IDW - Revolutionaries #5

Title: Strange Visitors

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Fico Ossio & Guido Guidi

Colours by: Sebastian Cheng & Guido Guidi

Letters by: Tom B Long

Assistant Edits by: David Mariotte

Edited by: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

During the last Ice Age on Earth a Eukarian shuttle, the Axalon, carrying the device that will one day be known as the Talisman, on orders from their master, when they detect a signal being sent to Prowl on an automated loop. The crew comment on how the figures in the footage look familiar, even looking like their commander, Domitius Major, but before anything else can really happen, another ship, piloted by Shockwave attacks the Axalon and causes it to crash on Earth, Shockwave follows to investigate the remains.

Shockwave finds the crew inside injured, but being quickly repaired by the Talisman. One of the Eukarians, Centurion, wakes up and sees the footage, and is confused when he sees Bumblebee, whom he has a striking resemblance to, and asks if he is Bumblebee...giving Shockwave a horrible idea....

Shockwave alters the minds of the Eukarians, along with their bodies to become analogues of several prominent Autobots and Decepticons, and watches how they interact and fight, so as to study how the war could progress. After a while, the Eukarians begin to run low on Energon and head into a cave to enter stasis lock. Shockwave leaves, noting the small drones being created by the Talisman from the Axalon, and plans to return once he tends to his Regenesis Ores on the planet...an errand he never returns from....

After a long time, the Eukarians wake up in the Steel Revolution and they take on the roles of their namesakes even without Shockwave's prompting, they help John Henry with his railroad work, fight off an Elder God, and eventually wind up in WW2...where their fake memories begin to unwind, resulting in many of them dying, including the robot who believes himself to be Optimus Prime.

Sgt Savage and his Screaming Eagles approach a fortress in France where they encounter more of the Iron Troopers they found in Kalistan, but more shockingly, they encounter Centurion and the Eukarian that was made to resemble Shockwave fighting, with Centurion destroying his enemy, leaving him the last known Eukarian on the planet...

Centurion/Bumblebee asks Savage and his team to return him to his ship so he can die there in peace, as he now remembers where it is...

Savage, Kreiger and Centurion arrive in Brasnya, which is where the Axalon crashed, and Centurion soon locates the downed ship, as well as taking down more of the Iron Troopers, seemingly guarding the ship. Unfortunately, the Iron Troopers have combined, and taken over the corpse of "Optimus Prime", angering Centurion who sees this as desecrating a war hero. Despite attacking them however, all "Optimus" does is activates a program within the Axalon which transports it, and Sgt Savage who was still inside away to an unknown location. Out of rage, Centurion tears apart the mockery of his friend, and begins to scream in anger. Kreiger sees this, and proposes to Centurion that they work together now, since both are alone in the world....

In the modern day, Tomax Paoli arrives at his office  where he encounters a hologram of Kreiger who warns him that a team involving Action Man and a GI Joe member are approaching him, and they need to be fended off. Tomax is unhappy as he doesn't want to resume the Cobra Commander guise, but he is forced into the role. Tomax gets kitted out, and soon encounters Action Man, who he quickly shoots out of a window, only for the young hero to be caught by Kup outside. Mayday attacks Tomax in retaliation, whilst Centurion transforms outside, and assumes that Kup is just another lost Eukarian and proceeds to attack him, and put him out of his misery.

Whilst the rest of the team are fighting Centurion and Tomax, Blackrock is interfacing with the Iron database in order to discover the hidden truths about the Talisman and the other secrets they've been uncovering lately. Unfortunately, it is what he was worried about, the Talisman came from Onyx Prime, the same being who planted Blackrock on Earth and manipulated his life. The small Autobot heads off to be a hero now....

Inside, Mayday manages to disable Tomax by shooting him in the neck and captures him Outside, Blackrock approaches the fighting robots, and he reveals that he and Centurion have a shared "parentage" of Onyx Prime, and that they can take him to meet the real Optimus so he can help him. Centurion agrees, having never learned about the "real" Cybertronians before now.

Soon, the Revolutionaries and Centurion head off, with Tomax as their prisoner, but he knows nothing about what Kreiger or Ironblood's plans are, they simply used him to distract the Revolutionaries. The team now plan to head towards Brasnya to locate the Axalon, and finally resolve all of this.

In Brasnya, Doctor X and her troops are preparing the final steps of their master-plan, but decide to leave their facility, since they doubt the Revolutionaries would be too happy with how they've been keeping the Atomic Man hidden there are experimented on!!

Characters

Autobot

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Garrison Blackrock/Sovereign - Head

Optimus Prime - Truck (Recording Only)

Bumblebee - Car (Recording Only)

Prowl - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Flashback Only)

Eukarian

Centurion/"Bumblebee" - Luxury Car, former Prehistoric Monster, Locomotive

Domitius Major/"Optimus Prime" - Locomotive, former Mammoth Died in WW2

"Shockwave" - Battleship, former Prehistoric Creature (Flashback Only) Killed by Centurion

"Prowl" - Prehistoric Creature (Flashback Only) Dead

"Ironhide" - Prehistoric Creature (Flashback Only) Dead

"Ratchet" - Prehistoric Creature (Flashback Only) Dead

"Soundwave" - Prehistoric Creature (Flashback Only) Dead

"Bombshell" - Prehistoric Insect (Flashback Only) Dead

"Starscream" - Bi-Plane, former Prehistoric Winged Creature (Flashback Only) Dead

