The Energon Pub

[Va'al]

In a nicely surprising turn of events from IDW Publishing, we have no embargo on comics material for next week, meaning we can share with you the full preview for the final issue of Transformers: Till All Are One! Check out the pages mirrored below, and head back here to Seibertron.com after Wednesday for a review of the issue, and the inevitable discussion on the series as a whole.

TRANSFORMERS TILL ALL ARE ONE #12
(W) Mairghread Scott
(A) Sara Pitre-Durocher

Starscream makes his most desperate move yet in order to protect himself from Elita One's rising power. But for once the master of manipulation's only choice is to make himself helpless to another. Good thing no one's got a grudge against Starscream, right?

[Targetmaster Kup]

I didn't expect that!

[Ig89ninja]

You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

[Soundwave902]

I'm wondering if Sunstreaker will show up, but probably not

[Va'al]

I'm wondering if Sunstreaker will show up, but probably not

I'm curious: why Sunstreaker, of all characters?

[Soundwave902]

I'm wondering if Sunstreaker will show up, but probably not

I'm curious: why Sunstreaker, of all characters?

As someone who underestimated Starscream.

Remember back in the olden days of All Hail Megatron, Starscream deceived Sunstreaker, saying he would only have Earth as his empire, while instead the Surge occurred. Pretty sure that counts as under-estimation

[Va'al]

Ooooh gotcha! Yeah, that'd make sense as a flashback or cameo I suppose..

We'll see on Wednesday! *hides review copy behind back surreptitiously*

[Rodimus Prime]

Good ending to a mediocre story?

[D-Maximal_Primal]

You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

Pretty much my thoughts exactly!

Looks like it will be a great end to a great arc

[Big Grim]

You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

It really is glorious!

[Evil Eye]

You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

It really is glorious!

It does remind me, however, of that recreation someone did with Generations Windblade and Starscream, where it looked less like

You're wrapped round my finger now.

Oh slag!

And more like

Hey there good looking, come here often?

Get off of me at once, you tire-rotating second-rate Thrust.

Still gorgeous artwork though.

[ScottyP]

Good ending to a mediocre story?

It won't change your mind about the book. If you love it already, you'll love the ending, if you're 'meh' about it, this won't turn you around the other way. I'll save the rest for Va'al's review in the morning, for now

[SW's SilverHammer]

You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

It really is glorious!

It does remind me, however, of that recreation someone did with Generations Windblade and Starscream, where it looked less like

You're wrapped round my finger now.

Oh slag!

And more like

Hey there good looking, come here often?

Get off of me at once, you tire-rotating second-rate Thrust.

Still gorgeous artwork though.

Well I used Energon Starscream for mine, also based my picture of of Cheap Trick more than the original cover. Ol' energon Starscream ain't the best, but he'll do. He'll do.

[Va'al]

Till All Are One
(Spoiler free-ish)

Synopsis
Starscream makes his most desperate move yet in order to protect himself from Elita One's rising power. But for once the master of manipulation's only choice is to make himself helpless to another. Good thing no one's got a grudge against Starscream, right?

Ulp, as we say

Story

We've arrived at the final issue on my favourite of the three Transformers ongoing comics series from IDW Publishing, at only 12 numbers in total, and with a lot at stake in terms of the story itself. A series, I'll remind us, that fully reintroduced the mythological Primes to this version of the TF universe, with Solus via Caminus (in its previous incarnation), Liege Maximo via Titans Return, and peeking into Micronus' mind via the Revolution tie-in.

oh, hey, Solus

And it's that concept, those issues dealing with minds that bring us back to the present, as we find ourselves inside Windblade's realm, her mind palace, the Cityspeaker's inner city - and her vicious battle of the wills with Vigilem's own mind, trying to take control, by exploiting the aid of Starscream who begrudgingly stepped in (or in it, depending on how you want to look at it).

can you tell it's hers?

Now, Vigilem is more clearly defined in this issue, even more than previous ones, and he's a truly nasty piece of work. The manipulation we've seen so often in the series comes very naturally to him in Mairghread Scott's script, and he's made to be more and more unlikeable by the frame (to me at least; casual ableist slurs don't help, either) - as opposed to the initial framing of his story through Metroplex.

Some things never change

But Starscream and Windblade are without the doubt the in undisputed protagonists of the story, one aiding the other, in ways you may not expect going into the story at first. We find out more about both, a lot more about at least one, and some interesting facets to at least another, in conclusion to this part of the story that will, yes, have repercussions - but mostly, it'll leave with a number of smiles across readers' faces, and words to be heard for those who are listening.


