Full Preview of IDW Transformers: Till All Are One #5

lovin the art as always

Synopsis
REVOLUTION is over but the danger isn’t over! A wave of undead TITANS threatens CYBERTRON! STARSCREAM will need more than secret police to stop the oncoming horde, but our Fearless Leader finds himself short on friends and firepower. Who can be called upon—and why aren’t they stepping up to the plate?



Story
Rather than tying up what Windblade was concerned with in Revolution (though not disregarding it), the latest issue of Till All Are One brings us more directly to the aftermath of Titans Return, and Sentinel Prime/Infinitus' plan to unleash zombie Titans upon the universe - as they now approach Cybertron, we catch up...



We know what's coming. We know the Titans are on their way, even if the story had been set on pause for the duration of Revolution, and we're being brought up to speed just when, just as Starscream is in-story, and probably with similar reactions to the Chosen Supreme Leader of Cybertron and his ghost pal, and the rest of the Council of Worlds.



Mairghread Scott provides a script that allows for a little de-tension before the ramping up of the tension starts again - dotted with some dry humour from the various parties involved - as a planet-wide action is taken to counter the Titans' arrival, allowing for each characters' capabilities to shine...



...but it also provides an excellent foil for a discussion around Windblade's role and position in the new society still forming, as worked towards in the Revolution one-shot already. That, and we have some very interesting deal/diplomacy parallels between her, and her frenemy-nemesis (frenemenemenemenisis?) Starscream himself.

Art

After the break, we have Sara Pitre Durocher take on the Cybertronian environments, as well as the layouts and everything else that comes with the artwork - including some seriously impressive work in conveying the tension of the script in the building of the panels and pages, running through the issue all the way to the handful of climax points towards the end.



The colours are at the hands of not one but two regular artists: Joana Lafuente and Priscilla Tramontano; both work wonderfully in sync with the linework provided, and carry across the latter's work on the Titans Return books as well as bringing some wonderful backgrounds to life in a very tense sequence or seven. Astounding.



Similarly, both Chris Mowry and Tom B. Long are involved in the lettering and, production wise, the issue has a fair load of different fonts, voices, effects and soundwords - perfectly handled for otherwise distractingly busy page. As for covers, we've seen the excellently slick Sara Pitre Durocher regular cover way back when, Tramontano's gorgeous 'every anime ever' variant in the preview, and now Jack Lawrence (hey, read our interview with him!) on in the thumbnail, with Prime's best couple.


Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

The issue is excellent. That's my thoughts, right there. The constant build is constant, and incessant, not only in dialogue, script and direction, but also through the visual, the angles provided for the action, the layouts of the pages and the panels, and the decision not to rely on larger pages for the actual climax, but rather as a mid-point punctuation mark.



I am very interested in those parallels between Starscream and Windblade I mentioned above, and curious to see whether they develop further. Seeing multiple characters from across the franchise's history work together brought a slow smile to my face, and their voices work really well as the interact with one another. As I said, this is great - and the end point is just evil.

It's convenient how everyone who fights a Titan is literally the size of omega superme when battling one and a handful together can destroy one.

Randomhero wrote:It's convenient how everyone who fights a Titan is literally the size of omega superme when battling one and a handful together can destroy one.

My friend, did you just mention scale in a transformers forum? Ha ha.
Seriously though, I usually don't care for Scott's work, but this was a fantastic issue. But then again anything would look good after revolution.

LE0KING wrote:

Randomhero wrote:It's convenient how everyone who fights a Titan is literally the size of omega superme when battling one and a handful together can destroy one.

My friend, did you just mention scale in a transformers forum? Ha ha.
Seriously though, I usually don't care for Scott's work, but this was a fantastic issue. But then again anything would look good after revolution.

See I liked the art in Revolution. I didn't have an issue with it. I thought it was very stylized and fun. Sarah's art, I'm not huge into it. Every time I see I'm reminded of her creepy Cyclonus/tailgate slash fic makeout art she makes.

Randomhero wrote:

LE0KING wrote:

Randomhero wrote:It's convenient how everyone who fights a Titan is literally the size of omega superme when battling one and a handful together can destroy one.

