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Steven Universe: Harmony #4
With the Harmony Core subduing more and more of Beach City, Steven and the remaining Crystal Gems must find a solution—and fast!
- GenresComics
29 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2018
2 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
S.M. Vidaurri
28 books17 followersMy apartment is filled with many animals. I like romance novels, superhero movies, rooms filled with plants and peach iced tea.
My first graphic novel Iron: Or The War After was published in 2012 and was nominated for the Graphic Album category in the Pépites 2013 Salon de Montreuil.
I read a lot, but for the purposes of my reviews on here, I'll only be writing about the books I absolutely loved, in the hope to support the authors I admire.
My first graphic novel Iron: Or The War After was published in 2012 and was nominated for the Graphic Album category in the Pépites 2013 Salon de Montreuil.
I read a lot, but for the purposes of my reviews on here, I'll only be writing about the books I absolutely loved, in the hope to support the authors I admire.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 7, 2018
Steven Universe: HARMONY is a five-issue miniseries focusing on Sadie Miller’s personal life and the Gems’ problems associated with a Gem artifact called the Harmony Core. It’s written by S.M. Vidaurri and illustrated by Mollie Rose, with colors by Meg Casey and letters by Mike Fiorentino. The paper issue I bought has the main cover by Marguerite Sauvage!
Plot:
Having figured out that they can activate the controls of the Harmony Core by harmonizing with it–at least one person on the outside, at least one person on the inside–Pearl and Steven connect through the song they established.
Peridot explains that the Core must have been developed to suppress organic populations, but as she mechanically describes how they have to be partially operated from the inside and therefore any number of Harmony Cores could be holding trapped Gems that would have been abandoned by cruel Homeworld commanders after invasions were complete, Amethyst grows angry and sullen. She doesn’t like that other Gems may be left and forgotten, and Steven of course agrees with her. Peridot and Pearl are more practical, saying they need to be safe themselves first and it would be very challenging to boost this signal to space, but Steven wants to try.
They set up a plan to awaken the sleeping humans by sending out a new signal, and Pearl is ready to send Peridot and Amethyst back out of the core as well using the controls she can now access, but she intends to be the one to stay behind and operate it. Peridot and Amethyst elect to stay with her for support instead.
The plan is successful in awakening the humans who had been affected, like Connie, Greg, and Sour Cream, but there are still affected humans associated with the third Harmony Core in the Arctic of Earth. Garnet runs with Steven’s debriefing and goes in search of the third Core, assuring Steven that she’s trusting him with handling Pearl’s messages, not leaving him behind. When Garnet gets to the Arctic, she easily locates the third Core, but it’s implanted on a pretty dangerous guardian and she unexpectedly has to fight it while avoiding letting the Core touch her. It gives her a run for her money.
Meanwhile, Steven, Connie, and the band are trying to figure out a way to get a signal to space so they can reach other trapped Gems and free them. They set on the idea of using an amplifier to summon the Cores to Earth so they can destroy them. Garnet finishes up her battle with the guardian, assisted by Lion showing up to help her, and she accompanies her battle with a melody about being together as one.
When Garnet and Lion return with the captured Harmony Core, Steven and his dad and the others are setting up loads of amps and speakers on the beach. Steven congratulates Garnet on her capture and she says it was easy. Steven delivers the plan to Pearl, and Peridot says it can work since unlike radio waves, the Harmony Core works like Warp Pad technology. Pearl notes that someone will have to stay behind in case the Cores activate and hurt anyone else while they’re executing this mission, and before anyone can stop her, she sends everyone else out, staying behind herself.
Steven is upset, but Garnet is trusting him, so he goes forward with the mission, pressing the Harmony Cores together and starting up his own song. All the townspeople who have gathered begin to harmonize, while from inside, Pearl redirects the signal. Steven’s song is able to reach other Cores out in space, but an unforeseen consequence activates: one of the cores sets off a security protocol, and a huge guardian appears on Earth, with various Harmony Cores all over it. The townspeople helplessly watch as it arrives.
