In Transformers #3 from Image Comics and Skybound, written and drawn by Daniel Warren Johnson, we get another gut-punch of an issue.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Transformers #3 Review:
The Decepticons are almost back to full power while the Autobots are on the defensive in this issue… Leading to another big, emotional moment from this series.
“How is this going so hard?” host Alex Zalben asked of the latest issue of the series. “How am I feeling so many things reading this comic book, because I don’t care about Transformers? But this is crushing me, page by page.”
Justin Tyler threw out there that there is a “nostalgia hit” since Warren Johnson is drawing them like the old toys. “It feels like you’re playing with them,” Tyler said. “And they’re just getting wrecked. They’re just getting smashed up. This is such a subtle thing, but it’s drawn where you feel how obtuse and metallic they are, and how they don’t fit with the human world.”
Tyler also noted the theme Warren Johnson is playing with here, with a dead deer that has “soft roundness” getting connected to the “hard, metallic, ripped-up shards” of the Transformers. “There’s an inherent visual conflict there… It’s like seeing a series of car accidents with actual cars.”
Zalben noted that when the show interviewed Daniel Warren Johnson, he expressed that he would rather kill a character immediately, or have a character take action than drag it out for six issues. And in this issue, spoilers past this point, Spike, a young human, gets shot. “I felt more for that human character reading this comic book than I have felt for any human character in any Transformers movie ever… This is the most that I’ve ever emotionally connected with any Transformers thing ever.”
Transformers #3 Official Synopsis:
Outnumbered and overpowered, it’s time for the Autobots to stand their ground, as Optimus Prime goes toe to toe with Skywarp!
