IDW - First Strike: MASK

Written by: Aubrey Sitterson

Art by: Ilias Kyriazis

Colours by: Mark Roberts

Letters by: Gilberto Lazcano

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

The King Cobra mech runs rampage over New York, forcing the Joes to concentrate on attacking it, rather than helping Quick Kick inside the Museum, stopping Firefly from stealing some artefacts for Cobra. The Joes manage to work together to break through the mech's armour  and destroy it's power core, causing it to fall apart.

The Joes are congratulated by the cops, and VENOM are arrested, but are sure that Cobra Commander will free them.

Quick Kick is able to smash through all the Red Shadow Ninjas and goes head-to-head with Firefly, even managing to avoid a point-blank shot from a gun. However before he can finish Firefly, he is smacked by an iron ball thrown by a male Storm Shadow! He has Firefly finish the mission, but leaves Quick Kick alive, so he can fight him fairly in the future...

Later, the Joes are congratulating themselves on saving the day, but with Shipwreck still feeling bad for Quick Kick being in the infirmary and them losing the artefacts. He is soon brought out of his funk when Gung-Ho brings him a disgusting green veggie-burger with a veggie-bun...what a nice boyfriend!

At the Cobra HQ, Crystal Ball is happy with the artefacts. Cobra Commander, the former Baroness, speaks with Cesspool, who reports that their shell companies have increased carbon emissions, leading to "melting" which is part of their next plan, whilst Destro (who is somehow on Earth, see below!) asks what will happen with VENOM, but the Commander is uninterested in freeing them, and plans to leave them in jail until they are needed again, besides, she has new minions to deal with...Croc Master and Raptor...

Back at the Lemuria Base, Rock 'n Roll is asleep and is given another strange dream...this time of an army chanting to their leader...Golobulus....

Plot

Characters

GI Joe

Shipwreck

Polly Parrot

Quick Kick Put in Infirmary by Male Storm Shadow

Gung-Ho

Salvo

Doc

Spitfire

Rock 'n Roll

Skywarp - Fighter Jet

Dial Tone

Tunnel Rat

Spirit

Cover Girl

Lifeline

Snake Eyes (Mentioned)

Cobra/VENOM

Cobra Commander/Baroness

Firefly

Male Storm Shadow

Bruno Sheppard/Thunderflame Arrested by Cops

Sly Rax/Stiletto Arrested by Cops

Vanessa Warfield/Ice Queen Arrested by Cops

Crystal Ball

Croc Master

Raptor

Cesspool

Destro

Other Cobra Businessmen

King Cobra Mech Destroyed by Joes

Red Shadow Ninjas

Golobulus (Dream Only)

Golobukus' Army (Dream Only)

Other Human

New York Cops

Notes

• So...you know how this comic is under the "MASK" line? Well...none of the MASK characters appear, with just three members of VENOM making a couple of short appearances....they may as well have just named this "First Strike: GI Joe #2"
• Vanessa Warfield seems to be acting a bit out of character in this issue. Isn't her whole "thing" being cold and an "Ice Queen"...hence her codename....here she is screaming like a banshee at Bruno Sheppard.
• Wow Quick Kick is being kind of a dick in this issue isn't he? He keeps just bragging about beating Snake Eyes in a sparring match, so much for a good teammate and honourable warrior!
• Oh wow! There's now a male Storm Shadow again! It's unclear if he's the original guy or another successor (like the female one currently on Cybertron) but this is gunna get confusing, especially if both of them end up in one issue together!
• Whilst unidentified here, the Cobra artefacts that Cobra steals for Crystal Ball appears to be for a ritual sacrifice, being a bowl and a dagger...maybe these things will be used to summon Golobulus? Probably not now of course...since the comic is getting canned...
• WHAT IS DESTRO DOING HERE?!?! He is very expressly on Cybertron for the First Strike event, and even got captured and held on Cybertron afterwards. Can't you guys even keep your own characters in line here?!
• Golobulus, seen in shadows at the end of the issue originated in the 80's GI Joe Movie, where he was a behind the scenes leader for Cobra of sorts.
• Anyway, I'll start this point by saying sorry for doing this so late, but as I'm sure you're fed up of hearing now, I had to deal with a bad comic supplier, but I am done with them now, and all my future buys will be straight off Ebay or whatever. Secondly as I'm sure everyone already knows, this comic leads into the upcoming "Scarlett's Strike Force" series, which has already been cancelled due to reportedly low sales. Though it has been said that it is also due to some controversial tweets from Aubrey Sitterson (the writer) about people mourning 9/11 the wrong way or something. As such, the comic will conclude after 3 issues and will end on a cliffhanger...nice job there!
• After I get the second volume of the GI Joe trades, I'll do a special blog that goes through the series, and what I feel went wrong with it, and why a big product like GI Joe is being out-lived by relatively minor titles like Rom and Micronauts!

IDW - Lost Light #11

Title: The Plotter's Club Part 2: Filling in the Blanks

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence & Alex Milne

Colours by: Joana LaFuente & Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Not long ago, Getaway sees Froid, Rung's psychiatrist rival, and asks for his opinion on what has been happening on the ship for the past few months.

He explains that following their return to Cybertron for Dark Cybertron, he and Atomizer started interviewing the crew to see who they can trust in the case of a mutiny against Megatron and Rodimus, as they believe the quest is getting side-tracked by Megatron on purpose to delay his trial, they manage to get most of the crew on their side, but of course have Rodimus' allies and 25 undecided to contend with. They even manage to convince Thunderclash, who thinks it's a good plan, but admits that things went wrong quite rapidly.

Following his failed attempt to get Megatron to kill Tailgate, he was arrested, which the rest of the crew took as a cue to get Rodimus and the others off ship, release Getaway, and then abandon the "Rod Squad".

Getaway is taken to the bridge, where the ship receives it's call from Rodimus, and Getaway brags about how the crew is sick with them and have put him in charge, however it soon becomes apparent that the crew are not actually fully on his side, and were unaware that Getaway has involved the Galactic Council in this, and sent them after Megatron too, or that he was going to be captain of the ship. Getaway soon states that once they reach Cyberutopia he'll step down as captain, if the crew want him to, and also claims that he told the Galactic Council to leave the other Autobots alone, and to only go after Megatron.

