Transformers #3 Rolls Out a Brutal, Emotional Beatdown

We review the latest Daniel Warren Johnson comic and contemplate the horror his Transformers will plunge.

Violence comes at a cost. Transformers #3 by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer contains an all-timer action sequence involving Optimus Prime, which sends it over the edge for a certain kind of reader. If you're like me, you've been waiting for Prime to unleash a little somethin'-somethin', and he does so here, and then he goes a little further, and I was screaming with joy as it happened across an epic two-page splash, but then DWJ does what he does best. He pulls the rug out from under you and leaves ya devastated and stewing.

The issue picks up immediately after the last one. Carly learns the horrifying truth about her father. Before she can grieve, however, Lazerbeak crashes through the wall and tears the place apart. From this moment, Transformers #3 doesn't let up. It's all action, but it's action as story with Johnson dishing plot and character at a ratatat pace.

While Duke flew off last month to god knows where (well, we do, but you'll have to wait a few weeks for our Joshua Williamson and Tom Reilly podcast episode to learn more), the humans he left behind are losing their collective minds. What the hell are these giant robots? Autobots? Decepticons? It doesn't mean a thing to them, so they've locked and loaded and are ready for war.

As Optimus Prime and his crew attempt to fend off Starscream and his crew, the rest of the world scrambles. Daniel Warren Johnson magnificently communicates the confusion and the resulting fear of those underfoot. The little people do what many do and respond to violence with more violence, but such math only leads to further catastrophe.

We're at halftime. This is where things usually look their most bleak. Transformers #3 leaves us contemplating apocalyptic possibilities. Remember, it's a series that opened with Bumblee having his unconscious head obliterated. And we've read more than one or two Daniel Warren Johnson comics. We know he's not afraid to snuff a life if the emotions and story call for it. Anxiety is where his readers live.

As Transformers #3 rolled out its final panel, I felt guilty for the cheers I roared throughout the issue. These brawls were what I had anticipated since the first chapter, and they're even better than I imagined. Johnson has also greatly improved regarding Cybertronian anatomy. While I'm sure these drawings extracted tremendous energy and time from their creator, they read on the page as if they flew from his pen. But Johnson's radical violence arrives with a price tag, and humanity should not afford it.

Johnson has sparked our love for multiple characters in such a short span. Sure, some of them, maybe most of them, came pre-packaged with our nostalgic adoration, but in staying true to that adoration, Johnson solidifies our empathy. We must remember that his Transformers is greatly influenced by his memory of Transformers: The Movie. The story in which Optimus Prime met a bloody end. We should prepare ourselves for heartache.

Quickie Review: Transformers #3 excels at the action but reminds us that action is violence and violence is awful. Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer are a stellar team and never disappoint, rewarding our glee with necessary emotional turmoil. The storyline has not reached its first upsetting moment; we got a few of those almost immediately as the series launched. However, it does turn a corner, suggesting this comic based on a toyline is deceptively punishing. And in that punishment is a rich, emotional reward.