Alex Milne

James Roberts' work on IDW's Transformers franchise is some of the most explicitly political storytelling in comics right now. Politics is a core theme of Roberts' entire Transformers work, and while the comics do have some of the best action, romance and comedy, they're also all about refusing to let anyone else make your decisions for you.

Check out the best sci-fi comics in 2016, including our critics' picks and the comics you voted the runners up and winner in this category!

As another month ends, Comixology is set to add another handful of titles to the Netflix-style Comixology Unlimited service, and while there's been good stuff in there since the beginning, September's offerings might be the all-around best bunch of comics put on there so far. There's the thrilling supernatural adventure in the pages of Hellboy and the BPRD: 1946, the year's most unexpected crossover in Archie Meets KISS, and even a stone cold classic in the form of Matt Wagner's Grendel: The Hunter Rose Omnibus.

Last year, I essentially made a bet with myself that led me to read every issue of IDW's current line of Transformers comics, and let me tell you, I learned a lot. I learned about alt-modes, about the 4,000,000 year war between Decepticons and Autobots, and I even learned to tell some --- not all, but some --- of those characters apart on sight. But more than anything else, I learned one indisputable fact: Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye is the single best comic book on the stands. Well. It was. The series is heading for an ending this summer with issue #57, and while the creative team and characters will return in the upcoming Transformers: Lost Light --- a book that writer James Roberts has assured readers is a continuation of MTMTE that will serve as "season three" of his story --- this still feels like the right time to look back at what's happened so far. Seriously: It's the best. Now let's talk about why.

It used to be a truth universally acknowledged that any time a robot gets emotional, comics are about to get real bad. But bucking the trend and breaking the mold are the Transformers, and specifically the Transformers of the Lost Light in More Than Meets The Eye #53, by James Roberts, Alex Milne, and Hayato Sakamoto. Those robots are in a real devil of a pickle now, and they're making their peace with it the best they can.

I've never liked the Transformers. The franchise didn't get its hooks into me as a kid, and while I've tried to give it a shot as an adult, it never really clicked. But now, with a recommendation from almost everyone I know and a well-timed Humble Bundle sale that left me with three years worth (and counting) of IDW's More Than Meets The Eye and Robots In Disguise comics, I'm going on a quest to see if these comics can turn me from someone who has never cared at all about Optimus Prime into someone who uses words like "Cybertron" and "alt-mode" with alarming regularity. And Primus help me, it's working. This week, it's the final installment. We're all caught up, and the man stands transformed by his journey into comics about talking robots that turn into cars and planes.

I've never liked the Transformers. The franchise didn't get its hooks into me as a kid, and while I've tried to give it a shot as an adult, it never really clicked. But now, with a recommendation from almost everyone I know and a well-timed Humble Bundle sale that left me with three years worth (and counting) of IDW's More Than Meets The Eye and Robots In Disguise comics, I'm going on a quest to see if these comics can turn me from someone who has never cared at all about Optimus Prime into someone who uses words like "Cybertron" and "alt-mode" with alarming regularity. And Primus help me, it's working. This week, it's time travel, parallel universes, and we're perilously close to being all caught up with More Than Meets The Eye!

I've never liked the Transformers. The franchise didn't get its hooks into me as a kid, and while I've tried to give it a shot as an adult, it never really clicked. But now, with a recommendation from almost everyone I know and a well-timed Humble Bundle sale that left me with three years worth (and counting) of IDW's More Than Meets The Eye and Robots In Disguise comics, I'm going on a quest to see if these comics can turn me from someone who has never cared at all about Optimus Prime into someone who uses words like "Cybertron" and "alt-mode" with alarming regularity. And Primus help me, it's working. This week, the Lost Light gets a new captain, and a shocking return cements MTMTE's place as one of the best comics going!

I've never liked the Transformers. The franchise didn't get its hooks into me as a kid, and while I've tried to give it a shot as an adult, it never really clicked. But now, with a recommendation from almost everyone I know and a well-timed Humble Bundle sale that left me with three years worth (and counting) of IDW's More Than Meets The Eye and Robots In Disguise comics, I'm going on a quest to see if these comics can turn me from someone who has never cared at all about Optimus Prime into someone who uses words like "Cybertron" and "alt-mode" with alarming regularity. And Primus help me, it's working. This week, we're heading back to 2011 for "Chaos Theory" and the first meeting of Optimus Prime and Megatron!

I've never liked the Transformers. The franchise didn't get its hooks into me as a kid, and while I've tried to give it a shot as an adult, it never really clicked. But now, with a recommendation from almost everyone I know and a well-timed Humble Bundle sale that left me with three years worth (and counting) of IDW's More Than Meets The Eye and Robots In Disguise comics, I'm going on a quest to see if these comics can turn me from someone who has never cared at all about Optimus Prime into someone who uses words like "Cybertron" and "alt-mode" with alarming regularity. And Primus help me, it's working. This week, we finally learn the shockingly tiny secret of Ultra Magnus!