IDW - Lost Light #19

Title: Crucible Part 1: A Dance Before Dying

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: E.J. Su

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Greg Goldstein

Plot

Rodimus, his team, and the Scavengers look on in horror as the mutinous crew of the Lost Light rain down on them, now turned into Sparkeaters. Brainstorm approaches the now "zombified" Perceptor and tries to reason with his old friend and lab-mate, but the Sparkeater just sprays acidic vomit from his mouth on the Autobot. Nautica gets him out of the way and the group flee from their old friends.

A shuttle appears above them and drops what they believe to be a bomb, but is revealed to be Grimlock, who proceeds to crush some of the Sparkeaters, and slices up Mainframe. Magnus uses Crankcase as a gun to stop Grimlock, explaining that those are Autobots his is killing. Soon, the shuttle fires lasers at the monsters, causing them to scatter, before it lands, revealing First Aid, Riptide, Thunderclash and Wipe-Out inside.

With this moment of calm, the Scavengers reunite with Grimlock, to Magnus' shock, and First Aid and the others explain what Getaway's been doing on the Lost Light, and how they all met up on Troja Major. All of a sudden, the Lost Light appears in the sky and fires upon Wipe-Out's shuttle, damaging it, and Rodimus is horrified to see the Grand Architect's symbol on the bottom of his ship.

Inside the Lost Light, Getaway is talking to someone over a communicator about how they need to take out Rodimus and the others before they can proceed with the Grand Architect's plans. He denies to the other person that he wants them to get back onto the ship, as he watches the Scraplets in the Oil Reservoir combine into a massive form...

Back on Mederi, the crew watch as the Lost Light flies away, and the weather starts to change to a stormier scene, however before they can do anything about it a second wave of Sparkeaters appear and start attacking Rodimus and his crew. They try their best to disable the monsters, without killing their friends, but due to their bodies being messed up they keep causing them to die.

Rodimus soon realises that this is part of Getaway's plan, to make him murder his own crew, so he does as Whirl suggested earlier...think like Megatron, and gets a plan..

Back aboard the Lost Light, Getaway is being admonished by another person, Tyrest over a communicator, for his plan taking too long, and states that they're sending in some help. Tyrest states that Getaway's mission is pointless since Megatron isn't even with Rodimus and his crew now, and he's the "dangerous one" they're there to take out. Which Getaway just declares that they didn't need Megatron to defeat him last time...

Several of the Mederi team have barricaded themselves into Ward Zero, so they can distract the Sparkeaters from Rodimus and the others, who have repaired Wipe-Out's shuttle and infiltrate the Lost Light. Whilst there, they can use the advanced medical facility to try and cure the Sparkeaters, and return them to their old Autobot states.

Rodimus and his team manage to get onto the Lost Light, as the doors to Shuttle Bay Four are open and they exit to find no guards or crew. As soon as they land, the doors start to close, but Rodimus and Cyclonus manage to escape just in time. The ceiling to the shuttle bay detonates, and the oil reservoir above them floods into the room, leaving them trapped in oil with a massive combined red Scraplet monster!

Rodimus and Cyclonus rush towards the bridge, where Rodimus is certain Getaway will be, also sure that the others can handle anything that comes at them in the shuttle bay. The duo are stopped however when they reach the bridge to find Getaway, flanked by Star Saber and Scorponok....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Drift - Car

Ratchet - Ambulance

Velocity - Race Car

Brainstorm - Jet

Nautica - Submarine

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Tailgate - Car

Swerve - Van

Rung - Photonic Crystal Generator

Thunderclash - Truck

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

First Aid - Ambulance

Riptide - Boat

Getaway - Car

Sparkeater Perceptor - Tank

Sparkeater Blaster - Acoustic Tank

Sparkeater Hound - Jeep

Sparkeater Hoist - Crane

Sparkeater Brawn - Van

Sparkeater Crosscut - Van

Sparkeater Xaaron

Sparkeater Powerflash - Jet

Sparkeater Hosehead - Fire Truck

Sparkeater Siren - Car Crushed by Grimlock

Sparkeater Gears - Van

Sparkeater Huffer - Truck

Sparkeater Mainframe Killed by Grimlock

Sparkeater Slapdash - Race Car Killed by Krok

Sparkeater Bluestreak - Car Killed by Ratchet

Sparkeater Jackpot - Car Killed by Thunderclash

Sparkeater Lost Light Crew

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Krok

Misfire - Jet

Crankcase - Van

Fulcrum - K-Class Bomb

Spinister - Helicopter

Nickel - Rocket Powered Buggy

Scorponok - Scorpion

The First Born (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Roller - Truck

Anode - Bi-Plane

Lug - Backpack Equipment

Wipe-Out - Car

Star Saber - Jet

Tyest (Hologram)

Agonizer/The Curator (Mentioned)

Other

Red Scraplets

Alien Telepaths Comatose

The Grand Architect (Mentioned)

Notes

• A small update: Last issue I questioned whether the organic aliens were long living or being cared for on Mederi. I remembered since that issue that there was a massive store of organics in pods under Demus' facility, so that's most likely where they were coming from.
• This issue marks the start of the seven-issue finale to Lost Light, which will also in some way link into the overall finale to the IDW universe along with the Unicron series and finale to Optimus Prime
• This issue features E.J. Su, the artist who did the art for the early IDW series, such as Infiltration, Revelation and others. In this case he is emulating Jack Lawrence's style, which in turn was emulating Alex Milne...this is confusing!
• So...following their leaving the Lost Light, First Aid and the others were heading to Troja Major to repair Thunderclash, along the way they run into Grimlock, who escaped from Scorponok's Worldsweeper, and on the planet they hire Wipe-Out for his ship and hunt down the Lost Light, which First Aid left a tracer on before he left...so that was a whole lot of coincidence just to get all these side characters to arrive on Mederi to save Rodimus and his crew huh?! Who wants to bet that Fort Max and the Luna-1 crew will also turn up before the finale?
• Unshockingly, Getaway has joined forces with the Grand Architect's crew, which also includes the long missing Tyrest and Scorponok.
• Mederi is now beginning to suffer the same weird weather as what was beginning on Troja Major. The two worlds were mentioned to be on the same spiritual ley-lines last issue, indicating that they are linked...who wants to bet they are in some way under attack from Unicron here?
• It's kind of funny that Rodimus refers to First Aid as "loyal" since we learned that he was actually amongst those who agreed to mutineer against Rodimus in an earlier issue.
• Okay, I understand most of the choices for the crew to return to the Lost Light. Rodimus and Cyclonus want first hand revenge on Getaway. Drift, Grimlock, Magnus, Roller, Whirl and Thunderclash are all good fighters and can handle themselves in a crisis, as mentioned in the issue, and Crankcase was needed for his piloting skills...but why are Anode and Lug here? They have no connection with the Lost Light, haven't shown any battle skills and have no connections with any of the other characters. my only guess is they're there for a plot point involving Scorponok or someone else on the ship to be revealed later.
• We learn in this issue that the Oil Reservoir is located above Shuttle Bay Four...what would Getaway have done if they chose to enter the ship in any of the OTHER shuttle bays?
• I'm getting the feeling that the Scraplets, or at least some of them, may be revealed to be the "baby" from the Holiday Special, and they recognize Whirl as their "father" and help him out.
• From how empty the ship is, it can be assumed that the entire crew, minus Getaway and Star Saber, have been turned into Sparkeaters now...I wonder if that includes Sunder and Froid though....

