Sig Pub - Robots in Disguise #18

Notes

• The screen-cap comic this month is of Battlegrounds Part One...yes! That IS the Season One finale! They've time travelled again!
• As well as the usual random stickers etc with the comic, we also get a nice double sided large poster with images for The Last Knight shown off, including a menacing image of Optimus, and a full pose of Sqweeks

Features

Team Autobot - Recap of the story, and a brief character guide

Autobot Entry Exam - Take a quiz to see if you can join the team!

Battle of the Bots: Sideswipe vs Clampdown - Character profiles!

Fix Fixit's Flaws - Puzzles with Fixit!

Drift Search - A wordsearch themed around Drift

Heads Up! - Find the odd headshot out!

The Legend that is Optimus Prime - Data file and crossword about Optimus

"One Team One Mission" Pull-out Poster - Tear out the middle pages for another poster!

Comic Investigator - Answer questions to see if you read the comic (or saw the episode)

Colour in Terrashock - Guess what you do here!!

Bumblebee Bonanza - Count how many different Bumblebee images you can find!

Puzzling Prizes - Complete some puzzles to get some prizes

Observation Test - Play spot the difference, then colour in a Grimlock for doing it!

Transformers Post - Let's judge the silly artwork that the children have sent Fixit this month!

Maze Missions - Help Grimlock out of a maze...let's face it, he probably NEEDS our help!

IDW - Revolutionaries #3

Title: Enter the Shadow: The Secret of the Mummy's Tomb

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Ron Joseph

Colours by: Sebastian Cheng

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Edited by: David Hedgecock

Assistant Edits by: David Mariotte

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The Revolutionaries visit Richard Ruby, the former Adventure Team member, Bulletman, and have him tell them how his team found the Talisman in the 80's, under the guise of being interested in his story for a film.

Ruby recounts how Lt Kreiger killed a scientist, Dr Marsh, and took his research that was stored on a blue and silver tape player. Three days afterwards, the Adventure Team arrives at the pyramid where he is working from, and are forced to fight off an army of robotic mummies, but Joe Colton managed to get into the temple during the battle, soon followed by Miles Manheim. Ruby recounts how Colton was so interested in these robots because they reminded him of an army of robots his own mentor, Sgt Savage, fought in Kalistan in 1943, but they were never able to study them, however, one of his fellow soldiers, Kreiger, became obsessed with them...

Colton manages to locate the tape deck, which is playing by itself, when he is suddenly surrounded by the robot mummies, he's almost knocked into a chasm, along with the tape player, but the small device suddenly transforms into the Decepticon Soundwave!

Colton is confused, but assumes the robot is just a piloted mecha, but Soundwave soon reveals that he is not piloted, and opens fire on the human (this still being when he saw humans as unimportant). Soundwave leaves Colton to die in fire, but Manheim appears and rescues his teammate. The two Adventurers soon track Soundwave to a hidden chamber that is glowing a strange purple.

Soundwave smashes down the wall, and uncovers Kreiger working on the Talisman, with an army of his mummies around him. The mummies attack Soundwave to try and stop him, with Kreiger assuming that he's a "mothership" of some sort.

The rest of the Adventure team enter the pyramid, and join the fight, with the humans all joining in to fight the giant robot. Despite this, Soundwave simple unleashes a sonic pulse, and sends the mummies and humans flying. He then fires at the humans, scorching Atomic Man's artificial arm, and manages to crush Bulletman's rocket pack. During the chaos, Atomic Man feels compelled to touch the Talisman, and is granted a new arm by it. Soundwave studies this, and finds it interesting, but soon gets annoyed by the humans continuing to attack him, so he just leaves, since he has nothing to gain by fighting them, or taking the Talisman.

With Soundwave leaving, the team discover that Atomic Man's new arm has given him some sort of telekinetic powers, and Kreiger ended up getting the Talisman, before it was taken by British Intelligence.

The Revolutionaries thank Ruby for his time, and lie that they'll pass on his story concept to their bosses. The team leave, having actually made a massive lead in discovering the secrets of the Talisman, since Blackrock knows Kreiger, and knows that his company IRON was formed after that event, and also reveals that Iron Klaw, aka Count Van Rani, has succeeded him in running the company (someone who runs Kalistan incidentally, where the Iron Troopers were found), and he in turn has appointed an interim CEO...someone that Mayday should know...

Elsewhere, the former Cobra member, and current CEO of IRON, Tomax is met by Doctor X and Baron Ironblood, who warn him that the Revolutionaries are going to come to him regarding the Talisman soon, and offer him their "help". Tomax at first declines their assistance, until he is told to have a "change of heart" by a steampunk looking Autobot!

Characters

Autobot

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Garrison Blackrock/Sovereign - Head

"Hearts of Steel Bumblebee" - Locomotive

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundwave - Tape Deck (80's Flashback Only)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Hieroglyph Only)

GI Joe/Action Man Programme

Ayana Jones/Mayday

Ian Noble/Action Man

Action Man of 1980's (Mentioned)

Mayday's Team (Mentioned) Currently Mutated by Talisman

Adventure Team

Richard Ruby/Bulletman

Joe Colton/GI Joe (80's Flashback Only)

Miles Manheim/Mayhem (80's Flashback Only)

Lonzo Wilkinson/Stalker (80's Flashback Only)

Mike Power/Atomic Man (80's Flashback Only) Mentioned as being killed by Kreiger

Screaming Eagles

Robot Steven Savage/Sgt. Savage (1943 Flashback Only)

Garrison Kreiger/Blitz (1943 and 80's Flashback Only)

Darren K. Filbert/Grill (1943 Flashback Only)

Doctor X's Faction/Cobra

Mercy Gale/Doctor X

Baron Ironblood

Tomax Paoli

Cobra Commander (Mentioned)

Other Human

Richard Ruby's Director

Dr Elliot Marsh Killed by Kreiger (80's Flashback Only)

Hideaki (Mentioned)

Count Van Rani/Iron Klaw (Mentioned)

Other

Binaltech Mummies (80's Flashback Only)

