the wars and usually finds a way to make a comeback. Is that going to happen this time round…?

PAGE 5: The badly injured Magnus is being looked after by Ratchet, Swerve and Tailgate. We’re dealing with the fallout from issue #15. Having done so much with Ultra Magnus so far during the series, was it hard for you to mortally wound the character as you did?

JAMES ROBERTS: Not as hard as it was to kill Rewind in issue #15! What I find interesting about Magnus being on his deathbed, out of commission, is what it does to Rodimus. How does Rodimus cope without the voice of reason by his side? The rest of the issue, and much of “Remain in Light,” focuses on that. Yeah, that and a billion other things…

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481729)
Posted by CaptainMagic on April 24th, 2013 @ 8:30pm CDT

Va'al wrote:I had some issues with the religious aspect of the funeral, to be fair.
Wasn't Drift the only religious nut in the crew?

But that cape is glorious.

I have to admit, I don't quite get what you mean. Yes, Drift is the only confirmed religious nut, but that doesn't mean that other crew members can't have a less intense level of belief. Or, they might just have been observing a traditional Cybertronian funeral with no particular awareness of what they are saying. Either way, I don't see what there is to trouble you.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481748)
Posted by Stormrider on April 24th, 2013 @ 10:03pm CDT

Va'al wrote:
84forever wrote:Yuck! Transformers were never this emotional when I was a kid. Roberts has the whole crew acting like a bunch of girls toys!

Could you please re-phrase the last part of that statement?
Some of us, me included, can find it offensive that, apparently, girls cannot enjoy Transformers, or that emotions are not something that boys have.

Haha... I read "girls toys" and thought something totally different. My dirty mind.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481757)
Posted by Poyguimogul on April 24th, 2013 @ 11:14pm CDT

Drift "It's a Death Clock.."
Ratchet "Knock it off Drift.."
Swerve "What's a Death Clock?"

-Dethklok! Dethklok!!
Clock~ Ticking~ Death~ Clock~ Dethklok! Dethklok!!

:HEADHURTS:

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481789)
Posted by Va'al on April 25th, 2013 @ 4:41am CDT

CaptainMagic wrote:
Va'al wrote:I had some issues with the religious aspect of the funeral, to be fair.
Wasn't Drift the only religious nut in the crew?

But that cape is glorious.

I have to admit, I don't quite get what you mean. Yes, Drift is the only confirmed religious nut, but that doesn't mean that other crew members can't have a less intense level of belief. Or, they might just have been observing a traditional Cybertronian funeral with no particular awareness of what they are saying. Either way, I don't see what there is to trouble you.

Oh it didn't trouble me!

It's more that it all looked very solemn and organised and conservative, and so far we hadn't had an indication that the crew, Rodimus in particular, felt that way.

Cyclonus, I can understand, he is a very 'patriotic' character. Tailgate, sort of. Swerve, not convinced. Whirl? Nope.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1481881)
Posted by CaptainMagic on April 25th, 2013 @ 10:14am CDT

Va'al wrote:
CaptainMagic wrote:
Va'al wrote:I had some issues with the religious aspect of the funeral, to be fair.
Wasn't Drift the only religious nut in the crew?

But that cape is glorious.

I have to admit, I don't quite get what you mean. Yes, Drift is the only confirmed religious nut, but that doesn't mean that other crew members can't have a less intense level of belief. Or, they might just have been observing a traditional Cybertronian funeral with no particular awareness of what they are saying. Either way, I don't see what there is to trouble you.

Oh it didn't trouble me!
It's more that it all looked very solemn and organised and conservative, and so far we hadn't had an indication that the crew, Rodimus in particular, felt that way.

Cyclonus, I can understand, he is a very 'patriotic' character. Tailgate, sort of. Swerve, not convinced. Whirl? Nope.

Ok, I get it now. Seeing those particular characters sitting still and behaving is what threw you off. I have to admit that didn't really occur to me before, but it does seem weird now that you mention it.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1482015)
Posted by Va'al on April 25th, 2013 @ 4:32pm CDT

Someone made a thing.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1482017)
Posted by 1984forever on April 25th, 2013 @ 4:34pm CDT

Va'al wrote:
84forever wrote:Yuck! Transformers were never this emotional when I was a kid. Roberts has the whole crew acting like a bunch of girls toys!

Could you please re-phrase the last part of that statement?
Some of us, me included, can find it offensive that, apparently, girls cannot enjoy Transformers, or that emotions are not something that boys have.

Sorry. I didn't know that there were actual girl fans. I thought they were all like my wife, who pretends to like Transformers the same way some women pretend to like sports!

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1482023)
Posted by sabrigami on April 25th, 2013 @ 4:42pm CDT

Va'al wrote:Someone made a thing.

best video ever. i love nightmare before christmas and this song suits all this stuff to a tea. ty for sharing

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1482024)
Posted by Va'al on April 25th, 2013 @ 4:46pm CDT

84forever wrote:
Va'al wrote:
84forever wrote:Yuck! Transformers were never this emotional when I was a kid. Roberts has the whole crew acting like a bunch of girls toys!

Could you please re-phrase the last part of that statement?
Some of us, me included, can find it offensive that, apparently, girls cannot enjoy Transformers, or that emotions are not something that boys have.
Sorry. I didn't know that there were actual girl fans. I thought they were all like my wife, who pretends to like Transformers the same way some women pretend to like sports!

That should not make a difference.

But apology accepted.

(You might find this interesting.)

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1482782)
Posted by Va'al on April 28th, 2013 @ 5:07am CDT

I'm impressed with Seibertronians!

The IDW thread on this issue is filled with latent homophobia, whereas here it seems people either glissed over it, or just accepted the facts and moved on.

EDIT: Just to make this clear, I am talking about the discussion about the comic book, and not reactions to the link I provided above. It's been brought to my attention that my comments were ambiguous in regard to this.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1483222)
Posted by Stormrider on April 29th, 2013 @ 7:46pm CDT

Va'al wrote:I'm impressed with Seibertronians!

The IDW thread on this issue is filled with latent homophobia, whereas here it seems people either glissed over it, or just accepted the facts and moved on.

To be honest I come to Seibertron to discuss Transformers with other enthusiastic fans. I don't come here to discuss genders.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1483280)
Posted by Va'al on April 30th, 2013 @ 4:43am CDT

Stormrider wrote:
Va'al wrote:I'm impressed with Seibertronians!

The IDW thread on this issue is filled with latent homophobia, whereas here it seems people either glissed over it, or just accepted the facts and moved on.

To be honest I come to Seibertron to discuss Transformers with other enthusiastic fans. I don't come here to discuss genders.

I'll pretend I didn't read that.

The comics are moving towards a more mature direction, and it's inevitable that discussions about things like politics, gender, relationships, emotions, societies and the such will arise. At least, that's what I expect.

Re: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #16 Review (1483455)
Posted by Stormrider on April 30th, 2013 @ 6:50pm CDT

Va'al wrote:
Stormrider wrote:
Va'al wrote:I'm impressed with Seibertronians!

The IDW thread on this issue is filled with latent homophobia, whereas here it seems people either glissed over it, or just accepted the facts and moved on.

To be honest I come to Seibertron to discuss Transformers with other enthusiastic fans. I don't come here to discuss genders.

I'll pretend I didn't read that.

The comics are moving towards a more mature direction, and it's inevitable that discussions about things like politics, gender, relationships, emotions, societies and the such will arise. At least, that's what I expect.

Might be better to discuss this outside this thread. Thanks