Reviews: TMNT & Transformers: Fate Of Cybertron

An era ends this week from IDW Publishing.

It’s the end of an era here as the final issue of this Transformers run completes here from IDW Publishing in Transformers: Fate Of Cybertron, as well as the latest issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Some thoughts from me…

Transformers: Fate Of Cybertron

The thrilling conclusion to the saga that started in Transformers (2019) #1! The Decepticons have the upper hand. Cybertron is falling. And Optimus Prime has an imploder-possibly the most dangerous Cybertronian-built weapon in history-to his head. This is the Autobots last stand. But what does triumph look like in a desperate situation? The War for Cybertron may end here, but the Autobots and Decepticons aren’t done yet!

Writer - Brian Ruckley, Colorist - David Garcia Cruz, Cover Artist - Nick Brokenshire, Variant Cover Artists Alex Milne & Angel Hernandez

This is a sad ending. It is the end of an era for Transformers under IDW Publishing. And this gives us a suitable send-off. We get some interesting aspects finished with some of the characters getting some interesting sets of closure.

We get a good throwdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron, with the threat of mutual annihilation allowing the fight to continue. Nevertheless, this threat is dealt with in a dual method with a nice twist.

The tension continues as the Autobots move to make their escape from Cybertron, with some amazing battle scenes, but I remember this issue from the character work. Bumblebee gets a little closure from the beginning of the run, and Optimus and the Autobots get their next step into the wider universe, with something to fight against.

The artwork is excellent in this issue, showing the chaos of the fight scenes and the character work, with some good parts with Cyclonus.

This was a bittersweet ending, and I hope to see more of where the Transformers land next.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #130

The earth-shattering story arc conclusion! Punk Frogs, mad vivisectionists, frankenmutants, and psychic powers-the TMNT and their friends have had their hands full of late with all kinds of twisted and terrifying chaos. And now, to top it all off, a new problem waiting to happen is rocketing its way to Mutant Town from Burnow Island!

Writer - Sophie Campbell, Artist - Pablo Tunica, Cover Artist - John Yurcaba, Variant Cover Artists - Kevin Eastman & Matt Franks

This was an interesting conclusion to the arc. I say ‘conclusion’, but this issue did leave a number of aspects hanging for future issues. The problems between the Turtles and the Frogs works out well. There is still some tension here, with something for the future between Gengis and Michaelangelo. I like the way that they have their own family.
I did wonder how they were going to deal with Venus - she has a new life, but there are still the parts of her from before. In the end, there was an interesting solution, which moves the story on and possibly sets something up in the future.

I like how the escape by the Triceraton and how they built into the main storyline. This is something that is going to be big, and I can’t help that the recovery of the spacecraft is going to factor into something in the future.

Meanwhile, Leonardo and Shredder have the beginnings of an interesting discussion.

This was a good completion to the arc, with some good points going forward. I enjoyed the artwork, with some excellent scenes and colouring.