IDW Till All Are One #11 Sneak Peek

That first page is breaking my heart so much... I love Blast Off.

Ok ok ok, this is something I did not touch on in previous discussions or reviews, so: can we take a moment to consider how the mind tinkering deal is essentially creating a non-consensual dynamic between Blast-Off and Onslaught?

I was so taken by the emotional punch of last issue that it didn't fully hit me until later. But yes, thoughts?

Va'al wrote:Ok ok ok, this is something I did not touch on in previous discussions or reviews, so: can we take a moment to consider how the mind tinkering deal is essentially creating a non-consensual dynamic between Blast-Off and Onslaught?

I was so taken by the emotional punch of last issue that it didn't fully hit me until later. But yes, thoughts?

That's pretty much the crux of it and why it's so heartbreaking - it's clear Blast Off really doesn't want to do this. Oh sure he doesn't outright say it but it's pretty obvious that he'd either prefer to reach a relationship with Onslaught naturally or just hide away his feelings forever and ever and my god I'm projecting

But it's the only way to save Onslaught from becoming a friggin' vegetable because Starscream's that much of an ass. It's quite honestly a deal with the devil; he gets what he wanted but not at all how he wanted it and with huge negatives. Complex stuff.

what seemed indicated was they were simply going to get onslaught to notice Blast off, not automatically fall in love. I think its in such a position, it could go easily either way.

Sunstar wrote:what seemed indicated was they were simply going to get onslaught to notice Blast off, not automatically fall in love. I think its in such a position, it could go easily either way.

Perhaps, but my reading of the behaviour and body language and hand holding and change in dialogue indicates that it's very much in one way rather than the other.

And yes, Kurona, I agree. Deals with devils all round, buying myself into more and more Madoka Magica territory - even with Windblade's progression.

Good lord Mairghread...

God Rattrap is a prick! That said I've always hated him.

That doctor's design is interesting. The symbol on his chest looks familiar. I know it's based on a cross but I can't help but feel it or something similar was in the franchise before.

Why IDW couldn't have just left this series alone.....this is by FAR the best, most complex, multilayered yet relatable writing of the three current ongoings.

If IDW doesn't do another series set on Cybertron, as sort of a spiritual successor to TAAO, I hope the characters here get treated well in another book. Scott and Pitre-Durocher have done such a phenomenal job on this whole series. I'm genuinely sad that it's ending.

Just discovered this series is ending
Shame. I was really enjoying it. Ll hasn't grabbed me story wise so far, but the characters were enjoyable. This series was great for the plot and more 'transforneryness' of it. So i was getting everything i wanted from these two books.


Now, I'm conflicted. On one hand, I'm all for combaticons having relationships. But part if me feels not with each other. Not that group. They're a military unit. But at the same time, it's being written well and is forced on onslaught. It's not by choice. Which brings up all sorts of moral questions. So i want tonsee what happens if onslaught finds out the truth. Which we won't now. I also love how starscream is being written. What happens when he wins? He still schemes. I will miss this book. Guess I'm just down to one story a month now. Well, it was a good run while it lasted.

Insurgent wrote:But at the same time, it's being written well and is forced on onslaught. It's not by choice. Which brings up all sorts of moral questions. So i want tonsee what happens if onslaught finds out the truth.

Yes, what I was asking earlier in the thread! And..

Which we won't now.

There's the rub.

so.

cancelled at issue twelve.

told ya.

Not cancelled. The story in 12 reaches a conclusion, which then it won't pick up in a new incarnation for now, due to First Strike affecting the entirety of the IDW Hasbro Universe.

Scott is writing First Strike, but did not want to shove that story back into the storylines she had developed so far in TAAO. You can see it as cancelled if you want, but that's not what's happening.

Out from IDW Publishing this week, from Transformers universe proper rather than the expanded Hasbro one, is the penultimate issue (..oh) of Till All Are One. Are you ready to get heady? Check out the full preview below, and head back on Wednesday for a Seibertron.com review!

Transformers: Till All Are One #11
Mairghread Scott (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a & c)
With Elita One's influence closing in around Starscream, he's desperate to make any alliances he can. Turns out, a powerful ally might already be within his grasp. But is he willing to risk his own sanity to reach them?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
Variant cover by James Raiz!

bumblebee is ripping Star a new one. Bee has Star pegged pretty well. Star - I have been reasoning, has been silently grieving windblade. He likes her. She saved his life once and he hasn't forgotten. I can see him trying to keep this masquerade on of being all macho and whatnot, but he has changed. Possibly embarrassed by it.

Sunstar wrote:bumblebee is ripping Star a new one. Bee has Star pegged pretty well. Star - I have been reasoning, has been silently grieving windblade. He likes her. She saved his life once and he hasn't forgotten. I can see him trying to keep this masquerade on of being all macho and whatnot, but he has changed. Possibly embarrassed by it.

