IDW Transformers: Till All Are One #7 Lafuente and Tramontano Cover Variants

We've seen some early looks at the variant covers, but thanks to iTunes, we now also have a three-page preview of the upcoming IDW Publishing Transformers: Till All Are One #7! Check out the three pages below, and head back in a couple of weeks for more material on the book.

PEACE IN OUR TIME! STARSCREAM and WINDBLADE have given everything to bring together CYBERTRON’s Lost Colonies into a Council Of Worlds. But when the increasingly brutal tactics of STARSCREAM’s secret police increase tension among the former DECEPTICONS… how long can the Council maintain this fragile peace?

So, wait..... IDW's own website stated that TAAO #7 wouldn't be coming out until February 22nd. Just checked it again, and now it says #8 is coming out on the 22nd (and also doesn't list #7). Does that mean we get two issues of TAAO before the scheduled break in March? IDW, you so crazy!

Bounti76 wrote:So, wait..... IDW's own website stated that TAAO #7 wouldn't be coming out until February 22nd. Just checked it again, and now it says #8 is coming out on the 22nd (and also doesn't list #7). Does that mean we get two issues of TAAO before the scheduled break in March? IDW, you so crazy!

In IDW's schedule we (DO NOT) trust.

I thought we would get #7 end of January, February was TAAO's "off" Month, and it was returning in March with #8?

This preview averages 3 fantastic Starscream facial expressions per page. Excellent.

I think they also used the wrong synopsis for this issue as well

o.supreme wrote:I thought we would get #7 end of January, February was TAAO's "off" Month, and it was returning in March with #8?

March was always the scheduled "off" month. There were no solicits released for TAAO in that month.

This looks great! I'm still pulling for the full redemption of Starscream!

Bounti76 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:I thought we would get #7 end of January, February was TAAO's "off" Month, and it was returning in March with #8?

March was always the scheduled "off" month. There were no solicits released for TAAO in that month.

ok...then we should get #8 in February then, to stay on schedule, and be back with #9 in April

o.supreme wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:I thought we would get #7 end of January, February was TAAO's "off" Month, and it was returning in March with #8?

March was always the scheduled "off" month. There were no solicits released for TAAO in that month.

That's my understanding. #7 on February 8th #8
ok...then we should get #8 in February then, to stay on schedule, and be back with #9 in April

That's my understanding. #7 on February 8th, and #8 on February 22nd.

so when can I send my husband out to retrieve my books? I am starting to salivate now.

Sunstar wrote:so when can I send my husband out to retrieve my books? I am starting to salivate now.

Check the post above.

IDW release dates really aren't known until the week before. Even then, weird stuff can happen (TF 57 being the latest example where it hit digitally, then not in shops for two more weeks.)

Basically, don't expect anything more than 7 days out to have a solid release date that you can expect will be met, and this next part is important - this holds true even if IDW has put a date out somewhere on their own website. They'll send an email at some point tomorrow that will contain everything that is set to ship out in the coming days so that it can make it to shops in time for next week. Until that comes in, 2/1 or 2/8 or 3/1 for [insert book name here] is as good of a guess as any.

Lost Light #2 is released and is available on iBooks

Randomhero wrote:Lost Light #2 is released and is available on iBooks

where? I can't find it

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Randomhero wrote:Lost Light #2 is released and is available on iBooks

where? I can't find it

The iTunes page does say released on 25th January...

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/transf ... 2270?mt=11

Va'al wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Randomhero wrote:Lost Light #2 is released and is available on iBooks

where? I can't find it

The iTunes page does say released on 25th January...

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/transf ... 2270?mt=11

I managed to snag it at 11:05 central when I was getting Optimus Prime #3

ScottyP wrote:IDW release dates really aren't known until the week before. Even then, weird stuff can happen (TF 57 being the latest example where it hit digitally, then not in shops for two more weeks.)

Basically, don't expect anything more than 7 days out to have a solid release date that you can expect will be met, and this next part is important - this holds true even if IDW has put a date out somewhere on their own website. They'll send an email at some point tomorrow that will contain everything that is set to ship out in the coming days so that it can make it to shops in time for next week. Until that comes in, 2/1 or 2/8 or 3/1 for [insert book name here] is as good of a guess as any.