IDW - Lost Light #12

Title: The Plotter's Club Part 3: Journey's End

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence & Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Joana LaFuente, John-Paul Bove & Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Assistant Editor: David Mariotte

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Getaway counts to 30 and declares Riptide dead, having had him in the oil reservoir for long enough for the Scraplets to have eaten him now. Atomizer expresses his distaste for what just happened again, but Getaway ignores him, concentrating more on how the security team seem unwilling to fire n Autobots, so he plans to have Sunder work on them, or even bring in someone without a connection to the crew...

The Lost light exits the Warren for a recharge, and Perceptor is shocked that the ship appears to have time travelled a short time whilst in the Warren. The crew is about to re-enter the Warren to reach Cyberutopia when Getaway informs Blaster that they have a rendezvous to make...

In the Oil Reservoir, now alone, Riptide manages to escape the oil, having retained his transformation skill despite Getaway using the Nudge Gun to remove that skill.

Getaway, Froid and Atomizer meet in Swerve's bar, where they experience one of the time windows showing Rodimus and the other guys that were betrayed by Getaway hanging out before their exiling. Froid asks Getaway if he thinks they survived the attack from the DJD, which Getaway seems confident that they did, then begins to wax on about how he'll be named a Prime after finding Cyberutopia. Froid partially diagnoses Getaway as having Primus Apeothesis, and that he is trying to become like Optimus. He then goes on to say that hopes Rung survived the attack, since he was one of the "good guys" in life.

Later, Getaway takes Atomizer to the Medibay where he orders him to kill either Hot Spot, First Aid or Rook, stating that doing so will stop the potential threat of Defensor combining. Atomizer takes some time to decide, but ultimately kills Rook, likely due to him not knowing him. He immediately regrets the choice, as he figures he could have just shot him into space instead of killing him. Getaway now states that Atomizer has blood on his hands now, just like him, meaning he's no better than him now...unaware that Riptide is watching from a panel in the ceiling....

Meanwhile, the Scavengers are raiding an old Decepticon base on the planet Frayus, when they leave and discover the Black Block Consortia fighting with both the Galactic Council and the Decepticon Justice Division, now under the command of Nickel, and made mostly of Deathsaurus' troops. The Scavengers try to teleport away to their ship, but the signal is unable to lock on, as they ship might be damaged. However they are saved when someone rescues them through a spacebridge portal, which they run through, soon followed accidentally by Nickel being blown into the portal by an explosion.

Back on the Lost Light, Riptide frees the comatose Autobots, they mourn Rook's death, and First Aid determines that Riptide must be immune to the Nudge Gun due to his lower intelligence. They head off towards the shuttle bay to escape the ship, after taking Ambulon's body from the morgue. Mirage scouts ahead and tells the others that the shuttle bay is filled with security, so they decide to combine, using Ambulon as a replacement for Rook.

Inside the shuttle bay, Getaway and the others are welcoming a new shuttle, containing their new security chief, when Defensor smashes through the wall and attacks the security team. Thunderclash strikes Getaway, but before he can do much more, he is shot in the side of his head by Star Saber, the new security chief, and is knocked out.

Getaway orders his new recruit to take Defensor apart, since he is an "unbeliever" Mirage tries to reason with Star Saber, but the fanatic simply slices him to pieces, much to Atomizer's horror. Star Saber soon attacks Defensor and slices him into his component parts, and the security team kill Streetwise, Blades, Groove and Hot Spot as they fall. He goes towards First Aid and Riptide, who are dragging Thunderclash to safety, when Atomizer jumps him and shoots him in the neck, giving the others the time to steal Star Saber's shuttle and escape.

Later, Getaway calls Froid to have Sunder alter the memories of the security team to make them think that Thunderclash killed Atomizer, in order to cover for him just killing him himself, but the doctor is demanding more and more spinal cords as payment. Before they can agree on the price however, Blaster contacts Getaway with some good news...they have arrived at Cyberutopia...a beautiful rainbow hued version of Cybertron!

Characters

Autobot

Getaway - Car

Atomizer - Car Killed by Getaway

Sunder - Car

Thunderclash - Truck Injured by Star Saber

Riptide - Boat

Mirage - Race Car Killed by Star Saber

First Aid - Ambulance

Rook - Armoured Personnel Carrier Killed by Atomizer

Hot Spot - Fire Truck Killed by Security Team

Groove - Police Motorcycle Killed by Security Team

Blades - Rescue Helicopter Killed by Security Team

Streetwise - Police Car Killed by Security Team

Ambulon - Leg Dead

Defensor - Protectobot Combiner Most of Team Dead, so Defunct

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Mainframe

Perceptor - Tank

Blaster - Acoustic Tank

Jackpot - Car

Smokescreen - Car

Inferno - Fire Truck

Pointblank - Car

Aquabat - Winged Monster/Boat

Grotusque - Winged Sabertooth Tiger

Doublecross - Two Headed Dragon

Dogfight - Jet

Powerflash - Jet

Boss - Car

Other Lost Light Crew Members

Rodimus - Car (Flashback Window Only)

Megatron - Tank (Flashback Window Only)

Minimus Ambus - Minesweeper (Flashback Window Only)

Skids - Van (Flashback Window Only)

Nautica - Submarine (Flashback Window Only)

Brainstorm - Jet (Flashback Window Only)

Swerve - Van (Flashback Window Only)

Tailgate - Car (Flashback Window Only)

Velocity - Race Car (Flashback Window Only)

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Rung - Photon Crystal Generator (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Fulcrum - Bomb

