Orange is the New Green
(Spoiler free-ish)
(Spoiler free-ish)
Synopsis
DESPERATE ACTIONS! As the SPACEBRIDGE reaches across the stars, will anyone stand against STARSCREAM? The answer is yes—but the cure might prove worse than the disease.
Maybe he actually cares! (...)
Story
The IDW Transformers Combiner Wars Mairghread Scott/John Barber crossover arc switches back for its fourth chapter to The Transformers ongoing, and its writer Barber, with the current playing field riddled by ruins, frustrated Cybertronians, understandably scared Camiens, ambiguous pretty much everyone else, and several schemers on the loose, of course.
Quick recap, thanks
If Starscream is made to be the most explicit in his intentions for the future of Cybertron (and its problematic status of 'homeland' or 'centre of the universe') - and he does get to play a lot with all his little, and not so little, secrets - the real focus in this issue is undoubtedly Prowl, and the enormous quantity of turmoil he carries with him.
And Bob, obviously
Baggage that he has carried for a very very long time, admittedly, and always bubbling just beneath the surface. The long conversation, the effective backbone of this book, between Prowl and Optimus Prime, is a very good example of the type of emotional level that Barber can tap into in more serious storylines, and reveals a Prowl with actual feelings, disguised under a veneer of cold calculation.
That's.. quite a list
A possibly slower issue in its first acts, with some expected combiner fights as it progresses, an entirely expected twist at the very end (though one I am very curious as to how it will play out, and well executed nonetheless) and some well staged tension between the various characters used at the centre of the story, and a very good addition to the event so far.
Art
As Livio Ramondelli keeps to interior art duties, we see a massive difference from the previous, supposedly rushed, issue - the lines and colours for the characters, especially in their expressivity (both in body language and facial), are stunningly executed, and work really effectively for the serious tones and rising tides of the story and their interactions.
A mighty fine Windblade, right there
I will have a little moment here, as there is a wonderful chromatic game being played out in the issue, with the big opposition of darkened reds (cells and optics) and blues (Spacebridge and shadows) - with some almost unexpected yellows. And they serve as backdrop for the different scenes, ultimately exploding in a much brighter, much open landscape in the finale, under the aegis of the Spacebridge.
Not shown here - have some sky instead
Tom B. Long provides the usual masterful font and lettering work, grounding the dialogue and the locations in where the reader needs them to be, and gets some fun moments in transitions, too. As for the covers, we get the magnificent Emperor Starscream by Casey Coller/Joana Lafuente, a first half of Ramondelli's Optimus Prime poster cover, and the thumbnailed (perhaps another Marcelo Matere piece? Hasbro - credits please) Optimus Maximus.
Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
As I've said above, the issue plays a very interesting, if initially slower, game of revealing tensions and starting to prod at them without exploding until the very very end. And it was a strategy that, for me, really paid off - it shows Prowl's inner workings in a lot of ways, without removing the build-up he has received so far, and shows just how much of Optimus' influence can sway the game (and the franchise, really).
It's.. still.. coming.
We get even more on how combiner technology may not just be a technology of combination, but something a little deeper, and the beginnings of some serious power plays on all sides involved in this sudden, strange, large-scale war. And it all plays out across some closed spaces that quickly become uncomfortable for readers and characters alike - though in a good, captivating way. Next, the sort of conclusion!
. 
out of
out of