Randomhero wrote:Lost Light #2 is released and is available on iBooks

My apologies for apparently totally jinxing it

ScottyP wrote:

ScottyP wrote:IDW release dates really aren't known until the week before. Even then, weird stuff can happen (TF 57 being the latest example where it hit digitally, then not in shops for two more weeks.)

Basically, don't expect anything more than 7 days out to have a solid release date that you can expect will be met, and this next part is important - this holds true even if IDW has put a date out somewhere on their own website. They'll send an email at some point tomorrow that will contain everything that is set to ship out in the coming days so that it can make it to shops in time for next week. Until that comes in, 2/1 or 2/8 or 3/1 for [insert book name here] is as good of a guess as any.

Randomhero wrote:Lost Light #2 is released and is available on iBooks

My apologies for apparently totally jinxing it

iBooks is a weird one. Till a couple months ago Wednesday releases happened at 10pm central on Tuesdays, now it's 11pm and once in a while they really screw up on something. I got MTMTE #16 back in 2013 4 weeks before it came out. I was getting RID that night and there it was. I remember when remain In Light part 3 was part 2 for over a month.

Won't spoil anything ofcourse since it's not out legitimately for another week

Via comics news website Newsarama, we have the full preview of next week's issue of IDW's Transformers: Till All Are One, continuing the aftermath of Titans Return and following the actions of the Council of Worlds in the face of both undead Titans and Elita One's strange behaviour. Check it out below!

Transformers: Till All Are One #7
Mairghread Scott (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a & c)
As Windblade and her team fight their way through Elita-1’s Titan, Carcer, they face opposition at every turn to stop them from awakening the sleeping giant… and they soon find out why!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
- Variant cover by Joana Lafuente!

Strika... just caught... Devastator's fist... Holy freakin' crap.

Nexus Knight wrote:Strika... just caught... Devastator's fist... Holy freakin' crap.

Yep... She was not impressed by him

Wow. You go, Strika!

Glarryg

Did the Constucticons just decide to give up on finding a sixth member and form a one-legged Devastator?

Also, considering that this involves IDW storyline, I thought I might bring this up: I've been reading summaries of IDW story arcs for a while, so I finally decided to actually buy the books. I currently have Last Stand of The Wreckers, Phase Two collections 1-4, and the phase 1 compendium consisting of collections 1 and 2. Is there any other stories you would suggest I read?

MagicDeath wrote:Did the Constucticons just decide to give up on finding a sixth member and form a one-legged Devastator?

Nope, they're currently using Scoop - as seen in this panel in the last comic.



I'm not entirely sure how they done it in-universe, but the fact Devvy has a new design which merges aspects of both his CW toy and the AHM design along with making Scoop as a leg more obvious and prominent makes me happy.

ctrlFrequency wrote:]

Can't.. breathe... laughing... too.. hard...

Obligatory OT insert....

I certainly hope Scott takes this chance to actually give some story to Screamer and Windblade. There was always a hint, I'd like to see more focus on it.

doin' the nasty...

i deffo wanna see a pic of Starscream as a llama, & maybe a toy made

Emperor's new Groove <3

Evidently, Chromia's thinking was justified.

Synopsis
As Windblade and her team fight their way through Elita-1’s Titan, Carcer, they face opposition at every turn to stop them from awakening the sleeping giant… and they soon find out why!



Story

Till All Are One is still keeping up the tension and the storyline that was so quickly done with in the Titans Return mini-arc (the trade was only out these past weeks, with MTMTE and Transformers joining the One-shot - all of these, their casts, and the covers and credits can be found in our database entries), and it does it in a very natural way, not forgetting its other sources and bringing in some very intriguing twists.



The major players, as we know are Starscream and Windblade, the Council and Cybertron on one side, Elita, Obsidian and Strika, and her crew on the other (there is also the faction of undead titans, I guess, like whatever - again, full cast can be found here, though beware of some spoilers), and it's in the contrasts between the characters and the writing of their interactions that the meatier stuff comes out.



In particular, Strika and Obsidian get a nice dose of spotlight each this month, with the latter already playing a fairly major, menacing role on the Council as the bearer of bad news (backed up with facts and data), and we also finally see what the former can do, dipping into both of their seeding in the Beast Machines series.



