Sam Maggs (Author) Umi Miyao (Cover Artist) Alex Milne (Cover Artist) Josh Burcham (Colorist) Beth McGuire-Smith (Artist) Jake M. Wood (Letterer and Designer)
Thanks to IDW Publishing for the review copy!
So far, TRANSFORMERS GALAXIES has told self contained arcs, focusing and providing background details about generation one characters that casual Transformers fans would know (Devastator, Cliffjumper). They were so character driven, it wasn’t clear how (or if) they tied into the main IDW Transformers comic.
That all changes with this issue, and I’m not sure if that is a good thing. This issue focuses on Gauge, a little blue bot who doesn’t appear (at least as far as I can remember) in the original cartoon. In addition to shifting to an unknown character, Galaxies #7 picks up on a storyline that was the focus of a prior issue in the main line. Readers of that series may recall Arcee, Greenlight, and Gauge fleeing the chaos of Cybertron aboard a “Reversionist” ship. Therein lies the problem. f you haven’t read that issue, you will likely be lost about and you certainly will have no idea what a Reversionist is.
The other problem is, the choice of Gauge to focus on. The Constructicons have always had a following due to the sheer coolness of combining into Devastator. Cliffjumper’s story was a great play on the the fact that he’s basically a red colored Bumblebee. He’s probably not beloved, but people know who he is. Gauge has little if any prior association, so it is less interesting to learn more about her. And frankly, she simply isn’t that interesting of a character yet.
Another problem with this issue is the the largely blue monochrome coloring, which takes away any distinctiveness to Gauge’s character. This may be the point, since the ship seems to be filled with bots who don’t value individuality, but it can be hard to pick the unknown character out in a crowd. Speaking of crowds, the group shots are populated with generic, same colored bots. Again, this may be on purpose, but it makes for a less enjoyable read.
If I sound like I’m being harsh, it is only because Galaxies has been one of my favorite series so far, in part because it has a low barrier of entry and it features characters I know and love. This issue strips that out, but there is nothing wrong with it. If you read the main Transformers line and wondered what happened to the ship that left Cybertron, Galaxies 7 is interesting. I do think part two of the “Gauging the Truth” arc will be much better (for reasons I can’t reveal without spoilers), so it may be worth reading this issue now to get ready.
TRANSFORMERS GALAXIES #7 is now available.
Have you read the title? What are your thoughts? Feel free to chat with me on Twitter or leave a comment below!
