Transformers: Galaxies #10 Review: A Fresh Start

With a look in at the War of the Threefold Spark, the powerful warrior Ultra Magnus once shared the battlefield with Megatron as they fought for the planet against prodigals corrupted by some influence from beyond the stars. This shows how he evolved from a reluctant leader of soldiers into a virtual legend through combat prowess and peerless moral forthrightness.

After the star turn in Lost Light, many may be scanning for clues whether or not this is Minimus Ambus in the Magnus armor or one of his predecessors. Drop it: this is an all new Magnus in a fresh continuity, so any preconceptions you might have about what history is or is not should not be in play. Galaxies offers a kind of Elseworlds-styled experience that gives us a glimpse of "what if?" Nonetheless, based on some of the dialogue, this does seem set prior to any incarnation of the Cybertronian Civil War that led the mechanoid race to trans galactic prominence.

Magnus himself is a stoic quote-generating machine, spewing the kinds of inspiring one liners that galvanize 'bots in the field. Writer Brandon Easton's command of the dialogue here, as Magnus moves amongst names prominent and lesser known, is superlatively enjoyable. Likewise, the experienced hands of Andrew Griffith, Josh Burcham and Jake M. Wood deftly show poster-worthy impressions of the gigantic creatures here (like, nobody is smaller than 30 feet tall in this issue) in fantastic visual moments.

This is a fresh start with some familiar elements that doesn't rely on the reader having to know continuities, instead giving everything they'd need to have a good time. RATING: BUY.

Transformers: Galaxies #10

(W) Brandon M. Easton (A/CA) Andrew Griffith (CA) Thomas Deer

"Storm Horizon," Part One! Ultra Magnus, one of the four Great Generals of Cybertron's last war, finds himself far from home and his glory days on a deep space exploratory mission. But when his mentor, Alpha Trion, is reported missing from a nearby world, Magnus must solve a mystery with roots in an even more distant past that reaches from Cybertron to the unknown regions.