IDW - Transformers Escape #2

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Beth McGuire-Smith

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Ever since the War of the Threefold Spark, the Insecticons have periodically returned to Shockwave's secret base, to see if the cloning experiments have progressed, but Shockwave keeps dismissing them. After the most recent visit, SoundBlaster asks Shockwave if he's told them that he doesn't need them for the cloning experiments, since he already has the materials to create an army without their further assistance, but Shockwave simply states that the Insecticons are too powerful to risk upsetting, so he's keeping them in check, but he is starting to fear that Bombshell might know something...

As is to prove Shockwave correct, the Insecticons ambush one of the only other figures in the base, Skystalker, and implant him with a Cerebro-Shell to use him as a spy against Shockwave.

Meanwhile, at the Academy of Research in Crystal City, Highbrow contacts Straxxus about the Arks, but during their conversation, Straxxus and Geomotus discuss the recent ground tremors, and the very real risk they have in destroying the planet itself, prompting Straxxus to reveal that he has started renovating one of the Arks for the civilians of Darkmount, but will allow the other three to be used for the rest of Cybertron's evacuations.

A convoy of aliens, injured Cybertronians and Autobot guards are leaving Iacon to reach Darkmount to try and get access to Straxxus' store of Arks, led by Hound, Wheeljack and Nautica.

Along their journey to Darkmount, the convoy is attacked by a group of Decepticons, who, whilst they don't care about the organics leaving Iacon, they want the Cybertronians, who are now "Decepticon Civilians" to them, to remain. A very short fight ensues, which is abrupted ended when Dai Atlas arrives, scaring away the Decepticons.

Hound and the others are shocked by Dai Atlas' return, and he explains that it was in response to the distress call from the A'ovans, but also reveals that his time Immersant has rendered him a pacifist, since that was the entire reason that he went Immersant in the first place, much to the disappointment of the others. 

At that moment, the back of thje convoy is attacked by the Insecticons, taking down most of the guards, forcing Hound and Road Rage to try and take them out alone, but Road Rage is quickly knocked down by Skrapnel, leaving just Hound to defend them all...

Characters

Autobot/Security Forces/Senate Guard

Hound - Jeep

Wheeljack - Car

Nautica - Submarine

Road Rage - Flying Car

Highjump - Van

Tote - Van

Mudslinger - Monster Pick-Up Truck

Evacuation Convoy Guards

Cromar - Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Bombshell - Boll Weevil

Kickback - Locust

Skrapnel - Stag Beetle

Skystalker - Car Placed under Cerebro-Shell Control

Skytread - Tank and Jet

Roadtrap - Vam

Gutcruncher

Airwave - Battle Platform

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Insecticon Clones (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Dai Atlas - Drill Tank-Jet

Highbrow - Helicopter

Mianframe

Geomotus - Buggy

Azimuth

Straxxus

Cybertronian Evacuees

Meteorfire - Space Shuttle (Flashback Only)

Crosscut - Van (Flashback Only)

Vigilem - Titan Warship (Mentioned) Missing

The Threefold Spark (Mentioned)

Darkmount Civilians (Mentioned)

Other

Pra'jak

A'ovans Species Almost Extinct

Other Alien Evacuees

Slaargs (Mentioned)

Notes

• The opening panel of this issue implies that, along with Shockwave, the Insecticons were a part of the Threefold Spark's army, or at least were able to infiltrate it.
• Cromar gets a name-drop in this issue, and MIGHT be the bot seen a little behind Wheeljack and Hound in the opening long-shot of the evacuation convoy, based on his body shape, but without details or colour it could be anyone.
• Similarly, in front of Hound and Wheeljack is a red bot with large shoulders and wheels on the tops of his arms, which could be Aragon. If these are them, then along with Zetar's appearance in issue 25 of the main series, all three Powerdashers might have made their appearances in the new series.
• Meteorfire was a explorer and TV show host from the Cyberverse franchise, so his role as a part of the Xenobiology department fits very well! Also, since Hound describes him in the present tense, it's likely that he's still alive and not Immersant or just dead.
• Straxxus is revealed to be a Senator here, and also to have had a past as a theoretician that dabbles in many fields.
• The ground shakes have been shown to occur throughout the earlier parts of this continuity, but here we learn that if they continue, it could result in Cybertron itself being torn apart.
• After a few mentions, Highbrow finally makes his physical debut, and as expected, he is using his Titans Return character model.
• Oddly, Battleslash is not present in  the Decepticon ambush team, but his partner in crime, Roadtrap is...
• We see Dai Atlas' alternate mode this issue, which is shown to be the combined tank-jet mode that his Legends toy can form, rather than a separate tank and get.
• As I theorized in the earlier parts of the series, it seems like Skystalker is an unwilling member of the Rise/Decepticons, and was forced into it to wake up Vigilem
• The Off-Road Patrol, minus Powertrain, are all shown as part of the evacuation escort team. Powertrain's absence is due to him being part of Ultra Magnus' crew, and them being delayed by 70 cycles due to the Black Sphere's time dilation.
• This issue confirms that most Cybertronians are ambidextrous, explaining why they can usually wield weapons in both hands when needed.
• Dai Atlas is confirmed to be the only Cybertronian to return from becoming Immersant, but he does reveal that a part of him is still Immersed, and heading to where they go during that process (most likely the Allspark)

IDW - Beast Wars #1

Title: Savage Landing, Part 1

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: David Mariotte

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

On Cybertron, the Tripredacus Agent Galavar, now going by the same Megatron, after the long-gone Decepticon leader, has led a team of loyal Predacons to steal a golden disk from the Science Ministry, and steal a Transwarp ship, destroying most of the rest at the shipyard in the process, much to the annoyance of the Tripredacus Council, who consider taking credit for it if his plan actually works though...

