Hey folks, Crooker here, back again with a review for Skybound’s Void Rivals #23, by Robert Kirkman and Connor Hughes. Big turning point in this issue, so I’ll just jump into talking about it.
Trouble on the Sacred Ring once again, it would seem! Indeed, as one may have been able to deduce with how Kirkman’s been writing the past few issues, there’s perhaps more to things than… meets the eye. Ha. Anyway, there’s discontent, and the plan of grouping everybody together and hoping everything goes well didn’t pan out quite so smoothly. Now one faction is for unity, the other against, and our titular Rivals of the Void now caught in the middle of it all. I like this as a justification to keep the factional conflict going in a way that makes sense, as one may very easily begin to wonder why they don’t get along if they have the same goals. Something poignant in that, in a sense. Regardless, it’s a satisfyingly frustrating result, and just the sliiiiightest tease at the oft-mentioned threat of Goliant. Feels kind of like the end of a season of TV, if I were to find a comparison. Also, SKUXXOID! AND WHEELIE! WOO! YEAH!
Oh, not a Wheelie fan? Maybe sit back and try the best you can. Hopefully you’ll be saved by a little embracing of whimsy, but hey, who am I to judge, I hardly ever even watched Disney. But before you get frustrated by the little orange rhymer, just try to remember, it’s okay to make peace, not ’86 anymore, ol’ timer! Wheelie’s fun, when he has that choice, and just be glad… you won’t have to hear that pitchy voice.
Okay, indulgence over. I’m a writer, okay? We love a good rhyme.
DC
I’m continuing to love Hughes’ work on this book. I love his expressions and the very fluid way he depicts characters, with an almost looseness of form and motion that feels like that perfect blend of cartoony and anime-inspired. The perfect kind of art style for a book with this tone, I’m still really vibing with it hardcore.
So, that’s another issue of Void Rivals in the can. It’s still a very good book, I think, but I will say it’s not the easiest thing to find things to talk about on an issue-to-issue basis, it’s very “in the long run” kind of writing. Mind you, I tend to prefer books that way, but man is it agonizing when you have to hold back your thoughts on something because there isn’t a complete enough picture yet for you to know what you really think. This also happens to be the last Void Rivals issue that’ll come out before Kirkman also takes over for Transformers, so I’m curious to see if he brings that same approach there, and what else he may take with him (Hot Rod Hot Rod Hot Rod Hot Rod, please please please please). Kirkman plotting may seem like an agonizing pace issue to issue, but frankly, we don’t have many comics intending to play the long game these days, so there is something to appreciate about it.
Void Rivals #23 is another consistent entry in this title’s ongoing story, but I do hope that sooner rather than later we can get an actual couple moments alone with our two lead characters again and have more time for them to bounce off each other. They have a very good Star Warsian chemistry that I really enjoyed in the early issues, and the full body leap into Transformers Lore Stuff has sort of been taking greater centre stage. Mind you, I can’t say I don’t love that, I am such a sucker for space stuff. I want to know a little bit more about this world, and this cosmology, since I’m one of THOSE kinds of nerds. Gimme more of that, Robert!
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