“Yesterday’s” Comic> Transformers: Micromasters #2

“At least they took down the ‘no shirt, no shoes, no service’ sign.”

Transformers: Micromasters #2

Dreamwave (July, 2004)

Groundshaker saves the Micromasters from the Insecticons (and the Autobots need it because they left their weapons at the base) and offers the Autobots to join him to meet Countdown. He barely extends the same offer to the Decepticons, who refuse, and later meets up with Shockwave, who apologizes and asks them to return. They go to think about it but when they leave, one Micromaster left behind becomes a snack for someone whom Shockwave orders on their real mission. Countdown tries to sway Big Daddy’s crew to join his cause but they refuse. Both groups meet up at the Burn Outs, a section of Cybertron exclusively for Micromasters, where factions are null and void. Big Daddy gets on Roadhandler’s case for not joining his quitting the Autobots, and Roadhandler uses a race to show him that leaping without thinking isn’t a good idea. However, someone is watching the Micromasters. Could it be Shockwave’s underling? Meanwhile, two more Micromasters, this time on the Decepticon side, also arrive back on Cybertron, with one thing on their minds…conquest!

What they got right: The writers do a decent job demonstrating Micromaster society and just how disconnected they are from their factions. A decent mystery is set up with Shockwave’s “pet” and his totals disregard for his own Micromasters in spite of his earlier claim to Barricade’s team. We also learn that some Micromasters, like Groundshaker, are downsized versions of larger robots while other were built at the “human” size. (Not that they know what humans are yet at this point in this timeline.)

What they got wrong: While there is an attempt to show each Micromaster has their own personality, I don’t know anyone except Big Daddy, Barricade, Countdown, and Roadhandler, and with the exception of Big Daddy and Countdown very little of them at that. It’s like the writers know all about them but aren’t really sharing with us, possibly due to so many Micromasters they’re trying to introduce. Back when Budiansky introduced the Micromasters to comics he had to use as many as he could so Hasbro could promote them and still managed to focus on one or two teams. (Each Micromaster, like the Mini-Cons later, were part of smaller teams. I don’t even know that from this comic.) Here they want to introduce everyone but only show interest in less than a handful, with no teams along with the factions they’re trying to ignore.

Recommendation: It’s hard to recommend this comic because I just barely follow what’s going on with the relationships, and I don’t recall anything here affecting the rest of the series. It’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself, but hopefully the remaining issues will save this. I remember enjoying this writers on the main book and I’m hoping that won’t change when I get to it after reading this miniseries thus far.

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• “Yesterday’s” Comic> Transformers: Micromasters #1