IDW - Robots in Disguise #32

Title: Earthfall Chapter 5: I Dream of Wires

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Art pages 7,10,11,13 by: Brendan Cahill

Colours by: Josh Perez

Colours pages 7,10,11,13 by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Half a million years ago, Metroplex and Alpha Trion leave Cybertron to remove themselves as targets from the Decepticons, which Prowl agrees with, but realizes that this will most likely cause the Autobot's loss in the war, especially with Optimus being so willing to join the front line during the war.

Back in the near past, the Autobot's approach Earth, and Prowl seems happy, and Prowl reveals to Cosmos that he asled him along on the trip as he needed someone he trusts to help him out on this mission.

In the present, Prowl removes his gun from Jazz's head and points out that detaching Alpha Trion from his machine will set off an alarm, and also points out that the Humans have been making these weapons for a while now, and that Trion only came to Earth within the past few months, meaning there must be another Cybertronian on the premises. Outside, the Autobots are fighting against the Decepticons and their Worldburner ship.

Elsewhere in the base, Soundwave detects Prowl's presence on the base, but Sanjay says he detected him a while ago, they're unable to detect Jazz however, due to his camouflage. Prowl and Jazz appraoch a large door inside a corridor which is FAR too big for a human to need, meaning the Cybertronian must be inside it. Before anything can happen though, Sanjay activates the Mind Bomb and knocks Prowl unconscious.

Thundercracker approaches the island with Faireborn, but refuses to get too close due to the warzone, and Buster's safety, causing Faireborn to abandon him. Nearby, the Autobots are losing the battle with the Decepticons though.

Inside the base, Jazz is dragging Prowl's body out of the base, but is encountered by Soundwave, who is ready to kill him. However, Prowl's mind infiltrates the EDC computer system, as he planned all along, and tries to find out who the other Cybertronian is, but is unable to break through he Black Box of data. However he does find the controls for the Human's Cybertronian-killing missiles, and activates them, targeting them all at the Decepticon's ship, blasting it out of the sky. He also takes control of some internal weapons and takes down Soundwave, allowing Jazz to escape with his body.

Outside, Thundercracker is running away with Buster from the exploding Decepticon ship, when he falls into a cavern, and after a quick bout of fear of having crushed his dog (he didn't, don't worry!) he is suddenly afce to face with something terrifying....

Nearby, the Autobots prepare to enter the base, when they discover the doors are unlocked now, when suddenly Jazz and Prowl walk out. The Constructicons join the group, and admit to betraying information to the Decepicons, but only on Prowl's orders.

Before long, the Autobots recover Alpha Trion, and destroy a vast chunk of the EDC base. Inside, Witwicky is calling for an evactuation, when Galvatron approaches him, and kills him for using the Mind Bomb on him earlier.

The Autobots escape on board Sky Lynx, and Jetfire and D.O.C. begin work on repairing Alpha Trion. Optimus shouts at Prowl for his recent actions, but Prowl talks his way around the situation, by proving that every thing he has done has been justified in the end.

Back on the Island, Faireborn arrives and discovers Witwicky dead, Galvatron blames Prowl for the murder, which Faireborn believes, due to Prowl's history with Spike.

After these events, Thundercracker leaves the island with Buster, and carries on working on his screenplay, but uses the experience from the island to form a new plot, as he discovered an army of cloned Cybertronians in the shape of the long dead Thrust and Ramjet waiting to be launched under the EDC base, having been kept from him by Faireborn.

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Alpha Trion

Jazz - Sports Car

Prowl - Police Car

Arcee - Sports Car

Sideswipe - Sports Car

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Cosmos - Orbiter

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Bumblebee - Cybertronian Car (Flashback)

Metroplex - City/Space Ship (Flashback)

Bluestreak - Cybertronian Car (Flashback)

Ironhide - Cybertronian Van (Flashback)

Decepticon

Galvatron - Tank

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Laserbeak - Cassette

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Needlenose - Fighter Jet

Brawl - Tank

Blitzwing - Fighter Jet/Tank

Astrotrain - Space Shuttle/Train

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

Scavenger - Excavator

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Hook - Crane

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Devastator - Constructicon and Prowl Gestalt

D.O.C.