Black Cybertronian (80's Flashback Only) Dead

Iron Troopers (1943 Flashback Only)

Microtron (Hieroglyph Only)

Biotron (Hieroglyph Only)

Buster the Dog (Mentioned)

Notes

• This story is mostly a flashback of Bulletman's with the framing device being the Revolutionaries listening to his story under the guise of movie producers
• Amongst the hieroglyphs in the temple are etching of an Acroyear, a Biotron, Shockwave, a Decepticon insignia, a DD (likely referring to Dungeons and Dragons) and what appears to be a Visionary chest plate. I smell more franchises joining the Hasbroverse!
• The "Adventurer" seen in Road to Revolution is identified here as a young version of the GI Joe member, Stalker.
• It's never addressed here, but there's a dead Transformer behind the Talisman in the temple. That's likely what attracted Soundwave to the temple, in his search for Shockwave and Bludgeon (See Spotlight: Soundwave). I would guess that he's somehow related to the Hearts of Steel Bumblebee who appears at the end of the issue.
• The Talisman is shown this issue to be able to recreate organic flesh into machinery, as it does for Atomic Man's charred arm, and would likely have done so to the mummies in the temple (ie the inner organic parts under the bandages were turned into machines). Considering this, and it's earlier use to turn humans into Dire Wraiths, it seems likely that it has the power to change one life-form into another one.
• It's off-headedly mentioned that Kreiger killed Atomic Man, most likely he killed him to get a hold of his new mechanical limbs and study their strange abilities
• So....Hearts if Steel Bumblebee is in this universe now....considering HOS is a completely different continuity to the Hasbroverse (with HOS being confirmed to be actually the past of the X-Files comic timeline). Maybe this "Bumblebee" just happens to look like him, or is a dimensionally displaced version of him? Perhaps Axiom Nexus spat him out into the wrong universe of origin, assuming this one was close enough?
• The Micronauts and present-day Talisman are absent in this issue. It's likely that the Micronauts are looking after the Talisman at Onyx HQ, considering their unclear connection to it.

IDW - Transformers Annual 2017

Title: Ghost Stories

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Priscilla Tramontano

Colours by: Thomas Deer, Josh Perez, John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Chris Mowry

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Optimus Prime and Pyra Magna return to Cybertron, so they can have a discussion about their recent conflicts, so Optimus takes her to the singularity where Crystal City once stood in the Sea of Rust. Pyra asks Optimus to tell her how he met his friend Bumblebee, who died there.

Optimus explains how Bumblebee was once a courier, and was amongst the last Cybertronians to be forged naturally. He had a normal life, until he started seeing visions of demonic beings telling him to do things for them whilst he is sleeping. He tries to ignore them, but it begins to mess with his every-day life. One night, he decides to follow the instructions of the voices, and makes a mysterious pick-up and delivery. He does this a few times, until one day he learns that one of the locations he delivered to, a bomb was detonated. He takes this to mean that HE was the one to deliver the bomb, and hands himself into the police.

He explains everything to the police, but they aren't believing him, however, another observing officer, Orion Pax believes him, and thinks someone is influencing him. During his interrogation, Bumblebee starts getting another vision, and begins to freak out. Orion calms him down, whilst Prowl is able to triangulate where the signal being sent to Bumblebee is coming from.

Orion, Prowl and Bumblebee locate a warehouse, where the Decepticons, Soundwave, Shockwave and Ferak are using their experimental Nightmare Transmitter, having sent messages to control Bumblebee using it. Bumblebee goes after Soundwave and points out that the point of the Decepticons is that they're supposed to be FOR the people, not using them for their own means.

The Decepticons manage to escape, but Bumblebee's words have struck Soundwave, and he decides to not use his powers to force opinions or messages on people again.

Optimus goes on to explain that Bumblebee then joined the police force, and wound up as one of his most loyal troops, and that he believes that they are stronger together, than apart. Pyra, and a nearby spying Starscream are unimpressed. Pyra is prompted to tell Optimus about a time in her past when she saw another singularity like the one here...

Pyra recounts how she was once on a mission under her former commander, Praesidia Magna to Parvus Oppidum, where the mining town was just attacked by bandits. The team are greeted by Jumpstream, and her Conjunx Endura, Dust Up, the one who called in about the attack. Pyra is taken to see where the stolen Energon was stored, but starts to become suspicious about the supply.

Whilst they are gone, the town is attacked by the bandits again, a group of robots in bestial modes, who are tearing through the Torchbearers and townsfolk alike. Pyra manages to join the battle, but is only able to witness her commander being killed by a dark creature, and seeing the singularity appearing from nowhere, and starts to suck everything inside of it. Pyra is attacked by the dark creature, then passes out.

Later, Pyra wakes up to find the Mistress of Flame in front of her, and finds the bodies and survivors of the attack, but with no sign of the attackers or singularity.

Soon, Pyra starts remembering more about what happened, during her sleep, and comes to realize that the creature was Onyx Prime himself, the master of all beasts, and keeps hearing the poem "Cosmic Rust" coming from the Prime. Soon Pyra starts getting more cryptic dreams about the singularity, and about Praesidia being on the rusted world of Antilla, asking for her help.

Pyra later asks the Mistress of Flame about the name "Antilla" and learns that she and Praesidia found the colony of Antilla rusted.

After realising that the creature was a Prime, and the Paesidia seems to be asking for her help, she decides that she must have some sort of power that the Primes are afraid of, hence why she survived her battle with Onyx Prime

Soon, Pyra returns to the town, where she confronts Dust Up about her report about the attack, and learns that she let one of her attackers escape, planning for them to return, and have the Torchbearers take them down for her.

After a while, the Torchbearers recover from the attack, and Jumpstream and Dust Up join the team. Pyra reveals to Optimus that she saw the Matrix glow when he first arrived on Caminus, and started wondering if he was flawed like Onyx was. She confirms that she believes that her past with Onyx Prime, and her dreams are in some way related to Blackrock and Galvatron's messages of doom. They decide to try and work together to stop this possible hardship coming up, and head back to Earth.

