“Enemy Within, The”
Simon Furman’s first-ever foray into the world of the Transformers yields an all-action script that roars unabashedly in stark contrast to last issue’s “Man of Iron” comic strip story. The alien nature of the Transformers is rolled over to make room for bolder, brasher heroes and villains.
On the surface, “The Enemy Within” is a typical rank-breaking tale: Brawn, a heroic Autobot has turned almost feral due to an electrical accident, and Starscream, an evil Decepticon, the same. As the story builds momentum, these two disparate plots soon join for an old-fashioned, straight-laced good vs evil showdown. It’s a shallow plot, but it does its job well.
For fans of action stories, “The Enemy Within” features plenty of drive. The action is fast-paced and surprisingly violent (Brawn’s actions, at one point, result in actual human fatalities) for a toy-based comic. Characterisation (and dialogue, for that matter) of both Autobots and Decepticons is anything but subtle, but at least both camps are explored equally.
As with “Man of Iron”, artists John Ridgway and Mike Collins keep their portrayals of the Transformers as close to their toy forms as possible. Again, there is a lot of clumsiness and some scenes, which Hasbro (the company that makes Transformers) are likely most happy with, look like toys being smashed into each other by giant, invisible hands. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of detail, and when the script needs to jolt the reader, the artwork delivers.
“The Enemy Within” is Transformers at its most elemental—good robots vs evil ones with characters on each side to cheer for. The foundations are there, but they’re just not yet deep enough.
Verdict: three stars out of five.
“The Enemy Within” (44 pp) was originally published by Marvel UK in Transformers #13-17 (March-May 1985)
Tags: John Ridgway | Mike Collins | Simon Furman
Related Articles
