/1_medium.webp)
Transformers #1 is written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson. Colours are by Mike Spicer and letters by Rus Wooton. The book is published by Image Comics.
Transformers #1 is available now, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold.
Synopsis
Optimus Prime was supposed to have led the Autobots to victory. Instead, the fate of Cybertron is unknown, and his allies have crash-landed far from home, alongside their enemies-the Decepticons. As these titanic forces renew their war on Earth, one thing is immediately clear: the planet will never be the same. New alliances are struck. Battle lines are redrawn. And humanity’s only hope of survival is Optimus Prime.
Review
It’s time to go back to the G1-era for a brand new take on the classic Transformers story. With writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson at the helm the hype for Image and Skybound’s first foray in to Optimus Prime and co. has been off the charts. But with a wider Energon Universe currently being built around the Habro-owned brand, can this comic book live up to the hype?
The story opens with the introduction of Spike (Witwicky?), our human entry point in to the world of Transformers. Of course there’s a bucketload more context to Spike than was ever given to his counterpart in the 1984 animated series. His father is a war veteran with an alcohol problem. The family dynamic is strained and Spike just wants to escape to enjoy a romantic evening under the stars with Carly.
The romance is short-lived when an Earthquake sends the pair tumbling down to a hidden spaceship buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface. The familiar design language will tell any Transformers fan that this is the Autobots ship and quickly we’re transported to a grim graveyard of familiar faces.
The relative peace in this war zone is broken when Jetfire arrives and reactivates the ship. It’s a key moment in the origin which Johnson handles brilliantly. When Jetfire had left centuries earlier the Cybertronians were not yet at war. Returning to Teletraan One believing he had failed in his mission to find an energy source to keep Cybertron alive, Jetfire inadvertently restarts the war between Autobots and Decepticons, now with Spike and Carly caught in the crossfire.
Fans of the classic TV series will certainly get a kick out of this re-contextualisation of the story. But fear not. Transformers by no means alienates anyone coming to the story afresh. Johnson’s given the story a fresh lick of paint which makes the books accessible to all in a similar vein to BOOM! Studios’ rejuvenation of Power Rangers. There are moments that long-time fans will recognise. But Johnson also isn’t afraid to play with the classic elements and make changes to keep things fresh.
The biggest change in this opening gambit is the lack of Megatron. Whilst he’s certainly no far away it is Starscream who is pulling the strings. This should allow Johnson to build towards Megatron’s debut in the series, making him more of a looming threat than an immediate pay off as he is in other versions of the story.
Johnson’s design work is also sublime. Each of the Transformers characters maintains all the classic cues from designs past. Whilst Optimus still looks boxy there’s an incredible fluidity to his movement during the huge scale fight sequences which pepper the back half of the book. Spicer also adds a great colour scheme to the book. It’s not over the top but neither is it muted. What I’m trying to say is Transformers doesn’t look like a cartoon. It also doesn’t take itself so seriously that it’s devoid of life. Simply put. It looks perfect.
Verdict
A five-star opening for Daniel Warren Johnson and colourist Mike Spicer. A stunning retelling of the first meeting between humans and Cybertronians.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
