IDW - Transformers: Last Bot Standing #2

Written by: Nick Roche

Art by: E.J. Su & Nick Roche

Colours by: Rebecca Nalty

Letters & Design by: Johanna Nattalie

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: David Mariotte

Plot

Rodimus investigates the pod used by the Visitor, but keeps being interrupted by Shib, who followed him, and explains that she, and her family, have been hiding him for generations.

Rodimus tries to use the stars to determine exactly how long it's been since he went into hiding, but is shocked to see the stars  linking out of existence, which Shib says has been happening since at least her grandfather's time.

The elderly Autobot laments that his species is to blame for the stars dying, and for so many world's dying, all because of their war.

Soon, a mob from the town arrives, and they intend to take Rodimus away for a town meeting to determine his fate, and also intend to imprison Shib and her family for hiding an alien robot. Rodimus agrees to be captured, but on the condition that Shib and her brothers not be blamed at all.

Elsewhere, Moon, formerly Spine-Shucker, guards the new base of his crew of eclectic Cybertronians, who have landed on the planet to look for a new home, and for more biofuel to power them.

Override and Riotgear are sent out to find Nitro, their scout, and locate his pod, which is being guarded by two of the townsfolk, whom Riotgear quickly grabs and learns that another Cybertronian was taken to town. Riotgear proceeds to devour the townsfolk to use as fuel...

At her homestead, Shib speaks with her brother Beets, before silently sneaking out of the house, slipping past the sleeping guard.

The next morning, Rodimus has been strapped to the ground, and is being guarded by some townsfolk, but they are soon distracted when Override and Riotgear arrive, and completely ignore them when they notice Rodimus.

Shib tries to free Rodimus, but he's afraid for her safety due to more of his kind appearing. Shib hides, at Rodimus' request, but the two other Cybertronians "rescue" him, and drive back towards their base.

The town's Alderman is told about the "rescue" and he's furious, despite their weapons having no effect on the giant robots regardless. He is further angered when he learns that Shib escaped from her house, and now considers her a conspirator with the aliens.

Rodimus is soon brought to the Cybertronian camp, where everyone is shocked to see another member of their species. Rodimus intends to fight them all, but his energy depletion gets to him, and he passes out.

While offline, Rodimus recalls how he, Gripper and Strongarm landed on the planet, with Rodimus intending to have them all just die out here, and not cause any further problems for the universe, hoping they're the last of their species.

Rodimus soon wakes up, and is shocked when no-one recognises his name, and learns that the Last Cybertronians have been overwriting their old memories to help themselves survive, and also now power themselves on Biofuel, and reveals that they already have a new subject to be converted into fuel...Shib, who was hiding in Rodimus' cape!

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Wagon Base (Previously Car)

Strongarm - Van (Flashback)

Gripper - Buggy (Flashback)

Powermaster Optimus Prime - Truck (Flashback)

Grandus - Battle Platform (Flashback)

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Flashback)

Thunderclash - Truck (Flashback)

Windblade - VTOL Jet (Flashback)

Tigerhawk - Winged Tiger (Flashback)

Bulkhead - Van (Flashback)

Armada Red Alert - Van (Flashback)

Arcee - Car (Flashback)

Decepticon

Galvatron - Cannon (Flashback)

Gigatron - Jet/Bat/Car/Dragon/Hand (Flashback)

Predaking - Predacon Gestalt (Flashback)

Starscream - Tetrajet (Flashback)

Sixshot - Car/Jet/Tank/Gun/Winged Beast (Flashback)

Strika - Battle Tank (Flashback)

Flamewar - Motorcycle (Flashback)

Snarler - Drill-Beast (Flashback)

Noisemaze - Space Jet (Flashback)

Calcar - Car (Flashback)

The Last Cybertronians

Steeljaw - Van

Sharpclaw - Car

Moon/Spine-Shucker - Rabbit

Override - Car

Riotgear - Tank

Cyberwarp - Jet

Vex

Wedge - Bulldozer

Treadshock - Tank

Nitro - Car (Mentioned) Dead

Scylla (Mentioned) In Stasis

Lunaclub (Mentioned In Stasis

"The Veteran" (Mentioned) In Stasis 

Donnokt Denizens

Shib Wallkis Captured by the Last Cybertronians

Alderman Errold 

Beets Wallkis

Wallkis Homestead Guard

Tunp

Spletsil

Rodimus' Third Guard

Buck Eaten by Riotgear

Buck's Co-Guard Eaten by Riotgear 

Fembrance Townsfolk/Mob

Donnokt Steeds

Trayvon Wallkis (Mentioned)