"Trailblazer" - Locomotive (Flashback Only) Dead

"Wheeljack" - Locomotive (Flashback Only) Dead

"Hound" - Locomotive (Flashback Only) Dead

Other Eukarians - Prehistoric Creatures (Flashback Only) Dead

Other Cybertronian

Onyx Prime (Mentioned)

GI Joe/Action Man Program

Action Man

Mayday

Flint (Mentioned)

Chameleon (Mentioned)

Unnamed Villain Team

Tomax Paoli/Cobra Commander Captured by Revolutionaries

Garrison Kreiger

Doctor X

Baron Ironblood

Iron Klaw

Storm Shadow

Red Shadows (Mentioned)

Other Human

Atomic Man Imprisoned by Villains

Violet

Violet's Sister (Mentioned)

Sgt Savage (Flashback Only) Vanished with the Axalon

The Screaming Eagles (Flashback Only)

John Henry (Flashback Only)

Other

Elder God (Flashback Only)

Talisman's Offspring (Flashback Only)

Iron Troopers (Flashback Only)

Notes

• Okay...wow...this story actually blew my mind when I read it. No joke here. They actually implanted the old Hearts of Steel stories, including the Infestation 2 story into the main IDW continuity, and made it work...I swear John Barber is a witch...
• The flashback scenes in this comic are all done by Guido Guidi in his retro comic style, like he used in the old MTMTE and RID Annual issues.
• The Axalon was the name of the ship used by the Maximals in Beast Wars, and it also shared the same design as the Eukarian ship here. Shockwave's ship is based on the Darkseid, the ship used by the Predacons in the same series.
• So, yeah, the entirety of the Hearts of Steel story is revealed to have just been a cruel experiment by Shockwave to try and gauge how the war would progress....HOLY SHIT DUDE!!!
• Also, thanks to the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook, we were spoiled about all of this a WEEK EARLY. bloody publication dates....
• The Talisman is confirmed to be a device created by Onyx Prime, and carried to Earth by the Eukarian crew of the Axalon, which was separated from the ship by Shockwave, waiting to be found centuries later by Kreiger and the Adventure Team.
• So, on top of Shockwave manipulating their memories (I assume he used some sort of Mnemosurgery) he also repainted the Eukarians to match the Cybertronians...he may have too much time on his hands...hand....
• When Shockwave leaves the Eukarians alone to go into stasis, he is going to meet his fate and the Dynobots as shown in his Spotlight issue.
• Included in the flashbacks of Centurion are recreations of scenes from Hearts of Steel and Infestation 2, and shows an otherwise undocumented set of scenes from WW2 where the Eukarians are drawn into the war, and their original memories are stirred. The only thing that was implied to be in the Hearts of Steel universe was the Conspiracy crossover comic, which was set in the X-Files IDW comic universe...so it's an aberration and should be ignored okay?
• So, the teaser of the villains having HOS Optimus Prime/Domitius Major was  pretty much a red herring, since he's already long dead, but they do shockingly have the thought-to-be dead Atomic Man in their warehouse...something that was ALSO spoiled by the Sourcebook! No wonder the remainder of the series has been held off to pretty much the end of the pre-First Strike stories!
• So...does anyone else want to see a scene where Centurion is taken to Cybertron just to troll Starscream with his "hallucination" getting a physical form now?

IDW - Transformers: Salvation

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Yesterday, Starscream sends Flatline and his team to investigate the new spark field in Alyon, and maintain them. Swift arrives and demands to know why the sparks have been kept a secret from the population, especially since Barricade died protecting them. Starscream points out that he is unwilling to allow new life to be born when the planet is still in a state of turmoil, citing that Swift ended up joining the Decepticons after exposure to them, pointing out that new life may be swayed either way, like she did. He also hides from her that someone has been to the field and taken some of the sparks...

That night, Starscream arrives at the secret prison, where he agrees to free Sandstorm from jail, in exchange for taking down the rogue elements outside of Iacon, namely the Dinobots and Bludgeon, which he agrees to...

The Dinobots arrive at Tyger Pax and locate another abandoned lab of Bludgeon's, inside they find a bunch of dead or dying Sweeps, along with some more of the mutated energon. Within moments however, Slug is fatally shot by a sniper, prompting the other Dinobots to go after the sniper. Not wanting to allow his death to be pointless, he sets fire to the mutated energon, and causes it to explode, finishing himself off, and leaving the Dinobots without a leader now!

Following this, the sniper, Sandstorm, arrives at Alyon, where he finds Bludgeon killing the team left by Starscream, and is soon knocked out too, but not killed. Bludgeon uses some of the sparks, along with those of his partially living Sweep troops and the now dead Badgeless officers to repower Trypticon, and reanimate the dormant giant.

Trypticon approaches Iacon, along with his flying monster minions. The Dinobots are tearing at him, but can't slow him down. Devastator is sent to fight him by Starscream, but even the powerful combiner can't stop the rampaging monster.

Starscream watches the oncoming chaos from the Spire, along with Swift, who suggests that the giant Decepticon is a distraction, and someone may be after the still secret new Hotspot in Alyon, but Starscream points out that his team is still there guarding it.