Misfire - Jet

Spinister - Helicopter

Crankcase - Van

Krok

Nickel - Rocket Car

Deathsaurus - Dragon

Eaglebreast - Chest Piece

Tigerbreast - Chest Piece

Liokaiser - Breastforce Combiner

Previous Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned) Dead

Starscream - Jet (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned) Dead

Tarn - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Genericons (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Star Saber - Jet

Froid - Jet

Red Scraplets

Cyclonus - Space Jet (Flashback Window Only)

Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Other

Galactic Council Troops

Black Block Consortia Troops

The Scavengers' Saviour (Voice Only)

Notes

• Getaway claims at the start of the issue that the security team is unwilling to fire on other Autobots, yet at the end they slaughter the Protectobots. This either means that Getaway is wrong, or he has already made arrangements with Sunder to alter their minds further.
• It's off-handedly mentioned that travelling through the Warren causes the ship to travel backwards in time briefly...I'm gunna guess that that will be an important plot point later...
• Riptide managed to survive his swim with the Scraplets. From the looks of things he launched himself out of the oil which got him to safety, but how did he avoid getting eaten by them? He's obviously been bitten from his small wounds, but still! Eaten within 30 seconds remember?
• Getaway is shown looking into the past at Swerve's bar, as we also saw in MTMTE #50. We can probably assume that this happens at the same time as Getaway's last panel view into the past in that issue, since the window is only open for a short period of time.
• So turns out that Getaway DOES know about the Protectobots being able to combine into Defensor. I guess the Lost Light got a dossier about the events of Combiner Wars then?
• Getaway's logic that killing a Protectobot that turns into a leg or the torso of Defensor to disable the combiner is technically sound, except the Protectobots he names as legs haven't been shown as legs in IDW so far. Also since Mirage is also able to turn into a limb for Optimus Maximus, he could have stood in. The only real option for this logically would be to kill Hot Spot, being the only one who turns into a torso in the group.
• Also speaking about this scene, where is Mirage in the medibay? We see an empty slab, so was he just invisible whilst in a coma? Was he just offscreen and they left an empty bed for some reason?
• Shockingly we actually see the conflict on the planet Frayus that Getaway ignored the SOS to last issue. Though maybe it was a good thing that he had them ignore the call since the DJD turned up to join in on the fight too.
• It's revealed that Deathsaurus was the one who sent Fulcrum to prison in the first place. Seems he's changed his thoughts on aiding "criminals" over the past few years.
• Hey look! Nickel has an alternate mode! It's a cute rocket powered car of some sort!! Awww
• It's unclear who recued the Scavengers, but my guess would be either Scorponok, Fortress Maximus, Prowl, or someone on Necroworld.
• Oh wow...Liokaiser....where do I start here? We saw that MOST of the Breastforce were in Deathsaurus' troops when we last saw them at the end of MTMTE, but this appearance is confusing for a couple of reasons. First, how are they combining? Successful multi-bot combinations were unstable before Devastator, and later the Enigma of Combination, so unless Deathsaurus somehow "borrowed" the Enigma to combine them, then this should be an unstable combiner. Secondly, Guyhawk is seen as part of the combination...Guyhawk was a member of Gigatron's forces in Drift: Empire of Stone...a series where he died on-screen....maybe this is his cousin Galhawk?
• First Aid claims to have not gotten to know Rook....HE WAS PART OF YOUR COMBINER TEAM!!!! It's been established since combiners became commonplace in IDW that once you combine, you get a fragment of the other members of your team's mind inside yours forever, as clearly shown with the Constructicons and even Optimus starting to act more Prowl-like in his mannerisms.
• So Riptide was immune to the Nudge Gun because he is dumb? I personally prefer my theory that the gun just malfunctioned on him due to Getaway forgetting to recharge it now...
• Oh...Ambulon is back in his robot mode? Wasn't he reconfigured into a gun on Luna-1? I guess he got put back together since then? Also he can still be used for combination. Last time we saw a dead Transformer used as part of a combination was when Scrapper's corpse was used for Devastator's leg...which wasn't able to move properly...yet Defensor is fine here....yup...
• Ohh! Star Saber! YAY!!!
• He kills Mirage and easily defeats Defensor? Booo....
• Getaway alludes to how Star Saber agrees to join the crew as a means to get revenge on Cyclonus, who managed to defeat him last time they met.
• As predicted, Atomizer turns against Getaway at the climax of this issue, allowing First Aid, Thunderclash and Riptide to escape....then he gets murdered by Getaway...I wasn't expecting that part!
• Okay conspiracy theory time! I think most of the end of this issue is a false looped memory of Getaway's. I think Froid is fed up with him, when he learns that Rung is probably amongst the dead on Necroworld now, and he had Sunder trap him either just before or just after Rook's death, and gave him all he ever wanted to keep him placid (finding Cyberutopia, getting a powerful ally like Star Saber, defeating Defensor and the others etc).
• Hey, notice how annoyed Getaway looks when Skids calls Nautica his best friend in the flashback window? I wonder if Getaway will justify his old friend's death because of this moment?

IDW - Lost Light #10

Title: The Plotters' Club, Part 1: Full Circle

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence 

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

The Protectobots and Mirage finally return to the Lost Light, which appears to be under radio silence, but their shuttle is damaged and they are running on fumes, they wind up crashing into the shuttle bay, only to find a heavily armed security team greeting them, instead of a welcoming party. Getaway soon appears and greets them as friends, but he is cagey about the whereabouts of Rodimus, Megatron and the others, and suggests that First Aid take Blade to the medibay, as he was injured in the crash.

At the medibay, First Aid talks with Blades as he repairs him, and they find it odd how they STILL haven't seen their captains, and start reminiscing over Rodimus' antics. First Aid thinks something is happening, which makes Blades panic that there's a virus on the ship that's going to kill everyone. First Aid ignores this suggestion, but finds that the medibay's computer is now password protected to keep him out. First Aid uses another machine to perform a spark scan of the ship, and is shocked that there is less crew than there was before they left, but also finds that one of the sparks is in a locked room in the medibay.

Blades leaves to find some help, whilst First Aid takes out a blowtorch and tries to break into the room, only to be stopped by a newly arrived Getaway, who claims the door isn't actually opened, and shows him Thunderclash, who is back in a coma again. He claims that Hoist has tried everything, but cannot wake him up.

