Review of IDW Transformers: Till All Are One #11

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

Ooooh gotcha! Yeah, that'd make sense as a flashback or cameo I suppose..

We'll see on Wednesday! *hides review copy behind back surreptitiously*

Good ending to a mediocre story?

Ig89ninja wrote:You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

Pretty much my thoughts exactly!

Looks like it will be a great end to a great arc

Ig89ninja wrote:You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

It really is glorious!

Big Grim wrote:

Ig89ninja wrote:You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

It really is glorious!

It does remind me, however, of that recreation someone did with Generations Windblade and Starscream, where it looked less like

Windblade wrote:You're wrapped round my finger now.

Starscream wrote:Oh slag!

And more like

Windblade wrote:Hey there good looking, come here often?

Starscream wrote:Get off of me at once, you tire-rotating second-rate Thrust.

Still gorgeous artwork though.

Rodimus Prime wrote:Good ending to a mediocre story?

It won't change your mind about the book. If you love it already, you'll love the ending, if you're 'meh' about it, this won't turn you around the other way. I'll save the rest for Va'al's review in the morning, for now

Black Hat wrote:

Big Grim wrote:

Ig89ninja wrote:You gotta appreciate Starscream's "Oh $#!+" face

It really is glorious!

It does remind me, however, of that recreation someone did with Generations Windblade and Starscream, where it looked less like

Windblade wrote:You're wrapped round my finger now.

Starscream wrote:Oh slag!

And more like

Windblade wrote:Hey there good looking, come here often?

Starscream wrote:Get off of me at once, you tire-rotating second-rate Thrust.

Still gorgeous artwork though.

Well I used Energon Starscream for mine, also based my picture of of Cheap Trick more than the original cover. Ol' energon Starscream ain't the best, but he'll do. He'll do.

Synopsis
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?



Story

We've arrived at the final issue on my favourite of the three Transformers ongoing comics series from IDW Publishing, at only 12 numbers in total, and with a lot at stake in terms of the story itself. A series, I'll remind us, that fully reintroduced the mythological Primes to this version of the TF universe, with Solus via Caminus (in its previous incarnation), Liege Maximo via Titans Return, and peeking into Micronus' mind via the Revolution tie-in.



And it's that concept, those issues dealing with minds that bring us back to the present, as we find ourselves inside Windblade's realm, her mind palace, the Cityspeaker's inner city - and her vicious battle of the wills with Vigilem's own mind, trying to take control, by exploiting the aid of Starscream who begrudgingly stepped in (or in it, depending on how you want to look at it).



Now, Vigilem is more clearly defined in this issue, even more than previous ones, and he's a truly nasty piece of work. The manipulation we've seen so often in the series comes very naturally to him in Mairghread Scott's script, and he's made to be more and more unlikeable by the frame (to me at least; casual ableist slurs don't help, either) - as opposed to the initial framing of his story through Metroplex.



But Starscream and Windblade are without the doubt the in undisputed protagonists of the story, one aiding the other, in ways you may not expect going into the story at first. We find out more about both, a lot more about at least one, and some interesting facets to at least another, in conclusion to this part of the story that will, yes, have repercussions - but mostly, it'll leave with a number of smiles across readers' faces, and words to be heard for those who are listening.


Art

When talking about Vigilem as a character, and Windblade's mind as a setting, one cannot ignore the sheer scale of what the script demands in terms of visual transposition. Sara Pitre Durocher creates worlds within worlds, designs within designs, concepts hammered out, and strips some layers bare of their visualisation, only to bring more to the surface. What she does is magnificent.



And what the colours of Joana Lafuente add to the artwork beneath is just even more so, creating the same dark atmosphere of this reality that we had seen previously, but making sure that the right hues permeate the whole scene, with only three real moments of pure light (one of which seen in an image below, as a reflective flashback). You will want to wait and enjoy the other two.



The banging work of Tom B. Long, who is dealing with some panels with extremely crucial dialogue placement and overlap, is still the cherry on the sundae that is the visual aspect of these books, and I appreciate every single Choom, Crnnk, and Clang. The thumbnail for this review is the cover variant by regular artist Priscilla Tramontano, also depicting a facet of this story. All other covers can be found in our database entry right here, with the ominous, main Pitre Durocher one, and the triumphant variant by ZeroB.

Thoughts
WARNING: this may contain spoilers

And so, we have reached the end of an excellent and undervalued series until too late for it to continue in another form - no blame given, no fingers pointed, it just happens - and with it, there are still several questions left to be answered: Airachnid's sudden introduction and now homeless development; Bumbleghost's nature and existence; Starscream's true nature other than being Starscream; Elita-One's crafty struggle for power and popularity; Blast-Off's deal and manipulation; Vigilem, the other Titans, and their Primes. Any one of those could have warranted another full arc, and some may indeed be addressed in First Strike, the Annual, and any new series dealing with Cybertron, of course.



