Kong: Wraith Island
A Seibertron.com review of IDW ROM vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4
A Seibertron.com review of IDW ROM vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4
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!
My actual face come page 16
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.
Oh, it really has been
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).
He's just jealous he's not getting all the praise
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.
Like I said, expressions
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.
The face you will make by the end of the issue
Final Thoughts
I laughed at this. Had to include it
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.
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