Random Cybertronians (Flashback)

Human

General Daniel Witwicky Killed by Galvatron

Marissa Faireborn

Sanjay Bharwaney

Jones

EDC Guys

Spike Witwicky (Mentioned)

Other

Buster

Ramjet Drones - Fighter Jets

Thrust Drones - Fighter Jets

Notes

• It appears that Prowl considers Earth a "home" now, despite his bad experiences on his last visit
• The Decepticon's ship, which is based on the Revenge , introduced in the 80's Movie is identified as a Worldburner class ship.
• The scene with the Autobots attacking the Decepticon's Worldburner ship is a clear homage to the most commonly seen cover to the 80's Transformers Movie
• The effects of the stealth paint is shown here, when Jazz isn't clear on security footage, unlike Prowl.
• Thundercracker is shown at various points in different angles, and still no sign of an insignia. I think it's safe to assume he's officially neutral now!
• Galvatron, unfamiliar with human reproduction assumes Daniel is talking about THE "Sun" rather than his "son"
• Yeah, I think Optimus is going to punch Prowl before long....
• It seems weird that Galvatron implicated Prowl for General Witwicky's death, considering he knows about Jazz's past killing a Human, but seemingly not of Prowl's past with the Witwicky family.
• Thrust and Ramjet were both shown being killed off in past comics (a Spotlight each in fact) and have clearly had their bodies captured and studied to create the clones of them shown in the EDC basement.
• Prowl still sees Optimus as a "Hero Cop".
• Scavenger's (misnamed Scrapper here) betrayal to he Decepticons is revealed to have been Prowl's idea so he could create the Decepticon attack as a diversion for him to enter the base undetected.
• It looks like Buzzsaw may still be out of commission/dead after the battle with Devastator earlier

The five most shafted Transformers!

Amongst the vast tapestry of the Transformers franchise there are just some characters who have been given the short straw as their lot in life. Now I do not mean the characters who are created just to die (the "Hi and Die" if you will) or those who have been relegated to side characters compared to the "main guys". What I mean are the characters who have been given a role, or have been treated in a way that we cannot respect or trust them now, or have just been treated unfairly for no valid reason.

As such, here are the five characters (or sets of characters in some cases) that I feel have been given the shaft. If you disagree with me, or have your own ideas, please let me know in the comments here, and have fun reading :)

5. Cosmos

First on the list, Cosmos! Yes, everyone loves the little fella, but let's face it, we love him because he's essentially a joke, his roles within the media over the years can basically be summarized as "Space Taxi" or crowd filler.

Even his essential counterpart amongst the Decepticons, Astrotrain, has made more of a role for himself than just the "Space Taxi", given that he took on a role as Decepticon leader in one episode of the cartoon, and even acted as god to some Titan aliens. He's even had a fairly vocal and prominent role within the IDW continuity in recent years, unlike our pal Cosmos who has only just started appearing as more than a background character (and even that is just a glorified space camera).

Also, let's not forget his nonsense alternate mode and the fact that these guys are meant to be in DISGUISE. I suppose it did work well during the Mars Attacks crossover though....

4. Jawbreaker

I know what you're thinking! Who?

This guy has had it so bad, that out of all the regular release single figures (excluding playsets, and one of the Mutants) he never appeared ONCE in the IDW Gathering or Ascending comics, not even in a cameo. To put this simply, they had space for Manta Ray, a McDonalds Happy Meal toy, but not a full sized regular release toy!

This problem has even been around for longer than this, where his only fictional appearance ANYWHERE (bar his Sourcebook profile) has been in a recent Collector's Club comic, where he used Ratchet's Beast Hunters toy character model, and even that was a minor role.

3. Hot Shot

Oh Hot Shot, for a few years you were a main character in basically all the Transformers cartoons, you spawned a popular internet meme, and everyone loved you, what could go wrong?

The Movie came out, and Bumblebee replaced you as the main character, then suddenly everyone forgot all about you, that's what!

