IDW - Micronauts: Wrath of Karza #4

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

Oz and his crew have captured Mebros and begin interrogating him to find out what is happening here. They learn that Acroyear has been taken to be reconditioned to rejoin Karza's forces, and that they are actually inside a prison facility that is orbiting Earth, which is also holding the larger Cybertronian prisoners as well. Biotron hacks into the prison's computers and locates where the other prisoners are, and even locates where the ship that shot down the Heliopolis is, and that it's crew is still aboard...

On Earth, Karza is leading the battle against the Earth's military, and despite their tiny sizes, their sheer numbers are overwhelming the Humans almost to defeat. Commander Raith rejoins Karza, and reports that Acroyear has been reconditioned and assigned to a new fleet. Karza is pleased, but begins to wonder where his wife is...

Inside her workshop, Shazraella is working on a new suit of armour, where she is approached by the last Time Traveler, where he convinces her to join forces with him, but she promises that if he leads her astray then she will come after him.

Back at the prison, the crew of the Sharkos are hanging out in their rec room, when they are attacked by Omegatron, who has been smuggled aboard by the still threatened Membros. Membros uses Omegatron's attack on his crew as a distraction, and flees whilst he is busy, and mutilates the entire crew, bar Centauros. The centaur-creature tries to avenge his dead crewmates, but is himself killed by the newly arrived Larissa. Oz and the others take command of the ship, and launch it towards Karza for a final confrontation.

Karza notices the Sharkos as Raith and Membros' crews ship, and realizes that something is wrong, so he has Raith shoot it down. Oz and his crew leave the ship and begin battling against Karza and Raith. Karza prepares to have more troops aid him, but Oz reveals that they freed the Transformers, and they are currently taking down the bulk of the army. The Acroyear swarm arrives and prepare to battle, however Acroyear, amongst the numbers appears and reveals that the Conditioning failed, and he now controls the entire Acroyear Swarm.

Not one to be outdone, Karza pushes a button and deactivates the Swarm, leaving both sides to just a few fighters. Acroyear lunges at Raith and the two of them fall off the platform to battle alone, and Karza is left to face Oz and his Micronauts alone....except..he is never truly alone. Shazraella appears, fully armoured up and infused with the powers of the last Time Traveler!

To be concluded!!

Characters

Micronaut

Oziron Rael

Larissa

Phenolo-Phi

Acroyear

Biotron

Microtron

Alphatron

Betatron

Gammatron

Omegatron

Ministry of War

Baron Karza-Micronus Prime Fusion

Lady Shazraella Enerchanged with Time Traveler

Commander Raith

Membros

Centauros Killed by Larissa

Antron Killed by Omegatron

Lobros Killed by Omegatron

Kronos Killed by Omegatron

New Acroyear Swarm Defected to Micronauts, Disabled by Karza

Giant Acroyear

Other Microspace Denizens

Time Traveler (Voice Only) Enerchanged into Shazraella's Body

The Emperor (Mentioned) Dethroned

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Arcee - Sports Car

Jazz - Sports Car

Notes

• This is the penultimate issues of this Mini-Series, leading into the First Strike One-Shot, and then the post-First Strike rebranding series of "Rom and the Micronauts"...YAY!!! My favourite two non-Transformers IDW products!
• Despite seemingly being Enerchanged with Micronus' body still, Karza appears to be smaller than the first time we saw this body (he towered over Optimus and the Autobots before, but is now only about twice the size of an Acroyear here. This imples that Micronus has the ability to mass-shift, which Karza is tapping into.
• The name of the ship used by Membros' team is the Sharkos....we learn this just before it gets shot down! YAY!
• Hey...where is the Time Mask? Is it a coincidence that he has vanished now, and the evil Time Traveler has just appeared to Shazraella? Hmmm?
• Despite his emotional outburst when he thought that Larissa was dead, he doesn't seem to care that she is alive here...he even seems to be unmoved when he thinks she is going to die when she gets knocked off the platform.
• The Autobots being able to just shove the Microspace vehicles to one side just really shows how easy this war should have been....in other words....WHERE IS VICTORION?!?! JUST GRAVITATE THEM INTO A BALL OF MUSH!!
• It appears that the Giant Acroyears, seen a couple of times in the past, are formed by various Acroyears Enerchanging together into this larger form.
• So....how did Acroyear a) resist his reconditioning and b) manage to take control of ALL the Ministry of War Acroyears...it hasn't been that long has it?!
• Also, Karza just turns off all of his Acroyears. we learned before that these newer ones are mostly machine now, so I'm not questioning that, but how does he intend to take over the Earth with the largest chunk of his army now gone?
• Shazraella's armour appears to be the same one that Larissa used in her flashforwards and future self from the Annual issue. (It is also of course based on Karza's own armour)
• The preview for the next issue asks us "who will make the ultimate sacrifice?". Well considering Shazraella is a part of the Ironblood Alliance of Evil, with no sign of Karza, and his invasion seemingly not coming to anything afterwards, it seems likely that Karza will sacrifice himself to save with Shazraella or Larissa in some way.

IDW - Rom #12

Main Story Title: Long Roads to Ruin, Part 2

Art by: David Messina

Inks: Michele Pasta

Tales of the Solstar Order Title: Battle Scars, Part 2

Pencils by: Guy Dorian Sr.

Inks by: Sal Buscema

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage and Chris Ryall

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis 

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Edited by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Rom and Livia are being strangled by the Dire Wraiths under water, but the two Knights are able to break free and utilize their armour and Neutralizers to chase off the Wraiths. The two Knights give chase deeper into the ocean, as Livia has located them inside an underwater cave system.

Meanwhile in Rhode Island, Darby has returned home from her mission with the now dead Ruan, and plans out a letter to her grandmother before she leaves, in order to keep her last family member safe. Darby laments over the severed Knight arm that she has been left with, and tries it on, when the armour seals onto her arm and activates. Darby's grandmother comes into the room to see what is happening, and Darby activates the armour's Analyzer by accident and it shows her that she is indeed a human and not a Wraith. This excited Draby, as she now has a way to identify the Wraiths and finally help Rom in his fight against them.

