This young series made the rounds on multiple “Best of” 2023 lists after only three issues, yet Transformers #4 may be the best issue yet. I’m not ashamed to say that I haven’t loved this series as much as others have so far. Yes, it’s been a very well made comic book thanks to Johnson’s script and art, as well as Mike Spicer’s colors. But I chalk the limits of my love up to the lack of sentimentality I feel towards Transformers as franchise, having been born just too late for it to have been a staple of my childhood. But wow, this issue hit me hard. Daniel Warren Johnson got me all caught up in my feels and made me care so much about these darn robots, that jerk.

This issue was dripping with emotional heft, with a severely damaged — emotionally and physically — Optimus Prime reminding everyone why he’s a respected leader by making truly heroic decisions. Johnson’s writing for the entire issue is superb, but Optimus’ scenes are especially meaty with a level of sincere poignancy that I have not yet felt in this series. I felt the weight saddling Optimus’ shoulders leading the Autobots. I felt his pain faced with the death of a potential friend. I felt it all.

One of my favorite scenes involved Optimus making a small child’s day after obliging them with a transformation. Optimus wasn’t the only one to get some meaty scenes either. This is densely rich, heavy issue for all involved, even Sparkplug and Carly. If anything, the impact from this issue was the culmination of Johnson’s character-building, and the building of relationships between these characters, over the first three issues.

If possible, Johnson may have pushed his art even further in this issue. Raw emotion is visible in characters’ faces which makes the words hit that much harder. One of my favorite panels in the issue sees Optimus watching on, helpless, as Spike’s condition deteriorates and the tension, heartache, and suspense is fully palpable. Another panel that made my jaw drop happens closer the end of the issue after Optimus finds a renewed sense of purpose and gears up for the fight ahead. In this panel we see Optimus with a brand new design that looks freaking AWESOME.

And holy crap are the action scenes intense! Gosh, I’ve gotten this far and I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned the action yet. It goes to show you just how GREAT the quieter scenes were. Johnson gloriously choreographs clashes between the Autobots and Decepticons. This is seriously some of the best action in this series to date, in part because we only get one wrestling-inspired moment out of it (one of my least favorite parts of the past few issues).

There are certain issues in every comic book series where you have an “aha” moment and fully realize a creators vision. I’m pretty Transformers #4 was that for me and I am now fully on board with where Johnson and Spicer are taking me. These characters are now ones I’m invested in emotionally and the stakes immediately feel raised. This was a payoff issue in the truest sense and we, as readers, hit the jackpot.

Rating: 10/10