Void Rivals #18 follows up the big revelation made with the connection Cybertron has to the origin of the Sacred Ring. This revelation has changed how we should view the integration of the Transformers in this series thus far. They aren’t simply guest stars. The Transformers are connected to the Agorrians and Zertonians in a game changing way. Now we got a chance thanks to Skybound and Image Comics to see what happens next in this series. Find out with our advance review of Void Rivals #18.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Lorenzo De Felici
Colorist: Patricio Delpeche
Letterer: Rus Wooton
VOID RIVALS #18 SOLICITATION
“At long last…ZERTA! After the stunning revelations about Cybertron in the last issue, what’s next?” – Skybound & Image Comics
REVIEW
From the beginning Void Rivals has been a series driven by political intrigue. Whether it’s the tension between Darak and Solila when they first meet or when battling Proximus. Everything has gone back to the politics between the Agorrians and Zertonians in relation to the Sacred Ring mythology. That is heavily emphasized in Void Rivals #18 as now that the truth about the connections between Cybertron and Sacred Ring have been reveal we are all in on the different power plays.
What makes all the politics at play so fascinating is how Robert Kirkman and Lorenzo De Felici make sure that the players of this conflict are always the emphasis. The politics are just the driver to lead the characters to make choices of what path they will follow. That goes for not just Darak and Solila but everyone we’ve been introduced to in Void Rivals thus far. Every character has some role to play and we are just along for the ride to see what decisions each character makes.
Creating such an atmosphere creates a greater intensity to the moments of action we do get. Even for how brief they may be in Void Rivals #18, what we get means more than just who wins the fight we are witnessing. It is about what the outcome of the fight means for what can happen next as the power dynamics shift.
This power dynamic adds to the world building that continues to be done. The connections the Sacred Ring has to Cybertron opened a whole new door to what we can expect. Especially when it comes to our leads in Darak and Solila. Both are in very different spots throughout Void Rivals #18. Solila in particular comes out being the most intriguing character of them all as the development she gets in relation to Zerta’s presence is very cool.
That said, for as much as I enjoyed the ride Void Rivals #18 sends us on the final page was slightly disappointing. I say slightly because it was obvious how this issue would end given all that happened. But it is in the predictability after all the unpredictable developments we’ve had that makes the final page not fully meet the moment like it should. Now I trust that Kirkman has a great plan for where to take the story but hopefully he is able to throw some curve balls in how things go down next.
Once again Lorenzo is at the top of his game in this comic book. The level of consistency with the high-level artwork that Lorenzo continues to deliver is great. He elevates every back and forth to have a different intensity that matches whichever characters are interacting. The wide range of emotions shown help to showcase how multi-layered the story and characters of this series are.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Void Rivals #18 takes the connections made between Cybertron and Sacred Rings to take the intrigue of its narrative to another level. That next level creates even greater intrigue in finding out what the next moves of Darak, Solila, and the entire cast of this series will be. This leads to the multiple storylines that are going to be tied well into the greater narrative around the Energon Universe.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Check out the full preview of Void Rivals #18 by clicking here.
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