IDW - Robots in Disguise Animated #6

Written by: Georgia Ball

Art & Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Edits by: John Barber

Plot

Windblade and Optimus arrive at a cave, where Optimus feels is where the Primes wanted them to go. Inside the cave they quickly encounter Predaking, who after a brief fight, retreats further into the cave and the Autobots find the item they were sent to locate...

Elsewhere, Fixit and Russell are being held prisoner in the Energon Mine whilst the Vehicons and some of Steeljaw's more trusted formerly imprisoned Decepticons are proceeding with mining the mineral.

The Autobots return to the scrapyard where they find the place trashed and discover that some of the cells have been opened. The team try to figure out where the Decepticons have gone, when Drift finds a shard of Energon, giving them a clue.

Back at the mine, the Decepticons are getting unnerved by the Vehicons, giving Fixit and Russell a chance to escape. Unfortunately Fracture notices their escape attempt and chases them along with his Mini-Cons. The trio manage to surround the escapees, but are shortly attacked by the Autobots, who were able to locate the mine themselves.

Everyone moves outside to fight, so as not to set off the Energon. The Autobots are easily winning, but Steeljaw reveals that he has given Steve a bomb that will cause massive damage to the Autobots and the area. However, before he can convince the Vehicon to set off the bomb Optimus and Windblade appear and show the Vehicons the item he had to recover, Starscream's severed gun arm. The Vehicons are outraged that Steeljaw never told them that Starscream was out of commission, and turn on him, throwing the bomb into the Energon mine, causing it to detonate, injuring the Decepticons, bar Steeljaw, allowing the Autobots to recapture them.

In the aftermath Optimus offers the Vehicons freedom on Cybertron, as, having just been soldiers in the war, they will not face war crime charges. The Vehicons refuse, as the war is not over yet for them, and they fly off into the sky

The End.

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Bumblebee - Muscle Car

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Strongarm - Police SUV

Sideswipe - Sports Car

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Drift - Race Car

Jetstorm - Buzzsaw Deployer

Slipstream - Buzzsaw Deployer

Fixit

Decepticon

Steeljaw - SUV

Steve - Jet

Unit XL-917 - Jet

Unit XL-571 - Jet

Thunderhoof - Tractor Captured by Bee Team

Underbite - Cybertronian Car Captured by Bee Team

Clampdown - Hatchback Captured by Bee Team

Fracture - Motorcycle Captured by Bee Team

Airazor - Torpedo Deployer Captured by Bee Team

Divebomb - Torpedo Deployer Captured by Bee Team

Megatronus - Cybertronian Tank (Mentioned)

Megatron - Cybertronian Jet (Mentioned)

Starscream - Fighter Jet (Mentioned) Possibly Dead

Human

Denny Clay

Russell Clay

Other

Predaking - Dragon

The Primes (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the last issue of the IDW Robots in Disguise series....this was truly worth us losing the subtitle for the now 50 issue long ongoing series
• Also, with this being the final issue they made the artwork more beautiful than usual :(
• I wonder if the Predaking plot line will be resolved during Season Two of the cartoon?
• Also, yeah, why IS Predaking on Earth? Last time we saw him he was about to eat Starscream along with the other Predacons on Cybertron....why is he on Earth, seemingly alone?
• And again, why did the Primes make Optimus go far away to find Starscream's severed arm? His mission wasn't even to capture Predaking!!
• Fixit uses his arm drill from his toy here
• The main Decepticons from Season One are freed from their stasis cells here, but are of course imprisoned again by the end of the issue so as not to mess up the cartoon's continuity.
• Last time Steeljaw attacked and captured the scrapyard he took it over, this time he just abandons it...why?
• The Vehicons in this story appear to have more intelligence than the ones we're used to, and even question orders from a supposed commander. Maybe that's why Starscream abandoned them?
• So the resolution to Russell's dilemma about a lack of viable role models was basically "meh, this'll do"