IDW - Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor #1

Written by: John Barber & Christos Gage

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Josh Perez

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

In the Gray Area, a patch of space in between the spaces controlled by the Galactic Council and Solstar Order, a Galactic Council ship is chasing a Cybertronian Colonist ship, carrying protoforms aboard, and manage to shoot it down, however they are confronted by Rom, the Space Knight, who admonishes them for attacking a vessel down without provocation. The Captain defends his actions by pointing out that Cybertronians are just dangerous machines who aren't really alive. Rom questions this, but stops when he detects life on the ship still. Whilst he is distracted, the Council ship takes off, heading towards the Shadow System.

Rom examines the ship, and finds only dead robots, he begins to wonder if Cybertronians are really just robots after all, until one of the protoforms activates and asks for help, which he obliges.

Rom carries the new-born Cybertronian back to Solstar space, and manages to recover some of the Energon in the ship for synthesis. Once there, she is repaired, and helped in her shaping, eventually taking the form of a female with a car alternate mode. The Cybertronian, later named Stardrive, grew up with the other children of the Solstar, but most of them feared her due to her origins, and she began to feel the same way when she was taught about how violent her species is...but wants to be different.

Later, her class went to Mato Grosso where they were attacked by some Dire Wraiths, they appear to be very interested in Stardrive, but are stopped when the Space Knights arrive, led by Rom, who has now saved her twice in her life, however the head Dire Wraith has escaped. Stardrive gets inspired by this event to join the Space Knights herself...

Ten years after her "birth", Stardrive is now a Cadet in the Solstar Order, and is stationed for a stake-out on a Mining Colony.

Rom and his team arrive on the colony for a pick-up when they encounter some disguised Dire Wraiths, whom Stardrive has been staking out for a week, and the team take them down. One of the Cadets, Auxin, goes off after one of the Wraiths, but ends up being ambushed by more of them, luckily however, a nearby car transforms into Stardrive and she saves her fellow cadet, however the other cadet isn't happy with her stealing his "first kill" and returns to the crew. Once back there the crew discuss destroying the colony to make sure there's no more Wraiths, but Rom and Stardrive point out that that's not necessary, which Livia and the others accept, and they leave.

On the ship, Livia is annoyed with Rom for taking Stardrive's opinion over hers, but he just points out that it was the correct decision. Elsewhere on the ship, Stardrive sulks and wonders if the crew knows that she can hear them bemoaning about her...

The ship soon arrives at the Solstar Station "Orchid Crossing" orbiting Xetaxxis, where they are stationed, and prepare for their next mission. Ahead of it however, Livia and Rom decide to discuss with Stardrive her importance in the mission.

The senior Knights visit Stardrive in her room, where she is recharging, and the two Knights explain to her that following the destruction of the Dire Wraith homeworld, the species has been spreading to other systems, and in order to fight them, they need to make a deal with the Galactic Council, and eventually the Cybertronians to enter their respective spaces to follow them. They have a meeting with the Council the next day, and they want to have Stardrive shown as an example of how a Cybertronian CAN be good after all.

The next day, a Council ship arrives at Orchid Crossing, and the assembled dignitaries meet, and the Council are notably hateful towards Stardrive. The Solstar representatives begin with their requests to enter Council space, but the Council representatives seem insulted that they have claimed victory over the Wraiths...and quickly reveals that they ARE Wraiths, and start attacking the dignitaries and begin going after the Knights. The ship behind them begins to transform, revealing it to be Astrotrain in disguise, explaining how the Wraiths entered the Solstar station undetected, they were hiding inside him.

Auxin gets killed by Astrotrain, and more Decepticons, led by Starscream, burst into the station and join the fight. The lead Wraith, Vekktral, points out Stardrive to Starscream, and the Cadet identifies him as the Wraith who attacked her five years earlier.

Stardrive prepares to join the battle, but is soon encountered by Starscream, who is interested in her, due to him not recognizing her from Cybertron and even realizes that she has never met another Cybertronian before now, and attempts to sway her to join the Decepticons. During the battle, Livia kills one of the Decepticons, showing Stardrive that her species is not immortal like many believe, leading Starscream to threatening to kill the Cybertronian Knight. He kicks her through a door, and locates his real target, Stardrive's Energon Synthesizer and begins to grab for it.

Luckily at the last second, the wall is blasted in from the outside, and the Autobots Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee smash in, ready to save the day and take down the Decepticons...however this violence just confirms Stardrive's fears that he species IS just naturally violent after all....

