IDW - Rom vs Transformers: Shining Armor #4

Written by: John Barber & Christos Gage

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Josh Perez

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Ultra Magnus takes on the Dire Wraiths alone, and is doing well until they simply overpower him, and hold him still. Vekktral approaches him and explains that he knows how to perfect the process of merging with a Cybertronian, and proceeds to touch his forehead, as Magnus hopes that he doesn't wind up "disgracing the uniform".

Approaching the Orchid Crossing crash site, Sata starts complaining to Bumblebee about leaving Magnus to die, leading to the Autobot lashing out at the Space Knight, saying that he knew the risks when he offered to stay behind so they can help the others defeat the Decepticons, but Sata thinks this is pointless as the planet needs to be razed due to the Wraith infestation anyway.

At Orchid Crossing, Rom defends the Xetaxxan scavengers from the Decepticons, whilst Starscream and Stardrive continue their bartering. Starscream agrees to leave the planet with the Wraiths and the Energon Synthesizer but also suggests that Stardrive join him too. She declines as she has no desire to work with someone who would ally with the Dire Wraiths, but Starscream counters that he had no idea how dangerous the Wraiths were before he allied with them, but after seeing what happened to Sky Blast, he is scared. Before she can respond, the other Knights enter the crashed station, having flung a knocked out Dirge inside, and proceed to attack Starscream. Starscream escape, after using Dirge as a make-shift shield, leaving the Knights behind.

Livia thinks about things, and figures that the Energon Synthesizer would explode if it's capacitors were blown, and would wipe out half the planet too, thus taking out the Wraith infection and removing the device from the Decepticon's hands. Stardrive is disgusted by the plan to destroy half the planet as well as the attempt to destroy her life-giving device, and tries to leave with it, renouncing her Knight-hood in the process. Livia attacks her to stop her from leaving, leading the Cybertronian Knight to retaliate against her. Rom tries to calm the situation down, but Stardrive isn't having it.

Bumblebee and Sata arrive, and assume that she has been possessed by a Wraith, so they try to subdue her, however they soon stop when Bee reveals that Magnus let himself probably die to allow them to recover the Synthesizer. Stardrive agrees to work with the Autobots, and the other Knights so they can protect the Synthesizer defeat the Wraiths together.

Soon, Ultra Magnus approaches the group, but it's soon apparent that it's not actually not just Magnus, but him fused with Vekktral into a horrifying hybrid like Sky Blast was before.

The Knights and Bumblebee are attacked by the Magnus-Wraith and the other Wraiths, who were disguised as the Xetaxxan scavengers. Soon the Decepticons join their allies, intending to take the Synthesizer. Unfortunately, the Wraiths betray their "allies" and intend to use their bodies to create more hybrids, before moving onto the rest of the Cybertronians, in turn destroying both the Solstar Order and the Galactic Council!

Characters

Autobot

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport Merged with Vekktral

Bumblebee - Two Wheeled Car

Optimus Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Sky Blast - Space Ship (Mentioned) Dead

Previous Ultra Magnus' (Mentioned) All Dead

Decepticon

Starscream - Jet

Dirge - Jet

Ramjet - Jet

Thrust - Jet

Astrotrain - Galactic Council Shuttle/Trackless Train

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Solstar Order

Stardrive - Car/Jet

Rom

Livia

Sata

Auxin (Mentioned) Dead

Orchid Crossing Solstar Agents (Mentioned) Dead

Dire Wraith

Vekktral Merged with Ultra Magnus

"Xetaxxan Scavengers"

Dire Wraith Soldiers

Sky Blast-Wraith (Flashback) Dead

Other

Primus (Mentioned)

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Notes

• As if it needed any further proving, this issue reminds us that Magnus is a title and an armour rather than a single individual, almost guaranteeing that this IS a previous incarnation of the lawman and not Minimus Ambus.
• This does beg the question as to whether this series will end with Bumblebee learning about the armour, or just assuming that Magnus "got better" from being merged with a Dire Wraith.
• It could be said that Starscream is just lying to Stardrive about being concerned about the Wraiths, just to get her on his side, but it actually seems like he does somewhat fear their potential power in the future.
• Starscream misremembers Sky Blast's name as "Blast Off" the same mistake as what was made by the Cast Roll Call in the past two issues....I hope this was a purposeful in-joke :)
• Considering the rest of the scavengers at the Orchid Crossing crash site ended up being Wraiths, it's quite likely that the ones who died whilst Stardrive was protecting them were also Wraiths in disguise.
• I'm going to call shenanigans here, how did Vekktral manage to figure out how to merge with a Cybertronian without going insane when he's only had experience by watching ONE FAILED experiment just hours earlier? If there was previous experiments or conflicts between Cybertronians and Wraiths it would likely have been mentioned before now.

IDW - First Strike - G.I. Joe

Written by: Aubrey Sitterson

Art by: Ilias Kyriazis

Colours by: Mark Roberts

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The members of VENOM have been absorbed into Cobra since Miles Mayhem is now on Cybertron for the mission to destroy the planet, and so the VENOM team are gifted with newly repaired vehicles to replace the ones that were recently destroyed.