Sure we've had a handful of toys based on your past appearances (Universe 2008, Prime and upcoming AOE) but that's nothing to what it was even a few years ago

For those of you who are unaware, when Transformers Animated began, it was planned for Hot Shot to be a main character, but following the release of the first movie, he was replaced with Bumblebee, sure he was later shown in an episode in Season Three, but he, and the rest of his team were pretty much just recycled character ideas and models

2. Sentinel Prime

You may not have been expecting Sentinel to appear here, but hear me out.

Ever since the Sentinel Prime character has been fleshed out (beyond just a dead arm in Dreamwave, or just a flashback death scene in Marvel) he has been typecast as a relative jerk, or just utterly unlike-able.

The IDW G1 version was a bully former security guard who was the Senate's figure head. In Animated he's a former friend of Optimus with a massive ego problem, and of course in Dark of the Moon, he is a traitor who kills Ironhide in a violent way (spoilers btw).

It has become somewhat impossible to think of Sentinel as anything other than amoral or just a horrible individual, and for that, I'm sorry for him, as I'm sure he wasn't originally envisioned this way!

1. The Twins

Now here's the big one, or should I say two. Skids and Mudflap from Revenge of the Fallen. The two of them act like children who are wannabe gangsters, and the world turns that into them being racist stereotypes of black people.

A culmination of this complain was that the duo were written out of their role in Dark of the Moon (where they would have been killed alongside Ironhide, protecting Sam and Bumblebee from Sentinel) and, if you haven't noticed, there have been little to no mentions of Twins in Transformers since then (even Sideswipe and Sunstreaker aren't seen together too much now) and this is just stupid

What is really bad about this particular situation is that the characters themselves were an interesting take on Cybertronians, and could be seen as having been influenced by the internet (as was established to be how they learned to speak English) to acting this way, perhaps even due to things like chat rooms and forums.

Their battle against Devastator in ROTF was also pretty entertaining in itself, and was a good pay-off for the characters existing.

There you go guys, I hope you enjoyed this topic, and let me know about any points of view you have on this subject. If you have any ideas for a future "article" for me to write on, then please let me know 

Thanks for reading! :)

Titan - Age of Extinction #3

Title: Accept No Substitutes!

Writer: Martin Fisher

Pencils, Inks and Colour: Andres Ponce

Lettering: Comicraft

Cover Date: Sept/Oct 2014

Cover Price: £3.99

Poster: Optimus runs from a Chopper!

Plot

Bumblebee attacks and leaves a KSI factory, and introduces himself an threatens a bunch of humans. Very soon, elsewhere, Bumblebee hears about this on the news, and is rightfully confused as to how he could have possibly done that!

Bumblebee goes for a drive to investigate what happened, when he comes across a house on fire, with a woman trapped inside. Bumblebee goes to save her, but she's afraid of him. Before anything can happen though, another Bumblebee appears and attacks the real one.

The fake Bumblebee introduces himself to Bumblebee as Stinger, and welds Bee's battle mask shut, so no-one can tell them apart. The two fight briefly, until Optimus appears,a nd he cannot tell who is who, until Bumblebee jumps to action to save the woman, who has just fallen from her window.

Stinger goes to attack Optimus with a gun, but Optimus just smacks it away, allowing Stinger to run away.

Afterwards, the woman has changed her mind about Bumblebee and trusts him. Optimus apologizes to Bumblebee for not recognizing him sooner, but wonders what Stinger wanted with all of this....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Bumblebee - Camaro

"Decepticon"

