IDW - Drift

Characters

Knights of the Circle of Light

Dai Atlas - Jet/Tank

Wing - Jet Killed by Braid

Axe

Drift - Speeder Joins Autobots

Other Knights

Autobot

Drift - Race Car

Sunstreaker - Speeder

Metalhawk - Jet Injured in Battle

Boss - Car

Road Rocket - Speedbike

Electro - Car Killed in Battle

Gobots - Car Killed in Battle

"Skrum" - Speeder Killed in Battle

Hot Wire - Pick Up Truck Killed in Battle

Ironhide - Van

Bumblebee - Speeder

Autobot Guards (Flashback)

Decepticon

Deadlock/Drift - Speeder Defects to Circle of Light

Turmoil - Tank

Lockdown - Speeder

Megatron - Tank (Flashback)

Starscream - Tetrajet (Flashback)

Thundercracker - Tetrajet (Flashback)

Skywarp - Tetrajet (Flashback)

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank (Flashback)

Motor Master - Truck (Flashback)

Runamuck - Speeder (Flashback)

Tankor - Truck/Jet (Flashback)

Fear Swoop - Jet

Dread Wing - Stealth Bomber

Smokesniper - Jet

Drench - Car Accidentally killed by Turmoil

Hydrodread - Car

Snare - Jet

Windrazor - Jet

Aquablast - Car

Sky Dive - Jet

Talon - Jet

Take-Off

Terradive - Jet

Falcon - Jet

Charger

Windsweeper - Jet

Staxx - Truck

Jetstorm - Race Car

Ransack - Jet

Road Pig - Motorcycle

Horri-Bull

Roadgrabber - Attack Vehicle

Skyjack - Jet

Carn-Evac Killed by Deadlock

Cybertronian

Civilians

Gasket - Pincer Vehicle Accidentally killed by Autobot Guards

Senator Decimus (Flashback)

Hot Shot Killed by Thundercracker

Glit Killed in Battle

Other

Braid Killed by Drift

Slavers

Storyline

Deadlock leads an attack on an Autobot team led by Sunstreaker and leads them to retreat. After the Autobots leave, one of his troops threatens to report Deadlock to their commander to attacking the Autobots first despite his orders, Deadlock responds by killing the Decepticon and asks the other Decepticons present who will join him in overthrowing Turmoil.

Back on the ship Deadlock is restrained and Turmoil goes to execute him for treason, but Deadlock uses his awesome skills to escape, gets to an escape pod and speeds away, also disabling the ship from following and tracking him. Turmoil announces that Deadlock has been banished and is to be killed on sight.

Deadlock crashes onto a planet and finds a facility where he meets a stranger called Wing who asks him to help him in releasing the prisoners in the facility and he'll let him take one of the ships. The two attack the facility and Wing is revealed to be a Transformer as well, but not allied to either faction. The two robots prepare to release the prisoners when Deadlock (now calling himself Drift) sees a ship and runs for it. Drift is ambushed and injured by Braid and his slavers and goes offline.

Later Drift wakes up in a medical facility in a newly rebuilt body surrounded by non-allied robots. Drift gets startled and heads to the door wondering where he is when he sees that he's in a large Cybertronian city, New Crystal City.

Long ago when the war was still new the third faction, the Knights of the Circle of Light left Cybertron to make a settlement in secret and they set up the New Crystal City, allowing it's people to live alone and in peace away from the war. Wing and Drift compare ideologies with Wing trying to show Drift that his warlike ways are just self destructive, and ended up destroying Cybertron rather than saving it like was originally planned.

Later Wing meets with the Circle of Light and is reprimanded for bringing a Decepticon into the city, he's then told to stay with Drift at all times so he can't corrupt any of their people. Wing goes outside and tells Drift to come with him and tells him to prove why he's the strongest by beating him in a hand-to-hand fight. The two do this for weeks and Drift eventually manages to just touch Wing and he reveals that he didn't join the Decepticons to be a conqueror, he joined because he needed to join something to make changes and tells him about how someone who helped him once was killed by some Autobot Guards by accident leading him to killing them, going on the run and eventually developing his gun skills, leading to him becoming a bodyguard at first and then joining the Decepticons.

Wing and Drift are called to the control room as they've picked up on a coded signal and asks Drift if he can understand it, Drift lies and says that he can't. Later that night Drift leaves the city alone and speeds along to meet with the slavers as the message told him to and Lockdown reveals himself to Drift and says that Megatron is displeased.

Drift returns to the city later and Wing asks where he's been, Drift speeds off to talk to the Knights about what had just happened, and warns them that he's just had to sell them out. He reveals that he's had to admit that there's a some Transformers on the planet to the slavers because they noticed his new body and they saw Wing before. Drift tells Dai Atlas and the others that they have to fight back. The Knights agree with Drift (except Dai Atlas anyway) and they plan to fake a ship crash near by the city so they can keep the city hidden and still defend their ways. The Knights set up the ship crash and Drift is refitted to have swords and some new colours and details on his robot mode so he can join them in the fight as well.

The Knights and Drift begin their battle against the slavers with Drift honing his skills on the battlefield, inside the city Dai Atlas watches from the war room. Braid, the slaver leader challenges Wing to a battle, whilst Lockdown, seeing Drift with the Knights challenges him. During the battle Lockdown is knocked away by an explosion and Drift sees Wing being killed by Braid, so he jumps the slaver. Dai Atlas sees this as well and screams out in rage and leaves the war room. Drift and Braid fight it out, but Braid seems to be winning until he sees a nearby mountain split in half and a large city rise out from the ground.

Dai Atlas opens the city gates and leads the Cybertronians of the city in battle against the Slavers. Drift recovers enough and grabs Wing's ancient sword and slices Braid in half killing him as Lockdown watches and seethes. The battle ends and the New Crystal City Cybertronians mourn Wing and Dai Atlas gives Drift his ancient sword as a thank you and welcomes him into the Knights.

Dai Atlas decides that they can't hide any more and that they have to spread their message to the universe instead, Drift says that he's going to go alone but will still keep the lessons he's learned at heart.

Later Drift is in Japan on Earth and has finally found peace with himself.

Notes

• Several characters being shown killed in this comic actually appear in later set comics, so I've renamed those ones as different characters where appropriate
• The clothes Drift wore in his Spotlight issue is seen on Wing in this comic
• It's unclear when the last few pages, where Drift is driving around in Japan, is set, just most likely he was sent to Japan on a Skywatch operation and took a few moments to just look outwards in a cherry blossom storm before fighting some off-screen Japanese exclusive characters.
• Drift's name before Deadlock was Drift! That's easy to remember!

My Thoughts

Art

Strong lines and colours, very detailed, very nice as with most of the recent side story series'

Story

Gives Drift a pretty thorough back story showing him joining the Decepticons, leaving them, then joining the 3rd faction.

Continuity

Leads directly into Spotlight: Drift. Start is set before Infiltration.

Other

Lockdown is based on his Revenge of the Fallen toy