An incredible reintroduction to the world of Transformers with a reimagining of the classic and iconic G1 origin story. A love letter to the franchise and everything a Transformers fan would want from the beginning of a new Transformers story.


The tone is set immediately, you know you're in for a gritty Transformers story from the very first page. The human and Cybertronian interactions are very real, the way they deal with loss is also very real.


The way these characters are written is perfect, this new interpretation of Spike is great, and has a huge sense of relatability that I'm sure will hit home and make him a fan-favorite. Optimus is written exactly how you'd expect and want him to be written, I think Daniel Warren Johnson may write the best Optimus Prime we've seen in comics to date. He's the fierce, heroic leader of the Autobots who puts others before himself, who feels a huge sense of loss whenever one of his comrades fall. Ratchet acts exactly how anyone familiar to the character would expect him to act, he's the war hardened medic who keeps it real with his fellow Autobots, and he gets a moment to shine in combat here. Jetfire is quite interesting here because it's an inspired and fresh take on the character. I love the way they've adapted his story - rather than going for the old Decepticon to Autobot arc he usually has, he instead starts off with no faction, and you see him pick one very quickly once he realizes what's going on.


Similarly, the villains are great. Starscream is still the gross, pathetic Decepticon we all know and love/hate him as, but he's also portrayed incredibly intimidating here, and has multiple moments that prove him worthy of being this series' main antagonist. Soundwave is still the loyal Decepticons communication officer we're all familiar with, even somewhat mentioning a very familiar name. He's portrayed very similar to his G1 counterpart, using his minicons in battle, to scout out resources, and fix parts of their base. And although he doesn't have much to do, Skywarp is still also in-character, being realistic with his team whenever they try and push themselves too far.


The art is spectacular, it's both fun and helps portray the dark and gritty war these characters are in at the same time, it really helps immerse you in this world


Overall, an incredible start to the Transformers in this universe, I cannot wait to see how the Energon universes continues, and to see how Daniel Warren Johnson's Transformers especially continues, that message at the end of this issue gives me all the faith in the world that he's the perfect man for the job. more