Meanwhile, Starscream stops his eavesdropping of the two Autobots, and heads back to Iacon himself, reaffirming that he believes that Bumblebee is just his own mind trying to make him feel back for him killing Metalhawk.

Unknown to everyone though, Bumblebee still exists inside the singularity that also houses Crystal City....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax - Truck Cab

Pyra Magna - Emergency Truck

Bumblebee - Muscle Car (Formerly Cybertronian Car) Trapped in Singularity

Prowl - Police Vehicle (Flashback Only)

Jetfire - Fighter Jet (Flashback Only)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Blackrock/Sovereign - Head (Mentioned)

Zeta Prime - Truck (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Flashback Only) Possibly Trapped in Singularity

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank (Flashback Only)

Ferak - Fighter Jet (Flashback Only)

Ravage - Cassette

Galvatron - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Horri-Bull - Bull (Mentioned) Dead

The Seekers (Mentioned)

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Council of Worlds (Mentioned)

Camien

Mistress of Flame (Flashback Only)

Praesidia Magna (Flashback Only) Killed by Onyx Prime

Jumpstream - Sports Car (Flashback Only)

Dust Up - Sports Car (Flashback Only)

Stormclash - Helicopter (Flashback Only)

Skyburst - Helicopter (Flashback Only)

Rust Dust - Motorcycle (Flashback Only)

Fastback (Flashback Only) Killed by Onyx Prime's Forces

Other Torchbearers (Flashback Only)

Parvus Oppidum Townsfolk (Flashback Only)

Crash Test (Mentioned) Dead

Other Cybertronian

Onyx Prime (Flashback Only)

Seaspray - Hovercraft (Flashback Only)

Blurr - Race Car (Flashback Only)

Blaster - Acoustic Tank (Flashback Only)

Hubcap - Car (Flashback Only)

Cliffjumper - Car (Flashback Only)

Scrounge - Wheel (Flashback Only)

Functionist Cops (Flashback Only)

Pre-War Cybertronians (Flashback Only)

Onyx Prime's Forces (Flashback Only)

Primus (Mentioned)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

The Thirteen Primes (Mentioned)

Metalhawk - Fighter Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• Instead of one Annual for each of the Transformers comics, it was opted for just one to be made between them. However due to the characters used, and the plot lines mentioned etc, it is pretty much just an Optimus Prime Annual
• This story seems to be set following the current Optimus Prime storyline, which sort of spoils that Optimus and Pyra both survive the Junkion's attack, and likely win the battle. It also shows that Jetfire joins the police force with Orion Pax and Prowl following their flashback storyline.
• It's revealed that both Crystal City and Bumblebee still exist in the singularity. This likely means that Shockwave is alive too, and is possibly using some version of the Nightmare Transmitter to project Bumblebee to Starscream's mind. Since he is shown to be involved it's development in the flashbacks this issue. It's also possible that Praesidia Magna is also in a similar limbo-like state in the singularity that Onyx Prime made on Caminus.
• Ferak is later credited with creating the Nightmare Engine, obviously an enhanced version of this one.
• This issue is formatted in a mirrored style, having the same panel layout on parallel pages, and even having similar things happening on those pages
• Amongst the cops interrogating Bumblebee when he gives himself up are what appear to be some Functionaries. Those shouldn't exist in this universe as they only came to power in the Functionist Universe, and this is set during the reign of Zeta Prime, after Megatron has started his uprising.
• Soundwave's "real face" under his helmet seems to be based on the Titans Return "Soundblaster" toy's head mode
• Ferak's character model is based on his Botcon toy from the Pirates vs Knights theme.
• It's shown that the Torchbearers are made to take on their colour scheme after joining the team. Caminus must have a strict uniform policy!
• Also, now I want a set of Torchbearers in their pre-Torchbearer colour schemes...get on it Hasbro!
• Pyra's sword in the past appears to be a scaled-down version of Victorion's combined sword.
• Onyx Prime's appearance here confirms that he is based on his Aligned universe counterpart, and also absolutely confirms that he is the "black angel" from Blackrock's backstory.
• The Cosmic Rust poem and Antilla come directly from the G1 episode "Cosmic Rust". The poem is also grafted onto the toys of the Torchbearers
• Dust-Up's secret, which was referenced by Jumpstream during their introduction in Combiner Hunters, is revealed that she lied to get the Torchbearers to come to their village, ending up causing a lot of damage.
• Bumblebee inside the singularity is still in his muscle car body, and doesn't use a cane. His "ghost" form is in his Cybertronian car body, and DOES need a cane...how confusing!
• Magna is revealed to be a title used by the Torchbearers, much like "Prime"
• Pyra promises that the story of how SHE joined the Torchbearers will be told later...I think we have he plot for Annual 2018 ready!

IDW - Rom #7

Title: Reinforcements Part 3

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage and Chris Ryall

Pencils and Inks by: Paolo Villanelli

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Following the fight at Cooper's Mill, a human recovery team arrives and rescues Camilla, concerned about her injuries, and the lack of any attackers. The Space Knights watch them from a nearby ledge, whilst in their cloaked forms. Livia uses her Analyzer to determine that all of the humans are indeed human, and watch as they leave with Camilla, to give her treatment.

Following their departure, Rom leads the other Knights to his cavern hide-out, where he tries to explain the situation on Earth, including the Wraiths managing to use technology to improve their powers, despite that being blasphemous to their species, and also points out that Earth is a Cybertronian colony world now, meaning that destroying the planet, as the other Knights wish to do, will just lead to a war. Orphion agrees that this will likely cause a problem, but considering that Earth is fully infested in Wraiths, it is a necessary war to help save the galaxy from a massive Wraith threat.

Beach Head and Grunt, of GI Joe, have located Rom's location, and are shocked to learn that he has two new allies. They over-heard about Orphion's plan to destroy the Earth and shoot at him. A battle starts and Rom manages to show Livia that the humans aren't Wraiths, so she agrees to not kill them, only disable them, leading to them having their flight packs torn apart and easily defeating them, for now...