Getaway soon makes his way to Rodimus' former office where he tries to contact the Galactic Council to change the terms of their deal, to indeed keep the other Autobots safe, but they aren't interested and cut him off. Atomizer suggests that he do something big in order to make the crew respect him after the situation on the bridge, and he knows exactly what to do...

A couple weeks later, Getaway visits Perceptor in his lab, where he has been studying something for him that he learned about on Luna-1. He has located a system of tunnels in space that Tyrest was originally planning to use to get to Cyberutopia.

Getaway assembles some of the crew to discuss the Warren and promises that they'll be in Cyberutopia within weeks, but they wonder why Tyrest ever gave up on the tunnels, which Geatway just ignores.

Blaster receives an SOS message from the planet Freyus, who are caught in the crossfire between the Galactic Council and the Black Block Consortia, but Getaway declines their request for help, as he doesn't want to get distracted, this angers the crew as they still want to help others, but the argument is cut short....the message sent three weeks earlier from Necroworld has reached the Lost Light and is automatically playing.

Rodimus uses his segment of the message to expose Getaway as having sold him and the others to the DJD, who are about to kill them. He asks for his innermost energon to be sold, as it is Matrix enriched and for the money to be used to hire a Bounty Hunter to kill Getaway using a gun made from his own body. Before the message can continue though Getaway cuts it off and claims that it is fake, and has the crew leave. Thunderclash stays behind and demands answers. Getaway tries to explain that he had to cut off the call, or the DJD would trace it to them, but Thunderclash points out the contradiction immediately. He states his plans to go back to Necroworld to save Rodimus and the others, and he's sure the rest of the crew will too.

Atomiser shoots him with an arrow, leading him to turn to attack, but he is shot by Getaway using his Nudge Gun, and even empties the cartridge into the "Greatest Autobot Ever", putting him into a coma. He notices that Riptide has been watching this scene from the door, he runs, but Getaway soon finds him, and shoots him too.

Back in the present, Geatway reveals that all of that has only just happened, and Riptide is under the bench he was laying on. He gets onto his real objective, he wants Sunder, Froid's patient, to use his long-range Mnemosurgery skills to convince the crew that Rodimus and his friends decided to leave the ship on their own terms, and make them forget about the message about the DJD, and also trap Thunderclash into a looped memory.

Sunder agrees to do this, in exchange for 25 crew member's brain modules with life-cords attached, so he can feed on their memories. Getaway isn't sure, but is manipulated by Froid into agreeing. Getaway does, much to Atomizer's ire, but decides to use the first 25 names on the list of undecided mutineers, as he considers them threats to his plans, but also suggests one amendment to their plan, the security team need to believe that the crew members they are set upon are Decepticon spies, so they wont question their orders...

Eventually the Protectobots return to the Lost Light, and learn what happened to Rodimus and the others, and are attacked by security as they try to escape to warn Optimus and the rest of Cybertron. Riptide reveals that he was never mind-wiped from the gun shot, since the gun had been drained from Thunderclash's shots. Riptide starts insulting Getaway for his stupid plan, so he decides to take him for a "swim".

On their way to the Oil Reservoir, Getaway hears from Powerflash that the Protectobots have been captured and placed in cells. Riptide is taken into the Reservoir, where he is shown it is filled with domesticated red Scraplets, which have been trained to eat a Cybertronian, leaving only the life cord and brain module behind. He shoots Riptide with the Nudge Gun again, commanding him to forget how to turn into his boat mode, and knocks him into the oil.....

Characters

Autobot

Getaway - Car

Atomizer - Car

Thunderclash - Truck Trapped in Looped Memory by Sunder

Riptide - Boat Knocked into Oil Reservoir filled with Red Scraplets by Getaway

Sunder

Mainframe

Perceptor - Tank

Hoist - Tow Truck

Blaster - Acoustic Tank

Crosscut - Van

Hound - Jeep

Xaaron

Megatron - Tank

Rodimus - Car

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Tailgate - Car

Swerve - Van

Skids - Van

Rewind - Data Slug

Grapple - Crane

Inferno - Fire Truck

Smokescreen - Car

Siren - Car

Bluestreak - Car

Dipstick - Car

Rollout - Bulldozer

Huffer - Truck

Gears - Van

Joyride - Buggy

Slapdash - F1 Race Car

Jackpot - Car

Hosehead - Fire Truck

Sprocket - Aircraft

Pointblank - Car

Boss - Car

Grotusque - Winged Cat Monster

Dogfight - Jet

Strafe - Jet

Rook - SWAT Personnel Carrier

Streetwise - Police Car

Powerflash - Jet (Voice Only)

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Sentinel Prime - Truck/Jet (Mentioned)

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned)

Chromedome - Car (Mentioned)

Rung - Photonic Crystal Generator (Mentioned)

Nightbeat - Car

Ratchet - Ambulance (Mentioned)

Highbrow - Helicoper (Mentioned)

Fervor (Mentioned) Possibly Fed to Sunder

Turbine (Mentioned) Possibly Fed to Sunder

25 Undecided Mutineers (Mentioned) Fed to Sunder

Decepticon

Ravage - Cassette

Overlord - Tank and Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Froid - Jet

Cyclonus - Jet

Red Scraplet

Chief Justice Tyrest (Mentioned)

Necrobot (Mentioned)

The Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Other

Galactic Council Agent (On Screen)

Death's Head (Mentioned)

General Neech (Mentioned)

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Black Block Consortia (Mentioned)

The Fraynians (Mentioned)