My friend, did you just mention scale in a transformers forum? Ha ha.
Seriously though, I usually don't care for Scott's work, but this was a fantastic issue. But then again anything would look good after revolution.

See I liked the art in Revolution. I didn't have an issue with it. I thought it was very stylized and fun. Sarah's art, I'm not huge into it. Every time I see I'm reminded of her creepy Cyclonus/tailgate slash fic makeout art she makes.

I've never seen those thank goodness, but at least Sarah doesn't make windblade doesn't look like an Easter island head.
I do miss the old Sarah though, her art was less cartoony.
But I'm off track, I meant to say that story wise this is more coherent and enjoyable than 90% of revolution.

Just got my hands on the copy this evening.

good Story and Starscream has a bit of life in him once again. He is doing what he knows how to do,and for once, he is leading a unified Cybertron. Good Good characterisation.

Lost Light and Optimus Prime are not the only number 1 books to come out this week from IDW's Transformers output - the first volume of Transformers: Till All Are One is also hitting retail, in digital and print format, tomorrow, collecting the first four issues of the new ongoing series from Mairghread Scott and Sara Pitre Durocher. Check out the preview provided below!

Transformers: Till All Are One, Vol. 1
Mairghread Scott (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a & c)
Starscream rules Cybertron. He and Windblade vie for control of the Council of Worlds, each aligning themselves with as many long-lost colonies as they can. But Starscream's secret police keep increasing the tension, destabilizing the fragile peace that has been established. Collects issues #1–4.
TPB • FC • $17.99 • 100 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-808-3

Bullet points:
“Till All Are One (has) the character of a novel or a prime time television series.” –Weekly Comic Book Review

#SWINDLELIVES

The Combaticons arc (ie what this volume collects) is fantastic and really sets a milestone for the Windblade comics as the place where it gets a huge spike in quality. The previous two Windblade comic series were both fantastic too, but TAAO is where it's really getting good and imo ahead of the main RiD/Transformers/OP ongoing. Not quite MTMTE level, but what is? The only problem I really have is that it can be a bit too short due to not having as many issues to flesh things out, but with what they do have to work with, the team working on this does excellently. Highly recommend.

and I just ordered Transformers 9 and 10, MTMTE 10, and Sins of the Wreckers 2 weeks ago. Should have waited to ship this out too. I'm not getting a TPB until the one with the Revolution one-shots and holiday special come out, so it's gonna be a comic void for now

iTunes have provided us with a sneak peak at Till All Are One #6, as we rejoin the zombie titan battle, with Metroplex down, Knock out upset over some scratched paint, and Sparkstalker and Lightbright making a run for it. Check it out below!

A wave of undead TITANS has touched down on CYBERTRON! Even with the help of the massive METROPLEX, WINDBLADE and STARSCREAM can only hold them off for so long. They need help from Elita-1—and they’re going to get it whether she agrees or not. The fate of CYBERTRON depends on it!

Note: Sara Pitre Durocher says that the pages are actually out of order in this preview, and should be Windblade/Sparkstalker/Knockout instead of Knockout/Windblade/Sparkstalker. We'll find out more with the full preview!

I know it's out of order, but honestly I kinda like the pacing this way, kinda makes it feel more like the situation's more dire.

In even more comics news, we have the subscription variant cover for the upcoming Transformers: Till All Are One #6, due out in a couple of weeks from IDW Publishing (short preview here). The image, from Previews World, is mirrored below though we have no indication as to who the authors are - check it out!

is it out yet?

Coming out of a field so left it's almost out of frame, site Adventures in Poor Taste have broken the seal of the preview showing for the upcoming Till All Are One #6 - out next week from IDW Publishing. You can check out some watermark-free images of the pages below, and come back for the review after its release!

A wave of undead TITANS has touched down on CYBERTRON! Even with the help of the massive METROPLEX, WINDBLADE and STARSCREAM can only hold them off for so long. They need help from Elita-1—and they’re going to get it whether she agrees or not. The fate of CYBERTRON depends on it!

Bullet points:
· TITANS RETURNS continues—but can our heroes survive?!

