IDW Publishing 2016
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Max Dunbar
Coloured by Ander Zarate, Joana LaFuente, John-Paul Bove & Thomas Deer
Lettered by Tom B. Long
In order to escape from the clutches of BARON KARZA, the MICRONAUTS must flee into the storm of destructive energy roiling at the heart of their dying universe! Only one thing is known about the Entropy Cloud—no one who enters it ever returns!
Last issue Oz and company busted out of their cell and found their suits and weapons only to be caught up by Commander Raith who used his sword to impale Oz while in the biosuit. With all the drama going on there let’s not forget about Baron Karza is in the midst of battle himself with Baron Daigon.
There’s a reason both Baron’s wanted Oz, we know he’s a Pharoid but he’s turned away from the practice of his people and is little more than charlatan nowadays. Yes the more we learn about him the more intriguing his past becomes and both Baron’s know there’s still potential locked within him waiting to come out. The only question is how unlock his own body’s hidden secrets so they can use him to their advantage.
We’ve seen that his people are believed to have caused the Entropy Cloud and that as it grows it continues to destroy the microverse. However what if they didn’t cause it? What if the Entropy Cloud was created by outside forces, say by I dunno the Cybertronians or the Wrath as a byproduct of current events on Earth? I could see Cullen doing something like this to bring the Micronauts into contact and continuity with the rest of the Hasbro licensed books in creating that cohesive universe. Now that’s speculation on my part but with the events of this issue it’ll be interesting to see where this goes next with both the series and the Revolution tie-in.
Meanwhile Death isn’t the end of a Pharoid and in this case Oz isn’t going to die. He can’t after all he’s the leader of the Micronauts! So what does happen well for the good juicy details you really do need to read the issue. I will say this I like this turn of events. There’s one thing I can say for sure and it looks like the Baron’s were right about Oz and his potential. He does manage to heal himself and in the process heal the biosuit as well. Now if you remember the biosuit reacts to the thoughts of the wearer and is incapable of independent thought, until whatever power is awaked in Oz that healed both of them infused a part of his personality into the Biosuit.
Max and company, wow a lot of guys helping out on colouring here, do their usual bang up job on the interiors. I am really enjoying the the look, tone and feel of what we see here. These suits and the space opera happening all around us is really well portrayed. The attention to detail is great to see including how the flow of the story through page layouts with the use of angles, perspective and backgrounds come into play.
Cullen really has managed to make this series come to life and not feel like it was ever based on anything but a new original creation. The story, plot advancement and characterisation all combine to become just good old fashioned storytelling. He’s gotten into the lives of these characters in a way that makes them feel like old friends.