Notes

• Alex Milne and Priscilla Tramontano's art credits in this issue are due to the reuse of the scenes from MTMTE #50
• Thunderclash being up and about whilst Getaway is creeping on Tailgate is technically a mistake since he should be in a coma until the climax of that plot-line. However when questioned about it on Twitter, James Roberts mentions that this happens during a brief relapse of Thunderclash's, which is going to be mentioned in a future "retcon".
• Froid and Sunder are shown to STILL be on the Lost Light, but in the brig until this issue.
• It is confirmed here that my theory that the crew was either mis-informed or brainwashed to be okay with Rodimus and the others being left on Necroworld were BOTH sort of correct. The crew were originally mis-led, but when they found out the truth they were "brainwashed" by Sunder's long-range Mnemosurgery. This also shows us that the strange behaviour last issue was due to the brainwashing, and not a forged dream for the Protectobots.
• In contrast to the assertions last issue, the crew actually do want to help other planets out, rather than ignoring them like Getaway does in order to get to Cyberutopia faster.
• We were shown during the "Dying of the Light" finale of MTMTE we saw Getaway trying to contact Neech to renegotiate the terms of their deal, so we know this part of the story wasn't fabricated at all.
• The Warren was briefly mentioned last issue, here we learn that it's basically a series of subspace tunnels that lead across the galaxy...Think of it sort of like the Borg subspace tunnels seen at the end of Star Trek Voyager.
• As mentioned in this issue, Getaway was held prisoner by Tyrest on Luna-1, which we learn here gave him insight into his theories and plans before ignoring him at some point.
• So...this issue brings up another issue I have with the continuity in IDW right now...we see that Rodimus DID mention in the video-will that Getaway sold them out to the DJD (he didn't know about the DJD being there, but whatever)...SO WHY HAS OPTIMUS NOT SENT A CREW AFTER THEM YET?!?!?!? WE KNOW HE GOT THE MESSAGE, ALONG WITH EVERYONE ON CYBERTRON!!!
• The Bounty Hunter that Rodimus is referring to in his will is Death's Head....I can't see him actually appearing in an IDW comic, but he has been referenced in other IDW material before.
• Sunder is still talking in his regular voice, rather than the Mortilus impression...we know this due to the speech bubble being white instead of black.
• The brain modules with teeth marks from last issue are revealed to be the payment for Sunder brainwashing the crew of the ship, who were chosen due to being undecided on whether to mutiny or not
• The security crew's attitude is also shown to be under the impression that anyone who disagrees with Getaway is a Decepticon spy...this explains their gun-happiness last issue.
• The Scraplets in this issue are designed after the Aligned continuity versions of the species, just coloured red.
• Despite his apparent collusion with him, we see throughout this issue that Atomizer is becoming less sure about this plan, and keeps glaring at Getaway...my guess is he will be in some way responsible for Getaway's inevitable all next issue.
• The Protectobots are mentioned as having been locked in separate cells, does Getaway and the crew know about Defensor yet or not?!?
• Last issue we saw Getaway lead First Aid to the Oil Reservoir before hearing what he had to say...we can assume that he was about to send him to the Scraplets too if he said something he didn't like. 
• Here's a question...just how many shots do the Nudge Guns have? When Brainstorm analysed Skids' one before, he said it had two canisters for two shots...we see Getaway shoot Thunderclash at least half a dozen times here...
• We can assume from this issue that the hidden thrusters on Luna-1 were built to enable the planetoid to travel through the Warren before Tyrest started his Space Bridge plan.
• It's explained that Getaway has an irrational desire to become a Prime, this actually explains a fair few things about his character and even design. He has a mouth plate and general helmet design of a traditional Prime. Also his massive ego and power grabbing personality make sense knowing this...maybe this is also why he hates Rodimus, he's jealous that he has natural Matrix-affinity and even held it for a while, along with Thunderclash who held the Matrix for Optimus for a short while.
• Since it took me a while to get to their issue, I have seen the profiles for issue 12, and see that Riptide does survive his "swim". My guess is that Getaway never recharged his Nudge Gun, and it is still empty when he uses it to make Riptide forget how to transform.

IDW - Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor #5

Written by: John Barber & Christos Gage

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Josh Perez & Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Ultra Magnus/Vekktral has hold of Starscream by the neck, and has his Wraith army pin down the other Decepticons. Both personalities inside the hybrid agree that Starscream should die, but are stopped by the Knights attacking the creature, managing to free the Decepticon, whilst Ultra Magnus fights for control inside the beast.

The other Decepticons help to free their fellows, and they intend to leave...once Starscream can retrieve the Energon Synthesizer. Stardrive notices them leaving and gives chase, and is in turn chased by Livia. The Knights concentrate their fire on the hybrid  onto his chest, having learned about sparks from the Cybertronians, but the armour is too thick to break through.

Stardrive soon engages Starscream at the Synthesizer's location, and the two fight, with Livia helping Stardrive out.

Bumblebee tries to reach to Magnus, but seems to be failing...on the outside anyway. Inside his mind, Magnus is determined to overwhelm Vekktral, who reveals that he knows how Cyebrtronians work as he studied the dead body of Sky Blast, but finds that Magnus' body is different somehow, giving Magnus an idea...he opens his armour's chest from the inside and allows the Knights to shoot his now exposed spark.

Stardrive appears to be winning her battle with Starscream, even tearing off his wings, but he is rescued by the rest of his Decepticons, they decide to leave, but Starscream decides to be petty and shoots the Synthesizer, intending for it to detonate so no-one can use it. Stardrive immediately tries to access the safety systems to override the detonation, but Livia stops her, since they need to raze the planet to get rid of the infection.

Bumblebee looks over Magnus' now-dead body, and is consoled by Rom, but he questions why there is a smaller robot inside Magnus. Bumblebee reveals that Magnus was a title held by a group over the years, and this one was named "Convoy". They mourn him, but it is cut short when Sata notices that Vekktral escaped the body before he died, and is heading towards the imminent explosion.

At the explosion site, Stardrive is still trying to get to the Synthesizer to save it, and prevent the destruction of the planet, but Livia continues to stop her. Ultimtaely, as Vekktral approaches her it detonates, forcing Stardrive to transform and fly away, with both Livia and Vekktral hanging onto her wings, but Vekktral looses his grip and falls into the explosion, and rubs it into Stardrive that she is the cause of this destruction.

Stardrive manages to scoop up the rest of the team, including Magnus' body, and flies off the planet, as the Synthesizer fully blows and wipes out half of the planet.

In the planet's orbit, the group witness the destruction with no-one having really won this conflict. Stardrive has had enough and rips off her Solstar Armour, which is otherwise thought to be impossible, and returns it to a crystal form, and returns it to Rom, resigning her commission before flying off into space alone. The Solstar Knights head towards the Orchid Crossing escape pods, whilst Bumblebee declines joining them, since he knows the Magnus Armour will teleport back to home base before long. Rom leaves him, hoping that he never comes across the Cybertronians again...