In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Darby Mason is finally leaving her grandmother's house so she can spend time with a new friend she met, who also has PTSD, allowing them to be a mess together.

Meanwhile in a city, four addicts join a new support group, which reportedly has had great results, and they meet it's enigmatic lead, Kagan Knight. One of the addicts is unsure whether he can trust Knight's new group to help him through his problems, since he's been let down so many times before, however when Knight transforms into his true Dire Wraith form, he relents, and the group appear to see him as a god-like figure, and open themselves up to him, causing a blinding light to emit from them, and into the Wraith.

Following their draining, all that is left of the humans addicts are their clothes, Knight wonders if these souls are going to be enough to please "The Great One", but if he isn't pleased, then he will just offer himself up to it as well...

At Vanderberg AFB Sub-Sector S-7, Agent Dubosky meets with Corporal Song, who reveals to Dubosky that Rom hacked into the internet when he arrived on Earth to learn our languages and the geology of the planet, but he never cut the connection, meaning they can send Rom false information to manipulate him!

Characters

Solstar Order

Orphion Injured by Joes

Rom

Livia

Rom's Former Partner (Mentioned) Dead

Dire Wraith

Dave Dubosky

Kagan Knight

"Friends of our Enemies" Staff

"The Great One" (Mentioned)

GI Joe

Beach Head

Grunt

Scarlett (Mentioned)

Scarlett's Team (Mentioned)

Other Human

Camilla Byers Taken to Hospital from loss of arm

Darby Mason

Grandma Gay-Lyn Mason

Ruan Sablik

Corporal Song

Addicts Absorbed into Kagan Knight

Cooper's Mill Recovery Team

Paramedics

Soldiers

Cooper's Mill Guards (Mentioned) Missing/Dead

Other

Cybertronians (Mentioned)

Notes

• It's very likely that "The Great One" is the same shadowy Wraith we saw at the end of last issue, whom I referred to as "Legion"
• It's not clear what the addicts in the side story this issue are actually addicted to. One of them mentions AA and NA (alcoholics and narcotics anonymous) so maybe they're just addicts in general?
• One of the investigators at Cooper's Mill dismisses the attack being due to Cybertronians, due to the damage not matching their sizes....guess they still don't know about Blackrock being a Transformer yet then?
• Rom is revealed to have cloaking technology to make him invisible. But before I can moan that he never seems to use it for covert missions, it is mentioned that it uses up a lot of energy.
• So...did Kagan Knight also absorb the baby that one of the addicts was holding? If so then...harsh!!
• Rom brings up that Optimus has claimed Earth to be one of their Colony Worlds, which is the main plot line over in the Optimus Prime transformers comic title
• Beach Head and Grunt immediately know to refer to Livia as a female, but the Joes in the past didn't seem to realise that Arcee was female...guess they're learning to gender their robot-like alien invaders now!
• Why don't the Joes know that Rom's Analyzer isn't a weapon?! Surely they saw it used during the Revolution!?
• Also, it seems that the events of the Revolution comic storyline are being referred to as "Revolution" in universe too, this is likely just a military code-name for the events or something.
• It's confirmed that Rom learned human languages from tapping into the internet...guess he has a lot in common with Biotron from Micronauts that way!
• So...Countdown/Agent Dubosky is still allowed to be on the loose? WHY HASN'T ROM TOLD ANYONE THAT HE'S A WRAITH YET!??!?!!? 
• Orphion mentions that Dire Wraiths are able to take over Cybertronians....this is a terrifying thought....

IDW - Micronauts #10

Written by: Cullen Bunn & Jimmy Johnston

Art by: Max Dunbar

Colours by: Ander Zarate

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: David Hedgecock

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The Micronauts are flying around inside the Heliopolis, when Oz falls asleep, and dreams about the human soldier who almost captured him, when he suddenly finds that he can understand the "giants" language, and realises that he plans to go after the scientist who helped them out.

Oz wakes up, and is confused at first, but soon realizes that the Time Mask is somehow responsible for this, and, whilst surprised that Oz can already understand the human language, but also confirms that the scientist is indeed in trouble.

Oz calls a meeting of the crew, and tells them about the scientist's danger, and they all agree to help her. Biotron manages to Enerchange with the internet, and locates her, also identifying her as Rhonda Conway. The ship sets off in her direction.

Soon, the ship arrives at Rhonda's house, where they manage to break in, by smashing down the door, once inside, they find that Rhonda isn't there, and they assume that she has already gone into hiding.

Before long however, some human soldiers appear, and also break into the house, intending to capture Rhonda themselves, but they also don't find her. The Micronauts prepare to attack the humans, when suddenly some OTHER Acroyear unites from Microspace appear, and kill the humans. They soon go after the Micronauts, but our heroes manage to fend them off, until a Giant Acroyear appears and opens up a huge payload of weapons on them. Acroyear manages to stop him however using one of Rhonda's son, Billy's toys.

The Micronauts return to the Heliopolis to escape the Acroyear Swarm, and Acroyear recovers his new weapon from the Giant Acroyear's corpse.

The crew escape, with the other Acroyears following, but the Time Mask is concerned, since these Acroyears weren't supposed to arrive this fast, and is now fearful that the Earthwar is already here, but it is too early!