Stinger - Sports Car

Human

Burning House Lady

Bob the Anchor

Jean the Anchor

KSI Staff

Other

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue comes with either Vehicon or Megatron as the main free gift
• Strafe finally gets named properly in the features in this issue (instead of calling him Swoop)!
• As usual, Bumblebee and Optimus are shown in their mid-AOE bodies, despite this appearing to be set before the movie.
• Stinger really shouldn't be active at this point in time, as he should be a mindless machine still (unless he was being controlled by some KSI guys for some reason here
• The comment by Jean, the News Anchor, about modern toys being too complicated for kids to play with is a double jab at the Transformers toy line. The releases for collectors (such as Generations, Masterpiece etc) are designed to be somewhat complicated to make them look better. The second jab is that the main AOE toyline releases are actually now the very basic One Step series of toys.
• The plot in this issue is very similar to the main plot of the Transformers Animated episode "Where Is Thy Sting?" where Bumblebee is replaced with Wasp, who even uses an electronic paint job like Stinger does here. Stinger comitting offences as Bumblebee is also somewhat similar to the Decepticon's actions during "Megatron's Master Plan" from the G1 cartoon.
• It's unclear what Stinger's ultimate goal was though, did he intend to kill and replace Bumblebee to act as a spy maybe?

Other Features

Adverts

A couple of Competitions

The Ultimate Smack Down! - Galvatron vs Optimus profiles

The Lowdown on.... - Drift profile

Trouble and Strafe! Maze puzzle with Bumblebee and Strafe

Meet the Real Dinos! - Article on real dinosaurs

Crosshairs' Conundrums - Puzzles!

Lockdown's Letterbox - Lockdown and Crosshairs read the fan art and mail

Dinobot Wordsearch! - Find the Dinobot names in a wordsearch!

TFCC #58 - Alone Together #3

Title: Alone Together Chapter 3: Kindred

Writers: S. Trent Troop & Greg Sepelak

Pencils & Inks: Naoto Tsushima

Colours: Evan Gauntt

Letters: Jesse Wittenrich

Managing Editor: Pete Sinclair

Coordination: Phases

Plot

Rampage attacks Transmutate, but very quickly they recognize each other from their brief meeting in the prison some time earlier. But before they can really catch up, Rampage collapses from a lack of energy.

Transmutate hooks Rampage up to the Navicomp to help recharge Rampage, and he explains to her that both of them are Point One Percenters, and therefore are a rare breed of Cybertronian who shouldn't be able to contain their powers, which is why they were exiled  Rampage suggests the two of them settlle down on this planet and just live out their lives alone, together (the Navicomp even offers to officially lifebond them).

Before anything else can happen though, the duo are attacked by a pair of aliens, who swiftly knock them both out, when the two Cybertronians awaken they are greeted by the alien's leader, Lord Imperious Delirious of the Destructons, who seems disappointed by the Cybertronians they were able to find.

Characters

Cybertronian

Transmutate - Good Motor Scooter

Rampage - Flight of Fear Jet

Navi-Comp

Destructon

Lord Imperious Delirious

Medusa

Bruton

Psychokhan

Notes

• Rampage and Transmutate recognise eachother's voices from the prison they were in during the prologue story
• Transmutate's "crime" is revealed here to be her simply being a Point One Percenter, like Rampage.
• Wow Destructons....a bunch of random super obscure alien characters who even I had to look up to recognize/name them!
• Shockingly they don't even get any new redesigns to look like recent toys!
• The way the Destructons speak to Transmutate and Rampage seems to imply that they can sense their sparks or something (refering to them as "lights" etc)

Other Features

Transformers at 30: Let's go to the Movies - Article on the movies by Jim Sorenson

A Tale of Two Botcons - Recount of Botcon by Jim Sorenson and Chris McFeely

Dread Pirate Crew Profile

Flamewar Profile

Transformers I.Q. - Quiz focusing on the Negative Polarity universes

Transformers I.Q. Trivia Bonus - Information on Shattered Glass Megatron/Galvatron

Recordicons - Hipster Buzzsaw is forced to be part of a rock band by Soundwave

IDW - Primacy #1

Written by: Chris Metzen and Flint Dille 

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Chris Mowry

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Following the Exodus of Cybertron, the planet has gone quiet, but it's unlikely to stay that way for long.

Hot Rod hangs out with a friend in Maccadam's Old Oil House, having just graduated from the Autobot Academy, and fully defends his choice on side in the war. Outside the bar, Hot Rod runs into his old friend Slinger, who has joined the Decepticons. After a quick argument on who is right and wrong, the duo part ways, and Slinger tells Hot Rod to watch his back.