Starscream returns to Megatron and suggests that they not work with the Dire Wraiths again in the future due to all that happened during this conflict, with Megatron commenting that he has disappointed him again... Meanwhile, the Dire Wraiths are watching a magical projection of Vekktral's failure to control the Cybertronians properly, which cements their plans to rely on magic, rather than technology in their future campaigns.

Bumblebee returns to the Autobot fleet, where he reports Magnus' death to Optimus, and is upset that the Decepticons managed to destroy another world with this war. Optimus accepts that this is the cost of war, but does mourn their deaths. It is decided that a previous Magnus, Minimus Ambus will come out of retirement and wear the armour again. Bumblebee says his final goodbyes to Convoy, and admits that he kept the Synthesizer hidden from Optimus, as he is worried that even the Autobots might do horrible things to get it, like the Solstar Order believed at first...

At a Solstar station, Orphion is contacted by some representatives of the Galactic Council, and both sides fling accusations against the other over who was to blame for what happened on Xetaxxis. Rom leaves, clearly fed up with the finger pointing, and gets worse when he sees several new recruits being introduced to the Order by Livia and Sata.

Stardrive ends up on a peaceful and beautiful alien planet, and tries to live apart from her Cybertronian and Solstar pasts...until she sees something approaching her...something with tendrils....

The end.

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Bumblebee - Two Wheeled Car

Ultra Magnus/Convoy - Vehicle Transport Killed by Rom

Prowl - Emergency Vehicle

Ironhide - Van

Ratchet - Ambulance

Minimus Ambus - Minesweeper (On Screen)

Chief Justice Tyrest (On Screen)

Original Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport (Mentioned) Dead

Sky Blast - Rocket (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Starscream - Jet

Dirge - Jet

Ramjet - Jet

Thrust - Jet

Astrotrain - Galactic Council Shuttle/Land Train

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank

Laserbeak - Cassette

Ravage - Cassette

Tarn - Tank

Onslaught - Anti Aircraft Tank

Acid Storm - Jet

Thundercracker - Jet

Skywarp - Jet (Mentioned)

Solstar Order

Stardrive - Car/Jet Leaves Solstar Order

Orphion

Rom

Livia

Sata

New Solstar Order Cadets

Orchid Crossing Crew (Mentioned) Most Died in Attack

Dire Wraith

Vekktral Killed in Synthesizer Explosion

Xetaxxis Wraiths Killed in Synthesizer Explosion

Magic Purist Wraiths

Other

Xetaxxans Half of Population Killed in Synthesizer Explosion

Galactic Council Representatives (On Screen)

Galactic Council Envoys (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• So, Stardrive uses Sata as a sword...this is actually really cool, and I hope we get to see her with a sword alternate mode Mini-Con in the future or something :)
• The landscape in Magnus' mind seems to be based on the old G1 toy packaging
• Oh wow! I never expected Ultra Magnus to actually be a different character from the one we've grown to know over the years, and totally didn't see that coming! It was a surprise that Ambus was revealed to be the Magnus before Convoy, only to have retired for a while though.
• Stardrive removing her Solstar Armour would have been a nice surprise...if we didn't see her sans armour at the end of Optimus Prime #13, released a week before this issue...
• The Dire Wraiths are shown to swear off of using technology following the events of this story, this has been maintained throughout their appearances in IDW otherwise, where they rely solely on Magic.
• It's revealed that Optimus and Ironhide also know about Ultra Magnus being a title. Ratchet and Prowl's knowledge was revealed at separate times in More Than Meets The Eye.
• Bumblebee is shown to have known about the Magnus Armour for some time, since people like to talk to him.
• Orphion makes it sound like the devastation on Xetaxxis was caused by the Dire Wraiths and Cybertronians....whilst Starscream was the one who shot it, causing it to overload, and the Wraiths were the reason for the Decepticons even being there to do that, he fails to mention that it was Solstar technology, which could have been disabled by Stardrive, had Livia not of stopped her, since she wanted the planet to be razed, due to the Wraith infection.
• The ending shot of Stardrive with Dire Wraith tendrils in her optic can be taken a couple ways, either she has a Wraith taint inside her...which given what we've seen of it, and seen of her from 200 years later, seems unlikely. The more likely explanation, coupled with her optic widening slightly, is that she has seen more Wraiths on the peaceful planet that she has landed on.
• Whilst I wouldn't believe that Optimus would "go after" the Energon Synthesizer, it is a smart move by Bumblebee to not share that information with him, as we all know how Prowl would act in this situation....
• I am actually shocked, I thought Sata would have died by the end of this series, especially since we haven't seen her in the modern era or even any other Solstar flashback stories.

Sig Pub - Robots in Disguise #26

Notes

• This issue comes with a screen cap comic for "Worthy" the season finale for Season Two, and the end of the Weaponizer Mini-Con mini-series
• This issue comes, along with the regular keyring and 3D eraser, with a fairly decent Bumblebee model painting kit...not bad Sig Pub!

Features

Make Strongarm - Tear apart the front cover to make a cardstock Strongarm! Yay!

Auto Match - Match the Decepticon robot modes to their silhouetted alternate modes

Battle of the Bots - Slipstream + Jetstorm vs Shadelock Profile

Weaponizer Alert - Spot the differences between the two pictures

Transformers the Last Knight Mega Facts! - Learn more about the new movie!

Starscream Puzzles! Starscream gives you some puzzles...before going back to jail I guess...

Bumblebee Poster - Pull out the middle of the magazine for a Bumblebee poster

Bumblebee Break Out! - Do a bunch of Bumblebee themed puzzles!

Comic Investigator - Answer questions about the comic and see if you paid attention to it!

Puzzling Prizes - Solve an odd-one out puzzle, then enter contests for decent prizes!

Draw Grimlock - Take a wild guess...

Drift Detector! - Complete a word search made of words relating to Drift

Transformers Post - Send in your pictures to be shown off by Fixit for a prize!

IDW - Optimus Prime #13

Title: The Dead Come Home Part 1

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Livio Ramondelli 

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The Throttlebots, who have been stranded on a planet they crashed on during the Decepticon's big surge that wiped out most Autobot outposts have lost all hope of survival. Their last contact told them that Garrus-9 had fallen, Earth was under complete invasion, and they assume that the Decepticons have won the war. Suddenly one day, whilst waiting for their own deaths, "Decepticons" appear from the chasms of the planet, who immediately kill Searchlight, and chase after the other surviving Throttlebots...

