IDW - Primacy #4

Written by: Chris Metzen & Flint Dille

Art by: Livio Ramondelli 

Letters by: Chris Mowry

Editor: John Barber

Plot

The Decepticons continue their assault on the Autobots, and assume that they have all be killed by the sheer firepower, whilst Megatron is distraught over the revelation from Pentius over his manipulation and plans to destroy Cybertron.

However, much to the Decepticon's shock, the Autobots have survived the attack on them using Trailbreaker's forcefield, and the proceed to counter-attack the Decepticons.

Nearby, Blackwall and Grimlock continue their battle, andd Grimlock manages to win by skewering his head with his sword, causing it to blow up, showing that despite Blackwall being stronger, Grimlock knows how to fight dirtier.

Megatron, realizing that he has to destroy Pentius from his own, and Trypticon's sparks, and orders Soundwave to raze Iacon if he fails.

Elsewhere, Hot Rod is attacked by Onslaught, who plans to kill him to get a place on Megatron's high command (as he's faamous), but he is saved by his old friend Slinger, who betrays the Decepticons, realizing that neither side is right in this war. Unfortunately Razorclaw hears this and immediately kills Slinger, and leads his Predacons to go against Hot Rod as well. However before they can start their attack, the Dynobots appear to assist their younger friend, and win the battle.

Megatron approaches the body of Trypticon, and smashes through the Autobots guarding him. Optimus notices this, and heads off to intercept him, taking down Motormaster on the way, and Omega Supreme defends him from the rest of the Stunticons.

Optimus soon reaches Megatron, and starts to duel with him, to stop him from doing anything stupid, with Megatron revealing that his spark was tainted by Pentius and he plans to use him to destroy all of Cybertron, and he knows no-one can stop him. Optimus however counters that there is always someone willing to save the day, giving his Autobots as examples. He then opens to Matrix to remove Pentius from the two sparks, leaving Megatron the way he was before. However, Optimus notes that Megatron's spark was corrupted long before Pentius came around, and knocks him out.

Moments later, Optimus broadcasts to everyone that Megatron has been defeated and he is imprisoned, and Cybertron returns to some level of peace. Optimus thinks back over what has happened, and finally feels happy with who he is now, as Optimus Prime, but knows that this is just the beginning of his story....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Omega Supreme - Rocket and Base