Back in the ocean, Livia locates a whirlpool, where Charybdis grabs her and holds her prisoner. Rom goes to save her, but another Wraith, identifying herself as Scylla approaches him and shoots out an ink-like substance that disables him for a short while.

Eventually Rom reactivates his armour and goes after Livia. He quickly locates her, still being strangled by Charybdis, and despite his efforts to free her, the Wraith drains her of her energy, and the light goes out of her eyes  as Rom embraces her seemingly dead body....

Battle Scars Part 2

Rom and Fy-Laa flow over the gelatinous planet of Verdulun-5, and the planet, itself a living organism, who absorbs hostile entities that land upon it, and takes on their positive traits, whilst removing all the bad. Some Dire Wraiths arrived there some time ago, and it absorbed them, which is why it now registers as one itself. 

Fy-Laa is convinced that due to it absorbing the Wraiths, and even purifying his own armour before, they should try to use the planet to peacefully resolve the war with the Wraiths. Rom would like to agree, but Rom cannot allow a planet that is teaming with Wraiths, like this one technically is to continue to exist, and risk spreading the infestation further. Fy-laa tries to make Rom understand that they are not a threat, and Rom catches that Fy-Laa included himself within that group...

Fy-Laa has been absorbed by the planet too, and is part of their hive mind too!

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom

Livia Seemingly Killed by Charybdis

Fy-Laa (Tales Only) Mind Absorbed into Verdulun-5 

Orphion (Mentioned)

Dire Wraith

Charybdis

Scylla

Verdulun-5 (Tales Only)

Random Wraiths (Tales Only, Flashback) Absorbed into Verdulun-5

Human

Darby Mason Severed Knight Arm attached to her's

Gandma Gay-Lyn Mason

Fisherman

Fisherman's Father

Notes

• The two sea-bound Dire Wraiths are named Scylla (the multi-headed crustacean one) and Charybdis (the squid one). The former gets named, and identified as a female here, but the latter is left unnamed.
• Both Rom and Livia show their armour's ability to adapt to different atmospheres and pressures here, by changing their armour to better suit swimming, this also explains their ability to fly in space with ease.
• Let me just take a wild guess here, Darby is going to slowly have armour grow around her from the severed arm she is now wielding, and she will eventually become Rom's new partner as a Cadet of the Solstar Order.
• We get full confirmation that Darby's grandmother is not a Dire Wraith
• So Livia sure seems to die here....and for once we haven't had any spoilers for future set stories to spoil her surviving it, so she very well could be! Wow!
• Considering how Verdulun-5 fully absorbed the Dire Wraiths in it's flashback, it's likely that Fy-Laa was  also absorbed, leaving just his suit behind here, and the planet itself is controlling it...either that or mind control or whatever. It's pretty much sure that he's dead by now anyway.

TFNation - Animated: Trial & Error

Script: Chris McFeely and Jim Sorenson

Cover Art: Josh Perez

Chapter One Art and SFX by: Ed Pirrie

Chapter Two Art by: Herzspalter, Colour Assist from Nathalie Suter

Chapter Three Art by: Gavin Spence

Lettering by: Andrew Turnbull

Plot

At the Metroplex in Iacon, Alpha Trion has called Sari Sumdac as well as some of her Autobot allies, along with her father, to a meeting to discuss the situation with the Allspark. Whilst he is glad that the Allspark has returned to Earth, and under Autobot custody, he is worried that due to it missing several shards, due to being used to create several Transformers on Earth, it is not at full power. He wants Sari to go to the Well of Allsparks to return the Allspark to it, and restore it to full power, due to her noted natural affinity with it. Isaac Sumdac is at first upset with this idea, but agrees when Sari simply states that she has to do this, as she can feel something calling to her. Bumblebee and Bulkhead join her as her bodyguards, which Trion agrees to.

Meanwhile at the Fortress Maximus, Sentinel has officially announced Megatron's trial as a public event, that will be televised across the planet. Optimus is unsure about how this will go down, but Sentinel is sure he can handle any possible insurgencies caused by this with the help of his new Powermaster armour, and he has some plans for how to render Megatron helpless during the trial as well.

At Trypticon Prison, Megatron is musing in his cell, following the failed rescue attempt by Team Stunticon, leading to their imprisonment too. Megatron gets the attention of one of the Mini-Con guards and requests to send out a message...

Sari and her group are led to the foot of Metroplex, where a tunnel will lead them directly towards the Well, during their goodbyes, Alpha Trion receives a message that distracts him and the groups split up. Sari is in good spirits to finally travel to the centre of Cybertron and learn who she really is...until some time passes and she gets bored in the long tunnels. Along the way, Bulkhead finds some etchings on the walls that explains the story of how the Allspark was a holy object that creates Cybertronians, and was one day placed into a contained, built by a powerful individual using a hammer that fell from the skies, and became the symbol of the Cybertronian leader, aka, the Magnus. Bumblebee interjects that the story is just a fairy-tale that was made up to show how strong the Autobots are. Bulkhead keeps on reading, and learns that the primitive Cybertronians created Centurion Droids to guard the Well from anyone who may want to harm it, including the monsters in the tunnels. Bumblebee dismisses the idea of monsters in the tunnels...until one appears behind them and attacks the group!

