Hanging by Many Threads
(Spoiler free-ish)
SynopsisPrison Break! After a daring escape, Optimus Prime, the Autobots, Scarlett, G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. must venture into the heart of Cybertron to stop Cobra’s devastating weapon that will kill every Transformer on the planet!
the weapon is deadpan banter, obvsMairghread Scott and David Rodriguez are working hard, there is no doubt about that, with several casts from books they have handled, and even more that they haven't. I have given the books so far a lot of grief too, for the approach to certain storylines and backstories, and I feel that having scheduled readings on time may have assuaged some of those grievances, too.
Arcee gets itWhich leads me to this: after having finally read the conclusion to
Revolutionaries - which in one way or another was the direct lead, next to Optimus Prime (the others were much minor, all things considered) into First Strike - I can appreciate a lot more than in previous issues the various levels of parallels drawn for Baron Ironblood with the other unlikeable DAD in the series, Optimus himself. Plus, I can see a lot more of the humour in the overall script.
This is good jokeThe very big cast was a lot more noticeable this time, but it didn't really put me off (Colton aside) - and it's really quite good to read and see some more flesh being added to Kreiger in the back-up story by John Barber, continuing the Iron axel of evil set-up alongside present events. He was still the one missing a lot of actual characterisation, other than Shazraella's quips, and we finally have some better looks at what he's doing and why he might be doing it.
#relationshipgoalsThe plot armour, as other members of staff have called, around Scarlett is at the point of doing my head in; that I actually really want to know what on earth (/Cybertron?) is wrong with Baron Iron Cotton, and why he decided that the best way to solve his issues with aliens is to adopt standard conservative foreign policy. But with just one issue to go? I hope - and I like to believe that - Scott and Rodriguez are up to the challenge.
ArtThe overall art direction for the issue, with Max Dunbar and Ander Zarate taking lines and colours, is the best that I've seen in the crossover so far, and the most consistent in both organic and technorganic designs, and there's a lot of really well brought out visual gags - but I'm still really not convinced about the compatibility of John Wycough inks on Dunbar's lines: they flatten a bit too much, and scenes lose a lot of their impact, even with Zarate's efforts on consistency.
See, I wanted to fully enjoy this a lot moreMuch like my comments for the script, the back story on the backstory of Baron Ironblood's vault of villains is really quite pleasing from a visual perspective too: Netho Diaz, Walden Wong, and David Garcia Cruz do some good work on bringing the odd shiny darkness of Kreiger and his - probably worst of the lot, with Mayhem - tendencies towards whatever he's tending towards.
That Herr Half-Man to youGilberto Lazcano takes the lettering side, and there are some notable placements of speechbubbles to allow the script to shine through - especially with character interaction and comedic timings - and it's good to see some fun in the fontwork too, during louder scenes. The cover used for the thumbnail is one of two coloured by Thomas Teyowisonte Deer, with lineart by Whilce Portacio and the most TF-free of the lot - you can find all of the other variants in our Database entry for the issue, right
here, including the excellent Jay Fosgitt one.
ThoughtsSpoilerish aheadI've said this a lot already, but let me reiterate: I couldn't help but enjoy the story a lot more in this issue after my grievances with last time's, and with Revolutionaries #8 finally sedimenting - for me - some of the parallels being drawn that felt very out of nowhere until now. It's a shame when good writing gets hindered by logistics, and it's something IDW needs to find a way of addressing soon, for the sake of their creators as well as their readers.
*coff*With an event and a cast this big (the two are very much related) there's bound to be some seeming inconsistencies or sidelining of characters - Windblade is perhaps the most erratic here - and some cameos that may come across as not ..the most apt - you'll see it directly when you read the book - and I'm still not entirely sold on the main threads running through First Strike. But, if nothing else, I do want to know what has happened, and how it will be resolved. I really, really do.
I don't follow this series normally but I wish I knew what's going on on that cover. Prime doesn't look so good himself.