Hot Rod - Car

Grimlock - Armoured Vehicle

Snarl - Armoured Vehicle

Sludge - Armoured Vehicle

Slag - Armoured Vehicle

Swoop - Jet

Sky Lynx - Space Ship

Trailbreaker - Truck

Ultra Magnus - Truck

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Jazz - Car

Hound - Car

Bumblebee - Car

Prowl - Car

Ironhide - Van

Swerve - Truck

Rung

Springer - Car/Helicopter

Sandstorm - Buggy/Helicopter

Ratchet - Ambulance 

Other Autobots

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank

Shockwave - Ray Gun

Starscream - Jet

Skywarp - Jet

Thundercracker - Jet

Blitzwing - Jet/Tank

Hook - Crane

Hun-Gar - Two Headed Monster

Blackwall Killed by Grimlock

Onslaught - Tank

Slinger Killed by Razorclaw

Razorclaw - Lion

Rampage - Tiger

Tantrum - Bull

Headstrong - Rhino

Divebomb - Falcon

Motormaster - Truck

Dead End - Car

Wildrider - Car

Dragstrip - Car

Breakdown - Car

Tyrpticon - Battle Platform Disabled

Other Decepticons

Other

Pentius Removed from Sparks by Optimus Prime

Notes

• This issue marks the end of Flint Dille and Chris Metzen's early-war trilogy.
• As a way of marking the end of this series, the last page of this issue duplicates the first page in Autocracy, but with the panels reversed and the Matrix light added to Optimus' chest panel, perfectly bookending the series.
• He isn't properly seen, but Trailbreaker MUST be amongst the Autobots in this issue, since his forcefield protects them from the weapons barrage.
• Slinger's storyline here seems a bit pointless, he was barely seen in Autocracy and Monstrosity. He re-appeared in Primacy as a new Decepticon, then betrays them the second he gets the chance, just to be killed by Razorclaw...
• Optimus and Motormaster's head-to head collision is an homage to their similar scene in Masquerade from the G1 cartoon
• Rung and Swerve are seen amongst the Autobots hiding from the fighting...this seems appropriate considering their fighting skills!
• We know from the present day stories that Metroplex survived the events of this comic, but Trypticon isn't so clear. However he was shown in Stormbringer and Spotlight: Blaster as being around, at least until just after the Thunderhead Pass incident, but it's kinda confusing here.
• Megatron is shown arrested and chained up at the end of this story, but we all know he must escape somehow, otherwise the rest of IDW couldn't happen...

IDW - Transformers #35

Title: Onyx Interface Part One: Signals, Calls, and Marches

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Josh Perez

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Garrison Blackrock is unveiling his new "Onyx Interface" in Japan, whilst Spike Witwicky and Jimmy Pink track down and disable a Mini-Constructicon, and hack into the presentation, trying to reveal that Blackrock and the EDC are involved with Cybertronians on Earth again, leading to Blackrock to call for Faireborn's help.

Elsewhere, Cosmos is observing the EDC's situation at Bikini Atoll, but is now under attack by the EDC's missiles (his stealth paint has failed for him). He is saved fairly quickly though by Sky Lynx and Sideswipe. Cosmos receives a message from Prowl, saying he's had a "Google alert" (regarding Spike), and the Autobots head off back to the Moon.

Inside the EDC base, Sanjay reports the incident with Cosmos to Marrissa, who is heading out to Japan with Jones to deal with Blackrock, and is a bit anxious to deal with Spike as well

Optimus speaks with Alpha Trion on Ark-7, before heading out to Cybertron to look for more clues about the Enigma of Combination (and for his anniversary of becoming Prime). Optimus leaves Prowl in charge, but tells him not to do anything too rash, despite his recent actions.

As he leaves on the Skyroller, Optimus calls Arcee and asks her to keep an eye on Prowl. Meanwhile, Prowl is having a table-flipping tantrum and suffers from another one of his strange "nose-bleeds" until the Constructicons interrupt him. Prowl then informs them that Spike has resurfaced, and they're going to go after him (as he's the one Human they all hate)

In Japan, Spike and Jimmy change out of their military clothes and into civilian outfits to blend in with the tourists, and Spike gets a text saying someone will see him later....

The EDC team arrive at the Onyx Interface presentation, where Blackrock has claimed that Spike's video was just leaked footage from a new game he's releasing. Blackrock then threatens that if Spike isn't dealt with, and if his company is harmed by this, then he's taking the EDC down with him.

At the Nemesis, Galvatron is thinking out loud about how Spike may know something about the Enigma of Combination, he's interrupted by Scoop, who says Soundwave wants to speak to him. Soundwave tells him that he's going on a personal errand, which Galvatron doesn't care about, and allows him to go.

Once he is out of the way however, he approaches the other Decepticons about joining him on a hunt for Spike, which they agree to...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Prowl - Police Car

Arcee - Sports Car

Sideswipe - Sports Car

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Cosmos - Orbiter

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Jetfire - Jet

Alpha Trion Being Repaired

Decepticon

Galvatron - Tank

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Laserbeak - Cassette

Buzzsaw - Cassette

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Mini-Constructicon Killed by Spike

Skywarp - Cybertronian Jet Hooked up to Nemesis

Scrapper - Front End Loader (Mentioned) Dead

Cybertronian

Scoop - Front End Loader

Hook - Crane

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Scavenger - Excavator

D.O.C.

Starscream (Mentioned)

Alchemist Prime (Mentioned)

Sharkticons (Mentioned)

