Transformers: Unicron

Transformers IDW #78

by John Barber, Alex Milne (Illustrator), Sara Pitre-Durocher (Illustrator)

The end is nigh! Unicron, a planet-sized being that devours other worlds, has set its sights on Cybertron and all of its colonies--including Earth!

Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and their friends must unite every Cybertronian, Earthling, and ally they have to stand against this threat to all existence. But why is Unicron hell-bent on destroying Cybertron? What original sin did Optimus Prime's ancestors commit to earn this wrath? It's an all-out battle against extinction as the world-destroying, universe-shattering threat of Unicron comes to end everything.

Collects the complete six issue series Unicron and all of the backup short stories featuring Rom, G.I. JOE, Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, Micronauts, and Visionaries. Also features a full cover gallery and interviews from creators spanning the history of IDW's Transformers comics.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2019

Reviews

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - English Ebook - I have dyslexia - 🌷🌷🌷

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

[Mark Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s quite a lot going on in this one given that it’s the finale of 13 years of Transformers stories. None of which I’ve read but still managed to enjoy it nonetheless. Occasionally it’s a little difficult to see what’s going on in the busy artwork and, when story threads jump from one to another in a single page - but hey - maybe that’s just me.

Needless to say it’s great fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this but between Optimus and Slide, I found myself rooting for Unicron. Eat em all and put them out of my misery. Unicron is a dumb character and the best version of him was in Transformers Prime, where he was essentially the Earth. That was pretty neat. This was boring and predictable.

[Dave Relph · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty woeful stuff. Every issue of this collection can be summed up with:

“What are we doing?” > “I’ve got a plan.” > Everything goes to pot. > “How about that plan though?”

I’m glad that this this continuity has come to an end now, and defeating Unicron with the power of love, what a horrendous dying breath that was for the series.

[Christopher Colton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the epic finale to the (first) IDW Transformers continuity. It feels a little disjointed due to interweaving with the final issues of Optimus Prime, which were featured in a separate graphic novel, but it's a much more coherent story on its own than that was. A solid ending with truly galactic consequences, and a frankly more interesting origin for Unicron than we've gotten in the past. Naturally, a lot of characters don't make it. Some die heroically, some die pointlessly, and some die poignantly.

This volume wraps up most of the remaining plot threads in a largely satisfying way, and with it thirteen years of storytelling come to a definitive conclusion. 'Til all are one.

[Andy Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Unicron' has many problems: a cross-over, a cosmos-scale antagonist, a much too large cast, and it's place as IDW's finale. Attempting to describe the chaos is the supremely talented Alex Milne whose images work in the scenes of close quarters panic but struggle (with some success) in the elemental (largesse) needs of the story. Milne has built a lot on the work of Geoff Senior here, for the best. John Barber's plot is sufficiently epic but sadly the script feels a bit by-numbers, esp. in the first half, damaging the heft of the beats. 'Unicron' is a little too ambitious for it's own good. Too much disconnect although there's satisfaction and confidence in the last few chapters.

[Jarred · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really hard to do a series ending story with such massive cast, but it’s fun to see all the hasbro crossovers ties up without them stealing the show. There’s really only one ending this could have had so there’s not really surprises, but it does have a couple fun points. Not my favorite but I didn’t hate it. Not sure if it will be memorable for me outside of “it’s the end”.

[fire_on_the_mountain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read! I didn't know IDW made such interesting Transformers content, and I think I started at the end, so now I just get to work backwards and that's cool by me.

There's a tremendous amount of backstory I've missed, so it may not be the most accessible volume for a lay reader, but I just went with it.

[kesseljunkie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Impenetrably dense for the uninitiated. What I imagine watching a Phase 4 Marvel movie is like for someone who’s never watched one before. The art is good, if a bit too cluttered at points. I mean, there were splash pages where the color choices and amount of visual data made things nigh visually incomprehensible.

It is what it is.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A free Comic Book Day Release for a teaser of an upcoming Transformers Comic. Reminded me a lot of the movie..meh.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little long but an ok finale to the IDW series.

[RoseAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

It's pretty good. Then again I haven't read very many transformers comics. The art was really cool, especially the cover art.

[Happyfungoodhappy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book nice ending

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

6

[Nicholas Ghezzi · Rating 1 out of 5]

It just wasn’t my style. Huge transformers fan but this was not my cup of tea.

[Isiiii · Rating 4 out of 5]

El poder de la amistad lo hizo otra vez

[B.J. Fantine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standout Issues: #0, #3, #4, #5

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Barber puts bitter nihilism in the mouth of all of his characters, even Optimus Jesus Prime. It's actually beyond stupid and sucks the soul out of everything. Still, he is brilliant. He gave IDW a plot that was funny, shocking, and satisfying. It's a shame that through this, it has nothing to actually say about the human condition. You had hundreds of issues and thousands of characters, and the capacity to orchestrate a grand scheme, and its still hollow!!

Transformers: Unicron gets three stars for art alone. Milne, too, is a crazy person with no ideals, yet his hands are gifted. If Milne and Barber ever actually start believing the inherent goodness of existence, they would be able to create the greatest comic book of all time.


--------My Original Review---------------------
This is an atheist book. The moral of the story is faith is just a tool, don't join a religion. I kinda think that's a shit moral, and out-of-place in Transformers.

Putting that aside...I loved the art and plot and how well this wrapped up the series. Very emotional after reading for all these years 🥲