Soon, Firefly, a member of Cobra, starts attacking and looting several museums around the world stealing some serpent-themed artefacts for the new Cobra Commander, Baroness.

At the Joe's base, the Lemuria, Rock 'n Roll wakes up from an apocalyptic dream, and Shipwreck, who is currently in charge of the team since Scarlett is off world, and learns of Firefly's attacks. Soon the team are deployed, but Cobra are able to escape easily using the VENOM vehicles.

Later, Shipwreck has changed up his strategy and gives all the Joes at his disposal appropriate jobs for whenever Cobra strikes again. Grand Slam gets in a huff when he is told that he is still not allowed on the field, likely due to his leg injuries.

VENOM and Cobra attack in New York, however the Joes are ready this time and actually manage to engage them, sending in all their heavy hitters. Quick Kick makes it inside the museum and confronts Firefly, along with a few dozen Red Shadow Ninjas on his own.

Outside again, the VENOM team use the new feature added to their vehicles, added by Scrap-Iron of Cobra and combines them into a giant snake robot, ready to take down the Joes....

Characters

GI Joe

Skywarp - Fighter Jet

Rock 'n Roll

Shipwreck

Polly

Dial Tone

Salvo

Lifeline

Doc

Quick Kick

Cover Girl

Gung-Ho

Spitfire

Grand Slam

Scarlett (Mentioned)

Roadblock (Mentioned)

Cobra/VENOM

Cobra Commander/Baroness

Scrap-Iron

Firefly

Vaness Warfield/Ice Queen

Sly Rax/Stiletto

Bruno Sheppard/Thunderflame

King Cobra - VENOM Vehicle Combiner

Red Shadow Ninjas

Cobranarchists

Miles Mayhem (Mentioned)

Other Human

New York Cops

Guys in Rock 'n Roll's Dream (Dream Only)

Notes

• This story is set following the finales of both GI Joe and MASK, leading into their upcoming crossover series "Scarlett's Strike Force", previously named "GI Joe: Unmasked" Neither of these series were actually completed before this comic was released, so their finales were spoiled for the readers. 
• This story is also set just after the deployment of Scarlett and her team to Cybertron for the First Strike main event.
• The Baroness is now the new Cobra Commander, during the terrible IDW GI Joe vs Transformers series she took on the "Serpentress" position in a similar manner.
• In case it isn't clear from his flirting around Shipwreck, his defence of his cooking being classed as "cute" and other gesture choices from the artwork, it's pretty clear that Gung-Ho is gay. I only note this because he is potentially the first homosexual human character in the Hasbroverse, or at least the first major, named character anyway.
• Grand Slam does have a point here, why haven't they developed some sort of device to allow him to join in on field-missions yet? Surely if they can make vehicles that can go from submarines to jets they can make either an exo-suit or leg braces for them?
• Despite being prominently on the cover of the comic, no one from MASK appears in this comic...hopefully they appear in the MASK issue of this story though...

IDW - First Strike - Micronauts

Written by: Christos Gage

Art by: Chris Panda

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The Micronauts, still on Earth following the Earthwar have landed in the garden of a house where they are trying to figure out what to do now, since their leader is gone with the Time Travelers, and their new leader is Larissa, whom they have only recently learned is the daughter of Baron Karza himself, so they are unsure about how to fully trust her.

Before they can decide to do anything however they are "attacked" by some of the human giants with a giant killing machine (some gardeners with a lawnmower), luckily Larissa uses her forcefield generator to jam the blades and allows them to escape to their new ship.

The gardeners examine their "jammed" lawnmower when one of them is stung by a strange fly...and then suddenly explodes into a mess of Dire Wraith goo. The Micronauts go to assist the humans and are attacked by the flies themselves. They learn when one tries to infect Phen that the flies appear to be only able to infect humans, allowing the Micronauts to tear them apart without fear of infection too. Soon, the flies and even the infected gardener all turn to ash, Biotron captures on of the flies before it dies and scans it, determining that it was altered by Dire Wraith "magic". The Micronauts determine that they need to go after the Wraiths to stop this plot...

The Micronauts head into a hidden tunnel in the sewers where they decide to try and locate Rom, a member of the Solstar Order who is currently stationed on Earth. However they find the Dire Wraiths first and manage to take down all the minions with relative ease. The Sorcerer Wraiths use their powers to cast a spell that appears to harm the Micronauts. They manage to struggle their way to their ship and escape to get help from Rom after all. One of the Sorcerers attempts to go after them, but his superior is fine with them leaving, as it is all going to plan...

The Micronauts recover from their attack on the Wraiths and manage to find Rom, however his Analyzer detects that the Micronauts are Dire Wraiths, and prepares to Neutralize them!

To be continued....

