IDW - Transformers (2019) #3

Title: The World In Your Eyes, Part Three

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

Following the attack on his rally, Megatron announces on a live feed that he has formed a new Ascenticon guard to protect himself and the rest of his people.

Chromia, watching from the security offices is horrified to see Quake amongst the new fighters, as he is well known for being unstable and hyper-violent, having been without a cause since the end of their wars a long time ago. Froid soon arrives and tries to get Orion to stop Megatron from using Quake due to his mentality, which Orion agrees to, if he is able to that is...

Orion Pax orders his security forces to continue their investigations and bolster their troops, in case things go bad.

Elsewhere, Bumblebee is showing off his alternate mode to Rubble and trying to get him to choose a form for himself to adopt, however, Rubble is distracted by the Winged Moon again, and watches as it closes up.

Bee, trying to reclaim Rubble's interest points out a larger Cybertronian to him named Leviathan, who roams the planet for ores to be processed into new bodies and materials for others to use.

Bee realizes that Rubble is stuck on the topic of the Moon however, and suggests that they go visit it again soon, and this time actually travel up the Tether to visit the Moon first-hand. Rubble looks excited, until; he suddenly ducks, as Windblade swoops in fast, almost knocking the two over.

Bee moans at his friend for scaring him, but she states that he is needed with the Senate for a meeting, and that she'll escort Rubble back to his home.

On their way to his apartment, Rubble worries that he's disappointed Bee by not being interesting in everything he's been shown, but Windblade rebukes that, stating that Bee is ecstatic to be his mentor as it is a great honour to be chosen to do so, and reassures him that Bee is just worried about Brainstorm's murder and that's all.

The two of them arrive at Rubble's apartment building, but are met by Chromia and Geomotus when they get inside. Chromia asks Windblade to help them with their investigation at the Transmission Station, as Froid doesn't like Geomotus to be around Prowl, as he is irritating. Rubble is left behind, but Chromia links his communicator with her's and Prowl's, in case he needs help with anything...

Outside, Windblade immediately realizes that Chromia placed a tracer onto the signal too, but she states that it's inactive, but can be turned on if they discover he is SOMEHOW involved in this incident....

In his room, Rubble believes that he can see a Titan in the sky from his balcony...

Elsewhere, Orion Pax opens a large set of doors and meets with a Cybertronian names Codexa, who is melding with the walls of the room, and he tells her that something is going wrong....

Characters

Autobot/Security Forces

Orion Pax - Truck

Prowl - Police Vehicle

Chromia - Car

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Ironhide - Van

Barricade - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)

Sideswipe - Car (Mentioned)

Ascenticon

Megatron - Treaded Vehicle

Soundwave - Hovercraft

Elita-1 - Jet

Quake - Tank

Skytread - Tank and Jet

Refraktor - Hovercraft

Other Ascenticons (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Bumblebee - Winged Hovercraft

Rubble

Geomotus - Radar Mounted Rover

Froid - Jet

Leviathan - Metal Ore Harvester

Codexa Being Merged into Cybertron

Random Cybertronians

Cyclonus - Jet (Flashback Only)

Threefold Spark Army (Flashback Only) Defeated

Ancient Cybertronian Army (Flashback Only)

Sentinel Prime (Mentioned)

Nominus (Mentioned)

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Wheeljack - Car (Mentioned)

Blurr (Mentioned)

Bee's Senator Friends (Mentioned)

The Rise (Mentioned)

The Senate (Mentioned)

Megatron's Attacker (Mentioned)

Mystery Prisoner (Mentioned)

Bee's Past Mentor (Mentioned)

Other

Aliens on Cybertron

Unlicensed Voin Scavenger (Mentioned)