Elsewhere, at the Metroplex, Optimus Prime has been summoned by Alpha Trion on Megatron's request for him to act as his defendant, due to him being honourable and Megatron not trusting Sentinel to fairly conduct the trial. Though wary of the decision, the two Autobots agree to this request. At the Fortress Maximus, Sentinel is talking with a mysterious individual over the communicator, when he is interrupted by Cliffjumper informing him about Optimus' appointment as Megatron's defendant. He screams loud enough to interrupt the protestors below his office (they're unhappy with how the Decepticon prisoners are being treated)

Back in the tunnels, Sari and the others encounter another monster, and are trapped in a large spider-web. Soon, Blackarachnia appears along with Waspinator, and reveals that the two monsters are two of her new Predacons, Inferno and Antagony. Sari questions how she survived the transwarp explosion that seemed to kill her on Dinobot Island. Blackarachnia doesn't go into too much detail, but explains that she got the attention of the Decepticons by using residual transwarp energy from Waspinator's body. Arachnia plans to experiment on Sari to explore her technorganic origins to further her own research, but Sari uses her blades to free herself and the Autobots from the web, and run away...right into a chamber filled with Centurion Droids guarding the Well of Allsparks!

At the Jekka Amphitheatre, Sentinel begins the trial of Megatron, and reveals his plan to humiliate the Decepticon leader, by having him carted in on a pedestal, reduced to only his head. Alpha Trion reads Megatron a list of the crimes he is being tried for, and he declares himself as "Not Guilty". Sentinel screams at Megatron for his plea of innocence, and starts calling witnesses against the Decepticon...

In the Well Chamber, the Centurions prepare to attack the Autobots to defend the Well from attackers, but stop when they see Sari is carrying the Allspark, and declare their loyalty to her. The Predacons enter the chamber, and the Centurions attack them, in order to protect both the Allspark and it's bearer. Sari and the Autobots run towards the Well's inner chamber, whilst the Predacons are distracted.

They enter the inner chamber, and the Allspark reacts to the Well, and levitates itself into the Well. After a few seconds of nothing happening, the ghost of Prowl appears from the Well, and thanks Sari for what she just did, then shares the Allspark's power with her and the other Autobots to show her why she was created. The Allspark can see through history and knows everything that will ever happen, so it sent a special Protoform, designed to perfectly mimic humans when it was touched by one, and was able to access the full powers of the Allspark itself, to Earth as it knew it would eventually wind up there. Prowl fades back into the Allspark, but issues one last mission from it to Sari and the others...

Back at the trial, the witnesses, aka the inner-circle Decepticons, are declaring how Megatron will conquer Cybertron, and are making it so much harder for Optimus to defend him. Optimus eventually gets his turn to call witnesses, which Optimus simply calls one, Megatron himself.

Megatron addresses the court and paints himself as a freedom fighter against the oppressive Autobots, and claims that all of his actions were to protect Cybertron. The crowd appears to be wavering to his way of thinking, which Optimus suddenly realizes was Megatron's plan all along, to corrupt a younger generation of Cybertronians who never experienced the war, and to ensure Optimus made it happen

Trion calls for order in the court, but Megatron comments that it was long enough. Optimus notices this, as well as a beeping sound from Sentinel's wrist, just as one of the walls cave in, and Team Chaar, led by Strika, break in. The Autobots charge against them, whilst Sentinel sneaks away to get into his Powermaster armour, only to be disabled by Scalpel slicing into his neck and disabling him.

With Sentinel disabled, Strika has the rest of the team release a new body for Megatron, which he is attached to by Scalpel, greatly pleasing the Decepticon....

Inside Omega Supreme, Ratchet is too preoccupied on watching the trial on the monitors to notice that Cyclonus has entered the medical bay, and is heading towards Ultra Magnus, planning to kill the Autobot's true leader.

Megatron tears through the Autobots with his new triple changer body, leading to the Autobots being outpowered, and the remaining Decepticon prisoners being freed and joining the battle. Suddenly the Autbots, Predacons, Centurions and Sari from the tunnel are plonked into the court, having been teleported there by the Allspark. Sari is now fused with Allspark power, and shares a vision into the past with everyone present. Sentinel was contacted by Strika earlier, claiming to want Megatron executed during his trial, so she can take full command of the Decepticons, then Sentinel can "defeat" them using his new armour to be the hero for all of Cybertron. Which he agreed to.

In the aftermath of this revelation, the Autobots pretty much disown Sentinel, and Megatron gloats on his inevitable victory, however Optimus has taken the Powermaster armour, and wears it himself (much to Sentinel's horror), with the Magnus Hammer in hand to boot. Optimus and Megatron lead their respective armies in a final battle to decide Cybertron's fate once and for all.

Sari slips away to get to Omega Supreme, where she exposes Cyclonus' assassination attempt before he is successful, having been warned of it by the Allspark, she uses her new powers to recreate the Allspark Key and uses it to power up Ratchet, allowing him to overpower and blast Cyclonus out of the ship.

The battle at the court is fairly even, however Sari arrives to help out Optimus, she uses her abilities to superchange the Magnus Hammer, which exudes the Allspark energy throughout it, and Optimus, allowing Optimus to charge at Megatron, and cleave his head back off the Triple Changer body, defeating him, and dissuading the other Decepticons...

Some time later, the defeated Decepticons have been captured, and forced to work in the Nucleon mines, Megatron, still just a head, is under heavy guard and Alpha Trion has been named the new interim-Magnus. Sentinel has been demoted and removed from the Elite Guard, and now works as a repair-bot with Hosehead, Nightbeat and Siren, who are driving him mad. Optimus has been given Sentinel's old position in the Guard, and Sari is now the official liaison to the Allspark.

Optimus visits Ultra Magnus to tell him all about this, but just as he goes to leave...Ultra Magnus wakes up, and says that he was wrong when he told Optimus that he wasn't a hero...

The End.

Characters

Autobot

Ultra Magnus - Missile Truck Comes off Life Support

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Sentinel (Magnus) - Cybertronian Truck Loses Rank

Alpha Trion

Bumblebee - Hatchback

Bulkhead - SWAT Van

Ratchet - Ambulance

Prowl - Police Motorcycle Dead, Part of Allspark

Jazz - Sports Car

Arcee - Sports Car

Rodimus Prime - Car

Ironhide - Treaded Vehicle

Red Alert - Ambulance

Brawn - Treaded Vehicle

Hot Shot - Car

Jetfire - Jet

Jetstorm - Jet

Safeguard - Jet Twin Combiner

Perceptor - Mobile Laboratory

Wheeljack - Race Car

Cliffjumper - Car

Autotrooper - Treaded Vehicle

Horsepower - Motorcycle

Sparkride - Motorcycle

Omega Supreme - Starship Orion

Dug Base - Mobile Platform

Leader-1

Grindor

High Wire

Jackpot - Car

Ransack - Motorcycle

Rattletrap - Motorcycle

Scrounge - Wheel

Lickety-Split - Motor-Trike

Lightbright - Hovercraft

Seaspray - Hovercraft

Wheelie - Car

Moscardo - Car

Tap-Out - Car

Mirage - Race Car

Tracks - Car

Botanica - Car

Glyph - Car

Warpath - Radar Tank

Chase - Car

Cosmos - Mobile Observatory

Rosanna

Sedan - Car

Ferak - Car

Star Upper

Dai Atlas

Chromia - Motorcycle

Hosehead - Snow Plough Pick Up Truck

Nightbeat - Sports Car

Siren - Hatchback

Cybertron Civilians/Crowd Filler

Powered Convoy Magnus - Armoured Vehicle (Flashback Only)

Wreck-Gar - Garbage Truck (Allspark Vision Only)

Blurr - Race Car (Allspark Vision Only)

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Allspark Vision Only)

Snarl - Triceratops (Allspark Vision Only)

Swoop - Pternodon (Allspark Vision Only)

Shattered Glass Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Allspark Vision Only)

Shattered Glass Bumblebee - Hatchback (Allspark Vision Only)

Decepticon - All implied to be incarcerated by end

Megatron - Tank/Jet, Formerly Osprey Helicopter Incarcerated

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Lugnut - Bomber Plane

Shockwave - Tank/Crane/Lomgarm

Strika - Battle Tank

Oil Slick - Motorcycle

Cyclonus - Space Jet

Sky-Byte - Bomber Plane

Scalpel

Mindwipe

Blot - Treaded Vehicle

The Motor Master - Truck

Drag Strip - Sports Car

Wildrider - Muscle Car

Dead End - Sports Car

Breadown - Race Car

Toxitron - Truck

Reflector - Light Cannon (Flashback Only)

Straxus - Jet (Flashback Only)

Starscream - Harrier Jet (Allspark Vision Only)

Slipstream - Harrier Jet (Allspark Vision Only)

Ramjet - Harrier Jet (Allspark Vision Only)

Skywarp - Harrier Jet (Allspark Vision Only)

Sunstorm - Harrier Jet (Allspark Vision Only)

Swindle - SUV (Allspark Vision Only)

Soundwave - Van (Allspark Vision Only)

Dirt Boss - Fork Lift Truck (Allspark Vision Only)

Scrapper - Excavator (Allspark Vision Only)

Mixmaster - Bulldozer-Mixing Truck (Allspark Vision Only)

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt (Allspark Vision Only)

Predacon - All implied to be incarcerated by end

Blackarachnia - Spider

Waspinator - Wasp

Inferno - Wasp

Antagony - Wasp

Other Cybertronian

Sari Sumdac - Young Human Woman

Centurion Droids

Primitive Cybertronians (Carvings Only)

Lockdown - Muscle Car (Allspark Vision Only)

Shattered Glass Sari Sumdac - Young Human Woman (Allspark Vision Only)

Human

Isaac Sumdac

Master Disaster (Allspark Vision Only)

Headmaster (Allspark Vision Only)

Slo-Mo (Allspark Vision Only)

Professor Princess (Allspark Vision Only)

Angry Archer (Allspark Vision Only)

Nanosec (Allspark Vision Only)

Porter C. Powell (Allspark Vision Only)

Meltdown (Allspark Vision Only)

Other

A Rocklord (Allspark Vision Only)

Kremzeek (Allspark Vision Only)

Notes

• This is a non-canon comic made for TFNation 2017 to help conclude the Animated TV series. It also has visual references to previous follow-up comics/stories, The Stunti-Con Job and The Return of Blurr.
• This comic utilizes some plans and concepts for the fourth season of Animated, a lot of which could be found in the Allspark Almanac books.
• This story is introduced by Vector Prime, simply explaining that he wanted to finally give some resolution to this universe. This design was made by Andrew Turnbull, the letterer for this comic.
• The new Centurion Droids were designed by Cover Artist, Josh Perez
• The two new Predacons, Antagony and Inferno, as well as Blackarachnia's new colour-scheme were first shown in the Almanacs
• One big difference in this comic to the information from the Almanac is that Ultra Magnus was going to eventually succumb to his injuries, but here he manages to survive.
• In the original plan, Megatron's trial would have been interrupted by Trypticon Prison being launched into space and towards Earth, leading to his experimentations with Blackarachnia to create his new Triple Changer body. This was fast-tracked here of course.
• The new Powermaster armour, which can be used by both Optimus and Sentinel is a detail lifted from the plans for the franchise from the Almanacs, though here we actually see it in full colour rather than a resin prototype.
• Unnamed here, the figure shown in the flashback to early Cybertron is Powered Convoy Magnus, the precursor to Ultra Magnus.
• The rat seen in the sewers is based on the Special Edition Japanese Metals Rattle (Rattrap) toy
• Quite a lot of the crowd-filler characters are generics, which seems a bit odd, since a lot of characters from the Almanacs didn't appear in this book, including most of the multitudes of Bumblebee mould-mates
• Amongst the crowd-fillers is a white Bumblebee remould with long ears. I'm not sure why, but I get a Ferak vibe from him, and so I will name him that! :D
• The flashback to Omega Supreme during the war is based on a planned scene from Transwarped that was scrapped, where Straxus and Reflector were due to appear too.
• The view into time from the Allspark shows us a few more aborted plot lines, including the Constructicons working on creating the Devastator Combiner, the Shattered Glass Animated Universe, and even the line up of the Autobots on Earth for Season Four (Ironhide, Elite Guard Bumblebee and Ratchet, all in new colours)
• Prowl returning as an Allspark ghost was also a planned plot point too, though he would have possessed other Allspark-powered Transformers in the series proper
• Megatron's new Triple Changer mode was first shown in the Allspark Almanac as well, in the series it would have been made by studying Blitzwing, but removing the insanity part, but here it was just gifted to him by Blackarachnia. His head was based on his first Beast Machines body
• The epilogue gives us a nice little bit of vengeance for Optimus, he swaps ranks with Sentinel, with Sentinel becoming a repair-bot, and Optimus becoming second-in-command for Alpha Trion, the new Acting-Magnus.
• Whilst it is unsaid, it seems likely that when Sari used the Allspark Key on Ratchet, the energies helped to heal Ultra Magnus, leading to his ultimate revival.
• Megatron's guards in the Epilogue are the very obscure characters Horsepower and Sparkride from the Jet Twin toy tie-in comic.
• I can understand Dirge and Thrust not getting shown in the Allspark vision...but where is Thundercracker?!