Characters

Micronaut

Larissa

Phenolo-Phi

Acroyear

Biotron

Microtron

Oziron Rael (Mentioned) Ascended to a Time Traveler

Baron Karza (Mentioned)

Solstar Order

Rom, the Space Knight

Other Solstar Knights (Mentioned)

Dire Wraith

Wraith Holiness

Wraith Acolyte

Wraith Hound Killed by Larissa

Wraith-Flies Turned to Ash

Other Wraiths Killed by Acroyear and Biotron

Human

Gardener Ernie

Gardener Jimmy Killed by Wraith-Flies and turned to Ash

Other

Cybertronians (Mentioned)

Notes

• Whilst being part of the First Strike event, it has nothing (bar a brief mention of the incident on Cybertron) to do with the event. It mostly acts as a backdoor pilot to the upcoming "Rom and the Micronauts" series.
• This issue takes place shortly after Wrath of Karza, it introduces us to the Micronaut's currently unnamed new ship as well as Oz being gone due to him ascending to a Time Traveler
• The worm that Biotron holds up has some angry eyes on him...I'm pretty sure worms don't have visible eyes....
• Biotron mentions how Rom and the Earth are uneasy allies due to the Solstar Knights destroying Wraith-infested planets....unless this is mentioned in the final issue of Rom, this information should only really be known to the Knights themselves
• It looks like the Dire Wraith's spell have changed how Rom's Analyser sees the Micronauts, and makes them appear as Wraiths themselves. I seriously doubt they are now actually Dire Wraiths themselves.
• Where is Livia? Is she with Orphion following the events of the Rom series? Did she end up dying again? Guess I'll have to wait for next issue...

IDW - First Strike #4

First Strike

Written by: Mairghread Scott & David A. Rodriguez 

Art by: Max Dunbar

Inks by: Josh Wycough

Colours by: Ander Zarate

Letters by: Gilberto Lazcano

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Editor: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

The Origins of Evil

Title: Hitting the Big Time

Written by: John Barber

Pencils by: Netho Diaz

Inks by: Walden Wong

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Main Plot

In the tunnels in the city's lower depths heading to the core, the villains continue planting their signal jammers, all whilst arguing about the best way to continue. Colton pushes a button on a remote, which triggers the Trojan-Bots across Cybertron to change into their cannon turret modes as well as deploying further jammers and other devices, as well as summoning more Red Shadows to stall any Joes or Transformers from catching up to them.

At the Spire, Elita's order to execute the Joes is ignored by the rest of the council, but they are still unconvinced that the human invaders cannot actually destroy the planet with whatever they're planning. They decide to listen to Scarlett about what she knows about their plan however, and learn that Colton plans to use something to detonate the planet's core to destroy it. Optimus tries to talk for the humans and demands that Colton is not underestimated, but no-one is interested in what he has to say and is ignored.

The Joes are placed in a cell, but Marissa explains this is just for show, as Starscream isn't stupid, he still plans to explore this situation, and he does. Starscream has Ironhide ready his team to explore the tunnels, whilst Windblade interfaces with Metroplex's mind to locate them with the security cameras.

Soon, Windblade notices a grappling hook in the tunnels and sends the security forces after them. Optimus, feeling useless visits the Joes in their cell, and confesses that he isn't used to not being listened to, now that there is a Council above his position to shoot down his suggestions. Scarlett admits that she isn't on Cybertron to save his species, not entirely at least, she wants to convince Colton that he is wrong with his genocidal plans, and won't believe that he has turned out like this, despite having allowed her to join his team when no one else would. Optimus can relate, having put everything on the line when he allowed Megatron to try and redeem himself following Dark Cybertron...

The villains head further towards the core, but soon Storm Shadow notices the security cameras and realizes that the Transformers have found them. Metroplex starts to reconfigure the corridor they are in to try and trap them, but they manage to evade capture. Sunstreaker's team chases after them, but are ambushed by a load of augmented Red Shadows. Ironhide rushes to help him, but is stopped when the Trojan-Bots attack him and his team.

The villains soon reach the hatch leading into the core, but are approached by a badly injured Sunstreaker who plans to stop them. Colton uses a laser to shoot the Autobot, seemingly killing him.

Windblade has been watching this on the security feed and is shocked that the humans have managed to do all of this already...just as Scarlett suggested they could....

Origins of Evil Plot

Shazraella has holed herself up inside an Onyx databank and starts Enerchanging with it to gather information so she can conquer the world after all. She is interrupted by Miles Mayhem and Joe Colton who ask for her help in conquering Cybertron, with her getting to keep the planet afterwards to do with as she pleases, which she is glad to do...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Metroplex - Iacon City

Ironhide - Van

Sunstreaker - Sports Car Seemingly Killed by Joe Colton

Decepticon

Soundwave - Cassette Player

Tall Tankor - Truck/Cargo Plane

Fat Tankor - Tank

Megatron - Tank (Flashback Only)

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Rattrap - Mole Rat

Mistress of Flame

Elita One

Airazor - Falcon

Tigatron - Tiger

Knock Out - Sports Car

Moonracer - Sports Car

Badgeless Officers

Primus (Mentioned)

Micronus Prime (Mentioned)

Liege Maximo (Mentioned)

