“Stormbringer” (88 pp) was originally published by IDW Publishing in Transformers: Stormbringer #1—4 (July—October 2006)

Conceived, presumably, as an antidote to the human/Earth-centric premise of “Infiltration” IDW Publishing released “Stormbringer” which promised a bout of unchecked, giant robot action on an epic scale. And in that respect, this four-issue mini-series succeeds. Spanning several planets with an expanded cast and a fearsome and threatening “big bad”, “Stormbringer” delivers what it promises.

Simon Furman hooks the reader with a chilling and intriguing opening. By reasons yet unrevealed, a team of Autobots (namely Jetfire and the Technobots) return to the ravaged, desolate waste-planet that is Cybertron only to find death and decay. “Stormbringer” is one of the darkest, grimiest Transformers ever told.

Unlike the darker storylines of the Transformers: Generation 2 maxi-series, here the artwork and colouring perfectly match the macabre tone of the story. Artist Don Figueroa seems to relish in another chance to retrofy the Transformers designs to give them their familiar pre-Earth forms. In this regard, “Stormbringer” feels very much like Dreamwave’s “The War Within”. However, Don takes the designs one step further with the look of the previously foolish looking Pretender characters, making them terrifying adversaries.

The action is fast-moving, flitting from Cybertron to Nebulos to Varas Centralus and back again, giving the reader a glimpse at the whereabouts of and whathappenings to various and sundry Autobot and Decepticon squadrons. It’s a whirlwind tour.

If there’s a personal story to be found in “Stormbringer” then it’s the one that follows Optimus Prime’s journey as he tries to maintain his cool position in the Autobot hierarchy while denying his mistakes from his past. But take note: this is not the brooding, self-pitying Optimus Prime from the Marvel comics. Prime’s compassion, extending even to a deactivated Decepticon, lies at the palpable heart of this otherwise all-guns-blasting boom-fest.

Even the Decepticons display a certain amount of affection for their home planet as they ponder whether to destroy it or not. There’s no place like home.

You might be of the opinion that “Infiltration” was something of a false-start, in which case “Stormbringer” is assuredly recommended. Though it might suffer slightly from Simon Furman’s trademark flatulent narration, the rest of the story is compelling and competent as it juggles its cast and well-thought, multiple plot threads to its rapid-fire conclusion.

Category: IDW
Tags: Don Figueroa | Simon Furman

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