Human

Marissa Fairborne

Garrison B. Blackrock

Jones

Sanjay Bharwanay

Spike Witwicky

Jimmy Pink

Yasawy Maki

EDC Troops

Onyx Interface Party Attendees

Daniel Witwicky (Mentioned) Dead

Hunter O'Nion (Mentioned) Dead

Other

Onyx Interface Droid

EDC Transformer Army (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the Robots in Disguise comic with the new simplified "Transformers" title. Most likely due to the upcoming Robots in Disguise TV series.
• G.B. Blackrock is finally given a first name!
• The Mini-Constructicon was last seen in Spotlight: Ramjet...looks like he's been kept on Earth and studied since then!
• Jimmy Pink has returned! Looks like he's not happy with being forgotten about by everyone either.
• Speaking of Jimmy, he's certainly changed his appearance a fair bit since we last saw him briefly in Maximum Dinobots, hasn't he?
• Sideswipe now has a jet pack built into his new robot mode (apparently it's new)
• Optimus' trip to Cybertron is shown in the Punishment comic.
• WHY ARE YOU GIVING PROWL COMMAND OF THE AUTOBOTS PRIME?!?!
• Oh OK, Arcee's gunna watch him? Yeah she'll just murder him if he gets out of hand!
• Galvatron seems to think that Spike knows something about the Enigma of Combination...why?
• Scoop was revealed to be on Earth earlier from Starscream's point of view, as a spy for him.
• Soundwave claims to be heading to Jupiter to check up on the Human's progress on the Decepticon's new home...wonder if he'll turn up in MTMTE with Ravage instead some point soon?
• So Spike is being chased now by Prowl and his Constructicons, Galvatron and his Decepticons, and Marissa and her EDC troops? Wonder how long he'll survive?
• Blackrock is revealed to have built the army of Thrusts and Ramjets in the EDC basement.
• Prowl's unprompted comment of "get out of my head" when a Constructicon knocks on his door implies that he's having issues with their Gestalt form still.
• The Decepticon warship is named as the Nemesis here, after the Decepticon's original ship in the G1 cartoon.
• Galvatron implies that Alchemist Prime was drunk when he made up the prophecy of the Chosen One, showcased in Dark Cybertron.
• Optimus hasn't told his crew about the Enigma of Combination or Alpha Trion's other revelations, despite him hinting that he would last issue.
• Scoop not knowing who Alchemist Prime is, despite having studied his prophecy so intently is a bit worrying huh?

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #34

Title: Births, Deaths and Interventions

Written  by: James Roberts

Pencils by: Atilio Rojo

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

One of the Lost Light's ships have landed on Ofsted XVII, and are waiting for word from Rodimus or the others about the Lost Light's condition when First Aid finds a badly injured Cybertronian inside one of the damaged lecture halls. The group assume that he was injured in the battle in orbit between the Galactic Council, Black Block Consortia and a group of Mechs. First Aid doesn't care about the bot's faction, so long as they can save him.

In the distant past on Messatine, Froid arrives to analyse a patient for Council, who is revealed to be Megatron. However he has made up his mind before even meeting the miner (who is in the council's bad books due to his political writings) aand permits Trepan to perform Shadowplay on him.

Back in the present, First Aid begins work on the Cybertronian, and arranges for the group to all donate a small amount of active Energon to ensure his survival. Meanwhile, Bluestreak finds the bot's detachable face amongst the rubble (revealing to the audience that this is Vos of the DJD)

Back on Messatine, Megatron is working on his books some more, when his terminally ill room mate and proofreader Terminus tells him to not give up on his mission, even if it means he has to take to physical violence as well as verbal protests. Megatron asks him why he's suddenly speaking like this, to which Terminus reveals he was visited by some senate men that day...then Megatron gets shocked from nowhere.

On Ofsted, after examining the face mask, and it's hidden spikes, Bluestreak and Mainframe back out of the procedure, knowing it's probably a Decepticon. First Aid tells them to leave the lecture hall if they're not going to help out, leaving Traiilcutter and himself to donate the Energon themselves, however, after using one of the lecture hall's devices to translate Vos' words (spoken in Old Cybertronian) and First Aid recognizes his words to be the DJD's motto, and immediately stops his donation, hating them for how they drove Pharma to madness, and in turn caused Ambulon's death at his hands.

Trailcutter however still continues with his own donation, but once Vos has a small amount inside of him, he attacks Trailcutter and tries to strangle him. Trailcutter uses his leg cannons and blasts the Decepticon across the room. First Aid leaves Trailcutter to grab the others to restrain Vos, whilst Trailcutter uses his forcefield to protect himself.