GI Joe/MASK

Scarlett

Roadblock

Lady Jaye

Matt Trakker

Gloria Baker

Tunnel Rat (Flashback Only)

Snake Eyes (Flashback Only)

Rock 'n Roll (Flashback Only)

Doc (Flashback Only)

Quick Kick (Flashback Only)

Helix (Flashback Only)

Spirit (Flashback Only)

Ironblood's Alliance

Joe Colton/Baron Ironblood

Shazraella

Miles Mayhem

Garrison Kreiger 

Destro

Storm Shadow

Red Shadow Ninjas

Trojan-Bots - Cannon Turrets

Iron Grenadiers

Other Human

Marissa Faireborn

Scarlett's Recruiter (Flashback Only)

Scarlett's Co-Recruits (Flashback Only)

Onyx Data Center Guard (Origins Only) Killed by Miles Mayhem

Other

Baron Karza (Hologram, Origins Only)

Solstar Knights (Mentioned)

Notes

• Considering how many times we've seen Miles Mayhem in conflict with Storm Shadow and Shazraella I really expect either him to kill on of them, or them to kill him some point in this series.
• The Trojan-Bots are shown to be able to transform into cannon turrets....human technology sure has come a long way!
• The council seem really open about Liege Maximo being on the loose here huh? Considering how only half of them knew about it last we heard, and even then they planned to keep it a secret...
• How far does Metroplex's artificial atmosphere reach under the city? I don't see any breathing apparatus with the villains to keep them breathing....
• The "Origins" story is likely set in San Francisco, as that was where Shazraella was dropped off by the Mad Time Traveler at the end of Wrath of Karza.
• Also, Shazraella's new outfit, her being Karza's "former consort" and their differing campaigns were all shown in Wrath of Karza too
• We learn here that Shazraella's motives for helping Ironblood's alliance is that she gets Cybertron in the aftermath to do with as she wishes
• Hey, what happened to Pyra Magna? We haven't seen her since pretty much the start of the series?

Sig Pub - Rescue Bots #5

Notes

• The screen-cap comic used for this issue is the episode "Walk on the Wild Side!"....did anyone else actually forget that this episode even existed?
• The picture used for High Tide in the Heatwave puzzles section shows him blowing his whistle to summon Servo...since we don't have the context here he could easily just be smoking a cigarette or something instead!
• We get some images of Bumblebee in his dinosaur mode here...I can't remember ever seeing that before to by honest (packaging art not-withstanding)

Features

Chase Mask! - Chop up the cover to make a soulless Chase mask!

Bumblebee's crucial emergency facts! - Information on firs trucks and construction vehicles

Help Heatwave! - Do some Heatwave themed puzzles

Count-up! - Count the number of different types of Blades in the picture

Spot the differences! - Look for the differences in the group shot

Find out about Rescue Boats with High Tide - Learn about rescue boats!

Colour in Optimus! - TAKE A WHILD GUESS HERE!!

Salvage Maze - Help Salvage reach some recycling before....it goes bad?

Mega Colouring! - Colour in some of the Rescue Bots

Chase is on Patrol! - Do some Chase themed puzzles!

Odd Dinos out! - Find the dino-mode that doesn't match the others

Rescue Bots Post - More children have offered demonic artwork of our heroes!

Boulder and Graham's animal game! - Identify an animal based on the clues given

Make your own Rescue Bots story! - Use the prompts to make your own story!

Competition Time! - Try to win some Mini-Cons or playsets!

IDW - Revolutionaries #8

Title: Ghost in the Machine

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Ron Joseph and Fico Ossio

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz and Sebastian Cheng

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Assistant Edits by: David Mariotte

Edited by: David Hedgecock

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Decades ago, Joe Colton is watching a newsreel of Sgt Savage and the Screaming Eagles and becomes inspired by his actions to protect both America and the world from the dangers all around. 

Much later, following the Decepticon invasion of Earth, Joe Colton and Scarlett help in the recovery in New York and Colton becomes convinces that someone high-up must have known about the Transformers before this attack...

Just before the Revolution, Colton is ambushed by a bunch of Dire Wraiths who attempt to possess him, but Colton cuts off his own hand and leaps from the helicopter to evade them, however the Wraiths, assuming that he died upon leaping, use his severed hand to take his place anyway, and take control of GI Joe...

A while later Colton comes across some thugs who are watching the broadcast of Optimus annexing Earth into the Council of Worlds on their phone, he tries to see what is happening, but the thugs aren't impressed with the older, one handed man and attack him, assuming he's a hobo supposedly, to which Colton just kills them. He takes their phone and calls Garrison Kreiger, who agrees to meet with him in Paris...

Quite a while later, Colton and Kreiger have made a deal with Iron Klaw, who gives them a base of operations, but wonders what Colton's problem with the robots is...just as Doctor X contacts Colton regarding the attack on the Schletevan facility where the Talisman was being held at the time....

Today, in Buenes Aires, our heroes are fighting off Ironblood's alliance of villains and everyone is shocked that Ironblood is actually Colton in disguise. During the battle, Kreiger breaks free of his shackles and joins his allies.

Inside the building, Kup and Centurion fight it out, with Centurion repeating his mantra that his species are just machines of destruction, which s why he needs to kill them all. In the holding room, Doctor X shoots Bryce Chan with a stun gun so she can speak to Ian alone, and in the Talisman chamber the still skewered Blackrock leaps into the Talisman and stabs the crystal upon it with Storm Shadow's sword.

Back on the roof, Skywarp joins the fight, but is warmed upon by the Red Shadows using their Dire Wraith augmentations. Mayday faces off with one, but uses his extending tendril arm to lower herself down and swing through a window. She soon finds herself with Blackrock and Storm Shadow, the former of whom is currently partially inside the Talisman itself, and comes face-to-face with Onyx Prime, or some aspect of him at least.

Ian attacks Doctor X, not wanting to speak to her, but misses, making Doctor X laugh...that is until she is informed that he wasn't aiming for her, but rather the locks on the containment units, freeing the Wraith-Human hybrids. The monsters soon flood the entire building, chasing away Doctor X and even Centurion. On the roof, Savage and Colton fight one-to-one, with the latter trying to persuade the former of the evils of the Cybertronians, but Savage just admits that he loves the future, and looks forward to what it can bring them.

Inside the Talisman, which Onyx explains is inside Infraspace, the Prime attacks Blackrock, having seen that his use has been met already, but is stopped by a manifestation the dead Mike Power, who fights off the god-like figure, inspiring Blackrock to do something impossible too...summon a Titan...

Metrotitan, along with Optimus Prime, arrives at the Onyx building and join the battle, with the Titan having been summoned there by Blackrock. Skywarp identifies Colton to Optimus and tells him that he's in charge of the villains. Colton tries to escape through the building, but as soon as he opens the roof doors, the Wraiths funnel out. Optimus starts to fight the Wraiths, but is soon informed that they are civilians and not real Wraiths. Colton tries one last time to make Savage join him, but he is refused, which leads Kreiger to shoot him in the back.

Inside the building, Ian has met up with Mayday and the others, and is soon followed by Kup, who drives right into Storm Shadow, knocking her away.

The Wraith hybrids start swarming our heroes inside the building now, but Blackrock has an idea, he contacts Metrotitan and has him activate his spacebridge, accessing some Ore-13 deposits and sends out the radiation upon the building, curing the hybrids and returning them to their human states.

The heroes start to celebrate, but Doctor X reappears, carrying the injured Storm Shadow, she stands next to the Talisman and triggers the MASS device to transport them and it to their base. Upon the triggering the Talisman activates, and Ian is almost mutated. but is saved when Centurion, having switched sides now, realising that he wants to be a protector, steps in front of him and takes the energy in, killing him.

On the rood, Optimus goes after Colton, but he is transported away at the last second, along with the rest of his fellow villains. Optimus is worried, and Savage, who survived his gun shot, agrees.

Inside, the group now actually starts to celebrate their achievements, but wonder why Centurion switched sides, prompting the "dead" Transformer to wake up, and reveal that he isn't really Centurion, not completely, at some point Mike Power transported himself into the robot and melded his personality with him, creating a new hybrid mind. One of the former Wraith hybrids approaches the group and asks about her missing boyfriend, leading the group to remember that some of the Wraiths were killed  BEFORE they discovered the truth, and he must have been amongst them. The woman grieves, but the Revolutionaries agree that they still have things to learn and plan to do better "next time"...

Colton and his crew arrive in their destination, where they are met by Iron Klaw and Miles Mayhem, along with an army of other villains, who, now that the Talisman is in their possession, prepare to head to Cybertron for their attack on their greatest enemies....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Metrotitan - Autobot City

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Garrison Blackrock/Sovereign - Head

Decepticon

Razorclaw - Lion (Flashback Only)

Divebomb - Eagle (Flashback Only)

Tantrum - Bison (Flashback Only)

Rampage - Tiger (Flashback Only)

Headstrong - Rhino (Flashback Only)

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt (Footage Only) 

GI Joe

Mayday

Roadblock

Doc

Cover Girl

Rock 'n Roll

Skywarp - Fighter Jet

Flash Returned to Normal

Quarrel Returned to Normal

Heavy Duty Returned to Normal

Scarlett (Flashback Only)

Action Man Programme

Action Man, Ian Noble

Agent Terrence Salmons

Agent Bryce Chan

Ironblood's Alliance

Joe Colton/Baron Ironblood

Garrison Kreiger

Centurion - Luxury Car Mind Merged with Mike Power, Defects from Team

Doctor X

Storm Shadow

The Iron Klaw

Major Bludd

Miles Mayhem

Horrorshow

Dragonsky

Gorky

Daina

Red Shadow Ninjas

Other Human

Sgt Savage

Mike Power Mind Merged with Centurion

Schletevan Civilians Returned to Normal

Marissa Faireborn (Flashback Only)

Joe Colton's Mother (Flashback Only)

New Yorkers (Flashback Only)

Thugs (Flashback Only) Killed by Joe Colton

The Screaming Eagles (Mentioned)

