IDW - Robots in Disguise #29

Title: Earthfall Part 2: Detonation Boulevard

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Earth Flashback Art by: Guido Guidi

Cybertron Flashback Art by: Brendan Cahil

Colours by: Josh Perez

Flashback Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

During the Decepticon Invasion of Earth, Marissa was at Wall Street "Occupying" it, and ended up trying to save some business guy, whom sadly died from his injuries, but during the moment she realized that regardless of your money, everyone was equal in a situation like this, which is why she vowed to never let the  planet be invaded again.

In the recent past, she and a team of EDC troops are called to the South Pole for a meetup with Soundwave and Galvatron, who tell her that Earth's invasion was a mistake, and tell her that Megatron has sided with the Autobots, meaning that they are Earth's enemies now..

In the present Optimus, Jazz and Kup are surrounded by the EDC and Decepticons outside Thundercracker's home. Faced with no other option, Optimus orders the Autobots to fight the Decepticons, but to avoid harming the humans.

In space, on the far side of the Moon, Jetfire is trying to stop the Micro-bot weapons the ship was attacked by, and creates an aerosol of sorts to deal with them. He goes to sort out the whole ship, but instead finds the Micro-bots already mostly dead, thanks to the Constructicons, who reveal that Prowl has a plan to save the day.

On the planet, the battle isn't going well, so the Autobots decide to roll out to take the fight away from the humans. On the way they are met by Arcee and Sideswipe, who reveal that Prowl ordered them to back up Optimus and the others.

Prowl heads down towards Earth inside Sky Lynx, ready to put his plan into action.

He thinks back to last month, following the trial, where he is told by Optimus that he should come with him to Earth, since he seemed to lighten up there. Prowl orders the Constructicons to join him to the planet as well.

The Autobots head into a town, where they hope the Decepticons wont follow, since they don't want the humans to realize the Transformers are back on the planet, but the Decepticons follow anyway, and just pretend to be military personnel.

Marissa calls for them to back off, in case of human injury, and Thundercracker tells her that he told her this would happen, which she agrees to her being stupid here.

Soundwave tries to get the Decepticons to back off, but Galvatron refuses. Optimus is about to run and take the fight elsewhere, when Prowl and the Constructicons leap from Sky Lynx and merge into Devastator, and get ready to battle the Decepticons (and scare off a bunch of humans too)

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Jazz - Sports Car

Sideswipe - Sports Car

Arcee - Sports Car

Prowl - Police Car

Jetfire - Jet

Cosmos - Orbiter

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Metroplex - City/Ship (Flashback Only)

Decepticon

Galvatron - Tank

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Brawl - Tank

Blitzwing - Tank/Fighter Jet

Needlenose - Fighter Jet

Buzzsaw - Cassette

Laserbeak - Cassette

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Megatron - Gun (Flashback, Autobot in Hologram image)

Skywarp - Fighter Jet (Flashback Only)

Astrotrain - Train/Space Shuttle (Flashback Only)

Bombshell - Boll Weevil (Flashback Only)

Shrapnel - Stag Beetle (Flashback Only)

Cybertronian

Thundercracker - F22 Jet

Hook - Crane

Scavenger - Excavator

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Devastator - Constructicon/Prowl Gestalt (Decepticon in Flashback)

Necrotitan - City/Ship (Flashback Only) Dead

Human

Director Marissa Faireborn

EDC Personnel

Poverty Flat Civilians

General Daniel Witwicky (Flashback Only)

Wall Street Business Man (Flashback Only) Dead

Marissa's Mother (Mentioned)

Steve Faireborn (Mentioned)

Other

Buster the Dog

D.O.C.

Belvadurian Rock-Mites (Mentioned)

Notes

• The flashback scenes are drawn by their main artists again, Guidi for AHM, and Cahil for Dark Cybertron.
• The timeline for the start of All Hail Megatron has been retconned to 2011, during the Occupy movement. This shows this continuity has a flowing timeline (not as bad as DC and Marvel have of course....)
• Daniel Witwicky is show as the head of the EDC, no sign of Spike yet, which implies that he's on the run still.
• Since Prowl could still make contact with the Constructicons, it's likely that either he's using a link they share due to their gestalt form, or Prowl was the one who jammed communications for his strange reasons.
• The result of Megatron's trial is revealed to have some connection to "Transparency" and some "Ancient Law" according to Prowl in the flashback.
• I predict that Faireborn seeing the Autobots alongside Devastator, ie the face of the Decepticon occupation, will mean bad news for Optimus and his team!
• Marissa's mother is mentioned here, wonder if she'll be revealed as Lady Jaye?
• Marissa seems to be very familiar with the Decepticons, as she knows Soundwave's name when he's just landed on the planet.
• The Constructicons have scratched off parts of their Decepticon insignias, showing they are no longer with the Decepticons. Thundercracker still seems to lack an insignia too.
• Whilst not clear, Neednose appears to be amongst the Decepticons on Earth, he is shown on the cover, and an obscured jet is seen in a couple of panels too.