Art

When talking about Vigilem as a character, and Windblade's mind as a setting, one cannot ignore the sheer scale of what the script demands in terms of visual transposition. Sara Pitre Durocher creates worlds within worlds, designs within designs, concepts hammered out, and strips some layers bare of their visualisation, only to bring more to the surface. What she does is magnificent.

I can hear myself wink in that paragraph

And what the colours of Joana Lafuente add to the artwork beneath is just even more so, creating the same dark atmosphere of this reality that we had seen previously, but making sure that the right hues permeate the whole scene, with only three real moments of pure light (one of which seen in an image below, as a reflective flashback). You will want to wait and enjoy the other two.

Have a CHOOM instead

The banging work of Tom B. Long, who is dealing with some panels with extremely crucial dialogue placement and overlap, is still the cherry on the sundae that is the visual aspect of these books, and I appreciate every single Choom, Crnnk, and Clang. The thumbnail for this review is the cover variant by regular artist Priscilla Tramontano, also depicting a facet of this story. All other covers can be found in our database entry right here, with the ominous, main Pitre Durocher one, and the triumphant variant by ZeroB.

Thoughts
WARNING: this may contain spoilers

And so, we have reached the end of an excellent and undervalued series until too late for it to continue in another form - no blame given, no fingers pointed, it just happens - and with it, there are still several questions left to be answered: Airachnid's sudden introduction and now homeless development; Bumbleghost's nature and existence; Starscream's true nature other than being Starscream; Elita-One's crafty struggle for power and popularity; Blast-Off's deal and manipulation; Vigilem, the other Titans, and their Primes. Any one of those could have warranted another full arc, and some may indeed be addressed in First Strike, the Annual, and any new series dealing with Cybertron, of course.

And more Sasscream/Tracescream

I am saddened to see the current creative team not continue further in this incarnation, though, and I'm sure (from what I've seen online) that this is the case for many readers. Scott, Pitre Durocher, Lafuente, Tramontano, Long, and rotating guests and editors have done something exceptional with their exploration of politics, post-colonial issues, guilt, power, loneliness and most of all, control. Mind control, political control, military control - Starscream's fears run deep, subordination fits tight on all the characters involved, and in constraint, some exquisite creativity and artwork can be born.

For the sake of fairness on the single issue, however, I'll also say this: with the sudden ending to the book, the timeshifting of IDW's scheduling, and all else happening in the Hasbroverse, Till All Are One #12 gave us the best story it could probably and possibly ever deliver; it gave us a resolution between Starscream and Windblade that is not a conclusion; it brought elements together that no other book had really done so far; it redeemed characters without offering them salvation. I wish we'd seen what path lies before them much sooner.

. - out of

[Kurona]

Absolutely phenomenal issue. Everyone on this team knows exactly what they're doing and they've done it extremely well.

[Bounti76]

Absolutely phenomenal issue. Everyone on this team knows exactly what they're doing and they've done it extremely well.

Agreed. Given the very well deserved praise this book has gotten over the last several issues, it stings all the more that IDW wouldn't give Mairghread Scott, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente and Tom Long the benefit of the doubt and at least give them more time to finish telling this story properly instead of telling them they had to change what was already working so well or be canceled.

[Randomhero]

Well it's over and I honestly don't care. I nothinged it this entire arc. It wasn't bad but I honestly didn't find it appealing.

I'm sure Windblade volume 4 will be announced for next year

[o.supreme]

Shades of Murderblade from Machinima?

I haven't read the last issue yet, but I can say that I did enjoy 2/3 of this series. Issues #1-4 (The Bruticus story ark), was pretty cool, and #5-#8 dealing with the undead Titans and the aftermath of Titans Return was pretty cool. (I really think fans overall got shortchanged. I would much rather had a longer Titans Return story spanning all TF books rather than Revolution...but oh well...)

but as for #9-12, well...I'ts just not my thing. I mean I know I run counter to most fans. I'm not really into MTMTE/TLL. I loved RID/TF because I like anything set on Cybertron, and it had more of the 84-86 cast I care about. Since the split between TAAO and Optimus Prime however its been odd. I like Optimus' choice of TF characters, I really don't care about any of the human characters , or whats going on with Earth, but the bots keep it somewhat interesting. TAAO like I said was good, up until issue #9 where it just took an odd turn. I never thought of this as Windblade volume #3, but I guess there are just some things you cant escape. I know there will be a proper finale much later, and some crossover with First Strike, but I wonder if the goings on of all the characters on Cybertron will somehow be told through the Optimus Prime book, or are they just going to be shelved for a while? Kind of sucks that all the TF's I really like (whether they haven't appeared in a while or not), are still on Cybertron, but there is now no story for them on a monthly basis, unless they all start showing up on Earth, or Optimus Prime's focus goes back to Cybertron, which I would love, but I doubt will happen.

