IDW - Transformers: Shattered Glass #1

Written by: Danny Lore

Art by: Guido Guidi

Inks by: John Wycough

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Colour Assists by: Ed Pirrie

Letters by: Lettersquids

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Design by: Jake Wood & Johanna Nattalie

Plot

The bodyscrapper Blurr brings in the remains of his recent bounty, Sixshot, to Gold City, where he delivers himnto his middlebot, Ratchet, who is currently experimenting on a new patient...

While there, Blurr is informed of a new bounty from Goldbug himself, he wants the Devepticon Starscream brought to him, alive, as he wants the information he holds.

Elsewhere, Starscream is struggling against two more Bodyscrappers, Chromedome and Hardhead, but managed to injure the latter, while the former is suddenly attacked by Blurr, who feigns switching sides.

Starscream and Blurr make it to the Static Zone, outside the city where Starscream confronts the Evil Autobot on why he would help him. Blurr tries to tell him that he only joined the Autobots out of necessity originally, and points out that if Goldbug is looking for him, then the other higher up Autobots like Optimus and Prowl must be after him too for his information...the location of Megatron.

Starscream agrees, and tells Blurr the direction to take to reach the Decepticon leader, and the duo head through the active volcanic fields...

Along the way, Blurr monologues to himself about how he's going to lead Starscream to Goldbug and will then bring in Megatron himself, when suddenly Starscream attacks the Autobot, revealing that he knew his plan all along, and just needed him to keep him safe while he gets through the Static Zone.

The two fight, with Blurr using his super speed to outpace the Decepticon, but his speed ends up being his outdoing, when Starscream tricks him into stepping in the path of a volcanic eruption, trapping him and encasing him in lava, as he screams revenge on the Seeker...

The next morning, Starscream thanks Blurr for his unintended help, explaining that he stayed with him in case he somehow survived, and heads out to meet with Megatron at his hiding place....

Characters

Autobot

Blurr - Race Car Smelted in Volcanic Eruption

Ratchet - Ambulance

Hardhead - Tank

Chromedome - Car

Gold City Denizens

Ratchet's "Patient"

Metroplex - Titan Ship/City Dead/Immersant

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Flashback Only)

Goldbug - Car (Flashback Only)

Prowl - Police Car (Flashback Only)

Fortress Maximus - Titan Ship/City (Flashback Only)

Brainstorm - Jet (Flashback Only)

Highbrow - Helicopter (Flashback Only)

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport (Flashback Only)

Springer - Helicopter/Car (Flashback Only)

Roadbuster - Jeep (Flashback Only)

Kup - Pick-up Truck (Flashback Only)

Optimus Prime's Enforcer (Flashback Only)

Flashback Autobots (Flashback Only)

Ratchet's Fallen Comrade (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Starscream - Tetrajet 

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Gun/Winged Wolf/Car Killed by Blurr

Refraktor - Hovercraft (Flashback Only) Captured by Headmasters

Flashback Decepticons (Flashback Only)

Megatron - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Notes

• Unusually for a comic, this issue came with a full sized Blurr figure. There is a mass release version that doesn't have the toy, but who would want that? :P 
• Beyond the cover and the adverts (which were likely made when the comic was produced in the Pulse version as theybare all of things from several months ago) there's no differences between the versions, unlike when we previously had pack-in comics, where they were censored in various ways. I guess in this case it's different due to this only being sent with the figure, and not placed in the packaging.
• This version of Shattered Glass is not connected to the previous Shattered Glass continuity made by Fun Publications, other than being in the same multiverse of course...
• This marks the first mainstream, successful reboot to the Shattered Glass concept, with the previous attempts either being concepts or just one-offs.
• It's likely, that just like how the original version was the mirror universe counterpart to the Classics universe, that this version is a counterpart to the current IDW continuity, due to the use of current toy moulds, whether as virtual retools or using the new Shattered Glass collection figures. Also the appearance of Metroplex, seemingly being Immersant, adds to the possibility.
• Unlike in the previous Shattered Glass universe, most of the secondary characters colourschemes in this story aren't based on another colourscheme, they just used what looked best.
• Ratchet holds up the Data fob for Blurr holding the information in his next target, but the speech bubble is covering it up, making the next few panels a little confusing.
• Hardhead refers to Chromedome as "Chromey", likely a corruption on his nickname from Rewind in IDW Version 1 of "Domey".
• The dialogue in this issue tells us that this is set after the Transformers have been to Earth, and even that a version of the Headmasters storyline has happened too.
• It's left unclear at the end if Blurr somehow survived being melted in place by the volcano (face it, we've seen Transformers survive literal atomisation in the past). But it would be weird to kill off a character that is sold with the comic he's killed in....