Tag Archives: More Than Meets The Eye

Transformers More Than Meets The Eye Volume 4 Review

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This Transformers comic marathon has been pretty fun. Volume two helped to introduce a lot of plot lines and Volume 3 didn’t really advance the plot, but the story was pretty fun. Volume 4 continues the plot as we get a pretty big fight scene and things finally get dangerous for the heroes. This was definitely the best volume from the three that I just finished reading and we also get to see some of the popular Transformers through flashbacks.

The plot for this collection is pretty easy to describe since most of it is a big fight with Overlord. Before the fight, we get to see Overlord’s history and we also get a happy meanwhile where the heroes go to the bar. There is also the aftermath of the fight and that concludes the collection. That’s an epic way to build a trade paperback. Prelude, Fight, Aftermath. It’s a simple, but very effective formula that definitely works for this volume and it’s part of the reason as to why this is my favorite volume yet. Overlord gets a lot of hype before the fight as the heroes explain that since he’s a Six Changer, he’s far more powerful than Optimus Prime, Megatron, Metroplex, and many other famous Transformers. Part of the mystery in the volume is why all of these powerful Six CHangers are Decepticons. It can’t be a coincidence so they figure that the Decepticons are actually powering up fighters. They send Chromedome to look into Overlord’s mind and that’s when chaos ensues. For the record…this was a hush hush operation so most of the Autobots did not know about it. The reason why I like the hype is that it makes the story feel a little like the famous Doomsday arc in the Superman comics. It’s a pretty similar setting, but what if there was no Superman to fight him? Things would have gotten dire, but very interesting.

Rodimus Prime doesn’t look very good and that has been a trend in the latest volumes. He looks very weak in this volume and that would be a huge complaint if not for the fact that it seems to be a plot point that will be developing in the next issues. That doesn’t erase the fact that it’s disappointing to see Rodimus fare so poorly in battle. He doesn’t get any good hits on Overlord and he’s defeated almost instantly. As a Prime, Rodimus should be decently powerful or at least quick enough to do something that will help to tip the scales of battle. Rodimus may be the leader of this mission for now, but he’d better watch out if he wants it to stay that way. Especially with such an untrustworthy crew. Rodimus Prime was my favorite Transformers character back in the day. I can’t say that he still is, but Rodimus is still one of the better Transformers out there and I expect better from him.

Whirl is actually my favorite character of the series at the moment although he’s slowly changing. He’s still the crazy Autobot that we all know and love, but…is he really an Autobot? He does some pretty shady things in this volume and it almost appears as if he’s an inside man working for someone. The author will need to be careful how this situation is handled since it needs to be masterfully pulled off so that Whirl doesn’t become a lackey. I like Whirl because he calls the shots right now…and that’s how it should be. He doesn’t really get in on the action this time around, but I’m sure that he’ll be back.

Cyclonus is still around and he does much better than most of the Autobots. He fires from a distance and keeps his cool while a lot of the others are panicking. He wouldn’t have been able to last forever, but Cyclonus definitely put up a good amount of resistance and I can safely say that he’s more likable than the other two Decepticon flyers. (Thundercrack and Skywarp)

Metroplex may have went insane before, but now he’s ready to change his ways and help out the heroes. After all, he went insane because of Overlord so this is his chance to get some payback. I don’t believe that the fight would have any chance of turning out positively for Metroplex, but at least he can get another shot. Metroplex definitely does the best against Overlord and this makes sense since they are the current heavy hitters on the roster. It’s pretty hard to overlook Metroplex’s big personality 180, but at least he helped the heroes. It will be a while before I can think of him as a proper Autobot again though.

Overlord is the main villain of the trade and he really does a number on the Autobots. He takes on the full squadron of Rodimus, Metroplex, Ultra Magnus, Chromedome, Cyclonus, and many others at once. That’s a pretty huge feat and the heroes are really getting overwhelmed. I remembered how powerful Overlord was, but this is definitely a lot more drastic than you could have thought. I wonder how Optimus Prime would have fared against him. They claim that Prime and Megatron are weaker than the current Overlord, but those guys have a lot of determination and experience. A fight between them would be downright epic. Overlord does want his rematch with Megatron so maybe we’ll get to see it. Unfortunately, it could be a while. Overlord also takes the time to mock the heroes as he’s beating them up, which takes dedication and a lot of confidence. Overlord is definitely one of the best Transformers villain as this volume cemented that fact. Powerwise, there are few who can stop him.