On Cybertron, Sideswipe is finally given a funeral following the events of First Strike, and it is presided over by Optimus Prime himself, everyone is grieving over their lost friend, brother or ally, and Optimus tries to console them. He is taken back when he learns from Arcee that Galvatron was her twin brother and she just let Optimus kill him in front of her. Before they can discuss it though, Optimus becomes conscious of the massive crowd gathering due to the Prime presiding over a regular funeral, so they leave to discuss this is private.

On the way to their privacy, Optimus almost runs over a "human", revealed to be Blackrock, who reports that Centurion, who has recovered from his injuries has contacted him from the wilderness of Cybertron, with an image of a protoforms. The Autobots are confused as Protoforms haven't appeared on Cybertron in centuries, until Swift appears and reveals that she and the Dinobots found them, and that Starscream has been keeping their existence a secret...

At the chambers of the Council of Worlds, the council discuss how they can deal with the alien city now tainting the core of the planet, but to no real avail. Elita wants to invade Earth in return for their invasion, whilst Starscream wants to try opening up talks with the Solstar Order for repercussions for them quarantining Cybertron during the invasion.

Starscream leaves the meeting, where he comes across Optimus and Blackrock, who confront him over hiding the existence of new life from them. Starscream explains it as him not having enough time to discuss it, since they've just been invaded by Titans and humans, but he leads them to someone who can help them locate them for themselves, since they have gone missing recently.

Starscream leads Optimus and Blackrock to a chamber where the thought-to-be dead Dinobot Slug is being held, who says he found Bludgeon messing with the protoforms and that he hired Sandstorm to kill him, and that the other Dinobots must have the protoforms. Optimus offers himself and Blackock to help Slug recover them.

In the courtyard, where the celebrations of Earth joining the council of worlds was being held, Pyra, Stormclash and Skyburst are walking the destruction, and dead bodies, when they encounter Arcee, who offers them to join her on Optimus' mission into the wilderness, but the conversation soon turns to how the war is changing all of them. Arcee believes that in peace there is no place for her, but Pyra counters that she has changed too, that during the battles Arcee refrained from using lethal force on the humans, whilst Pyra lost control, and that she believes Arcee's role is to reign in bots like her and Optimus, and keep them on the right track.

Soon, the team are tracking the Dinobots and Centurion in the wilderness, when they just find them. With Centurion pointing out that he called them, so they would find him. They begin to reunite, when Slug suddenly attacks the group, which includes Sandstorm, as he cannot believe his team would side with his murderer...

Back in Iacon, in a hidden chamber, Bludgeon is manipulating the situation with his Void Sceptre, all whilst Bumblebee's "ghost" is commenting that none of this is part of Starscream's plan...

Back on the Throttlebot's planet "Botanica", the team fight off the "Decepticons" but are overwhelmed by them and are taken down one by one. Before Goldbug can be killed, he tells his opponent to tell Megatron that they went down fighting, but the "Decepticon" has no idea who he's talking about.

The "Decepticon" is suddenly shot from nowhere, and Goldbug is shocked to be rescued by Prowl, Wheelie, Garnak and Stardrive, who appear to be recruiting them to help save the galaxy from these creatures....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Arcee - Sports Car

Garrison Blackrock/Sovereign - Head

Slug - Triceratops

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Swoop - Pteranodon

Sandstorm - Buggy/Helicopter

Goldbug - Car

Rollbar - Jeep

Chase - Car

Searchlight - Car Killed by Beast Army

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck

Skyburst - Helicopter

Stormclash - Helicopter

Sunstreaker - Sports Car

Wheeljack - Race Car

Ironhide - Van

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Prowl - Police Vehicle

Wheelie - Car

Bumblebee - Car ("Ghost" Only)

Sideswipe - Sports Car (Mentioned) Body Interred in Tomb

Sentinel Prime - Truck/Jet (Mentioned) Presumed Dead

Metroplex - Iacon City (Mentioned)

Metrotitan - Autobot City (Mentioned)

The Other Torchbearers (Mentioned)

Freeway - Car (Mentioned) Killed by Sixshot

Wideload - Dump Truck (Mentioned) Killed by Sixshot

Decepticon

Swift - Helicopter

Bludgeon - Tank

Sixshot - Sixchanger (Mentioned) Presumed Dead

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Galvatron - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Centurion - Luxury Car

Strafe - Two Headed Dragon/Car

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Knock Out - Sports Car

Obsidian - Stealth Osprey Helicopter

Elita One 

Mistress of Flame

Stardrive - Car/Jet

Bob, the Insecticon

Midnight Express - Bullet Train

Roulette - Muscle Car

Gimlet - Lobster

Bump - Armadillo

Funeral Crowd

A Protoform (Image Only)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Onyx Prime (Mentioned)

Antagony - Ant (Mentioned) Dead

The Titan Swarm (Mentioned) Dead

Beast Army

Cicadacon - Cicada Shot by Prowl

Sharp Edge - Saw Shark

Drancron - Lizard-Dragonfly

Hydra - Pteranodon

Other Beasts

Human

Marissa Faireborn

Ian Noble/Action Man (Mentioned)

Ayana Jones/Mayday (Mentioned)

The Iron Ring (Mentioned)

Red Shadow Ninjas (Mentioned)

Other

Garnak

"Bludgeon's Master" (Mentioned)

Solstar Order (Mentioned)

