Iron Filings
(Spoiler free-ish)
(Spoiler free-ish)
Synopsis
Cobra Commander vs. Hearts of Steel! Thousands of years ago, a starship crashed on Earth—and the Hearts of Steel Transformers were born… but how can these steampunk Cybertronians be real?! And what does Cobra Commander want with them, when he hasn’t even got Cobra to back him up? The Revolutionaries have uncovered one of the darkest and most incredible secrets on Earth!
But actually also none of that
Story
Keeping with my regular lateness on the non-core Transformers titles from IDW - much like IDW itself really, all things considered - this review of Revolutionaries happens a couple of weeks after the book's release, but still worth having here given the arrival of First Strike and a LOT of references to TF lore so far. Also note: the synopsis is, in fact, for issue 5.
Hey Costa run!
In issue 4, there's more Iron than a gym full of anaemia-battling robots, with an array of GI Joe villains showing up to play the part of 'super evil bad guys' working behind the scenes of everything we've seen so far, and to continue some of the storylines from that book in its more recent IDW incarnation.
Iron.. Who?
But what this issue is also brimming with, is allusions and references to some very early TF stories from IDW runs, including International Incident and the personal issues with Kup after his Spotlight and the Coda to All Hail Megatron, and not just in passing, but woven into the fabric of the story from continuity and dialogue perspectives. In John Barber we still trust.
Art
Fico Ossio returns to bring the more dynamic, if not indeed flexible, and softer lineart for the issue - and the Predacons take on some different guises than previously seen. Overall, however, the action scenes can be followed easily, there isn't too much overcrowding, the panels flow, and the only moment things are a little unclear may also be due to the script.
And this is a Good Panel™
Reuniting the dynamic duo, colourist Sebastian Cheng brings the usual gloss to the lineart, but this time round, I was able to appreciate the shading and different use of lighting in some of the panel compositions, thanks to the fire theme brought on by the highly theatrical villains of the week month, too.
Toasty
Instead of the usual caption devices, we have a slight twist to how it's employed allowing Tom B. Long to make the most of it and the multiple soundwords spread across the book during the numerous fights. As for the covers, I have highlighted, in the thumbnail, the Tone Rodriguez and Thomas Teyowisonte Deer variant; all others are easily accessible via our database page (along with full character roster too, here),
Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead
Despite the healthy dose of exposition - and believe me, a lot of it in this issue - the pacing worked well, and all the recapping that takes place actually covers up some holes in various storylines, from Cobra to the Predacons, and follows up on previous characterisations of a number of characters with tact and precision, really.
Movie cameo! Oh, Barber..
This is also probably the clearest the visuals have been in a while, with Ossio and Cheng working together nicely on layouts within the panels too, and reinforcing the feeling that Revolution was indeed too early for its times and the books involved. Plus, Predaking looks great. Different, sure, but good. And as always - the book has humour. Like, actually funny moments. Do not underestimate this part.
. 
out of
out of
