Ricky Church reviews Transformers: Unicron #6…
The end of Transformers: Unicron has come and with it, the penultimate issue of IDW’s current Transformers continuity. John Barber closes out his story in a pretty spectacular fashion as Optimus Prime, Arcee, Starscream and their allies throw everything they have for one last assault against Unicron. The miniseries wraps up fairly well with nice development from the characters, entertaining action and great artwork from Alex Milne, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Kei Zama and Andrew Griffith. Transformers: Unicron #6 doesn’t quite tick all of the boxes, but it’s still a worthy send-off for many of the characters in the IDW universe.
Right from the opening page, the story is kicked into high gear and never lets up as Optimus, Arcee and Starscream make their way to Unicron. Barber crafts a finale that gets a little chaotic jumping around the various battlefronts, but for the most part its well balanced. There is a lot of ground to cover, from the main attack on Unicron, Prowl confronting Shockwave in Toronto or the battles around Mount Rushmore and the White House. Its a lot to juggle and some things get lost in the shuffle, but at the moments that matter Barber spends enough time to really drive home the drama, stakes and lives lost. Several characters come full circle from where they began in in the IDW continuity. Starscream’s sacrifice was one of the best moments from the issue not just because it showed how much he had changed, but also because it harkened back to his relationship with Windblade and how much of an impact she had on him during Transformers and Till All Are One. And of course there’s Soundwave’s own sacrifice that is a highlight from both a story and visual point. Much like Starscream’s, Soundwave’s death felt earned and tragic, yet uplifting since he played a major role in saving Earth and defeating Unicron, especially since he connected with the souls of so many other transformers.
One problem with the issue’s story though was the sudden inclusion of characters over in the Optimus Prime series, in particular the fallout from Optimus Prime #24. Though anyone reading Unicron is likely to have read the tie-in issues, the significance of Slide and the Dinobots comes a little out of left field given the fact they never played a part in the main series. It still offers Barber a chance to tie some loose ends as Slide comes to terms with her resentment toward Optimus as well as the Dinobots’ long rivalry with Bludgeon. For the most part, Barber succeeds in offering closure to various characters and the miniseries itself, though some things are held back for the epilogue in Optimus Prime #25. Because of this, Unicron #6 doesn’t quite feel fully resolved with a few questions left unanswered.
That said, Barber still delivers on a lot with the characters and their development. This depiction of Optimus Prime isn’t the weary one who is unsure about his role or lightly exploiting people’s faith in him, but the heroic figure ready to lay his life down on the line. The fact he knew the whole time he was walking to his demise was great, but it was his encounter with Unicron’s creator where he really shined. It was a nicely done subversion that instead of a typical fight against the ultimate evil, Optimus instead used reason and compassion to get through to Unicron’s creator and help destroy the massive transformer. In other hands it might be a very corny idea, but Barber sold the resolution to this conflict very well by highlighting how Optimus wanted to differ from his predecessors in the Prime lineage and finally end it in a way they would not have. It spoke to one of the series’ main themes of redemption and owning up to past sins. It’s fitting that no other character but Optimus could accomplish that while sacrificing himself.
Up to this point, Alex Milne was the sole artist on Unicron, but because the finale is so much bigger than the previous issues additional artwork is done by Sara Pitre-Durocher, Andrew Griffith and Kei Zama. Each one his a distinctive style to them, which makes the visuals somewhat inconsistent as it bounces between different artists and styles so many times throughout the issue. However, they do bring some excellent imagery to the table and convey the emotions of the characters very well. With the exception of a couple panels, such as Ironhide’s demise, the action flows very well and and is entertaining to follow. Each artist tries to be as detailed as possible with both the characters emotions and background events. Joana Lafuente and David Garcia Cruz make each page pop with their colours. The image of Soundwave and the number of bots who have passed is one of the most pretty and memorable pages in a Transformers comic yet. Though its a bit of a shame Milne couldn’t complete the whole series by himself and the work between each artist conflict with each other to varying degrees, the group do give a nice send-off in this oversized finale.
Transformers: Unicron #6 may not tick all of the boxes of a grand finale, but John Barber does deliver the emotion and make many of the sacrifices feel tragic and bittersweet. His depiction of Optimus, and the subversion of the normal solution, is a welcome one that ties up Optimus’ arc throughout the current phase of IDW’s stories. The finale, and the series itself, were not perfect, but is still is a great send off to the current continuity. The artwork from each artist is well done even if their styles are inconsistent with one another. Despite that and some story elements, Unicron #6 is a worthy send off for many of bots as well as Barber’s tenure on the franchise.
Rating: 7/10
Ricky Church
