IDW - Transformers vs G.I. Joe #5

Title: Everybody Hates Metroplex

Written by: Tom Scioli and John Barber

Art, Colours and Lettering by: Tom Scioli

Production by: Chris Mowry

Edits by: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Optimus, Snake Eyes and Duke are being held by the Quintessons and are placed on trial for their theft of their own lives (they're delusional). Their minds are probed by the Quintessons and learn some of their darkest moments, and what made them who they are today. Optimus and the others manage to escape their captives (HOW?!) and start to drive back to normal space (....yeah...they drive back....)

On Cybertron, the Autobots and Joes, who have now teamed up are being attacked from the outside by the Decepticons and Cobra, by also burning away the terraformed area around Iacon. Some of the Autobots leave Metroplex to combat Fortress Maximus, who appears to have joined the Decepticon's side for unknown reasons. During the battle, Wild Bill is released from the infirmary, where he goes and opens the gates for Cobra to break in, revealing that he is actually Zartan in disguise.

Meanwhile, on Earth Cobra attack Blackwater Prison and free several captured Cobra agents, whilst Hawk is attacked at how by Storm Shadow, who is trying to steal his tomahawk, an old family heirloom.

Back on Cybertron, Tunnel Rat and several other Joes, along with Arcee enter Fort Max, fight past the Oktober Guard and manage to find Clyde (the pig....). Inside Max's brain Arcee and some Joes find Blackarachnia, who has implanted mines into Max's brain to make him essentially a zombie under her control. Meanwhile, the other Joe animals, also seemingly under her control attack their owners.

Rodimus returns to Metroplex with Blaster and his human "captives" and hands them over to the others for repairs etc.

On Earth, Destro and Serpentress visit the comatose body of Cobra Commander, planning to kill him off once and for all, but discover that it is in fact a replacement body, and not his own, meaning that he is out there somewhere!

Rodimus tries to make Metroplex transform to robot mode to help with the fight, but Grimlock stops him, declaring himself as king, and the two start to fight over leadership. However within a few seconds Grimlock jumps up into Trypticon's mouth and attacks Megatron head on.

Fortress Maximus rejoins the fight as an Autobot (we don't see how this happens, but let's assume Blackarachnia was defeated). Trypticon bites off Fortress Maximus' head, but the head changes to it's Cerebros mode, allows the Joes and Autobots to escape, along with his own head, Galen.

Megatron is victorious in his battle with Grimlock, and now has his head and tail added to his body.

All of a sudden Snake Eyes and Duke arrive on Cybertron and join the fight thanks to Optimus, who remains anonymous for some reason. Megatron decides to call a retreat, and leaves with a few Joes as prisoners. In the cells, Raptor offers the prisoners food, and an occult book to read.

Optimus arrives in Earth's orbit in killer butterfly mode, destroys the Colton Bolt WMD and begins to head down towards the PIT (to rescue Bumblebee's body I'd guess)

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Rodimus - Car

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex Killed by Megatron

Fortress Maximus

Cerebros - Fortress Maximus' Head

Galen - Cerebros' Head

Metroplex - Giant Slug Thing

Ratchet

Wheeljack - Car

Perceptor - Tank

Arcee - Car

Inferno - Fire Truck

Seaspray - Hovercraft

Ironhide - Treaded Vehicle

Jazz - Car

Sunstreaker

Trailbreaker

Hoist

Powerglide

Slag - Triceratops

Swoop - Pteranodon

Brawn - Van

Blaster Injured

Random Autobots

Bumblebee Head around Megatron's neck

Alpha Trion (Memory)

Ultra Magnus (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron

Trypticon

Blackarachnis Maybe dead?

