IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review

Wednesday, July 11th, 2018 7:39PM CDT

Categories: Comic Book News, Reviews
Posted by: D-Maximal_Primal Views: 26,685

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Not Gonna Die Tonight
A Seibertron.com somewhat Spoilerish Review of IDW Transformers: Unicorn Issue #1

The Darkest Hour has come. Optimus Prime stages a desperate gamble as the world-eater, Unicron, approaches Windblade’s homeworld—but that’s just the appetizer. The main course is Cybertron (with a side of Earth)... and it’s starting to look like no force in the galaxy can stop the end from coming.

Death surrounds
My heartbeat’s slowing down

Story

So here we are at last, the end of a dream, the end of 14 years of Transformers, the end of the longest running Transformers comic series in history. And here it goes out not with a bang nor a whimper. It goes out spectacularly and in glorious Big Screen Milne-D TV (that's a 2D 3D joke folks).

But we'll get to art later. First, let's focus in on the story shall we?

I won’t take this world’s abuse
I won’t give up, I refuse!

The story is sort of odd, but also pretty spectacular all in one. I will start with the odd: With the final Chapter of The Falling, over in IDW's Optimus Prime book, has not yet finished, meaning this book spoils some things but also sort of feels at odds, like you jumped into the action a bit too soon, like the first part of a 3 part finale from a TV show came before the 3rd to last episode. It may be a bit jarring, but that is hardly the book's fault.

Something that is also a bit strange is how this issue just feels like a slightly larger, more violent version of Unicron #0. Which I mean, that isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering the amount of action and Beast Wars cameos we get (though add a sin for only cameos at this point). But it also is a bit weird playing the script again. But at least (redacted as it is a spoiler, see the final thoughts)*.

The last thing I heard was you whispering goodbye
And then I heard you flat line

That all being said, we still get a great and fun story. Something you might not have seen coming, and shown pretty much front and center on the front of the page, is the comparison between Optimus Prime and Unicron. In many ways, these 2 characters are quite similar. And in this issue, we get plenty of Optimus, though we are still in the early days of Unicron, but that's OK! We are building up, as Unicron is building himself up, and I have to say, the 2nd half of the book had some pretty awesome things about Unicron.

All the character moments we get as well are incredible. Dirge, the Mistress, Soundwave and ROM, even Pyra Magna at the end. The characters are driving the story as much as the pictures and action on the page, and to that end, Barber once again delivers the goods.

We're gonna fight for us together

See final thoughts for 1 more story thing that is best left unsaid at this juncture.

Overall though, good story, slightly repetitive, but still freshened some, and ready to speed onward to the final 5 issues. And we even get a Furmanism!

Art

What would a comic be without art you might ask? It would be a book that's what. And while books are cool, comics drawn by Alex Milne and colored by Sebastian Cheng are even better. These 2 guys right here? They kill the book. They kill the book almost as well as Unicron killed the colonies and Wheeljack! (too soon?...)

They can’t keep their chains on me
When the truth has set me free

The art, as to be expected on a Milne book, is fantastic. Bold lines, insane attention to detail, not a wide shot or a background missed. And the work on Unicron is the 2nd half of the book is awesome, properly great, kinda like the Transformers version of Bosch's Visions of Hell (maybe a spoiler, depends if you've seen that). The whole book is filled with great detail, great character moments, both story and art wise, and some great backdrops, even if we are literally in space for half the issue.

The coloring really helps bring out all those details too. I envy not a person who has to color Milne art, but Cheng did an amazing job, stellar. All the detail Milne provided was intricately carved out in detail and wonderful colors. He made the fires burn bright and the darkness nearly consume the reader themselves.

When life pushes me I push harder
What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger

And the art would not be complete without our resident Letterer, Tom B. Long. Long still kills the varied speech patterns, and I love the colors and fonts chosen for Unicron. He also is one of the best at making sure you miss as little art as possible while catching your necessary speech bubbles.

For even more information, you can check out our Unicron database entry for this issue

Final Thoughts
Majorly spoilerish ahead

We’re gonna stand and fight forever

Ok, so as promised from the story section, the final 2 notes before we plunge on:

1) We are pretty much out of filler. Cybertron is next, and the action is going to only heat up from here. Both we and Unicron had the appetizers, it's time for the giant main course guys.

