IDW - Transformers: War's End #2

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Skywarp arrives at Decepticon HQ, and warns them about Exarchon's return, and that he has plans at the Sonic Canyons, which must be stopped or Cybertron will fall.

Megatron, who was in the middle of peace talks with Optimus, agrees to Optimus to a ceasefire, so they can handle Exarchon. Megatron orders Sixshot and Slipstream to lead their teams to the Sonic Canyons to handle the situation.

At the Sonic Canyons, the Autobot team are hiding from Exarchon, when Zetar digs through the ground, having found something underground for them to see. Exarchon has a Clone Drone army, a massive drill and an Imploder...

Pyra Magna, having received a distress call from the Canyon team heads there with his Compatriots, but Pyra orders Jumpstream to not join them, as she wants to avoid her death, as predicted by her future travels. 

Soundblaster and his team arrive to assist Exarchon, on Shockwave's orders, with some of them heading into the tunnels to deal with the Autobots.

The Decepticon teams arrive, but Slipstream has been ordered by Shockwave to stand back, and not join the fight. Some of the team disobey and join the fight immediately, and the others start to question Shockwave's commands...

The Decepticons engage the Exarchon-allied bots in the Canyons, but the giant dragon form of Exarchon joins the fight to deal with the Decepticons, however Pyra's team arrkves just in time to join the battle too.

Back in Iacon, the Science team confront Megatron, about whether it is a good idea to create a new Titan, with Exarchon wandering around.

Meanwhile, Jumpstream sees a shooting star, and decides to follow it, since she can't join the battle, however she soon discovers that it is actually Devastator, who has returned to Cybertron to join the battle. She cannot contact Pyra, due to the interference from the Canyons, do she teleports there, to give the warning in person, despite the risks....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Pyra Magna - Truck

Jumpstream - Car

Rust Dust - Motorcycle

Groundbreaker - Jet

Sunstreaker - Car

Windcharger - Car

Sureshot - Buggy

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Pointblank - Car

Zetar - Drill Tank

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Soundwave - Hovercraft

Starscream - Jet

Slipstream - Jet

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Gun/Car/Winged Beast

Shadow Striker - Car

Blackjack - Car

Hyperdrive - Car

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Tracer - Helicopter

Swift - Helicopter

Roughstuff - Truck

Cindersaur - Lizard Monster

Flamefeather - Bird Monster

Sparkstalker - Insect Monster

Mindwipe - Bat

Bitstream - Jet

Astrotrain - Train/Shuttle 

Three-fold Spark

Exarchon/Deathsaurus - Dragon

Soundblaster - Hovercraft

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Onslaught - Tank

Brawl - Tank

Vortex - Helicopter

Clone-Drone Army - Jets

Exarchon/Flatline - Van (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Skywarp - Jet

Devastator - Construction Gestalt

Last Titan Spark Inert

Lodestar - Titan Ship (Mentioned)

Insecticon Clones - Insects (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Other

Flyts

Rust Worms

Exarchon's Re-makers (Flashback)

Notes

• We see the other side of the conversation between Optimus and Megatron from Transformers 41 here.
• Starscream and Soundwave are finally working together now, ever since Soundwave has hated him for taking his job as head of intelligence.
• Jumpstream notes that Cybertron was intact when she went to the future, so she thinks history ahs already been altered with the Rust Worms eating the surface as they currently are.
• Both Cyclonus and Jumpstream are present by the end of the issue at the Sonic Canyons, where the future version if Swift told Jumpstream she saw them die...
• Exarchon is revealed to possess an imploder, which is the same weapon used to kill the Titans Croaton and Vigilem.
• Deathsaurus/Exarchon seems to take some interest in who Onslaught is. We see in the dark future that Onslaught was one of the bodies he used in that period.
• Jumpstream absentmindedly comments that she sees a Titan when she sees a shooting star in the sky, much like Rubble did back in the early days of the series.
• Exarchon further comments this issue about how he was altered by the "Quintessence" and we even see tendrals operating on him in the flashback. I think we're seeing the Quintessons here...
• Exarchon's plan is revealed to be to infest the Allspark itself, in order to control all of Cybertron itself.
• Team Stream, who are affiliated with Shockwave, seem to be opposed to Exarchon's return, unlike the rest of his crew.
• The Decepticon scientists are now apprehensive about creating a new Titan, most likely due to how he infested Croaton during the original war.
• Devastator returns to Cybertron this issue, having gone on a rampage on Malyax in Galaxies, and having a brief cameo showing his travelling to Cybertron on a meteor a few issue ago.

