The Solstar Knight
(Spoiler free-ish)
SynopsisMeet the universe's only Cybertronian Solstar Knight! Hundreds of years ago, Rom discovered Stardrive, the sole survivor of a doomed space probe. Stardrive committed herself to protecting the galaxy from the Dire Wraiths... but when the Decepticon called Starscream makes a deadly deal, Rom and the Transformers are forced into a collision course... with Stardrive caught between two worlds!
Galact-prick CouncilAn entirely new series, with a different creative approach, and a mix of Transformers and Rom veterans on the writing and art teams, introducing a new character in the middle of a past world and timeline, and the meanest 'diplomats' around - if you were looking at crossovers, and how to do them, this is probably the book you were waiting for.
and pain, sure, why notOne of the major complaints about how IDW Publishing is handling the sudden shared universe, with all of the Hasbro licensed properties, is exactly that: its suddenness. None of the books have had a chance to establish themselves and their stories, or even their own in-worlds, before they were blown up into the wider narratives of
all of the others.
Bear with themThat is not what John Barber and Christos Gage have done here. Starting from the Solstar order itself, with the Wraith Wars alluded to and slightly explained, the Galactic Council working against everyone while wearing silly hats, we get to find so much foundation to the world of Rom and the Knights that we were perhaps still missing from his main series. Plus, plenty of Transformers cameos, of course.
Being general homicidal jer-- hey StarscreamAnd then, of course, we have newcomer Stardrive - a Cybertronian raised to fear her race by the Order, made to become part of the Order though never fully accepted by the others, especially the younger cadets, a new perspective on a story that Transformers fans know a lot about, 4 million years of in fact, and finally ask: was the universe right all along?
ArtAlex Milne is on art, and that will make a lot of readers happy. What particularly please me, however, is the approach to the art, as explained in a recent interview: they work plot first, meaning that Milne has pretty much the entire say on how everything in the book looks, no dialogue is fully pre-planned - and I'll admit, it shows, wonderfully so.
Add to that the Gundam references, tooThe colour side of things is handled by Josh Perez, reunited with Milne linework beyond covers, and the shiny-ness of the Solstar Order is something that suits both of them well - alongside some seriously impressive shifts in tones and hues, juxtaposing Stardrive's childlike innocence with the horrors of the Wraith and Cybertronian Wars.
SHINY AND CH-ROMTom B. Long is clearly also having plenty of fun with the lettering in the book, as plenty of old sound-words return to grace the panels unencumbered by walls of dialogue and squeezed spaces. Enjoy the
The thumnbnailed cover is the variant by David Lafuente and Lovern Kindzierski, spotlighting something that doesn't happen in the story, really, but sets the tone for sure. Plenty more - including Roche/Burcham, Villanelli/Alexakis, Milne/Perez, can be found in our
Comics Database entry!
ThoughtsSpoilerish aheadThe world-building in this book, born out of both visual and writing teams, is fantastic. Truly admirable how starting from a Transformers base allows for so much to create about the wider universe, give us enough to understand Rom and his world without exposition dumps, and viceversa, give Rom fans just enough about Transformers to make Stardrive's situation fully understandable - if a little standard, narrative wise.
..meepThere are puns - Sata and Auxin, above all - and Gundam references, points out
ScottyP; there are allusions to diplomacy, treaties, peace-keeping, and wars; there is more Starscream (basic Starscream, argues
Kurona, but Starscream nonetheless); there are oddles of alien races and designs dotted across the entire issue. It may still be a baby knight on its first mission, much like Auxin, but this mini-series is bound to shine.