2) Starscream. oh man Starscream. It feels good to have him around for this final push of the storyline. And once again, it's just the way Milne draws him, but the Steve Blum just oozes all over the speech bubbles. This is the Starscream we've always needed in a comic, Transformers: Prime personified in a "G1" comic. It is brilliant.

With that, I wrap things up with this: This is the end, the great finale, the Unicron event that will end a universe, as Unicron's actually pretty rarely do. And the threat is large, it has power, it isn't showing weakness, it isn't showing any cliches, and it knows that only a few, if any, can truly have that happy ending. Heroes will fall, the action will heat up even more, the pace will pick up even more. The final enigma of the universe will be solved.

It is a great read, a part 2 if you will to the Free Unicron #0, one that provides a bit new, repeats some stuff, but still kills you with what it is intended to do. Great job here, let's keep shooting to the stars (so long as Unicron doesn't eat them).

out of

PS: in case you're interested, I felt this song was perfect for this issue. (Obviously)

Credit(s): IDW Publishing, D-Maximus_Primal@Seibertron

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Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1970456)
Posted by The Lonely Cracker on July 11th, 2018 @ 9:03pm CDT

glad to know i'm not the only person that likes that song

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1970459)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on July 11th, 2018 @ 9:09pm CDT

D R E W wrote:glad to know i'm not the only person that likes that song

I'm really glad someone can appreciate the music/lyrics/references I tag into my reviews. It is a great some, and perfect for the issue itself. there is gonna be a high body count...

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1970501)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 12th, 2018 @ 2:10am CDT

Not in a place where I can click on the link so what is that song? Good to know things are starting well in unicron. Good review dmax!

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1970516)
Posted by Va'al on July 12th, 2018 @ 5:51am CDT

ZeroWolf wrote:Not in a place where I can click on the link so what is that song? Good to know things are starting well in unicron. Good review dmax!

Skillet - Not Gonna Die!

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1970523)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 12th, 2018 @ 7:03am CDT

Thanks Va'al :-)

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1970650)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on July 12th, 2018 @ 6:20pm CDT

Va'al wrote:
ZeroWolf wrote:Not in a place where I can click on the link so what is that song? Good to know things are starting well in unicron. Good review dmax!

Skillet - Not Gonna Die!

I kinda want to lay claim to the other 5 Unicron issues as well simply because I have a line of Skillet songs lined up for reviews, and I think most if not all line up greatly with Unicron!

As for other thoughts of mine on the issue other than those in the review, I know we haven't seen Dirge in a bit, but I was still sad to see him bite the dust.

Also, the scenes inside Unicron were fantastic. I love how he uses the inhabitants of the planets he's eaten as his immune system, all fused together and such. Maybe we'll see a part Wheeljack Antibody.

Also looking forward to learning more about Unicron.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971257)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on July 15th, 2018 @ 5:24am CDT

See, I don't have the context of the other books, nor do I know who some of these characters are. To me this was Average. The visual-only Beast Wars cameos are completely wasted. The Dirge scene was pointless, I thought he died around AHM?. As a principal BW fan, seeing Not-Rampage did nothing for me, as with the other wordless cameos. What did annoy me is much like the squandered potential of The Gathering/Ascending we have BW2 & Neo characters practically vomited over the page.

Alas, Unicron's Galactus-lite dialogue continues...

To be honest, as I've mentioned before since there is no herald this time, I think it would be much better to learn nothing more about Unicron. Without him suddenly breaking into out of character monologue, he should just do his thing and remain an enigma in at least one continuity.

Note: I will stick around for one more issue, as they didn't have Prime pull some God-Bot BS to turn the tide. Long may that continue. 2.5/5

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971265)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 15th, 2018 @ 6:18am CDT

If prime did anything to turn the tide, it will be in issue 6, I'm fully expecting earth to be the last colony standing

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971266)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on July 15th, 2018 @ 6:28am CDT

Hopefully he is dead before then. IDWverse began by subverting TF lore after all. It would be nice if they give that a nod at the end of this continuity.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971268)
Posted by Va'al on July 15th, 2018 @ 6:48am CDT

Isn't it fun to have fun people contributing to a fun conversation.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971273)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on July 15th, 2018 @ 7:30am CDT

Va'al wrote:Isn't it fun to have fun people contributing to a fun conversation.

