Product Description: Ever wondered what form your favorite Transformers would take if they existed in different eras? Wonder no more, as IDW's new Evolutions line debuts with "Hearts of Steel," writer Chuck Dixon and artists Guido Guidi transplant the 'bots to the Industrial Revolution, where a charismatic hammer-man named John Henry discovers that a steam drill is really an alien robot named Bumblebee. Before he can process this information, the pair is attacked by Decepticons disguised as tanks, trains and walking engines. Is this all part of a larger scheme by Starscream? And if so, will the other Autobots arrive in time to stop his nefarious plans?
A good idea horribly executed As a Transformers enthusiast since my childhood, I have read almost every Transformers comic published in the last 25 years, and I'm sorry to say that this is one of the worst. The scenario was promising enough: the Transformers awake in 1884 instead of 1984 and therefore end up assuming forms of that era. It's a good idea that was poorly executed.
Some of the weaknesses are minor even though the mistakes themselves are obvious: for example, the Decepticons never use flying technology and the entire plot is based on them building a railroad line and reaching New York City in their "Astrotrain", thus tapping the electricity that has just begun production.
More severe is the lack of character development: of the Transformers characters, only Bumblebee and Starscream are written in such a way that we can identify with their motives and characters. The humans get a slightly better treatment although even the main human, John Henry, a railroad builder befriended by the Autobots, does little other than be a noble character. The story ends very abruptly with no real wrap-up.
Given the promise of the original premise, I hope we see more series like this in the future, but Chuck Dixon is probably not the right person to write them. Machines that transform into robots are not enough to make a story: the Transformers have always been popular because writers managed to breathe life into them. A change of century alone won't do it.
Good Elseworlds Transformers As a kid, I loved my Tall Tale heroes. I love seeing a Transformers title with the likes of John Henry the railroad king. This is similar to the G.I.Joe crossover so well done by Dreamwave in recent years before their bankruptcy. Alternate timeline Transformers is, fortunately, here to stay. This book has a good setup, plot, great choice of characters, and good art you can clearly see (my one problem with the Dreamwave Joe book is it is cast mostly in shadow, though also a good choice at times). It is short of course but given four issues to tell the story was a bit of a rush. The true failing of this book is the lack of an ending. It ends abruptly with no explanation of what happens between the last page and the page before it. If you can look past that and just watch the neat new versions of classic 'bots, you'll do just fine.
A Great short read Something different from the world of Transformers. If your looking for a book packed with familiar faces from Generation 1 then this book is for you. A little too short and the story telling is a little too fast paced towards the end but still a great read. Would love to see more Evolution titles after all the movie hoopla is over.
Steampunk Transformers I love the concept of the Transformers appearing in different time periods in Earth's history. In this case the late 1800s. Think of it as a "What if" the Transformers were reactivated in 1884 instead of 1984 and took on the forms of locomotives, rail cars, steamships and early prototype aircraft. The art work is great and there are 1800s concept drawings on the last few pages which in my opinion is worth the price of the book. My only problem with the story is that it is too short and doesn't wrap up many of the details. Also it leaves out the two main Transformers that I really wanted to see in it, although they do appear in the concept drawings. I don't want too give to much information so not to spoil it for anyone. I hope that IDW decides to use this concept again for other books. I would like to see more of the Transformers on 1880s Earth.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
