Full Preview for IDW Transformers: Till All Are One #9

2 issues in a row to puck up on free comic book day

Va'al wrote:One of those covers, as shown before, in sketch form before edits.


A fan recreating it with toys.





afdhfg

*cough* *cough well i tried something

Synopsis

After the costly victory against the Titans, Iacon is in shambles and Starscream finds himself on shakier ground than ever. The key to his political (and likely literal) survival rests in the outcome of a very unlikely event: the trial of the Council’s first official war criminal-Chromia of Caminus!



Story

Till All Are One is a book that thus far has managed to exceed expectations. Between the first arc involving old fan-favourites the Combaticons in a grand political drama and the second arc bringing in a Titan invasion straight from Luna 1, the comic has not only managed to beat out its predecessors in the Windblade volumes, but arguably it has been the best of all three Transformers ongoings this year. However, after two world-shattering arcs, it's time for the book to slow down a little and deal with the aftermath - and it isn't short on things to deal with. This issue balances so many dangling plot threads - the aftermath of the Titan invasion; the repercussions and explanation of the Liege Maximo and Elita's crew; a trial concerning a Badgeless' allegiance with the Combaticons; a decision on what to do with Chromia, and where Starscream will stand in all of this. Oh, and they somehow managed to bring in a plot thread from Combiner Wars too. So after such a fantastic arc, it might be one's worry that this issue in trying to balance so many bullet points may not be up to snuff. But oh, my friends, there is no worry to be had. For this might just be the best issue of Till All Are One so far.



With Windblade ominously missing from this issue, the narrative mic is handed to Starscream - and as you'd expect from the silver-tongued manipulator he somehow finds a way to talk for ages and ages and ages... without mincing his words. The Windblade books have done a fine job of building up just the sort of person Starscream becomes when he's essentially gotten all he's ever wanted and this continues that development following the huge events in the last eight issues. I won't spoil it all here; but all the interesting introspection and dilemmas he plagues himself with throughout the pages makes it all the more satisfying when he finally reaches a conclusion on what to do and how exactly to play around all his foes - it's exactly the kind of thing that could only come from a guy called Starscream.



Talking of his foes, let me give this last little drabble to Elita One. Ever since she first appeared way back in 2015 the mystery surrounding her, the crew she commands and the ship she captains has been played up - and in the last arc it all came to fruition. And as the mysteries of 'Carcer' have now been borne to all the public, Elita lays out all the cards of her goals, her motivation and her backstory to Starscream and what remains of the council. While a lot of it does show her roots on working on the Aligned continuity, Mairghread Scott nevertheless manages to weave in some very interesting worldbuilding to an already very interesting world. And by the time it's done, by the time it's clear where exactly she stands; Elita has in this reviewer's opinion been turned into one of the most interesting characters in the comic.



Art

Sara Pitre-Durocher and Joana Lafuente handle lineart and colours in this issue, respectively; as they have done almost the whole book. As such, a lot of what has been said about them the past issues can be said here - they're very good at what they do, they have a great understanding of composition and sequential art; and their style fits the book and helps make the characters pop. There is, however, one particular section of the issue very much worth commenting on art-wise - and that's the flashback to the age of the Primes.



This only goes on for two pages, but it shows they can go for another very different style extremely well. The section stands out for its darker, sharper colours and lines; creating a great contrast between then and now - the blurred figures and misty panel separation help create an aura of mystery and wonder without veering too far so that it feels like a smudge. While I adore Pitre-Durocher and Lafuente's style employed for most of Till All Are One, this is some beautiful artwork the likes of which I would be very excited to see in future issues.


Final Thoughts

As far as aftermath issues go, this is one heck of a good one. Starscream is interesting. Elita One is interesting. Chromia is interesting. The way the consequences of last issue are dealt with are interesting. This is an interesting issue! We got so much character development and revelations and story advancement in so few pages - this creative team has come a long way since Windblade volume 1 and I truly believe they're at the top of the game and know exactly what they're doing. And what they're doing is some truly excellent work.



And even with all it managed to give us, it still leaves me wanting more. The repercussions wrought by both Starscream and Elita are shaping up to be some very interesting development for Cybertron, and there's still characters we haven't checked in on yet. But if the upcoming issues dealing with said characters are anything like this one, then I can look forward to excellent storytelling with masterclass character studies and some absolutely stunning art.

This was an awesome issue!