Always. Likewise isn't it fun to occasionally remember that the Transformers is the story of an entire race, not just a Trukk >:oP

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971274)
Posted by Va'al on July 15th, 2018 @ 7:39am CDT

Vaguely spoilery for people who haven't been following the comics in their chronological order up to now!

So, Unicron - in light of the recent happenings in Optimus Prime, and with another issue out this week exploring Shockwave's endgame in all this, a question:

- if Primes aren't actually real (they are, but not as everyone has seen them until now), but a creation of Shockwave's to support a narrative, but Unicron is, how do we reconcile the various mythologies at the core of the belief system in the IDW TF universe? How does the Guiding Hand fit into all of it?

and an addition:

- the Maximals, part of Liege Maximo's army, are not from Eukarys (which is now gone), but are still beastformers - how does that work?

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971275)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on July 15th, 2018 @ 7:43am CDT

Those questions were part of my thinking also. By hamfisting the tired Primus/Unicron creation myth into this story, albeit in a couple of panels, it actually created plot holes that wouldn't have existed otherwise.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971278)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 15th, 2018 @ 8:14am CDT

I don't know about that...even taking away primus/unicron, unicron is tied to Cybertron still because otherwise, why the message? Theres still room to maneuver with these things, after all we still need to find out where Prime found out all that stuff from the first page.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971279)
Posted by Va'al on July 15th, 2018 @ 8:21am CDT

ZeroWolf wrote:I don't know about that...even taking away primus/unicron, unicron is tied to Cybertron still because otherwise, why the message? Theres still room to maneuver with these things, after all we still need to find out where Prime found out all that stuff from the first page.

I don't think it's ever really put down as myth though, is it? Just saying that Unicron vs Primus was a thing from the past, and - I speculate - probably mythologised upon a little.

As for the latter - we'll probably see more in OP ongoing, the scheduling for this is all outta whack.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971295)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 15th, 2018 @ 10:18am CDT

It's mind boggling that this schedule was okayed, I know for some it's the journey rather than the destination but it does ruin the revelations a bit.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971369)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on July 15th, 2018 @ 6:11pm CDT

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:See, I don't have the context of the other books, nor do I know who some of these characters are. To me this was Average. The visual-only Beast Wars cameos are completely wasted. The Dirge scene was pointless, I thought he died around AHM?. As a principal BW fan, seeing Not-Rampage did nothing for me, as with the other wordless cameos. What did annoy me is much like the squandered potential of The Gathering/Ascending we have BW2 & Neo characters practically vomited over the page.

Alas, Unicron's Galactus-lite dialogue continues...

To be honest, as I've mentioned before since there is no herald this time, I think it would be much better to learn nothing more about Unicron. Without him suddenly breaking into out of character monologue, he should just do his thing and remain an enigma in at least one continuity.

Note: I will stick around for one more issue, as they didn't have Prime pull some God-Bot BS to turn the tide. Long may that continue. 2.5/5

Well of course you aren’t going to care about the events of the finale if you didn’t actually read the stuff that came before. You don’t care about the deaths Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks and Lupin, Dobby, or Hedwig if you start reading Harry Potter at the Deathly Hallows.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971494)
Posted by ScottyP on July 16th, 2018 @ 8:38am CDT

Va'al wrote:Vaguely spoilery for people who haven't been following the comics in their chronological order up to now!

So, Unicron - in light of the recent happenings in Optimus Prime, and with another issue out this week exploring Shockwave's endgame in all this, a question:

- if Primes aren't actually real (they are, but not as everyone has seen them until now), but a creation of Shockwave's to support a narrative, but Unicron is, how do we reconcile the various mythologies at the core of the belief system in the IDW TF universe? How does the Guiding Hand fit into all of it?

and an addition:

- the Maximals, part of Liege Maximo's army, are not from Eukarys (which is now gone), but are still beastformers - how does that work?

I used to have faith these questions would be answered, but now I'm not so sure. It's plausible the answer ends up entirely being "just because" as it relates to the Maximals.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971521)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 16th, 2018 @ 10:35am CDT

I think it is going to be a strong case of "just because" for a lot of questions.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971546)
Posted by Va'al on July 16th, 2018 @ 12:16pm CDT

Which I'm quite happy to be fine with - I don't need all the answers, I'm okay with that - just an extra question buzzing around my head.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971552)
Posted by ScottyP on July 16th, 2018 @ 12:39pm CDT

Va'al wrote:Which I'm quite happy to be fine with - I don't need all the answers, I'm okay with that - just an extra question buzzing around my head.