[Randomhero]

Shades of Murderblade from Machinima?

I haven't read the last issue yet, but I can say that I did enjoy 2/3 of this series. Issues #1-4 (The Bruticus story ark), was pretty cool, and #5-#8 dealing with the undead Titans and the aftermath of Titans Return was pretty cool. (I really think fans overall got shortchanged. I would much rather had a longer Titans Return story spanning all TF books rather than Revolution...but oh well...)

but as for #9-12, well...I'ts just not my thing. I mean I know I run counter to most fans. I'm not really into MTMTE/TLL. I loved RID/TF because I like anything set on Cybertron, and it had more of the 84-86 cast I care about. Since the split between TAAO and Optimus Prime however its been odd. I like Optimus' choice of TF characters, I really don't care about any of the human characters , or whats going on with Earth, but the bots keep it somewhat interesting. TAAO like I said was good, up until issue #9 where it just took an odd turn. I never thought of this as Windblade volume #3, but I guess there are just some things you cant escape. I know there will be a proper finale much later, and some crossover with First Strike, but I wonder if the goings on of all the characters on Cybertron will somehow be told through the Optimus Prime book, or are they just going to be shelved for a while? Kind of sucks that all the TF's I really like (whether they haven't appeared in a while or not), are still on Cybertron, but there is now no story for them on a monthly basis, unless they all start showing up on Earth, or Optimus Prime's focus goes back to Cybertron, which I would love, but I doubt will happen.

Was it the onslaught/blast off stuff? Trust me I won't judge because I think that was my final strike for this comic. I'm not going to lie I read that stuff and said "alright we're just writing for the tumlrites now arnt we"

[Kurona]

Because... Tumblr invented gay people...? I don't get it.

[Randomhero]

Because... Tumblr invented gay people...? I don't get it.

No because tumblr is a cesspool of blowing everything stupidly out of proportion and makes everything sensual. "These two characters are standing next to eachother, better get start working on the slash fic!"

[Kurona]

I... don't really get what that has to do with Blast Off and Onslaught's relationship, though. It had a purpose in that it played into the major themes of the book - compromise, corruption, unstable relationships - and moved certain plot elements and characters forward. It wasn't done for no reason. And as a Transformers fan, I certainly appreciate that it helped to further characterise Blast Off as he's historically been the least interesting of the Combaticons -- but no longer

[Evil Eye]

Whilst I'm not a reader of IDW, I personally thought the whole "Oh look Onslaught and Blastoff are gay for each other, isn't that original?" thing was kinda cringey. And extremely ironic when you consider Blastoff's nominal position is Bruticus' right arm.

Personally I'm of the opinion that Blastoff could be developed far better without throwing in forced romance. Play up the arrogance and aloofness aspect- perhaps have one too many shifts in the cold depths of space have driven him round the bend a little.

[Randomhero]

I have zero problems with creating relationships in transformers. I've always been very supportive in rewind and chromdone and have defended it to people say "got the gay out my transformers!"

A scene of black and onslaught about to kiss...that's retarded. One of them doesn't have a mouth! It's the dumbest scene I've seen in a transformers comic and I've read the beast!

[o.supreme]

For the sake of trying to save face, and not start a huge war here...let me just say that we are all here because we enjoy various aspects of Transformers. And truth be told, I think its good on occasion when I see something new and fresh in this fiction, and sometimes its not good (as to what is and isn't that's up to everybody's own interpretation).

I am an older fan. I was 8 in 1984 when I saw the first ad for the Marvel Comic in May, then the toys came in the summer, and the animated series in the fall.

To ME Transformers is...what that theme song always resonates..."Autobots wage their battles to destroy the evil forces of, The Decepticons"

Now in 33 years I can see how some may say...that gets old, that gets stale, I want something new. And that's fine. I just weather the storm as it were. Heck I barely know what tumblr is, I don't even have a FB page.. so all that is irrelevant. I just know what I like, and it is cyclical. There was a time when I worried that what I liked about Transformers would be lost forever, but it came back around, eventually. What I consider great, many others consider to be the low point of Transformers, so its all relative.

The majority of Transformers characters I really enjoy reading about exist between the TAAO & Optimus Prime books currently in IDW. Yes I'll say how some of them have been interpreted as of late is not how I interpret them, and that's fine. The characters don't have to be what we see illustrated, or what is animated, or on a film screen. It's what we want them to be that matters, or if there is a past version that better suits us, so be it.