I like that they keep going on like Windblade is dead.

I'm sending out my husband to pick this up for me - CHIRR! *excited!*

Starscream is just so perfectly Starscream-like in this. This incarnation is creeping up on Armada Starscream as my favorite. Scott has such a handle on the character that it's astounding, and really damn fun to read!

This issue was peak Starscream. Clever, ruthless, and manipulative. I like the fact that he knows that what he's doing is wrong, but that he's also self-aware enough to know he'll never change. His statement to Chromia closes the character arc that started way back in Robots in Disguise under John Barber. Starscream has changed, but he's never going to be a good guy, and both he and the readers understand that now.

via the usual suspects we bring to you today our first of several previews, that of Till All Are One #10! With the latest issue coming out only yesterday, it seems perfect that the first 3 pages of the next issue come out today. Check out the preview below!

As Starscream faces down the encroaching machinations of Elita One, he enlists Blast Off to help him bring Bruticus back!

Oh scrap, we're gonna be focusing on Blast Off?!
... I mean, okay, yes; cover implied that, but still!

I couldn't help but notice the arms around the edges of the cover for issue 10, do I see hints of Airachnid coming to the IDWverse?!

homicide wrote:I couldn't help but notice the arms around the edges of the cover for issue 10, do I see hints of Airachnid coming to the IDWverse?!

Well, he is rendezvousing with someone who guess by the initial "A".

Nik Hero wrote:

homicide wrote:I couldn't help but notice the arms around the edges of the cover for issue 10, do I see hints of Airachnid coming to the IDWverse?!

Well, he is rendezvousing with someone who guess by the initial "A".

Mairghread Scott confirmed via her Tumblr that Airachnid will be introduced in this issue.

Bounti76 wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:

homicide wrote:I couldn't help but notice the arms around the edges of the cover for issue 10, do I see hints of Airachnid coming to the IDWverse?!

Well, he is rendezvousing with someone who guess by the initial "A".

Mairghread Scott confirmed via her Tumblr that Airachnid will be introduced in this issue.

Hopefully she's an actual good villain with effort put in this time around.

Argh! he either forgot or didn't bother getting them! I have to wait until tomorrow.

I like how they removed the faceplate from Vigilem so he has his old face again.

Also, Airachnid. Argh. She creeped me out very badly in Prime, in a good way mind you, so I'm interested to see how they handle her here. As she appears to be a mnemosurgeon, she has the potential to be even badder

Thank to PreviewsWorld, we have another cover for the upcoming issue #10 for Transformers: Till All Are One by IDW Publishing, courtesy of artist Sara Pitre-Durocher! Check it out mirrored below, and take a look at a brief preview as reported here.

(W) Mairghread Scott (A) Sara Pitre-Durocher (CA) Marcelo Matere
As Starscream faces down the encroaching machinations of Elita One, he enlists Blast Off to help him bring Bruticus back!

Va'al wrote:Thank to PreviewsWorld, we have another cover for the upcoming issue #10 for Transformers: Till All Are One by IDW Publishing, courtesy of artist Sara Pitre-Durocher! Check it out mirrored below, and take a look at a brief preview as reported here.

(W) Mairghread Scott (A) Sara Pitre-Durocher (CA) Marcelo Matere
As Starscream faces down the encroaching machinations of Elita One, he enlists Blast Off to help him bring Bruticus back!

Sweet....Solus....Prime.....just when I think the cover to TAAO #8 was mind bogglingly good, Pitre-Durocher goes and does this. I think, bar none, she's the best artist on any of the TF books right now. She, Scott and Lafuente have been the consistently good with the whole book.

Stone the crows! That's a fantastic cover!

Airachnid's getting introduced? Awesome! Airachnid is IMO one of the most creative and legitimately terrifying villains Transformers has ever had (which made me very sad when she was unceremoniously stuck on the moon) and if she gets to appear in IDW, hopefully she'll be wonderfully disturbing.

I just really hope they don't hold back on making her as twisted and evil as she should be. Given the somewhat darker nature of IDW compared to Prime (due to being aimed at older audiences) they could in theory make her a truly horrific character. I don't care how they go about it- go a bit further with the whole "alien big game hunter" thing she had going in the cartoon, make her a cannibalistic murderer, have her as a sadistic robosexual predator (like her Japanese dub version except less "female Pepe le Pew" and more "female Buffalo Bill"), do all three at once...I don't care as long as she's an absolutely abhorrent villain that would send shivers up the spines of the DJD.

