Transformers Unicron #5 (of 6) Review

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Alex Milne

Colors by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Published by: IDW

Transformers Unicron has been, if nothing else, a story told on a very epic scale and it is understandable to have an issue to prepare for the final showdown. And that is pretty much what we get here in the penultimate issue. All the characters, and I mean, all the characters in the Hasbro universe are gathered in a planning session for their final stand with Unicron as it makes its way to Earth.

I’d like to quickly mention before I go on, at one point an event is mentioned as happening in Optimus Prime #24 which unfortunately seems to have slipped in the release schedule and won’t be released until October 24. Stuff happens in publishing but it did make for a somewhat confusing middle section to the comic as I caught myself more than once thinking that I must have missed an issue. So, for those who can wait, you may want to read this issue after Optimus Prime comes out.

As for the story itself, Barber is going full tilt to the finish line. You can clearly see that the point of this issue is to culminate years of storyline (as is the point of the whole event) and we get splashes of that throughout. With those splashes, you also get a sense that this will be the final story as the stakes are laid bare for the reader to see. Earth is the final Cybertronian colony and the purveyor of destruction is upon them.

My favourite little splash in this issue revolves around my new favourite Transformer Thundercracker. After getting to know him in one of the annuals earlier this year, I quickly fell in love with his characterization and now he gets a moment in the spotlight before the big climactic battle. His reunion with his fellow Seekers Starscream and Skywarp cracked me up in an otherwise very dire situation. Good stuff!

Alex Milne and David Garcia Cruz give us a fantastic looking issue throughout. I’m not sure if it was my method of reading this series (I use a tablet, but for this issue read it on my computer), but this issue seemed to be one of the best visually of the series. Milne line work was crisp and detailed while Cruz’ colours were incredibly vibrant and a pleasure to look at. And they were up to the task of having to illustrate so many characters. I’m pretty sure this is the most amount of characters I’ve seen in any one comic in a long time.

And that leads me to my only real negative for the issues and the series as a whole - too many characters. Barber tries to perfectly juggle a whole host of characters throughout and giving them each their moment, but oftentimes it ends up being simple one panel shout-outs that don’t really advance the story. Not everyone gets a Thundercracker moment.