First Aid asks him about the missing crew members and the passwords on the computer. He says that he'll fix the password, but lies that Rodimus and the others left the ship to look for the Knights of Cybertron with the Necrobot without dealing with the antics of the rest of the crew. Getaway suggests that he go see Hoist about Thunderclash's situation, directing him to "Visages" which has taken "Swerve's'" as the go-to bar on the ship.

First Aid soon arrives at the bar, where he does indeed find most of the crew. He locates Hoist after a few awkward stares from Atomizer and the security crew. He learns from Hoist and a few others the names of the crew who "left" with Rodimus, and also that they are apparently only a couple of weeks away from Cyberutopia now, but First Aid begins to become further worried and leaves the bar...

First Aid finds his way to the locked-up "Swerve's" where he finds the power turned off, and he summons the rest of the Protectobots and Mirage for a talk. He expresses his concerns to them about the crew lying to them about what happened to Rodimus, and recalls a conversation about a possible mutiny with Getaway before they left Cybertron following the Dark Cybertron event, which the other Protectobots claim to have never been spoken to about. Mirage is unwilling to even discuss this as he trusts his friends, but Riptide soon appears in the bar and confirms the theory, but also adds that he believes that the DJD were summoned by Getaway to kill Rodimus, Megatron and the others, as well as him putting Thunderclash into a coma for also having second thoughts of the mutiny.

Getaway appears and dismisses the claims that he attacked Thudnerclash, but explains that he placed him into a looped memory coma, keeping him trapped inside his memories, reliving his decision to leave the ship. Streetwise finds the light switch and turns it on, revealing that the Engex distilleries are holding several severed brain modules inside them, revealing the location of the missing crew members.

Mirage turns invisible and attacks Getaway with a glass, and the returned Autobots are soo attacked by the security team. Riptide stays behind to buy the Protectobots time to escape, as they run off to the shuttle bay, intending to return to Cybertron to tell Optimus and everyone else what has happened on the ship. Blades' arm is injured in their escape, in the same way it was when he was patched up by First Aid at the start of this adventure....

The Protectobots find their own ship, fully repaired in record time, and take off within it. They are shot by a proton missile from the Lost Light, which damages their shuttle, and they are caught in a tractor beam, and forced back towards the Lost Light...and the events from the start of the issue start again...ending with First Aid being suggested to repair Blades again, with apparently no memory of what just happened....

Characters

Autobot

First Aid - Ambulance Trapped in Looped Memory Coma

Hot Spot - Fire Truck Trapped in Looped Memory Coma

Streetwise - Police Car Trapped in Looped Memory Coma

Groove - Police Motorcycle Trapped in Looped Memory Coma

Blades - Rescue Helicopter Trapped in Looped Memory Coma

Rook - Armoured SWAT Van Trapped in Looped Memory Coma

Mirage - F1 Race Car Trapped in Looped Memory Coma

Riptide - Boat

Thunderclash - Truck Trapped in Looped Memory Coma

Getaway - Car

Atomizer - Car

Hoist - Tow Truck

Hound - Jeep

Xaaron

Bluestreak - Car

Jackpot - Car

Crosscut - Van

Mainframe

Powerflash - Jet

Strafe - Jet

Boss - Car

Doublecross - Two Headed Dragon

Repugnus - Insect Monster

Grotusque - Winged Cat Monster

Sureshot - Baja Buggy

Pointblank - Car

Waverider - Submarine

Highbrow - Helicopter

Rad - Car

Dipstick - Car

Rollout - Bulldozer

Grapple - Crane

Siren - Car

Gears - Van

Smokescreen - Car

Inferno - Fire Truck

Brawn - Van

Huffer - Truck

Ammo

Aquabat - Hovercraft/Bat

Rodimus - Car (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus - Vehicle Transport/Minesweeper (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Nightbeat - Car (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Skids - Van (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Velocity - Race Car (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Nautica - Submarine (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Chromedome - Car (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Rewind - Data Slug (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Rung - Photon Crystal Generator (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Swerve - Van (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Tailgate - Car (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Prowl - Police Car (Mentioned)

Perceptor - Tank (Mentioned)

Blaster - Acoustic Tank (Mentioned)

Hosehead - Fire Truck (Mentioned)

Tiretread - Race Car (Mentioned)

25 Lost Light Crew Members (Mentioned) Missing

Decepticon

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned)

Ravage - Cassette (Mentioned) "Exiled"

Other Cybertronian

The Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

The Necrobot (Mentioned)

Ten (Mentioned)

Cyclonus - Jet (Mentioned)

Other

The Black Block Consortia (Mentioned)

The Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the first part of the "Mutineers Trilogy", following the return of both the Lost Light, it's mutinous crew and the Protectobots.
• It's mentioned that the Protectobots have been gone for "months". It has been over two years in real world time since they left for "Combiner Wars". I know time doesn't pass exactly the same in the comics as it does in the real world, but this seems a bit strange. However since they are stuck in a looping memory, it's possible that they actually returned a few months ago and have just been trapped for a while now.
• Similarly to the above note, how did the Protectobots never receive the message from the trapped Lost Lighters on Necroworld...also now I think about it, did that message ever mention the mutiny or Getaway betraying them? You'd think one of them would want that information to reach Optimus or the other authorities right?
• It's mentioned in the "Story so far" that Rook was just a random Autobot who just happened to be standing near the Protectobots when they were merged into Defensor...oops?
• Hoist being the interim medical officer on the Lost Light makes some...kind of sense...he was shown to have some medical knowledge when he worked on Tripodeca during Overlord's assault on the ship, though his patient did end up dying....
• First Aid asks Mirage for a "pint" of Engex. I would say this was a mistake, since a "pint" would be a relatively small drink for a Transformer, but after asking James Roberts on Twitter, this is just a Cybertronian equivalent to a pint (like it's short for a "mega-pint" or something)
• It's mentioned that Perceptor was shocked when he learned that Brainstorm left with Rodimus, considering that he is known for being the subject of Brainstorm's stalking, and him being absent from the bridge during the issue the crew were exiled, it's possible that he wasn't aware of what was happening with them. In fact, his absence in this issue could be due to him being one of the "missing" crew members.
• On the other hand, Mirage's assertion that Bluestreak would never do anything deceptive like mutiny is somewhat wrong, as he WAS amongst the bridge crew who was present during Getaway's talk with them.
• From the dialogue, it seems clear that Mirage and First Aid originally agreed to a mutiny with Getaway, but the latter has since changed his mind, the rest of the Protectobots rejected the plan and got their minds wiped. This is somewhat confirmed at the start and end scenes where Getaway only really talks to or addresses Mirage, First Aid and Rook, the latter of which wasn't a part of the crew before now.
• The teethmarks on the spinal columns of the detached brain modules are likely an attempt by Getaway to make it look like Helex of the DJD attacked these crew members, as that was his main method of torture.
• Mainframe was the one who suggested that Whirl leave with Rodimus back in Issue 50 of MTMTE, his glee at him having left here really shows what a jerk he is!
• Considering this issue is set within what is essentially a shared dream, it's possible, and likely that the events depicted were either modified by Getaway to make the crew seem happier, or to alter some facts.
• I'm going to assume that since Defensor is never brought up in this issue that the Protectobots will be freed from their looped memory coma by combining, since getaway doesn't know about him yet.
• My guess as to the main back story here, is that the Lost Light picked up the distress signal from Necroworld, which led the bridge crew at least to know that their exiled crew members were seemingly given to the DJD by Getaway, leading to Riptide's suspicions, Thunderclash's attempted escape and the fates of the missing 25 crew members. I'm also going to guess that most of the crew either weren't told about the exiled crew not actually leaving on their own, or have been lied to since the beginning by Getaway.
• The four pages at the end of the comic are a reprinting of the first four, with only the title being added at the end, and the final panel's dialogue having a single difference...First Aid saying "Ah", instead of "Oh". Also Getaway's dialogue is completed on this panel, instead of continuing to the next, non-existent page.
• For some reason, First Aid keeps proclaiming "God" rather than the usual "Primus" or another Transformers-related explicit.