Anyway. British IDW fans: Where's the best place to get the trade copies of the IDW comics in the UK? I know there's Comixology but I don't really like digital copies of reading material, and whilst I do have a very good comic shop in my town the only TF stuff they have is individual issues, and I much prefer trades.

Black Hat wrote: Anyway. British IDW fans: Where's the best place to get the trade copies of the IDW comics in the UK? I know there's Comixology but I don't really like digital copies of reading material, and whilst I do have a very good comic shop in my town the only TF stuff they have is individual issues, and I much prefer trades.

Hey dude, I'm not a Brit, but couldn't you just order them off Amazon, seem like that'd be the easiest solution...

Big Grim wrote:Stone the crows!

WHAT???

Serious, 2nd straight thread I've visited where I have no idea what the hell something means!

Black Hat wrote:Airachnid's getting introduced? Awesome! Airachnid is IMO one of the most creative and legitimately terrifying villains Transformers has ever had (which made me very sad when she was unceremoniously stuck on the moon) and if she gets to appear in IDW, hopefully she'll be wonderfully disturbing.

I just really hope they don't hold back on making her as twisted and evil as she should be. Given the somewhat darker nature of IDW compared to Prime (due to being aimed at older audiences) they could in theory make her a truly horrific character. I don't care how they go about it- go a bit further with the whole "alien big game hunter" thing she had going in the cartoon, make her a cannibalistic murderer, have her as a sadistic robosexual predator (like her Japanese dub version except less "female Pepe le Pew" and more "female Buffalo Bill"), do all three at once...I don't care as long as she's an absolutely abhorrent villain that would send shivers up the spines of the DJD.

this goes right with what I posted. She is creepily terrifying, and then she is a mnemosurgeon here based on the first issue 10 cover. I hope they do her justice

That was a very good book.
I am gonna spoiler block this just in case I say too much.
As a female Starscream fan, I think this book neatly ties up why he cannot be changed. Many fangirls feel that Starscream can become "good" - and to a degree maybe he can become less bad, but he will never ever be the good guy. Bumblebee here almost represents the goody fangirl who keeps saying, you can do this, you can be good you can absolve your sins for your crimes. With him, he is a war criminal - he knows it. He knows he is incurable - at least not this soon after the war, Maybe in many 10's of thousands of years he m ight come around, but not now.

I will say he loves his world. That's why he will do anything and whatever cost to protect it - sort of killing himself.

Fantastic book. This is MY Starscream.

Sunstar wrote:That was a very good book.
I am gonna spoiler block this just in case I say too much.
As a female Starscream fan, I think this book neatly ties up why he cannot be changed. Many fangirls feel that Starscream can become "good" - and to a degree maybe he can become less bad, but he will never ever be the good guy. Bumblebee here almost represents the goody fangirl who keeps saying, you can do this, you can be good you can absolve your sins for your crimes. With him, he is a war criminal - he knows it. He knows he is incurable - at least not this soon after the war, Maybe in many 10's of thousands of years he m ight come around, but not now.

I will say he loves his world. That's why he will do anything and whatever cost to protect it - sort of killing himself.

Fantastic book. This is MY Starscream.

i can go with that

After yesterday's reveal from Sara Pitre Durocher of a variant cover for the upcoming Transformers: Till All Are One #10 - as seen here - we also have another piece of art for the issue, courtesy of Priscilla Tramontano! Check it out below, via PreviewsWorld.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Big Grim wrote:Stone the crows!

WHAT???

Serious, 2nd straight thread I've visited where I have no idea what the hell something means!

Allow me to enlighten!

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/stone-the-crows.html

It's pretty British. In this instant, an exclamation of incredulity.

Thanks for covering for me, glad to see this come to fruition!

One point about this:

Kurona wrote:

This only goes on for two pages, but it shows they can go for another very different style extremely well. The section stands out for its darker, sharper colours and lines; creating a great contrast between then and now - the blurred figures and misty panel separation help create an aura of mystery and wonder without veering too far so that it feels like a smudge. While I adore Pitre-Durocher and Lafuente's style employed for most of Till All Are One, this is some beautiful artwork the likes of which I would be very excited to see in future issues.

I loved those elements, but I'm also pretty sure it's almost entirely Pitre Durocher's work on the colours for the flashback sections. If I'm counting pages right on my copy, anyway.

