Having finished my coverage of the first crossover and already lamenting the fact that it was over, I couldn’t wait to jump back into the family friendly action in the sequel, My Little Pony/Transformers II.

This time around, though the same dual story format is kept to, there’s a little more room to breathe with each one – the page count has increased (with the preview pages for other crossovers, which featured in every issue of the first series, also removed).

Also: we’re not on Equestria any more. Following the first series’ colourful pony setting, the action has switched to Cybertron, home of the warring Autobots and Decepticons. There’s a lot of exposition to get us into the new storyline and plenty of new pony characters to get to know, including a deadly antagonist who I’d never heard of before – who seems at this stage to be the big bad of the sequel, despite the actions of Decepticon scientist Shockwave causing the two worlds to clash again in the first place.

Though some colour and vibrancy seems to have been lost in the transition to the home world of the Transformers, the issue still has a lot of charm and still a good amount of accessibility, even for fans who may be unfamiliar for may not be familiar with either property. It feels more like a traditional, big scale crossover than the prior series, which is both a blessing and a curse – while the two-story format remains, it does feel as if a lot more is happening thus far, though admittedly the first issue does have to do the heavy lifting of setting the scene for the crossover. A cover gallery is included, showcasing more of the lovely art that smashes the two oddly matched franchises together.

All in all, it’s another fun issue, as was the case with every chapter of the first series, and a reasonable start to the sequel. Though perhaps not as strong as the first crossover, once more I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.