As if he's cursed, Starscream is proven wrong when Swoop arrives at the field, and finds all the sparks gone, and most of the team left by Starscream are dead, except for Flatline and a sniper, who blasts Swoop's wing off and goes in for the kill. Sandstorm asks Swoop what his team did with the spark field, but Swoop points out that they'd never harm the next generation of Cybertronians like that, and both of them agree that it must have been Bludgeon. They team up, and Sandstorm flies them both off towards Trypticon

Whilst Devastator goes for another strike outside, the Dinobots have made their way inside Trypticon, where Strafe locates his brain module, and recognizes it as a Titan's brain. She comments on this, and Bludgeon agrees that Trypticon seems to be a Titan, he reveals that he is using the Void Sceptre, a device supposedly created by Mortilus, to control Trypticon, and plans to use him to cause havoc, then make people believe he is dead by Spacebridging away, so he can use the sparks he has stolen to create a secret army to conquer the universe with. Outside, Devastator has been defeated, and crushed under Tyrpticon's foot.

Swoop and Sandstorm arrive at Trypticon and enter the giant Decepticon to look for Bludgeon and the sparks. Upon seeing him, and learning he was the one who killed Slug, the other Dinobots attack Sandstorm, until Swoop forces them to stop fighting and work together until after the sparks are safe.

Bludgeon looks at security footage and praises himself on his decision to let Sandstorm live, so he could either kill the Dinobots or at least distract them during his final plans. Bludgeon orders Trypticon to go in for the final strike on Iacon, thus forcing them to use their full force against him, allowing him to teleport away to begin his long term plans, and expand a Cybertronian Empire.

Luckily, the other Dinobots arrive at the control room, and manage to destroy the Void Sceptre, disabling Bludgeon's control on the Titan.

Before Bludgeon can do anything to retaliate, Trypticon accesses his Spacebridge and teleports Bludgeon just outside his house, and sets off a scorching flame, burning the Decepticon, and finally defeating him as revenge for his forced control.

Starscream is happy with this result, and has now convinced Swift that he was right to hide the sparks from the population, as the world is still a mess.

Inside Trypticon, the Dinobots prepare to get revenge for Slug by killing Sandstorm, but Strafe tries to get them to keep their peace. They are all shut up when Trypticon speaks up and announces that he is taking charge.

Trypticon marches down to the cavern where he was created by Mortilus, and curls up, allowing himself to be cannibalized by the new sparks, and allow them to be born from his body. Allowing the first war-free generation to be born, as the Dinobots and Sandstorm stand watch over them.

Elsewhere, Starscream has recovered the still barely alive Bludgeon, and strung him up in a lab, where he also has the dead body of Slug, and one of the surviving mutated sparks...wondering what would happen if he combined them.....

Characters

Autobot

Slug - Triceratops Killed by Sandstorm, Body stolen by Starscream

Swoop - Pteranodon

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Sandstorm - VTOL Helicopter/Buggy

Metroplex - Iacon City (Flashback)

Optimus Prime - Truck (Flashback)

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Mentioned)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Trypticon - Battle Platform Sacrificed body to allow new life

Bludgeon - Tank Scorched by Trypticon

Flatline - Van

Swift - Helicopter

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

The Firecons (Mentioned)

Barricade - Car (Mentioned) Dead

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt Crushed by Trypticon

Badgeless Officers Many Killed by Bludgeon

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Strafe - Two Headed Dragon

Sweeps - Space Shuttles Killed by Bludgeon

Newborn Protoforms

Cyber-morphic Predators Presumably Killed with Trypticon

Mortilus (Flashback)

Primus (Mentioned)

Jhiaxus - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Council of Worlds (Mentioned)

Sandstorm's Victims (Mentioned) Dead

Titan Swarm (Mentioned) Dead

Cyclonus - Jet (Mentioned)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Other

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Solstar Order (Mentioned)

Notes

• This one-off comic acts as the finale to the "Dinobot Trilogy" preceeded by Punishment and Redemption. Though saying that, the end of this comic does leave another follow-up possible.
• Speaking of the Trilogy, all three issues were released shortly after and referenced the events of the "big event" for that year. Punishment was set just after Dark Cybertron and included the new characters introduced, Redemption was set after Combiner Wars and showed us some glimpses of the Torchbearers, and this one is set after Titans Return, and references the Titan Swarm and Trypticon being one too.
• Swift was last seen heading back to the Jupiter Sanctuary in the former Transformers ongoing series. Guess she got bored there and returned to Cybertron after a while. She may have been part of the rebuilding effort following the attacks from Sentinel Prime and the Titans however.
• Trypticon was most likely used in this comic as a partial advertisement for his new Titans Return toy, even referring to him as a Titan...then he dies at the end...good job Trypticon!
• It's revealed finally where Trypticon has been for the past few years. He joined in on the exodus from Cybertron following Thunderwing's rampage, but returned just before the planet was reformatted by Vector Sigma. When the planet was reset to it's original form, Trypticon was caught up in the energy and was buried under the surface, where people never noticed and simply walked over him. We saw him in this state in Redemption.
• It is mentioned that Trypticon was created as a rival Titan by Mortilus, Primus' rival, explaining his darker abilities. It is implied that following his defeat in Primacy he was properly recruited into the Decepticons by Bludgeon.
• Bludgeon plans to either destroy the Galactic Council or the Solstar Order first with his new army of Cybertronians. The prior is obvious, since they have attacked Cybertronians before. The Solstar Order haven't done anything to them so far though, but that could change when the Rom vs Transformers prequel series comes out.
• Maybe Strafe should call a Blacksmith to come from Caminus to help them with the formation of the new Cybertronians? It wouldn't hurt would it? They'd be more helpful than a bunch of bruisers with flamethrowers for mouths!
• Why did Starscream recover Slug's body with the intent of fusing it with the mutated spark? Doesn't he already have a closet filled with bodies? (We haven't seen one, but knowing Screamer, he probably does!)
• Swoop mentions that if they collect enough Sweeps then they may trade them for a Cyclonus...the joke would make more sense if they were trading for Scourge, the only named Sweep...

