Forget those silly movies; there are some really great Transformers stories being told in IDW’s Transformers comics.
And if you insist on the best specifically-Cybertronian comic, dont worry, thats IDWsTransformers: Robots in Disguise.
Though to be fair they spent most of that time asleep in a cave.
Because changing is what Transformers do.
Especially when all the neutral Cybertronians return.
Freed from the front lines of war all your favorite characters face an explosion of personal growth.
Optimus Prime struggles with being seen as the face of conflict.
Starscream smarms his way to becoming President of Cybertron.
Prowl refuses to stop fighting, and now that there are no sides anyone opposing him is an enemy.
Dinobots stumble around picking fights because thats the only thing they think theyre good at.
And Megatron, wow.
Megatron struggles to take responsibility for a heroic vision which went wrong beyond any mortal minds capacity to grasp.
It turns out that a shattered scattering of rogue robots is infinitely more dangerous than an easily identified army.
It sounds strange to say but the lack of war has made things much more exciting.
They discover the city-sized Metroplex and explode idiots inside his chest cavity.
They escape an entire dead universe to stop Shockwaves singularly universe-destroying strategy.
They change the course of a galactic war to win a drunken argument.
They kick so many kinds of ass that they fought the law, and the law lost.
Which would have been unimaginable to my child self.
Because theyre considerably better written.
Even though they had to invent a whole new planet to do it.
Because thats what you do when youre writing a popular fiction series and its not the Dark Ages.
Some of the setups are sublime.
Its much easier to hide Chekovs gun when you might transform itintoa gun or a gag.
Characters drop bombshells which dont detonate for entire arcs because you thought the quick laugh was their entire payload.
Theyre made of metal but the humor is organic and genuinely funny.
Geeks are enjoying a renaissance of all the properties we adored as we grew up.
In the old days wed wonder Why doesnt Optimus just use his energy axe?
But now even the original story is being retrofitted to kick ass.
Cybertronian history is no longer an endless series of guerrilla engagements between armies who cant shoot straight.
Its a thriving culture driven by political pressures which would make Ned Stark surrender.
Megatron was a miner struggling against increasingly autocratic oppression.
The Autobots worked to maintain order, which isnt always the same as being right.
This vision of geeky glory is realised by beautiful art.
Transformers artists work harder than anyone else in comics, and they keep cranking out exquisite art every month.
Both evoke more emotion from chunks of sheet metal than most people can get out of an organic orgy.
Many of the characters dont have mouths.
Soaring through all ofMore Than Meets The Eyeis the genuine sense of joy.
Its fun to play with giant transforming robots.
Thats why we made them in the first place!
Even the serious stories hit harder because youve already laughed with these characters, you already care about them.
And the best bit?
Because these titles arent just by and for people who love the Transformers.
Theyre for anyone who loves comics.
IDW announced some changes to their Transformers line shortly after this article was written.
Keep an eye out forTransformers: Lost Light, andTransformers: Optimus Prime!