Notes

• Oh wow, the title didn't lie! The dead really do come home today! Or....I mean the guys who either were near death or have been gone for a while anyway...First, the Throttlebots were last seen in Spotlight: Metroplex, where they were under attack from Sixshot and were abandoned on a planet by the titular character, Sunstreaker is shown to have survived his apparent death in First Strike, Centurion has woken up from his stasis lock, Slug is back to life after being killed by Sandstorm, the long forgotten Wheelie and Garnak reappear (they were last seen on Gorlam Prime's black hole precipice during Dark Cybertron) and Stardrive, who we learn in Shining Armor #5 left to be alone 200 years ago! WOW!
• The name of the Throttlebot's planet, Botanica, is a reference to the Beast Machines character of the same name.
• It is confirmed that Freeway and Wideload died from their injuries sustained from the fight with Sixshot, and also confirmed that Sixshot did survive his attack from Metroplex. But he apparently ended up dying during a fight with the Throttlebots later....suuuuuuure.
• Goldbug is shown using a pair of  walking sticks here. This is amusing since usually he's an upgraded version of Bumblebee outside of IDW, and Bumblebee has been shown with a walking stick for quite a while now.
• The guy who Optimus quotes during Sideswipe's funeral was Sentinel Prime...it seems safe to assume that he didn't acknowledge that himself due to the recent actions of the former commander...
• Amongst the funeral goers are the Colonist Autobot-recruits, except for Slide...wonder where she is?
• Optimus seems shocked that Arcee is Galvatron's twin....did he forget that major plot point in Alpha Trion's story about the formation of the unified Cybertron of the past?! It's possible that he just assumed that Trion was embellishing with characters they might know, but come on!
• Antagony gets name-dropped and is revealed to have died during the human invasion. This confirms the identity of the Transformer that Shazraella controlled during the event.
• It is briefly mentioned that Centurion was revived from his stasis lock when Merklynn's energy shot through Cybertron...implying that it lasted a couple of hours at best....
• It is also confirmed that the Revolutionaries are remaining a team, but Kup is staying on Cybertronian for the moment to help investigate New Prysmos at the core of Cybertron in the upcoming Transformers vs The Visionaries series.
• Arcee being relieved that Action Man is off the planet is likely due to his constant flirting with her throughout the Optimus Prime and Transformers First Strike tie-ins.
• The protoforms, and the Dinobot's involvement with them, along with Swift's knowledge of the events was covered in the "Dinobot Trilogy"
• Why is Mistress of Flame at the council meeting? She's not a member, Windblade is Caminus' representative. She was only filling in whilst Windblade was comatose following the Titan invasion. I can assume that Elita is present in Strika's place since she is absent in this issue, but Windblade is clearly seen.
• Starscream brings up how the Solstar Order owes Cybertron after they quarantined them during First Strike. He also alludes to how he knows the Order have the knowledge of creating a working Energon Synthesizer from the events of the Shining Armor mini-series.
• Marissa claims that 47 humans were involved in the attack on Cybertron....even if we assume all the Iron Grenadiers wee just robots...I'm pretty sure there were way more than just that number of Red Shadows on the planet!
• The size of the bodies under the sheets in the courtyard highly implies that the bodies the Torchbearers are dealing with are humans. We can't be sure if they are from the Iron Ring or innocents, but we did see Pyra willingly killing some Iron Ring members during the battle...
• The wilderness of Cybertron looks a lot different to usual now...this could be just because of the different artist from the last time we saw it, but more than likely this is a side-effect of Merklynn's energy surging through the planet.
• Bludgeon is revealed to still have possession of his Void Sceptre, and has learned to use it to control the Dinobots to an extent, as well as Trypticon. This is likely due to the Dinobots once being tainted by Trypticon's energon in the past.
• Bumblebee's "ghost" is shown to be monitoring Bludgeon...alone...without Starscream present...further adding to the idea that he isn't just a manifestation of his guilt.
• Bludgeon mentions "his master"...I wonder if he's involved in Scorponok's schemes from Lost Light as well?
• Since the last time we saw him, it looks like Prowl has lost an eye and one of his arms. His replacement arm looks somewhat like Megatron's mega-armour from the Chaos event.
• Stardrive is shown in her original pre-armour colours here, spoiling that she will remove her armour and return it to Rom in Shining Armor #5, which was released a week after this issue came out.

IDW - Optimus Prime #12

Title: Primeless Part 2

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Thundercracker and Buster arrive at Sanctuary Station where he finds Cosmos and the resident Decepticons all present, however Cosmos takes a headcount and finds that two shuttles are gone, one is accounted for, but the other is just gone...making everyone wonder who could have taken it...

In Mexico, Jazz is cornered by a bunch of humans with EDC weapons. The Colonists rush the scene to both protect Jazz and disarm the humans. They manage to scare off a bunch of the humans, and even capture some of their weapons, whilst also capturing one of their attackers too.

Jazz soon leads the Colonists across the border back into America where they are being led to the weapons dealers by their captive, where they wind up in a seemingly abandoned town.

Jazz gets the human to fetch the dealers, which he does, before escaping. The dealers begin to panic as the Transformers reveal themselves, with Jazz even crushing one of them...to reveal that he is actually a holomatter avatar, as Jazz had already figured out. The two avatars fade away and the Transformers tear apart the town, managing to find the weapons cache.

Soon a pair of motorcycles speed away, only to be stopped by Aileron, forcing the duo to reveal themselves to be Rumble and Frenzy, who surrender.

The team soon learn that Rumble and Frenzy have been supplying humans with ex-EDC weapons for money and out of boredom. Jazz asks if Optimus sent the Colonists after him, which Aileron denies, but suggests that Optimus would be glad to see him again. Jazz however isn't happy and feels that Optimus left him out to dry when he returned to Cybertron instead of helping him when he was ambushed before.

Soon another problem occurs to the group, if they arrest the Decepticons for their illegal weapons dealings, then the other Decepticons might get angry, and due to their current uneasy peace, it might be wise to just let them go unpunished. Slide is furious, and she knows that Optimus would suggest the same thing and sweep all these troubles under the carpet.

Jazz decides to stay on his own on Earth for a while and heads off, all whilst Slide continues to egg on Aileron and her duties...the Decepticons are happy to be let go though!

The Colonists return to Autobot City with most of the weapons, and tell Jetfire where the rest are for pick up, and are told that Soundwave ha left for Castle Destro. Aileron heads off to her room for some rest...but cannot settle down or sleep after today's events....

