Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4 review: Starscream schemes
By Alex Widen
A double dose of Rom battling fellow Hasbro franchises! Yet will Starscream scheme everyone into oblivion?
Rom vs. Transformers: Shining Armor #4
Writers: John Barber & Christos Gage
Artist: Alex Milne
Colorist: Josh Perez
More from Comics
- X-Men: 6 reasons why Marvel’s mutants are the best superhero team
- Harley Quinn renewed for a fifth season on Max (and it’s well-deserved)
- Marvel Comics announces seven important X-Men comic books
- The X-Men were betrayed by Captain America in Uncanny Avengers
- Spider-Man: Miles and Peter team-up for their first ongoing series
While the title embraces a battle of franchises, the true conflict within is against prejudice. The writers are using a tale of two Hasbro franchises meeting as an opportunity to tell a tale about the dangers of ignorance and bigotry. Yet it still is a story about dueling robots, and the spit really hits the fan in this issue! The endlessly stoic Ultra Magnus proves to be the biggest victim of the latest scheme by Starscream to once again obtain more Energon for the Decepticon empire.
Image by IDW Publishing
Unlike Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus comes close to embodying the stereotype some have of Cybertronians. He cares more about the wider range campaign against the Decepticons as well as obeying regulations than he does about casualties. Yet Ultra Magnus begins this issue performing a sacrifice. In order to give Bumblee and Sata enough time to obtain the latest MacGuffin, he is willing to make a last stand. Both Vekktral and Starscream are willing to exploit his doomed nobility!
Image by IDW Publishing
Behold, the Chaos That Intolerance Brings!
The irony is while the Dire Wraiths and Decepticons have eked out a temporary alliance for mutual goals, the Space Knights and Transformers are having difficulty. Sata sees Bumblebee’s abandonment of Ultra Magnus as a violation of the Solstar Order code and yet more proof of ugly Cybertronian stereotypes. The belief is that they’re soulless killing machines who care only for war. Since Bumblebee is facing the possibility of his friend sacrificing himself, this hits his last nerve!
Image by IDW Publishing
Elsewhere, Rom’s battle is devolving into chaos. He and Livia are hopelessly pinned down by a horde of Dire Wraiths teamed up with Decepticon fliers like Thrust and Ramjet. Meanwhile, Starscream continues with his negotiation with Stardrive, who finds herself massively confused. Until today, all she knew about herself were the stereotypes the Solstar Order told of Cybertron. Now she is face to face with Starscream who endlessly seeks to scheme and manipulate others.
Image by IDW Publishing
Twisting her desire to save the citizens of Xetaxxis as well as exploiting her feelings of isolation, Starscream weaves quite a tale. The idea of a Transformer raised elsewhere baring the powers of a Space Knight attracts his curiosity. Starscream seems like he will agree to her terms — leave with the Energon converter and allow Xetaxxis to survive in peace. Yet he ups the ante by suggesting that Stardrive join the Decepticons, claiming the Dire Wraiths have tricked them all.
Image by IDW Publishing
Can’t We All Just Get Along?
While Starscream is lying in this instance, he turns out to be truer than he knows. Vekktral is less interested in aiding the Decepticons as he is of mastering the process of possessing Cybertronians. What began as yet another campaign against the Space Knights has led to an accidental discovery of power. While one of his minions proved unable to control the possession of a random Autobot, Vekktral seeks to pit his superior mystical talents into possessing a mightier one!
Image by IDW Publishing
Before Stardrive can complete her bargain, and debate, with Starscream, Rom and Livia intervene. This leads to the unraveling of all her grievances. Livia’s stern insistence on destroying planets at the first hint of a Wraith infestation shows to Stardrive that she’s just as bloodthirsty as the Knights claim the Transformers are. Having been belittled and spoken to with prejudice her whole life, Stardrive attacks Livia and seeks to abandon the Space Knights once and for all!