Spectro

Spyglass

Viewfinder

Mixmaster

Scavenger

Bonecrusher

Flamefeather

Ruckus

Straxus

Random Decepticons

G.I. Joe

Duke

Hawk

Scarlett

Spirit

Shipwreck

Doc

Sci-Fi

Gung-Ho

Cutter

Spearhead

Stalker

Cover Girl

Beachhead

Roadblock

Mutt

Dusty

Alpine

Clutch

Lift-Ticket

Tunnel Rat

Breaker

Jinx

Lt. Falcon

Sandstorm

Mainframe

Chuckles

Barbecue

Psych Out

Frostbite

Steeler

Rock 'n Roll

Snow Job

Ace

Order

Clyde

Polly/Seasick

Max

Freedom

Junkyard

Wild Bill (Disguise used by Zartan)

General Flagg (Voice)

Cobra

Snake Eyes

Serpentress

Destro

Zartan

Raptor

Storm Shadow

Firefly

Zartan

Major Bludd

Tomax

Xamot

Cobra Troops

"Fake Cobra Commander"/Fred Comatose

Cobra Commander (Mentioned) Missing

Oktober Guard

Colonel Breakoff

Dragun

Munchnik

Other

Quintessons

Allicons - Alligators

Hawk's Ancestors (Flashback)

Duke's Mother (Memory)

Duke's Stepfather (Memory)

Blind Master (Memory)

Notes

• Ugh...it's back....
• The Quintessons are redesigned as Eldritch looking monsters here, who appear to believe they are the creators over all.
• I wonder if the Sharkticons inside Metroplex are anything to do with the Quintessons as well?
• It looks like Cybertron is now close to Earth....when did that happen?!
• It appears that Wild Bill didn't actually survive his earlier incident, as he was replaced by Zartan.
• Why is Wild Bill/Zartan sweeping in the medical bay? Also, why did the Joes bring a broom to Cybertron with them?
• Hawk's Tomahawk was hinted as being magical or something back in issue one when he used it to cleave into Ravage's skull
• Blackarachnia can only be identified here because she is name dropped...at least the other characters have some passing resemblance to who they are meant to be!
• It's unclear why the GI Joe pets are turned evil briefly, it's also not shown how they are returned to normal...nor how Fort Max is returned to normal....or what happened to Blackarachnia...or the Oktober Guard...
• So how did Optimus and the humans escape from the giant Quintessons?
• Cobra Commander is revealed to be thought to be in a coma since the incident with Snake Eyes, however it is also revealed that he was at some point replaced by a "Fred".
• Why did Grimlock randomly leave his battle with Rodimus just to attack Megatron?
• Galen is shown here to be a Cybertronian,, rather than a Nebulan as he normally is.
• Megatron with Grimlock's dino head and tail attached to his arms give him a pasing resemblance to Beast Era Megatron.
• WHY IS MEGATRON RETREATING?! HE IS WINNING THE FIGHT!!!
• When did Cobra capture the Joes?
• Optimus is using his trailer as a pair of wings....not in the cool way like in DOTM, Animated or Prime...it just looks like he's a robot butterfly....
• Despite his prominence on the cover, Tunnel Rat does basically nothing in this issue.

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #37

Title: Elegant Chaos Part 2: Stet

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Lettters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Rodimus' team are staking out around Rodion in the past, looking for Brainstorm and trying to keep an eye out for Orion Pax to keep him safe. Meanwhile, in the present Perceptor and the others try to figure out Brainstorm's method to time travel, and figure out that he may still be trying to reach his actually desired location, and has to land on temporal hotspots to do so along the way.

After a short while of staking out the city, Brainstorm figures out that he's in a useless time frame for him, and flies off, Rewind notices and reports him in. Cyclonus follows, but he time jumps before he can be shot down.

The team regroup and are taken back in time by a year where the team split up with half staying at Maccadam's bar, and the other half staking out the police station. Meanwhile, Brainstorm ambushes the Rung of the past, and knocks him out, trying to prevent him from being involved in the events.

At the police station, Rewind starts wondering if they can use the Time Case to find out what happened to Dominus Ambus, but isn't sure that he's be able to stop himself from saving him, even if it would ruin the time stream again.

Whirl notices his own past self arriving at the station, and recognizes his prisoner as the last one to come in before Megatron....

