Spoilers

Random thoughts about the Annual:

+ Poor Ultra Magnus... I really feel for him. Though I like how the story ended with them showing his softer smile (i.e. declining the aliens' offer and leaving with a smile)
+ Rodimus comment about war and religion was funny.
+ Cyclonus' creation story was cool - a different take from what we've been previously used to. Now... I wonder how accurate this is. Because if it is completely accurate for the IDWverse, then that contradicts Hasbro's "Multiversal Singularity" (re: Continuity Shoehorning) that they've been pushing since 2005) Unless it's not that accurate and Cyclonus is merely recounting a legend/mythology.

I like the new take on Transformers theology though -- it feels more Classical than previous theology (which was more Zoroastrological/Judeo-Christian)... rather than having Primus being a single/central supreme being, he divided himself into 5 Gods... so in that sense the original Primus was like a Titan, whereas the 5 beings who came from him and formed the Hand are like Gods in the Classical sense (re: Pantheon/Olympus). And each of those Gods is specialised and may have been worshipped for their attributes by the early Transformers -- which is also really cool and more believable if these Transformers practised a form of polytheistic religion in the beginning. It stands to reason that if you believe in polytheism that each God would have a different purpose/function. The destruction of Mortilus granting the Transformers immortality but killing or near-killing the other Gods was a fascinating story. Also, portraying the original Primus as a Titan gives more meaning to the name "Metro Titan(s)"

The origin story was SO beautifully written... I loved how Cyclonus referred to Cybertron as the "miracle world" which gives us a different perspective to the way he sees things, and not just a shallow "evil Decepticon". It also harkens to the language used in The Headmasters, where the Targetmasters were called "Miracle Warriors"

Guido Guidi's artwork in the recount scene was also beautiful. I loved the intentionally Marvel US like pixelation to make it feel more old school! Ironically even when pixelated, Guidi's artwork still looked much better than the artwork in the rest of the book with modern digital colouring. In fact, if not for that colouring I don't think the majority of the art would look that good. The inking is good, but really not a fan of the core pencilling/drawing. When I look at the way most of the Transformers are drawn -- ignoring the colouring and inking -- to me, it looks like good (but not excellent) fan art. Assuming that these artists are trained professionals, I expect better.