Grandpappy Wallkis (Mentioned)

Mr Wallkis (Mentioned)

Shib's Ancestors (Mentioned)

Fembrance Town Council (Mentioned)

Other

Primus (Mentioned)

Humans (Mentioned)

Nebulans (Mentioned)

Klovians (Mentioned)

Notes

• Despite a couple of IDW #1 nods this issue, I don't believe this can fit in that continuity, since the Optimus Prime shown was in his Powermaster body, which that version of Prime never took on. (Though I guess he could be Ginrai...)
• The "Last Cybertronians" we meet this issue are an eclectic group from most Transformers generations. Quite fitting for a series designed to end an era, and celebrate the brand.
• The "Visitor" from last issue, who Rodimus killed, is revealed to be named Nitro.
• Rodimus' design changes between the flashbacks and the modern day scenes, most likely due to scanning the wagon he's been using for decades, but it could also be from spare parts from the Wallkis family.
• Rodimus believes that the Cybertronians are the reason that the stars are dying in the sky, most likely because of the war (we have seen Star Harvesters in some past continuities etc).
• Strongarm is confirmed to be one of Rodimus' comrades, but the other is Gripper, not Prowl as I guessed last issue. oh well.
• We can assume from Rodimus' behaviour that Strongarm and Gripper are most likely dead.
• The Last Cybertronians have overwritten their older memories, in luding many famous names from the past, a nod to Information Creep from IDW #1, an explanation on why beings able to live for billions of years, can forget their distant past.
• The Last Cybertronians are revealed to use "biofuel", where they process organic life into fuel for them to use. This process was referred to as Pink Alchemy in IDW #1, and was hinted at with the Insecticons in IDW #2.
• The "Veteran" mentioned here is heavily implied to be Wheelie, based on the next issue promo. However, the name originates from an alias used by Swoop in the 3H comics Beast Era comics and prose.
• Rodimus seems to have an attachment for his cape/tarp, potentially meaning it was a gift from Strongarm or Gripper, or perhaps the original Wallkis ally. Though it is also possible that he just realised that Shib was in the cloth, and was worried for her.
• The energy keys that Shib owns are still not explained, but I still believe they are to be used to jumpstart Rodimus' spark, and would have been given to her ancestors when Rodimus first went into hiding.

IDW - Transformers: War's End #4

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Inks by: Matt Froese, Rik Mack & Maria Keane

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Colour Assists by: Ed Pirrie & Ben Pirrie

Letters by: Jake M. Wood & Nathan Widick

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Exarchon attempts to infest the body of Devastator, but due to his gestalt spark, he can resist, much to Exarchon's shock. The stress of the defiance causes Devastator to fall apart into his component parts.

Exarchon turns to the other bots assembles around him to usurp one of them instead, leading to most of them to run away in fear.

Flamewar is left behind by accident, as she was asking the Constructicons what it was like to be combined, when Exarchon attacks her, intending to take her body, but is interrupted by Soundblaster, who informs him that there are enemies nearby, taking him down below again. Flamewar runs away too, before she can be attacked again.

Elsewhere, the assembles Autobots and Decepticons work on their plans, when the Decepticon scientists arrive, revealing their plan to use the last Titanspark, whose casing has been rigged to trap Exarchon if he tries to usurp it. They are also going to have Mindwipe hypnotize Exarchon to make him attempt it. The assembled forces agree with this plan, despite it sacrificing a future Titan...

Down below, Exarchon infestsbgis spark into the giant drill and launches it towards the Allspark, where he intends to fuse with the planet itself, and conquer the world.

The Autobot team inside the base hear all of this, and start tunneling to intercept the drill with Zetar.

Exarchon ends up returning to the surface with the Clone-Drones, whist Soundblaster and his Infiltration Troopers go after the Autobots, to allow the plan to succeed.

On the surface, the combined forces meet with Exarchon's troops, and a full battle erupts, leading to Mindwipe managing to hypnotize Exarchon, and Cyclonus opens the Titanspark casing for him to usurp.