· Despite their differences, WINDBLADE and STARSCREAM team up… for the sake of CYBERTRON’s survival!

· Variant cover by Zoner!

This looks like an exciting story. I really hope TAAO #9 missing from March solicits was an oversight. I'd hate to see this series end when it's the better of the three ongoings so far.

Is anybody else kind of creeped out by this cover? It's kind of off putting. I will without a doubt be picking up this book of course, but not this particular cover. Seriously is it just me?

Excited as usual for the next issue.

But didn't Vanquish get decapitated in the Drift series?

SynchroBunny wrote:Excited as usual for the next issue.

But didn't Vanquish get decapitated in the Drift series?

There's two different Vanquishes in this universe; one's a Divisiun-born neutral, the other's a Cybertron-born Decepticon. The two writers just didn't realise the other was using the same character, basically.

Aru wrote:Is anybody else kind of creeped out by this cover? It's kind of off putting. I will without a doubt be picking up this book of course, but not this particular cover. Seriously is it just me?

If you are refering to the Windblade cover then yes, very!

padfoo wrote:

Aru wrote:Is anybody else kind of creeped out by this cover? It's kind of off putting. I will without a doubt be picking up this book of course, but not this particular cover. Seriously is it just me?

If you are refering to the Windblade cover then yes, very!

Yeah that one and ok good so it isn't just me then.

Aru wrote:Is anybody else kind of creeped out by this cover? It's kind of off putting. I will without a doubt be picking up this book of course, but not this particular cover. Seriously is it just me?

it is everything wrong with windblade. the character should not exist. and it takes just one look at that image to tell how wrong it is.

Yeaaah, that cover is uh... hm. Not something I enjoy.

Went to the artist's deviant art account (Zoner233 I believe) and this is pretty standard for what's on there. Artist likes cute girls and robots; here are the results. Art seems off to me from what I know of windblade's character, but covers are designed to sell comics. Regardless if you like the cover; the cover is eye-catching.

Yo Fort Max and co. Any of you wanna help?

So... is there a link to that Windblade version of the cover or something?

I love how uncomfortable people are with that cover and no one thinks twice about the cover with a decaptitated head.

Randomhero wrote:I love how uncomfortable people are with that cover and no one thinks twice about the cover with a decaptitated head.

People in the western world are generally more afraid of sex then they are of violence.

you gentlemen(or ladies) have lost me. Which cover bothers you? None of it bothers me.

Sunstar wrote:you gentlemen(or ladies) have lost me. Which cover bothers you? None of it bothers me.

The RI cover with Windblade. I think people are also not noticing the giant sword in her hand. It's a cover of being surprised, of looking like she's been caught. Not a cover of a defenseless woman being jumped in an alley.

Randomhero wrote:

Sunstar wrote:you gentlemen(or ladies) have lost me. Which cover bothers you? None of it bothers me.

The RI cover with Windblade. I think people are also not noticing the giant sword in her hand. It's a cover of being surprised, of looking like she's been caught. Not a cover of a defenseless woman being jumped in an alley.

I'm not sure the sword saves it. I mean yes she is surprised but she also seems to be in danger. The sword being drawn helps that. There is just so much more here though, the pronounced breasts, the uncomfortably small hands, the cock of her hip in a weird way for this situation, and the way her arm goes up to her mouth while its agape is very evocative of those ahhhh screaming moments from films and such. It's over all fairly unpleasant and as somebody said earlier rather sexual, which seems weirdly out of place. I don't know, I mean imagine prowl or Optimus looking exactly like this with hips cocked and delicate fingers it doesn't really mesh well. I'm all for fan service, I mean if you wanted to do the women of GI JOE on a cover at like a beach party in swim suits it be stupid, cheesecake, and I'd be in on the joke. This isn't that though. Am I making any sense?

Aru wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Sunstar wrote:you gentlemen(or ladies) have lost me. Which cover bothers you? None of it bothers me.

The RI cover with Windblade. I think people are also not noticing the giant sword in her hand. It's a cover of being surprised, of looking like she's been caught. Not a cover of a defenseless woman being jumped in an alley.

