Sneak Peek - IDW Transformers: Till All Are One #4 iTunes Preview

Here's those last two pages stitched back together for the full effect.

Daaaaaaaaaamn. Pitre-DuRocher is knocking it out of the park. Loving the art.

... okay, so.

Admittedly, the last three issues... haven't been amazing. They haven't been bad either; but they've just been good, y'know? A fun little read but that's about it.

But already this preview is blowing me away. What always disappoints me about Combiner stories is how they don't really focus much on how their being a Combiner effects the components psychologically; what the mental effect and strain on them is; what it means to be a Combiner. IDW's been pretty good with it recently by showing some complicated stuff with Superion, but we barely if ever get a good look at how the components feel.

But we do now. And it's perfect. THIS is the combiner story I wanted! I wanted to see what it means for the components within; what this does to their heads; what it's like to still be yourself but at the same time 5 guys but AT THE SAME TIME the new combiner! Hopefully this keeps up throughout the issue because if it does, this is by far the best representation we've gotten of a Combiner by a long shot aside from maybe Prowlastator who because of CW never got to fulfill his true potential. And maybe Optimus Maximus, but this is still proving to be a bit more interesting.

indeed kurona

Kurona wrote:... okay, so.

Admittedly, the last three issues... haven't been amazing. They haven't been bad either; but they've just been good, y'know? A fun little read but that's about it.

But already this preview is blowing me away. What always disappoints me about Combiner stories is how they don't really focus much on how their being a Combiner effects the components psychologically; what the mental effect and strain on them is; what it means to be a Combiner. IDW's been pretty good with it recently by showing some complicated stuff with Superion, but we barely if ever get a good look at how the components feel.

But we do now. And it's perfect. THIS is the combiner story I wanted! I wanted to see what it means for the components within; what this does to their heads; what it's like to still be yourself but at the same time 5 guys but AT THE SAME TIME the new combiner! Hopefully this keeps up throughout the issue because if it does, this is by far the best representation we've gotten of a Combiner by a long shot aside from maybe Prowlastator who because of CW never got to fulfill his true potential. And maybe Optimus Maximus, but this is still proving to be a bit more interesting.

Yeah. They always pay lip service to the idea, but never actually explore it. Combine it with the fabulous art and I'm really excited for this issue.

Also, just noticed that Swindle's flashing back to Combiner Wars. While that event was easily the worst arc of post-DoOP IDW, it's still nice to see that they're still dealing with it's consequences and repercussions instead of just sweeping it under the rug and trying to pretend it never happened. I love it when fiction does this; instead of trying to scrub a bad story out of it's history, they use it as a springboard to improve other stories.

Great art. And I too am glad for the perspective of the individuals, it shows so much more about combining.

And Blastoff is going to be fun for this issue

Onslaught is using Combining as a method of interrogation. This is epic. But if he's doing that, who's driving Bruticus?

Flashwave wrote:Onslaught is using Combining as a method of interrogation. This is epic. But if he's doing that, who's driving Bruticus?

Looks like maybe Brawl. Isn't that him on the top of the splash page?

Glarryg

Glarryg wrote:

Flashwave wrote:Onslaught is using Combining as a method of interrogation. This is epic. But if he's doing that, who's driving Bruticus?

Looks like maybe Brawl. Isn't that him on the top of the splash page?

Glarryg

That's Vortex. Brawl is in Swindle's eye having a massive freakout.

I'm not sure anyone is driving Bruticus. It seems more like they are all adapting to a meshed mind very differently

It looks to me that Bruticus is acting out Onslaught's action of reaching for the memory.

Anyways, this may be the first Transformers issue i have ever gone out of my way specifically to buy....

I wonder if this is what it was like that one time the Constructicons combined with Scrapper's dead body? Explains why his memory haunted them long after his death.

One think I really hope doesn't happen after this is all over is for this newfound characterization of the Combaticons to be dropped or forgotten. The problem with Transformers having such a big cast and so much to do is that these spotlight moments of individuals frequently get dropped in favor of the main characters.

ESPECIALLY so with the combiners, who to often merge into one character.

Shuttershock wrote:I wonder if this is what it was like that one time the Constructicons combined with Scrapper's dead body? Explains why his memory haunted them long after his death.

One think I really hope doesn't happen after this is all over is for this newfound characterization of the Combaticons to be dropped or forgotten. The problem with Transformers having such a big cast and so much to do is that these spotlight moments of individuals frequently get dropped in favor of the main characters.

