James Roberts (Writer), Alex Milne, Brian Shearer (Artists), Josh Burcham (Colorist)
The Story: Chaos happen as Ratchet tries to save a dying Ambulon, Tyrest tries to enact his insane plan and Rodimus try to stop him.
The Review: This is how you do it. A bold statement to be sure, but one effective nonetheless as James Roberts shows how you can plant seed for future storylines as he connects multiple threads together, some from the very first issue of the series. Long-form storytelling is something that not every writer is able to pull off, yet it can be incredible when done well and James Roberts can be categorized as being able to do so wonderfully.
One of the best thing to come out in this issue would be the explanation for Skids, detailing just how he got in a ship with the binary gun in the second issue as everything is told from Getaway’s point-of-view. It explains close to everything about the character while adding up to the conflict at hand while doing what James Roberts does best: throw in new concepts that fit perfectly with the Transformers themselves.
That’s not the only point hat is brought forward, as the quest for the knights of Cybertron even goes forward a bit, connecting with the confrontation with Tyrest. This is one of those big issues, where the antagonist is up for a confrontation, where the stakes are high and everything move along at a brisk pace to make sure the importance of the situation is straight for the readers.
Speaking of pacing, it is excellent, as every scenes and most of the characters gets their moment in the spotlight either with some development or clever characterization. Whirl and Cyclonus do battles against the legislators, Ratchet and First Aid trying to save Ambulon, Rodimus and the crew hearing the explanation about Skids and Tyrest all get their fair share of development, or at least enough to be properly interesting.
What is also quite interesting and was mentioned earlier (and in pretty much each of my reviews up to this point) is the fact that Roberts keeps on adding to the mythos about those robots transforming into vehicles. Did you know that a dead Transformers could be manipulated into becoming a weapon? That some of the swords they use are powered by their sparks, which are basically their souls? Do you know what a binary gun actually does? James Roberts explains all of this in a way that is not only credible for the setting, but also in a way that makes those concepts rather fascinating.
Of course, all the cool concepts and neat events cannot be particularly effective if the cast of characters is bland. Fortunately, it is not even close to this as a lot of the characters featured here are diverse, with plenty of development for each of them as Ratchet and First Aid speak about their roles, Skids reacts to the truth behind his amnesia, Rodimus tries to bring the pain to Tyrest and more. It’s a very vivid cast that really shines, even though sometimes some characters are put aside in some issues, like Fortress Maximus and Rung here. With a cast this large, it’s a necessary evil to put the focus on some other characters sometimes for the book’s quality.
The quality itself does just come from the ideas, characters and action, though, as Alex Milne and Brian Shearer works very hard for this book to be visually consistent and with a standard of excellence and it shows. The poses, the controlled chaos of the fight scenes, the expressivity of the characters and all the robotic designs that can be seen everywhere in the book is the result of their work and it looks very good. It can sometime looks very busy, though, especially in the scenes featuring a great number of characters, as Milne is very detailed in his work, providing multiple lines for each of the designs. Still, these robots manage to look very human despite that, which always a plus amidst the technology, explosions and gunfire featured here.
Another plus is Josh Burcham, the colorist, who seems to have either great fun or difficulty with this book, considering the incredibly rich palette featured here. It’s a happy mix of cold and warm colors that may clash together when done in some small panels, yet becomes the norm rapidly as it is spread everywhere in the issue. This adds to the chaos of the action and the various scene, which truly enhance the general themes of the book as another result.
The Conclusion: With many plot points connecting and the action unrelenting, MTMTE proves once more why it’s one of the best comic out there thanks to a superb cast, some fascinating concepts and the detailed and rich art from Milne, Shearer and Burcham.
Grade: A-
Hugo Robberts Larivière
Filed under: IDW, Reviews Tagged: Alex Milne, Brainstorm, Brian Shearer, Chromedome, Cybertron, Cyclonus, First Aid, Getaway, James Roberts, Josh Burcham, MTMTE, Pharma, Ratchet, Rodimus, Skids, Tailgate, Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye, Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #20, Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye #20 review, Tyrest, Whirl 