IDW - Optimus Prime #8

Title: What it's Really Like

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Casey W Coller

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Four Million years ago, Jetfire is with Nosecone in the police lab, but he gets frustrated when Nosecone gives him the silent treatment, and storms off, with Nosecone just smiling behind him. Jetfire goes for a flight, but comes across Orion Pax, who wants to speak to him, and they end up getting into a theological argument about the actions of the Decepticons versus their true goals, all of this leads Orion to ask what would happen if they put down their guns, and asks what he would do next....

What he does is simple, he finds a friend to talk to. He goes to one of his old Decepticon hangouts, and has a drink with Deluge, he's met with hostilities from the other Decepticons, however he and Deluge still hang out, and rekindle their friendship, despite them being on different sides of the war now, and is convinced to return to his police job in the morning, so he can do good there...

Today, the Colonists are helping with the construction of Little Cybertron along with the Junkions, but soon leave to do something else (preferably feed the Sharkticons) and roll out...however the group forgot that Slide can no longer transform due to the death of her combiner partner Oiler, and she sulks. Pyra pounces on the situation, and claims that the others are making excuses for the Prime, and how he allows Oiler's killers to continue living.

The President meets with Optimus, and suggests that he may want to leave Earth for a short while, since Jazz's interview is likely to cause some extra friction, and she doesn't want him to become the figure-head for the Autobots, or have Optimus seem to endorse his past actions, and gives him a cryptic warning about something happening.

Optimus takes the President's advice, and invites Pyra to come with him to Cybertron, so they can talk out their differences. The two head through the space bridge, and Optimus seems to realize what the President was hinting towards, and he sends a message to Jazz.

Jazz arrives at a warehouse, where his TV interview with Hector Ramirez, organized by his new human friend Sofia, will be held, so as to accommodate Jazz's size and give them security. Jazz begins his story by telling Hector about how pre-war Cybertron was a peaceful and cultured place, and a lot like Earth in terms of it's variety. He soon gets to the dawn of the war, but Hector starts to bring up how Starscream, one of the worst Decepticons is now the ruler of Cybertron... Jazz is asked what he thinks of Earth, and the Autobot quickly points out all the music that he loves, which leads Hector to pointing out that the Cybertronian war that came to Earth almost killed a lot of new music talent. Hector forces Jazz to talk about his crimes, such as killing John Powell, and interfering with a police operation, and completely ambushes him.

Jazz confront Hector and Sofia about what they are doing, but they seem worried. Jazz soon receives the message from Optimus, simply telling him to run.

A GI Joe team led by Talon spring their operation, and attack the warehouse, intending to arrest Jazz, however they find him already gone, and Sofia explains that she saw in his face that he now knows what humans are like, and his was devastated.

Jazz speeds away from Mexico City, having taken his leader's advice....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax - Truck Cab

Arcee - Sports Car

Aileron - Spacecraft

Jazz - Sports Car

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck

Skyburst - Helicopter

Stormclash - Helicopter

Slide - Rear of Oil Tanker

Roulette - Muscle Car

Midnight Express - Bullet Train

Gimlet - Lobster

Bump - Armadillo

Nosecone - Boring Vehicle (Flashback)

Oiler - Front of Oil Tanker (Mentioned) Dead

Zeta Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Prowl - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)

Victorion - Torchbearer Gestalt (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Megatron - Gun (Flashback)

Starscream - Fighter Jet (Flashback)

Blot - Monster (Flashback)

Cutthroat - Winged Dragon (Flashback)

Gutcuncher - Tank (Flashback)

Deluge - Sports Car (Flashback)

Hefter - Forklift Truck (Mentioned) Dead

Needlenose - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Horri-Bull - Bull (Mentioned)

Bludgeon - Tank (Mentioned)

Thunderwing - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

GI Joe

Talon

Spike

Flint

Chameleon

Hi-Tech

Mainframe

Salvo

Ghostrider

Other Human

Madam President

Hector Ramirez

Sofia Orozco

Salma Guitierrez

Miguel

Mexican News Team

John Powell (Flashback) Killed by Jazz

Tyler Nelson (Flashback)

Detroit Cop (Flashback)

Marissa Faireborn (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Junkions

Cybertronian Musicians (Flashback)

Nominus Prime - Jet (Mentioned)

Nova Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Rum-Maj (Mentioned)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Sharkticons - Sharks (Mentioned)