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom

Livia

Orphion

Nikomi

Cadet Stardrive - Car

Cadet Sata

Cadet Auxin Killed by Astrotrain

Solstar Ambassador  Killed by Vekktral

Solstar Politicians

Solstar Doctors

Solstar Civilians

Autobot

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Bumblebee - Car

Decepticon

Starscream - Jet

Astrotrain - Galactic Council Shuttle

Blitzwing

Thrust - Jet

Dirge - Jet

Ramjet - Jet

Ursa Major - Bulldozer Killed by Livia

Doomwings - Jet

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Camien Colonists Killed by Galactic Council

Primus (Mentioned)

Dire Wraith

Vekktral

Mining Colony Wraiths Destroyed by Rom's Team

Galactic Council Wraiths

Other Species

Galactic Council Captain

Galactic Council Ship Crew

Mining Colonists

Rom's Family (Mentioned) Dead

Sata's Family (Mentioned)

Auxin's Family (Mentioned)

Notes

• This story is set about 200 years ago, set after the events of the Rom Annual, just after the abandonment of Cybertron, but before the Transformers arrived on Earth.
• The Cybertronians chased and killed by the Galactic Council at the start of this issue have been revealed to be Camien via Twitter. This explains why Stardrive is a female since females are common on Caminus, but pretty much unheard of on Cybertron in recent history.
• The Galactic Council captain mentions their next location will be the "Shadow System", likely another name for the "Dark Nebula", an area inhabited by Dire Wraiths, whom we see have replaced the crew 10 years later.
• It's mentioned that the Dire Wraith's home planet has been destroyed...I guess the Solstar Ore-Armour helped them after all!
• It's shown here that the Solstar Order and Galactic Council actually have separate jurisdictions, and separate spaces...at least 200 years ago anyway. 
• Stardrive is shown with a giant pig-monster plushie in her youth....nawwwwwww (add that to my wish-list for new Hasbro toys please!)
• Despite her being accepted by the Solstar Order and allowed to live with them, and having been raised by them, it appears that the other species rotected by them still fear Stardrive due to her species...RACISTS!!
• So apparently the Solstar Ore is able to coat Cybertronians and can even retract or change to match their faces and alternate modes. This adds more to the theory that the Ore was one of Shockwave's Regenesis-Ores that he sent out in the distant past
• Gee, it's a good thing that the Wraith that attacked Stardrive in the past had such a distinct character model huh? Else she probably wouldn't be able to identify him years later!
• Starscream's interest in Stardrive's Energon Synthesizer is due to Cybertron having run out of it, due to the years of war, and the "recent" destruction of the atmosphere due to Thunderwing's rampage. It will remain in this state until the end of the Chaos Event many centuries later.
• It's unclear which version of Ultra Magnus we are seeing in this issue, but due to the "B" cover for next issue showing him being seemingly possessed by a Dire Wraith, and some mentions of how Dire Wraith and Cybertronian technology have mixed in the past in the Rom series. We can probably assume this is Minimus Ambus' predecessor in the role. Maybe we'll see his induction into the program by the end of this event?
• Amongst Stardrive's possessions is a holographic photo of herself with Rom and another Knight, likely either Livia or Fy-Laa.

IDW - Optimus Prime #9

Title: The Life of Sideswipe

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Kei Zama

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The President meets with Marissa at Little Cybertron, where she wants to talk to the island's supervisor about a new role where she'll have to "travel abroad", and appears to be impressed with her ways with the Transformers.

In Autobot City, Sideswipe finally wakes up following his long standing injuries, thanks to a repaired Positron Core curtesy of Wreck-Gar. The Autobots are happy with their returned friend, but Sideswipe notices that Arcee has skulked away, so he follows her. She explains that Sunstreaker promised that he was going to be there, and even spoke to her from Cybertron earlier that day. At first Sideswipe declares that he doesn't care, but Arcee brings up how she let her brother die, and feels bad about that every day, and Sideswipe agrees to look for his brother.

Soon, Arcee and Sideswipe have arrived on Cybertron, where Sideswipe is unimpressed with how the planet looks, and claims that he never would have fought if he knew things would turn out like this. They arrive at Sunstreaker's apartment, where they are ambushed by Bob, who is acting as a guard dog there. Sideswipe is about to shoot him, before Arcee stops him and they tend to the pet, who has been left unattended for a while now... Sideswipe gets concerned when he finds scuff marks on the floor, and knows that Sunstreaker wouldn't allow his home to be messy.

