In an alternate reality, noble Decepticons fight to protect the galaxy from the evil Autobot forces. It’s a crazy mirror world, and your Major Spoilers review of Transformers: Shattered Glass #1 from IDW Publishing awaits!

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TRANSFORMERS: SHATTERED GLASS #1

Writer: Danny Lore
Artist: Guido Guidi
Inker: John Wycough
Colorist: John-Paul Bove
Letterer: Lettersquids
Editor: Riley Farmer
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 25, 2021

Previously in Transformers: Shattered Glass: Many kilocycles after the Cybertronian War has destroyed Earth, Blurr, an evil Autobot Seeker, hunts his newest bounty who holds a piece of information that could reignite the war.

IT’STHESTORYOFBLURRTHEFASTESTBOTALIVE

We being in a desolate area of a devastated Earth, known as The Static Zone, where the bodyscrapped called Blurr has once again used his speed to bring down a high-profile target. Returning to Gold City, he delivers the smashed remains of Sixshot to Ratchet (who is busy torturing someone, in a complete reversal of his prime universe characterization), and is told of a new bounty, one of the highest profile catches he could ever hope for: Starscream himself! Blurr finds Megatron’s right-hand ‘bot already in the middle of a fight with Autobots, only to team up with him and help him escape their clutches. Blurr puts his best rap on Starscream, trying to convince him that he’s only an Autobot out of convenience and using his fast-talk to great effort, only to lure his prey into the Static Zone, where they are surrounded by active volcanoes. Blurr’s overconfidence leads to a less-than-ideal ending for this issue, and the reveal that Starscream is trying to find his former boss, the legendary freedom fighter Megatron!

SWAYED BY NEUTRALITY

I admit it: I’m a sucker for a good Mirror Universe story, and Transformers: Shattered Glass #1’s trick of taking one of the most jovial and playful Autobots and turning him into a sociopathic killer is a good one, but their greatest move of all comes in making me care what happens to Starscream. The hints as to the greater universe (Prowl seems to be running a cannibal cult, The Wreckers are seen briefly, and the Headmasters are seen as killers, while Optimus himself is a warlord in the remains of Iacon) are all fun for long-time Transformer readers, but the basics of this story are a one-on-one meeting of the minds, with Blurr’s arrogant POV at the center of it all. The art is also very well-done, providing a rare example of a free-flowing combat sequence with accurate robot bodies, making for deeply satisfying visuals. Heck, just the amount of “acting” that the various robots do in these pages is worth the price of admission,

BOTTOM LINE: THIS IS A FUN BOOK

As a Transformers fan from way back, I appreciate Transformers: Shattered Glass #1 works not only as an “everything you know is wrong” mirror story, but as a single-issue narrative, introducing an interesting central premise, several fascinating character bits and a couple of epic fights, all delivered with excellent art and earning 4.5 out of 5 stars overall. If you don’t know anything at all about Transformers, it’ll tell you all you need to know, but if you do, you’ll have great fun playing “IT’S THAT GUY AND NOW HE’S EVIL!” Ninja Starscream is pretty awesome, too.

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