Characters

Micronaut

Oziron Rael

Phenolo-Phi

Larissa

Acroyear

Microtron

Biotron

Time Mask

Other Microspace Denizen

Acroyear II Swarm

Giant Acroyear Destroyed by Acroyear with Dog Weeble

The Ospella Species (Mentioned)

Human

Soldiers Killed by Acroyear Swarm

Lady at Donut Shop

Commander Klain (Dream Only)

Rhonda Conway (Photo Only)

Billy Conway (Photo Only)

Other

Racoon "Sentry Beast"

Notes

• We learned in Revolutionaries #2 that the Micronauts have learned to speak English. It seems here that they have learned through the Time Mask's influence, and Biotron Enerchanging with the Internet.
• Oz appears to be the only one who can hear the Time Mask...the crew are getting concerned....
• The scientist who helped the Micronauts escape from their captivity is finally named here: Rhonda Conway. She seems to like shoes...
• It's revealed that the people of Microspace stopped using hinges on doors eons ago.
• Amongst the board games in Billy's bedroom are several Hasbro properties, like Battleship, Connect 4 and Operation, he also have a Jenga game set up on his desk.
• On his wall he also has posters of parody musicians, like "Sweetload" from "Meatloaf"
• The new Acroyear units were shown arriving on Earth at the end of the Annual story, set between issues 9 and 10.
• It's revealed that the pain felt by Biotron is also passed onto Oz when he is riding inside him...that is disturbing...
• The Time Mask seems unusually worried about the Acroyears and the Earthwar coming early. He was the one who revealed to the Micronauts that time was able to be changed, so why does this worry him? Hmm....

IDW - Lost Light #3

Title: Dissolution Part 3: A World Misplaced

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Swerve, Ten and Whirl are investigating the life support pods, to make sure there are no more unaccounted for patients. They find one extra large pod locked, so Whirl decides to open it up, only for them to come face-to-face with someone holding a wand....

Elsewhere on Necroworld, Nightbeat is examining one of the death flowers and finds out that he can determine who's sparks were used to power the flowers, but Brainstorm is unimpressed since Kaput already determined that earlier, and even found a detailed record kept by the Necrobot, meaning Nightbeat has just wasted a lot of time.

Brainstorm manages to get in contact with Rodimus, who tells him that they've wound up on Cybertron, but not the one from THEIR universe. This news excites both Nightbeat and Brainstorm, as this means that THEY must be in this alternate universe too for the communications to work like this. They decide that the team on Cybertron needs to find a shuttle to get back to Necroworld, and not to get too involved in the lives of the people on this world.

The Cybertron team are introduced to the city of Adaptica, where they are able to seek sanctuary from the murders of the Functionist Council, since this is a sacred city, and cannot be attacked by the Council, so long as one of them allows it...which Nine-of-Twelve does....The city is also shielded by a jamming field blocking the genocide chips used by the council.

Back on Necroworld, Swerve starts to panic about Killmaster, Whirl's long-time nemesis, coming out of the pod, and the group hide behind one of the other pods. Whirl admires Killmaster for his destructive manners, but Swerve just keeps freaking out. Ten decides to try and save the day by confronting the Decepticon, but is blasted by his wand, leaving just a smoking set of footprints behind.

Swerve is distraught over the apparent death of his employee, and goes after Killmaster himself, however the Decepticon just flicks him away. Whirl joins in the fight, but asks Swerve to get hold of Cyclonus and Tailgate to help them fight off Killmaster, since Whirl has NEVER actually defeated him before, and doesn't believe he can!

Back on Cybertron, Nine-of-Twelve meets with the newcomers inside his headquarters, and hopes that they can help him, and the Anti-Vocationist League to stop the Council's plans. His second-in-command, Anode, joins the meeting, and talks about a UFO that has been detected in the airspace of Cybertron.

It's revealed that Cybertron has no space shuttles any more, and no means of long distance transportation, and that everyone is stuck on the planet, as part of the council's plans to keep everyone in fear, and get them ready for some war they think is coming.

Nine-of-Twelve explains that in this universe the Senate started to use the stockpile of sparks created by Nova Prime to bolster the population of the planet, but the Functionist Council saw this as blasphemy and led a revolution against them, killing them in the process. However after some time, Six-of-Twelve, the new Matrix bearer, has grown to believe that Primus is speaking to him, and is sanctioning him to create new life, which is why he defected to form the AVL. It is also revealed that the Senate sealed off Vector Sigma's chamber from the world in an Ununtrium case, which is impenetrable.

Back on Necroworld, Nautica and Velocity are interrogating Anode about her true intents. Velocity leaves to administer some more Mood Suppressants to the crew, to help ease the pain of Skids' death, and Anode opens up to Nautica that she is a blacksmith, and the snowflake she found is the remains of an expired protoform's spark, and so it is extremely rare and valuable. Velocity returns, and tries to expose Anode as a thief who stole a load of sentio metallico from her workplace, the Lighthouse, but Anode reveals that she falsified reports to make it just LOOK like she stole it, as she wanted to leave the planet, for unexplained reasons, reasons that she's never told anyone, not even Lug, who runs off upset about this revelation. Anode chases after her, abandoning the withered metal with Nautica and Velocity.

Downstairs, Whirl is having a hard time fighting against Killmaster, but he and Swerve are glad to see Cyclonus arrive, however they soon discover that he is alone, and also badly injured. The two Autobots try to find out what happened to him, when Swerve is suddenly hit by Killmaster's wand, and also disappears, leaving Whirl regretting that he opened up the pod...

On Cybertron, the citizens of Cybertron are gathered, waiting for Six-of-Twelve's announcement of Rung's alternate mode. Back in Adaptica, Rodimus wonders what the point of this is, so they explain that due to Rung's alternate mode seemingly having no purpose, it goes against their beliefs that everyone is created for a purpose, which is why the AVL was formed, to prove that same point. If they manage to reveal a purpose however, this negates the entire point of the AVL, and will delegitimize them.

Soon, Rung is revealed in a giant tank mode, and is identified as a mining machine designed specifically by Primus to break the case around Vector Sigma. The AVL and Rodimus' crew try to understand how that could be Rung, as he doesn't have any tank or drill parts in their universe, when Anode turns up, and reports to Nine-of-Twelve that she's located the UFO she detected earlier...Luna 2 has returned to orbit!

