You ever have a feeling, things were going oh-so-well, and disruptions to your plans were dismissed as minor, with the hopes of these issues resolving themselves as long you remain on a path to reaching a goal?
Except you’ve got blinders on, tunnel vision, and a knack for over-stating the obvious to the point where your compatriots are able to finish your sentences?
This is the problem with Optimus Prime. I refer to the character.
For the past several issues, good ol’ boy Optimus Prime resorts to his usual clichéd uplifting speeches and ability to hope for the best, even as his world, literally, burns around him. There is a lot of fire. A lot of it.
A spoiler from Free Comic Book Day is retroactively revealed (IDW and timing don’t see eye-to-eye), and our longtime pariah-slash-Chosen One gets a verbal and emotional smackdown from the already revealed big bad of the arc.
I’m sure if I investigated enough, I would find some plotholes or inconsistencies with the current arc. A guy who was dead, now isn’t dead, never was dead, but went back in time and orchestrated the entire history of Cybertron based on what he knew of the history of Cybertron, and wound up causing all these massive crisis events.
Last issue was chock-full of flashback. It explained everything we need to know. Good, because Issue #17 was a major holy crap moment. Issue #18 explained it. Issue #19 picked up where it left off and the tension continues to mount, as well as how the major antagonist manipulated everything. Kudos to John Barber to who crafted this insane story, and prevented the series from falling into a trap other comic companies fall into. Repetition. There are only so many times readers can accept an issue dedicated to flashbacks or repeated “Hey! This happened off-panel!” moments. Barber and his creative team carefully treaded that water and made sure the story didn’t drown in floods of backstory.
Kei Zama again conveys the dark and sinister tone. It’s amazing, how originally I was not a fan of Zama’s work, but I’ve since been sold.