Notable:
1. There are a few typos or mistakes, like the wrong “it’s,” and the word “suppress” is written as “surprress,” and I think when Peridot said “recourses” she must have meant “resources.”
2. Buck Dewey is HILARIOUS in this issue. He just keeps throwing out all his Buckisms, like calmly suggesting they could “get really into minimalism” if they still want to record a demo like they planned, or “free associating” to come up with a solution and then just tossing out random words.
3. Garnet and Lion fighting in the Arctic is super cute. They don’t have much interaction in the show so seeing them being cute together is amazing.
4. One of Amethyst’s attempts to help harmonize included making a fart noise. It didn’t work.
5. Garnet asked questions in this comic, which kinda breaks canon. She asked Steven “what did they say?” and when Lion unexpectedly shows up in the Arctic to help her, her reaction is “Lion?!”
6. Garnet got to participate in the musical aspect of this issue, but she didn’t get to do it with the band like the other Gems. Still cool, though Garnet rocking with the Cool Kids is something I still really wanna see.
7. Pearl assuring Amethyst that SHE won’t get left behind is so typical Pearl. She’s aware that Amethyst has abandonment issues and acts quickly to protect Amethyst, even though she’s sacrificing herself.
8. Man, that Arctic Temple is really cool looking.
Plot:
Having figured out that they can activate the controls of the Harmony Core by harmonizing with it–at least one person on the outside, at least one person on the inside–Pearl and Steven connect through the song they established.
Peridot explains that the Core must have been developed to suppress organic populations, but as she mechanically describes how they have to be partially operated from the inside and therefore any number of Harmony Cores could be holding trapped Gems that would have been abandoned by cruel Homeworld commanders after invasions were complete, Amethyst grows angry and sullen. She doesn’t like that other Gems may be left and forgotten, and Steven of course agrees with her. Peridot and Pearl are more practical, saying they need to be safe themselves first and it would be very challenging to boost this signal to space, but Steven wants to try.
They set up a plan to awaken the sleeping humans by sending out a new signal, and Pearl is ready to send Peridot and Amethyst back out of the core as well using the controls she can now access, but she intends to be the one to stay behind and operate it. Peridot and Amethyst elect to stay with her for support instead.
The plan is successful in awakening the humans who had been affected, like Connie, Greg, and Sour Cream, but there are still affected humans associated with the third Harmony Core in the Arctic of Earth. Garnet runs with Steven’s debriefing and goes in search of the third Core, assuring Steven that she’s trusting him with handling Pearl’s messages, not leaving him behind. When Garnet gets to the Arctic, she easily locates the third Core, but it’s implanted on a pretty dangerous guardian and she unexpectedly has to fight it while avoiding letting the Core touch her. It gives her a run for her money.
Meanwhile, Steven, Connie, and the band are trying to figure out a way to get a signal to space so they can reach other trapped Gems and free them. They set on the idea of using an amplifier to summon the Cores to Earth so they can destroy them. Garnet finishes up her battle with the guardian, assisted by Lion showing up to help her, and she accompanies her battle with a melody about being together as one.
When Garnet and Lion return with the captured Harmony Core, Steven and his dad and the others are setting up loads of amps and speakers on the beach. Steven congratulates Garnet on her capture and she says it was easy. Steven delivers the plan to Pearl, and Peridot says it can work since unlike radio waves, the Harmony Core works like Warp Pad technology. Pearl notes that someone will have to stay behind in case the Cores activate and hurt anyone else while they’re executing this mission, and before anyone can stop her, she sends everyone else out, staying behind herself.
Steven is upset, but Garnet is trusting him, so he goes forward with the mission, pressing the Harmony Cores together and starting up his own song. All the townspeople who have gathered begin to harmonize, while from inside, Pearl redirects the signal. Steven’s song is able to reach other Cores out in space, but an unforeseen consequence activates: one of the cores sets off a security protocol, and a huge guardian appears on Earth, with various Harmony Cores all over it. The townspeople helplessly watch as it arrives.