I really do want to know how and why Galvatron cared enough about Onyx's "return" to reference it just before dying. I don't expect to find out.

But true, I don't really care about, say, what happened to the Predacons after Revolutionaries. "Destro sent them to live on a farm" is my accepted canon.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971553)
Posted by Va'al on July 16th, 2018 @ 12:44pm CDT

ScottyP wrote:
Va'al wrote:Which I'm quite happy to be fine with - I don't need all the answers, I'm okay with that - just an extra question buzzing around my head.
I really do want to know how and why Galvatron cared enough about Onyx's "return" to reference it just before dying. I don't expect to find out.

To get a bizarre supervillain character trait back as reference in this week's comic..?

But true, I don't really care about, say, what happened to the Predacons after Revolutionaries. "Destro sent them to live on a farm" is my accepted canon.

Nsh, it's a plot of land next to a steelworks plant. Y'know, for the flames.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971560)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 16th, 2018 @ 2:12pm CDT

I now unicron 6# to end with a panel of the Predacons living next near that plant...

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971767)
Posted by william-james88 on July 17th, 2018 @ 12:11pm CDT

Dammit, I only read Lost Light (and TAAO) and now in this Unicron issue I learn that Shockwave founded the original 13 primes, W T F??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Where/when was this revealed?

Also, I wasnt too fond of this issue. I feel like not much happened, even though Caminus blew up. Also kinda pissed that the beast wars characters are all just cannon fodder.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971775)
Posted by ScottyP on July 17th, 2018 @ 12:43pm CDT

william-james88 wrote:Dammit, I only read Lost Light (and TAAO) and now in this Unicron issue I learn that Shockwave founded the original 13 primes, W T F??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Where/when was this revealed?

Also, I wasnt too fond of this issue. I feel like not much happened, even though Caminus blew up. Also kinda pissed that the beast wars characters are all just cannon fodder.

The Shockwave stuff was in Optimus Prime's "The Falling" arc, which wraps up tomorrow. Yay scheduling?

I'd be more upset with the Beast Wars crew if the continuity weren't ending. At least now they're getting to make an appearance at all!

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1971780)
Posted by william-james88 on July 17th, 2018 @ 12:56pm CDT

ScottyP wrote:
william-james88 wrote:Dammit, I only read Lost Light (and TAAO) and now in this Unicron issue I learn that Shockwave founded the original 13 primes, W T F??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Where/when was this revealed?

Also, I wasnt too fond of this issue. I feel like not much happened, even though Caminus blew up. Also kinda pissed that the beast wars characters are all just cannon fodder.
The Shockwave stuff was in Optimus Prime's "The Falling" arc, which wraps up tomorrow. Yay scheduling?

I'd be more upset with the Beast Wars crew if the continuity weren't ending. At least now they're getting to make an appearance at all!

Ok, will read up on that then.

And did you notice that the evergreen designs are popping up in the comics. I know you hypothesised that these designs were to unify the look in the reboot to the comics but we are seeing them now in both Shockwave and Bumblebee. That Shockwave looks just like the cyberverse toy we are getting.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972011)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on July 18th, 2018 @ 12:49pm CDT

Daniel Adkins wrote:Well of course you aren’t going to care about the events of the finale if you didn’t actually read the stuff that came before. You don’t care about the deaths Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks and Lupin, Dobby, or Hedwig if you start reading Harry Potter at the Deathly Hallows.

In Spotlight: Galvatron, did you care when Leadfoot died?

This is Unicron's story, hence his name in the title. That's all you need to know.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972013)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 18th, 2018 @ 12:52pm CDT

Not sure I understand the reference when lead foot only appeared just to die a page or so later...though while I'm here I now fully understand why unicron was summoned in the first place and I think in terms of silliness it really does take the biscuit. The fact that everything from here on out is (the character in question) fault

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972015)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on July 18th, 2018 @ 12:56pm CDT

The death in #1 to me was just another Leadfoot. I'm reading this for Unicron, so the preamble from OP/LL doesn't really interest me beyond that.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972020)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 18th, 2018 @ 1:22pm CDT

Ah now I see your debate better, Dan is arguing you would care about the deaths if you were more invested whole you, as you say, are only there for unicron.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972024)
Posted by AllNewSuperRobot on July 18th, 2018 @ 1:43pm CDT

Exactly. I tapped out of IDWverse because I didn't like what was being done in MTMTE/LL/RiD/OP. Reading the occasional story in the TF Part-Work, I still don't. But Unicron, is one of those characters that gives me real nostalgia and genuine excitement.