IDW - More Than Meets the Eye #43

Title: The One Where They go to Earth

Written by: James Roberts

Pencils by: Ale Milne

Inks by: Alex Milne and Brian Shearer

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Megatron calls for Swerve over the ship's intercom, but can't get through to him, he informs Rodimus that Earth appears to be chasing the Lost Light, and any attempts at communications with the planet results in a "theme tune" about Swerve's bar playing on repeat.

Meanwhile, in the Medi-bay, First Aid is given a going away present from Tailgate of photos of the crew and his friends so he wont forget them, despite his trip only being a short one back to Cybertron for the celebrations for Caminus and Cybertron. First Aid and Velocity are both worried since she's never been left in charge before, and she's only just arrived on the ship. Before anything else can happen though, Skids runs in with Swerve in his arms, in a terrible condition.

Soon, they determine that Swerve is alive, but only just, as he has massive systems failures, but his brain is working in overtime. Before long they determine that the Swerve they've been seeing around, acting happy and his usual self has been just a holo-avatar projected by the real one. However they can't treat him, as his condition is so frail that it could kill him.

Shortly afterwards, they find out that the Earth following them is a hologram too, and Swerve has been projecting that too, as well as several holographic humans as well.

Rodimus calls together a team made of Cyclonus, Tailgate, Skids, Bluestreak and Rung to send their own holo-avatars down to the fake Earth (Swearth) and find Swerve's own avatar, so he can tell them what is wrong with his real body. The team are sent down with some basic lessons in humanity.

On Swearth, Cyclonus and Tailgate wait in the apartment whilst the others are scouting the city, looking for Swerve's avatar, where Tailgate finds a comic series, "More Than Meets the Eye", depicting their adventures on the Lost Light, and starts reading it. Skids and the others return to the apartment empty handed, and they start replanning their strategies, when Rung accidentally shoots Cyclonus in the face with a paint ball gun....ROLL CREDITS!

After a while, Tailgate finds out in issue 21 of MTMTE that Swerve opened the time case when no-one was looking, which no-one else knew about. Bluestreak returns to the apartment again with their wacky neighbours Ted, Sheldon and Jerry, who immediately start arguing and insulting each other, as they don't get along.

Bluestreak receives a phone call from Rodimus, who has arrived on the planet with the rest of the crew to speed up the search. Bluestreak quickly summarizes the planet up for Rodimus as "Sitcom world" where there are laughter tracks, clapping audiences from nowhere, and nothing really makes sense in the large scheme. Megatron joins up with the others, and he finds it strange being a human for the moment.

Back at the apartment, Bluestreak is helping the neighbours get their locked door open, when Skids talks to Rung about how no-one had been to visit Swerve for months, allowing him to get into this bad condition. Suddenly Tailgate chimes in that his comic has reached this point in the series, where they are looking for Swerve. In the "previously" page Swerve explains what happened to him with the Meta-Bomb and the Time Case, and calls into question his own reality. Rung deduces that this is Swerve actually talking to them, and realizes something else, that the three neighbours are all aspects of Swerve's personality, so he tricks them into responding to the name "Swerve" causing them to remember their true self, and merge into Swerve's avatar.

At a bar, Megatron is tickled by Nautica, as she wants to see if he was ticklish, but in the process Megatron cuts his hand on a glass, and finds the fragility of humans interesting. Rodimus comes back in and reports that Bluestreak and the others found Swerve, but he refuses to tell them where he is injured.

At the apartment, Swerve says he can't remember where he is injured, as he's feeling no pain, then explains that he hid away because he felt as though he wasn't a "main character" any more, not since the beginning of "season two". He fell in love with sitcoms as he could relate to them as he's a misfit like them.

Cyclonus berates him for giving up, and points out that the entire crew is on this planet to find him, and that in the process they are risking their own lives to help him out, showing him that he is indeed loved and cared about, as a "main character". Suddenly Swerve's shoulder begins to bleed in an Autobot insignia shape, and he remembers where he was injured.

Later on, First Aid and the others have left the Lost Light for Cybertron, and Velocity reports to him that Swerve is recovering from the infection in his shoulder, and he should make a full recovery soon. However First Aid makes a shocking discovery when he flicks through Tailgate's photos, as an old picture of Swerve with Ironfist reveals that he used to have an insignia in that same arm. He tells Velocity to operate carefully on the shoulder, as Agent 113, the Autobot mole within the DJD probably shot a message into his insignia in the past, which is still there. And sure enough...Velocity soon finds a bullet within the wound...a bullet that not only caused an infection inside Swerve, but carries a message from Agent 113.....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Megatron - Tank

Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus - Vehicle Transport/Minesweeper

Swerve - Van

Tailgate - Car

Skids - Van

Rung

Bluestreak - Car

Nautica - Submarine

Blaster - Acoustic Tank

First Aid - Ambulance

Velocity - Race Car

Nightbeat - Car

Brainstorm - Jet

Chromedome - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Groove - Motorcycle

Mirage - Race Car

Ratchet - Ambulance (In Opening Credits Footage)