Chromedome gets a large role, but I can’t say that he looks very good. He doesn’t tell the Autobots where he’s going and he allows Overlord to take control during their mind sessions. Chromedome is supposed to be an expert in this so that was pretty humiliating. He makes a gutsy call in the end, but I can’t blame him for it since the alternative would have been much worse. Was there any other way? It’s hard to see any at that point. Unfortunately, things just go south for the heroes sometimes and they have to weather it. We’ll see what Chromedome decides as he’s about to make a big decision. Hopefully he goes two for two and makes the correct choice again. Chromedome may have been the leader in one of the Transformer shows, but unfortunately he’s pretty weak in the power department.

Ultra Magnus does better than most of the other Autobots during the Overlord attack. He was definitely pretty brave and I’m glad that he finally got to have his match. Things were pretty dangerous for him earlier because of a spiked drink, but everything turned out for the best…or did they? Either way, Ultra Magnus continues to be one of the better Autobots.

Drift doesn’t get a huge role, but something big does happen to him. I have to say that I was disappointed by how weak he looked in the fight against Overlord. He talked very big right up until the battle actually started. (Ratchet was also there and he also talked very tough and was promptly taken down. At least we know that the Autobots are courageous, but I would have preferred if they could have fought with something else besides empty words) Couldn’t he have shown a little more dignity or at least have gotten in one good slash? Ah well, we’ll see how things fare for him when Drift returns. His status as a main character may have just changed.

Rewind actually gets a critical role in this volume. Rewind is one of those robots that I never really remembered after each volume and I can barely even picture how he looks right now. Either way, Rewind did what he had to do and he made the hero call. It took guts and bravery, but he did what was necessary. I still wouldn’t say that he was one of the better characters, but now I will remember him as a hero.

Megatron only appears in flashbacks, but we get to see just how tough he is. It’s nothing new of course since we all figured that Megatron was one of the toughest Transformers. He basically beats up Overlord twice and is also the one who powered him up. Megatron is definitely a very confident robot. That’s for sure. I can’t wait until Megatron and Optimus Prime finally get to appear in the present, but that could be a while.

The art is a little more cartoony for parts of this volume. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I would say that it is a step down from the last two volumes. For almost any other series it would be good, but it’s slightly under average for More Than Meets The Eye. Luckily, this doesn’t wreck the fight and it’s still nicely done. I’m going to miss the old art style, but this one definitely has its moments and it won’t be a big drop from the usual art so score wise it should not affect the comic in any noticeable way.

Now, one may wonder what’s happening to the knights subplot. Well, it’s taking a very long time, but hopefully it will show up at some point. I didn’t really mind because I was just happy to see such a big fight. The tone for the comics is mostly on the sad side while mixing it up with light and dark comics. The transformers are always having fun until the next tragedy strikes. Because of that, it manages to pull off the dark and light aspects without leaning too heavily towards one side as earlier. I was fine with Overlord beating up all of the Autobots except that Drift and Rodimus should have put up a better fight. I don’t see them going down quite so easily.

As for big shot characters, we finally get closer to seeing them all. Starscream and Soundwave are featured in flashbacks aside from Megatron whom I already mentioned. Both of their roles were pretty sound and I hope that they get to appear in present time at some point. The heroes can’t stay in space forever can they? The quest will end at some point and then things will get interesting.

Overall, what’s not to like in this volume? The whole thing is basically a big fight and I’ve been waiting a long time to see such a big clash of fighters. What helps is that most of the characters are decently likable. Ultra Magnus, (He even gets a whole montage of his many defeats!) Rodimus, Chromedome, Ratchet, etc. They may not be the greatest of characters at times, but they’re still enjoyable to watch for the most part. There are some moments where the action can get pretty intense, but if you made it through volume 2 then you should be okay. It is technically energon that falls out of them I believe so you don’t need to worry about that part. For a kid I’d show them the original Transformers movie instead and for all other Transformers fans you’ll love this volume. We haven’t gotten this much action in a very long time. There’s a lot to look forward to in the next volume as we get to see what will happen to Prowl, Ultra Magnus, and Chromedome. Things will definitely be shaken up as the clock continues to turn.

