IDW Publishing
Written by Brandon Easton
Art by Tony Vargas
Colors by Jordi Escuin
Letters by Gilberto Lazcano
When IDW brought the Hasbro universe together in Revolution, even though my expectations were high, even I didn’t think it would be as much of a success as it has been. The way they flawlessly brought it all together, made everyone matter and play off of one another, was nothing short of amazing. Well…it’s over now. So, now what? Now we dive in with the group who hasn’t had their own book in a while, the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand.
This book definitely picks up where Revolution left off (so minor spoilers if you haven’t been reading), so we know what has happened with the team and Miles Mayhem. The team themselves also finds out that some of that misfortune is going to follow them, whether they were at fault or not. So the first issue deals a lot with what they are going to do now and where they are going to base their operations to go after Mayhem. One thing that really stood out in this issue to me was the team building and how everyone just felt like they were coming together as a strong unit. A couple of the team members also bond over some similar circumstances, and even throw in a Star Wars joke. If you’re a M.A.S.K. fan like I was from the 80s, you already know what’s coming, and we DO get to see a look at them. If you’re new to the story, let’s just say that who you see at the end of this book sets up what is going to be a long battle of epic proportions.
I never had any doubt that Brandon Easton would be able to take the ball and run with it in the early going of this series. The way he added depth to the team in the early going, and had them dealing with instant adversity, really made the story interesting right out of the gate. It’s not easy to follow up a major arc like Revolution, but the strength of this book shows me that this was the right choice to be the first one up. Fico Ossio did an amazing job on art for the group in Revolution, and Tony Vargas doesn’t miss a beat here either. So if you loved Revolution, and you love the Hasbro universe, this is exactly what you were hoping for.