IDW - Transformers #41

Title: The Landscape of Fear

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova & Blacky Shepherd

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Editor: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Most of the Decepticons flee from the battlefield when Lodestar arrives, but Strika and her Heavies remain to try and counter the Titan.

Lodestar however, is not really in a condition to battle, with her extensive damage, and sensory problems, she is relying on Lightbright for almost everything right now.

Computron leaves Lodestar and takes on the Heavies by himself, easily swatting them all away, with only minor hits from his enemies.

Soon, the Decepticon Heavies are captured, but Optimus offers a truce instead, and asks Strika to open a communication to Megatron, despite his cohort's concerns.

Whilst it is being set up, Lightbright requests somewhere for Lodestar to receive repairs, to which Optimus suggests Darkmount...

Outside the walled city of Darkmount, the Autobots and their allies are fighting off the Insecticon swarm, which is being relentless in it's raids, but they receive a boost in firepower when the refugees from Crystal City, in listing Termagax in her "House" arrive.

Back at Crystal City, Strika opens the communication to Megatron, whom Optimus offers a peace truce in order to counter their joint threats, the Rust Worms, Insecticons and Exarchon, and the. Allow them to rebuild their world, before the Autobots cede the planet to Megatron. Megatron agrees after some discussion, but has to arrange the details later, due to some new news he has received.

During the talks, Pyra Magna receives a message from the team in the Sonic Canyons, and has to leave to investigate it. Ultra Magnus questions Optimus' plan to give the planet to Megatron, but the Autobot leader explains that they can retake it later, after it is saved.

At Darkmount, the Autobots are trying to repair the final, damaged Ark, for them to try and evacuate the dying planet, while Termagax gets a plan, she wants to lead a team to locate and destroy the Insecticon Swarm's homebase, but for this plan, she will need a fully intact Insecticon Clone...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Pyra Magna - Truck 

Ironhide - Van

Rust Dust - Motorcycle

Sunstreaker - Car

Wheeljack - Car

Hound - Jeep

Road Rage - Flying Car

Gears - Truck

Tap-Out - Winged Hovercraft

Scattershot - Jet

Strafe - Jet

Nosecone - Drill Tank

Lightspeed - Car

Afterburner - Speedbike

Computron - Technobot Combiner 

Autobot Soldiers

Perceptor (Mentioned)

Highbrow - Helicopter (Mentioned)

Glyph - Car (Mentioned)

Jumpstream - Car (Mentioned)

Sonic Canyon Team (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Tank

Strika - Battle Tank

Heavywait - Tank

Lugnut - Jet

Obsidian - Dual Propeller Plane

Apeface - Ape/Jet

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Runamuck - Car

Runabout - Car

Airwave - Battle Platform 

Decepticon Soldiers

Other Cybertronian

Termagax - Van

Lodestar - Titan Ship Injured 

Lightbright

Kickback - Locust

Bombshell - Boll Weevil

Skrapnel - Scarab Beetle

"House"

Spectrosynth Drones

Darkmount Refugees

Insecticon Swarm - Insects 

Cybertronian Mountains Titan Long Dead

Exarchon (Mentioned)

Constructicons (Mentioned)

Devastator - Constructicon Combiner (Mentioned)

Ark Repair Crew (Mentioned)

Other

Four-armed Alien

Rust Worms

Turbofoxes (Mentioned)