Sideswipe leashes Bob to him, and uses the Insecticon to hunt down his owner, and locates him at a warehouse in the Decepticon Ghetto. Sideswipe quickly breaks into the warehouse and starts firing on a group of Decepticons, led by Soundwave, who appear to be smuggling energon. Before he can finish off the Decepticons, he is stopped by Sunstreaker himself. At first Sideswipe is confused and thinks that Sunstreaker is teamed with the Decepticons, but he and Arcee reiterate that there are no sides any more, and Sunstreaker is on Cybertron to help with the relief in the Decepticon Ghetto, which Sideswipe takes as a challenge and decides to help MORE than him...

Later, Sideswipe has helped with the relief effort and now sees Cybertron as a good place again, and soon realises why everything seems to be a bit off around here, he thanks his brother and friend for all they did for him, and takes one last look at the Cybertron he loves, before allowing himself to die...

In the real world, Sideswipe's spark and mind have finally gone out, and the assembled Autobots and Wreck-Gar mourn his death, with Wreck-Gar apologizing for not being able to really fix the Positron Core as he hoped to, but the wo Autobots, who were hooked to Sideswipe's mind to help him go happily, thank him for this, since it was the right thing to do.

Arcee leaves the room, and stands outside, where Aileron joins her and tells her that her religion says that no one really dies, and they get reincarnation, Arcee laughs at this. Aileron at first thinks she is mocking her beliefs, but Arcee just comments that if that was true, then she'd be in trouble with all the returning victims. She asks Aileron to stay with her for a while, and says her last goodbyes to Sideswipe, and hopes that he's watching over her....

Characters

Autobot

Arcee - Sports Car

Sideswipe - Sports Car Dies from Injuries

Sunstreaker - Sports Car

Aileron - Space Shuttle

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Metrotitan - Autobot City

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Dream Only)

Ironhide - Van (Dream Only)

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Dream Only)

Blurr - Race Car (Dream Only)

Jazz - Sports Car (Image Only) On the Run

Alpha Trion - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck (Mentioned)

Prowl - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier (Dream Only)

Steamhammer (Dream Only)

Onyx Primal (Dream Only)

Killer Punch (Dream Only)

Sizzle (Dream Only)

Switchblade (Dream Only)

Jolt (Dream Only)

Rook (Dream Only)

Megadeath (Dream Only)

Backfire (Dream Only)

Tall Tankor - Oil Tanker/Cargo Plane (Dream Only)

Megatron - Tank (Flashback Only)

Starscream - Fighter Jet (Flashback Only)

Galvatron - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Bob

D.O.C.

Wreck-Gar (Head Only)

Wreck-Gar's "Chauffeur"

Little Cybertron Denizens

A Sharkticon - Shark

Iacon Denizens (Dream Only)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Badgeless (Mentioned)

The Senate (Mentioned) Defunct

Human

Madam President

Marissa Faireborn

Chameleon

Brad Emory (On Television)

Jake "The Jackhammer" Jackson (Mentioned)

Notes

• The twist that most of this issue is set in a dream are present throughout. Optimus is seen on Earth, despite it being mentioned that he is still on Cybertron. Wreck-Gar is seen in a full body, despite being still a head.
• This issue's dream begins dark and moody, but ends bright and happy, representing Sideswipe's change in mood.
• Due to this being mostly a dream, we should probably not take any of the cameos seen on Cybertron as canon.
• This is the first issue of Optimus Prime to not feature a flashback to the early days of the war.
• Jazz is still on the run following the ambush by GI Joe last issue. It is also confirmed that the President tried to get Optimus to cancel the interview because of this plan.
• By her dialogue, it seems likely that the President is about to name Marissa as the representative for Earth for the Council of Worlds, which we know the Earth's entry into is the plot back-drop for the upcoming First Strike crossover event.
• Arcee implies that her brother was killed in front of her. This, accompanied by the preview for the next issue would likely mean that she considered Galvatron her brother, who was killed in front of her by Optimus Prime.
• Amongst the cameos in Sideswipe's dream are the Movie Twins, RID Fixit and someone with the same character model as Prime Ripclaw, but as I mentioned before, due to the dream nature they are probably just made up.
• Cybertron is a lot more developed and populated in Sideswipe's dream than it is in reality. Guess that made Sideswipe happy in the end.
• So...who wants to bet that Pyra is going to try and manipulate Arcee into joining her coup against Optimus by using either the deaths of Galvatron or Sideswipe as reasoning?

