Little Victories
(Spoiler free-ish)
SynopsisMORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: THE MOVIE! When the Autobots set off on their mission to find the Knights of Cybertron, RODIMUS gave REWIND a simple instruction: film everything. The result is a documentary that will forever change your perception of life on board the Lost Light. Discover RUNG’s secret! Meet the greatest Autobot of all time! And learn what SKIDS really got up to on Hedonia!
Remember him? Remember?!We were told by the solicits and various interviews with James Roberts that this would be a breather issue, an actual 'filler' comic (for those of you who love throwing the word about), and it definitely does do that. But it does a little more too, both in terms of looking back, fleshing out and dropping some hints at what Dark Cybertron might bring.
JUST OPEN THE DAMN BRIEFCASERoberts has plenty of time and space in this issue to work his humour and dialogue, without falling into the tonal discordances that occur during big emotional moments or fight scenes. Setting the story mostly during downtimes allows him to just play around with characters and episodes we've seen so far. And the individual panels format really brings out the more idiosyncratic lines by the Lost Light crew.
UnvincibleBut, as I said, there's a little more to that. We're introduced to an (apparently) even more advanced and belligerous mechanical civilisation, the Ammonites and the Terradores, which seem to be multiple combiners of adorable little minicon-sized robots. Or are they? Are they hiding anything? Is there.. more than meets the eye?
Yep, we'll definitely see ultra-binersThe issue overall is definitely a recap and a pause, but there are two moments that make it fit even better in the path to Dark Cybertron. The Thunderclash episode and the Hedonia expanded story were actually blended together fairly well, while still having the 'these are just two things that happened' feeling about them. And find out Rung's altmode.
ArtAs mentioned, teased and prodded at for quite a while now, this issue marks the return of James Raiz on artwork duties, and it's definitely different from Milne or Roche's approach. Raiz has a darker, heavier touch to his lines, while still not losing in details. Some readers will complain, but I personally like the different style.
So was I, Cyclonus, so was IJosh Burcham works quite nicely with Raiz's darker style, bringing a light touch and a touch of light to the heavier lines in the pencils and inks. He works particularly well with the different camera perspectives, shifting tones slightly for the Rewind vs Lost Light security camera shots.
Red Alert's presence/paranoia is *everywhere*The lettering doesn't have to do too much in the issue, but Tom B. Long still has some nice moments, in the style I've come to expect from him. All in all, I like the different texture of the artistic side of the issue, and don't think it detracts anything from the story or its details.
ThoughtsSpoilerish aheadAs I mentioned above, we get to delve a little into the life of some of the major cast members of the Lost Light, expanding on some episodes, almost answering a couple of questions and preparing the stage even if very briefly, for what is ahead. And Rung's altmode. And be prepared for some really, really silly humour.
And self-deprecation?The art might not appeal to all readers used to the Milne or Roche approaches, but I would still suggest considering it as how Rewind sees the world through his camera - Raiz does a great job in picking up on the artistic qualities of the entire run, and reproduces them perfectly, in his own style.
A final comment, though, to this final issue of what Roberts calls Season 1 of MTMTE. I can't shake off the feeling that this and the prose extract from #21 could have somehow been shrunk together, allowing for some more light on the Tyrest situation. In any case, it's a good issue, and one I think we'll need once we lose cast members (as Roberts has, as per usual, teased).