Characters

Autobot

Aileron - Space Shuttle

Jazz - Sports Car

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Metrotitan - Autobot City

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Arcee - Sports Car (Mentioned)

Kup - Pick Up Truck (Mentioned)

Tracks - Muscle Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Rumble - Motorcycle

Frenzy - Motorcycle

Sky-Byte - Shark

Laserbeak - Cassette

Buzzsaw - Cassette

Needlenose - Fighter Jet

Slugslinger - Twin Nosed Fighter Jet

Squawkbox

Unidentified Decepticon

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Mentioned)

Galvatron - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Acid Storm - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Squeezeplay - Crab Monster (Mentioned)

The Seekers (Mentioned) Defunct

Colonist

Slide - Rear of Oil Tanker

Gimlet - Lobster

Bump - Armadillo

Midnight Express - Bullet Train

Roulette - Muscle Car

Mistress of Flame (Mentioned)

Sterling - Car (Mentioned) Dead

Oiler - Front of Oil Tanker (Mentioned) Dead

Other Cybertronian

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

Cosmos - Orbiter

Primus (Mentioned)

Council of Worlds (Mentioned)

The Thirteen Primes (Mentioned)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Junkions (Mentioned)

Human

Russell Hathaway

Patricia Heaton

Leon Weaver

Mateo Chavez

Lori Ho

Earl Howard

Mexican Vigilantes

Madame President (Mentioned)

Earth Defence Command (Mentioned) Defunct

Skywatch (Mentioned) Defunct

GI Joe (Mentioned)

United Nations (Mentioned)

Destro (Mentioned)

John Powell (Mentioned) Dead

Other

Buster the Dog

Notes

• Shockingly this issue isn't drawn by Kei Zama but rather Andrew Griffith, the original artist for the Robots in Disguise series, which this series is the successor to. He is really good at emulating her style!
• Cosmos' subtitle in this issue is "Autobot Ally" implying that he has left the faction following his previous appearance in the series.
• The two weapons dealers that Rumble and Frenzy are posing as use the likeness of John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson from Pulp Fiction.
• And lo and behold it is revealed that the guys involved in spreading EDC weapons to the humans were Rumble and Frenzy all along...they are jerks!
• Jazz seems under the impression that Optimus just left him to fend for himself when he was ambushed by GI Joe....did he forget that Optimus sent him a warning?! I know most others wont know about that, but surely Jazz would!
• Midnight Express claims that the colonies can do well by themselves....uh...bullshit? You are from Caminus, a colony that was on the verge of death due to a lack of resources. It got so bad you sent random teams into space to hope to find Cybertron....
• Metrotitan/Autobot City is shown to be at the Arctic Circle by the end of this issue. This was where we found it when GI Joe came to ask Soundwave for help in the main First Strike story.
• From the Colonist's interview panels it seems like Slide has developed a two-faced personality and is talking up Optimus in public, but sowing seeds of doubt behind the scenes...sounds sort of like her apparent idol Pyra Magna...

IDW - First Strike #6

Main Story

Written by: Mairghread Scott & David A. Rodriguez

Art by: Max Dunbar

Colours: Ander Zarate

Coda Story

Title: The Signal

Written by: Mairghread Scott & David A. Rodriguez

Art by: James Raiz

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Editor: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

Main Story Plot

Scarlett and her allies face off against Colton and his "Iron Ring", the battle seems pretty even between the two factions, but it is disrupted when Starscream, Elita One and Obsidian arrive, with the latter two intent on killing the invading humans.

Matt Trakker uses his compound made from Astrotrain's remains to attack Elita, allowing her to be controlled by Gloria, making her attack the others on her small team. The battles continue, and Colton accidentally stabs Scarett in her abdomen, and immediately feels bad, even revealing that he never intended for his team to return to Cybertron, as he always assumed that the activation of the Talisman would kill them all too. Scarlett manages to overpower Colton, but he reveals that it is too late...

Kreiger has set up the Talisman, and begins a strange chant that activates it. The heroes charge at him to try and stop it, but all their technology is disabled around him, and he reveals himself to be in fact an alien from the planet Prysmos named Merklynn. He announces that the Age of Magic is about to begin anew, as the Talisman activates and sends a surge of power throughout the planet tainting the Energon within the planet and the Transformers alike.

Merklynn reveals to everyone that this was always his plan, to use the Energon on Cybertron to activate the Talisman and recreate his long lost homeworld. Merklynn admits that not as much of his world has returned as he wanted, but this "city" in the planet's core will be a good start. He erects a barrier that prevents technology from entering his new "city" within the planet's core and teleports everyone away from him, promising that his "Visionaries" will soon arrive and they will end the Age of Technology across the galaxy...

On the planet's surface, Colton, feeling utterly defeated, surrenders to Starscream and the others, and his cohorts are forced to do the same

In the aftermath of the Iron Ring's invasion, the Ring are all placed into cells, whilst the Cybertronians try to figure out what exactly is happening in "New Prysmos" and how they can fix their now tainted Energon supplies. The heroic humans return to Earth through the Space Bridge, where Matt and Scarlett promise to work together in the future and hope that Colton one day sees the real error of his ways and can be redeemed one day...

Coda Plot

During Merklynn's energon surge, Windblade was inside Metroplex's brain chamber monitoring the situation on the planet. Suddenly the planet shoots almost half of it's energon supplies into space, destroying everything it passes. Eventually it reaches a dead planet, seemingly caught in the gravitational pull of a black hole, reactivating a monster within....Unicron....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Arcee - Sports Car

Ironhide - Van

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Coda Only)

Metroplex - Iacon City (Coda Only)

Wheelie - Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundwave - Cassette Player

Astrotrain - Space Shuttle/Train (Mentioned) Dead

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Elita One 

Obsidian - Stealth Osprey Helicopter

Badgeless Officer

Cybertronian Civilians

GI Joe/MASK

Scarlett

Roadblock

Lady Jaye

Matt Trakker

Gloria Baker

Shipwreck (Mentioned)

The Iron Ring

Garrison Kreiger/Merklynn

Joe Colton Arrested and Detained on Cybertron

Miles Mayhem Arrested and Detained on Cybertron

Destro Arrested and Detained on Cybertron

Storm Shadow Arrested and Detained on Cybertron

Shazraella Arrested and Detained on Cybertron

Vanessa Warfield/Ice Queen (Mentioned)

Other Human

Marissa Faireborn

Other

Unicron - Planet Reawoken by Cybertron's Energy (Coda Only)

The Visionaries (Mentioned)

