Digital Comics…Reviewed! (Transformers #7 & #8)

Transformers #7 & #8
Mike Costa (story)

E.J. Su and J. Brown (#7), Javier Saltares and J. Brown (#8) (artwork) 

Available On: IDW Comics, Comics+, Transformers Comics
Price: 1.99 (each)

So yeah, I’ll be reading Transformers for as long as Mike Costa’s on it…

Mentioned this before, but I’d already heard great things about his work, and loved the GI Joe: Cobra mini he did with Gage, so ordering the first collection of his Transformers monthly wasn’t tough to do, especially since DCBS had it for a 50% discount. Now, I’m more than happy to report that on the strength of that first trade I’ll be following the entire series digitally from now on, at whatever schedule IDW releases it. You know what it reminds me of? Joe Casey’s Wildcats run, which you might remember is one of my favorite creative runs of all time, so that’s certainly not bad company to be in according to me.

Both runs begin with a similar premise—what happens to the soldiers when the war is over? When no one can even remember what they were ever even fighting for? And the most important question of all, one that Optimus Prime actually verbalizes in one of the first couple issues…after a millennia of war between the Autobots and Decepticons, a conflict that has spread clear across the galaxy and nearly destroyed another planet, can his people truly and profoundly…transform? It’s a moment and a phrase that I suspect Costa had planned for Prime since the very beginning of the series, and that need for progression is the foundation of the run thus far, and what I think is a fantastic angle to come at the Transformers from.

These two self-contained issues provide a couple great character studies for both Megatron and Spike, who are two incredibly distinct personalities, but in a way they both want the same thing Optimus Prime wants—transformation. Megatron wants to use the turmoil and confusion to once again wrest ultimate power away from his rivals, stamping any thoughts of reconciliation and new alliances dead before they take permanent root. Spike wants to be free of his troubled past, and hopes that he is strong enough to bring about another meaningful partnership between humanity and the Autobots, after everything that’s happened. Both stories provide texture and context to this brave new world that Costa is aiming to create, and I’m anxious to see where he ultimately takes the well-worn franchise. This is certainly a more intellectual, progressive take on the characters that began their lives as a kids’ TV show and a line of incredible toys.

And because of my trusty iPad and digital comics, I can now afford to follow it on a regular basis…

This is Why (Wildcats Version 3.0)

Few months back, I did a piece on the first volume of Joe Casey’s Wildcats run, and why it was yet another example of why I love comics.

This time I bring you the concluding chapter, that digs into Wildcats Version 3.0, a volume that holds up just as well as its predecessor. Tackling the question of whether a multinational corporation can actually be turned into a force for incredible good, 3.0 is both the logical successor to the previous run, and a conscious leap past it. The design work devoted to its covers and title pages alone is enough to make even your favorite comic a little self-conscious about its relatively pedestrian efforts. Wildcats Version 3.0 was just an attractive comic, and seemed to go out of its way to show us what comics of the future (and about the future) were supposed to look and feel like. But most of you know this already, so let’s just get right to it—the uninitiated will have to do their best to keep up.

This is Why (Wildcats, v.2)

Joe Casey’s Wildcats run was an important to modern superhero comics as Ellis’ The Authority.

Both of these titles were just symptoms of the progressive nature of the Wildstorm brand, and Casey’s in particular showed just how dramatically you could warp an established title, while still maintaining its initial premise. This Wildcats book is really built on the same foundation and premise originally conceived by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi—only Casey’s perspective and interpretation is radically different, and that’s something that was obviously encouraged in those days. Really, I challenge anyone to name another company or imprint that pushed the conventions and boundaries of the superhero genre further and more aggressively. Planetary. Sleeper. Automatic Kafka. Stormwatch. Ex Machina. Astro City. Global Frequency. Mr. Majestic. Virtually everything out of the ABC line. The Intimates. Need I go on?

Joe Casey was right in the middle of all this, piloting the flagship title and turning it into something decidedly different from this. What other superhero title was bold enough to have Sean Phillips (a then unconventional choice) on art chores? Or position a multi-national corporation as the true superhero of the piece? Or was willing to experiment with a number of design elements, including cover layouts and title pages? This was the creative run that solidified Casey’s well-deserved rep as one of the most acclaimed writers in the business. And it’s only proper that we spend some time talking about in this series. I’ll be breaking the series into two very distinct volumes, as I believe that’s more appropriate. But all great runs start somewhere, and Casey and Phillips wasted no time taking ownership of the characters and the concepts.