Ricky Church reviews Transformers: Beast Wars #11…
After Beast Wars #10 promised a big conflict as Optimus Primal and his Maximals decided to take the fight straight to the Predacons, writer Erik Burnham follows through with an action heavy spectacle as the battle between the two factions escalates throughout the issue. Beast Wars #11 is another great part of the series that balances the action with good character development while raising the stakes with two likely deaths for the Maximals and Predacons.
Burnham doesn’t waste time at all getting to the action as the issue picks up almost immediately from where the previous one left off and pairing Maximals and Predacons in their own personal matches, quite a few of which are grudge matches. There’s Cheetor vs Blackarachnia, Nyx vs Tarantulas and Dinobot vs Megatron that serve as payoffs to each character’s initial encounter from several issues ago. Megatron’s surprise at seeing Dinobot alive after the former Predacon suffered near-fatal injuries in the first story arc. It served as a reminder neither faction has really met each other in battle since then, making this new conflict stand out more now that relationships and vendettas have been further established.
The story is pretty well paced. Everyone is pretty balanced as Burnham shifts between the characters with ease, giving them equal time to shine and raises the stakes with each ‘cliffhanger’ of their battles. Rhinox and Scorponok are just about the only two who don’t have a significant moment to themselves and while there is plenty of action, Burnham doesn’t miss out on the character moments or plot progression. From Rattrap discovering the Golden Disk to Megatron and Dinobot sharing insights about the other. However, the issue’s biggest moments came from Terrorsaur when he killed the newly-introduced Maximal Razorbeast and then was killed by Skold. It was a nice moment for Skold since she’s been terrorized – no pun intended – by Terrorsaur’s constant bullying ever since the first issue and she had enough not because of his bullying, but because he murdered one of the only bots who ever treated her friendly despite being on the opposite side. Whether or not Razorbeast is actually dead since his death wasn’t shown on the page remains to be seen, but it will be interesting where it takes Skold next as the battle rages on.
Josh Burchman once again does a fantastic job with his artwork. The fight scenes are well choreographed and his animated visuals provide a lot of fun energy to the issue. His scene transitions are smooth and the action from panel-to-panel is easy to follow and rather creative, particularly in one instance during Megatron and Dinobot’s fight. His colours are vibrant with the setting sun serving as a very nice backdrop for the battle, one that is consistent with the colours and positioning in each and every panel. It is definitely a great-looking issue from Burcham.
Transformers: Beast Wars #11 certainly ramps up the stakes as each faction lose one of their own in a no-holds-barred fight. Burnham’s script is clear and focused as he balances the action with plenty of satisfying character moments while Burchan’s artwork is detailed from start to finish. With how unafraid Burnham is in already killing off characters – whether it’s permanent or some kind of twist – Beast Wars fans should be very pleased in how the story continues to unfold.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.