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter (Issue #1 Cover Only)

Drift - Race Car (Issue #1 Cover Only)

Red Alert - Emergency Car (Issue #1 Cover Only)

Ambulon - Leg (Photo)

Ironfist - Van (Photo)

Fortress Maximus - Tank (Mentioned)

Agent 113 (Mentioned)

Mainframe (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned)

Blot (Mentioned)

Blip (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Ten (In Opening Credits Footage)

Diagnostic Drone (Photo)

New Medi-Drone

Bob - Insecticon (Mentioned)

Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Chief Justice Tyrest (Mentioned)

Other

Verity Carlo (Acts as Ultra Magnus' Avatar)

Jerry Merged into Swerve

Ted Merged into Swerve 

Sheldon Merged into Swerve

Nanobots (Mentioned)

Notes

• The issue title, and the apartment the Autobot Holo-avatars use is based on the "Friends" TV series from the 90's
• Tailgate's holo-avatar appears to have aged a little bit since the last time we saw it.
• Tailgate says that the comic is the only thing there is to read in their apartment...despite some books being clearly visible in the table/cabinet under the tissues next to Cyclonus.
• Skids was last shown with a Holo-avatar based on Matt Smith's Doctor Who, here he looks like Chris Ecclestone's version of the character.
• A couple of the scenes shown in the "opening credits" are actually from covers, rather than actual comic interiors (ie the one with Nautica dancing, and Rodimus handing the ship's keys to Megatron)
• The "Swerve's" theme tune is based on the "Cheers" theme tune.
• First Aid and the others leave for their role in the Combiner Wars crossover storyline in this issue.
• Apparently it takes a lot of energy and concentration to create Holo-avatars, which may be another reason why they aren't used so much nowadays.
• It's revealed here that Swerve in fact opened the Time Case just after Tyrest was shot in issue 21, but off-screen, and with the time-waves from it, combined with the Meta-Bomb he was affected with during Overlord's attack caused him to become more conscious of his life as a fictional character, and the time-waves giving him infinite spark energy to create his elaborate holograms etc.
• The Swerve that we've seen since (probably) the end of Dark Cybertron  has been a holo-avatar of the real Swerve, who locked himself away to hide from reality. This explains how he's been able to absorb all of Earth's culture in such a seemingly short period of time
• Ted the Priest is based on Father Ted, Sheldon the Scientist is based on Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory, and Jerry the Comedian is based on Jerry Seinfeld (though none look like their "real" counterparts.
• Bluestreak mentions that Rodimus' voice sounds different in his human form, implying that the characters change their voices (so the male-persona Cyclonus probably sounds female in his holo-avatar form for example)
• The "reflective" avatar programs used for the new holo-avatars gave Megatron a walking stick, possibly showing that he's been crippled from the special fuel he has to take.
• Swerve's hab-suite number is 43, which is also this issue's number. Fun!
• Since Swerve appeared to get the message bullet before the Chaos storyline (he was shown with a covered up shoulder there) you have to wonder if Agent 113's message is actually important still, I mean it must have been in there for like 3+ years by now...
• It's shown here that the "previously" pages we've had in the past with Swerve talking to the readers have actually been happening in continuity as well!

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #41

Title: The Sensuous Frame

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long and Chris Mowry

Editor: John Barber

Plot

On the Vis Vitalis, Firestar, the new second in command of the ship, escorts Countdown to visit the dying Thunderclash and give his last regards. Inside the med-bay Countdown is shocked to see Thunderclash is already undergoing Rigor Morphis, and goes to leave him his various medals as a sign of respect when he hears a knock from Thunderclash's trailer, he looks inside, and screams...

Elsewhere, on the Lost Light, Nautica is trying to read another book that Rung had given her, but is being annoyed by Skids, Getaway and Brainstorm showing off. Brainstorm finishes upgrading Nautica's wrench with a new app, designed to expose if Ravage, the ship's resident Decepticon, was sneaking around them, by it being able to "flummox" the light-based attention deflectors equipped to him. Suddenly a loud noise fills the ship. 

In Swerve's bar, Bluestreak tells Ravage that Swerve's been immersing himself in ALL of Earth's media after Ratchet left when they also hear the noise, and Swerve recognizes it as the milestone being reached gong.

Ten minutes later, the crew have gathered in the meeting room, where Rodimus reveals that the crew have been invited to Thunderclash's pre-wake on the Vis Vitalis, meaning that they've now got progress on their mission due to locating Thunderclash and his apparent Matrix map.

Megatron and Rodimus decide not to attend the pre-wake for their own reasons, but Megatron calls Rodimus out on his bluff about "taking stock" and makes him have a strategy meeting with him during the pre-wake.

Later, the two ships have met up, and the Lost Lighters head over to the Vis Vitalis and take part in a dance party. During the party, Nightbeat gets bored and decides to go snooping around the ship, borrowing Nautica's wrench to help him out. Upon his leaving, Firestar approaches Nautica, and greets her old friend, dragging her onto the dancefloor, against her own wishes.

After the quick dance, the two start talking, and Firestar accidentally insults Nautica when she compliments her on finally going it alone without Windblade and Nautica...

Minimus Ambus meets with Velocity and sees the Matrix Map that Thunderclash has been etching into the walls of the ship, which appears to match the one they lost on Luna-1. First Aid is a bit confused though, he sees that according to Thunderclash's medical records he was cured of his illness six months ago, but he's just suddenly started dying. Velocity comments that he was cured by a female Cybertronian, but she can't remember who it was.

First Aid wants to perform a new analysis on Thunderclash, and looked inside his trunk to find nothing inside....

Later, Rodimus and the Lost Light head off to a nearby Starhub to get some more stationary for Megatron and Rodimus' meeting, but some of the crew stay behind on the Vis Vitalis for the funeral and to catch up with others there. The ship would return later to pick up the "stragglers".

Skids and Getaway complain about being tired suddenly, but Nautica asks Skids for his help with something, and Nightbeat gets Getaway's help in chasing down the clearly scared Ravage, who is running through the corridors panicking about someone seeing him.

In the med-bay the team see that Thunderclash is communicating with them through his vitals monitor, by controlling his functions to spell words telling them they are all blind, and are all dead. They wonder what that means, when they hear something knocking from Thunderclash's trunk...

