Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I'll be honest. Barber and Roberts are my favorite Transformers scribes.   I think, like, ever, so when I read something like Drift: Empire of Stone... it's hard.   Because it's not written by Barber or Roberts (and Roberts>Barber in my opinion) so while it's good, it doesn't quite hold up to Roberts' work.  Or even Barber's.   

Yes, it's fun, it's funny, and it's got some good character development for Drift.   Drift and Ratchet are a bit of an unlikely duo, and there's something to be said for pairing them up.   (Drift did get Ratchet his new surgeon's hands, so there is that.)

It's just that it feels like Roberts and Barber add to the continuity on every level: they write funny comics that add to the mythos of the universe, and say important things about the characters, the world in general.   This felt like it should have been a microcosm type character study that applied to the larger world, but the problem is that so much of it was character specific (you have to Drift or Hellbat in specific for it to apply, really) that it didn't really work. 

That being said, it was a fun ride, and leaned more towards redemptive than anything, so that was nice after Punishment.   (Sighs.  I forgot to mention how pissed off I was at Optimus Prime in Punishment because he was all like, 'the Dinobots were my deadliest soldiers when I could control them enough to call them mine,' and then blamed them for not changing.   Well, honey, you weren't above using them, but then can tell them they should have been killed?   Fucking hypocrite.   In character, but it reminds me why I don't like this Prime - or really any others.   And yes, Punishment is bleeding into this because it really did move me.)