Notable:
1. There are a few typos or mistakes, like the wrong “it’s,” and the word “suppress” is written as “surprress,” and I think when Peridot said “recourses” she must have meant “resources.”
2. Buck Dewey is HILARIOUS in this issue. He just keeps throwing out all his Buckisms, like calmly suggesting they could “get really into minimalism” if they still want to record a demo like they planned, or “free associating” to come up with a solution and then just tossing out random words.
3. Garnet and Lion fighting in the Arctic is super cute. They don’t have much interaction in the show so seeing them being cute together is amazing.
4. One of Amethyst’s attempts to help harmonize included making a fart noise. It didn’t work.
5. Garnet asked questions in this comic, which kinda breaks canon. She asked Steven “what did they say?” and when Lion unexpectedly shows up in the Arctic to help her, her reaction is “Lion?!”
6. Garnet got to participate in the musical aspect of this issue, but she didn’t get to do it with the band like the other Gems. Still cool, though Garnet rocking with the Cool Kids is something I still really wanna see.
7. Pearl assuring Amethyst that SHE won’t get left behind is so typical Pearl. She’s aware that Amethyst has abandonment issues and acts quickly to protect Amethyst, even though she’s sacrificing herself.
8. Man, that Arctic Temple is really cool looking.
November 7, 2018
Issue 4 of the five-issue HARMONY miniseries is out. In the previous issue, the Harmony Core had captured all the Crystal Gems except Garnet and Steven, but Pearl has cracked the code--they can have access to additional options on this thing if they harmonize in song, with one person on the inside of the Core and one on the outside. Controls for the Cores appear, giving them the ability to return the incapacitated humans to action and return captured Gems to their Gems. But Amethyst and Steven aren't satisfied with saving their own people; these new revelations reveal that other Harmony Cores throughout the universe could be holding trapped Gems who were simply abandoned since Gems are so disposable to Homeworld, and they want to find a way to save them. Cooperation, music, and a quest in the Arctic for Garnet make for another really entertaining issue.
Now that the plot elements are finished being set up and we're just getting the payoff, this issue feels a little smoother than the previous three, but I still thought some of the dialogue was maybe contrived to plug holes and it still feels a little like the plot is wound around moments the writers wanted to have. (Not that I dislike those moments. They're great.) Seeing Connie and Greg and Sour Cream back in action is awesome (especially with Connie being so appreciative of Steven's efforts!), and there's a Garnet/Lion moment I wasn't expecting--super adorable. I really appreciate that the authors had Amethyst as the driving force behind helping trapped Gems, because she of course would resent the idea that anyone's fine with Gems getting left behind and forgotten. And I'm not totally sure why Garnet sang a song while she fought that robot, since the other songs in this series have been either band practice or plot-relevant connection devices, but hey, she's certainly sung while fighting in canon, so I'll take it! (Man, I really love Garnet.)
Now that the plot elements are finished being set up and we're just getting the payoff, this issue feels a little smoother than the previous three, but I still thought some of the dialogue was maybe contrived to plug holes and it still feels a little like the plot is wound around moments the writers wanted to have. (Not that I dislike those moments. They're great.) Seeing Connie and Greg and Sour Cream back in action is awesome (especially with Connie being so appreciative of Steven's efforts!), and there's a Garnet/Lion moment I wasn't expecting--super adorable. I really appreciate that the authors had Amethyst as the driving force behind helping trapped Gems, because she of course would resent the idea that anyone's fine with Gems getting left behind and forgotten. And I'm not totally sure why Garnet sang a song while she fought that robot, since the other songs in this series have been either band practice or plot-relevant connection devices, but hey, she's certainly sung while fighting in canon, so I'll take it! (Man, I really love Garnet.)
October 19, 2021
bonk <3
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews