IDW - Optimus Prime #9

Title: The Life of Sideswipe

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Kei Zama

Colours by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The President meets with Marissa at Little Cybertron, where she wants to talk to the island's supervisor about a new role where she'll have to "travel abroad", and appears to be impressed with her ways with the Transformers.

In Autobot City, Sideswipe finally wakes up following his long standing injuries, thanks to a repaired Positron Core curtesy of Wreck-Gar. The Autobots are happy with their returned friend, but Sideswipe notices that Arcee has skulked away, so he follows her. She explains that Sunstreaker promised that he was going to be there, and even spoke to her from Cybertron earlier that day. At first Sideswipe declares that he doesn't care, but Arcee brings up how she let her brother die, and feels bad about that every day, and Sideswipe agrees to look for his brother.

Soon, Arcee and Sideswipe have arrived on Cybertron, where Sideswipe is unimpressed with how the planet looks, and claims that he never would have fought if he knew things would turn out like this. They arrive at Sunstreaker's apartment, where they are ambushed by Bob, who is acting as a guard dog there. Sideswipe is about to shoot him, before Arcee stops him and they tend to the pet, who has been left unattended for a while now... Sideswipe gets concerned when he finds scuff marks on the floor, and knows that Sunstreaker wouldn't allow his home to be messy.

Sideswipe leashes Bob to him, and uses the Insecticon to hunt down his owner, and locates him at a warehouse in the Decepticon Ghetto. Sideswipe quickly breaks into the warehouse and starts firing on a group of Decepticons, led by Soundwave, who appear to be smuggling energon. Before he can finish off the Decepticons, he is stopped by Sunstreaker himself. At first Sideswipe is confused and thinks that Sunstreaker is teamed with the Decepticons, but he and Arcee reiterate that there are no sides any more, and Sunstreaker is on Cybertron to help with the relief in the Decepticon Ghetto, which Sideswipe takes as a challenge and decides to help MORE than him...

Later, Sideswipe has helped with the relief effort and now sees Cybertron as a good place again, and soon realises why everything seems to be a bit off around here, he thanks his brother and friend for all they did for him, and takes one last look at the Cybertron he loves, before allowing himself to die...

In the real world, Sideswipe's spark and mind have finally gone out, and the assembled Autobots and Wreck-Gar mourn his death, with Wreck-Gar apologizing for not being able to really fix the Positron Core as he hoped to, but the wo Autobots, who were hooked to Sideswipe's mind to help him go happily, thank him for this, since it was the right thing to do.

Arcee leaves the room, and stands outside, where Aileron joins her and tells her that her religion says that no one really dies, and they get reincarnation, Arcee laughs at this. Aileron at first thinks she is mocking her beliefs, but Arcee just comments that if that was true, then she'd be in trouble with all the returning victims. She asks Aileron to stay with her for a while, and says her last goodbyes to Sideswipe, and hopes that he's watching over her....

Characters

Autobot

Arcee - Sports Car

Sideswipe - Sports Car Dies from Injuries

Sunstreaker - Sports Car

Aileron - Space Shuttle

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Metrotitan - Autobot City

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Dream Only)

Ironhide - Van (Dream Only)

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Dream Only)

Blurr - Race Car (Dream Only)

Jazz - Sports Car (Image Only) On the Run

Alpha Trion - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck (Mentioned)

Prowl - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier (Dream Only)

Steamhammer (Dream Only)

Onyx Primal (Dream Only)

Killer Punch (Dream Only)

Sizzle (Dream Only)

Switchblade (Dream Only)

Jolt (Dream Only)

Rook (Dream Only)

Megadeath (Dream Only)

Backfire (Dream Only)

Tall Tankor - Oil Tanker/Cargo Plane (Dream Only)

Megatron - Tank (Flashback Only)

Starscream - Fighter Jet (Flashback Only)

Galvatron - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Bob

D.O.C.