IDW - Micronauts: Wrath of Karza #3

Written by: Cullen Bunn & Jimmy Johnston

Art by: Andrew Griffith & 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 contacts several villains, or people with bad reputations at least, in order to offer them roles as Barons in his conquest of Earth, as he doesn't desire to eradicate humanity, just rule them. Mayhem outright refuses to serve him, but Karza seems confident that he will change him mind, due to how strong his forces are, and how badly they are assaulting New York even now.

At the Heliopolis' wreckage Larissa and Microtron are trying to figure out how to rescue their friends from Karza, but Microtron reveals that his scans are being blocked by something. However, the Time Mask reveals his sentience to them and explains that HE can locate Oz, shocking both of them in the process. Microtron then reveals him newest project, built from the remains of their ship, are a group of new Trons, given personalities by Microtron's scans of the crew, which don't impress Larissa...

At their holding cell, Oz, Phen and Biotron are trying to figure out what is happening, when they are joined by Membros, he taunts them by stating that Larissa and Microtron are dead, and that Acroyear is undergoing reconditioning to join Karza's crew, making Oz despondent at the loss of his friends.

Nearby, Acroyear has been strapped to a device and his mask is brutally removed, revealing his mangled real face, with preparations for his reconditioning beginning...

Elsewhere still, Karza explains further to his wife about how the Time Travelers explained the Entropy Cloud to him, and revealed that one of their own is responsible for all of this, and he is needed to stop him, however he needs to meet with the final Time Travelers before that, so he needs to get Earth ready for his arrival...

Larissa and the robots arrive at a facility set up by Karza which uses a technology that hides it outside of normal time and space, which the Time Mask has managed to locate using his natural skills. The Trons attack and defeat the guards and they manage to break into the facility, revealed to be the holding facility. The group fight their way towards the cell and manage to rescue their captured friends, but still need to locate Acroyear. On their mission around the facility they break into Membros' interrogation room, and orders him to lead them to their friends...the Transformer prisoners so they can help out in the fight....

Characters

Heliopolis Micronauts

Oziron Rael

Larissa

Phenolo-Phi

Acroyear Being "Reconditioned" by Commander Raith

Time Mask

Biotron

Microtron

Alphatron

Betatron

Gammatron

Omegatron

Ministry of War

Baron Karza

Lady Shazraella

Membros

Commander Raith

Acroyear Forces

Karza's Army

Human

Miles Mayhem (On Conference Call Only)

Doctor X (On Conference Call Only)

Storm Shadow (On Conference Call Only)

Tomax Paoli (On Conference Call Only)

Iron Klaw (On Conference Call Only)

Baron Ironblood (On Conference Call Only)

Destro (On Conference Call Only)

Hasbro Fanboy (In Entropy Cloud Vision Only)

Human Soldiers Being Defeated by Karza's Forces

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab In Karza Custody

Arcee - Sports Car In Karza Custody

Jazz - Sports Car In Karza Custody

Decepticon

Razorclaw - Drill Tank (On Conference Call Only)

Other Cybertronian

Micronus Prime Body being used as Karza's Base

Blackrock/Sovereign - Head (On Conference Call Only)

Other Macrospace

Rom, the Space Knight (On T-Shirt only)

Other Microspace

Mad Time Traveler (Flashback Only)

Other Time Travelers (Flashback Only) All gone from Time Stream

Baron Daegon (Toy Only)

Lobros (Mentioned)