Other

Colton-Wraith (Flashback Only)

Dire Wraiths (Flashback Only)

Onyx Prime (Infraspace Vision Only)

The Council of Worlds (Mentioned)

Notes

• We've learned throughout the series that Sgt Savage was the inspiration for Joe Colton, we see here that his main "interaction" with him was through the TV
• The News Station "BNN" was used a few times in the past, most notably during the Costa Ongoing Transformers series.
• The hole in the Statue of Liberty was created when Omega Supreme shot Devastator point blank whilst holding him against the monument
• Whilst joined with the Talisman, Blackrock is able to access Infraspace, a sort of Cybertronian Limbo that Optimus accessed when he was near death during Escalation. Like then, Blackrock meets with the image of a Prime in Infraspace.
• Also inside the Talisman/Infraspace is Mike Power, who allowed himself to "die" whilst hooked up to it earlier in the series.
• Here's a weird bit of trivia, Blackrock summoning Metrotitan is the first time that a Titan Master has actually controlled a living Titan directly (the ones on Luna-1 were dead remember)
• Skywarp misnames Joe Colton as "Cotton or Coulson", whilst Cotton could just be a joke about it being a possible misspelling of his name, but the latter is clearly a reference to Agent Phil Coulson from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as it sounding like his actual name.
• Metrotitan uses Ore-13 to reverse the effects of the Talisman creating Dire Wraiths...what can the Ore NOT DO?! 
• Optimus refers to the MASS device as Orbital Bounce Technology, this was the method of long distance travel used by the Transformers in the early IDW G1 comics.
• The end of this comic both finishes the Revolutionaries line, and leads directly into the start of First Strike...seems quite fitting that the follow-up series for the previous event leads directly into the next one huh?
• Following this comic is a featurette showing all the major Easter Eggs for the series, most of which I already covered in my own coverage :)

IDW - Rom vs Transformers #3

Written by: John Barber & Christos Gage

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Josh Perez

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Rom, shocked that his blast did not kill Ultra Magnus leads the other Knights in a fight against the Autobots, the two sides clash until Stardrive shouts at them all to stop. She points out that she is not the Autobot's prisoner and merely tried to save them when they were stuck on the station. She also points out that there is obviously two factions of Cybertronians at work here, and not just one, a fact that Magnus confirms. 

Stardrive reveals that she believes that the Decepticons have followed them to the planet due to Starscream being after the Energon Synthesizer, which Magnus believes to be a major problem since getting a literally limitless source of Energon will lead the Decepticons to conquer Cybertron, and then spread outwards. The groups agree to work together to get the Synthesizer first with Rom, Livia and Stardrive going on ahead in the air, whilst Sata stays with the Autobots on the ground to keep an eye on them until they can rendezvous at the station's crash site.

Elsewhere, the Decepticons and Dire Wraiths are amazed at how destructive the Sky Blast-Wraith hybrid is as it destroys a Xetaxxan village, however before they can use it for their own devices it overheats and is rendered to a dead singed husk. Vekktral wants to try making more hybrids. which the remaining Decepticons aren't happy about, so it appears that they decide to head out for the Autobots instead.

Rom and the other two Knights arrive at the crashed station to find the Energon Synthesizer only to also find some Xetaxxan salvagers trying to find anything they can from the wreck. The Decepticons arrive and attack the Knights, Rom and Livia fight them off whilst Stardrive tries to rescue the salvagers and flies away with them, unfortunately Starscream shoots at her and it hits her cockpit, killing her passengers and sending her plummeting into the crashed station.

On their way to the station, Bumblebee, Ultra Magnus and Sata have stopped so that Bee can heat up a rock for some Xetaxxans. Magnus isn't happy and reminds Bee to NOT leave the torch he used with them as it would breach the Tyrest Accords Sata is impressed that the Cybertronians have rules in place to stop the spread of their technology and weapons when they receive a distress call from Livia about the Decepticon attack. They decide to head off again now, but are stopped when the Xetaxxans are revealed to be Dire Wraiths who attack and try to merge with Bumblebee. Astrotrain comes barging into the area with Vekktral whom attacks Sata himself.

The Knight is weakened from the attack, and they are outnumbered, but Magnus orders Sata and Bee to leave him to fight the Wraiths, so they can help the others, which Bee agrees to, but uneasily.

Inside the downed Station, Stadrive has found her destroyed quarters, where she holds the dead bodies of the Xetaxxans she got killed and threatens to destroy the Synthesizer, knowing the Starscream is behind her. She simply states that he can HAVE the synthesizer, so long and he leaves the planet and takes every Wraith with him....

