IDW - Rom: Dire Wraiths #1

Writer: Chris Ryall

Main Story Title: One Small Step for Dire Wraith-Kind, Part 1

Side Story Title: One Small Step for a Spaceknight, Part 1

Main Story Artist: Luca Pizzari

Main Story Colourist: Jim Boswell

Side Story Artist: Guy Dorian Sr. & Sal Buscema

Side Story Colourist: Ross Campbell

Letterer: Shawn Lee

Editor: David Mariotte

Main Story Plot

It's July of 1969, and the Apollo 11 shuttle is heading to the Moon to make it's passengers famous as the first men to walk on the Moon. The crew go into radio silence with Earth and make contact with their companion team, the crew of a orbital base designed to watch the Earth for alien threats, who they are planning to meet with on this mission. 

Unknown to either team however, there is a third faction on the Moon, some members of the evil alien species, the Dire Wraiths, who have been stranded there following a portal (from the side story). They notice the landing module and decide to make their move, they head towards the landed astronauts, whilst one of the Mystics heads to the newly arrived shuttle belonging to Adventure-One, the second Moon team.

On  Earth, NASA begin to get worried about the unexpectedly extended radio silence with Apollo 11, but chalk it down to a solar flare.

On the Moon, the Apollo Team are taking photos and making the most of their time on the Moon's surface, when they are attacked by the Dire Wraiths, who have jammed the lander's communications.

Four of the Adventure-One Team members head out to meet with the Apollo Team, unaware of the attack, and leave Hank alone in their shuttle, where he is attacked and assimilated by the Mystic Wraith, who drains Hank of his essence and takes on his appearance and memories, and uses his skills to take off and take over Adventure-One's base...

Side Story Plot

On the planet Marn-33 one of the Solstar Knights, Dhorian, has been captured by a group of Dire Wraiths, who intend to kill him, and use his life force to open a portal to Earth, so they can join in with the invasion there. Dhorian manages to kill one of the Mystics, but is killed himself by the Soldiers in revenge.

Two fellow Solstar Knights, Rom and Nikomi are flying nearby and see a signal fired by Dhorian before his death and head to the site, however they are too late as the Wraiths walk through the portal, and leave Dhorian's corpse behind them... 

Characters

NASA

Neil Armstrong

Buzz  Aldrin

Michael Collins

JoAnn Morgan

Kennedy Space Center Crew

Adventure-One

Dr Herman "Hank" Armstrong Killed, Assimilated and Replaced by a Wraith Mystic

Dr Sandra Shore

Dr James Brightside/Dodger

Colonel Anatoli Kiev/Arsenal

Dr Elmo Aubreyson/Scalpel

Dr Martin Flannery/Mixmaster

Dire Wraith

Mystic Aby'Ss

Mystic Sky'Sm

Axlar

Sulor

Third Mystic (Side Story Only) Killed by Dhorian

Third Soldier (Side Story Only)

K'Allor (Mentioned)

Solstar Order

Rom (Side Story Only)

Nikomi (Side Story Only)

Dhorian (Side Story Only) Killed by Wraith Soldiers

Other Human

Rick Ruby/Bulletman (Mentioned)

Mike Power/Atomic Man (Mentioned)

Neil Armstrong's Father (Mentioned)

Ray Bradbury (Mentioned)

Isaac Asimov (Mentioned)

Ralph Ellison (Mentioned)

"The Russians" (Mentioned)

Other

The Inhumanoids (Mentioned)

