IDW - Transformers (2019) #2

Title: The World in Your Eyes, Part Two

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Angel Hernandez & Cachet Whitman

Colours by: Joana LaFuente & Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Following the discover of Brainstorm's body, the security forces have been called in, and Rubble is somewhat uncomfortable, soon he is sent on his way with Bumblebee to visit Wheeljack at his lab, but is also asked to keep this discovery a secret for now. As he leaves, Chromia wonders if Rubble could be the killer, much to Windblade's disapproval, but she just points out that they need to consider all angles in the case. After they finish examining the body, they prepare to have to moved for further studies, and Chromia contacts Orion Pax, to let him know they haven't determined a cause of death yet, besides being murdered. Pax informs Chromia about the upcoming Ascenticon rally in Tarn, and asks for extra security, in case it all goes wrong there...

Bumblebee takes Rubble to the Tether, where Wheeljack runs aperations there, and has Rubble work with him for a while, doing various odd-jobs around the facility, as a reward for his hard work, Wheeljack suggest he goes to the roof so he can watch the day's harvest of Energon into the Winged Moon, whilst on the roof, Rubble worries about talk he's heard of factions on Cybertron, and whether he has to choose a side, but Bee tells him to not worry about that, at least until he's chosen a life for himself to lead first, if he eventually chooses a side, then that's his choice for later.

Soon, the Moon activates, and opens it's wings, revealing an ornate design inside, gathering the Energon to be processed for the planet's use, both of the viewers agree that it's an amazing sight.

Meanwhile, the Ascenticon rally has begun in  Tarn, and despite it being a vocal success, something goes wrong, and the stage Megatron is standing on explodes, soon he is shot at by an unknown attacker from a tower, but the attacker vanishes before he can find out his identity, but Megatron vows to get answers for this attack....

Characters

Autobot

Orion Pax - Truck

Ascenticon

Megatron - Treaded Vehicle

Soundwave - Hovercraft

Skytread/Flywheels - Jet and Tank

Elita One?

Ascenticon Rally Attendees

Termagax (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Bumblebee - Car

Rubble

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Prowl - Police Vehicle

Chromia - Car

Wheeljack - Car

Gears - Pick-Up Truck

Brainstorm - Jet Murdered

Tether Employees

Security Officers

Nominus (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Rise (Mentioned)

The Primals (Mentioned)

The Reversionists (Mentioned)

Other

A Skitter

A'ovan Species (Mentioned)

Voin Scavenger (Mentioned)