I'm not sure the sword saves it. I mean yes she is surprised but she also seems to be in danger. The sword being drawn helps that. There is just so much more here though, the pronounced breasts, the uncomfortably small hands, the cock of her hip in a weird way for this situation, and the way her arm goes up to her mouth while its agape is very evocative of those ahhhh screaming moments from films and such. It's over all fairly unpleasant and as somebody said earlier rather sexual, which seems weirdly out of place. I don't know, I mean imagine prowl or Optimus looking exactly like this with hips cocked and delicate fingers it doesn't really mesh well. I'm all for fan service, I mean if you wanted to do the women of GI JOE on a cover at like a beach party in swim suits it be stupid, cheesecake, and I'd be in on the joke. This isn't that though. Am I making any sense?

no not really. You're reading way too much into this. I've looked up other boards coverage of the preview not a single person saying "this makes me uncomfortable" some even saying "that's a cool cover"

Like I said before, there's a cover with decaptitatwd robot, no one thinks twice.

Randomhero wrote:

Aru wrote:

Randomhero wrote:

Sunstar wrote:you gentlemen(or ladies) have lost me. Which cover bothers you? None of it bothers me.

The RI cover with Windblade. I think people are also not noticing the giant sword in her hand. It's a cover of being surprised, of looking like she's been caught. Not a cover of a defenseless woman being jumped in an alley.

I'm not sure the sword saves it. I mean yes she is surprised but she also seems to be in danger. The sword being drawn helps that. There is just so much more here though, the pronounced breasts, the uncomfortably small hands, the cock of her hip in a weird way for this situation, and the way her arm goes up to her mouth while its agape is very evocative of those ahhhh screaming moments from films and such. It's over all fairly unpleasant and as somebody said earlier rather sexual, which seems weirdly out of place. I don't know, I mean imagine prowl or Optimus looking exactly like this with hips cocked and delicate fingers it doesn't really mesh well. I'm all for fan service, I mean if you wanted to do the women of GI JOE on a cover at like a beach party in swim suits it be stupid, cheesecake, and I'd be in on the joke. This isn't that though. Am I making any sense?

no not really. You're reading way too much into this. I've looked up other boards coverage of the preview not a single person saying "this makes me uncomfortable" some even saying "that's a cool cover"

Like I said before, there's a cover with decaptitatwd robot, no one thinks twice.

I don't think so. It's like when you read over a sentence with bad grammar or is worded poorly you go back and realize why the sentence set off your confusion. Suddenly the flaw are obvious.I don't doubt that other people at other boards feel different I mean it's a huge world out there so why wouldn't there be? I mean there do seem to be plenty of people noticing it here though.
I don't think the decapitated head is relatable though. It's an issue about a large battle and it's within that wheel house to have an example of death or even violence. More so than that it's done tastefully and violence/death is not always done so. You can fail at that in an even more spectacular way than I believe the Windblade one does. The somber colors compliment the titans head as it lays on the ground and the figures standing around convey the size and the weight of the Titans falling on Cybertron. The cover expresses the book very well and with taste. It's a false equivalencey to say that just because one piece of art is handling something more complex and doing it well that another one can't fail or express something extremely uncomfortable while attempting something simpler.
Again what if it was Optimus or Prowl in that exact same posistion wouldn't that seem super off? It would seem super off to me. It's just a hypersexualized piece about a situation of danger and it's hard to not take that as anything other than off.

Dat silly anime face (tiny mouth) on the Windblade cover...

I see a curvy robot lady, with a sword. You're looking too deep into this.

Synopsis
A wave of undead TITANS has touched down on CYBERTRON! Even with the help of the massive METROPLEX, WINDBLADE and STARSCREAM can only hold them off for so long. They need help from Elita-1—and they’re going to get it whether she agrees or not. The fate of CYBERTRON depends on it!



Story

With the weird time shifts of IDW's release schedules - seriously, even continuity has nothing on them - we're still working in the aftermath of Titans Return, and really quite heavily so. Said aftermath continues to provide an excellent backdrop to the evolving dynamics of the Council, and the whatonearthisgoingon-ness of Elita-1 and her Titan Carcer. How? Read on...