ESPECIALLY so with the combiners, who to often merge into one character.

At least this series is acknowledging that Combiners have individual components and aren't just big robots, unlike Machinima.

King Kuuga wrote:

Shuttershock wrote:I wonder if this is what it was like that one time the Constructicons combined with Scrapper's dead body? Explains why his memory haunted them long after his death.

One think I really hope doesn't happen after this is all over is for this newfound characterization of the Combaticons to be dropped or forgotten. The problem with Transformers having such a big cast and so much to do is that these spotlight moments of individuals frequently get dropped in favor of the main characters.

ESPECIALLY so with the combiners, who to often merge into one character.

At least this series is acknowledging that Combiners have individual components and aren't just big robots, unlike Machinima.

True. Another thing that doesn't seem to get touched on enough after Combiner Wars is the notion that staying combined all the time is BAD for them, as it erodes their personalities and makes them all think and act the same like the Constructicons.

King Kuuga wrote:

Shuttershock wrote:I wonder if this is what it was like that one time the Constructicons combined with Scrapper's dead body? Explains why his memory haunted them long after his death.

One think I really hope doesn't happen after this is all over is for this newfound characterization of the Combaticons to be dropped or forgotten. The problem with Transformers having such a big cast and so much to do is that these spotlight moments of individuals frequently get dropped in favor of the main characters.

ESPECIALLY so with the combiners, who to often merge into one character.

At least this series is acknowledging that Combiners have individual components and aren't just big robots, unlike Machinima.

Psht, Machinima CW doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as this. Even ROTF done combining better.

Shuttershock wrote:

King Kuuga wrote:

Shuttershock wrote:I wonder if this is what it was like that one time the Constructicons combined with Scrapper's dead body? Explains why his memory haunted them long after his death.

One think I really hope doesn't happen after this is all over is for this newfound characterization of the Combaticons to be dropped or forgotten. The problem with Transformers having such a big cast and so much to do is that these spotlight moments of individuals frequently get dropped in favor of the main characters.

ESPECIALLY so with the combiners, who to often merge into one character.

At least this series is acknowledging that Combiners have individual components and aren't just big robots, unlike Machinima.

True. Another thing that doesn't seem to get touched on enough after Combiner Wars is the notion that staying combined all the time is BAD for them, as it erodes their personalities and makes them all think and act the same like the Constructicons.

I agree with this. We all know and love the big combiners, but rarely do the components get that good characterization, and I'm glad to see we are getting that here

D-Maximus_Primal wrote:I agree with this. We all know and love the big combiners, but rarely do the components get that good characterization, and I'm glad to see we are getting that here

that is what I am enjoying for sure. Such personalities.

Man, I cannot wait for this issue. This should be awesome! *Fingers crossed*

Newsarama has updated with the full preview for Transformers: Till All Are One, which is to be released next Wednesday. Check out the full preview below, featuring Bruticus, and check back here on Wednesday for the review!

alright

Air Hammer!

Cannot wait! This looks aces!

Synopsis

SWINDLE LIVES! And ONSLAUGHT knows the perfect way to unlock the secrets in his head. As the COMBATICONS rampage through Iacon, can IRONHIDE and his newly formed police force stop them before they annihilate STARSCREAM—and anyone else who gets in their way?

Story

As we come to the end of the first story arch for Till All Are One, all the cow patties hit the fan. We have a Bruticus, we have an Ironhide-led police force, and we have an Air Hammer. And overall, things mesh together pretty well. The highlight of the story has to be the war within Bruticus' mind though. Save for Combiner Wars issue 5 with Optimus Maximus, we really haven't got any sort of look inside the mind of the combiner where the individuals are concerned. This issue decides to take a look into that and make it the major story plot, as the minds are meshed and the combaticons share minds. It is very well executed too, with a legitimately justice-seeking Blastoff trying to quell the violence of Vortex and the vengeance of Onslaught.



The rest of the story outside of Bruticus though feels a bit clunky still. The one major complaint I would have about this first arch would be that it was a bit rushed. It felt like it would have worked better in a 5-issue arch instead of a 4-issue arch. Things felt a bit too rushed at points when they really could have been drawn out a bit to make it more meaningful, such as Ironhide's police force versus Bruticus. When Prowlastator was formed back in Season 1 of then Robots in Disguise, he was formed one issue, and then spend the next 2 issues formed and in battle. In this case, Bruticus was formed in the first panel and his part of the story, for now at least, is done by the end of the comic. I feel it could have been a bit more drawn out and better paced, but that's hardly a severe damper compared to Bruticus' mind-meld.



