Note: trigger/general warnings for the comic at the
end of the review, if you want to skip to that!
Other note: This comic has a soundtrack that’s worth
checking out it’s amazing and I’ve been listening to “I Knew Prufrock Before He
Was Famous” nonstop
I
don’t have much knowledge on Transformers. I saw the first Bayformers™ movie
when it first came out a handful of times, because I have terrible taste and
was a horrible child at the time. Beyond that, I knew it was a franchise based
on a children’s toyline from the 80s- the male counterpart to the My Little
Pony franchise. They turned into cars (or other manner of vehicles and
devices), and there was a war on Cybertron between the Autobots, led by Optimus
Prime, and the Decepticons, led by Megatron. Orson Welles was involved at some
point. Due to my minimal exposure, I always brushed it off as a silly thing for
straight guys.
Recently
a friend of mine began reading IDW’s Transformers:
More Than Meets the Eye by James Roberts,
and I was intrigued by it. As a member of the LGBT community I’m always
drawn to things with gay characters, and as a horror fan I enjoy well…horror.
This comic, it seemed, had both in spades. I admit that after several days of
being interested, I was pushed into checking it out after this friend sent me a
panel of a villain, Overlord, taunting one of the heroes rather late in the
comic over the death of another character (if you’ve read it, you’ll know the
scene I’m talking about). It’s morbid, I know, but I like what I like.
I
went in with expectations that I admit were rather low; I saw some notes on
TvTropes about the comic drawing from real world situations, but I brushed them
off, due to the frequency at which I’m let down. I expected to have, at worst,
a fun comic with gay robots and lots of horror & “robo gore.” I was
hilariously wrong and utterly blown away.
The
story of More Than Meets the Eye (and
its sequel comic, Lost Light) is as
follows: the war has ended after millions of years, leaving the remaining
Cybertronians to rebuild their destroyed planet and society. Rodimus, an
overdramatic glory-hound, has other plans. He gathers up a group of misfits and
goes on a quest to find the legendary Knights of Cybertron on the ship the Lost Light.
The cast includes (but is definitely not limited to): rules hound Ultra Magnus;
Chromedome, a skilled mnemosurgeon suffering from depression, and his conjunx endura (essentially, husband)
Rewind*, a friendly historical archivist; the stoic Cyclonus who is most
definitely not a Decepticon; Brainstorm, a mad scientist; and Whirl, who loves
a good fight and will provoke people to get one. After a disastrous launch, the
crew embarks on adventures, encountering horrors and new friends (and foes) on
their quest.
At
its heart, More Than Meets the Eye is
a dramedy. The charm of the comic comes from the interactions between the
crewmembers and those around them, in addition to reactions to the situations
they find themselves in. This ranges from throwing a storytelling session in an
attempt to bring the ship’s psychiatrist out of a coma, to dealing with a
doctor who’s replaced his hands with chainsaws, to encountering a dead quantum
duplicate of their captain (who decides that the only way to prevent his death
is to cut off his own arm).
While
there is a strong feeling of found family and friendship throughout, friction
leads to sharp dialogue as the characters snipe at each other.
[Rodimus,
speaking to Minimus Ambus: “What was that? What was that supposed to be? The
opposite of a pep talk, that’s what
that was. God, I was angry, now I’m angry and depressed.”]
The character quirks and humor won me over pretty
quickly, since it all highlighted the sense that none of these people had any
business being together, let alone being on a quest together. But nonetheless,
they cared for each other… to a certain extent. It reminded me a lot of
Firefly, just with robots who turn into cars and stuff (I’ve also seen
comparisons to Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy).
What
truly caught me off guard, however, was the depth of the drama and political
intrigue. This pulls no emotional punches, and I found myself near tears on
several occasions. From the end of issue 15 all through issue 16 was an
experiment in how sad James Roberts could make me, apparently (I started crying
as I type this because I thought about Chromedome saying “that makes it sound
too grand” to Skids). Characters can and will die, often in horrible ways, as a
lot of factions and feelings left over from the war kick up trouble. Despite
the comedy, the emotional weight remains grounded and I never felt like
something didn’t hit the mark.
The
political angle of the comic is likely my favorite part. It spoke to the
historian core of me that constantly wishes that authors would do more research
on real world scenarios and situations for their stories. There were several
times I had to stop to send panels to a friend of mine – who is the same way,
and knows a lot about the Russian Revolution – so we could talk about it. By
rooting the political situations of Cybertron in very realistic movements and
situations, Roberts’ worldbuilding and stories allow for an alarming relevance
to situations in the modern day world. There are comments on universal
healthcare, commodification on knowledge and education, and there’s even a plot
point regarding a false flag operation to vilify the then progressive
Decepticon movement. The world of Cybertron, up until the war, was highly
segregated and Megatron, a lowly miner, was an outspoken opponent of the class
system.
Another
note. A big note. This comic is really gay. I cannot express to you how gay
this comic is. The main couple is gay, all the mentioned relationships have
been gay, and it’s a weirdly wonderful experience. I’m so used to having
entirely straight casts, with maybe one or two gay characters tossed my way,
but to read a story where there hasn’t been a single straight romance? It’s
amazing. It’s beautiful (note: as of now the closest to trans rep Transformers
as a whole has is Arcee, and the less said about her the better. This is not
Roberts’ fault). And to add, the comic averts the “being in love cures mental
illness” trope- despite being in a very loving relationship, Chromedome is
still severely depressed and struggles with self-esteem.
The
comic does require a major learning curve, as it throws the reader in with
terms and people that newcomers likely will not know. I spent much of the first
few issues in a bit of a daze, trying to get a grasp on the “Who”s and “What”s
and admittedly, even now I need to take a moment to remember which robot is
who. The distinct voices help this, but it is still a present problem.
I
have some personal quibbles with the current direction Megatron is going, as of
issue 6 of Lost Light. I am not a fan
of “violence is never the answer” within stories, and I instinctively sideeye
them. However, it is too early to tell and I will withhold judgement until
there is more on that plotline.
If
you’re a fan of the likes of Firefly and Guardians of the Galaxy who always
thought the two could stand to be gayer, with a taste for horror and strangely
grounded politics, this comic is certainly worth your time. 4.5/5 stars
A few warnings:
- · This comic is gory. Like, really gory. Like, there’s an entire arc called “slaughterhouse” where a ship has had its entire crew tortured and killed, with the one survivor having been forced to watch all of it. They’re robots but it’s still violent
- · There is frank mention of wanting to commit suicide in several issues and it is something Chromedome blatantly struggles with. A character, Red Alert, attempts it (but survives because they’re robots)
- · The comic has a strange relationship with the “bury your gays” trope. As previously stated every relationship in this comic is gay, but there’s plenty of tragedy to go around. The main gay couple, after a long period of tragedy, is alive and well however
*I was predisposed to love Rewind because he’s
basically me as a robot. I too am a short gay historian (with dreams of being
an archivist).
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