What we also get in the issue, which is exciting and almost a little surprising, I'll admit, is a direct link to information and story development that were achieved in the Revolution tie-in issue for this series, in the form of the issue's resolution/cliffhanger... and more on that below.

Art

Sara Pitre Durocher delivers yet another pearl of linework and layouts, with some truly memorable Starscream and Elita-1 condescending looks, and some impressively expressive faceplated faces (Obsidian and Strika are but two). The concluding pages echo the very first Windblade series, too, with some other hints towards the Revolution tie-in, again.



Joana Lafuente adds to the excellent linework performance, once more, too - the panel below I believe proves it marvellously: the lighting, the shades of purple, the way they work with the inking beneath them, almost drowning out everything else in the image, all goes to show how the visual language of the medium can be fully employed.



Likewise, the lettering in the example above is an integral part to the frame (and the storytelling), actually adding weight to the word itself rather than just remaining sound - Tom B. Long does this often, and still well. The covers are also this month a full IDW TF grouping too, with Pitre Durocher on main, Priscilla Tramontano on Chromia's criminal cover, and Joana Lafuente (thumbnail) joining the theme of her other two pieces this month.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Till All Are One was ramping up the tension since issue 5. It took a potentially good story seedling in Titans Return and made sure it took roots in the ongoing series, while also connecting previous aspects of Transformers lore, the expanded mythos we are encountering across IDW, and bringing in a new-but-old major player, if the last page is to be believed.



We will not know what makes Elita and her crew so adamant to protect their Titan-ship, until another month at least, but we can enjoy just how hard, how strenuously, how viciously, how well laid out and constructed each scene is, and how the visual and verbal languages are co-deployed for this month. Very, very good indeed.

So my big thing is... how are they making this work titan wise? Metroplex registered the titan as Tempo, Elita called it Carcer, and it is actually Vigilem? Was Plex wrong? Why would Elita even want to employ the evil prime's titan?

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:So my big thing is... how are they making this work titan wise? Metroplex registered the titan as Tempo, Elita called it Carcer, and it is actually Vigilem? Was Plex wrong? Why would Elita even want to employ the evil prime's titan?

Well, Elita and her crew haven't exactly been depicted as angels either.

But my personal theory? Elita didn't want him activated; Obsidian was clearly distressed at his activation - like, beyond just disobedience of orders; this was 'this is the worst possible catastrophe you could perform' distressed - and he's even been referred to as a Prison Ship.

Elita has an intensely strong army - whose commander can apparently face off the goddamn Devastator - and if we're to assume some strong sense of duty (not out of the blue considering her colony's general philosophy)... if they came across the personal Titan of one of the greatest villains in Cybertron's history, surely the best way to keep them prisoner would be to de-activate them and keep them under your constant watch by being within them?

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:So my big thing is... how are they making this work titan wise? Metroplex registered the titan as Tempo, Elita called it Carcer, and it is actually Vigilem? Was Plex wrong? Why would Elita even want to employ the evil prime's titan?

Oh gosh. I had the same question. My first thought, back when Elita One called him Carcer, was that she and the Carcerians were essentially holding Tempo hostage and mode locked in his starship form, and that Carcer was dead or his people had overthrown Tempo.

With this though, man. Maybe the Carcerians had imprisoned Vigilem to keep him from contacting or serving Liege Maximo and destroying the universe. When Elita said last issue "You can die. I can die. The galaxy can burn in flame and darkness. But Carcer will never transform." maybe she meant that because Carcer IS dead and can't transform.

Makes me REALLY curious to find out who the massive Titan on the cover to #8 is now. Thankfully we'll only have to wait a couple of weeks.

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:So my big thing is... how are they making this work titan wise? Metroplex registered the titan as Tempo, Elita called it Carcer, and it is actually Vigilem? Was Plex wrong? Why would Elita even want to employ the evil prime's titan?

Well, Elita and her crew haven't exactly been depicted as angels either.

But my personal theory? Elita didn't want him activated; Obsidian was clearly distressed at his activation - like, beyond just disobedience of orders; this was 'this is the worst possible catastrophe you could perform' distressed - and he's even been referred to as a Prison Ship.