Notes

• Okay! Conspiracy time! My guess is that Megatron's "attacker" was a plant by him to try bring sympathy and legitimacy to his own faction, hence why the explosion hurt no-one, and the weapon's fire was stated to be too weak to harm him or anyone.
• Also, continuing from last month's theory, The Rise did kill Brainstorm, but they are also an off-shoot or allied faction to the Ascenticons, I'm guessing we'll get the answers by the end of this story arc.
• The named Ascenticon guards in this issue are all references to recent toylines. Skytread and Refraktor are from the Siege toyline (and are the trademark friendly names for Flywheels and Reflector). Quake is based on his Titans Return toy, and Elita-1 is seemingly based on her Power of the Primes body, but still with wings similar to her Timelines toy.
• Interestingly, if the characters are supposed to be in scale to their toys, then if Elita is based on the Timelines figure, then she's perfectly in scale with Skytread and Refraktor, but if not, then she should tower over them. Quake on the other hand, is way too big, possibly to make him seem more dangerous?
• Oh hey! It's Froid! This is the first IDW 1.0 exclusive character to make an appearance in the new continuity, and from the sounds of it, it looks like he's pretty much taken Rung's original role in the series, as a background psychologist who has concerns about the mental health of other Cybertronians.
• It's mentioned that there's a patient that Froid is not allowed to meet with, this is either a reference to his previous role, where he eventually helped a serial killer to find victims in IDW 1.0, or it is a hint at where Termagax is hiding (since she can't have died, since that would defy the whole premise of this series)
• A previous war before the peaceful era is revealed here, regarding something called the "Threefold Spark", and it's actions led to the Nominus Edict, which is implied to regarding the limitation of how many Cybertronians can be allowed to be born. All we know about them, is that they had a faction symbol.
• Cyclonus is seen amongst the ancient warriors against the Threefold Spark, continuing the recent trend of him being an old character, and not a creation of Unicron. He appears to be using his Combiner Wars character model in his brief appearances.
• Sentinel Prime is namedropped as the head of the Senate, a reference to his Aligned continuity counterpart...hopefully this one isn't a twat like Infinitus was....
• Bumblebee's alternate mode is revealed to be the winged hovercraft that he had in the first episode of the Transformers G1 cartoon....DOES THIS MEAN WE GET A TOY OF IT NOW?!?!
• Rubble sure does have a fascination with the Winged Moon doesn't he? Maybe there's more to him than meets the eye? Like maybe he's a recycled spark of someone who worked there, or maybe even Termagax in a new body/mind?
• This story shows us that Leviathan (and likely others) gather up ore to be used for the construction of Cybertronian bodies. This implies that the birthing process for Forged Cybertronians is different in this continuity, as in IDW 1.0 their bodies were made from the Sentio Metalica found around their Spark, not from a separate source...
• A piece of graffiti in the street on the way to Rubble's apartment states "Kill the Killers. Death to Hu-" with the rest being obscured by a removal laser. What the hell could that be about?!
• Also, adding to the constant note that this Cybertron isn't as idyllic as it may seem, the street mentioned above is VERY dark and dingy, especially when compared to anywhere else we see in this issue!
• The new character Geomotus is designed to be on the Cybertronina version of the Autistic Spectrum, which is why he needs his "shapes" to feel comfortable in unusual locations for him. Though, I'm not sure exactly why a geologist is needed in a murder investigation, I know they say that he can see "patterns" and things others cannot, but isn't that Prowl's whole shtick? 
• Barricade and Sideswipe are mentioned as being part of the security team. Barricade is obvious since his whole deal is being a cop, but Sideswipe's role here appears to be based on his IDW 1.0 counterpart, who had a security position in the early parts of Robots in Disguise.
• Codexa, one of the Cybetronians who have merged with the planet, but apparently is still alive, (which is disturbing to think about, since we saw Rubble climbing all over one a couple issues ago) is also shown to be at least 2-3 times the size of Orion Pax. This is the third larger Cybertronian we've seen this issue (Leviathan, Codexa and a random character Rubble admires in the street). Were Cybertronians just larger in the past or something? We're they downsized at some time in this mysterious history?

Sig Pub - Transformers #42

Notes

• This month's screen shot comics are "Cube" and "Shadowstriker"
• Why is Grimlock the opponent for Shadow Striker in the profiles? Isn't her entire deal that she hates Bumblebee and wants to defeat him?
• Why is Hot Rod of all bots on the colouring page? He's only a focal character in one episode!
• The free gifts this month are an alternate mode Sideswipe disc launcher, a Bumblebee games console disc launcher, a Dropkick target for said launchers, and another packet of the fun fact cards!

Features

Find the Ark! - Make a board game from the cover pages!

Heroes of Cyberverse - Do some puzzles about Optimus and Bumblebee

Colour in Megatron - Take the wildest of guesses...

Battle of the Bots - Grimlock vs Shadow Striker profiles

Locate the Autobots - Find the hidden Autobots in the picture!

Level Up! Poster - Pull out a poster of Optimus

Starscream Attack! - Lead Starscream through a maze to his alternate mode!

Autobot Colouring - Colour in a picture of the main Autobots in the series...plus Hot Rod!