Art

Art work is once again done by Sara Pitre-Durocher, and it is a marvelous job of art indeed. It's one thing to actually manage to write about the internal brain struggles of 5 guys fused together; it's a whole other thing entirely to try to draw, and Sara does a marvelous job of drawing the scenes. She also does a great job with Bruticus' design, managing to mesh together his combiner wars toy while also maintaining the characters designs, especially with Swindle. The action and explosions are well done as well, and she manages to draw a combiner de-combining properly. A great job overall.



Colors fall once more to Joana Lafuente, and she compliments the neural landscape of Bruticus' mind with Pitre-Durocher's pencils very well. The orange and black coloring beautifully marks out the in-head scenes while making that plane of existence very dangerous and chaotic, as it is. Lafuente even managed to color the flashback panels a little more coarse and dark, showing not only the fuzziness of the memory in the brain-dead Swindle, but also flashing back to Livio Ramondelli, who originally drew said art. The colors to pencils is strong this issue.



And the visuals would not be complete were it not for Tom B Long and his lettering. Long does a great job this issue of showing the combiner struggles using letters, as Bruticus phases between control and chaos, all the while Blastoff crying out from inside trying to maintain his control over himself.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this issue was great. What I had really wanted was a look into the individuals in the combiner, and we got that and we got it in spades. The combiner struggle was real and it was fantastic, both in writing and in artwork. Blastoff made this issue for me, and he has gone from being a shuttle on a team of combat vehicles random guy to a legitimately lovable character. Again, my main issue with this book is the pacing and how this could have lasted another full issue, but compared to the quality of combiner story we got, I can forgive it.



This is definitely an issue worth picking up, and as this series continues to get its feet under it, it will progress and be a great ongoing. Keep an eye on this series: there is some serious potential.

I am heading out to get the book shortly.

Better Combiner shit in one issue than all of Combiner Wars or AHO. Fantasticly done. I agree it felt like a five parter would've been a little better, but what a terrific arc.

Awesome story!

Thanks to Previews World we have a look at the Subscription Variant cover for Transformers: Till All Are One Revolution! Normally, Windblade is the voice of the massive Transformers known as the Titans, such as Metroplex. But what Till All Are One: Revolution is showing us is that Windblade may meet up with some of the smallest beings ever to live: the Micronauts! You can check out the cover below, and stay tuned to Seibertron.com for all your latest Transformers News and Galleries!

Hopefully this should be a lot better than Revolution 1 and use Windblade to her strengths of, y'know, diplomatics and peace-talking rather than FIGHT FIGHT MISUNDERSTANDING FIGHT.

I mean I'm sure there'll be some fight but I hope it's more like the latter issues of Windblade Volume 2 where they set up talks and relations.

We return to your regularly scheduled Transformers comics from IDW, now that the end of the crossover Revolution is in sight, with a quick iTunes preview of Transformers: Till All Are One #5! The regular team in back on board, with Scott, Pitre Durocher, Deer and (probably) Long at their posts. Check it out, and head back for a full preview in the next week or so!

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?

So a few things to note.

-It's really good to get back to regular issues again after the mess of Revolution. It feels like I'm back home <3
-I'm really liking Obsidian's character
-OH MY GOD THE COMBATICONS ARE STILL ALIVE YES YES Y E S

Brain-damaged Combaticons.

Obsidion is looking to be a good character.

Windblade is disillusioned by Prime.

Titans.

Good start, and welcome change to the Revolution stuff

I am glad I started this comic. The political intrigue is very fun to read. I am interested to see what Obsidian's motives actually are.

Oh, I am SO with sensible, pragmatic Ironhide. I've absolutely loved him under Barber and Scott's pens.

And I'm really loving TAAO. I hope the Combaticons aren't gone too long. There was some tremendous material in the first four issues and i want to revisit them, especially Blast-off's complicated ideas. Plus, Brawl and Vortex being entertaining twits.

RNSrobot wrote:Oh, I am SO with sensible, pragmatic Ironhide. I've absolutely loved him under Barber and Scott's pens.

And I'm really loving TAAO. I hope the Combaticons aren't gone too long. There was some tremendous material in the first four issues and i want to revisit them, especially Blast-off's complicated ideas. Plus, Brawl and Vortex being entertaining twits.

