The first glimpse we ever saw of Transformers was the start of the cartoon which was during and after The Great War and the search for energon. I’m enjoying this story because it tells event that lead up to this moment in time. This is a time before the greatest Transformer became Prime and when the greatest Transformer villain was seen as nothing more than a terrorist leader. With Bumblebee captured by the Decepticons we find Megatron and Orion talking about fate. This fate in which they speak is the system of government must change; Orion believes the system can change within and Megatron believes in a revolution will change the system a very Xavier/Magneto moment. Megatron demonstrates this by telling Orion that his team was sent into an ambush intentionally. The ambush was set up to lose Orion and his team which would be enough fuel to start the war. Why does Zeta Prime want war? Simple he has the most powerful weapon known to the Transformers and wants to use it and show his supreme power.
Orion only has one sense of duty that out-weighs his sense of commitment to the Prime and that's his team so he doesn't follow orders in order to save Bumblebee. Ironhide and the rest of the team bust trough the roof of the stronghold to rescue Bumblebee. Back in front of Zeta Prime Orion explains what happens. Zeta explain that Orion is a failure and give them one last mission and not to fail him.
For a short bi-weekly release there is a lot of action and story crammed into one issue. This is written well and keeps moving that leaves you wanting to keep reading. Let’s just say sometimes there are monthly issues that have more filler than story than this series which is released bi-weekly. It’s especially interesting to see how Megatron is shown as the good guy against Zeta Prime's rule. But there is one line that stands out in this book. Orion calls Megatron “A criminal posing as a revolutionary” which Megatron responds saying “You’re a revolutionary posing as a cop”. I believe this just fore-shadows to a much deeper plot point further in the story.
I like the art in this book and the detailed poured into it. You can see the details of battles from the bots lives before with fading of paint and scratches in the metal. You can also see the detail in rubble of buildings and broken glass and how it’s used to portray action. The one thing I’m getting tired of is the backlighting always being one color. It seems to be used so there is less detailed in the background.
Overall, the story moves along and grabs enough of your attention to keep reading. The detail in the Transformers is amazing and portrays them realistic. This is a good read for a Transformer fan and the story is still building here. Just a reminder you won’t find this book it your LCS it’s a digital only and priced to move!
Score: 3/5
Writers: Chris Metzen & Flint Dille Artist: Livio Ramondelli Publisher: IDW Publishing Format: Digital Only Release: 2/29/2012