Notes

• Again, the art of this issue is divided up as last issue. The murder/Rubble storyline is done by Hernandez, whilst Megatron's rally is done by Whitman.
• Yes, this means we still have the toy's peg holes and recesses in the Whitman drawn parts, and it IS still very distracting...
• Rubble mentions that Cybertronians don't grow old, but some volunteer to go to "sleep" or merge with the planet itself, explaining the "Sleeping Titans" seen last issue.
• Despite how it looked last issue, Brainstorm does appear to have a new character model, and not just a carbon copy of his MTMTE design, with a noticeably different chest-piece.
• The only recognizable character, other than Wheeljack, to work at the Tether is Gears, he is also the only character to transform in this issue, much like how Windblade was in the previous issue.
• Termagax, referenced a couple of times last issue is revealed here to be the first to be named an "Ascenticon" and is also mentioned as being an engineer or designer, due to her being involved in the construction of the Tether and the Winged Moon.
• On the topic of the Winged Moon, Bumblebee mentions that harvesting Energon with this method is actually not very efficient, and is likely just used due to have impressive it looks. This could mean that this version of Cybertron, at least in this pre-war era, is more focused on things looking aesthetically pleasing, rather than being functional, explaining the magnificent looking vistas in the series so far, and also the civil unrest And also the lack of public knowledge of death and the such.
• The A'ovan species was previously present in the Titan Movie comics from the UK, here we only see a rodent called a Skitter, but maybe they'll return in the future?
• When discussing the Voin Scavenger from last issue, it is only referred to as a singular entity, implying that only the flying brain thing was the scavenger, with the alien monkey things being just extensions of him.
• This version of Cybertron is apparently okay with organic aliens with the A'ovans sending refugee ships sent there, and the Voin Scavengers being allowed to exist there, if they have a permit.
• Bumblebee reveals that there are many factions on Cybertron, but a lot of Cybertronians are still unaligned.
• It appears from how Bumblebee describes the relationship/differences between the Rise and Ascenticons that they are probably related in someway, more than likely we'll learn that Starscream or Shockwave run the Rise, but on Megatron's orders, just to make his faction seem more reasonable in contrast. Much like how real world extremist groups seem to be used, such as Antifa.
• So, who wants to bet that the Winged Moon will be captured and used as a weapon before the end of this storyline?
• The character that was noted as Elita One last issue is now shown to have wings, much like Thunderblast's back kibble, making her look somewhat like the Timelines version of her toy, however this version appears to have wheels on the inner section of the wings...quite an interesting character design we have here!
• Amongst the Ascenticons we see in the crowd is Skytread/Flywheels, otherwise it just appears to be a bunch of generics, with some featuring some familiar body types from the previous IDW continuity.
• Soundwave appears to be Megatron's assistant or at least a confidante in this series, which is somewhat poetic, considering he was Ratbat's assistant in the previous continuity before the Decepticon uprising....should I be concerned that he's going to turn Megatron into a cassette too?
• Megatron mentions the "Nominus Edict" this is likely related to Nominus (Prime), it's unknown if he was Prime in this continuity though. Nominus was the Prime in between Sentinel and Optimus in the previous IDW continuity.

IDW - Transformers (2019) #1

Title: The World in Your Eyes Part One

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Angel Hernandez & Cachet Whitman

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

A newborn Cybertronian, Rubble climbs a "mountain", really a sleeping Titan, and admires the beauty of Cybertron, much to the annoyance of his mentor, Bumblebee, who is trying to escort him to see Brainstorm and learn what he does for a job, to give Rubble some ideas for his own future career and alternate mode.

Soon the two encounter some Voin Scavengers, but are saved from them by Windblade, a friend of Bumblebee's who has received some reports from Brainstorm about anomalies, so decides to join them in their trip there.

Elsewhere, the Ascenticons are marching towards Tarn, whilst Senator Orion Pax summons their leader, his fellow Senator Megatron, and the two politely argue over the marches, especially after the last one left dozens injured. Megatron leaves on bad terms to rejoin his people..

On the way to Brainstorm's Energon Transmission Station, where Rubble marvels about how the ground naturally lights up rather than being illuminated by other means, soon Rubble sees a shooting star, but Windblade explains that it's a sleeping Titan in orbit, ready to protect the planet if needed in the future, and it's revealed that Bee used to work with Windblade in security, but left for unknown reasons...

Soon the trio reach the station, but Windblade notices a broken window, so investigates the area with Bee, Rubble is left alone outside, where he hears a noise and soon finds Brainstorm with bullet holes riddled through his chest!

Characters

Autobot

Orion Pax - Truck

Ironhide - Van

Prowl - Police Car (Mentioned)

Ascenticon

Megatron - Treaded Vehicle

Ruckus - Van

Elita One?