Wreck-Gar (Head Only)

Wreck-Gar's "Chauffeur"

Little Cybertron Denizens

A Sharkticon - Shark

Iacon Denizens (Dream Only)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Badgeless (Mentioned)

The Senate (Mentioned) Defunct

Human

Madam President

Marissa Faireborn

Chameleon

Brad Emory (On Television)

Jake "The Jackhammer" Jackson (Mentioned)

Notes

• The twist that most of this issue is set in a dream are present throughout. Optimus is seen on Earth, despite it being mentioned that he is still on Cybertron. Wreck-Gar is seen in a full body, despite being still a head.
• This issue's dream begins dark and moody, but ends bright and happy, representing Sideswipe's change in mood.
• Due to this being mostly a dream, we should probably not take any of the cameos seen on Cybertron as canon.
• This is the first issue of Optimus Prime to not feature a flashback to the early days of the war.
• Jazz is still on the run following the ambush by GI Joe last issue. It is also confirmed that the President tried to get Optimus to cancel the interview because of this plan.
• By her dialogue, it seems likely that the President is about to name Marissa as the representative for Earth for the Council of Worlds, which we know the Earth's entry into is the plot back-drop for the upcoming First Strike crossover event.
• Arcee implies that her brother was killed in front of her. This, accompanied by the preview for the next issue would likely mean that she considered Galvatron her brother, who was killed in front of her by Optimus Prime.
• Amongst the cameos in Sideswipe's dream are the Movie Twins, RID Fixit and someone with the same character model as Prime Ripclaw, but as I mentioned before, due to the dream nature they are probably just made up.
• Cybertron is a lot more developed and populated in Sideswipe's dream than it is in reality. Guess that made Sideswipe happy in the end.
• So...who wants to bet that Pyra is going to try and manipulate Arcee into joining her coup against Optimus by using either the deaths of Galvatron or Sideswipe as reasoning?

IDW - Revolution: Transformers

Title: Thundercracker & Buster save the world (and Marissa Faireborn helps, too)

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Thomas Deer

Letters by: Gilberto Lazcano 

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Marissa is annoyed that the President has assigned her to guard a briefcase for her at the White House, but before the two can argue about it too much, Marissa receives a message from Scarlett of GI Joe, telling her that Bikini Atoll has been taken over by aliens, and warns her that all other locations could be infiltrated too. At that moment several of the secret service guys in the room transform into their true Dire Wraith forms, and begin their attack on the humans.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Thundercracker is helping some firefighters to rescue some trapped humans from a burning building, along with Buster, D.O.C. and Bob, whilst also working on his screenplay and keeping Optimus up to date with his work. During the rescue the communication to Optimus gets disconnected and he's soon contacted by Marissa who needs his help, as she doesn't trust anyone else. Thudnercracker flies off to the White House to save the day, along with his little friends.

Marissa has finished killing the Wraiths in the Oval Office using an armour-piercing pistol she has, and escorts the President and her important briefcase through the building. Fighting off the Dire Wraiths along the way.

Thundercracker arrives at the White House, but is immediately attacked by the clone Transformers guarding the building.

Going through the building, the President and Marissa encounter Rashid Nasir, one of her aides, who directs them to the Vice President's office, where several humans are hiding out, however a couple of them are revealed to be Dire Wraiths after all, and go to attack the remaining humans. Luckily though, Thundercracker smashes through the wall and crushes one of the Wraiths whilst Bob attacks the last one, who begins to eat the alien invader. The clone Transformers are destroyed by Thundercracker.

They regroup, and one of the aides deduces that since the Clones attacked, that would mean that someone in their control room must be a Wraith too, unfortunately Marissa is worried since they can't tell who is a Wraith or not, until Buster starts to growl at one of the aides, revealing her to be an alien. The President is forced to reveal that her briefcase is Joe Colton's and contains his stash of Ore-13. Marissa figures out that the Wraiths need it for their plan, so she takes it from the President and takes it further through the White House, leaving the animals with the President for her protection, whilst Thundercracker and Nasir go with her, the latter holding the briefcase.

