The current storyline is wrapped up as Arcee tries to save Sideswipe, the humans try not to be completely useless, and millions of years in the past Optimus and Prowl try to win a battle even if it means giving up what they stand for. Or do they? See below for preview pages and a review of Optimus Prime #6.
(The most minor of spoilers below.)
First of all I’d like to say that anything with Soundwave and his tapes is going to get my vote, especially if it’s Rumble and Frenzy. When they see Arcee trying to get the positron core to save Sideswipe and she yells at them to do something, they respond exactly the way I’d want them to.
“Uh, no offense, but who cares?”
“Yeah, that sounds like the definition of somebody else’s problem.”
(Imagine them saying it in the voices from the ’86 movie, and all’s right with the world.)
Kei Zama’s art, with Josh Burcham’s colors, continues to be very interesting, with half-tone dots (though just a suggestion of them, not enough to be distracting) a slight yellowing in the whites, blocky shapes, and hard slashed lines in the shading, it’s still channelling an early 80s style, just done way better than what you actually saw back in the day. I’ve said it before, I love the over-saturation in the dark areas, like what newsprint does when it soaks up all that ink. That’s a really nice touch.
For the story, we get a lot of action, both in the past and present (and a little insight into both Optimus and Prowl) and a good wrap-up to this arc. It has a bit of a message in the end, but not a terribly stomp-it-to-death “HERE’S THE MESSAGE” kind of message. It’s pointed, but not overdone.
And for all its intentionally overblown, 80s action dramatics, there’s a surprisingly nice panel with Arcee, that’s echoed two panels later by Rum-Maj, that was powerful in a quiet kind of way I didn’t think a book like this could reach. It was very nicely done.
Also (*fangirl SQUEE*) I knew the Retailer Incentive variant cover looked familiar, it’s done by one of my favorite artists, Jin Yung Kim, go stalk him on instagram and deviantart and throw money at him if you see him at conventions, he’s amazing.