Other Marchers

Other Cybertronian

Bumblebee - Car

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Rubble

Brainstorm - Jet Shot and Dying

Security Drones

Orbiting Titan Dormant

The Sleeping Titans  Dormant

Termagax (Mentioned)

Other

Voin Scavengers

"The Rise" (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the start of the new IDW continuity, the first true reboot of the comic franchise since 2005!
• The second artist of this issue, Cachet Whitman, did the scenes of Orion Pax's side of the story, with Hernandez doing the Rubble and Bumblebee story. Personally, I prefer Whitman's art to Hernandez'.
• The characters in this story are mostly based on available Siege toy models, with exceptions to either new characters like Rubble and characters without a toy yet, like Bumblebee and Windblade. Brainstorm is seemingly based on his design from MTMTE.
• During Whitman's scenes, you can see what are clearly the peg holes of the character's toy counterparts. It's possible that they actually have a use, like they are ports for weapons or something, but otherwise it may be just overly accurate to the toy designs.
• Rubble isn't supposed to have an alternate yet by this time in the story, but we can see two very prominent wheels on his back, either this means that land based vehicles are just the default for newborn Transformers, or they are just decorative (or it's just an art mistake)
• This series is already showing a clear difference to the previous IDW continuity, with Functionism being nowhere to be seen, Rubble being a newborn, and being able to visit and choose a career of his own, AND being allowed to later choose an alternate mode is clearly against the whole Functionism doctrine of "every shape has a purpose"
• Bumblebee asks if his voice box is malfunctioning, a joke to the gimmick for the character in most recent continuities, including the Movies, Aligned continuity and Cyberverse.
• The only Transformer who transforms this issue is Windblade.
• The Autobots at the moment seem to be just Orion Pax's crew, and the only character wearing the badge is Orion himself (I'll count Ironhide and Prowl as Autobots too, since they are mentioned as working for him directly)
• The Ascenticons are obviously a prelude to the Decepticons, and their insignia appears to be a simplified upside down Decepticon insignia.
• Tarn is mentioned as the destination for the Ascenticon march, this city is traditionally one of the major early conquests of the Decepticons later in history.
• Cyebrtron is mentioned as being a "living planet", possibly hinting at a "Cybertron is Primus' physical body" twist for later in the series, which was a popular storyplot before the previous IDW continuity.
• Bumblebee and Windblade are mentioned as being longterm friends, much like they are in the Cyberverse cartoon.
• Megatron and Orion Pax are mentioned as both being senators, and being pretty much the same age as each other, showing that they have had a long history as rivals, even before their destined war, and further showing the heavy differences between this continuity and the previous one.
• The Titan in orbit isn't shown too clearly, but due to Omega Supreme being in the Siege toyline as a Titan class toy, we can probably assume that this is him.
• We can see at least two moons in orbit of Cybertron in this issue, showing us subtly that the Guiding Hand's backstory from the previous continuity is also not likely to be in place here too
• Considering the solicits for this series makes it clear that a murder is the main focus of the series, we can assume that Brainstorm's injuries this issue are going to the be fatal (he's not dead yet, due to the "TZZT" sound effect coming off him now and again)

IDW - Go-bots #4

Story/Art/Letters: Tom Scioli

Edits: David Hedgecock

Plot

The Astronaut quartet wander around an overgrown and barren city street on what is now revealed to be Earth, within Gobotron's core. They remove their breathing apparatus before Turbo and Scooter arrive, with Spay-C, who they force to explain what happened.

Spay-C reveals that he learned about the Go-bot revolution against the humans a long time ago, but decided to keep them safe and frozen until it was safe for them, a time that never came.

Soon the Astronauts are taken to see what remains of humanity, a bunch of naked, primitive humans, who idolize Scooter, and Turbo explains that they protect them from whatever comes after them.

The Thruster soon arrives in the skies, having followed the Guardians into the core and some Renegades capture a bunch of humans, including two of the astronauts. Spay-C tries to rescue them, but he is sent plummeting to the ground, seemingly to his death. Soon, Zod is also deployed from the Thruster and begins to wreak havoc on Earth.

Upon impact on the Earth, Leader-1 is given another vision, this time from the god, Courageous, who beckons him to see him.

Leader-1 leads his forces towards where he believes Courageous was leading him, where they come across Spay-C's now deactivated body, and are accosted by Turbo, with Scooter seeming excited to see Leader-1, despite his apparent harm of him in the past. They join forces to retrieve the lazer lance so they can kill Zod and protect the humans and Gobotron alike, and Scooter reveals that he knows where the lance it.