Characters

Autobot

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Bumblebee - Car

Optimus Prime - Truck (Flashback Only)

Thunderclash - Truck (Flashback Only)

Ironhide - Van (Flashback Only)

Prowl - Emergency Vehicle (Flashback Only)

Decepticon

Starscream - Jet

Thrust - Jet

Dirge - Jet

Ramjet - Jet

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Astrotrain - Galactic Council Shuttle/Trackless Train

Megatron - Tank (Flashback Only)

Tarn - Tank (Flashback Only)

Skywarp - Jet (Flashback Only)

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank (Flashback Only)

Solstar Order

Rom

Livia

Sata

Stardrive - Car/Jet

Auxin (Mentioned) Dead

Solstar Officers (Mentioned)

Solstar Scientists (Mentioned)

Dire Wraith

Vekktral

Sky Blast-Wraith Hybrid Burned Out to a Husk

Wraith Troops

Xetaxxan Villagers

Other

Xetaxxans

Xetaxxan Family Killed by Starscream

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Orchid Crossing Crew (Mentioned)

Notes

• Oh okay...I guess Magnus survived his blast from Rom after all! (Still pretty sure this ISN'T Minimus Ambus still though)
• Sata is identified as being a female...not sure if that was mentioned before!
• Ultra Magnus having to explain to Rom that Cybertron isn't a unified world and has borders and internal disputes is somewhat funny since Optimus makes the same mistake about Earth in the modern era.
• Stardrive is confirmed as being a triple changer in this issue, and she is shocked that not every Transformer is one too.
• The Xetaxxans seen in this story are based on the same species from the G1 cartoon, but rather than being mechanical beings they are organics who were protective masks and clothes due to their planet's extremely cold temperature.
• Bumblebee spending time to help warm up some Xetaxxans is likely a nod to Nightbeat's theory on "Bumblebee makes a friend" stories.
• Bumblebee's alternate mode is shown to be a wheeled version of his flying saucer-like mode from the first episode of the G1 Cartoon.
• It's unclear when Tarn took on his DJD codename, so it's entirely possible that he is still named Damus/Glitch at the point of the flashback.

IDW - Rom #13

Plot and Script by: Christos Gage & Chris Ryall

Colours by: Alessandra Alexakis

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assist by: David Mariotte

Edited by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Main Story

Title: Long Road to Ruin, Part 3

Art by: David Messina

Inks by: Michele Pasta

Tales of the Solstar Order

Title: Battle Scars, Part 3

Pencils by: Guy Dorian, Sr.

Inks by: Sal Buscema

Main Plot

One month after the Elonian Invasion by the Dire Wraiths Rom and Livia prepare to leave the planet to chase after the Dire Wraiths, and they share an intimate moment at the monument left for Rom's lost family.

Back in the present, Rom has taken Livia's dead body to a fishing boat on the water's surface where he shares the energy from his suit with his former lover intending to either revive her or die too. Luckily his gambit pays off and Livia does indeed come back to life, and she is actually appreciative of Rom's sacrifice.

The Wraith Charybdis reappears and attacks the ship, but due to the power share, neither Solstar Knight is able to generate their Neutralizers properly. One of the fishermen is grabbed and drained into a lifeless husk, whilst Rom and Livia fly the remaining two fishermen away to shore.

The Knights take the fishermen to a nearby dock where they grab a couple of boats and supercharge them with Neutralizer energies and fling them at Charybdis, blowing up his tendrils. The Knights return to the dock and ask their new allies to evacuate the area whilst they go to make sure Charybdis is actually dead, and deal with Scylla. The two Knights generate some makeshift Neutralizer weapons and go after them..

Meanwhile in Rhode Island, Darby breaks into the Dire Wraith Warehouse Stronghold and uses her new Solstar arm to scan the area where she locates an invisible Wraith, she investigates it and manages to activate it, revealing it to be a communication device, which connects her to Camilla, who also happens to be near one. Camilla reveals to Darby that even though her Wraith was removed from her, it left traces and some memories, and she reveals that this strange Wraith device is also a transporter, allow Camilla to travel to Darby, and the two friends reunite.

The two Knights encounter a swarm of Wraith-fish, but are able to fight them off, soon however they locate Scylla and an army of aquatic themed Dire Wraiths, intending the battle them....

Tales of the Solstar Order Plot

Fy-Laa is embraced by the rest of Verdulun-5, as Rom tries to show him that he's been brainwashed by the planet. Fy-Laa reveals that they now plan to use the Solstar ability to travel unaided in space to spread their influence everywhere, and tries to absorb Rom as well. Rom however fights back, leading to Fy-Laa shooting his friend in the chest, and asks him to join their new collective again...

Characters

Solstar Order

Rom

Livia

Fy-Laa (Tales Only) Under Control of Verdulun-5

Dire Wraith

Scylla

Charybdis Partially blown up by Rom and Livia

Aquatic Wraith Army

Verdulun-5 (Tales Only)

Human

Darby Mason

Camilla Byers

Davide

Davide's Father

Other Fisherman Killed by Charybdis

Davide's Mother (Mentioned)

The Pastas Family (Mentioned)

Other

Rom's Family (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• We learn in this issue that the Solstar Knights are able to retract their face masks to reveal their real faces beneath them. This now makes Diavod's cameo in First Strike make sense!
• Livia's injured eye was caused when a Dire Wraith struck it during the Annual
• The Monument to Rom's dead family was made at the end of the Annual as well
• The fishing boat and fishermen were seen briefly at the start of last issue, I have no idea how Rom got Livia up to them though...
• The warehouse that Darby infiltrates was the same one that she and Ruan stole the Solstar arm from.
• We learn that the invisible Wraith seen previously is actually just a communication and transportation device, and not some invisible Wraith

IDW - Micronauts Wrath of Karza #5

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

Shazraella, now Enerchanged with the Mad Time Traveler takes the battle in her own hands, she quickly destroys Microtron's Tron army and prepares to go after the remaining Micronauts.

