It’s the end of the road for the Transformers. At WonderCon 2018, IDW Publishing revealed the full form of the Dark God, the Devourer of Worlds, the Ultimate Evil, Unicron.
IDW had previously announced the arrival of Unicron a few months ago when the assortment of comics for Free Comic Book Day was revealed. It was rumored IDW was also going to reboot the Transformers series or bring it to an end altogether.
“TRANSFORMERS: UNICRON is a culmination of the years of TRANSFORMERS comics I’ve been a part of… and the conclusion of one of the longest continued narrative in TRANSFORMERS history” said Barber. “This is a story of heroism in the face of impossible odds; of a reckoning for an entire universe. I couldn’t be luckier than to have Alex [Milne] right here with me on this—if you know Alex, you know nobody puts more into the TRANSFORMERS than he does, and nowhere before has he drawn drama, action, and pathos at this scale. Tying it all together is the incredible palette of Sebastian Cheng. We’ve never held back before on our TRANSFORMERS comics, but this time we’re pushing ourselves—and each other—harder than ever.”
TRANSFORMERS mainstays from the past 12 years will be providing variant covers for the series, including Andrew Griffith, Nick Roche, and many more. Additionally, legendary comic artist Bill Sienkiewicz will be reinterpreting his classic cover to TRANSFORMERS #1 as a special variant, along with a new cover by Francesco Francavilla.
“TRANSFORMERS: UNICRON is a grand finale to the past 12 years of TRANSFORMERS comics at IDW and to really celebrate that and to celebrate the people who have made it such an amazing ride, we’re getting some amazing, beloved artists to contribute to what I’m sure will be our biggest—literally—TRANSFORMERS story ever,” said David Mariotte, Associate Editor. “This is an event years in the making and one that only works because of the years fans and creators have invested in the comic.”
The action kicks off on Free Comic Book Day, May 5th, with the #0 issue by the series creative; available for free at comic shops across the country. Don’t miss the world-ending first chapter of the summer’s cataclysmic event!”
Rodimus Prime once told Galvatron, “This, is the end of the road.” It does seem that way. I have enjoyed IDW’s run on Transformers since their debut series, Infiltration, followed up with a number of miniseries events, Spotlights on individual Transformers, and the ongoing runs in the following years. The past few years have seen the various titles such as Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Optimus Prime, More Than Meets the Eye, Lost Light, Windblade, and others cross over into each other with subtle hints towards a major crisis event. If we thought Revolutions and First Strike were the big events, this upcoming tale will be the ultimate story, with what may be a very final, and fatal conclusion.
There has been a Unicron in almost every iteration of Transformers, whether it was in the Marvel comics, the original animated movie, Armada, Energon, and Cybertron, even into the Botcon and Universe storylines. In the majority, Unicron would be defeated or sent into a retreat, the chills I get while reading the press release give me a bad feeling this one may not turn out well for Cybertron and the Transformers race.
This version of Unicron, is probably the second most menacing. First goes to my first Unicron experience in 1986, watching the planet transform into the giant robot while Galvatron watches helplessly as his first strike rips into Cybertron’s surface. This version of Unicron, IDW has made him bigger, and appearing like a deity about to render judgment. You can see the details by Alex Milne, the combination of dark moon and robotic splendor.
Does this mean the unification of the IDW/Hasbroverse is coming to an end, or will only a few properties be the causalities in what will likely be a shocking conclusion.
Free Comic Book Day can’t get here soon enough.
In the words of the great Transformers scribe, Simon Furman… “It is over… Finished!”