Notes

• So the opening panel of this comic actually helps us to place this series in the main timeline, it shows Razorclaw active (he was seemingly killed in Revolutionaries) and Blackrock is visible amongst the "villains" contacted by Karza, so this is likely before the start of Revolutionaries. This also sort of confirms that Karza will fail in this mission (like he would ever succeed) since the President mentions that she has witnessed various failed invasions recently in the Optimus Prime series. However the Heliopolis was seen in issue 2 of Revolutionaries, so maybe this is set just AFTER that issue? I dunno...still doesn't explain where Doctor Conway and her family are though....
• Razorclaw seems to be in his pre-Earth mode, as we can see his old faceplate design and the top of his drill bit..maybe this was before he was controlled by Iron Klaw?
• Amongst the buildings seen in the background of the Earthwar seems to be the Empire State Building, confirming this is happening in New York.
• Karza's vessel, the body of Micronus, still looks like a giant version of himself, even though he seems to be just inhabiting the vessel, and not Enerchanged with it, implying this could be a permanent remodelling of the Prime.
• So...the Time Mask CAN talk to the other Micronauts and not just Oz? Guess he was just being a jerk after all!
• I did notice all the odd heads amongst the Heliopolis wreckage last issue, but I don't think I mentioned it, as I assumed they were just more "weapons" appropriated by Acroyear from Billy's toy chest. Turns out there were there to justify the newly built "Trons" this issue.
• So Biotron apparently survived getting crashed upon by the Heliopolis last issue with just an arm falling off and a few scratch marks...cool!
• Membros confirms my assumption that Karza has merged the Ministries into the Ministry of War after defeating Daegon.
• So...yeah...the scene with Acroyear's mask being torn off will haunt my nightmares for a few months!
• Also, I think the green Acroyear is meant to be Commander Raith, but since they all look the same, I can't be certain yet (I'll still name him that in the character list though)
• More information regarding the Entropy Cloud is given, it basically keeps everything it has consumed within it, waiting for something to happen to all of it. Also the Time Travelers are destined to fail in stopping the one member of theirs who created the Cloud, which is why they need someone else to stop him and save Microspace.
• Amongst Karza's views through reality he sees a child playing with toys of Karza and Daegon fighting, wearing a Rom T-Shirt, which confuses him. This is likely a view into a Quadwal universe (real world) and I hope are signs of new toys to come :D
• The Autobots and Micronauts are shown to be the only groups to have actually been captured by Karza's troops, with the other heroes to Earth just being disabled for the time being.

IDW - Till All Are One #11

Title: If I Know You

Written by: Mairghread Scott

Art by: Sara Pitre-Durocher

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Blast Off assures Onslaught that despite some minor memory loss, the team are fine, and he should just ask him to fill in any gaps. Starscream arrives to see how his bodyguards are doing, and offers them a rest to get over their injuries. Outside, a doctor asks him to come with him as he has an issue to discuss with him.

Starscream is immediately annoyed when he finds that the doctor wants to discuss Windblade, whom is currently comatose, and written off as dead by Stascream, however the doctor corrects him that Windblade isn't dead, but rather her body is housing two minds at the moment, which both of them determine to be Vigilem. The doctor wants to have Starscream's permission to look for another surgeon to look at her, but Starscream refuses, not wanting people to see her as the hero who saved Cybertron, when that is what he's trying to do, so he leaves.

Outside the room, the "ghost" of Bumblebee appears and snaps at Starscream for not admitting that he wants to help Windblade, since he knows it's a lie, since he keeps thinking about her. Starscream screams at Bumblebee that he's doing this because he has to be alone, because any time he's ever tried to do otherwise, life has taken it all away from him, and even demands that Bumblebee leaves too. This outburst draws the attention of the medical staff, but he ignores them, now noticing that Bumblebee has indeed now left him alone....

In her comatose mind, Windblade flies away from the manifestation of Vigilem, who is tearing through the cityscape that forms her mind, he dismisses her efforts to evade him, and points out that when the city is all gone, then so will her life. At this, Windblade fights back and attacks the Titan, growing in size and power to match him, however the Titan fights back and messes with her mind, making her believe that if they work together they can overthrow Starscream, due to his clear madness, he even brings up how Windblade has compromised her strong morals in the past, hiding Chromia's murders, bribing Starscream, manipulating Navitas, and even spying on Starscream and his crew and seems to make her think....

Back in the waking world, Starscream goes on with his life, but becomes unnerved by the lack of Bumblebee. Soon, Onslaught and Blast Off arrive, having finished their guarding jobs for him for the day, so Onslaught heads off. Blast Off is left alone with Starscream and Blast Off insists on seeing Swindle, who Starscream has kept hidden still, despite his freedom being a part of their deal. Surprisingly Starscream agrees!

In her secret lab, Airachnid is patching up a newly revived Swindle, whom she has managed to fix. This cheers up Blast Off, and he has a chat with his long lost friend. Whilst the Combaticons are talking, Starscream asks Airachnid about Windblade's case, as she has made herself familiar with it, and explains that due to Camien and Titan mind signals being similar it will require another mind to join with them to destroy the remains of Vigilem, allowing Windblade to wake up, however by doing so it will put added stress on her brain, risking all three minds in the process.

