Incredible Change Bots

This week, it’s all-new Brown as his latest book, Incredible Change-Bots, finally hits UK shores (or, more importantly, the shelves of my local comic shop). Here’s what the inside cover has to say about the plot:

Far away in space, there is a planet full of robots able to change from robot form to vehicle form — the Incredible Change-Bots! Leaving their war torn planet, the Change-Bots arrive on Earth, where their battle continues — BUT AT WHAT COST?!

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Perhaps like a cartoon you used to watch, some toys you used to play with, or perhaps a movie you remember watching this summer (possibly while choking back vomit) – yes, you somehow figured it out – Incredible Change-Bots is Jeffrey Brown’s take on that loveable robot-based megabrand, the Transformers.

Now, before we go any further, I should warn you – I am what you would call “fairly obsessed” with Transformers. Be prepared to witness some even worse nerdery than usual. I promise I’ll be back to “normal” next week.

As Incredible Change Bots opens, the Awesomebots are embroiled in a fierce, ongoing, er, election campaign, with their rivals, the Fantasticons. The leader of the Fantasticons, Shootertron, wishes to gain control of the government, blaming the Awesomebots for slowing their planet’s economy with their lack of warfare. He seizes power by rigging the voting machines, and as a result, fighting breaks out between the two factions. This is what you’d call a thoroughly ironic take on the conflict presented in the original Transformers series, where the factional differences and power structures were poorly defined, if at all. The fight eventually spreads to Earth, and naturally, hi-jinks ensue.

Brown effectively parodies the tone of the original Transformers series – the characters speak with bombast, shouting slogans at each other during battle and making vague declarations about good and evil. As portrayed by Brown, the Change-Bots display the kind of human qualities most robots get to avoid – they interrupt one another, they leave awkward silences, and they irritate others with their stupidity. They have personalities, but each only really has one character trait which they then display at every opportunity. It’s all funny because it’s only a shade more ridiculous than the truth ever was. Moments like Awesomebot leader Bigrig having to set up his trailer after transforming Incredible-Changing, and the human characters pointing out to him how much of a coincidence it is that he changes into a truck, given his alien name, all point to an author who, like the target audience, might just have thought about the original Transformers cartoon a little too much.

Brown doesn’t make mockery his only concern, though – while there’s a joke on virtually every page, the story does also serve as an action-adventure in its own right. Indeed, the plot itself is fully played out within the pages, in a suitably epic tale that even leaves room for a sequel. It’s half-parody, half-love letter to the original Transformers concept, and Brown’s affection for the material beams from every panel. If you love the idea of a transforming robot but also recognise its inherent ridiculousness, well, be assured – so does Brown. For those deeply into Transformers, there are a couple of references that only the obsessive will get – you could count them on one hand, though, and the vast majority of the jokes are going to work for anyone with even a passing familiarity with the concept.

Incredible Change-Bots is most immediately distinguished from the rest of Brown’s catalogue by being his first full-length work in colour. It’s bright and bold, and has great texture. Whether or not he does further work with colour, it’s hard to believe it’ll ever look as good as this. It’s an utter magnum opus, equalling the recent Transformers movie in scope (indeed, the movie release is what inspired him to complete the story he’d been hanging onto for some time) and justifies every centimetre of every page.

To be honest, I could go on, but there’s so much to talk about it could get ridiculous. I’ll leave you with a nicely quotable closing statement (because I don’t do grading, you ingrates): Jeffrey Brown’s Incredible Change-Bots is a must-own for anyone who grew up on 80s toy-commercial television, but it’s still brilliant in its own right. Buy it, love it, thank me later. Preview pages available below!

Incredible Change-Bots Preview Pages at Top Shelf
Buy Incredible Change-Bots from Amazon (UK)
Buy Incredible Change-Bots from Amazon (US)