Transformers Competitions - Enter a contest to win some Bumblebee Movie toys!

Search the Shadows! - Match the Decepticons with their silhouettes!

Transformers Post - Let's look at the new nightmare fuel the tiny humans sent in!

Solve the Quest! - Complete a hidden message located throughout the magazine!

IDW - Synergy: A Hasbro Creators Showcase

Cover Art by: Sara Pitre-Durocher

Letters and Design by: Christa Miesner

Edits by: Megan Brown

An Arcee Sort of Day

Written by: Peri Mercer

Drawn by: Umi Miyao

Coloured by: Elaina Unger

Plot

Following the end of their long war, the Cybertronians are at peace, and their lives have become mundane.

Arcee, once a fierce warrior, has just been refused a loan for a house and heads back to her apartment, dealing with road rage and bar fights along the way, however when she gets home, she is greeted by her pet cat, and realizes that things aren't all that bad after all...

Characters

Arcee - Car

Loan Officer - Stealth Bomber

Road Rager - Van

Traffic Bots - Various Cars

Other Loan Applicants

Security Bots

Bar Patrons

Bartender

Damus

Unicron Cultists

Arcee's Pussy Cat

Unicron (Mentioned)

Ghost

Written and Drawn by: Emma Vieceli

Coloured by: Ronda Pattison

Plot

Dawn Moreno, the new Snake Eyes used to be afraid of ghosts as a kid, but since she has taken on the mantle from the dead original Snake Eyes, and has been communing with him, and learning about his life, she has gotten over this fear, and now feels she has a purpose to give a ghost a voice of his own...

Characters

Dawn Moreno/Snake Eyes II

Ghost movie Actress (Footage)

Snake Eyes I (Flashback/Ghost) Dead

Scarlett (Flashback)

Timber, the Wolf (Flashback)

Snake Eyes' Enemies (Flashback)

Recharge

Written, Drawn and Coloured by: Sarah Winifred Searle

Plot

A meme, comparing Misfits band member Stormer to a manatee has gone viral, and bandmate Pizzazz is pissed off about it, but Stormer doesn't let it get to her, as she's used to people judging her based on her looks, she leaves for a walk and bumps into her girlfriend, Kimber, who asks her to meet with her later.

Soon, Stormer stops by a café, where she sits outside reading a book, and decides to stay out there when it starts raining down on her...

Characters

Stormer/Mary Phillips

Pizzazz/Phyllis Gabor

Kimber Benton

Waitress

Shana Elmsford (Mentioned)

Misfits Fans (Mentioned)

Misfits Critics (Mentioned)

The Stage

Written by: Katie Cook

Drawn by: Agnes Garbowska

Coloured by: Heather Breckel

Plot

In the mid-eighties, Katie Cook was a weird kid who used to play with her My Little Pony toys, and loved to make stories about them, which included body horror and happy dance numbers.

When she grew up, and came to enjoy the newer cartoon, she was approached to create a comic series about her favourite toys, which she relished in, treating it like she did as a kid, having fun, and trying to entertain others.

Unfortunately, she is annoying to her own kids, who don't want to hear about how the comics and stories are made by their mother, but want to make their own stories with their own toys...again including body horror (but this time with glitter though!)

Characters

Real People

Katie Cook

Harper Cook

Grayson Cook

Andy Price

IDW Editor Bobby (Mentioned)

Benny Hill (Mentioned)

Fictional

G1 Locket

G1 Baby Half Note

G1 Sea Breeze

G1 Starflower

G1 Applejack

G1 Twilight

G1 Baby Cuddles

G4 Twilight Sparkle

G4 Pinkie Pie

G4 Fluttershy

G4 Leadwing

G4 Bittersweet

G4 Sunset Shimmer

G4 Applejack

G4 Rarity

G4 Princess Luna

G4 Princess Celestia

Equestria Girls Twilight Sparkle

Equestria Girls Fluttershy

TOO MANY G1 PONIES TO NAME!!

G4 Discord (Mentioned)

Of Flying and Falling

Written by: Mairghread Scott

Drawn by: Sara Pitre-Durocher

Coloured by: Joana LaFuente

Plot

When she was young, Mairghread Scott and her sister used to love the Beast Wars cartoon, and used to act out their own battles and scenes between the characters in their back garden.

Despite her love for the cartoon though, Mairghread hated that there was only two female characters in the series, and was upset when her favourite, Airazor, was written out, but despite this, she kept a part of Airazor inside her, and wouldn't let it die.