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Sports Car

Megatron - Tank

Ratchet - Ambulance

Drift - Race Car

Minimus Ambus - Minesweeper

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Swerve - Van Vanished by Killmaster's Wand

Nautica - Submarine

Velocity - Race Car

Nightbeat - Sports Car

Brainstorm - Jet

Kaput

Perceptor - Tank (Mentioned)

Tailgate - Car (Mentioned)

Skids - Van (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Killmaster

Turmoil - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Anti-Vocationist League

Nine-of-Twelve

Functionist Universe Anode - Jet

Clicker - Laser Pointer

Troops and Civilians in Adaptica

Functionist Council

Six-of-Twelve

Functionary Enforcers

Twelve-of-Twelve (Flashback Only)

The Rest of the Functionist Council (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Space Jet Badly Injured

Ten Vanished by Killmaster's Wand

Anode - Jet

Lug - Backpack Equipment

Roller - Truck

Terminus - Mining Vehicle

Functionist Universe Rung - Super Ununtrium Drill Tank?

Functionist Universe Civilians

Functionist Universe News Crew

Nova Prime - Truck (Flashback Only)

Nominus Prime - Jet (Flashback Only) Killed by Twelve-of-Twelve

Adaptus (Statue Only)

Necrobot (Mentioned) Dead

Hydronaut (Mentioned) Dead

Lodestar (Mentioned) Dead

Flexor (Mentioned) Dead

Adjudicus (Mentioned) Dead

Marauder (Mentioned) Dead

Darkstar (Mentioned) Dead

Questex (Mentioned) Dead

Jab (Mentioned) Dead

Swivel (Mentioned) Dead

Piston (Mentioned) Dead

Poleaxe (Mentioned) Dead

Primus (Mentioned)

The Guiding Hand (Mentioned)

The Primal Vanguard (Mentioned)

The Old Senate (Mentioned) Killed by Functionist Council

Vector Sigma (Mentioned)

Other

Black Box Consortia (Mentioned)

Notes

• Killmaster's character model appears to be based on the Prime Insecticon model
• Amongst the names of the sparks that are trained to the death flower is Turmoil, who was killed by Starscream during the Decepticon riots before Dark Cybertron. This implies that the flower is form's Starscream's statue.
• Amongst the other names on the flower is Adjudicus, which was an early working name for Tyrest.
• AND! Since Starscream was responsible for the deaths of the Senate, it's likely that at least some of those names are from the Senate!
• Nightbeat's interest in being able to connect the sparks to the flowers, and thus their killer's is likely so he can solve some long unsolved deaths.
• It's revealed that the Geobomb actually did work at the end of MTMTE, but instead of blowing up the planet, it transported the planet to the neighbouring Functionist Universe (likely due to a malfunction, rather than design)
• Huh, it was mentioned in the past that Killmaster designed the Geobomb taken by the Galactic Council, and here he is on Necroworld right after they were subjected to one? I think he may be used to solve this solution.
• The Cyberutopia mentioned in the last issue is revealed to just be a nickname for Adaptica, which is the local version of Kalis from the main IDW universe.
• Turns out Whirl MAY HAVE exaggerated when he told everyone about how he killed Killmaster in his sleep...
• I seriously doubt that Swerve and Ten are actually dead, the wording from Whirl implies that they may just be invisible or some other sci-fi thing.
• Anode is revealed to have been a blacksmith as her birth-profession, which means she can help protoforms take on their true shape if they have issues. It's also confirmed that she is Camien, as she was in a sorority with Velocity, but she tried to leave at some point for currently unexplained reasons.
• The snowflake is revealed to be "withered metal" which is the remains of an unharvested spark and it's natural sentio metallico.
• It's shown that Nominus Prime stayed in power for a while longer in the Functionist Universe, likely due to the Decepticon causes never even getting it's early wind, since Megatron's writings were never published to inspire them, so Nominus and the others were never pushed to action. He later gets killed along with the Senate though
• Regarding Nova Prime, in the main universe he went "missing" when he was sent to the Dead Universe with his crew. In the main universe he also resurfaced a few times afterwards for his Expansionism projects. Since time didn't branch off in different directions until after Megatron was aborted, which was after Nova's disappearance, the Dead Universe he ended up in from the Functionist Universe is the same one as the one he went to in the main universe...time travel is confusing....
• The Matrix taken by Six-of-Twelve is likely the fake one that Nominus Prime held, since the real one was hidden long before Megatron was born, and likely is still hidden in this timeframe. The "new" sparks he has been creating though, are likely just leftovers from the ones from the silver harvest
• It's likely that Cyclonus' ill-condition is in some way connected to Tailgate's abuse of his powers, and possibly means that he wasn't attacked by the Decepticons earlier, but was simply injured somehow when Tailgate was recharging after showing off his power.
• I don't think I have to tell you that the one shown here is not Rung's actual alternate mode, it's a fake made to look like it could be. However, when we last saw this universe, we learned that his alternate mode's purpose was discovered. From what we've seen of it so far, it's likely a key, perhaps to Vector Sigma, which is where the Functionist Council is planning to take his "tank form"
• The reason for the cast seeming to not care about Skids' death is revealed here to be because they are taking Mood Suppressants to supress their grief (Though Nautica doesn't agree with this practise)

IDW - Optimus Prime #4

Title: New Cybertron Part 4: Dance Among the Shadows

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Four Million years ago, Zeta Prime gives a speech to the people of Cybertron, announcing that Orion Pax and his team have revealed the truth about Hefter being a Decepticon gun-runner, and announces the inquiry closed. Orion is annoyed by this and questions Zeta about this, but Zeta doesn't believe that Hefter is worthy of real investigation, since he was a traitor to the people, and even starts quoting old propaganda pieces to prove his point to Orion. Zeta then shows off the Matrix in his chest, which he uses to point out that despite it being a fake, it still holds power across Cybertron, and even suggests that this could all be his one day, if he just tows the line.

Jetfire is released from custody by Prowl, and immediately punches the officer. Jetfire walks off, but is noticed by Horri-Bull and Needlenose, who think that he needs a way to "protect" himself in the future....

Later, Orion Pax and Prowl meet up at the abandoned Cosmic Carnival, where they also meet with Jetfire, who reveals that the Decepticons gave him a gun, and agrees to tell them when the next shipment is arriving on Cybertron, revealing that his release and fight with Prowl was all staged.

