The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
| The name or term "More than Meets the Eye" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see More than Meets the Eye (disambiguation). |
The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye is an ongoing comic series published by IDW Publishing, starting in January 2012. This series follows the adventures of Rodimus and his team as they travel through space, hunting for the legendary Knights of Cybertron and having adventures along the way. But mostly it's about lonely nobodies hanging out pretending they have friends.
The series picks off from "The Death of Optimus Prime", the epilogue to the previous ongoing, and takes place at the same time as a second ongoing series, Robots in Disguise, which together form the fourth major "act" of IDW's ongoing Generation 1 continuity.
"Yeah, dysfunctional isn't the word! There isn't a normal 'bot among you!"
"And that wouldn't be so bad if you actually made progress—but as far as I can make out, all you do is argue, crack jokes, and get sidetracked doing pointless, silly things that only you find amusing!" Various members of the Circle of Light , "Little Victories"
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Overview
In contrast to the Cybertron-based setting of Robots in Disguise, More than Meets the Eye is set predominantly within the walls of the Lost Light, the spaceship captained by Rodimus that carries his crew on their expedition to locate the Knights of Cybertron, a mythical group who left the planet ten million years prior to the present day to spread peace and enlightenment across the universe. The book features an ensemble cast, who come and go from the spotlight with each passing issue, made up in large part of characters who have been overlooked by past fiction.
The "main cast" at the series outset includes Rodimus himself, a daredevil egotist who could not be more ill-suited to command; his officious second-in-command Ultra Magnus, whose obsessive-compulsive traits make life on the ship difficult for everyone; third-in-command Drift, now with a relentlessly positive outlook on life following a near-death experience; the talkative Swerve, who immediately became a fan favorite; ship's doctor Ratchet, now feeling his age and looking for something new in life; dangerously unhinged ex-Wrecker Whirl, who soon forms a murderous enmity with disillusioned ancient Cybertronian Cyclonus; ship's security officer Red Alert, even more paranoid then ever; timid psychiatrist Rung, who slowly seems to be more than he appears; and diminutive archivist Rewind and mnemosurgeon Chromedome, who would come to draw much attention as the first truly official "gay" romantic couple in Transformers fiction.[1] In short order, the crew is joined by Tailgate, a naive Transformer who has been offline for the duration of the war and finds himself forced to choose a side, and Skids, a long-missing Autobot who reappears with amnesia and a bad attitude. As the series progresses, more Autobots come into focus on the fringes of the story, like the over-eager, luckless Pipes, and resentful, boozy, one-trick-pony Trailbreaker.
More than Meets the Eye uses its "quest" backdrop to tell multiple smaller adventures, throughout which are threaded many, many seeds for future stories, together forming a grand tapestry that has clearly been planned out very far in advance. Following an unexpected quantum jump upon launch, the Lost Light is hurled off into the depths of space, where the crew is joined by Skids and contends with a stowaway Sparkeater. A visit to Delphi by Ratchet to help cure a plague introduces the threat of the Decepticon Justice Division, who then feature in a Decepticon-dedicated story menacing a band of misfit Decepticons, and also brings the facility's surviving patients and staff onto the ship—including Fortress Maximus, whose post-traumatic stress causes him to snap and nearly kill Rung. Hoping to cure Rung's damaged brain, Rewind gathers a small group together to recount a shared story from their past about Orion Pax foiling a Senate plot to discredit the burgeoning Decepticon movement in the days of Functionism. Unfortunately, the little archivist is soon badly wounded in battle, sending Chromedome into a grief spiral that allows Drift to manipulate him into carrying out a plan laid out by Prowl: using his mnemosurgery skills to tap the memories and learn the secrets of mass-murdering Decepticon Overlord, secretly hidden on board the Lost Light. Unfortunately, Chromedome accidentally allows Overlord to escape, and Rewind has to sacrifice himself to jettison the monster from the ship. Ultra Magnus is also fatally wounded in the battle, but when his body disappears from the ship's Medibay, the crew track it to Luna 1, where they discover and foil a twisted plot by Chief Justice Tyrest to wipe out all those Transformers he sees as tainted by original sin.