At Maccadam's New Oil House, Megatron is sitting with Imapctor whilst Rodimus' crew observe his pre-war self. Shortly, Rung accidentally spills a drink over a cadet, and gets thrown across the room onto Megatron's table, resulting in Impactor starting a bar brawl. Roidmus and the team recover Rung and escape the bar before getting further involved. Outside Brainstorm is incredulous that his plan to stop Rung from "starting" the brawl failed as the police arrive to start arresting people.

Back in the present, Megatron has figured out what is happening, and that they've been working on th wrong assumption all along...

In Rodion again, the Senate's thugs are killing Wheelarch and Springarm whilst Chromedome and the others are forced to watch and not interfere, unless Brainstorm makes an appearance and tries to kill Orion Pax when he arrives shortly.

Shortly the Heavies arrive to join the fight, and Whirl goes into a frenzy, knowing them as the ones who destroyed his watch making business and starts beating them down. Chromedome stops him from killing them though as they are supposed to be there to attack Shockwave and the others in a year's time, so this would ruin the future again.

Whirl learns from them that the Functionist Council were the ones who ordered his Empurata, as a punishment for leaving his asigned position in the Aerial Corps. He gets angry, so he kills the third member of the Heavies group to vent his frustrations.

In the present once more, Megatron recounts all of the time points Brainstorm has travelled to, and points out that all of them are important points in HIS life, not Optimus'. This means that Brainstorm is trying to stop Megatron from forming the Decepticons. Perceptor announces that Brainstorm has made another time jump, and Megatron predicts that it is to the day he was created.

Brainstorm arrives in the factory where Megatron is being created, and points a gun at his exposed chest.....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Megatron - Tank

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Perceptor

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Riptide - Boat

Tailgate - Car

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Rung

Prowl (Mentioned)

Wreckers (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Brainstorm - Jet

Cybertronian

Cylonus - Jet

(Past) Nightbeat - Car

Quark - Proton Microscope

Scrounge

Rattrap

"Streaker"

"Fallout"

Crossbar

Impactor - Mining Vehicle

Hammer

Anvil

Senate Crony Killed by Whirl

Bar Brawl Cadets

Roller - Paddy Wagon

Police Officers - Speed Bikes

Senate Thugs

Wheelarch - Speed Bike Killed by Senate Thugs

Springarm - Speed Bike Killed by Senate Thugs

Senator Sherma Dead

Pre-War Cybertronians

Senator Proteus (On Billboard)

Orion Pax (Mentioned)

Nominus Prime (Mentioned)

Alpha Trion (Mentioned)

Dominus Ambus (Mentioned)

Senator Shockwave (Mentioned)

Senator Decimus (Mentioned)

Primal Vanguard (Mentioned)

Senate (Mentioned)

Functionist Council (Mentioned)

Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue features re-prints of 2 pages from Chaos Theory Part 1, and Shadowplay Part 1, and adds more details and context to the events in those scenes.
• The train that Chromedome is riding on is on a set of rails with C-131 on them. C-131 was the Japanese product code for Raiden, who was the combined form of the Trainbots
• We get to see that Cybertron used to be a very watery planet, especially near Rodion.
• Cyclonus apologises to Tailgate for beating him back in issue 4
• Brainstorm finally gets what he's always wanted, Perceptor to be impressed by his genius.
• It's revealed here that Rung's appearances in Shadowplay and Chaos Theory were actually of his future self time travelling, explaining why the Rung of the past has a model of the Lost Light during these scenes
• The broken window in Maccadam's is said to be broken for more than a year here....dahell?
• Tailgate can fit inside Cyclonus' cockpit
• Brainstorm takes off from hi hiding spot on the Interstate Bridge, just as Sherma's body is being planted there by his murderers.
• Rung's fake kibble in the past can convert into a scooter for him to ride on
• The music that Rung and Brainstorm both whistle in this issue is from the Empyrean Suite
• The reason that Rung knocked a drink into the cadet, and caused the bar fight in Chaos Theory is revealed to be because he was grabbing a curly straw for Tailgate (so Tailgate is at least partially responsible for the war!)
• It was mentioned that Impactor caused a lot of damage to one of the cadets back in Chaos Theory...here we see that he did it by drilling out the front of the body....YIKES!
• Rewind and Tailgate start calling the briefcase a "Time Case" in this issue, confusing both Chromedome and Riptide as to why
• The two generic cops coming out of Roller for the brawl are using Wheelarch and Springarm's character models.
• The Functionist council is revealed to have created Empurata (and most likely Shadowplay too)
• Whirl's original face and hands are shown in this issue (see above)
• It was implied that someone gave away Shockwave's location at the end of Shadowplay, here it is hinted that it may have been Chromedome here and now to have done that.
• The events of issue one with the spark radiation is revealed to have taken place during the start of Megatron: Origin, as Proteus was having the mine closed down for automation.
• Megatron is shown with a blue spark at the end of this issue, despite being claimed to be a point one percenter....wonder if this will have anything to do with the green spark Brainstorm harvested in Remain in Light?