I like larger than life concepts. Which is why I prefer the Cybertronian cars and spaceships of G1 Post-Movie over the Earth-Based altmodes, from before it. Those I always found generic and boring. You don't get more 'larger than life' than a Transforming Planet.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972384)
Posted by Daniel Adkins on July 19th, 2018 @ 1:30pm CDT

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:
Daniel Adkins wrote:Well of course you aren’t going to care about the events of the finale if you didn’t actually read the stuff that came before. You don’t care about the deaths Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks and Lupin, Dobby, or Hedwig if you start reading Harry Potter at the Deathly Hallows.

In Spotlight: Galvatron, did you care when Leadfoot died?

This is Unicron's story, hence his name in the title. That's all you need to know.

See, that's your problem right there. This isn't a story about Unicron. It's a story about how Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Windblade, Starscream and everyone else RESPONDS to Unicron, much in the same way the original Godzilla isn't about the titular monster as a character, but about the reactions of the people. Again, this is the finale of years worth of stories.

Also, your Leadfoot point is shifting goalposts and a really weak argument.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972416)
Posted by Va'al on July 19th, 2018 @ 2:43pm CDT

Thanks to iTunes, we have a short three-page preview of the next issue of the series to end all series in the IDW publishing Transformers comics - Unicron #2, due out in the next couple of weeks. Check it out below, and join the conversation!

Bumblebee investigates a dark corner of Cybertron’s past, searching for answers: what is Unicron, and why does it want to destroy Cybertron? Meanwhile, Windblade scrambles to figure out a plan as Chromia makes her return—with a Decepticon fleet in pursuit!

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972422)
Posted by steve2275 on July 19th, 2018 @ 2:53pm CDT

oooohhhhhh the art :-D

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972429)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 19th, 2018 @ 3:08pm CDT

Well it was nice to see bludgeon again before all the cons get wiped...though I always thought bludgeon would be one to end up throwing in his lot with unicron, cest la vie

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972448)
Posted by Sunstar on July 19th, 2018 @ 3:35pm CDT

Go screamer go! Go screamer go! I want to fight for you my darling flier <3

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1972491)
Posted by Randomhero on July 19th, 2018 @ 4:52pm CDT

ZeroWolf wrote:Well it was nice to see bludgeon again before all the cons get wiped...though I always thought bludgeon would be one to end up throwing in his lot with unicron, cest la vie

I believe he was referring to shockwave as his master in OP. Makes sense he’s back under the Decepticons. Starscream fixed him and now he serves him.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1973605)
Posted by Va'al on July 24th, 2018 @ 8:47am CDT

Out this week with IDW Publishing are three new issues in their Transformers comics as we rush towards the end of it all in the Summer of Transformers - with our final preview below for the second chapter of the Transformers: Unicron mini-series that will bring an end to the IDW Hasbro universe as we currently know it.

Check out the preview and join the conversation in the Energon Pub discussion boards, and make sure to join us for the review discussion after the comic book is out this Wednesday!

Transformers: Unicron #2 (of 6)—Cover A: Alex Milne—GEM OF THE MONTH
John Barber (w) • Alex Milne (a & c)
Bumblebee investigates a dark corner of Cybertron’s past, searching for answers: what is Unicron, and why does it want to destroy Cybertron? Meanwhile, Windblade scrambles to figure out a plan as Chromia makes her return—with a Decepticon fleet in pursuit!
FC • 32 pages • $4.99

Transformers: Unicron #2 (of 6)—Cover B: James Raiz—GEM OF THE MONTH
John Barber (w) • Alex Milne (a) • James Raiz (c)
FC • 32 pages • $4.99

Bullet points:
Connecting B covers by James Raiz featuring destruction at the hands of Unicron!
The end of IDW Transformers as you know it! Not a hoax, not an imaginary story, just the end of the universe!
Covers by fan-favorite Transformers artists of the past decade!
Every oversized issue packed with bonus content!
Variant covers by Casey Coller, and Francesco Francavilla!