Creative team
The series is written by James Roberts, fresh from the critical success of Last Stand of the Wreckers. Roberts had already been assigned the series when he wrote the two-part "Chaos Theory" in issues #22 and #23 of the ongoing series, and seeded many early plot points for the series into those two series, including Whirl as the prison guard. Also furthering the link between the ongoing and More than Meets the Eye, when Roberts co-plotted "Chaos" with Mike Costa, Costa let him script all of the Kimia escape shuttle scenes, populated with characters who would be aboard the Lost Light.[2]
Alex Milne serves as the series regular artist, with colors by Josh Burcham. Frequent Roberts collaborator Nick Roche provided art for issues #1 and #6, as well as "B" covers for every issue. The visual "look" of More than Meets the Eye is very unique, with slightly exaggerated, cartoonishly stylized character models unlike anything in Milne's past work, decorated in a textured, muted color palette that combines to create something quite unlike any modern Transformer comic. So key is this "visual identity" to the book that almost all other contributors who have worked on the title have striven to emulate it, adapting their own lineart and coloring styles to match the expected look and tone of the book. Brendan Cahill co-pencilled #12, Guido Guidi stepped in for #13, and Agustin Padilla filled in last-minute for #16. Joana Lafuente and Josh Perez have also lent their colors to the book, while Marcelo Matere regularly provides retailer incentive variant covers for the series. James Raiz drew the lineart for #22.
Soundtrack
In a unique touch, writer James Roberts would visit the IDW Publishing forums shortly before the release of each issue and offer up a "teaser" post containing one or more songs that served as a "soundtrack" that would set the tonal and/or emotional stage for the upcoming issue, usually tending toward the independent- and folk-rock genres. This began at issue #2, with the songs for #1 being provided later; TFWiki lists these songs on each issue's respective article. Non-issue-specific songs for the series and its characters in general include:
- Lost Coastlines by Okkervil River — an overall anthem for the series
- I've Got a Plan by My Friend the Chocolate Cake — theme song for Rodimus
- I Would Fix You by Kenickie — theme song for Chromedome and Rewind
- Hello Cruel World by Mark Oliver Everett — theme song for Tailgate
- True Men by Jon DeRosa — theme song for Ultra Magnus
Songs for Season 2
- Let's Make This Precious by Dexys Midnight Runners
- A Question of Trust by Their Hearts Were Full of Spring
- Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra
- Let's Get Started by Frisbie
- The Old Man's Back Again by Scott Walker - theme song for Megatron
Collections
- The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Volume 1 (June 13, 2012) ISBN 1613772351 / ISBN 978-1613772355
- Contains issues #1 to #3, as well as the preceding The Death of Optimus Prime one-shot.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers, 12 promotional images, "Meet the Crew" page, design sketches from Alex Milne for various characters and ship locations, and a 2-page editor's comment with "behind the scenes" information about the series.
- The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Volume 2 (October 17, 2012) ISBN 1613774982 / ISBN 978-1613774984
- Contains issues #4 to #8.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers, "Meet the Crew" and "Meet the 'Cons" pages.
- The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Volume 3 (March 27, 2013) ISBN 161377592X / ISBN 978-1613775929
- Contains Annual 2012 and issues #9 to #11.
- Bonus material includes "Meet the Crew", variant covers, and designs for the Guiding Hand.
- The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Volume 4 (July 17, 2013) ISBN 1613776918 / ISBN 978-1613776919
- Contains issues #12 to #16.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers, and the prose story Signal to Noise.
- The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Volume 5 (November 13, 2013) ISBN 1613778023 / ISBN 978-1613778029
- Contains issues #17 to #22.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers, and the prose story The Sound of Breaking Glass.
- The Transformers: Dark Cybertron Volume 1 (April 22, 2014 Amazon scheduled date) ISBN 1613778910 / ISBN 978-1613778913
- Contains issues #23 to #25, as well as Dark Cybertron issue #1 and Robots in Disguise issues #23 and #24.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers.
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Volume 1 cover -
Volume 2 cover -
Volume 3 cover -
Volume 4 cover -
Volume 5 cover