Thundercracker smashes his way into control room, where they find the room filled with Dire Wraiths. The aliens sense the Ore-13 and steal the briefcase from Nasir, tearing his fingers off in the process. One of the Dire Wraiths uses her magicks to fuse the Ore-13 into her body, causing her to grow to a giant size and goes on a rampage.

Thundercracker flies into the air with the Wraith, and decides to throw her into the Sun, since she's annoying him with her monologue, before she overheats his arm, causing it to separate from his body, but not before he warns her of the ammunitions.

Despite the warning, the arm explodes, injuring the Wraith and sending her plummeting to Earth, skewering her on the Washington Monument, killing her.

In the aftermath everyone reunites, and Thundercracker decides to take a break from his screenwriting, and wants to go on a road trip with Buster, which the doggie appears to like the idea of.

Characters

Autobot

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Sunstreaker - Sports Car (Mentioned)

Jetfire - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Bob the Insecticon

D.O.C.

Garrison Blackrock - Head (Mentioned)

GI Joe

Scarlett (Mentioned)

Other Human

Madam President

Marissa Faireborn

Rashid Nasir

Clone Transformer Operator Killed by Jimenez

White House Staff Several Killed by Dire Wraiths

Burning Apartment Family

Firefighters

President Taft (Mentioned)

EDC (Mentioned) Absorbed into GI Joe

Dire Wraith

Ms Jimenez Killed by Thundercracker

Mitch Johnson Killed by Thundercracker or Bob

Replaced White House Staff Killed by Marissa, Thundercracker and others

Random Dire Wraiths

Joe Colton (Mentioned) Dead

Other

Buster the Dog

Jones the Cat

Thrust Clone - Fighter Jet Destroyed by Thundercracker

Ramjet Clone - Fighter Jet Destroyed

Notes

• Despite being a major character in this issue, the President is STILL unnamed. This is bound to be leading up to a big name reveal...
• Marissa has been transferred to being on the President's personal staff following being fired from the EDC, and being replaced by Joe Colton.
• The attack on Bikini Atoll mentioned in this issue happens in the GI Joe Revolution issue, which hasn't yet been released.
• So....the Dire Wraiths replace most of the White House staff with their troops, but DON'T replace the President of America?!? DA FUCK?!?!
• Thundercracker is shown performing helpful deeds on Earth as part of the Autobot's mission to befriend the humans. To their credit though, none of the humans attack him or his crew today.
• It's mentioned that Thundercracker is watching Bob for Sunstreaker, but why is he watching D.O.C.?
• Thundercracker's new arm was made to replace the one he lost during the battle at the Indian Ocean.
• Marissa has Thundercracker's comm channel programmed into her phone...that's cute.
• Bob starts to eat a Dire Wraith in this issue....so....does he poop? Are the Wraith-chunks just going to be sitting in his "stomach" now?
• Buster can tell who is a Dire Wraith or not just by smelling them....how have they not been detected before now if canines can detect them?!
• Also, Buster the dog is now a better detection tool that Rom's Analyzer. HA!!
• Due to her extended use of magic here, Jimenez is likely an Elite Dire Wraith.
• We previously saw that Joe Colton had a suitcase filled with Ore-13 in the Revolution preview story, and in Revolution: Rom.
• Thundercracker claims to be planning to throw Jimenez into the Sun, but, as he even mentioned, he probably couldn't have done so anyway, but she would have probably burned up in the atmosphere.
• The President seems like she's warming up to there being good Transformers now, rather than them all just being there to invade the planet.

IDW - Spotlight Hoist

Title: The Waiting Game

Story by: James Roberts

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Colours by: Joanna Lafuente

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assistant: Thomas Boeing

Editor: John Barber

Plot

On the planet Deimus Hoist is driving away from an unexpectedly present Tarn, but he manages to stall him, and returns to his crashed ship, inside he turns on the ship's cloaking device and explains to Swerve, Sunstreaker, Bob, and a half-melted to the ceiling/floor Perceptor. Swerve keeps talking, and drives everyone a bit mad, especially Sunstreaker who is blamed for crashing the ship (as he was distracted by his reflection), Sunstreaker also explains to Swerve where Bob came from (the Insecticon Swarm that Metroplex killed), and Swerve babbles on about his top five fears after Tarn, Megatron, Overlord, Sixshot, Shockwave, and a combination of those 4.