I am saddened to see the current creative team not continue further in this incarnation, though, and I'm sure (from what I've seen online) that this is the case for many readers. Scott, Pitre Durocher, Lafuente, Tramontano, Long, and rotating guests and editors have done something exceptional with their exploration of politics, post-colonial issues, guilt, power, loneliness and most of all, control. Mind control, political control, military control - Starscream's fears run deep, subordination fits tight on all the characters involved, and in constraint, some exquisite creativity and artwork can be born.

For the sake of fairness on the single issue, however, I'll also say this: with the sudden ending to the book, the timeshifting of IDW's scheduling, and all else happening in the Hasbroverse, Till All Are One #12 gave us the best story it could probably and possibly ever deliver; it gave us a resolution between Starscream and Windblade that is not a conclusion; it brought elements together that no other book had really done so far; it redeemed characters without offering them salvation. I wish we'd seen what path lies before them much sooner.

Absolutely phenomenal issue. Everyone on this team knows exactly what they're doing and they've done it extremely well.

Kurona wrote:Absolutely phenomenal issue. Everyone on this team knows exactly what they're doing and they've done it extremely well.

Agreed. Given the very well deserved praise this book has gotten over the last several issues, it stings all the more that IDW wouldn't give Mairghread Scott, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Joana Lafuente and Tom Long the benefit of the doubt and at least give them more time to finish telling this story properly instead of telling them they had to change what was already working so well or be canceled.

Well it's over and I honestly don't care. I nothinged it this entire arc. It wasn't bad but I honestly didn't find it appealing.

I'm sure Windblade volume 4 will be announced for next year

Shades of Murderblade from Machinima?

I haven't read the last issue yet, but I can say that I did enjoy 2/3 of this series. Issues #1-4 (The Bruticus story ark), was pretty cool, and #5-#8 dealing with the undead Titans and the aftermath of Titans Return was pretty cool. (I really think fans overall got shortchanged. I would much rather had a longer Titans Return story spanning all TF books rather than Revolution...but oh well...)

but as for #9-12, well...I'ts just not my thing. I mean I know I run counter to most fans. I'm not really into MTMTE/TLL. I loved RID/TF because I like anything set on Cybertron, and it had more of the 84-86 cast I care about. Since the split between TAAO and Optimus Prime however its been odd. I like Optimus' choice of TF characters, I really don't care about any of the human characters , or whats going on with Earth, but the bots keep it somewhat interesting. TAAO like I said was good, up until issue #9 where it just took an odd turn. I never thought of this as Windblade volume #3, but I guess there are just some things you cant escape. I know there will be a proper finale much later, and some crossover with First Strike, but I wonder if the goings on of all the characters on Cybertron will somehow be told through the Optimus Prime book, or are they just going to be shelved for a while? Kind of sucks that all the TF's I really like (whether they haven't appeared in a while or not), are still on Cybertron, but there is now no story for them on a monthly basis, unless they all start showing up on Earth, or Optimus Prime's focus goes back to Cybertron, which I would love, but I doubt will happen.

o.supreme wrote:

Shades of Murderblade from Machinima?

I haven't read the last issue yet, but I can say that I did enjoy 2/3 of this series. Issues #1-4 (The Bruticus story ark), was pretty cool, and #5-#8 dealing with the undead Titans and the aftermath of Titans Return was pretty cool. (I really think fans overall got shortchanged. I would much rather had a longer Titans Return story spanning all TF books rather than Revolution...but oh well...)

but as for #9-12, well...I'ts just not my thing. I mean I know I run counter to most fans. I'm not really into MTMTE/TLL. I loved RID/TF because I like anything set on Cybertron, and it had more of the 84-86 cast I care about. Since the split between TAAO and Optimus Prime however its been odd. I like Optimus' choice of TF characters, I really don't care about any of the human characters , or whats going on with Earth, but the bots keep it somewhat interesting. TAAO like I said was good, up until issue #9 where it just took an odd turn. I never thought of this as Windblade volume #3, but I guess there are just some things you cant escape. I know there will be a proper finale much later, and some crossover with First Strike, but I wonder if the goings on of all the characters on Cybertron will somehow be told through the Optimus Prime book, or are they just going to be shelved for a while? Kind of sucks that all the TF's I really like (whether they haven't appeared in a while or not), are still on Cybertron, but there is now no story for them on a monthly basis, unless they all start showing up on Earth, or Optimus Prime's focus goes back to Cybertron, which I would love, but I doubt will happen.

Was it the onslaught/blast off stuff? Trust me I won't judge because I think that was my final strike for this comic. I'm not going to lie I read that stuff and said "alright we're just writing for the tumlrites now arnt we"

Because... Tumblr invented gay people...? I don't get it.

Kurona wrote:Because... Tumblr invented gay people...? I don't get it.

No because tumblr is a cesspool of blowing everything stupidly out of proportion and makes everything sensual. "These two characters are standing next to eachother, better get start working on the slash fic!"