Unfortunately Vos points out an old chair in the rubble, who turns out to be Kaon, who was just de-energized until the forcefield repowered him, and is trapped in the forcefield with him.

On Messatine, Megatron wakes up on Trepan's table, and feels the Mnemosurgeon dig into his brain, and starts deleting his "anarchic" thoughts, until he gets a call from Froid to stop the procedure, since Rung has turned up with new legislation for Shadowplay procedures, following Shockwave's procedure, which requires TWO doctors to sign off now, which Froid knows Rung will never do.

Suddenly the Mine's alarms sound off, telling the entire staff to get off the planet.

Back in the present again, First Aid and the others return to find Kaon having torn Trailcutter apart, and playing with his brain module in his hands. The Autobots try to convince him that the war is over, and the Megatron has surrendered, so they should too, but Kaon doesn't believe them. Bluestreak shows him Trailcutter's newest read, an updated version of Megatron's autobiography "Towards Peace" with the surrender speech from his trial added in the end, and tells him to read it. Kaon agrees, but still scrapes Trailcutter's brain modeule across the still active forcefield.

Kaon contacts Helex from elsewhere and has himself and Vos teleported out, telling the stunned Autobots that he'll  see them soon....

On Messatine, the planet is being evacuated, but Megatron returns to his dorm, to find Terminus missing, with no one knowing where he's gone, but due to the emergency he gathers up his data pads and runs for the escape vessels, feeling terrible for seemingly abandoning his friend.

Meanwhile, in the mines Brainstorm (seemingly fresh from the Lost Light) appears in a flash of light, holding his briefcase, wondering where to start.....

Characters

Autobot

Trailcutter - Van Torn apart by Kaon

First Aid - Ambulance

Bluestreak - Car

Mainframe

Rodimus - Car (Mentioned)

Pharma - Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Ambulon - Leg (Mentioned) Dead

Brainstorm - Jet (Decepticon Double Agent) Back in Time.

Decepticon

Vos - Rifle

Kaon - Variable Volt Harness

Helex - Smelting Chamber (Mentioned)

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Megatron - Armoured Vehicle (Flashback)

Rolt (Flashback)

Froid (Flashback)

Rung (Flashback)

Trepan (Flashback)

Terminus (Flashback) Missing

Messatine Miners and Staff (Flashback)

Senate (Mentioned)

Functionists (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Senator Shockwave (Mentioned)

Other

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

The Black Block Consortia (Mentioned)

Notes

• Bluestreak implies here that those NOT from the original Lost Light crew who were in the ships that disappeared during the incident were left floating in space, until the ships re-materialized
• The weakened space around Ofsted XVII, mentioned by Nautica last issue is revealed to have been due to a battle in orbit over the derelict Lost Light by the Galactic Council, Black Block Consortia and the DJD.
• The battle over the ship could also explain why Rewind was left alive on the ship, since the DJD was simply distracted by someone else to bother with them.
• We see First Aid's alternate mode for the first time here, meaning his Transformation Cog has been repaired since his introduction.
• A bit more of Megatron's timeline is confirmed here, as it seems following the evacuation from Messatine in this issue, he was likely sent to Mining Outpost Croteus 12, which is where Megatron: Origin starts off.
• This issue shows us that Vos' face mask has a button that extends his spikes, rather than them being open at all times.
• Terminus is revealed here as Megatron's room mate on Messatine rather than some evil guy like you'd expect from his name.
• Judging from Kaon and Vos' states here, but Helex and the others presumably being alive still, it's likely the DJD won their battle with the Council.
• Megatron's fear of Mnemosurgery is revealed to be due to Trepan's invasive procedure here, where he tries to fully modify his mind.
• This could also explain his instan killing of Trepan when Overlord brings him into the fold to teach him Mnemosurgery. Simple revenge for his actions here.
• The DJD, or at least Kaon are unaware of Megatron's surrender to the Autobots.
• Terminus going missing at the exact moment that Brainstorm appears, seemingly from the future could be a callback to the temporal displacement used when time travel occurred in the Marvel Transformers comics.
• Trailcutter mentions how he's taken up reading etc since Megatron disabled his ability to enjoy over-energizing (getting drunk)...however that was just that very day, maybe a couple of days earlier....