Overall 7/10

Transformers More Than Meets The Eye Volume 3 Review

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The Transformers saga continues in this volume! The last one may not have been as impressive as I had been expecting, but this one is back up to par. Ironically, the plot is slightly less interesting because most of it is a story, but you can’t win every battle I suppose.

This collection brings an annual and then we have three regular comics, which split into the current time and a story that the Autobots are talking about. The annual shows the Autbots as they look for an old colony of tough fighters who helped to make Drift into the person that he is today. Unfortunately, they are gone and a galactic peace keeping association want to take the Transformers down once and for all. They won’t be able to debate their way out of this one, but can Ultra Magnus bring himself to take down these law abiding aliens?

Also, there seems to possibly be a traitor afoot as Rodimus finds an Autobot in a vat of oil. This couldn’t have been an accident and it smells like a Decepticon attack. Rodimus is going to need to get to the bottom of this right away. Meanwhile, there is an Autobot who is basically in a coma so the others decide to tell him a story since it might cause his brain functions to start up again. They speak of a tale from millions of years ago that could actually be true. Optimus Prime is in it along with Prowl. It was good to see some of the old faces again.

Optimus Prime is pretty much as epic as usual. He’s in his Orion Pax form, but in this contiunity that really doesn’t affect his character. He’s still the Optimus Prime that we’ve come to know and root for. Pax definitely does a lot of damage to the villains and his ethics are still in place. He may put a little too much trust into his pal, but it happens to the best of them. Prime may only appear in the story, but that will have to do until he returns for real.

Drift is pretty cool as per usual, although he seemed to be a little out of character in the comic. Knocking away the other Autobots when they began to insult him was going a little too far. It’s possible that he is finally losing it or maybe it was just a one time thing. Aside from that moment, Drift is still someone that you can root for and it’s nice to see his swordsmanship in action.

I was more than a little iffy of Rodimus Prime’s role in this comic. At first, he definitely lost his way and I was pretty worried. Was the hero that I had once known starting to forget his morals? Luckily, the selfless decision of another Autobot causes him to rethink his decision and make the correct choice. I’m glad about that and hopefully this will help Rosimus for future issues. After all, he used to be my favorite Autobot for a while. I’m hoping that he can continue to look good and keep hold of his heroism amidst a world of dark deceptions.

Ultra Magnus gets a decently big role in the first comic. Initially, the heroes force him to grin so that they can wipe out some really small villains, but things get a little more serious when the Galactic Peace Federation guys arrive. Ultra Magnus is the only one who really understands the law and he does well in his counters. The villains try to recruit him, but Magnus is an Autobot through and through. He’s definitely a pretty likable guy.

Chromedome is a main character in this collection since he’s the guy who is teaming up with Prowl in the story. He’s surprisingly smart and he does well during the investigation. I was expecting more of a Sherlock and Watson situation. He was decent in Headmasters and I’d say the same for this comic. There’s no real reason to dislike him, but there’s nothing about Chromedome that makes him stand out. He’s an average fighter and he’s basically an average Autobot.

Prowl was pretty cool in the comic. His design is a little too similar to Drift’s, but his personality helps to separate them. He’s very smart, but he doesn’t seem to understand how corrupt the government is. He goes off on his own and it would seem that he never showed up again. A pretty abrupt end to a fun character. He may not have been the best fighter, but he was a good guy to have around in a mystery.

Of course, the main problem that I have with this volume is the fact that it’s basically filler. The annual wasn’t really relevant and the story about the good ole days was decent, but nothing really came of it. I do applaud the final twist at the end due to how shocking and intense it is. It’s a twist that is ultimately fillerish, but having some extra back story can be a good thing I suppose. I’m expecting the plot to unfold a little more in the next volume. We really need some story progression because not much has really happened since the first volume if you think about it.

