IDW - Optimus Prime #3

Title: New Cybertron Part 3: Behind my Bleeding Back

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Kei Zama

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Four Million years in the past, Jetfire leads Prowl and Orion Pax to see his boss, Soundwave, whom Orion recognizes as being involved in the murder of the Old Senate, he refuses to discuss the events as there is no evidence, and asks for him to get to the point.

Orion and Prowl ask Soundwave if it is true that Hefter, the dead Decepticon, was involved in smuggling weapons from off-world into the Decepticon's hands. Soundwave outright refuses this notion, as the Decepticons are not like that, implying further that Hefter was murdered just for being a Decepticon.

Orion and the others leave, and Starscream comes out of hiding, having just received a new shipment of off-world weapons, much to Soundwave's shock.

In the present day, Soundwave, Jetfire and Arcee discuss the Junkion's offer of a cure for Sideswipe, in exchange for Ore-13, but they don't know if they can trust Rum-maj, so they decides to start an investigation of their own. Soundwave contacts Sanctuary Station, and asks Cosmos to return to Earth to investigate the Junkion's ship using stealth paint to get past their advanced scanners.

Meanwhile, in Cairo, Thundercracker is performing his calculations on the Junkion ship for GI Joe, whilst Flint has coffee with his daughter, Marissa, and offers her a position on GI Joe, as per Thundercracker's fee to help them.

On Cybertron, Optimus' request for permission to trade the Ore-13 with the Junkions is denied by the council, since Earth isn't officially a member of the council yet and it would be in violation of the Tyrest Accord, especially now that Cybertron is recovering from the war with the Titans, and cannot risk arming an alien race with weapons.

Back on Earth, Jazz tries to talk to a woman he met in Mexico City, but she doesn't want to listen, since the Transformers killed half of her family, however Jazz wants to talk, as he's tired of no one talking out their problems, and just wants someone to listen to him..

Back in Cairo, Flint finishes talking to Marissa, just as Thundercracker finishes his calculations, Thundercracker asks if she accepted the offer, but he just glares him down, prompting Thundercracker to quickly forward his data to the other Joes.

The data arrives at the Matterhorn, but they still can't figure out how many Junkions are on board, as their jamming field extends too far. Suddenly Soundwave arrives, having been in contact with Mainframe, and he assists them in decrypting the Junkion's data, despite Talon hating the idea of Soundwave helping them.

Optimus and Aileron leave Cybertron, despite not getting the permissions needed from the council, but Optimus now feels that the path for Earth joining the council is more vital and clear than ever.

Cosmos arrives at the Junkion ship, along with Rumble and Frenzy as back-up. They infiltrate the ship, but are soon located by the Junkions. Cosmos wanders into a seemingly empty room, only to find it filled with Sharkticons, who immediately start attacking him.

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax - Truck Cab

Arcee - Sports Car

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Cosmos - Orbiter

Jazz - Sports Car

Prowl - Emergency Speeder (Flashback Only)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Mentioned) Injured

Sideswipe - Sports Car (Mentioned) Dying

Decepticon

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Rumble - Motorcycle

Frenzy - Motorcycle

Buzzsaw

Laserbeak

Ravage (Flashback Only)

Hefter - Fork Lift Truck (Hologram Only)

Junkion Crew

Rum-Maj

Wreck-Gar (Hologram Only)

Junkion Crew Members

Sharkticon Hoard

Colonist

Mistress of Flame

Airazor - Eagle

Tigatron - Tiger

Obsidian - Osprey Stealth Bomber

Strika - Battle Tank

Fireshot - Part of Jet

Vanquish - Part of Jet

Moonracer - Sports Car

Knock Out - Sports Car

Aileron - Space Shuttle

Earth-based Colonists (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Metrotitan - Autobot City Outpost

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

Circuit

Longtooth

Crowds at Spacebridge

Old Senate (Mentioned) Dead

GI Joe

Flint

Talon

Spike

Mainframe

Hi-Tech

Chameleon

Scarlett (Mentioned)

Chuckles (Mentioned)

Other Human

Marissa Faireborn

Jazz's Mexico City "Friend"

The Misfits (Poster Only)

Madame President (Mentioned)

Earth Defense Command (Mentioned) Defunct

Other

Buster the Dog

Notes

• Wreck-Gar's only appearance in this issue is as a hologram...aww :(
• Similarly, despite being prominent on the cover,  Bumblebee makes no appearance in this issue, either past or present era. It is likely that this is leading into the Transformers: Annual 2017 storyline, which is supposed to explain how Optimus met Bumblebee.
• Thundercracker is revealed to have sold his services to GI Joe in exchange for Marissa being offered a place on the team.
• Flint and Marissa are finally "on-screen" mentioned to be related. This is the first time in about 30 years...
• This story is set just after the events of he Till All Are One Titans Return tie-in, and as such there are some minor spoilers for the event's outcome here. For example, the Carcer delegates are still on the council, so it is likely they will not be turned against the others like they seem to be at the moment, Windblade is injured at some time, and the Cybertronians win the battle.
• The girl Jazz screams at has a Misfits poster, adding more of the Jem and the Holograms franchise to the Hasbroverse.
• It might seem bad that Starscream was dealing with off-world weapons in the past, but remember that this was set during the early war, and therefore BEFORE the Tyrest Accord being drafted. So he isn't really being a hypocrite here!
• Last time we saw the Sharkticons, they were on the Planet Junkion, however Sharkticons are more commonly associated with Quintessons, who are the usual users of the Junkion's ship....curious....
• One of the Sharkticons appears to have a lure on his head, evoking the look of an Angler fish,