- Writer: Sam Maggs
- Artists: Umi Miyao, and Beth McGuire-Smith
- Colorist: Josh Burcham
- Letterer and Designer: Jake M. Wood
- Editors: David Mariotte, and Tom Waltz
- Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer
Thanks to IDW Publishing for the review copy!
Through six issues, TRANSFORMERS GALAXIES focused on telling self contained stories about well known Transformers. This contrasted with the main IDW line, which has a dense mythology that can provide a barrier to entry. Issue 7, which started the “Gauging the Truth” arc, broke the mold, focusing on a little known bot named Gauge in a story with a direct tie to the main series. In a prior issue of Transformers, Gauge, Greenlight, and Arcee fled Cybertron as unrest caused by the ‘Rise of the Decepticons’ made the planet a dangerous place to live. We last saw them boarding a religious ship (The Reversionists) and leaving. Issue 7 had Gauge aboard the ship, but something was not right. Her memory was off and the end of the issue revealed Arcee and Greenlight were stowed in the bridge.
While issue 7 wasn’t one of my favorites, this issue was a clear improvement. Gauge is given more personality and does a better job carrying the issue. In many ways, this issue is a character study of Gauge, which is welcome given how little information we have been provided about her to date. We also get to see more of Arcee, which I appreciated because she is the only character in the issue I was familiar with prior to reading the IDW series.
The art team manages to convey some nice emotional moments between the robots, which isn’t easy to do. Some of the background bots are given less care, and they seem fairly generic and lacking in individual details or coloring. This was likely done on purpose however, to show assimilation into the Reversionist cult. In that sense, the technique was successful. This issue relies heavily on blues in its color palette, with some pink mixed in. This really makes Greenlight pop in any scene she is in.
If you haven’t read any of the Transformers comics, the story so far page does a good job of catching you up. I still recommend starting with Issue 7, which is where this arc starts. The arc continues in the next issue as well.
TRANSFORMERS GALAXIES #8 is now available.
Check back in a few weeks for my thoughts on issue #9 of the series.
Have you read the title? What are your thoughts? Feel free to chat with me on Twitter or leave a comment below!