With Exarchon seemingly defeated, Onslaught and the others are forced to surrender, and Sixshot collects the spark to bring to Megatron, however Pyra Magna shatters the spark, not allowing Megatron to have an Exarchon-infused Titanspark.

The underground team manage to reach the drill, but are attacked by Soundblaster and his crew, Zetar does manage to core through the drill, destroying it, but hurting himself, and causing a large explosion in the process.

The Autobots escape the drill tunnel before it collapses in on itself, and Landmine deliberately leaves Frenzy there, recognising him as the one who killed Brainstorm, and starting this whole situation.

On the surface, Sixshot and Pyra Magna split up their forces, due to their differing ideologies, and Cyclonus decides to remain in the Canyons, now that his war is finally over. Sixshot returns towards Iacon with the Constructicons, and Pyra is intending to extract the Autobots still down below.

Landmine and the others down below make their ways out of the tunnel, and into the lab, where they hear a "worp" sound, and notice that the Imploder that was on display in the lab is now missing...

Characters

Autobot

Pyra Magna - Truck

Sunstreaker - Car

Jumpstream - Car

Windcharger - Car

Landmine - Plough Buggy

Geomotus - Radar Buggy

Sureshot - Buggy

Pointblank - Car

Zetar - Drill Tank

Decepticon

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

Slipstream - Jet

Shadow Striker - Car

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Hyperdrive - Car

Blackjack - Car

Bitstream - Jet

Mindwipe - Bat

Sparkstalker - Insect Monster

Flamefeather - Bird Monster

Cindersaur - Lizard Monster

Swift - Helicopter

Tracer - Helicopter

Roughstuff - Truck

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

Threefold Spark

Exarchon/Deathsaurus - Dragon Body Abandoned for Titanspark

Exarchon - Drill Cores by Zetar

Soundblaster - Hovercraft Likely Trapped in Tunnel Rubble

Rumble - Cassette Likely Trapped in Tunnel Rubble

Frenzy - Cassette Trapped in Alternate Mode, Trapped in Tunnel Rubble 

Onslaught - Tank Captured by Sixshot

Brawl - Tank Captured by Sixshot

Vortex - Helicopter Likely Captured by Sixshot

Clone-Drone Army - Jets

Other Cybertronian

Last Titanspark Rigged to trap Exarchon, destroyed by Pyra Magna when Infested

Cyclonus - Jet

Skywarp - Jet 

Scrapper - Front End Loader

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Scavenger - Excavator

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Hook - Crane

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt 

Grudge (Ghost)

Highfire (Ghost)

Paragon (Ghost)

Provoke (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

Primus (Mentioned)

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• This issue marks the finale of the Wars End series, and is concurrently the end of the Transformers main comic series, to be followed up by Fate of Cybertron at the end of June.
• Exarchon refers to the Clone-Drone Army as "Seekers" this issue, this is a bit of an error, since the Seekers were formed to counter the Clone-Drones.
• Strangely, we don't see the Deathsaurus body, post-Exarchon's extraction. While previous issues clarify that he would be dead, we never see it here 
• We don't see what happens to Vortex, Soundblaster, Rumble or Frenzy at this issue's climax. It can be assumed that Vortex was captured along with the other Combaticons, but the latter three appear to be trapped underground. I wonder if Fate of Cybertron will show us anything about them?
• Zetar cores through the drill that was infused with Exarchon's spark, which was designed to infect the Allspark, and never speaks, or shows his eyes after the attack...so is there a chance that Exarchon somehow infested inside Zetar when he destroyed the drill?
• Skywarp steals the Imploder that he appeared with at the end of Transformers #43 from Exarchon's Sonic Canyon base, and we know that he goes to intercept Optimus and his crew on their way to Darkmount with it.
• Cyclonus seems to retire this issue from fighting, now that Exarchon is finally (hopefully) dead.
• So it seems like, if the original timeline would have been maintained, then Exarchon's drill would have hit the Allspark, and infested the planet, making it inhospitable for Cybertronians, leading to their deaths or enslavement.

IDW - Transformers: Beast Wars #16

Title: The Beginning of the End

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Nathan Widick & Jake Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: Jazmine Joyner

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Plot

The Maximals and Predacons work together to prepare for their upcoming battle with the Vok and their followers, with half of both crews being sent to the other ship to maximise their resources

On the Darksyde, Rhinox and Scorponok work together to attempt to repurpose the damaged Transwarp engine into a Transwarp communicator, but the engine's systems have been locked out, much to Scorponok's surprise.