Notes

• This story marks the return to the original IDW Hasbroverse, although it's a prequel to most of the action in the series
• At this point in history, the Earth already has a load of Dire Wraiths living on it (as they arrived in the 1800's originally) and there should be only Centurion still alive on Earth of the Maximal team he was a part of, so we shouldn't likely see any robots in this series.
• Considering the brief knowledge of Cybertronians existing, it's not too shocking that this universe has an outpost near the Moon monitoring space for aliens. It's very likely that the Adventure-One we see here will eventually become the Skywatch we are introduced to in the main series time line.
• The Adventure-One team are, quite unexpectedly, based on characters from the Inhumanoids franchise. Sandra Shore's name is taken directly from her counterpart there, Herman Armstrong's counterpart went by the nickname of "Herc" instead of "Hank" in the original, and Anatoli Kiev was "Anatoly Kiev", a male character in the original.  The other characters seem to be new characters, but still sport uniforms coloured to match the original series'.
• The Inhumanoids themselves are referenced, as Kiev apparently encountered them in Russia. The Inhumanoids were originally set to appear in issues 4 and 5 of the Sitterson GI Joe series (the one with Skywarp as a team member), but they were replaced with the "Fatal Fluffies" as Hasbro didn't hold the licence to the property any more. It's currently unclear if the rights have been bought back by Hasbro, or if the human character tweaks mentioned before were to accommodate to the property ownership change.
• It's unclear which of the Mystics attacked and assimilated Hank this issue, as they look identical (trust me, I examined both of them in detail and found no visible differences in them, or their personalities)
• This is the first time we properly see a Wraith assimilation, and it confirms that they kill the humans and mimic their appearances, rather than possessing their bodies, something only really hinted at before with their ability to copy Joe Colton, despite his survival. It does bring to question how Camilla ended up fusing with a Wraith though...
• Amongst the Wraiths we see in the Side Story are 3 Soldiers, and 3 Mystics, one Mystic is killed during the story, but the third soldier isn't present in the main story...did he die on the way to the Moon, or is he still on the previous planetoid?
• We keep hearing mention of a "K'Allor" in a god-like fashion. Could this be the real name for the Wraith-God "The Presence"?

FBF - To The Death #8

Title: The End of the World as we Know it

Story: Simon Furman

Art: Geoff Senior

Letterer: Martin Baines

Design by: Amazing15

Printed in the UK by: Mixam

Plot

The White Noise guards at Essen-Six are attacked by the aircraft and run inside the building to regroup with the rest of the team, only to find them killed by Diamond Bill, who also killed the new-comers, having left the aircraft on auto-pilot. Bill enters the cell where Leo is being held and rescues him.

The main Pacifier team arrive at the bottom of the cloudscraper and launch up in jetpacks to infiltrate the building, meanwhile in the access tunnel, Dryagin and White Noise break through a seal to enter the basement of the building too.

Dryagin's team quickly find the Asphodel Extinction Weapon, and record it, and prepare to try and neutralize it, until they are attacked by the Dolmen, the alien species abducted from Asphodel, who are guarding the weapon.

Whilst the teams are busy at the Cloudscraper, Bill rescues Lena from Essen-Six, and she demands to know where Alek is, and to be brought to him.

Two of the White Noise team are killed by the Dolmen, forcing the remainder of the team to try and regroup, and try and find a way to get past them.

Up the top of the tower, the Triumvirate finally see footage of Dryagin's team infiltrating the old access tunnels, and are concerned as to how they knew of it's existence, but also know that it's of no use to them, as the evacuation of their chosen few has begun, and Earth will be destroyed in an "accident" very shortly.

Lower in the tower, the Pacifiers are trying to make their way through the floors when they are suddenly attacked by Killatoa, who immediately kills Umber. The team try to fight him off, but his reflexes are too great for them to hit. Leone however says her last goodbyes to her lover, kisses her, and closes are eyes, before propelling herself into the battle too....

Characters

Pacifiers

Aleksy Dryagin

Diamond Bill

Leone

Megan Umber Killed by Killatoa

Dolan Rekt

Hash Flynn

Bette Larssen

Jonas Huey

White Noise

Deacon Snow

Juddh King

Channon Killed by The Dolmen

Amador Possibly Killed by Dolmen (The Female Team Member is Killed)

Berenger Possibly Killed by Dolmen (The Female Team Member is Killed)

"Goatee Guy"

Forward/Tactical Bunker Staff

Essen-Six Guards All Killed by Diamond Bill

Tri-Corp

Veni

Vidi

Vici

Killatoa

Other Human

Lena Dryagin (Rescued by Bill)

Leo Dryagin (Rescued by Bill)

Other

The Asphodel Dolmen 

Lupex, the Alien Doggo

Notes

• Bill's scenes in this issue are very odd, he's often seen heavily shadowed, implying menace or that he's not who he seems to be
• We see a little more of Dryagin's "premonitions" where we see him reunite with his family, just as the Earth starts exploding, seemingly from the Asphodel Extinction Weapon, though it is still unclear why he's having these "visions" (The first coming before he ever learned about this plot, so it's not just fantasies based on what he's been told recently)
• The female White Noise member out of Berenger and Amador, name dropped last issue, is killed in this issue, but since I have no idea which is which, the character list for this issue will be a bit messy.
• The only member of the current White Noise team to not be named is the one with the goatee, so I am naming him "Goatee Guy"....for some reason....
• The alien golems from Asphodel are named here as "Dolmen"
• Killatoa's new red and yellow colour scheme is currently unexplained, but is most likely a way for him to be more fire-resistant, as he knows the team use incendiary weapons