Following his rehabilitation after the events of Monstrosity, Optimus heads to the Grav-Haraan Glacier (Southern Polar Region) with Ironhide to relax a bit, whilst there however they find an Omega Sentinel, still waiting for Nova Prime to return. When he discovers that Nova went missing a long time ago, and that Optimus is the new Prime, complete with Matrix, he follows Optimus, and even takes on his shuttle mode to take them back to Iacon

In Iacon, Grimlock and his Dynobots are being returned to normal after their exposure to Corrupted Energon, and as his first job after recovery, Grimlock is paired up with Hot Rod for a recon mission.

At the ruins of Harmonex, Megatron wakes up Trypticon. who has had his spark infused with Pentius', creating a loyal follower for Megatron to add to his ranks. After a short discussion on what Trypticon remembers of his past lives, Trypticon projects memories from both of his lives, including Trypticon travelling a deserted Cybertron, and the Quintesson's actions of the past. After breaking the link, hey wait for the other Decepticons to assemble.

Sky Lynx carries Hot Rod and Grimlock to Harmonex to examine the remains of Trypticon, but when they arrive they are shocked to find him missing!

In orbit, Megatron and his Decepticons are set up inside Trypticon and begin their journey into the void of space....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Ironhide - Van

Hot Rod - Car

Grimlock - Armoured Truck

Omega Supreme - Rocket

Sky LLynx - Space Shuttle

Ratchet - Ambulance

Wheeljack - Car

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Hot Rod's Bar Pal

Metroplex - City/Space Ship

Zeta Prime (Mentioned) Dead

Dynobots (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Tyrpticon/Pentius - Space Ship

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank

Starscream - Jet

Skywarp - Jet

Shockwave - Ray Gun

Blackwall

Slinger

Scorponok - Scorpion Tank (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Blaster - Acoustic Tank

Random Cybertronians

Nova Prime - Truck (Mentioned) Lost

Ark-1 Crew (Mentioned) Lost

Skar (Mentioned) Killed by Grimlock

Other

Quintessons (Flashback)

Sharkticons - Sharks (Flashback)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• As usual, the character list is of Cybertronian vehicles, rather than Earth based, due to the era this comic is set in.
• This issue explains where Hot Rod was during Monstrosity. He was training at the Autobot Academy.
• Slinger, Hot Rod's friend shown in the previous 2 stories has been shown to have joined the Decepticons, and been rebuilt to be a warrior (as was shown to happen to Decepticons as far back as Megatron: Origin).
• It seems a bit odd that someone with a Decepticon insignia can just walk around in Iacon during the war huh? Especially after the Exodus has already happened!
• So Optimus just happened to travel to a desolate part of Cybertron, where he happened to find the last of the Omega Sentinels just waiting for the Prime to return? Huh...
• Grimlock and the Dynobots have had their dragon modes removed from their bodies, and have their original vehicle modes rescanned.
• Grimlock's animosity to Hot Rod could be a reference to their future working together in Maximum Dinobots
• Pentius' spark was placed with Trypticon's shell in Monstrosity, it's confirmed here that his spark has merged with Tyrpticon's making a new hybrid mind.
• Omega Supreme waiting for Nova Prime could mean that he was waiting for him, so he could confront him over his amoral actions (including support of Jhiaxus' experiments), as it was shown that this would be after his battle with Monstructor. Also Omega admitted in Spotlight: Optimus Prime that he and Nova "disagreed" on matters etc.
• At the end Megatron is shown using Trypticon as a starship, seemingly leading the Decepticons to find a new home away from Cybertron. This is also the main goal of the Decepticons in the present day IDW stories. Wonder what happens in this story to make them change their goals to conquering Cybertron again?
• Despite helping the Autobots in Autocracy, Blaster doesn't appear to have joined them by this point.
• Just remember, due to "recent" revelations in MTMTE, this Ultra Magnus isn't the same one who later joins the Lost Light!

Auto Assembly 2014 recap!