Notes

• Jazz's interview is shown throughout this issue, one page at a time, though the events in it don't really correlate with the events of the rest of the comic.
• Jazz is revealed to be from Staniz, which is a northern spaceport town on Cybertron.
• From the dialogue given, it sounds like Jazz's name is a nickname, since people came to call him that (or rather his Cybertronian counterpart name, which translates as Jazz) due to his interest in music.
• Jazz is revealed to have joined the Kaon police force due to the Clampdown making entertainment jobs impossible to get, and then the war broke out...poor fella.
• As a small nod to her loss of faith in Optimus, Slide no longer has a mouthplate on her.
• Also, talking about Slide. GET OVER IT! She's still angry with the Junkions because one of them killed her boyfriend/partner/husband/brother/whatever Oiler was to her, yet she killed that same one right afterwards!
• Pyra is kind of a manipulative bitch too. She talks negatively about Optimus to Slide, due to his working with the Junkions to build their new city, yet it's implied later in the issue that Pyra herself has been getting cosy with the Junkions, especially Rum-Maj herself (Rum-Maj was the ne who ORDERED THE ATTACK THAT KILLED OILER!!). I really hope she gets shot in the face soon.
• Okay a nice little piece of continuity. It's revealed that the President's past comments to Optimus about stopping Jazz's interview may have been to try and keep him safe, since she knew about the Joe heist on his interview.
• So we get the name of the random intern that Jazz has been following, but NOT the name of the President yet? HOW HAS THIS NOT COME UP IN A COMIC YET?!!? (Let's just hope the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook gives us that!)
• Pyra and Optimus' meeting on Cybertron was shown in the Transformers Annual special...let's hope their talk there will put an end to her planned coup thing...
• Gutcruncher is revealed to have been a bartender back in the pre/early war era, just like he was in the Decepticon Ghetto following the war...then he died!
• The Joe pilot mentioned here is apparently Ghostrider, who is often "forgotten" due to his non-copyright friendly name.
• Jetfire and Deluge discuss how nuts Thunderwing is...this would later be brought up in a big way when he develops the Pretender process, goes insane and destroys Cybertron's atmosphere...yeah!

IDW - Aw Yeah Revolution! #2

Written and Drawn by: Art Baltazar

Edited by: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Baron Karza uses the Orbsah Gem on Optimus, Rom and Snake Eyes so he can use their special talents for himself. The Micronauts smash into the area and attack Karza, who easily takes them down, utilizing the powers of his prisoners, however he doesn't notice that Microtron rushes towards a control panel, and frees the prisoners from their binds.

Unfortunately, now that the three giant beings (especially Optimus) are free and interacting with Microspace, the stability of Microspace begins to break down and starts to fall apart. Karza decides to leave Microspace for Earth, and is soon followed by Optimus.

On Earth, Optimus tumbles through the portal and almost lands on a Cobra Fortress, leading to the Cobra troops to attack...

In Microspace Acroyear uses his sword to hold open the portal, allowing himself and the other giants to leave and chase Karza. Upon arriving, they are et by Storm Shadow who announces that Optimus was defeated by Cobra, with help from Baron Karza, and also reveals that Karza has explained Microspace to them fully in the time that has past, since along period of time has passed on Earth compared to the seconds for Microspace.

Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes begin their usual fight on top of Storm Shadow's favourite mountain, which gives him the advantage, allowing him to push Snake Eyes down the mountain. Rom and Acroyear team up and knock Storm Shadow down the mountain as well, leading to both ninjas fighting at the bottom.

Before they can continue their fight however, a hidden trap door opens up and Optimus, now under Cobra control, is lifted out of the hidden Cobra facility, announcing that he'll destroy his old friends for Cobra!

Meanwhile, an asteroid infested with Dire Wraiths is rushing towards Earth, looking for Rom....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Brainwashed by Cobra

Human

Snake Eyes

Storm Shadow

Cobra Troopers

Micronaut

Baron Karza

Andromeda

Acroyear

Space Glider

Microtron

Biotron

Other

Rom, the Space Knight

Dire Wraiths

Notes

• The Orbsah gem is able to give Karza the abilities of the larger Hasbro property characters...like someone's telekinesis...and Optimus' ability to grow sizes.....I dunno if that really happens.....I guess his hand transformation power comes from Rom's Neutralizer though!
• When Optimus pops out of Microspace and into the Cobra base's area he seems to be the size of a Titan...that seems a bit off...
• Does Rom have a forcefield in the Hasbroverse? If so that would be helpful in his fights there!
• Hey look! Optimus has been given a Cobra make-over! I'm pretty sure we haven't seen that since the DDP crossover days! You know....the GOOD GI Joe vs Transformers crossover!
• It's mentioned that time moves differently in Microspace compared to the regular universe, this appears to be the case in the normal Microspace too.
• Since we saw that a few seconds in Microspace will result in a fair bit of time in the normal universe passing here (long enough for a battle between Cobra and Optimus, brainwashing the Autobot, and repainting him at least) then how long has passed whilst the heroes were in their bonds in Microspace?

TLK - Who is Quintessa? (SPOILERS - The Last Knight)

So, the new villain for the Bayverse movies is Quintessa, but we actually know nothing concrete about her, however, through the film I did notice a few things about her, which could solve her mystery....

First up, is the most obvious point, her name is a reuse of the name of the planet the Quintessons lived on in the G1 continuity, and her design even evokes the species as well (tentacles, green-ish colours and manipulative). So, in my opinion the most likely explanation for her is that she is an AI of some sort that represents Quintessa and the Quintessons in general who is sent out to conquer worlds for them to rule over.

The reason I believe that she is an AI is that she was clearly not really there during the film, Bumblebee "destroyed" her with an energy blast, and she just vanished, reappearing in the credits in a human form, again starting to manipulate someone, seemingly trying to get close to Unicron (he is the planet after all) for unknown reasons.

A little known piece of trivia now, the Quintessons were at one point in development for G1 considered to be associates of Unicron's who picked off anyone who escaped his planetary om-noms. So maybe we'll get a return of that plot point in a future movie?

But, since I like over-analysing things, let's take a gander at who Quintessa could be otherwise, as I believe there could be a few options...

Due to her appearance and Quintesson god like attitude, most people would probably consider her to be a female version of Quintus Prime, who was introduced in the Aligned continuity as one of the original Thirteen Primes, which when comparing the above and below images, you can see why...however as I implied earlier, Quintus was male, whilst Quintessa is clearly female, making it less likely to be him.