That night, Starscream is in his hab-suite telling himself that he won't do this as it is stupid, but soon realizes that he NEEDS Windblade, as she is a public figure that people like, and this will help him in the long run. He tells the nothingness around him that he hates it...to which a shadowy figure of Bumblebee replies that he knows....

Characters

Autobot

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet Comatose

Bumblebee - Car Hallucination

Chromia - Speedbike (Flashback)

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Metroplex - Iacon City (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Onslaught - Anti-Aircraft Tank

Blast Off - Jet

Swindle - Van

Brawl - Tank (Mentioned)

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Rattrap - Mole Rat

Windblade's Doctor

Medical Staff

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Airachnid - Spider

Vigilem - Carcer Starship Trapped in Windblade's mind

Mistress of Flame (Flashback)

Windblade's Training Partner (Flashback)

Windblade's Teacher (Flashback)

Solus Prime (Mentioned) Dead

Liege Maximo (Mentioned)

Elita One (Mentioned)

Chromia's Victims (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• This issue begins where the previous issue leaves off, with Onslaught and Blast Off holding hands
• The medical staff featured in this issue all share a colour scheme with Ratchet, Ambulon, First Aid and Pharma, further showing the "uniform" of the Cybertronian medical staff, though one of these guys seems to turn into a tank....YIKES!
• Windblade's confusing status since her melding with Vigilem is revealed now, she is in a comatose state due to Vigilem downloading himself into her brain just before his death.
• Bumblebee's sudden vanishing, and latter reappearance, complete with a shadow, is likely because of the recent revelation in the Transformers Annual that he is still alive in the Crystal City, stuck in the singularity in the Rust Sea.
• Though saying that, I still hope this is just Centurion coming to Cybertron to mess with Starscream's head :D
• As Windblade fights with the Vigilem construct in her mind, she gains extra adornments that somewhat resembles her Combiner Hunters version, but with extra tassels and pins.
• Similarly Vigilem changes into a darker version of Windblade, but with a flame effect instead of her headdress...I smell a repaint!!!!
• Windblade's old teacher during her flashbacks looks a little like the Animated version of Rodimus
• The cityscape in her mind looks like how Cybertron did before the reformatting of the planet...why does Windblade have this image in her mind? (From what we've seen of it, Caminus looks very different).
• Swindle sure looks perky for a guy who was shot in the chest and was braindead for like a year or two huh?
• Airachnid knows about Starscream's "hallucinations" but Starscream appears to not want her to remove him...guess he wants his little angel on the shoulder.

Sig Pub - Rescue Bots #2

Notes

• Due to a combination of it taking me three weeks or so to find this issue, and the lack of a date for the next one, I have a feeling this series could be ending relatively soon....
• The screen-cap comic for this issue is of "Under Pressure"

Features

Optimus Prime Door Hanger - Destroy the cover to make a cardstock door hanger!

Meet the Rescue Bots! - Brief info on the main Rescue Bots

Find out about Fire Vehicles with Heatwave - Learn about fire trucks and stuff!

Bumblebee's Brilliant Brain Busters! - Puzzles with Bumblebee

Blades' Race - Lead Blades through a maze

Trash Total - Count bins with Salvage.....seriously....

Find the Bot! - Identify the Rescue Bot based on small images given.

Four Page Colouring! - Four pages of colouring!!! Whooo!!!

Spot the Differences - Play spot the difference!!

Rescue Bots Post - There's more creepy artwork by children...I expect to find Slenderman soon...

Chase Pairs - Find the odd chase out.

Boulder Begins with B - Learn about the letter B with Boulder...

Rescue in the Forest - Complete the story using the pictures

Competition Time - Do contests to win some Rescue Bot toys!

IDW - Lost Light #7

Title: After Megatron (A Dissolution Epilogue)

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Inks by: John Wycough

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Following their return from the Functionist Universe, the Transformers on Necroworld are recovering from their recent adventures and hardships. Rung is told about how his counterpart was a figurehead, Anode reveals her secrets to the newly reborn Lug, and Nightbeat questions how Brainstorm managed to move the entire world to another universe.

