Spoiler-Free Review: More Than Meets The Eye #22

TF_MTMTE_22_cvrAThis issue of More than Meets the Eye is a bit of an anomaly. It’s not a continuation of the issue before it and I am not quite sure if there is anything in it that relates to the Dark Cybertron story which will be the main storyline in both MTMTE and RiD until next spring. What it is though, is a light-hearted bit of relief from the darker plots and emotional shock therapy that we’ve had before. It’s been called “More than Meets the Eye – The Movie” for a good reason. Not only is it the last chance to see the core group from the Lost Light together for one last adventure, but it is also a fictional movie, as the premise of the issue is that at the beginning of their journey Rodimus asked Rewind to make a travelogue about their quest, giving him full access to all the cameras on board, so most of the issue is supposed to be this movie played back for us (or is it just us?).

It’s a fun little read, though with a bitter-sweet undertone, this is the crew before the Overlord plot came to its devastating end and there is still a kind of innocence to the characters’ attitudes towards the quest they’ve embarked on. But though this could be seen as a throwaway issue, something to skip without missing too much I would advise you to pick this thing up anyway. After all, James Roberts himself places this issue at the end of any future potential MTMTE Season 1 Omnibus, a last farewell and goodbye before the adventure continues with a slightly different cast in Season 2.

That said, there are some interesting plot threads weaving through this issue, one I would consider a proper answer to a question some fans have asked: What is Rung’s alt mode really? So, take a bet between Swerve and Tailgate about who finds out this mysterious alt mode first (and without asking Rung directly of course), add a surprise visit from the Autobot Thunderclash, someone the Lost Light’s crew and its captain seems to have differing opinions about and mix it up. Then add a flashback to the planet Hedonia (it was on a visit to this planet that the Autobots had to use their holoforms) and you have a tidy one-issue plot, with an interesting little twist at the very end. I consider myself satisfied, though there is also that slight sense of melancholia descending on me as I close these absolutely final pages of More Than Meets The Eye Season 1. If I must force a complaint of any kind it’s that the artist working on this issue, James Raiz has a style that is fairly different from Milne, with more of a gritty, hard look to it. Though even in this style certain characters still have some of their “cute” appeal intact.

Pick up this issue, for the same reason that I went out to get the Cowboy Bebop movie. Because this really might be the last chance to see some of these characters interacting, in this innocent, relaxed manner together.