As Starscream faces down the encroaching machinations of Elita One, he enlists Blast Off to help him bring Bruticus back!
Writing
What makes a character more than simply a product? Usually it is when they are given a history, problems to overcome, and a personality of their own. With Transformers comics, most of the success with the stories the books have told come from giving these individuals much more depth than they ever experienced before. This issue expands on a member of the Combaticons and finds a way to keep the reader engrossed through the entire process.
As the description says, Starscream offers Blast Off a deal he cannot pass up. With the help of Airachnid (finally introduced into the comic series from the Transformer: Prime cartoon, who steals the show with her skills), Starscream paints a reality Blast Off has always wanted and can have. All Blast Off has to do is agree to Starscream’s terms. What plays out is a smart and trippy ride through a character’s hopes and dreams which becomes captivating with each turn of the page. Writer Mairghread Scott finds a way to hook the reader and truly get them invested.
Artwork
The art team of Sara Pitre-Durocher on art and Joana Lafuente on colors yields a truly visually pleasing issue. The character designs are solid with great moments of expressive art when certain individuals are being vulnerable or affectionate. The pair are ideal for every issue of Transformers from here on which focuses on character development or when the robots need to appear helpless or an emotional low.
Conclusion
Great bits of character intrigue, development, and subtle world building as Starscream works to keep his world from falling into pieces all expressed through fantastic art. This new side of Blast Off will also have a lot of fans curious how events unfold in the future. This book succeeds in showing the fascinating life of the Cybertron side of the Transformers universe. More issues of the series should strive to hit this level of performance.