Optimus and the Autobots arrive at the fight area, where Optimus grabs Karza to pay him back for his previous attack and imprisonment of him, Arcee and Jazz, however Karza accesses Micronus' body again and grows to a giant size, attacking the Autobots all at once again.

The Micronauts fight through the Ministry of War troops to get to Shazraella, whom is marching through the battlefield, using the Time Traveler's powers to both mess with time, and spread the Entropy Cloud. Oz charges towards Shazraella to stop her once and for all, but she simply dissolves him, leaving only the Time Mask behind.

Upon his death, Oz is sent back to his previous death, and his conversation with a Time Traveler, where he reveals that the war on Earth is needed, and Oz himself needs to embrace time itself in order to win the war...

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Karza notices that Shazraella is spreading Entropy across this planet now, and knowing how devastating that will be orders a truce between him and the Autobots to stop her, which Optimus agrees to.

The Autobots and Karza charge towards Shazraella, with Karza at first trying to talk her down, she takes offence to his defiance of her, and forces her husband to split from Micronus Prime, and sends the Prime far away, greatly weakening the Baron. She allows him to fall to the ground, but their daughter, Larissa catches him with her shield generator.

The assembled Micronauts, Autobots and Karza prepare to fight Shazraella in the final showdown, however are stopped when the Time Travelers, now led by an ascended Oz confront her, Oz merged with the Time Mask and the Travelers surround Shazraella, and begin dragging her into a Time Casket as punishment.

Before she is locked up, the Time Traveler de-Enerchanges from her and is forced himself in the Casket, before he can be trapped though he warps Shazraella and Karza away, so they won't be imprisoned too.

Following the battle, Oz joins the other Time Travelers to repair Microspace and even rescue the people trapped inside the Entropy Cloud. They easily reverse the effects on Earth, and sets up permanent space bridges between Microspace and Earth, in order to allow better relations between the two universes. Oz leaves with the others, but does promise to reunite with his friends again soon...

In the aftermath, the Micronauts go looking for Acroyear, who is still fighting with Raith and wonder if they can find a new ship...

Elsewhere, Karza arrives in Illinois, and considers how he can save his people now, whilst Shazraella arrives in San Francisco and starts work on her next plans....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Arcee - Sports Car

Jazz - Sports Car

Micronaut

Oziron Rael Became a Time Traveler, Merged with Time Mask

Time Mask Merged with Oziron Rael

Larissa

Phenolo-Phi

Acroyear

Biotron

Microtron

Alphatron Destroyed by Shazraella

Betatron Destroyed by Shazraella

Gammatron Destroyed by Shazraella

Ministry of War

Baron Karza Sent to Illinois by Entropy Time Traveler

Shazraella Sent to San Francisco by Entropy Time Traveler

Commander Raith

Army Remnants 

Other Microspace

Entropy Time Traveler Trapped inside a Time Chamber

Time Travelers

Other Cybertronian

Micronus Prime Sent Far From Now by Shazraella

Notes

• Omegatron isn't seen amongst the dead "Trons" this issue, but since he doesn't appear in the First Strike tie-in, I'm gunna assume he's dead too...pity...
• Similarly, Commander Raith's fate is left unknown, he was last shown fighting with Acroyear, and it was mentioned that they were making friends, but he doesn't appear in First Strike...guess he died too?
• Whilst the Micronaut's new bodies are all new designs, the Transformer redesigns when Shazraella messes with time include Hearts of Steel based bodies at first, and later Optimus in his Pre-Earth body, Jazz in his Costa Ongoing body, and Arcee in her Robots in Disguise Pre-Earth body
• Oz's repressed discussion with the Time Traveler is a continuation of the conversation he had during his brief "death" during the finale of the first arc of the Micronauts comic.
• It was mentioned earlier in this very series that the Mad Time Traveler was the one who caused the Entropy Cloud, Shazraella causing it to spread to Earth when fused with him is a direct nod to this.
• Micronus Prime's body is  send "far from now" most likely so they don't have another Prime running around in the main storyline...we have a few right now after all.
• Shazraella ending up in San Francisco leads directly to her being discovered by Miles Mayhem and Baron Ironblood in the Origins story in First Strike #4, whilst Karza's landing in Smithton, Illinois, wondering how to save his people now is likely to be a plot point for the upcoming Rom and the Micronauts series, set after First Strike concludes.
• Remember that Karza was warped away BEFORE he learned that the Entropy Cloud is now being dealt with, so he is unaware that he doesn't HAVE to save his people any more...