On board the Thruster Cy-Kill rummages through the pile of humans he's just captured and is interested in the "blue ones" (the astronauts) and tries to see what the humans can do, only to discover that it is nothing.

Down below, Scooter leads the Guardians to Skull Rock, where he has seen the lazer lance in a dream, along the way they are attacked by the Go-lems, who ask what they are there for, but decide to let them continue on their trek, before returning to the rocks to meditate.

Inside Skull Rock, the Guardians come across a board of Vamps, including the original one, still holding the living, but mutated body of Braxis inside, who recognizes Scooter from before the war, bringing up A.J. and they humans allies, bringing Turbo to disliking Leader-1 more for her death, however Leader-1 tries to explain that things didn't happen as he is saying, but before they can discuss it further the Vamps attack.

Elsewhere, the Renegades explore Earth, only stopping when they encounter Spay-C's body and use it to determine where the Guardians are. The two astronauts escape, and get inside Spay-C's body, intending a hard reboot of his systems.

Back inside Skull Rock, the Guardians are forced to split up, but Scooter manages to find the lazer lance, being held by the physical body of Courageous himself, allowing Leader-1 to take it, and Courageous' body breaks into it's component parts. The Vamps escape, hearing Zod approaching, so the Guardians prepare for battle, donning the Courageous armour components to help fight.

Before they can use the lance on Zod, Cy-Kill steals it, and breaks it in half, despite how bad it looks, the Go-lems appear and cause a chasm to form, causing all the Renegades, including Zod to fall into it.

Cop-Tur manages to stay on high ground, and challenges Leader-1 to a leadership battle, but he is easily beaten down by Leader-1. Soon, Leader-1 leads a team, wielding the two halves of the lance to go after Zod and after a short battle, they manage to use it, deactivating the giant Go-bot.

The team make it back up to the surface, ready to celebrate their success, when the Command Center arrives and starts shooting at the Guardians, and abducts some of them, including Scooter, revealing the ship has been taken over by the Renegades, and they leave to parts unknown.

In the aftermath, Leader-1 is found to have been hit by the Command Center's guns, and has seemingly died, the group inter him within the torso section of the Courageous god and mourn his life and death. Turbo, Spay-C and the astronauts decide to go after the Renegades to rescue Scooter and the others, unaware that Eno, the Leader-1 looking angel is watching over them, being beckoned to the afterlife by Nick Burns, Leader-1's former human partner....

Characters

Guardian

Leader-1 - Fighter Jet Seemingly Killed by Command Center gunfire

Small Foot - 4x4 Truck

Bolt - Twin propeller Plane

Blaster - Missile Tank

Scratch - 4x4 Truck

Royal-T - Harrier Jet

Pathfinder - Spaceship

Major Domo - Sports Car

Rest-Q - Ambulance

Sparky - Sports Car

Good Knight - Vintage Car

Dozer - Bulldozer

Command Center - Fortress Captured by Renegades

Guardian Army

Renegade

Cy-Kill - Motorcycle

Crasher - Race Car

Cop-Tur - Helicopter Defeated by Leader-1

Fitor - Jet

Tank - Tank

Warpath - Gunship

Waterwalk - Seaplane

Loco - Locomotive Engine

Buggyman - Beach Buggy

Screw Head - Drill Tank

Zod Killed by Lazer Lance 

Thruster - Space Ship

Renegade Army

Go-lem

Boulder - Tungsten

Solitaire - Diamond

Nuggit - Gold

Granite - Granite

Marbles - Cristobalite

Pulver-Eyes - Dolomite

Brimstone - Brimstone

Stick n' Stones - Coal and Magnetite

Tombstone - Quartz

Spearhead - Kyanite

Magmar - Igneous Rock (Mentioned)

Other Go-bot

Turbo - Race Car

Scooter - Scooter Abducted by Renegades

Spay-C - Space Shuttle

Multiple Vamps - Monstrous Cars

God Courageous - Power Suits 

Dark Angel Eno - Fighter Jet (In Afterlife, possibly Leader-1?)

