Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #1

Yesterday I finally got to my comic shop (Fairfield's Queen City Comics) and picked up the first of the two new ongoing Transformers comic books: More Than Meets the Eye.  Let's just say that this will be a more positive post than the previous. 

For the first time in a long time I found myself looking a little more closely to the panels, and trying to spy my favorite Formers in the background.  I feel like this is the first time since the Dreamwave days that I got a chance to really peer at the pages and look for hidden gems in the backgrounds. 

They also seem to be trying to correct some characterizations that have been destroyed by the previous books.... Prowl is a little more dickish and he is overly critical and "I'm always right" about the whole situation.  Also you get to see the whole dynamic starting to change.  Bumblebee is really shown as representing the old faction, and Hotrod is shown as becoming the new... but luckily the cast is not split Pre-movie formers and Post-movie formers. 

For example the cast was set to  a modest 210(?) Autobots on the shuttle.  These are not just the later additions the the 80's ranks but actually include Ratchet... who decided he was much more needed if they were to encounter their elder Autobots that needed repairing.  Also I was happy to see that Chromedome and Rewind were added in a more permanent manner.  It is nice to more of the later Autobot cast to take a more prominent role. 

This issues also included a nice little multiple page bout between Cyclonus and Whirl... which unlike the battles that were written in the previous ongoing, lasted more than two panels and hopefully shows what is to come.

Of course the story has to start with some sort of hitch.  This showed up when under Prowl's direction the ship had an internal explosion setting them off course from day one.  The ship was landed and some Autobots were lost, but hopefully this gives us some plot points for rescuing the lost crew in issues to come...  It was enough to make me look forward the the next 30 when I get my next issue!

My solitary gripe about this book is the same that I have had with IDW for a while now.  I was just completely caught off guard when I found five separate covers sitting in my file.  That doesn't include inventive covers or anything.  I understand this is a "new" #1 but they need to tone it down a little bit with the multiple covers, its just a bit too much, so I wait for two weeks for another 5 issues! 

I am finally looking forward to my Transformers comic books to come into the store!  I am more than curious to see what directions that Robots in Disguise has in store next week!  I will let you all know if the Cybertron story line can keep me entertained as much as the space explorer story line.  I am sure that with the inclusion of Metalhawk I am sure i will be kept to my books!  Now if we could just get some more Wreckers my comic store visit may make the jump to Wednesdays!