Notes

• Despite last issue saying he wanted the humans a "traitors" under Optimus' command arrested, Starscream seems quick to attack Optimus and do nothing to stop Elita from attacking the humans herself.
• The compound made from Astrotrain's remains is revealed to be able to allow a human to control a Cybertronian body remotely
• Kreiger's true identity was actually hinted at in his FIRST appearance! The hieroglyphs that appears next to him in the flashback to Egypt showed what a lot of fans pointed out seemed to be a panel of a Visionary's armour...my god! Also his escape from the Revolutionaries in issue 8 of their series can be explained as him using magic to escape his cuffs.
• If you look at his Hasbro Sourcebook profile you'll also notice that it never technically mentions where his homeland is, just that he is new to America at the time.
• Everyone knew that the Visionaries were coming to the IDW Hasbroverse, but I'm pretty sure that no-one saw Kreiger being the one to cause it ever!
• The spell that Kreiger/Merklynn uses to activate the Talisman is the one used by Leoric in the original toyline to activate his owl staff's power. The symbols that appear after it's activation are also the animal spirit symbols that appeared on the Visionaries chest plates.
• You can just see at the end that Shazraella is de-Enerchanged from her host. In Optimus Prime 13 it is implied that Antagony died, both confirming her host's name, and her fate...aww....
• Rather than follow this story with another issue of "The Origins of Evil" we get a short teaser comic for the upcoming and previously announced Unicron series...ooo-er
• Unicron in this universe is shown to have been encased in an unidentified planet, much like he is in both the Aligned and Live Action Movie universes, however in those universes he forms the core of Earth itself. It is likely that the planet that he was sealed inside was the original planet Prysmos, explaining why their "Age of Magic" died out. With Cybertron's core being replaced by a "New Prysmos" it would seem fitting that whatever was keeping Unicron dormant would be reactivated due to this (especially since the core of Cybertron is usually where Primus, Unicron's brother, resides too)
• Isn't it kind of amusing? Both characters in this continuity that have the name Garrison (Blackrock and Kreiger) have been revealed to be an alien in disguise!

IDW - First Strike: Transformers

Title: Unification Day: Dusk

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Priscilla Tramontano

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Editor: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The Revolutionaries, along with Arcee chase after Colditz, Centurion and Blackrock, who have gone into the wilderness of Cybertron.

In the wilderness, Blackrock wakes up inside Centurion, who asks him to trust him in this matter. Colditz and his Red Shadow ally are taking Centurion and their prisoner to meet with Kreiger in the wilderness and have laid some traps and left more Red Shadows in the wilderness to try and stop the Revolutionaries from following them.

The Revolutionaries follow Centurion's tracks and go after their captured friends when they are attacked by a pair of ninjas, Arcee is uneasy about attacking humans, but is convinced to just deal with them...so she slices one of them in half and watches as it crawls away, intestines trailing behind...disturbing her.

Colditz' group set up camp in the wilderness, and he begins to worry about where Kreiger is, whilst the Red Shadow leader reports about his team's failure to stop the others. Whilst their captors are distracted, Centurion and Blackrock talk, with Centurion revealing that he hasn't betrayed them, he just wants to get close to Kreiger so he can kill him for all that he did to both Centurion and Atomic Man over the years. The other Revolutionaries arrive at the site, but are hit by some explosives set by the villains. A fight begins, and during it Centurion reveals that he knows how dangerous the Talisman really is, and that it will kill all life on Cybertron if Kreiger uses it, also revealing that his body is infused with it's energies too, and begins to overload with the radiation. The remaining Red Shadows are caught by the energy and are killed, whilst Colditz tries to escape, but is ultimately captured by the Revolutionaries.

The Revolutionaries try to calm down Centurion so he doesn't end up destroying the planet himself, but Arcee decides to take the unilateral decision and flings her sword at him to kill the hybrid, but Blackrock stops it just in time. Blackrock reaches out to his friend, and he manages to calm down, but in the process goes into stasis lock, leaving him inert.

The team figure that Kreiger set things up so that Centurion would overload and hoped the Revolutionaries would be forced to kill him themselves, and that he had Colditz remove him from the city so he couldn't get involved in the events happening at the planet's core.

The team regroup and head back towards Iacon, still intending to remain a team, despite them sometimes getting on each other's nerves.

Characters

Autobot

Arcee - Sports Car

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Garrison Blackrock/Sovereign - Head

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Bumblebee - Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

Human

Mayday/Ayana Jones

Action Man/Ian Noble

1960's Action Man (Flashback)

Alanis Morissette (Mentioned)

Eukarian

Centurion/Atomic Man - Luxury Car In Stasis Lock due to Energy Overload

Domitius Major (Flashback)

"Ironhide" (Flashback)

"Prowl" (Flashback)

"Shockwave" (Flashback)

"Soundwave" (Flashback)

The Iron Ring

Colditz Arrested by Revolutionaries

Red Shadow Commander Killed by Centurion's Radiation

Red Shadow Ninja #1 Killed by Revolutionaries

Red Shadow Ninja #2 Vivisected by Arcee, Killed by Centurion's Radiation

Garrison Kreiger (Flashback)

Doctor X (Mentioned)

Other

Onyx Prime (Mentioned)

Smarts the Dog (Mentioned)

Notes

• Originally this issue was advertised as "First Strike: Revolutionaries" but was changed to be under the "Transformers" title instead as "Revolutionaries" has ended
• Not for nothing, but I wonder if Action Man would still be interested in Arcee if he knew that she was forged a male Transformer...
• Despite spending a long time amongst humans, Kup still thinks that they can just get their parts replaced if they are sliced off....you stay away from Ian!
• Also, Arcee's reluctance to use "lethal force" on humans is likely due to her not wanting to get on Optimus' bad side, or to prove herself better than Pyra, who has been shown to not have such hesitations.
• Kreiger having Colditz keep Centurion away from the city, and possible get him killed by the other Revolutionaries to stop him from going nuclear is explained in a way in First Strike #6, since he needs the Talisman to succeed for his own personal mission, and Centurion's Talisman-enriched body would hinder the plan.
• Despite how it looks like Centurion has been put in stasis lock to remove him from the storyline for a while, he winds up being back on his feet by Optimus Prime #13, set days after the end of First Strike
• This story begins and ends with "interviews" between the Revolutionaries, most likely as a sort of internal report between the team.
• The ending suggests that the Revolutionaries team is continuing on, despite their comic line having ended