Human

Lee Spencer

Venyamin Alexander

Charlotte Scott

Other Astronaut

Professor Braxis Attached to Original Vamp

Primitive Humans

A.J. (Flashback Only) Dead

Nick Burns (In Afterlife) Dead

Notes

• This issue continues the Planet of the Apes motif from last issue by showing the remains of human civilization and even primitive humans
• Two more astronauts are named in story now, Lee and Venyamin, leaving just the fourth one annoyingly unnamed.
• It's confirmed in this issue that some time has indeed passed between issues two and three, as we see A.J. having aged and mentioned to have died elderly, albeit as a hero.
• Spay-C is revealed to have learned about the Go-bot revolution before arriving on Gobotron, but kept it from his humans to protect them
• Umm...why are the astronauts removing their helmets, just because they are on Earth? This Erath has been encased inside another planet's core for years...it might not have a good atmosphere!
• It's unclear is Screw Head is a Guardian or Renegade here, or even if he was working with Turbo on Earth like Scooter, but since most other characters are in their traditional factions now, we can assume he's just a "good" Renegade.
• Despite how barren it looked last issue, we see lost of cities and remnants of humanity on Earth
• The traditionally named Rock Lords are revealed to be "Go-Lems" here, and were created by "the gods" rather than humans before the revolution.
• Cop-Tur. who is normally seen as loyal beyond compare (like G1 cartoon Soundwave) but here is shown to be seemingly planning to overthrow Cy-Kill and Leader-1, a role more similar to Starscream, or Zero in Go-bots lore.
• It's revealed/hinted that Eno from last issue is actually Leader-1 from the afterlife, his name coming from the "one" in his name being reversed, which itself comes from the after-life version of Nick Burns, who speaks in reverse.  

IDW - Star Trek vs Transformers #5

Title: Prime's Directive: Part 5

Written by: John Barber & Mike Johnson

Art by: Philip Murphy

Colours by: Josh Burcham 

Letters by: Christa Miesner

Edits by: Chase Marotz & David Mariotte

Plot

The repairs of the real Enterprise are underway, and the two crews discuss how to "invade" Klingon space, so they can save it from the impending Decepticon invasion, but Optimus ends the argument when he declares that he will not allow the Klingons to be harmed by the Decepticons, since he has had no bad history with them, unlike the Federation.

On the way to Kronos, Kirk/Fort Max get the idea to use the ship's replicators to create something to help them against the Decepticons...

On Kronos, the Klingons have detected unidentified vessels crossing the Neutral Zone, and considering the Federation claiming Cygnus Seven from them, they are considering retaliation . However, before they can do anything, Starscream blasts into the high command and claims leadership of the planet for himself.

Soon however, the planet is under attack by Megatron and the other Decepticons, with Megatron taking Starscream's place as leader of the planet.

Luckily, the Autobots and Enterprise crew arrive, with the Starfleet officers now wearing Cybertronian mech suits, which were replicated for them to use for this battle earlier.

Megatron is sure the Klingons will work with him, but Fort Max releases their Klingon prisoners, and they reveal Megatron's earlier betrayal, turning them against the Decepticons in turn.

An all out battle erupts, but is ended when the Klingons unleash a fleet of cloaked warbirds on the Decepticons, defeating them and ending the fight.

In the aftermath, the Enterprise and Autobots leave Kronos, but have established a brief truce with the Klingons for now, however they had to leave the Decepticons as their prisoners as part of the truce.

