IDW’s decision to reboot the Transformers comic book franchise no doubt ruffled some feathers among the Transformers fan community. It’s a lot to ask readers who have been following one continuity for the past 13 years to suddenly pivot and embrace a completely new universe. On the other hand, books like the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer show how much there is to be gained by starting fresh with a new canvas, a new creative team and a new storytelling mentality. That’s the same spirit driving the new Transformers series. It’s a comic that aims to give readers a fresh start without simply retreading what’s been done in the past.
The new volume of Transformers doesn’t even necessarily have to be looked at as a reboot. Rather than again rehash the story of the Autobots’ arrival on Earth, this series flashes back to the heyday of Cybertron. As the series opens, future Optimus Prime Orion Pax and Megatron are just beginning to shift from close friends to bitter rivals, while a peaceful society is experiencing the first pangs of civil war. There’s no “robots in Disguise” here, just the story of a glorious civilization slowly spiraling into ruin. Suddenly, the story of shape-shifting robots feels more timely than ever…