IDW - First Strike #1

First Strike

Written by: Mairghread Scott & David A Rodriguez

Art by: Max Dunbar

Colours by: Ander Zarate

Letters by: Tom B Long

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Editor: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

The Origins of Evil

Written by: John Barber

Pencils by: Netho Diaz

Inks by: Walden Wong

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Plot

First Strike

Following the annexation of Earth by Optimus Prime, the Earth has been busy in debates, but the day has finally come for the Earth to be officially brought into the Council of Worlds. Marissa Faireborn has been named the Earth's representative, and she, amongst many other humans, including a GI Joe team are on Cybertron for the signing. The event is being broadcast to Earth through the open spacebridge and all over Cybertron. The guests, Cybertronian and human alike are being interviewed on camera by Circuit of Iacon, and Hashtag of GI Joe.

In the Lemuria base on Earth, Scarlett's GI Joe team are watching the event on the news, and debate about who looks the best. Scarlett however is a little worried since this is a massive event, and they are stuck on Earth, however she is made to cheer up from the rest of the team. They all fall silent as Starscream is about to address everyone from Cybertron, when a large explosion goes off just in front of him.

Back on Cybertron, the crowd is in chaos, the VIP's, including Starscream and Marissa are led towards the Spire for safety, whilst the Joes Cybertronians arm up for the oncoming fight.

Windblade approaches a still individual to get him to move to safety, but is shocked when he expels a swarm of Red Shadow Ninjas. Windblade escapes from them and reports the Trojan-robots to Ironhide. Elsewhere, the other Trojans open up and the troops of Baron Ironblood and his alliance spill out, and start attacking the non-combatant Transformers, ensuring to allow the news reporters to get this all on video.

Starscream and the others decide to trap the intruders on Cybertron, and also stop anyone else from arriving on the planet, by having the Spacebridge shut down. In the process the news broadcast is cut off, leaving the Earth-team in the dark on what is happening.

The Earth team jump to action to find out what is happening, with Scarlett being worried due to the recent revelation of Baron Ironblood being Joe Colton, their team's name-sake and founder, and after analysing the footage from Cybertron, they also notice Storm Shadow and Destro amongst him, two known Cobra members and noted criminals. Scarlett decides to lead a mission to one of Ironblood's facilities to investigate it and see what is really going on with Colton.

The team head to the Swiss Alps where they break into a facility, and are forced to fight a bunch of Iron Grenadiers, leading the Joes to really question Colton's true allegiances, due to them being part of Cobra's forces.

The group make their way through the facility, until they locate Colton's office, in fact it is a replica f Colton's original office, and knowing the layout, Scarlett locates a hidden area, and opens a case with a letter inside, both activated by her fingerprints, and address to her.

Scarlett reads the letter, which explains that Humans have no real chance against Cybertronians, and he believes that their current era of peace will not last, and that he is attacking Cybertron and making his new alliance to stop them from dragging Earth into the future war by destroying the species all together, and asks Scarlett to think about that before she comes to stop him...

The Origins of Evil

Part One: Redcliffe Club

Months ago, Joe Colton meets with Doctor X in the Redcliffe Club in London, where she has just had the Geddis Brothers and their goons all killed by herself and Storm Shadow. Colton wants them to join his new team, since Doctor X helped to stop England from being damaged during the Decepticon Occupation.

Doctor X has the Red Shadows attack Colton, but Colton manages to ward them off by disabling Storm Shadow with his new electronic arm. Doctor X is interested in the alliance, but has no interest in going to Cybertron herself, but IS willing to help him with his plans on Earth....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck

Arcee - Sports Car

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Ironhide - Van

Metroplex - Part of Iacon City

Decepticon

Onslaught - Anti-Missile Tank

Vortex - Helicopter

Brawl - Tank

Waspinator - Wasp

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Flashback)

Megatron - Gun (Flashback)

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Circuit

Longtooth

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Antagony - Ant

Lightbright

Cybertronian Crowd

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Council of Worlds (Mentioned)

Earth Defense Command (Mentioned) Defunct

GI Joe

Scarlett

Lady Jaye

Roadblock

Quick Kick

Doc

Dial-Tone

Skywarp - Fighter Jet

Flint

Spike

Talon

Hashtag/Aruna Singh

Chameleon (Mentioned)

Mainframe (Mentioned)

High-Tech (Mentioned)

Ironblood's Alliance

Baron Ironblood/Joe Colton

Destro

Storm Shadow

Buzzer

Ripper

Red Shadows

Iron Grenadiers

Doctor X/Mercy Gale (Origins of Evil Only)

Garrison Kreiger/Blitz (Mentioned)

Other Human

Marissa Faireborn

Human Crowd

Phil Geddis Killed by Doctor X and Storm Shadow (Origins of Evil Only)

Jim Geddis Killed by Doctor X and Storm Shadow (Origins of Evil Only)

Geddis Bros Goons Killed by Doctor X and Storm Shadow (Origins of Evil Only)

Barber, the Designer (Mentioned)

Action Man Programme (Mentioned)

British Secret Intelligence Service (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the second Hasbro-verse crossover following last year's Revolution. The backdrop for this plot has been building up with the Revolutionaries and Optimus Prime comic series, with the Talisman plot being followed in the former, and the Earth's position in the Council of Worlds being in the latter.
• Amongst the crowds on Cybertron is an insect-looking figure, whom most people are assuming is the Beast Era character Antagony. Judging from some preview images shown, with Shazraella having a large insectoid body, it is likely that she'll be Enerchanged with her some time soon.
• The team of Joes on the Lemuria on Earth are the main characters for the current GI Joe comic series, which isn't covered on this blog. Their base was Galvatron's Decepticon Shuttle originally.
• The team of Joes on Cybertron are the ones commonly shown in the Optimus Prime comic series.
• The air on Cybertron is apparently not suitable for Humans, with Metroplex pumping air into a forcefielded area around Iacon.
• Windblade was released from her coma in Till All Are One #12, released the same day as this comic.
• The Origins of Evil comic shows Doctor X and Ironblood joining forces, and is likely to show his union with the other villains.
• The Geddis brothers in this comic are based on the same characters from the G1 cartoon, where they were just villains who were defeated rather than killed like they are here.
• Colton's missing hand following his Dire Wraith attack has been replaced by a technological one that can emit electricity and short-circuit robotics.

IDW - First Strike #0

Written by: Mairghread Scott and David A Rodriguez 

Art by: Max Dunbar

Colours by: Ander Zarate

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: David Hedgecock

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte 

Plot

Joe Colton arrives at his old team-mate Garrison Kreiger's secret base and has his arm stump operated on, in order to remove any remaining Dire Wraith bio-matter, and they decide to work together to take down the Dire Wraiths and the Cybertronians together.

Kreiger reveals that the Talisman gives off an energy that hurts Transformers, and Colton figures he can use it to attack Cybertron itself. Since he knows that his old GI Joe team wouldn't want to start an intergalactic war, he has some new cohorts that he plans to call upon...various villains from the IDW Hasbro-verse!

Characters

Human

Joe Colton

Garrison Kreiger/Blitz

Storm Shadow (Silhouette Only)

Destro (Silhouette Only)

Another Villain (Silhouette Only)

Miles Manheim/Mayhem (Footage Only)

Arthur C. Clarke (Mentioned)

GI Joe (Mentioned)

Mike Power/Atomic Man (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Blitzwing - Tank and Jet Being experimented on by Miles Mayhem (Footage Only)

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Other

Shazraella (Silhouette Only)

Dire Wraiths (Mentioned)

Notes

• Whilst this is marked as First Strike #0, it would work well as Revolutionaries or Origins of Evil #0, as it leads better into those than First Strike
• This issue "reveals" that Joe Colton is still alive, and managed to survive being replaced by a Dire Wraith by sacrificing his hand. This WOULD have been revealed in Revolutionaries #7, as well as his new identity as Baron Ironblood, but Revolutionaries is behind by a couple of months so....SPOILERS!!
• Blitzwing is shown to still be in captivity of Miles Mayhem, being experimented on with the Talisman...or a replica at least.
• One of the silhouettes of Colton's new team members isn't easily identified, but due to the weapons and human appearance, I would guess it's probably a member of GI Joe that hates Transformers, maybe Talon?

IDW - Till All Are One #12

Title: Your First Mistake

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

Inside her mind, Windblade is defending her brain from Vigilem, and is able to just about hold him off, knowing that she isn't strong enough to defeat him, she is content with simply biding her time, until her body just gives up due to all the extra activity inside. This is going well, until Starscream appears, having been hooked up to her brain by Airachnid, and attempts to help her. Windblade is instantly angered however, since Starscream hasn't had her mental training, and is just going to give Vigilem an easier target to control.

Starscream is confident that he can handle him, however Vigilem takes on the form of Megatron and attacks the fearful Starscream. Vigilem drags Starscream back into his own mind, and prepares to take over. Windblade chases him, and finds Starscream's mind taking the form of a destroyed Kaon, and manages to locate Vigilem, busy tearing away the different bodies of Starscream, until he is left at a much earlier design, which Vigilem seems happy enough with, and exposes his spark, intending to extinguish it, and take over the body easily.

Windblade manages to rescue Starscream's spark and hides with it. Vigilem begins to merge himself with Starscream's mind, and starts reshaping it, whilst Windblade realizes that Starscream's spark is strange, and learns through it's memories that Starscream is a Cold Constructed Transformer, and theorizes that Starscream's constant body changes and attitude are because he is unhappy with who he is. She decides to help him by showing him what he's been missing.

Windblade manifests Solus Prime's hammer and starts smacking it against the spark, emitting ghostly manifestations of everyone who has "touched" Starscream's spark in some way, including Optimus, Bumblebee and Metalhawk, amongst many more. The manifestations restrain Vigilem, stopping him from altering the mind any further, and Windblade hits the spark one more time, allowing the spark to take on it's true, destined form, a red, white and blue robot, who Starscream would have been if he had of been allowed to be born properly. This true Starscream stomps on Vigilem, and defeats him.

Windblade, taking on a Titan-sized form, takes Vigilem and places him inside her spark chamber, deciding to "embrace" him, but in the process incinerates the Titan, leaving nothing behind....

Windblade and Starscream wake up in Airachnid's lab, where Starscream tells her that this experience can't change him, but she declares the opposite, she has decided to stop speaking on behalf of others, and start speaking for herself, and she hopes that he agrees with what she says....

Characters

Autobot

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mental Illusion Only)

Bumblebee - Cybertronian Car (Mental Illusion Only)

Ironhide - Van (Mental Illusion Only)

Wheeljack - Race Car (Mental Illusion Only)

Jetfire - Fighter Jet (Mental Illusion Only)

Chromia - Speedbike (Mental Illusion Only)

Metroplex - Iacon City (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Gun (Mental Illusion Only)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mental Illusion Only)

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Mental Illusion Only)

Ravage - Cassette (Mental Illusion Only)

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Rattrap - Mole Rat (Mental Illusion Only)

Colonists

Airachnid - Spider

Mistress of Flame (Flashback)

Elita One (Mental Illusion Only)

Other Cybertronian

Vigilem - Spaceship Carcer Destroyed by Windblade

True Starscream - Jet (Mental Illusion Only)

Metalhawk - Fighter Jet (Mental Illusion Only)

Solus Prime (Flashback)

Starscream's Construction-Mates (Flashback)

Starscream's Spark Handler (Flashback)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Primes (Mentioned)

Liege Maximo (Mentioned)

Caminus - City (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the final issue of Till All Are One, excluding the upcoming Annual issue coming out either later this year, or early next year.
• All of this issue, excluding the final three pages takes place in the minds of Windblade or Starscream.
• The three forms Vigilem takes when fighting Windblade are his appearance from the flashbacks of him, his current day body, and the corrupted Windblade version from last issue.
• The Megatron that Vigilem takes the form of here appears to be the version of his body from All Hail Megatron.
• It's revealed here that Starscream, and presumably others, change their bodies so frequently because they aren't happy in their "skin". This is likely most common with Cold Constructed Transformers since they were artificially placed into a body instead of being allowed to form a body naturally
• Okay, people at Hasbro...GIVE ME A TOY OF THE TRUE FORM OF STARSCREAM!!! (Please)
• We were told before that the Annual will show us a political battle between Windblade, Starscream and Elita One. This issue ends with Windblade deciding to "speak for herself" from now on. I think this is leading to that :). Though judging from that Prime poll Hasbro did, it seems more likely that Optimus Primal will win in some way instead of any of them.
• Jetfire being amongst the people who have touched Starscream's spark is likely a reference to the G1 cartoon where they were friends before the war. Though Jetfire was a Decepticon in the early years of the war in IDW, so maybe they were friends for a little while here too?

IDW - Upgrade

Written by: Sean Ryan

Art by: Robert Atkins

Colours by: Jorge Sutil

Letters by: Tom B Long

Edits by: David Mariotte & David Hedgecock

Plot

Kup encounters a rogue Decepticon, Transit, in London, and goes in to subdue him, but due to the Decepticon's strength, Kup suffers some major damage to his chest and even loses a hand when punching him. Kup manages to launch the Decepticon away, and collapses on himself due to his injuries.

One of Kup's new allies from the Action Man Programme, Bryce Chan, appears and performs a patch-up job on the Autobot. Suddenly, Transit returns in his double decker bus modem, and he goes after Bryce for helping Kup. He corners him, but is blasted away by the newly upgraded Kup, and sends him flying across the city, right through the London Eye.

Kup is impressed with the upgrades, and lets Bryce continue his upgrades back at the base...

Characters

Autobot

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Decepticon

Transit - Double Decker Bus

Monstructor - Monster Gestalt (Mentioned)

Human

Bryce Chan

Queen Elizabeth (Mentioned)

Notes

• This comic came with Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #2. I guess the next issue will have a Micronauts/Rom comic included.
• Transit is a direct transplant from the Aligned continuity's Robots in Disguise Animated comic, albeit with a new colour scheme.
• This story acts to explain why Kup has a drastic character model change between the Revolution event and the start of Revolutionaries (where in the real world it was due to the new Titans Return toy).
• Kup is revealed to be a part of the Action Man programme in the UK, this is likely due to his friendship with Action Man himself.
• Bryce makes a "clever" pun by commenting that Kup is now "More Than Meets the Eye". Though the joke he was making was because he launched Transit through the London Eye, not because of the classic Tagline for the franchise.

IDW - Roadies

Written by: Sina Grace

Art by: Robert Atkins

Colours by: Jorge Sutil

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Edits by: David Mariotte & David Hedgecock

Plot

Rock 'n Roll is listening to a band play at Venice Beach, when he decides to go talk to the band, when he sees some guys stealing from their van. He gives chase to them, and one of the thieves gets knocked out by some skaters by accident. Rock chases the second thief on a skateboard, and leads him to Muscle Beach, where he has his friend, Barbra smacks the thief with a barbell, allowing Rock to catch him.

The two thieves are arrested by the police, and Rock meets the lead singer of the band, Julio Lopez, and the two chat about their interest in music and playing in bands etc

Characters

Human

Rock 'n Roll

Julio Lopez

Thieves

Barbra

Beach-goers

Policeman

Notes

• This story was released with Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #1. I've decided to only look at the comics here, and not the profiles themselves for this blog. Though I may use the profiles to help me with character details in the future etc.
• This story was set before the events on MASK, as Julio Lopez is shown in his band, which he was doing during his school years.
• Rock 'n Roll's code name appears to be due to his love of rock music and skills with wheeled vehicles etc.
• So...Rock has his friend smack one of the thieves with a heavy barbell to his upper torso...I think someone may have a shattered rib or something!

IDW - Revolutionaries #6

Title: Power and Glory

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Agnes Garbowska, Ron Joseph & Fico Ossio

Colours by: Sebastian Cheng

Letters by: Tom B Long

Assistant Edits by: David Mariotte

Edited by: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Decades ago, Mikey Power is a child detective, who along with his loyal dog Smarts, solved local problems and help defeat the evil forces of the local bullies, Pidge and Finney.

One day. Mikey is approached by Pidge, who tells him that Finney is trapped in a haunted house, and he needs help rescuing him. At the haunted house, the two of them break in and find a ghost, but Mikey soon determines that the "ghost" is being created by a strange hologram projector on a bookcase, unaware that some shadowy figures are approaching him...

Mikey is saved when the Action Man of the era attacks the men, a pair of smugglers, and manages to capture them. Mikey rescues Finney and leaves, keeping the projector to study it...