Eventually she learns about the newly fan-poll created character Windblade, and allies to write for her new series.

Time passes, and Mairghread has published a few series focusing on Windblade, and even included a larger library of female characters than she had as a child, whilst setting up her booth at a convention, she is approached by a small girl, clutching a Windbalde toy, who says she's her favourite character, which Mairghread agrees to as well...

Characters

Real People

Mairghread Scott

Mairghread's Sister

Mairghread's Husband

Mairghread's Teacher

Random People

Convention Goers

Fictional

Airazor - Falcon

Dinobot - Velociraptor

Optimus Primal - Gorilla

Cheetor - Cheetah

Rattrap - Rat

Rhinox - Rhino

Tigatron - White Tiger

Tigerhawk - Winged Tiger

Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Blackarachnia - Black Widow Spider

Tarantulas - Tarantula

Scorponok - Scorpion

Waspinator - Wasp

Inferno - Fire Ant

Terrorsaur - Pterodactyl 

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Chromia - Speedbike

Moonracer - Sports Car

Strika - Battle Tank

Elita One

Mistress of Flame

Greenlight

Lancer

Lightbright

Optimus Prime Plushie 

Generic Superheroes

Overall Notes

• Okay, first off, I want to thank Crunch Comics in Reading for helping me get my hands on this comic, I couldn't find any UK sellers anywhere other than them. Please give them a look if you need specific comics or are just in the Reading area :)
• I've decided to put ALL the notes for this comic in one section, rather than one for each individual story, where needed. I'll TRY to keep the notes in order, but no promises :D
• This anthology comic was made to celebrate international women's day/month and showcases several female members of IDW's creative team. The series is named after the female computer from Jem and the Holograms....now...when do we get Male Synergy or Teletraan-1? 
• The three franchise comics are each three pages long, and the two biopics are seven pages each, making the complete book just 23 pages long of new content (excluding the print/cover reprints and title pages) Making the double cover price a bit odd...
• Just for the record, I don't follow the GI Joe: Real American Hero, Jem and the Holograms or My Little Pony comics, so if I make any dumb errors in my analysis etc, please forgive me (a lot of these have either no or little fan wikis to help me out either)
• Of the three franchise comics, only the Transformers one is currently impossible to be in continuity with the IDW continuity, either the new one or previous, so maybe this is just set in another continuity, ala Deviations (ie, "In a world where Arcee got a cat instead of a girlfriend!"
• Arcee's redesign in this book is an amalgamation of her IDW design and the Power of the Primes/Siege female Autobot toy design, possibly hinting at a new toy perhaps?
• The loan officer appears to use Megatron's stealth bomber body, but with a new head and some slightly different kibble.
• They don't say where the mean comments about Stormer are being shared is, in the Jem story, but from the talk about followers, memes and rabid fanbases being set upon people, we can all assume it's Twitter.
• So....why does Stormer just sit out in the rain, with her book in hand? That's just going to ruin the book if nothing else!
• In the MLP biopic story, I've only bothered to identify the toys and characters shown that have either a noticeable role in the story, or are named themselves, there is literally a panel with at least three dozen ponies in it....I AM NOT INSANE!!!
• Just to prove that I did try however, I spent about an hour trying to identify a character on the TV in one panel, because I wanted to be thorough.
• In Katie's childhood bedroom , she has a Mr Potatohead figure....what a Hasbro shill!!
• In one panel it's mentioned that G1 Applejack is the toy being played with, but the figure shown is purple, not orange like the character herself...I PAY ATTENTION OKAY!!!
• During the Beast Wars biopic, Dinobot is mentioned as being a Predacon...this was only the case for episode one of the series when he flipped sides to a Maximal (which is also his faction in the toyline). Maybe Mairghread and her sister just liked him to be a Predacon over a Maximal?
• I don't know if the superheroes on the TV in Mairghread's childhood are actually supposed to be from something, but I don't recognise them....sorry if they're important!
• The final panel with Mairghread at a convention is, for those who do not attend Transformers conventions, very accurate to what you'd see there, from cosplayers to people carrying plushies of characters they like
• I'm not going to count the characters who appear on the comic covers on Mairghread's table in my character checklist by the way, since they're too small to count, but I just wanted to say that I did notice them!
• Due to the size, it's difficult to tell, but I believe the Windblade toy the little girl is holding is the Titans Return version...which if it's anything like my one....BE CAREFUL WITH THE HEAD!! IT JUST POPS RIGHT OFF!!!