There are more affinities between Starscream and Windblade than either is willing to admit, I'll agree to that!

Synopsis
With Elita One's influence closing in around Starscream, he's desperate to make any alliances he can. Turns out, a powerful ally might already be within his grasp. But is he willing to risk his own sanity to reach them?



Story

Penultimate issue. I'm still letting that sink in. Penultimate. The story of the characters in Till All Are One will of course continue, but this particular iteration of space robo-politics will be over in a month. However, if this issue is anything to go by, it will be doing so with an implosive, impressive bang.



I have not been shy about my appreciation for Mairghread Scott's handling of darker humour, politics, general social interactions and how the three can mix with the more action-based sequences as part of a new, almost entirely original episode within the frame of a long-standing story. Because that's what the Council, and actual Starscream ruler, and the ex-colonies, are. New stories.



In those new stories, we have a very very old one that comes back to the fore since the end of Revolution, and teased all the way through multiple series before then. With Carcer/Vigilem, Liege Maximo, and the Primes showing up something fierce, the wider landscape of these stories has changed drastically - as a Cityspeaker, one with a connection to Metroplex, Windblade is perhaps at the centre of an involuntary storm that (corporate events notwithstanding) might change everything even further.



The other major storyline, and the one framing the central events, is focused on Starscream of course, and how he is handling ..everything happening around him right now, and how he is in fact the eye of the storm in a different manner than Windblade, but central nonetheless. Aftermath of last issue is coming back to haunt him, and even the Camien's inoperativeness somewhat stings - at least he has friends, right?


Art

Sara Pitre-Durocher shines in this issue, even more so than in previous work - and even despite a similar setting and 'battlefield', if you will, in-story. The expressions that Starscream has throughout are both emotionally compelling and amusing, but one sequence layout in particular tugs at sparkstrings quite loudly. That, and the Windblade sequence, are a testament to her skill and talent brought into this book and the TF art scene in general.



Without of course forgetting Joana Lafuente's colour work for those same sequences - not that you can ignore it even if you wanted to. If the wider shots of the framing story use an abundance of neutral, light colours to highlight the space around Starscream, the Windblade sequence does something entirely different, and eye-wateringly good at that, adapting colours and lighting to the tones and shifts in linework.



The lettering is still in the capable hands of Tom B. Long, who has a fairly straightforward placing of dialogue to work on, plus some fun word layouts in certain sections - and everything looks clean and accessible, never to underestimate in content heavy books. The thumnbnailed cover is the variant by Priscilla Tramontano, hinting at some more of the story that we might see next issue too, and all three are to be found in our Comics Database entry. You can also take a look at James Raiz talking about the creation of his Supreme Leader cover (with colours by JP Bove), too, right here!

Thoughts
Spoilerish ahead

I personally adored the art direction and structure of the story, given how much of it concerns inner scapes (though on such a large scale) the cinematographic approach of zooms, panning, focusing on smaller changes and poses especially for Starscream - though some voices on staff had the opposite reaction to some of those elements too, especially towards the end and in the hallway scene. That said, everywhere and anything concerning Windblade's sections is truly outstanding.



Take the grand action of the previous story arc, the scale of the Titans arriving and the response to their threat, with everything it took and everywhere it led to. Then move that scale into inner battles, inner turmoils, and dark alleys of the mind, as played with in the previous issue and Blast-Off's mind. That's what this story is dealing with, and where it'll ultimately play out in the next month, consolidating just how similar Starscream and Windblade actually are. I'm (not) ready.

We rarely give 5/5 scores. This is intentional. Dr. Va'al doing so here is entirely appropriate.

Hell, the issue could be the Windblade vs. Spoliers mental battle alone and it'd be 5/5, but then there's all the awesome Starscream stuff too. Plus some extra seasoning with Airachnid and Combaticons. Too good!

I'd say we're being spoiled but not when this has been canned. I'm saltier than the Dead Sea about that.

Why is TAAO so good? It's better than Transformers has any right to be; it's insane how amazing this is.

Kurona wrote:Why is TAAO so good? It's better than Transformers has any right to be; it's insane how amazing this is.

Because they broke the usual mould/formula, And allowed the Transformers to attempt peace. They allowed Starscream to actually lead for more than 15 seconds while Keeping Megatron and Optimus Prime largely out the picture.

The use of ghost bee as his "sub concious" trying to guide him into the new age is perfect. I always felt there was a personality schism and that his warrior side would be somewhat rebellious to that better side.

I saw the 5/5 I really want this book - NOW.

I hope they give scott another book... Actually the same book but with a name that will catch more attention. I think this didn't sell well cause people thought it was another Windblade book. We need a name that shows that there are still G1 characters hanging around. Forgive me for this, but they could call it All Hail Starscream.

