IDW Publishing 2016
Written by Christos Gage & Chris Ryall
Penciled & Coloured by David Messina
Inked by Michele Pasta
Colour Assists by Alessandra Alexakis
Lettered by Chris Mowry
Far, far away, in another galaxy, the knights of the Solstar Order, defenders of justice and truth, have been ambushed by the evil magicians, the Dire Wraiths. The Solstar Order hasprevailed and is now seeking out their scattered enemies.One of these knights has followed the trail of the Dire Wraiths all the way to Earth. Thisone, the Dire Wraiths fear more than all others. This one has hounded them and kept them underground for centuries. This one alone could wipe them off the face of creation.
I’m one of those people who love a story, I like to be drawn in by the words that are formed to create situations and lead to action. So for me the build-up here has been well done. What Christos and Chris are doing by going the slow and steady wins the race route is setting up how ROM and his growing group of allies are going to be effective in a world where the Wraith have effectively infiltrated so many aspects of power. While going in guns blazing would be nice it’s not practical when you consider that he wants to save human life not blatantly destroy it no matter what social media may think.
This series has been gearing up for the Revolution since issue one with the appearance of G.I. Joe members now this issue the wraith discuss their ongoing ability to have lived while avoiding contact with the Cybertronians. So far this series has been excellent in cementing the world they all share.
David does some wonderful work on the interiors here. I love his eye for storytelling and the way he uses page layouts, angles, perspective and backgrounds to flesh out the story. The characters each have their own unique look and you can read emotions on them, well not ROM he’s got that armor and those glowing eyes and even then the placement of those eyes with that colouring does provide his emotion. I like the way the Wraith look it’s creepy and odd yet has this familiar kind of blend of those aliens that are commonly depicted mixed with insects to make them creepy but also accessible.
I like that Camilla and Darby finally get to meet and while the initial confrontation is a bit rocky it’s not unexpected. ROM’s observation that we like to jump to mistrust aside Darby has been through an awful lot lately and trusting isn’t high on her list of things to do anymore. I like the plan they’ve come up with here using the classic Trojan Horse routine. Also this issue is where Rom asks Camilla to use her connection to learn who among the earth’s military are wraith he needs to eliminate. Hence leading into his own Revolution issue and then the first issue of the limited series.
No one seems to take time to smell the roses anymore, we’re in too much of a rush and have become accustomed to instant gratification so that this one bucks those trends is for me a huge draw. I like the way things are progressing and that there’s still action amid all the storytelling and characterisation. This is a smart and intelligent series that moves at the pace it’s supposed to.