Next up I have a couple of options based on Quintessa's self-given title of "Prime of Life", there are two Primes that could be considered life givers, the first is the least likely option, which is Prima, the original Prime. His sword has the Matrix as the jewel on it's hilt, which is a life-giving device, which could be the reason for the title. The problem here though, is that Optimus already has the Matrix, meaning that the Star Sabre isn't in his possession, and the title would be null-and-void.

 The most likely option that is left is Solus Prime, the weapons-smith of the Thirteen Primes, she is literally someone who gives life and creates new things, also, in the Aligned continuity, upon her death, her body created the Well of Allsparks, allowing the sparks within the core to be released, and create the Cybertronian species, thus creating new life.
Now you may be about to point out that with this point, it means that she couldn't be Quintessa since she should be dead. But no. In recent issues of Transformers: Lost Light, we've learned about a new medical profession that helps in the progress of new life on Cybertron: the Blacksmith. A Blacksmith in Cybertronian culture is able to help a newly born protoform and spark into a natural shape, allowing them to be born...remember that Solus' design is one of a blacksmith as well, possibly showing a connection.

But wait....there's more words here...what else could I have to say? Quintessa must be either Solus or Quintus Prime right? Well...one more line of dialogue in the film had me asking questions...the Knights of Iacon refer to her as the "Deceiver". Quintessa is shown to be able to change forms (we see her as a robot and a human through the film) and we also see that she can brainwash other Transformers, and perfectly manipulate them with "magic" and her words. There is another Prime with that ability, EXACTLY that ability, the Liege Maximo....

For those who do not know, in recent years, Liege Maximo has been characterized as being pretty much the Transformer version of Loki from Marvel Comics, in the MCU films we see him using holographic-looking disguises to change his appearance, a lot like how Quintessa seems to do as well.

Also, due to Hasbro's tendency to use the same plot lines and characters across their different media, and Liege Maximo was only just dramatically released from his prison in the IDW comic universe a couple months ago for an upcoming major storyline I can assume these things will converge in a future film.

So what do you guys think? Is Quintessa a simple AI or Robot Loki after all? Is she just a Quintesson or something else? Let me know, and I might pay attention and change my head canon!

See ya later!

(I promise comic reviews are comic soon, but I am lazy!)

IDW - Lost Light #6

Title: Dissolution Part 6: This Machine Kills Fascists

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Colours by: Joanna LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

In the Cog, heading towards Adaptica, Rodimus and Rung prepare to battle for the control of the ship, which Rung intends to use to destroy Luna 2, but Rodimus simply slugs the much weaker bot, and sends him to the floor, leaving everyone to wonder why that was needed...even Rodimus...

Below them, Megatron is hanging on for his life, leading to Terminus manning a cannon, and aiming it towards the tractor beam, however his aim isn't the best, and he also shoots the Cog, sending it crashing. Luckily it also damages the tractor beam, freeing Megatron.

Ratchet and Drift wake up, following the crash, and find Rung messing around with something on his neck. Ratchet warns him to stop, but he refuses, urging them to stand clear...

Terminus and the others rush towards the Cog's crash site, where Rodimus receives a message from Barinstorm stating that Killmaster's wand is going to run out of power soon, and they have to return to Necroworld before then, or they'll be trapped in this universe forever. Before he can react though, he is shocked at the sight of a giant Rung attacking Luna 2!

Rodimus reports this development to Brainstorm, who just tells him to have Rung scoop them into the moon, but Rodimus brings up a new issue for him, if they use the teleporter before the moon is destroyed then they cannot help the resistance, but if they destroy the moon, then they can't use the teleporter. Roller comes up with the idea to teleport the entire moon to Necroworld, with it being stored within the hollow planet.

Everyone is happy with the plan, but Terminus announces that he's staying behind. Megatron asks for a moment with him to say his goodbyes, but Rodimus isn't happy, but allows him a minute...

Rodimus' team arrive at a transporter to get them to the moon, but find it unfunctional,  they locate another one to use, and Roller sends the coordinates to Terminus. He begins to tell Megatron about the change of location, but they both pause when Rung suddenly explodes, and falls to the ground, dead.

Elsewhere, Rodimus is furious that Megatron hasn't arrived at the teleporter, a sentiment shared by Minimus Ambus, who states that he will not GET AWAY. This mention of Rodimus newest nemesis pushes his buttons, and he orders the group sent to the moon now.

Megatron arrives at the original teleporter site, having been given the wrong ones from Terminus, he panics and runs to Terminus, only to see the moon vanish from the skies, having been sent to Necroworld. Terminus claims that the crew have given him a second chance...which Megatron replies that they already had done that....

On Necroworld, Anode is taken to see Lug's spark flower, where Kaput explains how she died, having read the Necrobot's records. She was killed when the forcefield fell, and so the Necrobot prepared her body for the afterlife and recovered her "fading echo" and placed it into her flower, which Kaput then gives to Anode to say goodbye to...Anode looks between the flower and the sentio metallico that Nautica returned to her, and gets an idea before running back towards the fortress.

Inside the medibay, Anode explains that she wants Kaput to release the echo of Lug's spark from the flower, so she can store it within the metallico, the process isn't going well, as the metal's temperature is falling, but Anode doesn't quit....

The Necroworld, having returned to the Hasbroverse, and the groups reunite, with Roller commenting on Anode's new "backpack" which she is very proud of, but they also notice that Megatron isn't with them....

Back in the Functionist Universe, Megatron has taken on a touring speaker role for the AVL. He visits the various resistance cells tells them of his plans to win their fight with words rather than violence, and overthrow the Council the right way...through empathy.