Today, Rumble, Frenzy and Cosmos fight off the swarm of Sharkticons in the Junkion shuttle, but are soon captured. Rum-Maj uses this to prove that the Autobots were trying to betray them, but Wreck-Gar points out that she never really intended to help them out, be he still does, she however ignores this, and deems that they need to be destroyed...

Optimus and Aileron return to Earth from their meeting on Cybertron, where Aileron is irritated by the Colonists all kneeling before their Prime, when they are called to the control room. Once there, Optimus contacts Soundwave to have him call all the Earth's leaders to Autobot City for an emergency meeting to solve the situation between the Junkions and them. Aileron is worried about this and asks Optimus to speak to her alone...

At the foot of the Matterhorn, below Autobot City, Soundwave has received Optimus' request and sets off to send out the invites, but is worried about Cosmos and the others not being back in contact yet.

In Cairo, Thundercracker walks through a market town with Marissa, and manages to convince her to talk to her father again, pointing out that he probably didn't JUST come to see her to ask her to join the team, but also wanted to see her.

Aileron speaks with Optimus on the hull of Autobot City, and questions his actions, and wonders why he seems to be trying to invoke the Tyrest Accord and risk war between the Earth and Cybertron. He reveals that he is confident that this will force the Earth into the Council of Worlds, despite Starscream's reluctance on the matter, and admits that he doesn't believe in the magical properties of the Matrix, but does think he can use it to control those who do believe in it! Pyra Magna overhears this, and calls him out on abusing his position and toying with the loyalty of others.

Chameleon and Flint are flying off following their meet-up with Marissa, but, along the way, they are stopped by Thundercracker, who has Marissa on board, who wants to talk to them again.

The two aircraft land in Cattedrale Di Palermo, where Marissa explains to her father that she didn't refuse the position in GI Joe because of him, but simply because she doesn't believe they can win against the Cybertronians and other threats.

At Autobot City, Pyra strikes down Optimus, cracking a hole in his faceplate, but he refuses to fight back, claiming that violence is not the way to take command. Pyra however retorts that everything Optimus has ever done has been in violence, which is even why the Junkion's planet was destroyed. Pyra reneges on her promise to teach Optimus to use the Matrix properly, and even accuses him of not being a believer in his own Prime-hood in front of the Colonists. Optimus however doesn't acknowledge her claims, and orders the troops to prepare for the Human delegates.

The next morning, the Autobots and Human leaders meet at Autobot City to discuss the potential alliance between Earth, Cybertron and the Junkions. The Junkion's shuttle arrives above the city, but Rum-Maj simply discards an injured Cosmos out of the door, and announces that the infiltration is being seen as an act of war against them. The Junkion ship lifts off, and a hatch opens, releasing a massive swarm of Sharkticons upon the city, to attack everyone.

The Autobots and Humans prepare to fight back against their new shared enemy, and Pyra wonders who will win Optimus' game this time...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax - Truck Cab

Arcee - Sports Car

Pyra Magna - Fire Engine

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Rust Dust - Motorcycle

Skyburst - Helicopter

Stormclash - Helicopter

Dust Up - Sports Car

Jumpstream - Sports Car

Cosmos - Orbiter Beaten by Sharkticons and Junkions

Sideswipe - Sports Car Near Death in Repair Tube

Zeta Prime (Flashback Only)

Prowl - Police Vehicle (Flashback Only)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Tracks - Muscle Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Rumble - Motorcycle Probably Beaten by Sharkticons

Frenzy - Motorcycle Probably Beaten by Sharkticons

Horri-Bull (Flashback Only)

Needlenose - Fighter Jet (Flashback Only)

Hefter - Forklift Truck (Mentioned) Dead

Colonist Allies

Aileron - Space Shuttle

Midnight Express - Train

Roulette - Muscle Car

Oiler - Part of Oil Tanker

Slide - Part of Oil Tanker

Gimlet - Lobster

Bump - Armadillo

Mistress of Flame (Mentioned)

Junkion

Wreck-Gar

Rum-Maj

Sharkticon Swarm

Other Cybertronian

Metrotitan - Autobot City Ship

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

D.O.C.

Cybertronian Population (Flashback Only)

The Thirteen Primes (Mentioned)

Council of Worlds (Mentioned)

Starscream - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

GI Joe

Flint

Chameleon

Talon

Spike

Mainframe

Hi-Tech

Mayday (Mentioned)

Human

Marissa Faireborn

Madam President

World Leaders

Earth Nations Observation Forces

Random Civilians

Marissa's Mother (Mentioned)

Earth Defense Command (Mentioned) Defunct

Other

Buster the Dog

Notes

• Though not shown on panel, it's likely that Rumble and Frenzy were also captured and/or eaten by the Sharkticons
• It's revealed that, unsurprisingly, Rum-Maj was planning to betray the Autobots all along, however Wreck-Gar appears to still be willing to help them save Sideswipe's life.
• Zeta Prime shows off his fake Matrix in the flashbacks for this issue, seems a bit unusual here, but maybe this has something to do with the Matrix appearing in Lost Light, which is also likely the fake one.
• Optimus' admittance that he's using the Colonist's reverence of the Matrix to control them REALLY adds to the theory that Prowl's mind has influenced Optimus following their combination during Combiner Wars
• Marissa reveals here that the real reason she is travelling Earth with Thundercracker and Buster is because she believes that the Cybertronians are going to destroy the Earth in the end, and she just wants to see it all before it's gone. To be fair, it was almost destroyed because of Ore-13 a few weeks earlier...
• Though not mentioned in dialogue, the place Prowl and Orion Pax meet up in is the Cosmic Carnival, as seen in the Marvel comics.
• It's not mentioned, but it seems likely that Marissa's mother isn't Lady Jaye in this continuity, since she isn't mentioned as being part of GI Joe, and is mentioned as a drunk.