Here is hoping that combining with Swindle will wake Swindle up from his coma. I hope that this is why they are having trouble waking up. I, too, really liked the Combaticon's characterization.

Swindle got shot through the chest, was on ER for months (maybe a year) on end, got combined and is now dealing with the stress of having been combined and now de-combined in ER.
If he survives this... goddamn. Who needs point one percenters when Swindle can make deals with death

Actually, that may be part of the reason why the combaticons are comatose/brain damaged. They combined with a bot who was basically dead since his brain was declared dead by Wheeljack, and then were shot through the head, causing them to decombine. So far in IDW, being forcefully decombined has been a bad situation, with the torchbearers being weakened as a result along with Galvatronus and Sky Reign, not to mention Menasor stayed combined after a head shot but was still knocked unconscious. The only one who really didn't show many problems was Devastator being forcefully decombined, but he's been around long enough he may be more resilient to things like that.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Actually, that may be part of the reason why the combaticons are comatose/brain damaged. They combined with a bot who was basically dead since his brain was declared dead by Wheeljack, and then were shot through the head, causing them to decombine. So far in IDW, being forcefully decombined has been a bad situation, with the torchbearers being weakened as a result along with Galvatronus and Sky Reign, not to mention Menasor stayed combined after a head shot but was still knocked unconscious. The only one who really didn't show many problems was Devastator being forcefully decombined, but he's been around long enough he may be more resilient to things like that.

And even then, in the original ex-RiD run where Devastator showed up (pre-dark cybertron), Prowl and the Constructicons were shown really worn out when decombined. When Megatron was starting to combine with the Constructicons they still looked really tired and fatigued.
De-combining's not fun. I can only imagine how the Aerialbots are right now.

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Actually, that may be part of the reason why the combaticons are comatose/brain damaged. They combined with a bot who was basically dead since his brain was declared dead by Wheeljack, and then were shot through the head, causing them to decombine. So far in IDW, being forcefully decombined has been a bad situation, with the torchbearers being weakened as a result along with Galvatronus and Sky Reign, not to mention Menasor stayed combined after a head shot but was still knocked unconscious. The only one who really didn't show many problems was Devastator being forcefully decombined, but he's been around long enough he may be more resilient to things like that.

And even then, in the original ex-RiD run where Devastator showed up (pre-dark cybertron), Prowl and the Constructicons were shown really worn out when decombined. When Megatron was starting to combine with the Constructicons they still looked really tired and fatigued.
De-combining's not fun. I can only imagine how the Aerialbots are right now.

At least the aerialbots chose to decombine. They weren't forced apart.

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:

Kurona wrote:

D-Maximus_Prime wrote:Actually, that may be part of the reason why the combaticons are comatose/brain damaged. They combined with a bot who was basically dead since his brain was declared dead by Wheeljack, and then were shot through the head, causing them to decombine. So far in IDW, being forcefully decombined has been a bad situation, with the torchbearers being weakened as a result along with Galvatronus and Sky Reign, not to mention Menasor stayed combined after a head shot but was still knocked unconscious. The only one who really didn't show many problems was Devastator being forcefully decombined, but he's been around long enough he may be more resilient to things like that.

And even then, in the original ex-RiD run where Devastator showed up (pre-dark cybertron), Prowl and the Constructicons were shown really worn out when decombined. When Megatron was starting to combine with the Constructicons they still looked really tired and fatigued.
De-combining's not fun. I can only imagine how the Aerialbots are right now.

At least the aerialbots chose to decombine. They weren't forced apart.

True, but it was right after they pretty much cancelled their combined form's existence. That's gotta hurt.

It's gonna be so nice to get back to normal and ignore Revolution. It really has been crap.

Out this Wednesday is the first Transformers book from IDW Publishing that builds on the events of Revolution, rather than feed into it - we return to your regularly scheduled Till All Are One, with issue #5! Check out below the full preview, and head back here after its release for our review and thoughts.

Transformers: Till All Are One #5
Mairghread Scott (w) • Sara Pitre-Durocher (a & c)
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?
FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Bullet points:
TITANS RETURNS returns—with a vengeance!
As OPTIMUS rules on Earth, so STARSCREAM tries to rule on CYBERTRON!
WINDBLADE returns to CYBERTRON… just in time to watch the world die!
Variant cover by Jack Lawrence!

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