Transformers: Combiner Chaos (Comics) | Review

Civil war among the Decepticons tears through Seattle while humans watch helplessly from below. Starscream leads Combaticons against Soundwave's Constructicons in battles that level city blocks. This isn't spectacle for spectacle's sake. Every shattered building represents lives disrupted, futures destroyed, damage mounting.

Daniel Warren Johnson (Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth) maintains writing while penciller Jason Howard and Jorge Corona (Ain't No Grave, Batgirls: One Way or Another) split art duties. Mike Spicer's colors amplify destruction's weight throughout.

Combiner Chaos raises stakes beyond previous volumes significantly. Transport to Oblivion fractured Autobot leadership through philosophical conflict. This arc weaponizes that fracture while introducing combiners changing warfare's nature. When skyscraper-sized warriors clash, survival becomes humanity's only realistic goal.

Issues thirteen and fourteen focus on Starscream after Soundwave's betrayal. Howard's artwork captures his desperate state vividly. Found by MARS scavengers, Starscream gets his torso grafted onto a HISS tank. The humiliation fuels rage reshaping Decepticon power.

Starscream recruits Combaticons to his fractured cause immediately. Onslaught, Brawl, Blast Off, Swindle and Vortex join willingly. Their combined form Bruticus represents destructive capability matching any threat. The power shift terrifies Soundwave, forcing countermeasures endangering Seattle's civilian population directly.

Soundwave commands Constructicons who merge into Devastator. Bonecrusher, Hook, Long Haul, Mixmaster, Scrapper and Scavenger form the behemoth. Two combiners battling creates unprecedented carnage. Autobots prioritize evacuation over defeating either faction.

Optimus Prime faces impossible choices protecting humans caught between warring factions. Evacuating civilians while combiners demolish infrastructure tests Autobot resources. Jazz, Wheeljack and Trailbreaker assist evacuation desperately. Human military forces attack any Transformer regardless of faction or allegiance.

Human perspective grounds cosmic destruction. Spike and Carly witness Seattle's devastation alongside Arcee searching for Ultra Magnus. Their horror mirrors reader reactions watching cityscapes reduced to rubble. Johnson never lets spectacle overshadow human cost.

Thundercracker abandons the Decepticons mid-battle, disillusioned by Soundwave's tactics. His defection highlights how civil war corrupts loyal soldiers. The moment carries weight because Johnson established Thundercracker's conflicted nature previously. His departure signals fractures spreading beyond leadership disputes.

Cliffjumper's Cybertron sub-plot develops alongside Earth chaos. He reunites with Warpath, Blurr and Bluestreak resisting Decepticon forces. Bluestreak's methods shock Cliffjumper, revealing war transforms survivors. Stories demonstrate warfare's corrupting influence.

Megatron returns in issue sixteen's final pages dramatically. Laserbeak locates him wounded and blinded in a desert cave. Wires stream from damaged optics grotesquely. Despite injuries, his command presence radiates menace that neither Starscream nor Soundwave match.

Issue eighteen escalates combiner conflict while Megatron enters the battlefield properly. His mysterious healing abilities mirror Optimus's Matrix-powered restoration but with a disturbing purple energy. Dark Matrix implications suggest Megatron possesses power rivaling Prime's artifact. Ravage heals, ending that two-year arc.

G.I. Joe forces attack both Autobot and Decepticon forces indiscriminately. They kidnap injured Carly during chaos. The crossover expands Energon Universe connectivity while raising stakes for Spike. Human intervention adds unpredictable variables to chaotic battlefield dynamics.

Combiner Chaos arc concludes with threads leading into Conquer and Control, the fourth volume. Megatron's return promises Decepticon reunification under his grip. His healing abilities and Dark Matrix suggest plans extending beyond leadership restoration. The stage sets for conflicts dwarfing everything preceding this.

Jason Howard's issues thirteen and fourteen establish distinct identity. His Starscream exudes desperation through body language. The HISS tank integration looks grotesque. Howard's scratchy linework emphasizes Starscream's deterioration perfectly matching narrative beats.

Jorge Corona returns for issues fifteen through eighteen, delivering spectacular combiner battles. Devastator and Bruticus collide with weight readers feel. Every punch crumbles buildings. Corona's approach makes static panels impossible. Mike Spicer's colors shift from vivid blues to apocalyptic oranges as Seattle burns.

Ryan Ottley (Haunt: Beginning, Invincible: Perfect Strangers) provides artwork for the Energon Universe 2024 Special. His style complements the range. The special offers character moments between sequences. Multiple artists never disrupt cohesion thanks to Spicer's coloring.

Combiner Chaos delivers what its title promises while deepening character conflicts established previously. The introduction of combiners changes power dynamics. No longer can individual warriors decide battles. Team coordination and combined might determine outcomes, forcing strategic evolution from every faction involved.

Megatron's return reframes everything preceding it. His Dark Matrix abilities and healing powers suggest revelations challenging Transformers lore. The purple energy contrasting Optimus's golden Matrix glow implies dueling cosmic forces beyond faction warfare.

This volume works as Seattle disaster movie meets robot warfare spectacle. Civilian casualties matter. Property destruction carries consequences. Unlike previous Michael Bay films treating destruction as spectacle, Johnson makes readers feel every lost life. The horror grounds fantasy elements in tangible suffering beyond final pages.

Transformers: Combiner Chaos is available in physical trade paperback editions from Image Comics via Skybound, collecting the full storyline in one place. Digital readers can find it on major e-Book platforms like Amazon Kindle, ComiXology and Image Comics app.