TransFormers: The Animated Movie #4
February 9, 2007
Quick Rating: Good
Title: Matrix Quest
With the Matrix lost, the Autobots prepare for final battle with Unicron!
Writer: Bob Budiansky
Art: Don Figueroa
Colors: Josh Burcham
Letters: Neil Uyetake
Editor: Chris Ryall
Cover Art: Don Figueroa
Publisher: IDW Publishing
The final chapter in IDW’s adaptation of the classic TransFormers: The Movie hits and hits hard. On the Planet of Junk, the Autobots are left in a shambles. Their leader is dead, their ranks are devastated, and their greatest power – the Matrix of Leadership – has been taken by Galvatron to the surface of Unicron, the planet-eater.
The biggest problem with this issue – and the series as a whole, actually – is that much of it feels somewhat choppy. It’s always a danger, when working with a film adaptation, to leap around too much. The pacing of a film doesn’t work in a comic book, and translating the script too directly often results in a rushed feeling, and that’s the case here. There’s not enough time to really get into the characters or fully explore the great moments that make the film a favorite, even today.
Far surpassing the writing, though, is the art. Don Figueroa was born to draw the TransFormers. His clean, fantastic artwork looks like it could have been culled directly from an animation cell, then recolored by a master (props to Josh Burcham for that). It’s a wonderful-looking book, and for that alone any hardcore TransFormers fan should have this comic sitting on their shelf.
With a new movie coming out this year, I’ve really quite enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Sure, there are a few things that could have been done better, but for the most part the book was a lot of fun, and the sort of thing that old-school fans will greatly appreciate.
Rating: 7/10
