Broken Frontier

Do you remember when the New Avengers liked each other? It was great. This story takes place then! And it has Transformers! Sa-weet!

Symkaria and Latveria are on the brink of a nuclear war. Clearly it must be Dr. Doom’s fault. So the New Avengers are called in to put a stop to Doom’s nefarious scheme. That’s right, the now classic line up of Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Wolverine, and Captain America show up. But hey, waittaminute!? Doom isn’t doing anything. Why is everybody so angry? And what’s with the talking cars? Oh snap!! The New Avengers and the Transformers meet for the first time here.

Yes, kids, in case you were too young to remember, there was a time when there was only one team of Avengers and they were all friends. The villains were the villains and the heroes were the heroes. Stuart Moore has channeled that time through his keyboard for this story. The characters are pre-Civil War characters, which should be enough of an enticement for some fans. However, Moore is doing more than making a book to appeal to fans of a time now gone. The story is at times subtle, at times sharp, and always good. Is it symbolic or mind-bogglingly deep? No. It is a clear cut tale of Decepticons trying to destroy the world and the Autobots who have to stop them. Only this time the New Avengers are along for the ride!

Oh, and the ride, it looks pretty sweet. Tyler Kirkham is a penciler that uses sharp lines and thick shadows to illustrate his characters, spaces, and backgrounds. While some may complain about this sort of style on the human characters, after seeing his Transformers, you will know why he was chosen for this project. Transformers are giant robots, they are made of hard, sharp lines and all of them cast brilliant shadows on their humanoid counterparts. Sal Regla’s inks over Kirkham’s pencils are solid and refined. It isn’t the work of a superstar, but it is the work of a pro.

This book, much like this one movie I saw recently, doesn’t need any superstars. With the New Avengers back to previous form, and the Transformers all here, the characters are the superstars. Marvel and IDW must know that because neither writer nor artist is iconic, but on this book they do a bang up job.