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1973610)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 24th, 2018 @ 9:01am CDT

Now that's interesting, will unicron be something that ancient cybertonians created (or more likely) be something that thy came across and woke up when they should have left be. Plus with the title 'strange eons' I'm getting small lovecraftian vibes...which I'm a-okay with!

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1973649)
Posted by Randomhero on July 24th, 2018 @ 11:25am CDT

ZeroWolf wrote:Now that's interesting, will unicron be something that ancient cybertonians created (or more likely) be something that thy came across and woke up when they should have left be. Plus with the title 'strange eons' I'm getting small lovecraftian vibes...which I'm a-okay with!

I love speculating about the comics but without unicron I just can’t. I don’t think he’s robot Satan and I don’t think Primus existed or was a god and I can’t even fathom what he is. I’m really going into this series with no speculations for once. I feel like Shockwave In Marvel when he see unicron and his brain breaks.

“Can’t...figure...out...logic...logic...not...makes...sense...”

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1973680)
Posted by Silverwing on July 24th, 2018 @ 1:11pm CDT

Decepticon Vengeance Division, eh? That's pretty cool! And the acronym is ironically funny. Who's afraid of the D.V.D.?

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1973759)
Posted by Randomhero on July 24th, 2018 @ 4:51pm CDT

Oh god re the Decepticons pulling a nova corps from guardians of the galaxy!? That’s not gonna work guys!

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1973786)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on July 24th, 2018 @ 6:15pm CDT

Review coming tomorrow once more from yours truly! 2 things are blocking me at the moment, and one of them is trying to figure out which 5 Skillet songs I plan to use for the issues and which one may work best since I have almost no clue.

BTW, The marriage of artist and colorist for the series is absolutely killer.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1974014)
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on July 25th, 2018 @ 7:51pm CDT

Falling Inside The Black
A Seibertron.com somewhat Spoilerish Review of IDW Transformers: Unicorn Issue #1

Synopsis

Bumblebee investigates a dark corner of Cybertron’s past, searching for answers: what is Unicron, and why does it want to destroy Cybertron? Meanwhile, Windblade scrambles to figure out a plan as Chromia makes her return—with a Decepticon fleet in pursuit!

Tonight I'm so Alone, This Sorrow takes a hold

Story

And here we are again, on issue 2 of 6 of the grand IDW finale. Unicron is here. Unicron has killed planets and fan favorites. Unicron is unstoppable and unquestionably powerful.

Does part 2 of the tale live up to the hype? Just wait and see!

Your Touch used to be so kind, Your Touch used to give me Life

So to catch up, Issue 0 was the first attack by Unicron, and in a way Issue 1 was a longer version of 0 with some more material and more action and attack and Maximals. So issue 2 was the fallout, the scene of defeat, the realization that Unicron had no weakness and burns full bore for Cybertron now. And the way the different characters were placed in that context was quite enjoyable to read.

We get some good ole fashioned Starscream, to an extent. We get some optimistic Bumblebee, paired with the used to be equally as optimistic but still very eager to at least do something Aileron, and then Optimus, more Starscream, and the council. Old plotlines and characterizations continue, even older plotlines and characters make returns, and it all blends together quite well. We got some history, we got some resolutions, and we got more questions to be asked. And we got a killer final 2 pages.

Don't leave me alone, Cause I barely see at all

Story wise, Starscream is a standout here. Also important is Bludgeon, and his attack on Unicron and position in the grand scheme of things. At this point, Bludgeon is a con to keep an eye on, like really, go back and read all his adventures post Death of Optimus Prime, and then finish with this one.

Falling in the Black, Slipping through the Cracks

Finally, as a nod to the Hasbro Universe itself, we get 3 different stories worth of appearances and 2 different creation/backstories, with the 3rd actually being a back up comic featuring a well known Maximal and the final stand of Scarlett's Strike Force.

Is it a filler issue? Yes, it is. It is the lull between storms. Is it a boring or not overly good filler? Absolutely not. It gives us so much, it still gives action, it still has the characters, it still has all the moments, and it has the perfect build up and a great lead in to the next. It is serialized, but it does not suffer all that badly for it.

And in case you forgot, Skywarp is equally as fun as Starscream. Now all we needed was a Thundercracker appearance and we would have had seeker gold.

Dreaming of the Way it used to be, Can you hear me?