Before long, Rodimus calls for a meeting at Megatron's now inactive statue plinth and announces that one of the dead Decepticons is able to turn into a space ship, so they're going to force him into vehicle mode, mass displace him, and pilot him to a space port, before heading off in a new ship to go after the Lost Light. Everyone seems okay with the plan, despite it involving the mutilation of a corpse. Following the meeting, Drift and Ratchet notice that the crew seem a little more relaxed now that Megatron is gone.

Minimus Ambus visits the medibay, where he learns that Kaput has taken on Fangry, now recovered from his Tailgate-inflicted injuries, and reveals to the spark doctor that the Ultra Magnus armour isn't working any more.

Outside, Tailgate is using his super strength to reconfigure the dead Decepticon, Skip, into his ship mode, when Cyclonus appears and wants to talk to him, however, to Cyclonus' surprise, Tailgate doesn't want to spend time with him, citing his experience with Getaway manipulating him as the reason...

Kaput spends a while examining Ambus, who says that he can wear the suit, but it won't move any more, which he believes was caused during the trip to Cybertron. Kaput cannot find anything noticeably wrong with Ambus, but is interrupted by Rodimus calling him, reminding him that he's late for the ship inspection, leading the Autobot to run off.

At the ship-site, Roller is throwing Lug into the air for fun, with Anode and Nautica watching, both happy to see the newly revived Lug seeming to have her old memories, up to her time of death. Anode inquires about Nautica's new eye patch, but Nautica dismisses it as Kaput having already looked at it.

Rodimus calls out to the crew that they are planning to leave within minutes...

Cyclonus finds Tailgate and tells him that it's time to head off, but Tailgate states that he wants to remain behind, and wants Cyclonus to leave without him. Cyclonus protests this decision, but Tailgate tries to ignore him, and even tries to return the phial of innermost energon that Cyclonus gave him when he was near-death, which Cyclonus refuses to take, allowing it to fall to the floor...#

Rodimus drags an immobile Ultra Magnus inside the Skip ship, where he learns that Ambus attempted to use the suit again, and is now trapped inside it, unable to do anything. Magnus gives a half-assed inspection of the ship, and Rodimus recognizes that Magnus misses Megatron, so he admits to the larger Autobot that Megatron was a good guy, who just made some bad life decisions. On hearing this, Magnus snaps and denounces Megatron as a monster who used them, and left the second he had the chance to, never realizing that the suit has started to work for him again.

Drift enquires as to what happened, and Rodimus explains that Magnus' suit uses a neural signature interface, so with Ambus being so conflicted over his "friend" Megatron "betraying" them, it messed with him, so Rodimus pushed him over the edge by making him snap over the betrayal, admitting that he doesn't really forgive Megatron after all.

As the ship begins to take off (following another proper inspection by Magnus), Cyclonus sits alone, and begins to self-harm again, only to be stopped by Whirl, who sits silently with him..

Outside, Tailgate and  Kaput watch the ship take off, when Kaput reveals to Tailgate that Cyclonus came to see him before take off, and asked him to treat Tailgate's self-inflicted wounds for him. Kaput then suggests that he could try some procedures to power down Tailgate, allowing him to be safe again.

After a few days of tests, Kaput has set up an isolation chamber deep into the planet's surface, and plans to have Tailgate placed in there for six months and hit with Neutronic Radiation, which is normally fatal, but due to his abnormal spark, he COULD be fine.

Tailgate enters the chamber, and prepares to be locked in, but before the chamber is sealed off, he hears Fangry's voice over the intercom into the chamber. He has killed Kaput, and has reset the lock-down settings, changing the time period from six months to SIX MILLION YEARS, all as revenge for Tailgate humiliating him before. Fangry buries the chamber, and enough time passes for grass and flowers to grow over the chamber.....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Minimus Ambus/Ultra Magnus - Minesweeper/Vehicle Transport

Drift - Car

Ratchet - Ambulance

Velocity - Race Car

Nautica - Submarine

Kaput Killed by Fangry

Tailgate - Car Trapped in Isolation Chamber by Fangry

Rung - Photonic Crystal Generator

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Swerve - Van

Brainstorm - Jet

Nightbeat - Car

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned) Left in Functionist Universe

Getaway - Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Fangry - Winged Wolf

Rapidfire - Off Road Vehicle

Skip - Spaceship Dead, body used as ship for Team Rodimus

Deathsaurus - Dragon (Mentioned)

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned) Dead

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Anode - Bi-Plane

Lug - Backpack Equipment

Roller - Truck

Ten

Censere (Mentioned) Dead

The Functionists (Mentioned)