Megatron steps outside to look upon the stars, when he is interrupted by his phone ringing, and a familiar voice speaks from it, looking for Roller.....causing Megatron the smile.

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Minimus Ambus - Minesweeper

Megatron - Tank (Remained in Functionist Universe)

Ratchet - Ambulance

Drift - Car

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Nautica - Submarine

Velocity - Race Car

Kaput

Brainstorm - Jet

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Tailgate - Car

Nightbeat - Car

Swerve - Van

Getaway - Car (Mentioned)

Skids - Van (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Killmaster (Mentioned) Trapped in Pocket Prison

Anti-Vocationist League

Nine-of-Twelve - Part of Key to Vector Sigma

Functionist Anode - Bi-Plane

Clicker - Laser Pointer

Glitch

Dominus Ambus

Random Members

Other

Terminus - Mining Vehicle (Remained in Functionist Universe)

Anode - Bi-Plane

New Lug - Backpack Equipment (Newly Reforged)

Roller - Truck

Cyclonus - Jet

Ten

Functionist Rung - Photonic Crystal Generator Exploded due to Mass Displacement Generator

Censere (Flashback) Dead

Original Lug - Backpack Equipment (Flashback) Dead

Functionist Orion Pax - Truck (Speculative Voice Only)

Functionist Council (Mentioned)

Notes

• Unsurprisingly, Rung lasts for all of about a third of a second in a fist fight against Rodimus...though he does last a bit longer when he's super sized and against a gun-mounted moon.
• Anode appears to use some level of telekinesis to reconfigure the sentio metallico, when they explained she was a blacksmith I assumed she'd need some tools.
• Also, since she can put a tiny fragment of Lug's spark into a new body and it apparently works, does that mean that anyone who has died, and had the fading echo of their spark implanted into a flower, then she can revive them? Not gunna happen? Just a plot device to bring back her girlfriend? Fine!
• It's left ambiguous in the comic itself, but James Roberts confirmed on Twitter that Terminus gave Megatron the wrong coordinates, not Roller passing on the wrong information to them.
• Amongst Megatron's new revolution members is someone who is probably supposed to be the Functionist version of Hot Rod (in front of Terminus during his talk)
• Through dialogue, we learn that the Council are still in power following the attack on Adaptica, they blamed the Black Box Consortia for the attack, and claimed that new hot spots appeared, explaining the mass of  new Cybertronians suddenly appearing
• Quick question, since they are no longer in Adaptica, and the Council will be going all out to destroy them now....why don't they activate their Obsolescence chips and blow them up now?
• The guy on the phone looking for Roller at the end of this issue is most likely Orion Pax (pre-Prime Optimus) as Roller was looking for him in the previous issue, and I guess he gave Megatron his phone...
• So, who wants to wager if we'll get a follow-up arc with the Functionist Universe to catch up with Megatron and the others, or if they'll just go balls in and make a new spin-off comic set in this universe?

IDW - Rom #11

Title: Long Roads to Ruin Part 1

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage and Chris Ryall

Art by: David Messina and Guy Dorian Sr. (Side Story)

Inks by: Michele Pasta and Sal Busema (Side Story)

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Edited by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Orphion has tasked Livia and Rom with flying around Earth to analyse and deal with the Wraith situation, whilst he deals with some mysterious secret business, which totally does not seem dodgy... Despite his earlier hopes, Rom sees that Livia has become  blood-thirsty and just wants to take out the Wraiths regardless of the situation, so Rom decides to show her a different way,,,

The duo soon locate a cruise boat, where a couple of Wraiths are busy posing as being retired, Livia approaches them, and prepares to kill them on sight. Rom takes her away, but reveals that he does plan to kill them. Rom uses his Translator to spy on the Wraiths, revealing that they were there for a reason, and learn who they are going to warn about the Knights being there, then proceeds to kill them, with no collateral damage. Before they can act on their new information though, a giant Wraith squid grabs them from the water, and drags them under.....

Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, Ruan and Darby begin their mission against the Dire Wraiths, by breaking into a storage facility they control, so Ruan can steal a severed Solstar Knight arm from them, so Darby can use it to identify Wraiths by herself, however in the process, Ruan kills himself to get the arm, leaving her on her own again...

At Pismo Beach Medial Centre, a couple of Wraith cops "visit" Camilla, intending to put her out of her misery due to her rejecting her Wrait, but as they attack her, Camilla accidentally activates her now inert Wraith powers and defeats the duo, freaking her out, and leading her to run away.

Battle Scars Part 1

Rom is flying around Earth, looking for Wraiths to kill, when he remembers his old friend Fy-Laa, and of a mission they went on to the planet Verdulun-5, where upon touch down, Fy-Laa is enveloped by a gelatinous substance, that appears to be cleaning any impurities on his armour. Rom however discovers that there are Dire Wraith life signs around them, which the substance confirms, as it announces that it is both a Wraith and the indigenous life of this planet.....