Art

Simply put, the marriage of artist and colorist for this series could not have been any more perfect. And this is not just me, this is the Seibertron.com review room talking here folks. You cannot beat the lines of Milne fused with the colors of Cheng. You can't, it's that simple.

Falling to the Depths can I ever go back?

The vast backgrounds and equally vast cast, the uniqueness of each Cybertronian's design, the fun of space and the grounds of Cybertron, it all looks and feels so good. And it owes everything to Milne and Cheng. They have done fantastic for all 3 Unicron titles released so far, and there is no indication that we should expect less in the remaining 4. And if the last page is anything to go by, epic will still fail to describe the coming events.

And a final nod to the important final part of the art team: Tom B. Long. Letters are so easy to overlook, but in this issue, between Bludgeon, Omega Supreme, and the rest of the cast, the letters get a chance to shine, and it is fantastic at how many different ways you can create a conversation.

Well done crew!

Final Thoughts

Falling Inside, Falling Inside.... The Black

As you can tell, this issue was mainly character driven, by interactions between characters fresh back for their final appearances. It has some action, some backstory, some main story, and bit of final payoffs. It was a good story with excellent art, and a great lead in that managed to not bore the audience nor make them think anything less than a good story is ahead.

With that all in mind, despite what we learned here, next issue cannot come soon enough. We have reached what appears to be the big moment fairly early in the story. While it may not be the climax of the story itself, it still will be big and fun, especially with characters by Barber and art by Milne, Cheng, and Long.

Have a score, and let's get on to that issue 3 folks.

:MAXIMAL:

out of

And finally, as with all Unicron reviews, we feature a Skillet song as the theme for this review, and ultimately for things to come.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1974077)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 26th, 2018 @ 2:17am CDT

Good review d-max! To think we're already a third of the way through this series...

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1974079)
Posted by Va'al on July 26th, 2018 @ 2:23am CDT

Good stuff in here D-Max!

The way in which Starscream is being re-used, with Optimus Prime's reaction to it all, is a very nice way of playing with a character that has been established as mercurial but also considering the developments he's been through in recent stories.

I do wonder what on earth Bumblebee's role in all of this is, and I'm still not too keen on his return right now. Much as I wasn't with Shockwave. I mean, what's done is done, but still...

As for Unicron's true nature, and that organic character showing up - I know there's a lot of talk about that behind the scenes, but I don't know what I make of it. Yet. :-?

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1974092)
Posted by Steponahen Day on July 26th, 2018 @ 5:32am CDT

Having caught up with the whole thing, I really just want to see Unicron devour a universe in its full before he dies, if he even dies considering he has pretty much all of Shockwave's ores on him. But I hope that with Megatron's return things take a change, hoping Megatron isn't a Decepticon again which seems unlikely.

But Unicron needs to be able to devour an entire universe in our view for once, we've been told he's done it before but we've never seen it happen apart from a few planets getting eaten. In fact, I feel as if I might be the only one wants Unicron to win and devour everything. So All hail Unicron, the Chaos Bringer.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1974093)
Posted by Steponahen Day on July 26th, 2018 @ 5:32am CDT

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1974096)
Posted by ZeroWolf on July 26th, 2018 @ 6:09am CDT

Hate to break it to you but I doubt the return of that character will impact the unicron series. Would love to be wrong but everyone involved with ll is just going to sit this one out.

Re: IDW Transformers: Unicron #1 Review (1974118)
Posted by Randomhero on July 26th, 2018 @ 8:17am CDT

Steponahen Day wrote:Having caught up with the whole thing, I really just want to see Unicron devour a universe in its full before he dies, if he even dies considering he has pretty much all of Shockwave's ores on him. But I hope that with Megatron's return things take a change, hoping Megatron isn't a Decepticon again which seems unlikely.

But Unicron needs to be able to devour an entire universe in our view for once, we've been told he's done it before but we've never seen it happen apart from a few planets getting eaten. In fact, I feel as if I might be the only one wants Unicron to win and devour everything. So All hail Unicron, the Chaos Bringer.

Yeah I kinda want a continuity that’s been the longest running amount of stories not be destroyed. The series deserves a good ending and Megatron and LL arnt part of this.

Also hate to break it to you but Optimus Prime #25 takes place after unicron #6. It’s an epilogue to the entire IDW-verse. So spoiler alert: they win. Shocking.

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