Titans Return (comic)

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"Titans Return" is an "event" storyline published in mid to late 2016 by IDW Publishing, tying into the concurrent release of the Titans Return toyline. The storyline begins in the one-shot comic Titans Return, followed by issues of The Transformers ongoing and More than Meets the Eye; the "Titans Return" tie-ins mark the final issues of each series, before their relaunching and rebranding follow the Revolution event. A Till All Are One story continuing from where the event leaves off follows Revolution.

«	"Titans Return" chapters:	»
Titans Return #1 The Transformers #56 #57 More than Meets the Eye #56 #57 Till All Are One #5 #6 #7 #8

IDW Publishing's comic book events
Inter-company crossovers	Infestation Infestation 2 Mars Attacks The X‑Files: Conspiracy Deviations
Transformers events	"Dark Cybertron" "Combiner Wars" "Titans Return"
Hasbro Universe events	Revolution First Strike Unicron

Overview

On Earth, the recently raised Metrotitan assumes his alternate mode, forming "Autobot City". Wanting to spread word of Optimus Prime's deeds across the entire universe, the Titan sends out a beacon of information into the universe, one that has an unfortunate side effect: awakening former Autobot leader Sentinel Prime, thought to have died long ago at Megatron's hands but in truth slumbering beneath the ruins of Kaon on Cybertron. Disgusted by the post-war society where Autobots, Decepticons, and "malformed colonists" live together, Sentinel goes on a brutal killing spree in Iacon's Decepticon ghetto before taking the spacebridge to Autobot City on Earth.

Confronting Alpha Trion there, Sentinel reveals his true identity of Infinitus, a diminutive Titan Master able to transform into a head mode for a host body and commune telepathically with Titans. Declaring Trion to be the weakest of the Thirteen, whose teachings he claims to be a disciple of, Sentinel decapitates the elderly robot and uses his body to capture Garrison Blackrock, awakening the Cybertronian sleeper agent's original Titan Master identity, named Sovereign. Sentinel returns to Autobot City with his prize, where his remote-controlled body has been clashing with Optimus Prime and Soundwave, and uses the spacebridge to abduct the duo to the planet of Prion, a dead colony world founded by Micronus Prime.

With Sovereign now using Alpha Trion's body, he and Sentinel reveal themselves to be heralds of Onyx Prime and Nexus Prime, and invite Optimus Prime to join them ahead of Onyx's supposedly imminent return. Refusing the offer, Optimus and Soundwave are able to detach Sovereign from Trion and reassert his Blackrock personality, leaving Sentinel to grab him and flee again through the spacebridge. Rather than pursue, Prime and Soundwave instead head to Cybertron, where Alpha Trion's head is reattached, saving his life. Before returning to Earth, Prime promises to send troops to aid with Iacon's recovery from the ghetto massacre.

Sentinel and Blackrock/Sovereign emerge on Luna 1, home to a graveyard of Titans, which the former Autobot leader now intends to raise and teleport to Cybertron, which they can then wipe clean. He patches an unwilling Blackrock into a Titan's brain module in order to awaken the entire graveyard, but faces resistance from the contingency of Autobots present on the moon, which now includes his former right-hand-man Prowl, who had predicted Sentinel's intentions with the Titans. The former Autobot leader is able to even the odds by activating subconscious conditioning that he had subjected one of the Autobots, Red Alert, to long ago, and successfully opens a giant spacebridge portal to Cybertron, telepathically commanding the revenant Titans to enter it and raze the planet.

The Autobots connect one of their number, Fortress Maximus to one Titan's brain, allowing him to try to prevent the other behemoths from entering the portal, whilst Red Alert is able to wrest control of his actions long enough for Sentinel Prime to be knocked into one of Luna 1's gigantic planetary thrusters, seemingly to his death. Whilst most of the Titans have passed through the spacebridge, Blackrock reveals that he was able to overcome enough of Sentinel's influence to redirect the portal's exit point: the Titans are still coming for Cybertron, but they've got a long journey through space first. With the immediate threat passed, Blackrock is returned to Earth, whilst Prowl decides to stick around on Luna 1 for the company.

Creative team

The "Titans Return" event was jointly plotted by John Barber, James Roberts, and Mairghread Scott.

Collections

• The Transformers: Titans Return (January 14, 2017) ISBN 1631408216 / ISBN 978-1631408212
  • Collects Titans Return #1, The Transformers (2012) issues #56–57, and More than Meets the Eye issues #56–57.
  • Bonus material unknown at this time.
  • Trade paperback format.

• The Transformers: Till All Are One, Volume 2 (July 19, 2017) ISBN 1631409247 / ISBN 978-1631409240
  • Collects Till All Are One: Revolution #1 and issues #5–8.
  • Bonus material includes art from most covers.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 75: Titans Return, Part 1 (February 7, 2018)
  • Collects Till All Are One issues #1–4, Titans Return #1, The Transformers (2012) issues #56–57, and More than Meets the Eye issues #56–57.
  • Bonus material includes a two-page article on the beginning of More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise, a cover gallery and a forward by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 76: Titans Return, Part 2 (July 25, 2018)
  • Collects Till All Are One issues #5–11.
  • Bonus material includes an article on Revolution.
  • Hardcover format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 12 (February 10, 2021) ISBN 1684057469 / ISBN 978-1684057467
  • Collects The Transformers (2012) issues #51–55 & #56–57, Till All Are One issues #1–4, Titans Return #1, and More than Meets the Eye issues #56–57.
  • Hardcover format.

• 
  Titans Return – cover art by Priscilla Tramontano
• 
  Till All Are One, Volume 2 – cover art by Sara Pitre-Durocher
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 75: Titans Return, Part 1 – cover art by Don Figueroa (Arcee) and Livio Ramondelli (retro)
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 76: Titans Return, Part 2 – cover art by Don Figueroa (Metroplex) and Sara Pitre-Durocher (retro)
• 
  The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 12 – cover art by Marcelo Matere