Oh wow, that was good. That was very good. I can't wait for the final book. I would rather a book set end on a high note of awesome than dwindle into disrepair


Would make a good cover

LE0KING wrote:I hope they give scott another book... Actually the same book but with a name that will catch more attention. I think this didn't sell well cause people thought it was another Windblade book. We need a name that shows that there are still G1 characters hanging around. Forgive me for this, but they could call it All Hail Starscream.

She's co-writing First Strike, after that it's unknown. I actually think "All Hail Starscream" is a catchier hook for a general audience than "All Hail Optimus", so yeah I'd support that as a title!

Next month will see the final issue of IDW Publishing's Transformers: Till All Are One series, and they've updated their own site page for the book to include a variant cover by Priscilla Tramontano - once more featuring Starscream and what looks to be a much more benign take on Windblade's influence on him. Check it out!

cool way to end this series

Va'al wrote:Next month will see the final issue of IDW Publishing's Transformers: Till All Are One series, and they've updated their own site page for the book to include a variant cover by Priscilla Tramontano - once more featuring Starscream and what looks to be a much more benign take on Windblade's influence on him. Check it out!

I love the composition of this one. It feels so Calm.

Once again via Previews World, we have the third variant cover (RI) for the final issue of Transformers: Till All Are One from IDW Publishing. The art is by fan artist ZeroB, as has been seen on covers before, and features Windblade in her Camien glory on Cybertron. Check it out!

(W) Mairghread Scott (A) Sara Pitre-Durocher (CA) Zerob
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?

Guess I better hit up my comic shop. I love the pose and the cityscape behind her.

Amazing colors

Issue 11 was awesome and amazing and it was the best so far. I love Scream and Bee together.

Also, was it really Bee, or is it Centuritron at the final panel there?

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Issue 11 was awesome and amazing and it was the best so far. I love Scream and Bee together.

Also, was it really Bee, or is it Centuritron at the final panel there?

Yes.

In Transformers-specific news from IDW Publishing's comics releases, on the other hand, we have the full preview for the second collected trade of Transformers: Till All Are One - featuring the Revolution tie-in story, and plenty of excellent art and intrigue. Will you be reading in this format, or are you up to speed already?

Transformers: Till All Are One, Vol. 2
Mairghread Scott (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a & c)
Epic space-opera action continues as the dramatic TRANSFORMERS continuity leads on to new and explosive revelations! REVOLUTION is over but the danger isn't! 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? Collects issues #5–9.
TPB • FC • $19.99 • 120 pages • ISBN: 978-1-63140-924-0

Bullet points:
"A great book with some serious art design that fully compliments the Transformers universe as a whole and adds weight and importance to the characters." –Big Glasgow Comics Page
Advance solicited for July release!

Wait wait wait wait wait.

Why is the preview using the pages from the Revolution one-shot? and how are they doing these TPB is this collects 5-9. Does this mean the 3rd and final volume will only be 10-12?

This doesn't make any sense

There is I believe an epilogue/annual being written which could end up in the third trade, but agreed that would still seem small, odd...

Not to mention First Strike takes place between Issue #12 and the annual.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Wait wait wait wait wait.

Why is the preview using the pages from the Revolution one-shot? and how are they doing these TPB is this collects 5-9. Does this mean the 3rd and final volume will only be 10-12?

This doesn't make any sense

Trade 2 is Revolution and 5-8. Original solicit wasn't on the money, but gotta remember that trade solicits come out much sooner in advance than those for individual issues. We only have solicits up through September's singles, for now, as opposed to knowing about trades through roughly February of next year!

Yeah, is it worth entertaining the idea that volume 3 will have 9-12 plus the Annual, at this point, and be released much later?

The 12th and final issue of Till All Are One has a preview posted on iTunes. We have posted the images down below so you can have a read. While we are sad that Till All Are One is over, we hope that you enjoyed it and there are always more comics to come!

If you like Till All Are One, you might want to check out TAAO volume 2, which is a collection of issues 5-9.

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?

Love this! I wonder what else Airachnid will do besides putting Starscream in Windblade's mind?

Looks great. Makes me slightly more annoyed that this consistently excellent book is going away.

Well give Starscream some goggles, a time warp device, tragic backstory and call him Tracer!

I mean, he already has all the legendary skins!

I read somewhere (Scott's blog IIRC) that they were planning on having one of the characters chew out another character over..."weight shaming". I can't say I'm particularly sad to see they won't get that one in.

Regular reminder that TAAO isn't ending -quite- yet -- while this is the last regular issue, it'll lead into First Strike and then we've got an annual coming up that'll be the true finale.

Excellent preview. Still sad this ongoing is coming to a close

Looking forward to it, when shall it be out? wednesday?

Sunstar wrote:Looking forward to it, when shall it be out? wednesday?

The Wednesday after next.

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?

I didn't expect that!

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

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

Soundwave902 wrote:I'm wondering if Sunstreaker will show up, but probably not

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

Va'al wrote:

Soundwave902 wrote: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