IDW - Transformers (2019) #15

Title: The Change In Your Nature, Part Three

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova & Bethany McGuire-Smith

Colours by: Joana LaFuente & Josh Burcham

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Megatron watches a live feed of Sentinel Prime addressing the population, denouncing the Ascenticons as liars for their promises of restoring Cybertron to it's pre-war rules etc, and accuses them of using the Rise's violence to gain sympathy for their cause, with Orion Pax behind him, but clearly disagreeing with his statements.

As he watches the feed, Jhiaxus pumps him with the emergency Energon reserves, so he can be fully energized when he goes to visit Shockwave.

Whilst being energized, Megatron thinks back to his early days as a miner and gladiator, which all came to an end when the war started. He was drafted into combat, and during one large battle, Exarchon (or some of his iterations anyway) approached him, intending to use him for his needs, but was chased off. Megatron however saw Exarchon's true worth that day, he wasn't a great evil, but someone who everyone feared due to his immovable will...

Following the war, the Ascenticon movement was formed and the mines were closed, Cybertron was brought to a halt to try and stop another Threefold Spark from occurring. Despite her early ability to rally the forces, Termagax was eventually forced into self-imposed exile, so Megatron, taking after Exarchon's ways built on his own will and took over the Ascenticons for her, refusing to be denied or defeated by anyone....

Bumblebee meets with Orion Pax and Chromia, where he explains what happened at the Titan and how he suspects that Soundwave used his staff to try and kill the Risers. The other two decide to inform Bee about their suspicions that Barricade was feeding intel to the Ascenticons, which led to the Voin Scavenger and Rubble being murdered by Quake. Bee is furious that they didn't tell him sooner, but Orion just states that he was afraid of what Bee would do, and now decides to give their findings to Sentinel Prime....

Megatron arrives at the Rise's current HQ, where everyone has been put into lock-down, as per standard precautions, and Shockwave comes to meet with the Senator. Megatron learns that Shockwave has been recruiting from the exiled bots off-world, and appears to be worried. 

Megatron requests that Shockwave summon his top "lieutenants" to join them, and once Sixshot and Slipstream arrive, Megatron beats down Shockwave in front of them, the latter being no match for Megatron due to the minimal fuel reserves they are working from in the Rise.

After Shockwave is beaten and bloodied, he orders him to not act on his own accord any more, that he is to only work on his behalf and to HIS purposes, and to not allow a situation like that at the Titan, or the recent killings to happen ever again, and makes the lieutenants agree too.

Orion and Chromia have given Sentinel their evidence, and he declares a few controversial new orders. The security forces will be allowed unrestricted amounts of Energon, and access to weaponry in the search for Shockwave, Sixshot, Frenzy, Quake and Barricade, whilst capturing them is desirable, neutralizing is acceptable. He also deputizes Hound and Novastar to run the missions to take them down, as he doesn't believe that Chromia has the ability to deal with the problem, based on recent failures. Finally he wants Chromia to liaise with Ironhide to arrest and interrogate Soundwave, and he wants him captured soon, no matter the cost...

Characters

Autobot

Sentinel Prime - Space Shuttle

Orion Pax - Truck

Security Forces

Chromia - Car

Ironhide - Van

Hound - Jeep (Mentioned)

Novastar - Car (Mentioned)

Ascenticon

Megatron - Mining Vehicle

Jhiaxus - Jet

Bumblebee - Winged Hovercraft

Termagax - Truck (Flashback Only)

Rally-Goers (Flashback Only)

Strika - Battle Tank (Mentioned)

Soundwave - Hovercraft (Mentioned)

Elita-1 - Car (Mentioned)

The Rise

Shockwave - Weapons Platform Beaten Down by Megatron

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Beast/Tank/Gun

Slipstream - Jet

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Shadow Striker - Car

Hyperdrive - Car

Barricade - Police Vehicle

Shockwave's Failed Experiments Dead 

Quake - Tank (Mentioned)

Triggerhappy (Mentioned)

Rumble (Mentioned)

Frenzy (Mentioned)

Ruckus - Buggy (Mentioned) Either Killed or Left Comatose in Titan Explosion

Wirespike (Mentioned) Either Killed or Left Comatose in Titan Explosion

Lowload - Drill Tank (Mentioned) Either Killed or Left Comatose in Titan Explosion