The Autobots decide to leave on their own to find themselves, but let Kirk know that they can call on them again in the future if the Federation, or Earth in general need future assistance, and the two crews say their farewells for now...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Fortress Maximus/Fortress Tiberius - Copy of USS Enterprise

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Arcee - Sports Car

Bumblebee - VW Beetle

Jazz - Porsche

Ratchet - Ambulance

Decepticon

Megatron - Pistol Left in Klingon Captivity

Starscream - Fighter Jet Left in Klingon Captivity

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet Left in Klingon Captivity

Skywarp - Fighter Jet Left in Klingon Captivity

Acid Storm - Fighter Jet Left in Klingon Captivity

Dirge - Fighter Jet Left in Klingon Captivity

Thrust - Fighter Jet Left in Klingon Captivity

Ramjet - Fighter Jet Left in Klingon Captivity

Airachnid - Helicopter Left in Klingon Captivity

Soundwave - Cassette Player Left in Klingon Captivity

Rumble - Cassette Left in Klingon Captivity

Frenzy - Cassette Left in Klingon Captivity

Ravage - Cassette Left in Klingon Captivity

Laserbeak - Cassette Left in Klingon Captivity

Buzzsaw - Cassette Left in Klingon Captivity

Trypticon - Klingon D7 Class Battle Cruiser Left in Klingon Captivity

Federation

Captain Kirk

Commander Spock

Lt. Arex

Dr McCoy

Uhura

M'Ress

Sulu

Scotty

Klingon

Commander Kuri

Kor

Chancellor Gorkon

Klingon High Council

Other Klingons

Notes

• This issue marks the final issue of this mini-series, but as I mentioned last time it was originally meant to be a four issue series, but was extended by one issue. So this story is essentially a one-off special following the plot of the previous four issues.
• The title is revealed to be Prime's own version of the Star Trek Prime Directive, where he will not allow any Cybertronian to harm another civilization, regardless of their allies wishes.
• The mechs used by the Starfleet officers don't appear to be able to transform (there's no kibble or noticeable parts/marking visible) But if I had to guess, they'd probably be shuttlecraft of some sort
• It's unclear if Fort Max is still alive/active after being separated from Kirk at the end of this story. Maybe Ratchet created a copy of him to act as his mind?
• Considering in the main continuity, we learn that the Federation and Klingons don't end up with a permanent peace treaty until after the Enterprise-C is destroyed defending a colony, we can assume the truce at the end of this story is not permanent itself.
• Despite this being the end of the series, the ending is open to a future crossover in the future, with the Decepticons being imprisoned on Kronos and the Autobots out exploring on their own, and willing to aid the Federation again in the future. Personally, I think they'll do a crossover with the Next Generation cast next, perhaps leading to a battle with the borg and all that fun stuff!

Sig Pub - Cyberverse #41

Notes

• This issue features screen-cap comics of episodes 5 and 6 of the Cyberverse series
• This month's magazine comes with a sparkly keyring, another booster pack of fact cards and a Soundwave shooting toy
• Also as a "free gift" we get a cut out coupon for world book day, but I don't think that counts as a gift.
• The battle of the bots for this month doesn't really make any sense, since neither have a big role in the comic, and Blurr is dead pretty early on in the storyline

Features

Join the Buzz! - Decode the vowels in a message about Bumblebee

Memory Cell Quiz - Take a quiz to help Bee get his memories back

Slipstream's Command - Colour in a picture of Slipstream

Autobot Scout! - Do some puzzles for Bee

Colour the Autobot Allies! - Colour in a picture of Bee and Windblade

More Than Meets The Eye - Play spot the difference with some Decepticon pictures

Autobot Poster - Pull it out and mess with the staples!!

Megatron Pursuit- Find a word within a grid

Battle of the Bots- Blurr vs Soundwave profiles

Transformers Competitions - Enter a contest to win some Bumblebee Movioe toys

Soundwave's Challenges! - Do some puzzles for Soundwave

Transformers Post - The children have sent nightmare fuel pictures in again!

Solve the Quest! - Find a hidden message through the magazine, and colour in a picture of Wheeljack