The artwork is still very good and it’s what I have come to expect from the series. We don’t have a lot of fight scenes in this volume, but the art even helps the brief skirmishes that we get. Optimus Prime’s ground slam on one of the villains was pretty epic. Narration is also benefited by the art because it makes reading the text bubbles a lot easier since the drawings in the background are so crisp. Hopefully the art will stay this good for future volumes.

Overall, this was a pretty good Transformers comic. The stakes were definitely a lot lower than usual and the plot didn’t really move, but maybe it was good for a change of pace. This collection was definitely a lot lighter than the last one and it made for a fun read. It’s not quite as interesting, but it’s interesting enough to keep you entertained. Thanks in part to the art and the characters who are participating in the action. I would recommend reading the first two volumes before this one even if most of the issues are a story of the past. It’s just more enjoyable if you know who the story tellers are and why they’re even here. Whirl gets to appear, but it’s a very small role which is why he didn’t get his own paragraph earlier. I definitely recommend this to all comic readers!

Overall 7/10

Transformers More Than Meets The Eye Volume 2 Review

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Volume 2 continues the saga as many more plots are unveiled. Transformers is as huge as it ever was with a big film coming out and all of these comics that have popped up. Not to mention that they still have the ongoing Rescue Bots TV show and another one coming soon. This comic series takes place after the legendary Autobot vs Decepticon war finally ended and we get to see how Rodimus’ group is handling things. This comic would have been really fun except it really jumps from one tone to the next. It can be really happy and then become very dark in an instant. This didn’t work for More Than Meets The Eye.

The plot is a little tricky because of all the various plots that are lying around. This volume brought 5 comics and I shall try to mention most of the big plots since each issue usually focuses on one in particular. In one of the comics; Ratchet is worried because his hands aren’t working as well as they used to. Then he gets a message from an Autobot area so he goes with a few other robots to see what’s happening. It turns out that a plague is infecting all of the residents there, but it must have been deliberately started. Who would do such a thing!? Meanwhile, a lot of robots are on the run from the Decepticon Justice Division. They like to hunt down Decepticons that turned their back on the cause or are just deemed unworthy. A group of Decepticon survivers known as the Scavengers have been doing all right on their own. They haven’t heard that the war is over and they have no idea who won. So, they are playing it safe and are prepared to make the journey home. That is….if they can survive an encounter with the DJD!

Back on the ship; an old Autobot legend suffers from a big breakdown and he decides to take it over. He takes two Autobots hostage and tells Rodimus to take them back to Cybertron. Rodimus doesn’t want to do this since he needs to find those legendary knights already. He may have to make the toughest decision yet, but he’ll need to be careful because the hostages aren’t very durable. Elsewhere, one Autobot decides to open a bar, which could bring trouble at some point. There’s also an Autobot who wants to be a Decepticon so Rodimus and Ultra Magnus would like a few words with him. Cyclonus also appears briefly and he definitely doesn’t seem trust worthy.

I have to say that Drift is easily the best Autobot in this comic and one of the best overall. His sword techniques are swift and he continues to prove that he’s one of their best fighters. I would have liked for him to have gotten a bigger role, but it’s good enough as a starting point. There aren’t many Transformers who use swords so it’s always a good change of pace. In a way, Drift keeps the Autobots from losing their place in the grand scheme of things.

Rodimus Prime gets a pretty small role, but he is still the leader so I’m sure that he’ll get some props. He handled the Autobot pretty well when they speak about him changing sides. Rodimus’ strategy for freeing the hostages was a little on the dicey side and he doesn’t mind destroying comrades who’ve lost it so I can’t say that he’s as compassionate as Optimus. That being said; few are at this point. All of the Transformers are willing to win at any price and if Optimus were still around; there’s a chance that he would be like that as well. They haven’t been on Earth in a while; which could have helped them to lose their compassion.

Ultra Magnus gets a decent role and he’s not a bad guy. He’s pretty serious about the rules, but Ultra Magnus was being pretty considerate about it. I would probably like him to do some more fighting at some point, but there hasn’t been much action for the main squad. Perhaps in the next volume.