(Compare to her covers, for example, for similar muted-but-glossy colours!)

That said, good review!

Big Grim wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Big Grim wrote:Stone the crows!

WHAT???

Serious, 2nd straight thread I've visited where I have no idea what the hell something means!

Allow me to enlighten!

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/stone-the-crows.html

It's pretty British. In this instant, an exclamation of incredulity.

You learn something new everyday!

that said, to relate to the issue: I am actually excited for the Primes. This is something that has had the build and I am a fan of the 13. And, think about it: Liege Maximo has shown up here now, and Solus is highly respected and praised on Caminus, and we now saw her death. Alpha Trion, Onyx, and Micronus have shown up in OP/RiD, and Nexus died there too. We have some very interesting things going on with the Primes, with some good set up too.

Although, another issue: if Solus died before the war of the primes, how was she able to go to a planet that housed an ore? And the Liege never settled on a planet, which was confirmed, so he couldn't have been on a planet that became a home to an ore. Man, this is like trying to keep up with a soap opera!

Aren't the ores just sent by Shockwave, way after the War of the Primes?

Va'al wrote:Aren't the ores just sent by Shockwave, way after the War of the Primes?

The ores were sent by Shockwave well after the war of the primes, but those ores specifically targeted the planets where the Primes were supposed to have ended up on. the resting place of the 13 became the resting place of the ores, or that's how it is supposed to go. I think that is being somewhat ignored considering the Liege and Solus

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Va'al wrote:Aren't the ores just sent by Shockwave, way after the War of the Primes?

The ores were sent by Shockwave well after the war of the primes, but those ores specifically targeted the planets where the Primes were supposed to have ended up on. the resting place of the 13 became the resting place of the ores, or that's how it is supposed to go. I think that is being somewhat ignored considering the Liege and Solus

The way I saw the whole thing, personally, was that the colonies were already being established. Shockwave starts the experiments after his Empurata, so the war is starting already and neutrals will be skedaddling. Camiens, who worship Solus and follow the Way of the Flame, were already bound for the planet, right? Maybe it's not the Prime but something of the Prime that coincided with Shockwave's ores?

Is the Forge on Caminus?

Va'al wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Va'al wrote:Aren't the ores just sent by Shockwave, way after the War of the Primes?

The ores were sent by Shockwave well after the war of the primes, but those ores specifically targeted the planets where the Primes were supposed to have ended up on. the resting place of the 13 became the resting place of the ores, or that's how it is supposed to go. I think that is being somewhat ignored considering the Liege and Solus

The way I saw the whole thing, personally, was that the colonies were already being established. Shockwave starts the experiments after his Empurata, so the war is starting already and neutrals will be skedaddling. Camiens, who worship Solus and follow the Way of the Flame, were already bound for the planet, right? Maybe it's not the Prime but something of the Prime that coincided with Shockwave's ores?

Is the Forge on Caminus?

I don't have the comic on me, but read the last paragraph. Shockwave chose the planets as the resting places of the 12 primes and the enigma since Nexus did die, which considering Solus died to ignite the war of the primes, would have to mean she ended up elsewhere to be buried and Shockwave knew where, same with the Liege as he was inside Vigilem (unless vigilem was on a planet that became an ore location at the time the ore touched down, and the entropy cloud from Micronauts could be another ore ala Micronus). The colonies themselves aren't connected to the ores. The colonies are the colonies of the primes, who went elsewhere. We don't know where the forge is, or any real artifact other than the enigma.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Big Grim wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Big Grim wrote:Stone the crows!

WHAT???

Serious, 2nd straight thread I've visited where I have no idea what the hell something means!

Allow me to enlighten!

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/stone-the-crows.html

It's pretty British. In this instant, an exclamation of incredulity.

You learn something new everyday!

You're welcome!

I love looking at M Scott's blog every now and then...

Basically TAAO 9's Liege Maximo/Vigilem backstory.

So we took the one asshole, and we trapped him inside the other asshole, and then we trapped that asshole inside himself, and then we flew both assholes into space.

And that’s how you solve problems.

…then we took all the assholes that followed those assholes and made them guard the assholes we imprisoned until the end of time.

Yet again from the Twitter vault (geddit? because Volta?) of IDW Artist Sara Pitre Durocher, we have some concept art for another Transformers: Till All Are One new character: the Titan that was Vigilem before becoming Carcer and Vigilem once more! Check out the before and after sketches in the image below, and let us know what you think of the Liege Maximo vessel in the Energon Pub.