Nightbeat and Getaway think that Ravage would have headed to the Cold Storage, to avoid the people watching him, in there they find some dead bodies, with no noticeable injuries on them. They locate the recently dead body of Countdown, which was also without any marks, until Nightbeat illuminates it with Nautica's wrench, revealing some strange eggs all over him, that were invisible until the special light hits it, however Nightbeat also sees Getaway has them all over his face too. Before long, Nightbeat and Getaway notice that the room is filled with some strange monsters also covered in the eggs, despite the room being empty just before...

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Sports Car

Megatron - Tank

Minimus Ambus - Minesweeper

Firestar

Nautica - Submarine

Nightbeat - Car

Skids - Van

Getaway - Car

Brainstorm - Jet

First Aid - Ambulance

Velocity

Javelin

Rung 

Swerve - Van

Blustreak - Car

Tailgate - Car

Boss - Car

Aquafend - Race Car

Sky High - Helicopter

Gears - Van

Smokescreen - Car

Sureshot - Car

Rollout - Bulldozer

Atomizer

Hoist - Crane

Siren - Car

Hosehead - Fire Truck

Inferno - Fire Truck

Joyride - Buggy

Blaster - Acoustic Truck

Hound - Jeep

Xaaron

Pointblank - Van

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Huffer - Truck

Repugnus - Insect Monster

Doublecross - Two Headed Dragon

Crosscut - Van

Jackpot - Car

Rad - Car

Mainframe

Dipstick - Car

Mirage - Race Car

Hot Spot - Fire Truck

Blades - Helicopter

Groove - Motorcycle

Streetwise - Police Car

Thunderclash - Truck In Rigor Morphis

Countdown Killed by the Invisible Monsters

Photon Killed by the Invisible Monsters

Other Lost Lighters

Ratchet - Ambulance (Mentioned) Left the Ship

Alpha Trion (Mentioned)

Blurr (Mentioned)

Windblade (Mentioned)

Chromia (Mentioned)

Proxima (Mentioned)

Acceleron (Mentioned)

Exocet (Mentioned)

Skimmer (Mentioned)

Skystriker/Skystalker (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Ravage - Cassette

Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Froid (Mentioned)

"Mystery Medic" (Mentioned)

Other

Invisible Monsters

Notes

• We get to see Thunderclash's vehicle mode for the first time here. It is also revealed that his preferred mode was his alternate mode, according to his Rigor Morphis.
• It's revealed here that Thudnerclash used to hand out medals in the shape of his unique insignia decorations, much like how Rodimus hands out his Rodimus Stars as well...
• Rodimus hitting the "milestone gong" looks similar to the old "Gongman" openings for Rand Films.
• The only members of the Vis Vitalis crew we see alive and active in this issue are the new arrivals from Caminus...hmmm...
• Tailgate is still playing with the hoverboard created for him by Ten.
• The Protectobots and Mirage are all on board the Lost Light still, meaning this story is set either before Combiner Wars, or is set afterwards, but is unmentioned.
• All of the characters who have been shown to be victims of the invisible monsters are well respected, the famous racer and motivational speaker Photon, the "Greatest Autobot ever" Thunderclash, and the highly decorated Countdown.
• I think it's a safe bet to assume that the characters who are complaining about being suddenly tired, like Getaway and Skids have already been infected by the alien's eggs.
• Ultra Magnus seems to be really comfortable with his true self now, as he's going around without the Magnus armour at all nowadays!

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #40

Title: Our Steps Will Always Rhyme

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Brendan Cahill

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Ratchet has never been good at saying goodbye to his friends, he failed to do so with Roller, Pharma and Hunter before he never saw them the same way again, but now he wants to succeed.

In the present day, the Lost Light is recharging the Quantum Engines on Scarvix, so the crew are having some downtime. Tailgate has bought himself a hoverboard, and is racing around the corridors with it, causing all sorts of havoc to the crew, and eventually steers into Swerve's deserted bar, and hits Ratchet, knocking them both over, and he starts talking about his planned fishing trip with Getaway in the Oil Reservoir. Swerve starts panicking over his bar failing, following the poisoning caused by Brainstorm the week prior, and Mirage opening a new rival bar on the ship too. Ratchet and Tailgate start to complain to Swerve about how he treats his work-bot, Ten, when he claims Magnus said the same stuff to him before.

Soon, Ratchet leaves and arrives at Brainstorm's private trial for his crimes, he admits to being a Decepticon, but never gave harmful information to the Decepticons, but does admit to how he tried to change the timeline. Nautica storms out of the trial, abandoning the spanner that Brainstorm made her. He does say however, that he refuses to be tried on the actions of the OTHER Brainstorm, who got his Lost Light attacked and the crew killed, as that was never him, Perceptor proceeds to applaud Brainstorm's statement. The committee debate the punishment, and Magnus and Rodimus states that the time machine, Brainstorm's life-time of work will be destroyed, and he will be heavily monitored for the time being, but allowed to stay on the ship, so long as he cuts off all ties to his Decepticon handler, which Brainstorm agrees to. Ratchet watches on, clearly disappointed.

Ultra Magnus heads to Megatron's room to ask him whether he's seen his missing datapad, and also to ask what he's been doing since Brainstorm's arrest, since he's been locked in his room all this time, seemingly alone, but Megatron just vaguely says "Thinking. Working.".

Getaway and Tailgate are hanging out in Mirage's new bar "Visages" where Getaway is still trying to turn Tailgate against Cyclonus, by plying him with drinks and lies. Ratchet borrows Tailgate's hoverboard (without his knowledge).

Ratchet gives the board to First Aid in a quarantine tube telling him it's infected with Super-Scraplets, and has him call in certain members of the crew who were in some way connected to it, even by tedious means, and proceeds to give them all a check-up.

He uses this time to tell Rodimus that he thinks it's unfair how he treated Drift, and how he's now treating Brainstorm very differently, he gives Rung Hoist's number as he needs to speak to someone now that his roommate has been killed, and he already suffered from isolation issues (see Spotlight Hoist), He makes Nautica realize that Brainstom acted selflessly in trying to change the timestream, as he was an MTO, meaning he'd never have existed if he succeeded, making Nautica begin to forgive him. He tells Skids to get his puncture wounds fixed, and that Rung needs someone to talk to outside of therapy sessions. He suggests to Swerve that Megatron's poetry could help his bar pick up business, and he talks to Magnus about his private datapad going missing, and how he thinks the crew look down on him now that they know about his true form, after finding a small model of Minimus outside his door.

Following the sessions, Ratchet meets up with First Aid, who has figured out that the Super-Scraplets were just a ruse so ratchet could say goodbye to all his friends before he leaves. Tailgate knocks into Ratchet again, with a new hoverboard, which he learns was made by Ten.