Functionist Rung - Photonic Crystal Generator (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• Considering how they haven't mentioned contacting Cybertron again so far, I'm starting to wonder if Brainstorm's teleporting trick actually worked, or if Necroworld was sent to some other universe?
• Rung was shown to be feeling a bit worthless whilst Rodimus and his crew were on Cybertron, so Rewind and Chromedome telling him how he was an idol on that version of their planet will certainly reinvigorate his feelings again.
• So...Lug grew up really fast huh? Considering the crew are said to have been there for seven days now, they arrived there, stayed overnight before the battle with the DJD, then had the last storyline take place over about 2 days, so I guess Lug took three or four days to fully develop...that's quick!!
• Megatron's statue being "turned off" is likely due to him being in another universe, and thus the Necrobot's computer's cannot pick him up any more.
• Kaput's comments on Estriol Positive being a discredited spark type is a joke regarding how Nautica was originally mentioned as having that same spark type, before it was changed in the trade version (and canon in general) as potentially being offensive.
• Tailgate's question on how difficult it is to turn a hand into a thruster seems to be addressed to the toy collecting audience...I can't tell you how many times I have screamed at Mach Kick and other awkward figures for being too hard to transform.
• Nautica's eye was damaged when the Rodpod was destroyed, she spent the last few issues of MTMTE with half of her face missing in fact, though she says it's okay, and why would she lie about that?
• Amongst the Transformers who have left Necroworld on Rodimus' new mission are Anode, Ultra Magnus, Cyclonus, Rewind, Chromedome, Drift, Ratchet and Whirl. I'd assume that Lug would tag along with Anode too, and the "next issue" teaser shows us Nautica as well. So given Rodimus' estimate of about 20 bots fitting inside the shuttle there are still nine unidentified crew members.
• Cyclonus is shown scratching himself seemingly out of grief for his "fight" with Tailgate, he was shown doing something similar when he learned that Tailgate was dying at the end of MTMTE season one.
• It's implied that Whirl's unseen conversation with Tailgate from earlier in the series was him telling him about him hurting Cyclonus when he was recharging, which is also why Tailgate has been avoiding Cyclonus recently, out of fear for hurting him further.
• Tailgate's fate at the end of this issue brings his story full circle so far, where he is trapped under the surface of a planet for (seemingly) six million years...lets hope he causes an explosion and half kills Whirl again soon, or he'll be missed!
• So...Kaput lasted a long time didn't he?! What's it been? 2-4 issues?
• I wonder if Kaput's body has been hidden by Fangry? Is he smart enough to know to hide the body, or would he just assume no-one would notice he was dead...or missing....isn't he one of the main doctors on the planet now!?

Sig Pub - Robots in Disguise #21

Notes

• This issue's screen-cap comic is of Decepticon Island Part 2, aka the mid season two finale.
• Amongst the free gifts this month was a "mini-mag" for The Last Knight, which was just a bunch of puzzles akin to the ones in the main comic
• Also as a freebie we got an excerpt book of the new "The Battle of Optimus Prime" book. This book is the same story as "The Trials of Optimus Prime" but includes a load of new images, which I guess will also be true for the full release...I may have to get it just for that...
• Also we got a "Decepticon Catcher Bumblebee" figure, who has a mighty stick to deal with the Decepticon...yes....a STICK!
• A small moan, but Drift's Mini-Cons aren't featured in the poster, despite the rest of the main cast being showcased

Features

Make an Autobot Money Box - Destroy the cover to make a money box....JUST BUY ONE FROM POUNDLAND KIDS!!

Bumblebee's the Best - Look at some propaganda about why Bee is the Best Bot! (It's Nightbeat though...)

Battle of the Bots - Strongarm vs Saberhorn profiles

Drift Differences - Play spot the difference with Drift

Prime Puzzles - Do some puzzles!

ID Parade - Identify Decepticons based on eye witness testimonies

Poster - Poster featuring the main cast of season two

Comic Investigator - Did you read the comic? WELL HERE'S A TEST ANYWAY!!

Colour in Steeljaw - Take a wild guess!

Puzzling Prizes - Solve some puzzles, then enter some contests for toys!

Observation Test - Look for specific images in the given picture

Transformers Post - Fixit showcases artwork and photos

Grimlock Race - Solve the maze puzzle with 30 seconds! (It gives the answer though, so...yeah...)