IDW Publishing 2018
Written by John Barber & Mike Johnson
Illustrated by Jack Lawrence
Coloured by Josh Burcham
Lettered by Christa Miesner
Klingons and Decepticons lay siege to a remote Federation dilithium mine—and the only thing holding them back is the shaky alliance of Captain Kirk and Optimus Prime. But what dark secret is buried beneath the ground… and can this uneasy partnership withstand the revelations?
I don’t know about you all but this is the most fun you can have with a comic book right on part with the Scooby-Doo Team-Up book in my opinion. There is just something inherently fun and interesting in seeing James Tiberius Kirk hanging out with Autobots as there isn’t a female that he can sleep with but he still possesses that wonderful air of arrogance about him nonetheless. Oh so yes the characterisation by the boys here is utterly sensational, I will go out on a limb and say that the Transformers is on point as well under John’s guidance. The way that all of these characters come across is so well done that it’s a pure joy to see them come to life here.
The way that this book is structured is fantastic. I do like the “real-time” storytelling that is happening here because the way the pacing is done and how we see all of these characters are acting and behaving as if they would in an episode of either the cartoons or the television shows. Also the progression is so natural and how the characters act and behave as the story moves forward with it’s reveals, revelations and those joyful surprises yeah it’s so well done.
With Optimus Prime still not in great condition and Kirk and the others down below it’s time for the Decepticons and the Klingons to strike. Isn’t this the way things happen in these circumstances regardless this is over the top spectacular. I love the things we see in the story, the little and big surprises that come along and lets be honest it needed this. The boys have amped up this whole lot considering where we were last issue and that it could be taken to new heights like this was one thing I couldn’t have predicted. I was beyond thrilled with all that we see in this issue and to get me even more excited for this book while not necessary was brilliantly done.
The interiors here are still something I love seeing. The way that the work resembles that cel quality of past cartoons is spectacular. It actually makes me want to hang one on my wall because yeah I have few Superfriends ones as there’s plenty of room. Also the creativity and imagination here is just wow to see what we do here and I can’t spoil it for anyone but hot diggity damn! The utilisation of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels demonstrates a nice eye for storytelling. The whole way the pages and panels are used and coloured really do make this pop and ultimately are responsible for the whole mood, tone and feel of the book and they do it prefectly.
That this continues to exceed any and all expectations with each issue shows how you can keep building a story till it hits it’s climax and then eases down to the aftermath. This has all the thrill that a roller-coaster does that build-up as we go higher and higher cresting the peak and whipping around in circles, over hills and through tunnels and we haven’t even gotten to the big drop yet. This is what comic should be, pure unadulterated fun regardless of age or gender this a true stellar all-ages book that should be in everyone’s personal library.