I'll skip my history with the Transformers (search the archives if you want to know) and present the germane facts, which are that I had some of the toys, but I soured on the nostalgia properties long before Dreamwave folded up and I have at best a mild interest in the transforming robots. Given that I thoroughly enjoyed this first issue from IDW Publishing, that's a pretty good omen for those who hold the property in higher esteem. Transformers #0 starts over from scratch, a prospect that may annoy some fans who have lived through numerous Transformers revamps, but this revamp is overseen by well-respected Transformers writer Simon Furman and it gives the whole thing a bit of a conspiracy vibe to once again explain just why these powerful robots would need to disguise themselves. The end result is a fresh, intriguing reintroduction to the Transformers that will likely find favor with existing fans and new ones alike.
Like many Transformers fans, I often rolled my eyes at the human point-of-view characters that the cartoon and comic foisted upon us to make the whole thing more approachable for the targeted kid audience. The whole point of Transformers was giant robot action, right? Who cares about Spike or Buster or whatever greasy mechanic and kid the robots have adopted? However, Furman does a pretty good job of giving us a human point-of-view in this first issue, presenting a runaway with computer skills and a conspiracy-minded kid who believes that the robots are among us. The Transformers are a background element, more dangerous and sinister than usual given the focus on the Decepticons, and when the Autobots do make an appearance, it's a pretty impressively heroic action moment.
Where Furman goes from here is something of a mystery, and make no mistake, this is a preview issue and not a full-fledged number one, earning it's "#0" tag. The story is well-paced but slight, and the page count is finished up (but not padded out) with extras. These extras are well worth it for the Transformers fan, though, as they include an interview with Furman on some of his philosophies of the new Transformers relaunch as well as some nifty design sketches from E.J. Su.
E.J. Su may not wow the readers who were used to Pat Lee's more flashy dynamics, but I'll take Su over Lee any day of the week. What he lacks in flash, he makes up for in much more solid storytelling. There's an action sequence toward the end of this issue that references Hitchcock's North by Northwest perfectly, and when an Autobot enters the scene to disrupt the bad guy's attack on our human protagonists, it's the kind of thing that would cause the audience to start cheering if it were done in a movie. Basically, the whole thing has a more cinematic (and much more clear) look than what I saw of Dreamwave's version, and Rauch's bright, clear colors accent Su's manga-influenced art nicely.
I'll be honest, I expected that my interest in this Transformers relaunch would be more of a "well, it's nice that the kids are getting what they want" kind of thing, but this is a pretty intriguing opener. At just under a dollar, featuring extras like sketches and interviews and a compelling opening story, IDW has given Transformers fans a pretty solid indication that their beloved property is in the right hands.