Elita has an intensely strong army - whose commander can apparently face off the goddamn Devastator - and if we're to assume some strong sense of duty (not out of the blue considering her colony's general philosophy)... if they came across the personal Titan of one of the greatest villains in Cybertron's history, surely the best way to keep them prisoner would be to de-activate them and keep them under your constant watch by being within them?

THIS.

Though I am curious why, if the Carcerians are so powerful, Obsidian was so easily taken down by Tigatron, Moonracer and Fireshot. Granted, Strika is not only built like a tank, she IS a freaking tank, but you'd think Obsidian would have put up more of a fight than he did.

Wow, Ominous..

One thought though inCARCERation makes sense if he was called a prison ship.

Sunstar wrote:Wow, Ominous..

One thought though inCARCERation makes sense if he was called a prison ship.

"Carcer" is Latin for prison. At least, according to TFWiki.

Bounti76 wrote:

Sunstar wrote:Wow, Ominous..

One thought though inCARCERation makes sense if he was called a prison ship.

"Carcer" is Latin for prison. At least, according to TFWiki.

then there may be something to my thinking now.

Bounti76 wrote:Though I am curious why, if the Carcerians are so powerful, Obsidian was so easily taken down by Tigatron, Moonracer and Fireshot. Granted, Strika is not only built like a tank, she IS a freaking tank, but you'd think Obsidian would have put up more of a fight than he did.

From what little we've seen of Tigatron, that kitty ain't no slouch. Or it's just the most powerful of Cybertronian Relics: good ol Plot Armor

On a different note, maybe it's a prison ship because that's where Maximo was keeping bots as candidates for domestication while he did his messed up stuff on the farm? This is to assume they're borrowing some stuff from The Covenant of Primus but from what we saw in MTMTE 47, 56, and 57 with the Roboids I'd guess that's the journey we're on.

I'm also going to assume that Carcer is dead, Tempo is dead, and Vigilem is using one of their bodies since we've seen that Titan brains can kinda just get jumped from one place to another.

is Vigilem a pre existing character?

Sunstar wrote:is Vigilem a pre existing character?

Vigilem is not a name that has existed in the franchise before, no.

Kurona wrote:

Sunstar wrote:is Vigilem a pre existing character?

Vigilem is not a name that has existed in the franchise before, no.

But the name was mentioned in the Till All Are One Revolution one-shot, noted as being Liege Maximo's titan, and he was evil

I am not sure I got that one shot or not. I googled it. thanks

Is that Obsidian's rotor blade in his mouth? That's how I'm going to interpret it anyhow, really

ScottyP wrote:Is that Obsidian's rotor blade in his mouth? That's how I'm going to interpret it anyhow, really

Yup, it's Sara playing about with art.

From Sara PD:



Also, made me chuckle (from here):

What are Onslaught and Blast Off doing?

They're just being bros, man. Two bros, just hangin' out, one embracing the other tenderly, the other looking up at him as if to say "I feel safe in your arms, bro", as all best bros do.

Airachnid man, Airachnid. I found her to be the creepiest and scariest of the cons from Prime, and probably from ever. The fact they are bringing her in as a mnemosurgeon is very unsettling but very cool

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Airachnid man, Airachnid. I found her to be the creepiest and scariest of the cons from Prime, and probably from ever. The fact they are bringing her in as a mnemosurgeon is very unsettling but very cool

Wait, they're what?! Did I miss something in an issue because I never heard this before. That's friggin' amazing!

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Airachnid man, Airachnid. I found her to be the creepiest and scariest of the cons from Prime, and probably from ever. The fact they are bringing her in as a mnemosurgeon is very unsettling but very cool

Wait, they're what?! Did I miss something in an issue because I never heard this before. That's friggin' amazing!

Issue 10 cover, the one Va'al posted above and in the May solicites

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Airachnid man, Airachnid. I found her to be the creepiest and scariest of the cons from Prime, and probably from ever. The fact they are bringing her in as a mnemosurgeon is very unsettling but very cool

Wait, they're what?! Did I miss something in an issue because I never heard this before. That's friggin' amazing!

Issue 10 cover, the one Va'al posted above and in the May solicites

Doesn't say she's a mnemosurgeon though!