The Eye Wear of your Fandom

I just recently got some new glasses, and I love them! What does this have to do with you guys? Absolutely nothing! Except it makes a semi-decent segue to my topic for today.

When you are part of a fandom for any franchise, especially one that has lasted for a few dozen years you begin to see people act in ways that you cannot understand in regards to events in the fandom. This can be divided fairly easily into the following three sections, which I have named after three pieces of eye wear.

Rose Tinted Glasses

The first piece of eye wear is one that you have no doubt heard of before, the "Rose Tinted Glasses". Basically this refers to someone remembering something fondly, often from their childhood, or due to who or what is involved, and is often affected by nostalgia, rather than reality.

Imagine you are a child, and it is Saturday morning, you run downstairs in your feety pyjamas and turn on the old analogue TV and watch a cartoon, you love it, you obsess over it, and you remember it for the good things only.

Fast forward about 20 years or so, and you are in a Media store, you find a DVD of that same TV series, and decide to buy it for your nostalgia, you get home and watch it, but it's NOTHING like what you remember from your childhood.

What happens next depends on you as a person, you either accept that things when you were a child just SEEMED better due to your age, and as you grew up, so did your tastes, OR you absolutely refuse to accept reality and convince yourself that the series hasn't changed at all, and is in fact even better than before, maybe the GREATEST SHOW EVER CREATED!!!!

Beer Goggles

The second piece of Fandom Eye Wear is one that you may have heard of as well, the Beer Goggles!

Despite their name, these are not exclusively to do with alcohol, any substance that can alter your perception in some manner, such as alcohol, narcotics, maybe even sugar (SUPER HYPER FUN TIME MODE!!!) can make you remember and react to things in a different way to how you would do normally when "sober".

As an example, Bob Bobberson has come home from a night at the pub, and is flicking through the TV for something to watch, he finds a cool TV show he's never seen before about vampires, and witches and other supernatural creatures. It's gory and cool, and exactly what he likes, he watches it, and then falls asleep.

Six months later, he's hanging out with some friends, and they want a show to watch, when he remembers this show that he watched when drunk, he tells them all about it, and they want to watch it too, so he finds some episodes online, and they watch it...

Turns out it's a show called "The Lair" and it's a soft core porn gay soap opera series, and they laugh at him as a result. Poor Bob.

Shit Stained Spectacles

The final piece of eye wear is one that you will NOT have heard of, because I've named it myself, this one should be fairly self-explanatory. You are looking into a film, or anything, when you hear something about it from an external source, then that stains your opinion on it, whether for the better, or the worse (maybe the shit is actually chocolate?)

Imagine you hear about a new film adaptation of....I dunno, Megaman being announced, you immediately think "oh cool!" then you hear a piece of information attached to the film, for example, it will be directed by Bob Bobberson.

Now depending on Bob's reputation for directing in the past, you will have a pre-existing opinion on what that film would be like, which is hard to get rid of, even if the rest of the cast is great, you'll consider it a terrible film, just because you hate Bob, or you'll love it, despite it being a train wreck, because Bob can do no wrong!

I hope you enjoyed my explanation of the eye wear of your various fandoms, and hope you can see yourself or your friends in at least some of these examples. Let me know if you have any other topics you'd like me to discuss in the future, and I hope to see you read my work again in the future! 

CHEERS!