Organic Alien Refugees (Mentioned) Getting Sick and Hungry

Notes

• Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the Wreckers were aboard Lodestar. So I guess we won't be seeing them again before the finale of the continuity :( 
• Lightbright refers to Optimus Prime as "Orion" here, presumably because she just doesn't know about his name change, or just forgot about it.
• Tap-Out appears to have had a slight design update, making his body and alternate mode matching closer to Bumblebee's, which also makes him similar to the Origin Bumblebee toy...new repaint hint perhaps?
• I have a feeling that the end of this series will see the injured Lodestar be either rebuilt with the Ark's parts or die, and be used to fix the Ark, either way, she will become the Ark in essence.

IDW - Transformers: Beast Wars #14

Title: Primal Rage

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: Jazmine Joyner

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Plot

Waspinator and Scorponok locate some strange Energon, and fight off some aggressive beasts in the process.

When the Energon is brought back to the Darksyde, Tarantulas discovers that the Energon itself is what caused the aggression in the beasts, but for some reason it doesn't seem to affect the Predacons, giving Megatron an idea...

Later, Optimus and Dinobot are out positioning some new sensors, when Tarantulas and Blackarachnia attack, placing a strange device on Dinobot's beast mode back, and leave. Optimus tries to remove the device, but it detonates, knocking him out.

Later still, Optimus wakes up on the Axalon, but is shown to have become exceptionally aggressive to everyone, which Rhinox and Dinobot quickly realize must be an effect of the device, with Dinobot even suggesting that his Predacon heritage, and constant suppression of hatred for his past crew has just made him resistant to the effects.

Optimus stomps through the halls of the ship, and assaults the rest of the crew for their past failures and personality faults. Soon, Dinobot breaks up the fight, and suggests to Optimus to use his current rage to go after Megatron and take him out, rather than going after his own crew, which he agrees to, and leaves to kill the Predacon leader, with the Maximals just hoping he recovers from his affliction before he goes too far.

At the Darksyde, Megatron is trying to repair the engine damage caused during the Maximal's recent attack, when Waspinator appears and tells him that he has captured a Maximal, and wants Megatron to come to it, in order to kill him himself. Megatron follows, but finds no Maximals, then realizes that Waspinator's voice sounds different. "Waspinator" attacks Megatron, and knocks him out, revealing himself to be Saberback, and reports to his bosses that Megatron has been captured.

Elsewhere, Optimus is on his way to kill Megatron, when he is attacked by Polar Claw, who manages to knock him out too, capturing him for his leaders too...

Characters

Maximal

Optimus Primal - Gorilla Captured by Polar Claw

Dinobot - Velociraptor

Rhinox - Rhino 

Cheetor - Cheetah

Rattrap - Rat

Nyx - Bat 

Predacon

Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex Captured by Saberback

Tarantulas - Tarantula

Blackarachnia - Black Widow Spider

Scorponok - Scorpion

Waspinator - Wasp

Skold - Alligator Snapping Turtle

Children of the Vok

Polar Claw - Polar Bear

Saberback - Stegosaurus

Other

Hammerhead Cats Defeated by Scorponok and Waspinator

"Gods" (Mentioned, very likely the Vok)

Notes

• Though not outright named here, the "god's" Polar Claw references are most likely the Vok, who have managed to figure out how to rewrite the Protoform Pods to serve them.
• The strange Energon found found this issue somewhat resembles red Kryptonite, in both effect and appearance.
• Saberback was one of the Predacons introduced in the Beast Wars Neo cartoon and toyline. Whilst probably just a coincidence, one of the sub gimmicks of that line's Predacons, was a "trap" or disguise mode, which Saberback does both this issue, he disguises as Waspinator, and traps Megatron.
• Polar Claw's appearance here could be a major holdover of the early plan for the Kingdom toyline, which originally featured Polar Claw as one of the seemingly planned figures.
• Polar Claw's speech patterns somewhat resembles Death's Head's speech, a character partly created by Simon Furman, who is known for loving Polar Bears, and being the writer for the previous IDW Beast Wars comic series.