“We should’ve known. Being happy: always a sign that somebody was about to die.”
—From Knight Quest: The Quest for the Knights, by Swerve of Helex.
I keep waiting for James Roberts and Alex Milne to create an issue that really lets me down, a story I just don’t care for. Sure didn’t happen this time. Click the jump for a review of IDW’s More Than Meets The Eye #42.
When you get right down to it, this issue is a “Monster Of The Week” story. Last issue the crew of the Lost Light and their new Camien friends were having a “pre-wake” for Thunderclash: a party for an amazing, heroic, charismatic bot who’s on his way out. But Nightbeat and Getaway stumble across a barnacle-like substance that’s only visible in the light of Nautica’s wrench, a substance that suddenly attacks.
I know, it sounds a liiiittle weird, but it really works.
The rest of the current issue bounces between Nautica and Skids as they cut up the dance floor, and the rest of the crew as they run from the barnacle creatures while trying to figure out what the heck they are.
James Roberts has said he likes to “drip feed” bits and pieces of Cybertronian culture and history into his stories, and this book is a great example of that: Nautica talks for a while about being best friends (Amica Endura, a relationship that’s declared a lot more formally on Caminus than on Cybertron, or on Earth for that matter) with someone she doesn’t actually like that much. Not only is it a glimpse into the private lives of our favorite Cybertronians, it’s also a lovely statement about being friends with someone just because you don’t value yourself enough to hang around with someone who makes you feel good about yourself.
In between the dialog we get chase scenes, battles, narrow escapes, and quippy remarks: everything we’ve come to expect from Roberts and Milne.
The resolution of the story is hilarious, and the ending of the book just made me want to jump up and down with how great it was.
I’d go on and on about Alex Milne’s artwork, but if I start I’ll never stop. The detail in his work is fantastically complex, but I never had trouble seeing what was going on. He pairs strong lines with dynamic action shots, and it’s just gorgeous. I have to give a lot of credit to Joana Lafuente on the colors too, she complements his artwork excellently. The only thing I liked as much as their work was the Retailer Incentive cover by Naoto Tsushima, who’s work on variant covers is quickly becoming an obsession of mine.
All in all I kind of feel like I’m getting boring with my reviews of More Than Meets The Eye; I can never find something I dislike. It’s probably getting tedious, my raving about how awesome it always is. I’m almost sorry about that. Except not really.
Written by: James Roberts
Art by: Alex Milne
Colors by: Joana Lafuente
Regular cover by: Alex Milne and Josh Perez
Subscription cover by: Nick Roche Josh Burcham
Convention cover by: Sara Pitre-Durocher
Retailer Incentive cover by: Naoto Tsushima and Yamaishi