Kaskade (Mentioned) Either Killed or Left Comatose in Titan Explosion

The Threefold Spark

Exarchon's Iterations (Flashback Only)

Skywarp - Jet (Flashback Only)

The Clone Swarm (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Audience at Sentinel's Speech

Warpath - Tank (Flashback Only)

Flak - Multiple Missile Launcher (Flashback Only)

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet (Flashback Only)

Lugnut (Flashback Only)

Headlock (Flashback Only)

Miners (Flashback Only)

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Rubble (Mentioned) Dead

Nominus Prime (Mentioned)

Highbrow (Mentioned)

Ultra Magnus (Mentioned)

Ultra Magnus' Assault Force (Mentioned)

The Constructicons (Mentioned)

Other Species

Voin Scavenger (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• Sorry I'm late with this again, but more ennui etc is making I hard to do reviews in decent time (but I'm getting a bit of a pile right now..sooooo......
• Malkova provides the art for the current day scenes, whilst McGuire-Smith provides the art for the flashback scenes.
• Exarchon, the leader of the Threefold Spark, is revealed to have his consciousness split between multiple bodies, which apparently happened to him somehow offworld, and seemingly drove him to evil, explaining he restriction on further colonization and exploration in the Nominus Edict.
• Headlock appears as a Gladiatorial coach in the flashback, somewhat similar to his role in the RID2015 cartoon.
• Lugnut is clearly seen as one of Megatron's opponents in the Gladiator matches, this was a role previously mentioned for him in the Aligned universe.
• Skywarp is the only legacy character to be confirmed as a part of the Threefold Spark's forces, showing that it's not just an army of clones, but also brings Skywarp's current whereabouts to question. 
• The scene where Chromia and Orion speak to Bumblebee is essentially a recap of all the evidence into who the murderers are, just in case anyone was still confused after 15 issues.
• It's mentioned that two of the four Risers seemingly killed last issue are still on life-support, but we don't get to know which ones yet.
• It's mentioned that the current Rise base is an old outpost of the Threefold Spark, and that Shockwave is trying to replicate the process that allowed him to split his mind between different bodies (which most people are assuming will somehow involve Refraktor, to give him his traditional triple-bot look)
• It's not confirmed, but Megatron's dialogue may suggest that Shockwave was also part of Exarchon's forces, which could be why he was exiled in the first place.
• The Galaxies spin-off series is directly referenced this issue, confirming that the Constructicon storyline (at least) is set concurrently with this series
• Amongst the weapons in the Rise base, are some cannons that look very similar to Megatron's traditional fusion cannon, though he uses it as a bludgeoning weapon instead of a cannon here.
• Slipstream is introduced out of nowhere are a co-field commander with Sixshot, somewhat resembling her role in Cyberverse.
• Ultra Magnus is mentioned as not being available to assist security, but it's not clear if this is because of death or something less serious.
• It's mentioned that none of the great generals will serve, implying that either they are unable to serve due to injury, or perhaps out of disapproval of Sentinel and his methods.

Sig Pub - Transformers #51

Notes

• This month's screen-cap comic is of the episode "Trials", unlike in previous issues, the episode is spread across the entire issue, rather than featuring two episodes.
• Despite last issue saying her homeworld was "Camien" it is corrected this issue to be "Caminus"
• This month's free gifts are a Shockwave action figure, a box of stickers and a packet of stickers, holding some reprints of a previous packet.

Features

Autobot Size Chart - The covers are a size chart for Bumblebee, Grimlock, Optimus and Wheeljack!

Prime Puzzles! - Do some puzzles for Optimus Prime!

Planetary Puzzle - Solve a puzzle to discover the name of Windblade's homeworld!

Colour in Bumblebee! - Add some colour to Bumbelbee!

Focus on Wheeljack - Do some Wheeljack-themed puzzles

Are you ready for Cheetor? - Do some Cheetor puzzles!

Groundbridge I.D. - Identify some characters who are partially in a groundbridge portal

Colour in Shockwave - Colour in Shockwave! (duh)

Decepticon Sudoku! - Complete a Sudoku puzzle using Decepticon images instead of numbers

Search and Find - Locate certain items in a picture

Mission to Win! - Make a game board from your comic!

Transformers Post - The children have sent in their pictures of robots again

Competitions - Enter some competitions to win some Cyberverse figures!