Transformers - Spotlight Wheelie

Like much of Simon Furman's IDW work this was the subject of much undue praise when released - mainly focusing on how the writer had made a much-hated character so likable. There are three big problems with this.

Firstly this comic came out at a point where Furman's work in the main titles was sorely lacking in payoff, notably the compacted and frustrating Devastation storyline. Shortly afterwards Transformers would be taken out of the veteran's hands and effectively given to Shane McCarthy, leaving Furman with a very limited number of pages to tie up loose ends. He failed, and reading those rushed, contrived, compacted comics is made more irritating when 22 pages were wasted on this side story at such a crucial juncture. Yes, the Spotlights should have been self-contained character pieces but that boat had already sailed and you're left wondering if this story really needed telling so badly.

Secondly the idea of 'saving' Wheelie is facetious. The original was a committee-written child association character who was too childish even for the audience, partnered for the most part with the similarly hated Daniel Witwicky and given an awful voice by Frank Welker. Writing him in a more grown-up context is a cheap shot and it's a no-brainer that Wheelie's more tolerable in the mature setting of the IDW universe. He was more tolerable in "Space Pirates" back in the eighties, this is nothing new and smacks of a writer after cheap plaudits.

Thirdly Wheelie isn't actually all that likable here. The first half of the comic is an emo Wheelie moping around before coming across the same old dull dilemma about a rogue Autobot realising what it means to be an Autobot after briefly considering a selfish action that would have caused problems for innocents. It's not a bad story but Furman's told it too many times and it means this is a dull and unsurprising read.

1/5