Elsewhere, the Axalon is is on a delivery mission when they are contacted by Ironhide of Maximal Command, who informs Optimus Primal of the theft on Cybertron, and orders him to intercept the Predacons before they can time jump with the Transwarp drive, since the Axalon is the only active Transwarp capable shuttle still in the area.

Soon, the Predacon shuttle passes them, causing the Maximals to give chase, and try to take out their engines, but they initiate the Transwarp drive, and start their time jump. Primal orders Nyx to tether their coordinates to the Predacon's, and the Axalon is pulled through too...

Now in the distant past, the Predacons arrive above an unnamed planet with two moons, and open fire on the second-to-arrive Axalon, taking out their weapons. Not letting that defeat the, Nyx rams the Axalon into the Predacon ship and sends both plummeting to the surface. On the way down, Rhinox ejects the Stasis Pods being stored on-board, to keep them safe from the crash impact, hoping they will land safely at a later date.

The two ships manage to dislodge and crash on opposite sides of a vast valley, knocking out both crews in the process, prompting the ship's A.I.s to repair them, but upon detecting high levels of Energon in the area, they scan the local lifeforms to grant them an extra organic shield to the exposure.

The two factions all recooperate and aclimate to their new forms, and Megatron plots to continue his grand scheme, but first, he plans to take out their pursuers...

Characters

Maximal

Ironhide - Tank

Optimus Primal - Gorilla (Previously Hover Truck)

Rhinox - Rhino (Previously Bulldozer)

Cheetor - Cheetah (Previously Race Car)

Rattrap - Rat (Previously Motorcycle)

Nyx - Bat (Previously Hover Speeder)

Under-3 - Car Killed by Scorponok

Other Maximal Command Security Force Members - Car Stunned by Predacons

Maximal Protoforms (Mentioned) In Stasis Pods, in Orbit

Maximal Command (Mentioned)

The Science Ministry (Mentioned)

Predacon

Sea Clamp

Ram Horn

Cicadacon

Galavar/Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Previously Tank)

Dinobot- Velociraptor (Previously Jet) 

Terrorsaur - Pteranodon (Previously Jet)

Waspinator - Wasp (Previously Jet)

Tarantulas - Tarantula (Previously Dragster)

Scorponok - Scorpion (Previously Pincer Tank)

Skold - Alligator Snapping Turtle (Previously Tank)

Other Cybertronian

Wheeljack (Statue Only)

G1 Megatron (Mentioned Only)

Notes

• This series marks the start of the first official remake of Beast Wars since the cartoon began, other comic series have been sequel, prequels or side-quels. (Uprising was set in a universe where G1 Megatron was killed by Blackarachnia's venom, after Beast Megatron's attempt to kill G1 Optimus, making it a sequel too). The series is being marketed as a celebration of the line's 25th anniversary, and is supposed to be an ongoing. We'll see how long this new series lasts though :)
• This issue essentially remakes the "Theft of the Golden Disk" mini-episode produced for Botcon many years ago, and the opening scene of the original cartoon's first episode.
• Most of the guards at the Science Ministry are based on the MCSF from the Botcon parts of the franchise, but seemingly using the character model made for Unit-3 (Under-3) for the final Botcon, using the Combiner Wars Dead End mould as the basis...I don't think this version of him will be combining into Magnaboss any time soon though... The other ones seen are kind of hard to identify, but three might be Shatterpoint, Highbeam and Switchblade, but I'm just not sure...
• Most of the main cast are using older toy designs of the characters (mostly from the various Botcon figures) but a few are new designs with their own histories, like Dinobot using the IDW1 design for Metalhawk that originated in "The Death of Optimus Prime" or Tarantulas using his Mesothulas design from "Sins of the Wreckers".
• The new characters introduced this issue are also based on older characters too, Skold is designed using Beast Machines Tankor's design in her Cybertronian mode, and a modified version of Beast Wars Snapper for the beast mode body. Nyx doesn't seem to have a particular basis for her Cybertronian body, but her beast mode is likely based on Beast Wars Sonar, but without the Transmetal II parts. Her name is likely based on Onyx Primal, who was also a bat Transformer from the past.
• The main cast Maximal Cybertronians alternate modes are show in the backmatter of this issue (albeit, using very small images though), but the Predacons are just shown in bot mode, so I am guess on their alternate modes, based on the previous uses of their designs.
• It's been known for a long time that Megatron had a different name before taking on the former Decepticon leader's name in his honour, but we never knew his name before now (other than the Gnashteeth link from the Micron Booster character). Galavar is most likely derived from Galvatron, a character that G1 Megatron would become (assuming this follows the same basic historical timeline as the original Beast Wars).
• Unlike in the original, the Maximals and Predacons had their beast-themed names before they even took on their beast modes.
• The Axalon and Darksyde are redesigned somewhat to make them more boxy that the original versions, which were more streamlined.
• Optimus Primal is shown to be a bit more of a loose cannon than his cartoon counterpart, being interested in trying time travel, even before his orders were given.
• Unlike in the cartoon, the two ship's crews were knocked into stasis lock when they crashed, and were scanned automatically by their ship's computers into animals to protect them from the planet's Energon exposure. In the original they made the decision themselves whilst still conscious.
• It's not currently clear if the planet they crash on here is the Prehistoric Earth like in the original version, but the presence of Earth animals does imply that it is.