Image by IDW Publishing
Bumblebee witnesses the chaos and assumes that Stardrive has been possessed by a Dire Wraith. Much like her, the chaos around Bumblebee is frustrating him. Knowing that Ultra Magnus has likely sacrificed his life, he refuses for that to have been in vain. For a brief moment everyone is fighting, as Starscream and his Decepticons seek to exploit this once again. He prefers to fight smarter, rather than harder, waiting for his enemies to batter themselves to bits for him.
Image by IDW Publishing
Starscream Really Is at His Best Here!
Yet when Rom, Stardrive, and the rest reach an understanding, Stardrive is disgusted. Unfortunately for him, the mad schemer fails to see that he’s been caught in a deadly web until it is too late. When it seems like Ultra Magnus has returned, it turns out to be Vekktral, having possessed the massive Transformer. Starscream sees a powerful ally as well as being in reach of the final solution to the civil war of Cybertron. Yet all Vekktral sees is a partner he no longer needs!
Image by IDW Publishing
Much like in previous issues, Christos Gage and John Barber due a great job of balancing the commentary with the action. Stardrive feels what many minorities feel having finally learned some truths about themselves and the society that raised them. Her anger and sense of betrayal and alienation are real, and raw. So too is Rom’s genuine sense of ignorance and misunderstanding. In between all this, of course, is a space opera with giant robots, monsters, and a lot of fighting!
Image by IDW Publishing
As great as the pathos with Stardrive has been, Gage and Barber are also having a ball with Starscream. Without Megatron to play against, he really comes off as a capable second-in-command of the Decepticons. What he lacks in raw power, he makes up for in cunning and sleazy manipulation. Despite all of his tempting words, he sees Stardrive as more of a novelty than the Space Knights did. He’s eager to betray everyone at the drop of a hat, even his own henchmen!
Image by IDW Publishing
Now for a Bonus Review, Rom: First Strike!
Alex Milne and Josh Perez knock another issue out of the park on art. The pair excel at action, and this comic has tons of it. Yet their greatest work may be on Vekktral’s merged form with Ultra Magnus. Dub it “Ultra Vekktral” if you must, but it is about thirty feet of horrifying tentacle robot monster! It makes Venom look like a cuddly pet! More importantly, Vekktral has come off as an utterly ruthless and merciless villain, even more so than Starscream. Never underestimate him!
Image by IDW Publishing
This wasn’t the only Rom comic that came out last week! As part of yet another crossover among IDW’s Hasbro licenses, Rom got another one-shot. Called Rom: First Strike, it is also written by Gage and features art by Chris Panda and David Garcia Cruz. It is the middle chapter of a longer arc, yet it doesn’t need to be read alongside anything else for a capable story to be had. It kicks off right in the midst of the action as Rom is taking on another mechanical franchise, the Micronauts!
Image by IDW Publishing
Much like the Transformers and Rom himself, the Micronauts started out as a toy whose image was licensed out to Marvel Comics. The Mego toy line was defunct as of 1980, yet the comic endured much longer. It featured a cast of characters from another universe where they may have been full size, but in the realm of Earth they were only 6 inches high! Talk about size being relative! The drama usually revolved around the titular Micronauts trying to stop their enemy, Baron Karza.
Image by IDW Publishing
Can the Micronauts Measure up to the Transformers?
This one-shot is similar to Shining Armor, yet with a simpler plot without the nuance. Rom has been tricked into fighting the Micronauts since he thinks they’re connected to the Dire Wraiths. It turns out they’ve run into his enemy D’rge, who has covered them in his “taint.” Once the misunderstanding is resolved, the heroes unite to stop D’rge’s quest to spread the wrath of the Dire Wraiths by developing an airborne virus that allows the possession to be faster and deadlier!
Image by IDW Publishing
Next: Stardrive faces the decision of her life in #3!
This one-shot is both a crossover installment and a prelude. Coming next month is Rom & the Micronauts, which will serve to merge both of their titles since Rom only has one issue left. It is debatable whether the decision to link all of the Hasbro licensed comics has helped or hindered most of them. While the First Strike one shot is simplistic fun, Shining Armor is the real deal. By adding depth to what could have been a popcorn tale, it’s shining brighter than many would expect.