IDW - Revolutionaries #2

Title: Enter the Shadow

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Fico Ossio

Colours by: Sebastian Cheng

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Edited by: David Hedgecock

Assistant Edits by: David Mariotte

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Action Man struggles to free himself from the metal flag pole he is chained to, but through brute force, he manages to free himself. Action Man follows the tracks left from the tractor that wrote the "Help Us" sign to Earth, and locates the long-abandoned Cobra base "Section Sabine" and manages to get inside, soon discovering that the base still has oxygen and power, so he starts to explore it, and finds piles of dead Cobra Troopers, and someone else...

On Earth, the Revolutionaries have located the Micronauts in the Pacific Science Center, where they are looking for one of the portals home. The Micronauts assume the Revolutionaries are trying to capture them, so they fight back, until they realize that they aren't actually trying to hurt them, and they soon make peace. Blackrock shows them a holographic image of the Talisman, assuming they might know something about it, due to both them and the device seeming to have Cybertronian origins.

The team soon reconvene at a locale Onyx building, where they discover that the Talisman seems to be designed for Micronauts to interact with, but they aren't sure where the actual device is at the present. Oz however, reasons that since the Revolutionaries were able to track down the Micronauts due to their technology, couldn't they track down the Talisman the same way...

Back on the Moon, Action Man is taken to see Doctor X, who is leading the operations in the abandoned base, and it told that whilst Doctor X doesn't want to kill him, she isn't going to let him go either, in case he ruins their plans.

Knowing that something is happened, Action Man runs to escape, reasoning that the MASS Device that Cobra used to use must be working again, since there's no way an Earth-built spacecraft could take him to the Moon this fast. He soon locates the transporter room, and finds it filled with Ore-13, but before he can use it, he is skewered by Storm Shadow, angry that he killed one of her troops.

Kup, now fitted with thrusters and wings, along with the Micronaut's ship, the Heliopolis, head to the Moon, where they smash through the walls, and raid the facility. The Revolutionaries go after the Talisman, whilst the Micronauts go to find and rescue Action Man.

During the battle, Larissa makes it to the Talisman, and manages to Enerchange with it, revealing that it basically acts like a small space shuttle, however upon activating it, the Ore-13 that was surrounding it starts to react to the energy, and prepares to detonate. Baron Ironbood orders an evacuation, much to the annoyance of Doctor X, who doesn't want to abandon Action Man to die.

Soon, Kup and Mayday locate Action Man, and remove the sword in his hand.

Outside the facility, Blackrock, Acroyear and Larissa, inside the Talisman watch as the base explodes from the Ore-13 reaction, and fear the worst for the rest of the team, however Kup emerges from the flames, along with the Heliopolis, and the humans in his chest cavity.

The two groups head back towards Earth, but are still confused as to the actual nature of the Talisman, and have no idea how to use it to cure their friends and the innocents that were turned into Dire Wraiths from it. Action Man however reveals that British Intelligence has files on the device when it was found...Mayday welcomes him to the team....

Characters

Autobot

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Sovereign/Garrison Blackrock - Head

Impactor (Mentioned)

Wreckers (Mentioned)

GI Joe

Mayday/Ayana Jones

Roadblock (Mentioned)

Snake Eyes (Mentioned)

Cobra/Doctor X

Doctor X/Mercy Gale

Storm Shadow

Baron Ironblood

Red Shadows

Section Sabine Cobra Troopers Dead

Section Sabine Astronauts Dead

Oktober Guard (Mentioned)

Micronaut

Oziron Rael

Phenolo-Phi

Larissa

Acroyear

Biotron

Microtron

Time Casket (Mentioned) Dead

Other Human

Action Man/Ian Noble

Pacific Science Center Patrons

Adventure Team (Mentioned)

Matt Damon (Mentioned)

British Intelligence (Mentioned)

Arashikage Ninja Clan (Mentioned) Mostly Dead

Notes

• As mentioned last time, Action Man is stranded at the Cobra base "Section Sabine" at the start of the issue, one of the dangling threads of the GI Joe comics from before Revolution.
• Action Man's reference to Matt Damon is likely a reference to the film "The Martian" where Damon's character needs to survive on Mars.
• It's revealed that the Cobra base does still have life support systems in place on there, so it's most likely that the Cobra troops killed themselves due to them running out of food, rather than other more obvious Moon-related deaths.
• This issue spoils that the Micronauts are going to learn English in the upcoming issues of their own series. Also, the Time Mask is not present amongst them...I guess they ditched it somewhere.
• Kup recites the Universal Greeting from the animated Transformers Movie. The Micronauts are not impressed, seeing it as cringey, but do understand it. This is likely due to the relationship between the Micronauts and Cybertronians.
• As I theorized in my review of Micronauts #9, the obelisk/Talisman was one of the portals that the Time Casket showed the team.
• If neither Doctor X or Baron Ironblood actually wanted Action Man to die...then WHY DID THEY STRAND HIM OUTSIDE THE STATION!??!
• Oz mentions that the Talisman has ports on it that'll allow them to Enerchange with it....I did not realize they needed ports to do that...they haven't seemed to so far....remember when Karza used himself with all those Dire Wraiths?
• It's revealed that the Oktober Guard and Doctor X's team are working together, and have a working MASS Device at their base on Earth
• Why did Blackrock just happen to have a space-shuttle attachment fitted to Kup's specifics?
• Also, Blackrock appears to still have control of the Onyx company. Surely as an alien sleeper agent, he'd be disallowed from having that!
• Mayday mentions how neither GI Joe or Cobra could justify a rescue mission for the staff on the Moon due to budgetary concerns, Blackrock then mentions that he could have funded it. Two things: the Joes clearly didn't care enough to save them, and was Blackrock even on Earth at the time, or is this just another of his planted memories?
• How did the Ore-13 get to the Moon? Every time we've seen it in transporters it tended to explode, and X's troops don't appear to have a shuttle. Maybe some of the Ore ended up on the Moon when Shockwave sent it to Earth?
• So, the Talisman has a cockpit for Micronauts inside it? Cool! That would imply that it originated from Microspace, or another universe with tiny denizens.
• The Red Shadows were seen in the new GI Joe series (which alas, I am not reviewing here) and had their strange enhancements shown off there too, though they look a bit Dire Wraith-like here...