Comic Review...

Transformers: Drift #1 (of 4)

Writer: Shane McCarthy
Artist: Alex Milne

(cover by Alex Milne)

Summary: What was it that caused one of the DECEPTICON's most ruthless soldiers to turn his back on them? And what ancient secret lies hidden deep within an alien planet? All this and more as the origin of the newest AUTOBOT, DRIFT, is finally revealed!

Comments: One thing I noticed right away was how many G2 characters are in the background in the opening pages. We see Terradive, Skyjack, one of the Predators (Skydive? Talon?), Dreadwing and Smokescreen (and possibly others). On the one hand, it's cool to see a shout out to these neglected characters. On the flip side, it seems like the artists do this stuff a lot in IDW... The story is about Deadlock (aka the future Drift), a merciless Decepticon who tries to lead a coup against his commander, only to fail and have to flee for his life. He ends up on a planet with a mysterious character that needs his help to rescue some slaves... but in a display of his usual bravado, things end up going horribly wrong. It's a fairly solid first issue of story and since the series is only four issues, we don't have to worry so much about McCarthy stretching it out too long like he did in AHM. The story and art are both pretty good. I can predict where the story will go ultimately but hopefully it will be an interesting journey to get there. One review I saw mentioned that many of the TFs look too Gundam-esque in their designs (that is, overly elaborate) and I would tend to agree (but it's a minor quibble). I also liked the "two guns" joke--it's an old standard but it worked well in this case.

Verdict: Recommended.