Till All Are One
(Spoiler free-ish)
SynopsisStarscream 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 sayWe'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, SolusAnd 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 changeBut 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.
ArtWhen 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 paragraphAnd 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 insteadThe 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.
ThoughtsWARNING: this may contain spoilersAnd 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/TracescreamI 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.
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. 