Here's a different thing for my blog. As most of you will know I was at Auto Assembly 2014 last weekend, and have only JUST recovered now, so I thought I would do a little recap post here over what I enjoyed, what I didn't and any fond memories I have from it.

Hope you enjoy!

The Journey There

I decided this year to change up my trip to Auto Assembly a bit, in the past I pretty much arrived on the day of the convention, and was stuck at the hotel for the entire time (where there is no shops really remember). So as a change I arrived on the Wednesday, which gave me all of Thursday, and the start of Friday to go shopping or sightseeing :)

The actual train ride in had no issues, until I got to Birmingham where (as I discovered the day earlier) the guy who sold me my train ticket in July decided to send me to Birmingham New Street, instead of International. Meaning I had to travel to New Street, and find another train to International from there.

This wouldn't have been a problem really, but the platforms at New Street have the WORST information areas, so me, along with a few other groups of families clearly heading to the airport had no idea what train they were supposed to take.

In the end though I reached International, and made the 15 or so minute walk to the Hilton, where I waited for my friends to arrive!

Pre-Convention Time!

I arrived at the Hilton at about 4pm on the Wednesday, which of course meant that no-one was around from Auto Assembly, or at least not waiting in the Lounge area anyway, so I went and got something to eat from the Subway at International Station (yes, I walked all that way back) but luckily along the way I discovered the NEC's free WiFi, which I immediately hooked up to, allowing me to talk to people (BTW I'm such an idiot, that I only JUST learned how to use the 3G on my phone on the Saturday night! I HAVE HAD THIS PHONE SINCE CHRISTMAS!!!).

When I got back to the hotel with my om-noms I decided to get a move on reading my book (The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith/Not-JK Rowling) and just relaxed for the night.

The next day, as I said earlier, I went shopping in Birmingham, got a load of souvenirs for my family, and just stocked up on things I would need for my room - a 12 pack of coke cans lasted me the whole trip just for the record, so I had to bring the other stuff I bought home with me :(.

That evening I went down to the Lounge area, and found my kin, my fellow Auto Assemblers! I mostly hung out with Sprite, Pinkie-Pie, Temple and Andy that evening, and headed out to a meal at the new "All Bar One" restaurant at the Airport with them...let's just say it wasn't great and leave it at that okay?

Following that we were just hanging out with people, chatting away and having a generally fun time. The next morning I went for another small shopping trip, but nothing major happened, until Friday evening....

The Convention!

Don't worry, this won't be a blow-for-blow on the whole convention, that would be way too long, but sufficed to say, this was definitely the best Auto Assembly yet! The guests were wonderful, the attendees were just as fun as ever (and of course how both groups are able to interact so freely, unlike some other conventions where the guests are kept hidden)

Okay a few things to talk about with the convention...firstly the Pub Quiz! I decided to not enter the quiz this year (because I'm so lazy, and the forms were on the other side of the hall) but I was playing along with some friends, but as it turned out I actually knew most of the answers, so I could have actually won! Guess I'll just have to do it next year instead...

I bought a load of great stuff (will discuss later) and met a lot of great people, most of whom I've added on Facebook of course. One surprising thing I did find from the convention though was how many people there actually played Cardfight: Vangaurd! I only decided to bring my deck on the off chance that someone there played it, but now there's actually talks about maybe doing a mini-tournament next year!

One great memory I had from the convention though was when I was at my signing for Michael Mcconnohie (voice of Cosmos and Tracks in G1) and asked for him to sign my copy of "Mars Attacks the Transformers", which he just loved the look and concept of, especially when he found out that Cosmos actually had something to do in that comic (rather than just being a space taxi). It was so great to see him so happy after seeing that comic :)

Going Home :(

Of course, all good things have to come to an end, the final ceremony was fun, but then it was all over, and everyone was in that mixed state of euphoria and depression that always comes at the end of a great convention, and the prospect of leaving your extended Auto Assembly family once more.