Ratchet goes to visit Ten's "quarters" in the boiler rooms where he discovers that Ten is extremely artistic with a large mural of his favourite crew members on the wall (minus Swerve of course) and even a series of models of his favourite crew members (again, no Swerve, though his bar has been made!). Ratchet comments that Drift isn't there, and that Ten would have liked him, like he does, but he hopes he can meet him soon enough.

Ratchet sees that Ten has a display dedicated solely to Ultra Magnus, and realizes that Ten "stole" the datapad, and replaced it with the model of Minimus as a trade, so he could have something of his favourite's.

Ratchet writes a note to Magnus on the datapad and tells Ten to return it to him.

Later, Ten and Minimus Ambus walk into the now booming Swerve's bar where Skids and Rung are also hanging out. Swerve explains that he had Megatron do his poetry at "Visages" rather than Swerve's, driving all the customers back to him.

Brainstorm and Nautica make up, and Brainstom adds a function to Nautica's spanner that says "Brainstorm is an ass!" when pushed. Tailgate and Getaway go fishing for Legislator parts in the Oil Reservoir (with Riptide as their boat), Cyclonus broods from his window alone, and Perceptor and Rodimus burn all of Brainstorm's briefcases, except for one, which Ravage has stolen for Megatron.

First Aid walks into Ratchet's office, where he finds a communicator for in case First Aid, as the new Chief Medical Officer of the ship, needs to contact Ratchet for any advice.

Now that he's fixed his friends, Ratchet heads off in a shuttle, armed with a new Drift model, and starts his search for Drift in space....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus - Vehicle Transport/Mine Sweeper

Megatron - Tank

Xaaron

Ratchet - Ambulance

First Aid - Ambulance

Swerve - Van

Mirage - Race Car

Getaway - Car

Tailgate - Car

Chromedome - Car

Brainstorm - Helicopter

Nautica - Submarine

Rung

Skids - Van

Riptide - Boat

Perceptor - Microscope

Rewind - Data Slug

Siren - Car

Nightbeat - Car

Hosehead - Fire Truck

Hound - Jeep

Mainframe

Huffer - Truck

Inferno - Fire Truck

Jackpot - Car

Bluestreak - Car

Blaster - Acoustic Tank

Slapdash - Race Car

Atomizer

Rad - Car

Crosscut - Van

Broadside - Jet/Boat

Other Lost Lighters

Pharma - Jet (Flashback)

Hoist - Tow Truck (Model)

Drift - Car (Model)

Grotesque (Mural)

Trailcutter - Van (Mural)

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter (Mentioned)

Prowl (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Ravage - Cassette

Bombshell - Boll Weevil (Flashback)

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned)

Other Brainstorm - Helicopter (Mentioned) Dead

Other Overlord - Tank and Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Brainstorm's Handler (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Ten

Cyclonus - Space Jet

Swerve's Serving Droid

Roller - Paddy Wagon (Flashback)

Tyrest (Mentioned)

Legislators (Mentioned)

Human

Hunter O'Nion (Flashback)

Hunter's Sister (Mentioned)

Notes

• This story was originally meant to be released before Transformers #40. as evidenced by the spoilers given there, such as First Aid becoming CMO, Mirage opening a bar, and it failing, etc. We also know that First Aid leaves the ship, at least for Combiner Wars since he joins the storyline with the other Protectobots for that storyline.
• This story also acts as a prequel to the Drift: Empire of Stone mini-series showing Ratchet's actions just before leaving for the storyline.
• It's revealed here that Ratchet leaving for Earth before Infiltration was the reason that Pharma left for Delphi, on Prowl's orders....so yeah, prowl is responsible for Pharma going mad on Delphi too then!
• It's shown that by the time Hunter is returned home after Maximum Dinobots, Bombshell has been created, and began following Hunter, ready for his involvement during the Autobot Purge during All Hail Megatron.
• Tailgate's new love of hoverboards is a reference to Back to the Future II, which Tailgate was shown enjoying during Movie Night.
• Also, his use of a hoverboard, fishing rod, and crashing into things is probably a reference to Daniel in the 80's Transformers Movie.
• Hosehead, Nightbeat and Siren are seen hanging out together. In the toyline they were sold in the same Headmaster wave. Hosehead even references this by saying "nearly took my head off!"
• Tailgate still thinks that Whirl's name is Nutjob :)
• Megatron is absent from his committee chair, this is either due to his recent self-seclusion following his close death during Elegant Chaos, or more likely due to him being the intended victim in that situation, and being unable to be unbiased.
• A few guys from the time travel team aren't amongst the viewers of the trial, wonder why?
• Brainstorm reveals that he only became a Decepticon to get his hands on some sensitive materials that the Decepticons had captured, and never disclosed any major details to the Decepticons that could hurt the Autobots.
• Brainstorm jokes that Rung is also a Decepticon double agent, which no-one seems to react to...odd huh?
• Getaway is getting creepier around Tailgate with every new issue....
• Seriously, I think he'll need an adult before long!
• Hoist and Hound are on Ratchet's patient list, whilst Hoist is mentioned as needing to speak to Rung due to his isolation issues, Hound is never seen or mentioned during the sessions shown.
• It's revealed here that Brainstorm is an MTO, meaning he was made during the war, in order to be used as a soldier. Normally this means he should be a warrior, rather than a scientist...interesting still! Also, his name is Genitus of Operation: Solar Storm.
• First Aid appears to know that Ratchet is leaving the ship, but no-one else seems to mention anything meaning he's been keeping it quiet.
• Ten is revealed to have an artistic side, implying that he may have a Spark of some sort. It was shown in the past that the Legislators were also built from the remains of the Circle of Light members they had killed, so maybe something from one of them was put into him?
• Ten appears to have the parts to make a Drift model, including a sword and the right colours and shapes, despite him never meeting him, and Ratchet pointing out that he was missing.
• Ten's obsession with Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus, and his display including all his modes and forms, COULD be seen as a reference to his upcoming Combiner Wars toy....
• Ultra Magnus seems to be finally at peace with people knowing about his true Minimus Ambus form by the end of this issue, as he's shown entering Swerve's bar in it with Ten
• Getaway and Tailgate use Riptide as a boat for their Legislator parts fishing trip in the Oil Reservoir.
• I wonder how Drift will react when he sees that Ratchet now has a little model of him in his shuttle?
• Since Brainstorm cuts off ties to his Decepticon handler here, I guess he's now a full Autobot again!