I really do love how the Titans have such visual variety; they're not just all recolours of Metroplex.

Which, naturally, does make me wonder about Metrotitan... especially as I just read All Hail Optimus. Again. Damn that story's underrated.

The original idea was that they all did look like metroplex. Metroplex, metrotitan, the necrotitan, all the ones that were scene in Remain in light, about twelve or more seen in the annual they all shared the same body type.

Randomhero wrote:The original idea was that they all did look like metroplex. Metroplex, metrotitan, the necrotitan, all the ones that were scene in Remain in light, about twelve or more seen in the annual they all shared the same body type.

This is where the info creep over time lends to the myths. The Metrotitan style Titans = Those of the Guiding Hand/Knights of Cybertrons. Viglem is of a cadre that belonged to the Thirteen Primes. How those actually converge, if they do at all (Metroplex being Alpha Trion's Titan?), is something I look forward to reading later on!

In other IDW Publishing news, and more squarely in the Transformers field, Till All Are One reaches its tenth issue this Wednesday, featuring the continuation of the new story arc, and the return of Blast Off and the Combaticons! Plus, Beast Wars meets Transformers: Prime, in the new character introduction...

Pop back after the book's release for a Seibertron.com review, and join the discussion in the Energon Pub!

Transformers: Till All Are One #10
Mairghread Scott (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a & c)
As Starscream faces down the encroaching machinations of Elita One, he enlists Blast Off to help him bring Bruticus back!
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
Variant cover by Marcelo Matere!

I knew IDW Airachnid would be connected to Eukaris. I wonder who the other spider-bot standing with Blackarachnia is.

Also, I kept reading her lines in Gina Torres' voice.

I think the other spider is based McDonald's transmetal blackarachnia toy.you know if it had been cool and not a lump

Bounti76 wrote:Also, I kept reading her lines in Gina Torres' voice.

Snap. I came here to say the exact same thing!

I don't care if it's Hasbro, third party, or some guy in his mom's basement, someone give me a good airachnid toy!

Looks more like a spider version of Antagony but it doesn't matter, probably just an Easter egg of someone who won't show up again.

LE0KING wrote:I don't care if it's Hasbro, third party, or some guy in his mom's basement, someone give me a good airachnid toy!

It's certainly a figure I don't regret selling. Found her said "yes, I don't care if she's a bad figure I found her!" Opened her up and sucked my teeth and 3 weeks later sold to someone.

LE0KING wrote:I don't care if it's Hasbro, third party, or some guy in his mom's basement, someone give me a good airachnid toy!

Heard the legion isn't bad.

Have the legion, love it. Need it bigger.

Kurona wrote:

LE0KING wrote:I don't care if it's Hasbro, third party, or some guy in his mom's basement, someone give me a good airachnid toy!

Heard the legion isn't bad.

Legion one can actually move its arms and legs.

Randomhero wrote:

Kurona wrote:

LE0KING wrote:I don't care if it's Hasbro, third party, or some guy in his mom's basement, someone give me a good airachnid toy!

Heard the legion isn't bad.

Legion one can actually move its arms and legs.

Also it's legion, so if your building a Neo G1 IDW and/or Prime, it won't exactly fit in. Genuinely surprised with how popular of a character she is a 3rd party hasn't taken a crack at a Neo-g1 style arachnid. Anyway back to the comic, I had a feeling as soon at there was any hint to Airachnid being in TAAO, that she would've been responsible for the killings in the first issue. I do find it interesting that Airachnid is performing something very similar to mneurosurgery, without exactly being it. Opens more lore without it being something to similar to what was explored with chromedome. Also I like how most of Starscream and Airachnid's dialog is full of backhanded compliments and veiled insults.

SW's SilverHammer wrote:Also I like how most of Starscream and Airachnid's dialog is full of backhanded compliments and veiled insults.

Their relationship is absolutely perfect - I think it may be too much to ask for her to be a main player, but dear god would I love for her to show up again. I much prefer her as Starscream's partner-in-crime to Rattrap.

Big Grim wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:Also, I kept reading her lines in Gina Torres' voice.

Snap. I came here to say the exact same thing!

and I was thinking the exact same thing too!!

Dang, now if only I could read Starscream in Steve Blum's voice. I haven't really been able to do that yet