Characters

Solstar Order

Orphion

Rom

Livia

Fy-Laa (Battle Scars Only)

Dire Wraith

Ruan Sablik Likely killed when getting Fallen Knight's arm

Squid Wraith

Gelatinous Wraiths (Battle Scars only)

Retired Wraiths Killed by Rom

Warehouse Wraiths Killed by Darby and Ruan

Wraith Cops Defeated by Camilla

Wraith Priest (Mentioned) Dead

Human

Darby Mason

Camilla Byers

GI Joe (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue features the first "Tales of the Solstar Order" side stories...YAY!
• What is Orphion's "true business" all about? Could it have something to do with the upcoming First Strike crossover?
• This is the first issue that I've read since it was announced that post First Strike we're getting a joint Micronauts and Rom comic...let's keep an eye out for bug sized cameos from here on!
• So...Ruan's big plan is to loudly break into a warehouse with his human buddy, then kill himself to give her a severed Space Knight arm with no knowledge on how to work it? Good fella!
• Also, speaking of the arm, I'm pretty sure that's Fy-Laa's arm, aka Rom's likely former partner and best friend along with Livia before their joining the Solstar Order.
• So...if we take it at face value, one of the Wraith cops implies that he had sex with Camilla in the past...I guess he can keep up his human guise whilst....um...climaxing?
• Despite having the Dire Wraith removed from her body, it seems that it's presence has left her body altered to be a Human-Wraith hybrid
• So...there's a giant squid Wraith.....HIDE!!!!

IDW - Micronauts: Wrath of Karza #2

Written by: Cullen Bunn and Jimmy Johnston

Art by: Andrew Griffith and Ron Joseph

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters by: Tom B Long

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Editor: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Baron Karza and Shazraella have set up their base of operations on Earth, and take a look at the progress of their plan to take out all of Earth's defenders before they begin their invasion properly, and note that the only likely threats are from Oz's Micronaut team....

The Heliopolis is chased by a spacecraft manned by Membros and his new crew, and are soon disabled by them. Biotron goes onto the hull to try and repair the damages whilst they fly away from their pursuers, but they inevitably crash, with Biotron being seemingly injured in the crash (since it landed on him with fire and explosions)

Membros' crew approach the crashed ship to take their prisoners, and find Acroyear carrying Oz and Phen out of the ship, before he is able to go back in for the others however, he is attacked by Membros and his team, he puts up a good fight, but is ultimately overwhelmed, and is knocked out, whilst beloved Weeble "weapon" is sliced in half, seemingly out of grief for the loss of the greatest weapon in it's crew member's arsenal, the Heliopolis explodes (more likely due to the crash making the engines explode, but whatever). Membros' team capture the surviving Micronauts and leave.

Soon, Repto reports the destruction of the Heliopolis to Karza, and announces that they assume that Larissa and Microtron were killed in the explosion. Shazraella and Karza take this news badly, despite Karza having seen this during his time in the Entropy Storm, but he is still devastated over the death of his daughter. Out of anger he kills Repto and vows to do everything to succeed in this invasion mission.

Meanwhile, at the Heliopolis' remains, Larissa manages to break out of the rubble with her force field generators, and correctly assumes that the enemy assumes that they are dead, but she just begins to plan against them with Microtron, whilst holding the Time Mask....

Characters

Micronauts

Oziron Rael Captured by Ministry of War

Phenolo-Phi Captured by Ministry of War

Acroyear Captured by Ministry of War

Biotron Possibly killed in Heliopolis Crash

Larissa

Microtron

Time Mask

Ministry of War

Baron Karza

Shazraella

Membros

Green Acroyear

Antron

Repto Killed by Karza

Centaurus

Lobros

Kronos

Karza's Army

Other Microspace

Baron Daegon (Flashback) Defeated by Karza

Red Falcon (Flashback) Killed by Karza

Time Travelers (Flashback)

Human

Scarlett (Picture Only)

Snake Eyes (Picture Only)

Agent Helix (Picture Only)

Rock 'n Roll (Picture Only)

Brad Turner (Picture Only)

Matt Trakker (Picture Only)

Gloria Baker (Picture Only)

Julio Lopez (Picture Only)

Others on Karza's Hit List (Pictures Only)

Other Macrospace

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Picture Only)

Arcee - Sports Car (Picture Only)

Jazz - Sports Car (Picture Only)

Skywarp - Fighter Jet (Picture Only)

Rom, the Space Knight (Picture Only)

Notes

• Baron Karza's screen filled with targets of the Earth's defenders mostly consists of the guys he defeated last issue, the Micronauts, some guys I can't identify (probably some Joes?) and the noticeably absent Rom from the previous issue, with a giant question mark over his head, implying that he is missing.
• Considering the news that following the "First Strike" event starting in August that Rom and Micronauts will be relaunching with a joint comic, this is probably leading up to some plot points for that comic, with him possibly teaming up with the remaining Micronauts here.
• The Ministry of Defense has seemingly been renamed as "The Ministry of War", and considering Membros being part if his forces, it's likely that the Ministry of Science was also absorbed into the new Ministry too.
• The Heliopolis, the home and ship of the Micronauts is utterly destroyed in this issue :(
• Membros' team is made up of various Micronaut toy line characters, showing off several more of the alien species from Microspace. This also shows that not all of Karza's troops are purely mechanical as it would have been assumed last issue.
• From the Statue of Liberty in the background, we can assume that Karza's base in in New York.
• Repto destroys Acroyear's beloved Dog Weeble weapon....now I'm glad that he gets killed by the end of the issue!
• Though Karza's flashback makes it look like he kills Daegon here, the Hasbro Sourcebook explicitly states that he was defeated and captured, so that answers my longest lasting Micronauts questions!
• It's confirmed fully here that one of the Time Travelers actually BECAME the Entropy Storm, and since they are all connected, that makes all of them a part of it too
• Also, Shazraella out-right states that Larissa is the daughter of her and Karza..awwww
• We don't see what's happened to Biotron...last time he was shown, he was crushed by the ship crashing on top of him....I wonder if they actually killed a main character in this thing?!
• On a side note, where are Dr Conway and her family during this?!