Whirl is also one of the more likable Autobots in this volume. He definitely doesn’t get one of the happier situations, but he takes it in stride for the most part. He’s constantly talking back to his oppressor and he never gives in. It would have been nice to see him get more of a fair fight, but the important thing is that he tried. Whirl’s design is also pretty fun and I can’t say that I recognize him from any other Transformers media that I’ve encountered. Well, it’s good to meet a new Transformer!

I’m not going to address the Autobot who goes crazy by name for obvious spoiler reasons, but he still gets a pretty big role so I felt that he deserved his own paragraph. It was pretty surprising to see how much this guy has changed, but it’s just another reminder of how dark the times have gotten for the heroes. It feels like almost everyone has been traumatized by some sort of event or are just being super cheerful to pretend that none of it is happening. I can’t say that this comic will help me gain any respect for this Autobot and I’m just glad that he has appeared a lot in other media so that I can still like him in the long run.

Ratchet is one of the few main characters that I really know from the TV shows. He’s always had a big role so it’s good to see that he’s still got it. He’s starting to feel his age and it makes sense since Ratchet is one of the originals. Soon, he may need to pass on the medical torch to someone else. At least he does pretty well for himself in this comic. He’ll never be one of my favorites, but he’s a good character and that’s good enough for me.

As the volume cover insinuates; this is a pretty dark time for the Transformers and the villains get to call a lot of the shots. That’s where the comic drove itself down a few pegs. The dark tone of the comic may not be out of place in itself, but it goes way too far. If all of the deeds were happening to humans instead of robots; the rating would likely be lower. There is basically one torture per chapter. It just keeps on happening. Autobots or Decepticons are isolated and then they have to endure this for long periods of time until they’re put out of their misery. A group of Decepticons messed with one guy for ages as they melted him; ate him; and then started blasting him.

It’s not something that you really need to see in a comic; especially over and over and over again. If I’ve said it once then I’ve said it many times, but comics, shows, movies, and games are for fun and escapism. Dark or Light themes work, but not something to unnecessarily drastic. It’s not fun to see the villains get away with so much and it’s easy worse when a “hero” does it. (Hange) They may be robots, but they apparently still have pain sensors and they seem to have a lot of energon to spill out. Transformers has gotten more gritty over the years and even Transformers 3 is an example of this. It makes you miss the good ole G1 days. Grimlock’s situation is also pretty sad, but it’s not terrible if you’ve only read this comic. Seeing how it happened would likely be another story.

It’s a shame because the actual plots are very interesting. It’s impressive to see the author juggle so many characters across various planets. It’s part of why the Transformers Multiverse has always been so interesting. There are always more characters to read about and the adventures never end. This series may be trying to be modern and appeal to a new crowd, but it just needs to find its roots and go back to the glory days.

The art is very good for this collection and I would say that it’s far better than any art that I’ve seen in recent comics. All of the character designs are spot on the backgrounds have a lot of detail. This volume may have its weaknesses, but artwork is definitely not one of them. From fight scenes to conversations; the art only helps to enhance the comic and make it more enjoyable. Art will always be a critical factor in a comic.

Overall, More Than Meets the Eye may have seemed like a decently cheerful series in the last volume, but it’s done a complete 180. Without popular characters like Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumble Bee, Soundwave, Starscream, Wheeljack, and others; it’s up to the next generation characters to hold up the fort. Most of them are pretty good so that isn’t a problem, but I expect the Autobots to start fighting back in the next volume. They need to stop all of this senseless destruction from happening and create the peace that they’ve been fighting for. Volume 3 needs to lighten up on the tone a bit and get back to the fun action that the franchise is known for. I’m confident that it will step things up. Aside from the excessive violence; this comic was still pretty fun and its interesting to see where all of the plots will end up. This is definitely something that most Transformers fans will want to read since you will be missing out on a lot of plots if you skip it. That being said; if you don’t like to see the Transformers go through a lot of pain; then you may want to stick with the main Regeneration series (Light hearted for now anyway) or take a chance on the next volume. It appears to be a dark hour for both sides of Transformers so I don’t know how the author plans to help them get out of this hole. The legendary knights may be needed after all.

Overall 5/10