Mikey, now going by Mike, takes the item home, where he analyses it, and manages to create new limbs for himself to replace his primitive ones. In the process, he grew more reclusive and ended up with Smarts running away, and him being left alone and friendless...

After some time, Mike has perfected his mechanical limbs and joins the Adventure Team with Joe Colton and the others.

During one of their missions, Atomic Man fails to reach Dr. Emil Burkhart from an explosion in front of his daughter, and causes the hero to realize that his current strength isn't enough.

Some time later, Atomic Man meets with Kreiger, who explains that he has made many replicas of the Talisman, and now understands it more...offering to make Mike stronger, by having him connect to one....

In the modern day Mayday meets with former Adventure Team member, Stalker, and wants more information about Project: Ice Man and his time on the Adventure Team, but he has no new information for her. He also confirms that Scarlett is unwilling to spare forces to help her investigate the assumed "final resting place" of Mike Power, however he does re-introduce her to Matt Trakker and Gloria Baker of MASK, who share pleasantries, having not seen each other since the Revolution at Monument Valley.

In Brasnya, the rest of the Revolutionaries are heading to the crater where the Axalon once vanished, and they use codes given by Tomax Paoli to enter the base undetected. Once inside, the two Cybertronians are knocked out by a strange light, which leaves Action Man alone....

However, he is not really alone, he turns around to find a fair of figures, whom he assumed to be Shockwave and Optimus Prime, in actuality their Eukarian copies, and the two giants attack him, leading to Action Man blasting a hole in the ceiling, causing the ocean above it to quickly fill the tunnel.

Kreiger orders Atomic Man, whom is now connected to the base, controlling all of it's functions, to drain the tunnel and have his controlled Eukarians return to him, and make sure Action Man is dead from the salt water. Before much can happen though, MASK arrive and attack the facility. Gloria rescues Action Man from  the water, forcing Kreiger to use all his stored power to over-power the Eukarians.

The humans arrive at the command centre of the secret outpost, where Kreiger has Atomic Man, a shock to see by everyone there, engage them in battle, having utilized the full power of the Talisman copy that is in the facility.

MASK fight the Eukarians, since their technology was designed to fight Cybertronians, so Mayday goes after Kreiger himself. Action Man approaches Atomic Man, and appeals to his human nature, and relates how he understands what it's like to be thrust into a new role and with all this responsibility, and yet also feel weak. Atomic Man agrees with this, and thanks his old dog, Smarts, once more and hopes to get it right the next time...and lets himself die from the energies of the Talisman.

Atomic Man's death cause sthe Eukarians to collapse and the Iron Troopers inside them to also die. Nearby Mayday has defeated Kreiger as the facility begins to shut down. Action Man mourns for the death of a legend, but is soon in greater shock when the long missing Sgt Savage appears from a burst of energy, spurting slang from the 90's...just as Blackrock and Kup wake up from their direct attacks!

Characters

Autobot

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Blackrock/Sovereign - Head

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned) Dead

Eukarian

"Shockwave's" Corpse - Steel Warship Deactivated by Atomic Man's Death

Domitius Major's Corpse - Train Deactivated by Atomic Man's Death

Centurion - Luxury Car (Mentioned)

Human

Mike Power/Atomic Man Suicide via Talisman Energies

Ian Noble/Action Man

Ayana Jones/Mayday

Matt Trakker

Gloria Baker

Lonzo Wilkinson/Stalker

Garrison Kreiger/ Blitz Defeated by Mayday

Sgt Robert Savage

Joe Colton/GI Joe (Flashback)

Miles Manheim/ Mayhem (Flashback)

Brasnyan Spies (Flashback) Defeated by Older Action Man

Older Action Man (Flashback)

Annie (Flashback)

Police Officer (Flashback)

Pidge (Flashback)

Finney (Flashback)

Dr Emil Burkhart (Flashback) Killed in Explosion

Adele Burkhart (Flashback)

MASK Team (Mentioned)

Scarlett (Mentioned)

Tomax Paoli (Mentioned) In Revolutionaries Custody

Mike Brogan/Action Man (Mentioned) Dead

Mr and Mrs Power (Mentioned)

Other

Iron Troopers Deactivated by Atomic Man's Death

Smarts, the Dog (Flashback) Ran Away from Mike Power Decades ago

Notes

• This issue features a few different art styles. Atomic Man's childhood adventures are shown in a child-like traditional comic strip form, his two page story book excerpt shows his early experimentation with the Iron Trooper technology, and gives a big chunk of back story for him, and his meeting with Joe Colton is a direct pull of his early advertisement, with all the other scenes being done in the regular style of this series.
• Mike Power is shown to have had bionic limbs from childhood. We also learn that he used the Iron Troopers to create his own more advanced limbs, which would later be supercharged by his contact with the Talisman, as seen in an earlier issue.
• He also had a doggo names "Smarts" as a kid, whom is based on the Pound Puppies character "Lucky Smarts"
• Mayday reveals that her work with the Revolutionaries has been authorized by Scarlett, but she isn't keeping her in the loop regarding some of the missions, such as the attack on Kalistan and the arrest of Tomax.
• MASK were under the radar for a while, whilst VENOM was tarnishing their name for a bit, but were cleared of any crimes etc by the end of their first story-arc.
• The Iron Trooper heads are shown to be able to project holograms from them. Since they are based on a piece of Eukarian, and thereby Cybertronian, technology, it is likely associated with holo-avatar technology.
• So the reason for the Eukarian bodies being kept is shown! They are being used as remote controlled guards by Atomic Man on Kreiger's orders!
• Action Man mentions that Shockwave is meant to be dead, this is now a debateable detail, since Bumblebee has been confirmed as still being alive inside the Crystal City Singularity.
• Mayday's comment about Action Man using the "Magic of Friendship" to save the day seems like a direct reference to My Little Pony, which is still one of the only main series IDW Hasbro comics to not be in the Hasbroverse