Later, with only 2 hours of power on the ship left Swerve is driving everyone even madder, and accidentally insults Hoist by saying he's just "green with a tow line". Later still, with just one hour of power left Sunstreaker talks about how he was left for dead on Cybertron, which Swerve jokes about, then forces Hoist to tell the story about his near-death experience too, when his ship crashed in the Rust Spot, and he was left alone, just trying to find his way back home. After story time, Hoist notices that Swerve's badly injured, his spark casing is damaged, and he's been babbling to distract everyone from it. Sunstreaker and Hoist decide they have to go outside, take down the DJD and take their ship to get Swerve to a medibay.

Outside, Sunstreaker and Hoist drive off, and Sunstreaker is quickly taken down by Tarn, Hoist goes to find him, and then sees Megatron, Sixshot, Shockwave and Overlord, who combine! He tries to fight them, but gets knocked down, however before he's crushed by the gestalt he disappears.

He drives back to the ship, where Perceptor says he got in contact with the Lost Light, and they're sending a rescue crew for them. Hoist explains what happened, and Perceptor realizes there's a Phobia Shield on the planet, which basically taps into a Cybertronian's mind and makes their fears come true and kill them, it was hacking into Swerve's mind, but he'd just recently passed out, suddenly the ship shakes, and Hoist knows whose mind is being hacked now...Bob's, as Metroplex has now appeared and stomps on the ship, crushing it, just as Hoist gets himself and the crew out.

Now outside, Hoist quickly knocks out Perceptor and Bob, leaving just him still conscious, Metroplex vanishes, and is replaced with the Red Spot, and Hoist is alone, which is his fear...

Characters

Autobot

Hoist - Tow Truck

Swerve - Van

Sunstreaker - Car

Perceptor

Metroplex - City/Ship (Flashback and Illusion)

Blurr (Mentioned)

Lost Light Crew (Mentioned)

Optimus Prime (Fantasy)

Prowl (Fantasy)

Autobots in Fantasies

Decepticon

Tarn (Illusion)

Megatron (Illusion)

Overlord (Illusion)

Sixshot (Illusion)

Shockwave (Illusion)

Overmegasixwave/Ugly (Illusion)

D.J.D. (Mentioned)

Decepticons in Fantasies

Other

Bob

Insecticon Swarm (Mentioned) Dead

Hoist's old Crew Mates (Mentioned) Dead

Notes

• For some reason Hoist has taken on his upcoming Generations toy's character model rather than his usual one...maybe he decided this planet needed a different alternate mode?
• Similarly Perceptor is in his old non-sniper body.
• Hey have you guys noticed that Metroplex has appeared/been mentioned in some way in all of these Spotlight stories? Almost like they're being used to promote some giant new toy or something!
• Sixshot is shown coloured like Black Shadow in his couple of Appearances, this could be an art mistake, or maybe Swerve just doesn't know what Sixshot's colours are?
• The ship shown to be hit by Orion Pax's ship back in his Spotlight is shown to have held Hoist and his crew on it. That's a nice way to keep this series circular!
• The bridge Sunstreaker tried to kill himself on during All Hail Megatron is named here as the Juda'S Bridge, obviously named after Judas from the bible
• Swerve references the Decepticon's obsession with combining, which has also been a major factor in this Spotlight series, and seemed to culminate in Robots in Disguise with the perfected Devastator.
• I wonder if Swerve finally won his Rodimus Star as he'd probably have been silent until he gets repaired on the Lost Light?
• The scene in Swerve's fantasy set just after Sunstreaker's "death" in AHM seems to be full of mistakes too, Optimus and Prowl are in completely the wrong bodies for one thing!