iTunes Preview for IDW Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4

That was a good three pages. Hopefully this and issue 5 keep up the pace, took a little longer to get here than I'd have preferred but again, promising start to 4!

Our final IDW Publishing comic book preview for now features the penultimate chapter in the mini-series set in the past from both Rom's world and the Transformers - as Stardrive's story continues, and Ultra Magnus deals with some stuff right about now. Check it out, and head back here after its release for a review!

Rom Vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4
John Barber & Christos Gage (w) • Alex Milne (a & c)
Stardrive is torn between joining her fellow Transformers and staying with Rom and his knights… and the fate of an innocent world rests in her choice!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
An all-star lineup of Christos Gage (Rom), John Barber (Optimus Prime), and Alex Milne (More Than Meets the Eye) tell the never-before-revealed secret history of Rom and the Transformers!

Synopsis

Stardrive is torn between joining her fellow Transformers and staying with Rom and his knights… and the fate of an innocent world rests in her choice!

Story

Here we are, issue 4 of 5, the leadup to the grand finale, the final chance to brace ourselves for the great conclusion. And let me tell you: the issue is spectacular in so many ways. Barber and Gage have done their job in an awesome way.



Let's get this out of the way straight out of the gate: this story is strange and weird, spectacularly so, and would not fit anywhere else but in the pages of a crossover from 200 years ago. The very concepts tackled over the course of the story, dealing with possession, wraith magic, and techno-organic fusions are very unique, and really only have 1 chance to be done right. And in this series, they are all done right. They are done in never before seen ways that really do capture your attention and make you want to see more (go to page 15's King Kong scene followed by the 16/17 shot to truly understand why this statement is so).



Outside of the absolute uniqueness of the story and the concepts, we have some fairly good characters to go with things. Character building, as was said in the previous reviews, is nothing to really be concerned about, seeing as how all characters involved already have good characterization already set up, or we won't really need to worry about what kind of characters they are for long. I liked how Magnus was used for the brief narration moments, how deliciously manipulative Starscream is, and how the character's voices work with each other, drowning out the more boring ones and providing a good overall balance.

So, good established characters, decent new characters, bizarre concepts and magics, and you have Shining Armor!

Art

Art duties are covered by the famous team of Alex Milne and Josh Perez, and while the story has been pretty good, save for some him-hawing around in issue 2, the art has not wavered from the amazing spectacle that it is. The characters, the backgrounds, and the spectacle that is the weirdness and outlandish of Shining Armor all shine through with Milne and Perez. The lines are great, the designs are good, the expressions are juicy, and the coloring works better this issue, with the nighttime better fitting the cold atmosphere described and the rising sun allowing the curtain to rise on the final sprint to the finish of the series a great scene.



Shawn Lee covers the lettering in this issue, and while there is nothing really spectacular to write home about, there are no faults in the lettering. The speech bubbles don't inhibit the visuals in any way, and the standard knight/cybertronian speeches collected with the wraith bubbles are a nice balance.



Final Thoughts



This series has proven to be one of the best crossovers the shared universe has had so far, and I would go so far as to say it is the best, but Kup and Action Man over in Revolutionaries makes that a bit difficult. The story is a good one, even if the main new character, Stardrive, is a bit predictable. The Wraiths and the Decepticons are great in this story though, and the art is fantastic, perfectly capturing how unique this series is. This is an issue I would highly recommend, and I'm hoping issue 5 finishes this off nicely, because it deserves it.

Ooft, I don't like that second cover much. Doesn't fit Bumblebee at all.

Starscream and tentacles. OH BOY!

I find anything involving good starscream writing is a fair story. TAAO and this has been wonderful.

So just a quick PSA for anyone reading this series. If you enjoy this series, you might wanna pick up Optimus Prime #13.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Big Grim wrote:Decided to pick this up on Comixology and admit, I've really enjoyed it. Great art, solid story and Starscream being awesome. Quite like this version of Magnus too.

I'm honestly shocked more people won't read this. It is a great story, and a great crossover!

It's fun seeing Starscream being a smarmy, evil shit again!

Sunstar wrote:I like to see them attempt at seeing how he would fare as a leader.

Oh agreed! I'm loving him as ruler of Cybertron. This is just a nice kick back to his villainy.

Sunstar wrote:Just a side note: is there no quote buttons to quote someone?

@Big Grim: Yep, he's got some lovely characterisation, and sarcasm that goes with his villainy. I love how he manipulates a situation. I love how he gets himself out of a pickle too.

There is, but some of the icons have disappeared in their image form. This is being worked on!