Rising Storm #4

Just as OPTIMUS PRIME stands ready to score a decisive victory against STARSCREAM’s army of Decepticons, MEGATRON’s plan becomes clear—and the Autobots are right where he wants them! This essential lead-in to TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON comes to a head, as new characters are introduced… and familiar faces meet their final fate!

Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Rising Storm #4 concludes the movie prequel that will feed into the third Transformers live action movie. The series ends with bang, finishing the story for some characters while providing some initial information for new characters.

As Rising Storm #3 ends, the battle between Optimus Prime and the Autobots versus the Decepticons over possession of Brains continues. Elita-One races back to from upstate New York to warn Optimus Prime of the Decepticons’ true mission, while Shockwave launches a surprise and deadly attack on Diego Garcia. As Issue #4 begins, the action continues in Philadelphia and upstate New York.

John Barber pulls out a non-stop action packed issue. Explosions and carnage start on Page 1 and don’t let up until Page 21. By writing both prequel stories, Foundation and Rising Storm, Barber has successfully ported storylines from the “historical” Foundation story arc to the “present” Rising Storm arc. Of particular mention is that of the motorcycle sisters: Arcee, Chromia, and Elita-1. The absence of such characters such as the sisters and other characters from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen who are not necessarily featured in the Transformers: Dark of the Moon is explained, along with the fate of those characters which were never featured in the live-action movies. Barber also introduces many of the new characters to be introduced in the movie, such as Wheeljack, Mirage, Brains, Shockwave, and more. Barber also concludes with a sense of despair. While the outcome of the battle goes as expected, the winning forces have been fractured.

Carlos Magno concludes his work on art for the entire Rising Storm mini-series. Carlos’ robots, as always, are very detailed. Because of the amount of action and explosions in this issue, each panel almost seemed like art overload. Additionally, Barber’s writing was intriguing enough that I found myself heavily involved in the story and not lingering on looking through the art.

Rising Storm #4 is slightly atypical for that of an IDW mini-series. At the end of the mini-series, there is serious doubt from the winning side. While the ending does provide for a satisfying wrap-up, it does also make the reader worry for the future of our heroes. Given that previews of Transformers: Dark of the Moon show a dark time ahead for the Autobots, Rising Storm #4 does its job as a lead-in.

Overall Rating: 3.5