Each day in November, I will read and review/discuss/whatever one comic taken from a box of some of my childhood comics. Today, it's Transformers #64.

The Nostalgia November archive can be found here.

Transformers #64 by Simon Furman and Jose Delbo continues the "Matrix Quest" storyarc as, this time, we get a trio of Autobots sent to a planet to find the Matrix. They were told to be on the look-out for any odd resurrections or events, and the reappearance of a Klud, a giant leviathan/whale-like beast, seems like a sure sign that the Matrix is nearby. During the intial contact, Longtooth loses a leg to the beast and becomes an Ahab-esque figure as he hunts the Klud, obsessed with killing it. At the same time, Lord Thunderwing and his group arrive in search of the Matrix and the Klud provides the key clue to discovering it.

This was probably my favourite issue so far, mostly because I like how Longtooth and Thunderwing mirror one another in their obsessions. Longtooth's injury focuses him on revenge to the point where he does everything he can to forget his past -- he's no longer an Autobot, he's just a hunter. Thunderwing's obsession with the Matrix is similar as, once he discovers its whereabouts, he calls off his forces, seemingly forgetting the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. One of his followers comments that this is the second time that Thunderwing has stopped them mid-fight from killing Autobots to go off in search of the Matrix. Both are losing themselves in their obsession. In the end, Longtooth has the chance to kill the Klud, but doesn't, escaping his obsession, while Thunderwing continues with his.

While the writing had me engaged throughout, Jose Delbo's art continues to deteriorate as this issue is cluttered and just ugly at times. In some cases, that works -- Thunderwing becoming more monstrous in appearance is a great idea. But, other pages, are just difficult to look at they're so ugly and ill-composed. However, he does deliver a fantastic splash page of the Klud breaking through the surface of the water -- and his expressions for Longtooth are usually good.

We get a bit of history about the Matrix and how it's the lifeforce of the Autobots' living god Primus -- who created the Autobots in his image to continue his fight against Unicron... and has recently revealed their whereabouts to Unicron, making finding the Matrix essential. Wait, he revealed their whereabouts to his enemy? Time to find a new god, I think...

Next Thursday, it's the conclusion of "Matrix Quest" with a cover that promises a Thunderwing/Optimus Prime fight.