Look, go up the sky, it’s a bird… it’s an airplane… oh, actually it’s just a star. Hey guys, we’re back here again with Skybound Transformer #23 by Kruker, Daniel Warren Johnson, Jorge Corona and Mike Spicer! A godlike question. I’m going to talk about it now.
Transformers #23 spoilers!
This is the first time this book has made me cry. A complete halt, emotionally cried cry. In this issue, DWJ explores deep, moving, deeply personal themes of loss, isolation, hope, fatherhood, and love. And it all works perfectly. The perfect moment for Ultra Magnus characters is a true mythical speech about standing up for what you believe in, and citizens saved by Autobots thank Prime’s coma state. The two are like vision quests, and the similarity between the two that was first introduced in the first issue of the series is Come Full Circle. All this time, we learn that Sparky and Optimus are combined in some form or form, and that they have changed with each other. The figure of two fathers, two lost broken souls, consumed by loss and regret, find each other and learn from each other’s kindness. They both learn to hope again and love again, facing their ultimate purpose. Stand, one falls.
Optimus Lives…Sparky Dies.
Image/Skybound
I cried. The shot of Spark holding his son’s hand still brings tears to my eyes, as if to remember that I was writing this very sentence. My father passed away years ago, and like Spike, losing him was a scar that was never seen on the surface. Sparky looked very similar to my dad. My father was a man who loved deeply and had problems with him, and all I could imagine was being in a place in Sparky. It was an emotion I was completely unprepared to face, it was raw, it was beautiful, it was personal and the farthest from objective experiences. But it remembered how much my own father loved me, and it was a feeling I couldn’t do and I wouldn’t ignore it. Many view Optimus Prime as his father figure. For many, he is a father who reminds them of the father they didn’t have, or themselves. He’s also like that for me, and if there’s nothing else, I hope I know how touching it is that DWJ has brought this aspect back to the forefront of the character. My dad loves Transformers and I’m sure he loves this too.
Image/Skybound
The art was incredible. Stunning action, incredible panel pieces from Covid, and fantastic colors from Spicer, selling conceits of dreamscapes. Marvel-inspired colors and details help sell the idea of seeing Prime in his most core essential self. I’ve got the heartbreaking, powerful shot I’m thinking about for years to come, and the ultimate conflict that I’ve got completely and completely from Optimus and Megatron.
Tell me they really get that trance: Movie quotes.
Image/Skybound
Transformers #23 is my favorite issue for the entire run. I’m not objective about this. It is completely speaking to the deep personal feelings I feel about my life and resonate with emotions that resonate with them, and not everyone understands to that extent. It’s pulled so badly that I can’t do my fair job as a critic here. It’s simply fantastic. Read it for yourself – this is a story that reminds us why this character means so much to all of us, why we love him, and why it’s best to be kind and never satisfied.
“Transformers” #23 is the master stroke of your choice
Trans #23
A transcendental problem packed with raw, free emotions.
Excellent full circle characters have arced over the course of several years
Incredible artwork filled with instantly iconic and emotional shots
Raw, incredibly moving feelings that left me fog