But even saying that it was a good Sunday night. I ended up hanging out with a few friends in Swerve's Diner (originally just for some dinner, but it ended up being a 3 hour chatter session). Then after a quick trip upstairs to shower and start packing, I came down again and hung out with a different group of friends, and (as a poor decision) I stayed up until about 2am...I think I almost fell asleep on my friend a couple of times that night (all whilst avoiding a stalker too lol).

As a result I woke up at about 8am the next day, quickly ran for breakfast, and got ready for the sadness, which was sitting in the lounge waiting for my quite early train home :(

Again, my train was pretty uneventful, until I got to Reading and discovered that the next train back to my village wasn't for another hour or 2.....grumble grumble...

The Haul!

I bought so much stuff this year (not a stupid amount, but still a lot), most of it as just figures that I would have no chance of finding in UK shops (like some of the latter Generations figures, Kreons and some PCC guys) but I also found a few older comics (like the Universe series, which will be up on this blog soon for reviews guys -- hint hint, plug plug!)

Two of my favourite sets of things to pick up this year though were the AA exclusive set of Trench and Bluster (TFA Huffer and Pipes in Mario and Luigi colours) and my sets of the KFC Not-Slamdance and Not-Squawkbox. With both sets being £10 for a pair :)

One other thing I loved getting was my Livio Ramondelli commission of Nova Prime...which now sits above the Covenant of Primus case on my wall :)

My final Thoughts

Simply put, this year's Auto Assembly was incredible. The team had clearly put a lot of time and effort into making sure everything went smoothly this year (which showed from the lack of delays etc) and I want to thank them for all of that hard work.

I'm very confident to say that this is the best Auto Assembly ever, but the problem with that is that I say that every year! I'm sure that next year will be even better (however that could be possible!!??). I can say already that I intend to pay for my ticket for next year's convention on my next payday (end of the month) and even if I manage to get my own flat by then, I'll still go, even if it means I only have £100 of spending money.

I think I'll keep my decisions for the trip intact for next year (arrive Wednesday, leave Monday) as that worked so well for me, but I may arrive in the evening on Wednesday, so there's not so much quiet time. I'll definitely try to have more spending money next year (maybe save £100 a month or something) but again, if I have my own place by then, then that could be a problem.

One thing I am looking forward to for next year though, is the lack of Quiltcon (our loving name for the Festival of Quilts) as despite the two groups getting along, it just got so crowded in the bar and breakfast halls!.

All in all I'm happy with the trip this year, and cannot wait for the next year to pass by, so I can see all my wonderful friends again in person :D

Thank you all for making this year as great as it could be for me

IDW - Robots in Disguise #31

Title: Earthfall Chapter 4: Full Fathom Five

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Jazz Flashback Art by: Guido Guidi

Decepticon Flashback Art by: Brendan Cahill

Colours by: Josh Perez

Flashback Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Jazz reflects on his past, from the moment he killed John Powell, who was about to kill some of the Autobot captives and got taken away, he wasn't in trouble with the Autobots because his actions were somewhat justified, but he was distraught, so before the Autobots left Earth he destroyed  all the Cybertronian technology he could.

When the Autobots returned to Cybertron, Jazz chose a peaceful way of life, and started performing in bars alongside Sky-Byte, but before long the war started again, and Jazz went back to his violent ways. After Dark Cybertron Optimus approached Jazz to join his crew for the mission to Earth.

In the present, Jazz is now using a new stealth paint job to reach the human's secret base underwater, whilst the other Autobots wait inside Sky Lynx underwater. Cosmos is in space, five light hours away, so he can get images of Earth from 5 hours in the past, where the Autobots see that the Decepticons just appeared from nowhere, despite Orbital Jumping being blocked (they're being teleported by Skywarp, but the Autobots don't know that yet).

Jazz reports back to the others that he's located an Autobot ship inside the human's island base, which Optimus recognizes as Alpha Trion's (Windblade showed him a picture of it). The Autobots determine that the island is abandoned, except for the EDC members, so it should be safe to attack, without alerting the planet of their return. After the others prepare to leave, Arcee tells Prowl that she thinks Scavenger is a Decepticon spy, which Prowl doesn't care about and just tells her look out for Optimus on the battlefield.