Scorponok soon discovers that the lock-out is from Megatron's own codes, leading Megatron to realize that Tarantulas is behind this. The spider tries to deny it, but he quickly tries to escape, revealing that he betrayed them since the Vok promised all the secrets of the universe to him. Dinobot manages to skewer Tarantulas, but not kill him, so they can interrogate him...

At the Axalon, Cheetor and Blackarachnia work on preparing the weapons cache from the Axalon, with Blackarachnia wondering if they are in the wrong in thid situation, since they did technically invade the Vok's world, and they probably just lost patience with their interference.

Elsewhere on the ship, Nyx and Skold are working together to research weaponry that can disrupt energy-based creatures, like the Vok, when Skold realizes that unspace energies have been lingering in both ships, despite both engines being offline for some time now, giving them a clue.

Rattrap monitors Waspinator as he works on the Axalon's engines, and is astounded when the engine's reactivate. Waspinator admits that the engine's won't let them leave the atmosphere, but that they can take off now.

Nyx and Skold bring their discover to Optimus, which gives them a chance to take down the Vok. Optimus thanks Skold for her hard work, much to her shock, since the Predacons normally try to steal each others credit, but Nyx allows her to take her rightful credit.

The group are interrupted when a message comes from the Darksyde, through Unspace....

Back at the Darksyde, Megatron has repaired Tarantulas, and begins his interrogation of the traitor, but it is cut short, when Tarantulas triggers his newest project, the reanimated body of Terrorsaur, who quickly stuns Megatron, Rhinox and Dinobot, as Tarantulas intends to present them to the Vok.

Scorponok witnesses all of this on the security feed, and sends the message to the Axalon to warn them about what Tarantulas is doing.

After sending the message, Tarantulas sets Terrorsaur on the last Predacon, allowing him to devour him, to refuel himself.

Ignoring Scorponok's death screams, Tarantulas considers what to do now, and decides to send a message, using the new Unspace communicator to contact Cybertron, so they can send another Transwarp craft for him to escape on...

Characters

Maximal

Optimus Primal - Gorilla

Dinobot - Velociraptor Captured by Tarantulas

Rhinox - Rhino Captured by Tarantulas

Cheetor - Cheetah

Rattrap - Rat

Nyx - Bat

The Fallen Protoforms (Mentioned)

Predacon

Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex Captured by Tarantulas

Tarantulas - Tarantula

Blackarachnia - Black Widow Spider

Scorponok - Scorpion Being Devoured by Terrorsaur

Waspinator - Wasp

Skold - Alligator Snapping Turtle

Terrorsaur/Experiment ZT-Omega Zombified by Tarantulas

Tripredacus Council (Mentioned)

Other

Pakak (Image)

Tikaani (Image)

Tonrar (Image)

A Kremzeek (Mentioned) Dissected by Rhinox

Notes

• The first couple of pages of this comic were previewed in the Beast Wars annual.
• Despite being prominent on the cover, Tigatron doesn't appear in this issue.
• It's unclear how long Tarantulas has been working for the Vok, but it most likely started shortly after he saw their power readings, following Megatron's capture.
• Tarantulas being an agent of the Vok is an inversion of his role as a stark enemy of the Vok in the Beast Wars cartoon, which culminated in him being (seemingly) destroyed when he tried to steal their power from Tigerhawk.
• The restraining bolts used on the Predacons on the Axalon are pretty similar to the devices used to control droids from the Star Wars franchise.
• Skold is shown having a deductive mind this issue, being able to figure out how the Vok have been monitoring them, further showing that she is more than just muscle.
• Waspinator is revealed to actually have degrees in astromechanics, and even partially repairs the Axalon's engines within minutes, giving us an actual purpose to his role in Megatron's crew, rather than just being a bumbling soldier.
• Terrorsaur is revealed to have been turned into a zombie-like form, thanks to Tarantulas' experimentations.
• The message Scorponok sends to the Axalon was actually sent to the past, via unspace, so they would get a heads up for what Tarantulas is doing. This could explain the mystery Predacon message found in the Axalon's computers shortly after the ship crashed. Perhaps this message is the one that was being sent to Cybertron, but was sent to the Axalon pre-time travel in the past by accident?