An issue which rolls much faster than the previous one, which was more focused on build-up than resolution, we start to see the direct consequence of having called all major players into play, and Elita One still unwilling to lend a hand - because something is up with Carcer, as everyone knows by now.



Though there is plenty of character building in the various scenes across the issue, and Windblade, Ironhide, Starscream, and even Metroplex get a good dose, the one that stood out the most was Obsidian, this time round. We've seen him loving his tiny 'gotcha' screens, being imposing and menacing and lurking and looming - we get to see a very different side of him, now that he's next to his First. She's probably worse things than him.



Mairghread Scott has also been able to do some subtle characterisation of the various names and faces that appear in group shots - keep an eye out for all of them as you dodge lasers, blasters, missiles. I have some further thoughts on the issue in terms of plot, but more on that below, of course.

Art

There is a lot happening all at once. It's a giant battle with giant Titans, occurring both in space and on Cybertron. It's a big canvas. Sara Pitre Durocher fills it masterfully, using panels, action layouts, character interactions and page breaks to convey the sheer scale of the event and of its impact upon Starscream's current rule, along with the Council.



And if crowd and battle scenes weren't hard enough for lineart, colourist Joana Lafuente blends her skill with equal mastery, and makes individuals in a crowd stand out, from the guards around Ironhide, to the Titans attacking, to the faces appearing between convicts, citizens, dwellers and ex-colonists. That, and we still have some excellent space scenes, too.



Tom B. Long, still on letters as we've come to expect, still delivers (as we've also come to expect) in fonts, captions, and interplaying the two and more into a coherent part of the visual storytelling. Metroplex's speech-style is still one of the highlights of this book, and so very nice to look at. We also then have Pitre Durocher on main cover, with a similar, echoing variant by Priscilla Tramontano (thumbnailed), plus a continuation of fan artist spotlights with Zoner taking a turn on RI.

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

Diplomacy also means strategy. Leadership also means compromise. Both definitely mean tough choices, and the unique mix of Windblade and Starscream's takes on the current situation at hand brings out a definitely intriguing and potentially incredibly consequential storyline revolving yes around Carcer, but also Metroplex, but even more also - and particularly - Elita-1.



As I said above, I like Obsidian's 'new' side, I like his interaction with Elita, I like that Windblade and Starscream are collaborating on a difficult task, I like that we have a side-support from Chromia, I like that we have everyone - and I mean everyone - in the issue (Check out ScottyP's spoilery character roster in our database!). I like that I have no idea where this is going. I can only think of other Titans, past storylines, speculate, and mostly, just wait for the evil to unfold. Join me?

It's honestly amazing how good TAAO has gotten. It deserves to be an ongoing so much; the few issues it gets right now do not do it justice.

Agreed. It feels more like the natural continuation of RiD (which I always preferred to MTMTE) rather than Windblade Vol 3.

They should have clearly labeled this as part of Titans Return.

Nik Hero wrote:They should have clearly labeled this as part of Titans Return.

It is, in the blurb/synopsis of last issue. The fact that it's not happening before Revolution is entirely IDW's scheduling fault. They're.. not very good at keeping schedules to schedule.

o.supreme wrote:Agreed. It feels more like the natural continuation of RiD (which I always preferred to MTMTE) rather than Windblade Vol 3.

To be fair, Windblade's books have all been about Cybertron and it's relations with other planets. So in that sense, Windblade has always felt like a continuation of the political side of things with Starscream and such in pre-Dark Cybertron RiD while post-Dark Cybertron RiD feels like a continuation of the whole Orion Pax thing in pre-Dark Cybertron RiD.

True. I guess what I'm getting at is I've pretty much preferred any TF story that wasn't MTMTE since the whole MTMTE/RiD era in the last 5 years. I know its a fan favorite, but I tend to enjoy more the stuff going on with Cybertron, and Optimus Prime (which were once the same, now are separate stories)

Dr Va'al wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:They should have clearly labeled this as part of Titans Return.

