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First Strike Issue 6 Comic Book Review

The sixth and final issue of “First Strike” wraps-up the Hasbro/IDW mini-series.

In the climactic sixth and final issue of this mini-series event, everything comes to a head. Scarlett and her allies finally come face to face with Baron Ironblood and his evil allies. But wait, there’s more! Not only do the bots fighting for Cybertron show up, but one of the villains looks to carry out his own plan which may have devastating consequences.

After 5 issues of lead-up, build-up, and endless exposition, do writers Mairghread Scott and David A. Rodriguez conclude this Hasbro crossover series in a satisfactory manner? Yes and no. Story wise, you get battles, the much hyped confrontation between Scarlett and Baron Ironblood (I refuse to say who this is for anyone who has yet to read a single issue), and a conclusion to this arc. Once the end rolls around, however, it all feels a bit underwhelming. The fact that INSERT VILLAIN HERE becomes a major focus out of virtually nowhere is rather baffling in the context of the entire series. It feels rushed, tacked on, and it all wraps up way too quickly. Why not have more of a lead-up to this villain’s plan and the impact that it has? It’s barely touched upon here.

Art wise, Max Dunbar closes the series out with more riveting action and character depictions. The action set pieces really give you a sense of scale. They’re very big and exciting. It should be noted that Dunbar is not the only artist here this time. James Raiz does the last 4 pages for the Cybertron centric “Coda: The Signal” epilogue. It’s a very different style that is hard to judge with such a small sample. It’s definitely more of a rougher hand drawn style that isn’t as flashy.

Note: This comic also includes an IDW cover art gallery, Hasbro/IDW Comic ads and a First Strike checklist.

November 6, 2017 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Book review | First Strike Issue 6 Comic Book Review, GI Joe, Hasbro, IDW, Transformers