At the EDC base, General Witwicky and Sanjay Bharwanay receive a report from Marissa at Poverty Flats that their containment is going well, when suddenly Soundwave and Galvatron teleport in, and destroy the communication device. Galvatron basically threatens them that if they ever use the Mind Bomb on them again, he will kill them all (as well as New Mexico, Sanjay's home). Galvatron then demands a report on their other project, a new satellite home for the Decepticons being built over Jupiter, which is what Soundwave and the others want now that Cybertron has become impossible for them to live in.

During their debriefing, the Autobots storm the beach and begin their invasion of the EDC base (targeting the automated weapons and not humans). Prowl manages to sneak away during the battle just before the Decepticon's ship appears from nowhere (due to Skywarp's abilities no doubt).

Inside the base, Jazz sneaks around whilst the soldiers are going to battle stations, and manages to find Alpha Trion inside on of the rooms, hooked up to a strange machine, just as he's about to free him, he has a gun put to the back of his head...BY PROWL!!!

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Jazz - Sports Car

Prowl - Police Car

Arcee - Sports Car

Sideswipe - Sports Car

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Cosmos - Orbiter

Jetfire - Jet

Alpha Trion Hooked to an EDC Machine

Metroplex - City/Space Ship (Flashback)

Bumblebee - Muscle Car (Flashback)

Hoist - Tow Truck (Flashback)

Huffer - Truck Cab (Flashback)

Gears - Pick Up Truck (Flashback)

Bluestreak - Sports Car (Flashback)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Windblade - VTOL Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Galvatron - Tank

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Buzzsaw - Cassette (Flashback)

Laserbeak - Cassette (Flashback)

Rumble - Tank (Flashback)

Frenzy - Tank (Flashback)

Needlenose - Jet (Flashback)

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet (Flashback)

Asrotrain - Train/Space Shuttle (Flashback)

Skywarp - Jet (Flashback)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned) 

Neutral Cybertronian

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

Sky-Byte - Flying Shark (Flashback)

Metalhawk - Jet (Flashback)

Tappet - Car (Flashback)

Scoop - Front End Loader (Flashback)

Starscream - Jet (Mentioned)

Scavenger - Excavator (Mentioned)

Nova Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Human

General Witwicky

Sanjay Bharwanay

Marissa Faireborn

Poverty Flats Civilians

EDC Jones

EDC Workers

John Powell (Flashback) Killed by Jazz

Other

D.O.C.

Buster the Dog

Ardurian Rocs (Mentioned)

Notes

• We see a glimpse of John Powell's body after Jazz killed him here...it's quite disurbing.
• the aftermath of the incident is also shown, with Jazz clearly being shellshocked by his actions
• Jazz's instrument that was used during his peaceful days was an Aghartan Electro-Bass. It was destroyed during either the Decepticon riots or the Dark Cybertron prophecy.
• Jazz's stealth paint is implied by Jetfire to not be too protective, or possibly explosive.
• Optimus' clear dislike of Prowl after his recent actions is really showing in this issue.
• Arcee is shown to have noticed Scavenger's actions after the last mission, and Prowl appears to not care, implying he is aware of it, and either is also working with the Decepticons, or Soundwave is working with Prowl and the Autobots for peace.
• N'awwww Buster is shown sleeping on Thudnercracker's wing!!
• Scoop is shown with the Decepticons, which he was shown with at the end of Dark Cybertron, but he appears to be uneasy there, possibly meaning he didn't join them after all.
• Soundwave reveals that his idea for the Decepticons has always to have peace, and now that Cybertron is destroyed and the Autobots are mostly in power again, they just want their own new home, which the humans are building for them.
• It's possible that Prowl is just stopping Jazz from unplugging Alpha Trion from a life support machine at the end, but I'm more inclined to believe he's just gone off the deep-end and wants to kill the old Autobot.
• Cosmos' role as a glorified camera here is just further adding to his insulting life since leaving the Lost Light.
• the off-hand comment about the Orbital Jump blockers explains why that technology hasn't been seen since the end of Revelation.