It is, in the blurb/synopsis of last issue. The fact that it's not happening before Revolution is entirely IDW's scheduling fault. They're.. not very good at keeping schedules to schedule.

I bet it would have sold more with the label on the front.

Dr Va'al wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:They should have clearly labeled this as part of Titans Return.

It is, in the blurb/synopsis of last issue. The fact that it's not happening before Revolution is entirely IDW's scheduling fault. They're.. not very good at keeping schedules to schedule.

Va'al, I checked out the database like you suggested, and I was surprised to see Slammer listed among the characters. I've studied every panel and can't see Slammer anywhere, unless he's got a robot mode that has hithertofore been unseen in the last 30 years.

Bounti76 wrote:

Dr Va'al wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:They should have clearly labeled this as part of Titans Return.

It is, in the blurb/synopsis of last issue. The fact that it's not happening before Revolution is entirely IDW's scheduling fault. They're.. not very good at keeping schedules to schedule.

Va'al, I checked out the database like you suggested, and I was surprised to see Slammer listed among the characters. I've studied every panel and can't see Slammer anywhere, unless he's got a robot mode that has hithertofore been unseen in the last 30 years.

ScottyP suggests that one of the guards - the one you see shouting at people, I believe - is in fact slammer, mostly due to the presence of Metroplex in the story. I cannot confirm or deny either way, but it's worth considering as an option!

Fellow Seibertronian Bounti76 has found an update on IDW writer Mairghread Scott's blog, concerning the lack of a Transformers: Till All Are One in the March 2017 solicitations (which you can find here). Apparently, this is just a scheduled one month break, and not a cancellation or delay. Read more about it below!

Noticed there was no TAAO issue in the March solicitations; it's not cancelled, is it? D:

Nope. We’re just taking a month off for Sara to catch up. Unlike our characters (or like them, depending on how you define it) she is not a machine.

Dr Va'al wrote:

Bounti76 wrote:

Dr Va'al wrote:

Nik Hero wrote:They should have clearly labeled this as part of Titans Return.

It is, in the blurb/synopsis of last issue. The fact that it's not happening before Revolution is entirely IDW's scheduling fault. They're.. not very good at keeping schedules to schedule.

Va'al, I checked out the database like you suggested, and I was surprised to see Slammer listed among the characters. I've studied every panel and can't see Slammer anywhere, unless he's got a robot mode that has hithertofore been unseen in the last 30 years.

ScottyP suggests that one of the guards - the one you see shouting at people, I believe - is in fact slammer, mostly due to the presence of Metroplex in the story. I cannot confirm or deny either way, but it's worth considering as an option!

That's fair. Considering we have such obscure characters as Greenlight, Lancer, Moonracer and the Devisen twins in this story, I wouldn't put it past Scott to slip Slammer into one of the issues. Though given that TAAO generally hews close to 'bots classic color schemes and Slammer's color scheme has always been white-on-white, and this bot's is predominantly gray.....eh, if it is Slammer, maybe Scott, Pitre-DuRocher and LaFuente are taking creative liberties with him, since he's never appeared in robot form before.

Like I said weeks ago, probably just taking the month off. If it was canceled IDW would announce it.

Bounti76 wrote:That's fair. Considering we have such obscure characters as Greenlight, Lancer, Moonracer and the Devisen twins in this story, I wouldn't put it past Scott to slip Slammer into one of the issues. Though given that TAAO generally hews close to 'bots classic color schemes and Slammer's color scheme has always been white-on-white, and this bot's is predominantly gray.....eh, if it is Slammer, maybe Scott, Pitre-DuRocher and LaFuente are taking creative liberties with him, since he's never appeared in robot form before.

It's a case of me having fun with it for one, but also making the most educated guess that I can. If it comes out 'officially' that it's just a generic 'bot, I'll take it out of there pronto

I did say educated guess and you were right to say that Slammer never had a robot mode. However, in the spoopy world of third party Transformers, the Iron Factory Generations Metroplex upgrade set came with a Slammer that has a bot mode that's at least a little like the one drawn in the book:


On another note, very glad to see that this is continuing on in April, and also glad they just skipped March instead of throwing out a solicitation that might not make it in.