Heart of Darkness #2

Galvatron is on the move! With the mystery surrounding Gorlam Prime still unsolved, Cyclonus and Scourge are tasked with helping raise an army! But an army to do what?! Find out as the ROAD TO “CHAOS” finds its first travelers!

Transformers: Heart of Darkness #2 provides a vision, in clarifying past events and providing a hint about the future. Within its pages, the reader gets a pretty clear idea where this version of the Transformers mythos is going. Even though it appears we now know how this mini-series will end, the writers still provide one heck of an exciting issue.

In Heart of Darkness #1, Galvatron’s Heart of Darkness leads him along with Scourge and Cyclonus to Gorlam Prime for unknown reasons. Upon arrival, they discover that the inhabitants of the planet have disappeared. After heading down into the depths of Gorlam Prime, they discover a badly damaged Jhiaxus who is then repaired by the Heart of Darkness. They soon discover a glowing sphere in place of the pool that served as a portal to the Dead Universe. As Galvatron reaches out for the sphere, they are attacked by Hardhead and Arcee. As Heart of Darkness #2 begins, Galvatron is down and severely injured while Cyclonus, Jhiaxus, and Scourge attempt to fight Arcee and Hardhead. Describing what happens from here would be spoiling the surprise, so pick up the book for yourself!

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning crafted a well-written issue. The issue is a perfect balance of content, story progression, action, and length. While their dialogue does tend to be wordy, the dialogue spoken is used towards story development and thus provides a nice, smooth pace. They were also not afraid to answer questions. Why was Galvatron saved and reborn with the Heart of Darkness? Where does the portal to the Dead Universe lead and where did the inhabitants of Gorlam Prime go? What happened to Hardhead when he plunged into the portal pool in Spotlight: Hardhead? Abnett and Lanning answer those questions posed by previous writers to both satisfy readers and progress the story. Even though the semi-reveal of “the big bad” in accomplished, you also have the sense that there are plenty of stories to tell within the last two issues of this mini-series.

Ulises Farinas continues art duties in Heart of Darkness #2. While not a fan of the art style, the effort in this issue was far more consistent with expressions and angles drawn more similar from panel to panel. Detailing appears to be more prevalent as well. To be honest, however, the back half of the story in this issue is so intriguing that one will not focus on the art. Farinas also has a nice half-page homage to various incarnations and interpretations of Megatron and Galvatron. Kudos go to Andrew Crossley in this issue, whose colors really pop on each panel. His balance of bright and dark tones in the issue is appropriate and sets the mood for each panel.

Heart of Darkness #2 throws in so much in the way of information and teases. There is no lull in this issue. While the large reveal is not outright stated but seems to be rather obvious, there is still potential for a surprise. Regardless of how that turns out, the resolution to that reveal should be a nice thrill-ride. Heart of Darkness #2 is definitely worth the read. If you haven’t picked up this series yet, make sure you pick it up and enjoy the outstanding story established through the first two issues.

Overall Rating: 4