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 - GI Joe vs Transformers #11

Title: Escape from Primus

Written by: Tom Scioli and John Barber

Art, Colours and Lettering by: Tom Scioli

Production by: Chris Mowry

Edits by: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Megatron uses the Matrix to command Primus to transform the planet Cybertron into his robot mode, Rodimus and his team manage to escape from the bowels of the planet (why did they even go there again!?!?) and the Keeper is killed by the rubble and devoured by the creator god. Along the way, Mirage is trapped under rubble, and Duke tries to help him out.

Rodimus and the others get to Metroplex, where Rodimus sends out Springer to rescue Springer and Duke. He manages to do so, but Duke loses his grip and falls, one of the Joes, Duke's half brother Falcon jumps from Springer, with a bungee rope, and rescues Duke from death.

Using the power of family or whatever we are shown a flashback of Duke giving a speech to some new Joe recruits, getting ready for the upcoming mission to Cybertron. Whilst there, he notices his brother in the crowd and begins hazing him by forcing him to cut his long hair short, despite there being no regulations for it.

During one of the training sessions, Falcon almost beats his brother's record, but he stops to help out one of the slower troops, which annoys Duke, and he punishes him by putting him on guard duty.

Later, whilst on guard duty, Falcon starts to make out with fellow recruit, Quarrel, but they are attacked by Duke, disguised as a Cobra Trooper, and Duke berates him more for his screwing up

Duke drags Falcon to a boxing ring (seriously, he drags him by the ear like Misty used to do to Brock in Pokémon when he was being too horny around the ladies). The two brothers start to fight, and Falcon starts to get some good punches in, but Duke manages to easily defeat his brother. He tells him to just give up, and reveals that he never earned his military medals as he was always protected from danger by Duke in secret, however Falcon refuses to give up.

Later, Falcon and his team prepare to depart for Cybertron, and Duke sees his brother off, asking him to prove him wrong about all the bad things he's said over the years.

Back in the present, the Autobots and Joes escape from the innards of Cybertron just as the planet fully transforms to robot mode. The remaining dust and debris from Earth's destruction starts to dissipate, and Primus starts heading towards his next meal...the Sun!

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Sports Car

Brawn - SUV

Mirage - Race Car

Springer - Helicopter

Goldbug - Sports Car

Metroplex - Slug Thing

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex Dead, Head attached to Megatron

Wreckers (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Gun

Trypticon - Battle Platform

Scorponok - Scorpion

Insecticon Swarm

Soundwave (Flashback - Replica)

Starscream (Flashback - Replica)

Ravage (Flashback - Replica)

Laserbeak (Flashback - Replica)

Cybertronian

Primus - Planet Cybertron

Keeper Crushed in Primus' conversion, and devoured

GI Joe

Duke

Falcon

Cover Girl

Tripwire

Bazooka

General Flagg (Flashback)

Cutter (Flashback)

Outback (Flashback)

Muskrat (Flashback)

Big Lob (Flashback)

Quarrel (Flashback)

Budo (Flashback)

Other Joes

Other Human

Duke and Falcon's Mother (Flashback)

Duke's Dad (Mentioned)

Mr Falcone (Mentioned)

Falcon's Past Enemies (Flashback) Killed by Duke

Notes

• Oh...another backstory issue....yay....
• "Jotobots"....why?
• In a bit of confusing scale, Metroplex is shown covering up the hole that Primus' head is coming out of, but the head should be MUCH bigger than Metroplex.
• Why do so many of the Joes have creepy, heavily shadowed, dead faces in this issue? Oh I hope this is purgatory or something!
• Duke apparently wears his bandolier with grenades on it during non-battle situations...
• Some scenes in this issue are made to emulate the GI Joe animated movie, with Falcon being a recruit the same time as Big Lob, going through dangerous looking training (just with no Sgt, Slaughter here) and even getting caught trying to make out with a female cadet whilst failing at his guard duties.
• Primus' robot mode is based on his unused Dreamwave design, but with the energon tentacle thingies added.
• Why is Primus going straight after the sun? Aren't there more planets between Earth and there?
• Please let Primus eat the sun and end this mess....
• It really doesn't help that the previously "worse" GI Joe/Transformers crossover from Dreamwave got a TPB release this month....it just makes this thing look even worse!

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!

IDW - Transformers Windblade #2

Title: Combiner Wars Part 3: Mistakes and Mayhem

Written by: Mairghread Scott

Story by: Mairghread Scott & John Barber

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

On Caminus, the natives, along with some Cybertronians, which includes a larger number of Decepticons are helping to fix the damage caused by Menasor's rampage. During the rebuilding Chromia discuss how Caminus would be better without Cybertron's involvement, but Ironhide brings up all the death that Chromia herself caused on Cybertron in the recent past, proving to her that even Camiens can make mistakes.

On Cybertron, the leaders of Caminus and Cybertron work on plans to build the planned Colony Council, but they are having problems deciding how to make it work, since Starscream knows that the Camiens will just follow whatever a Prime says.

Back on Caminus, Devastator comes through the Spacebridge, and orders all of the Cyberronians to return to Cybertron, as he doesn't want to have the world's mingling. When the Cybertronians refuse though, he opens fire on them.

The O Fortuna arrives on Cybertron, and Mirage rushes off the ship to warn Optimus about his vision of Cybertron burning. When he arrives at the meeting however, Chromia contacts Windblade and reports on Devastator's attack. The leaders head to the Spacebridge, along with the Protectobots.

Rattrap contacts Prowl back on Caminus and asks him what he's doing, and he says that he's had enough of this and wants the Cybertronians to stay on their own planet and leave the rest of the galaxy alone now. Superion joins the battle against Devastator, and despite Superion's greater combinational skills, Devastator manages to badly hurt him.

Optimus and the others reach the Spacebridge to find Devastator/Prowl dragging an unconscious Superion through the portal, and then starts to destroy the portal himself. The Cybertronians and Chromia on Caminus head through the portal and start attacking Devastator to stop him, since Optimus can't reach his old friend any more.

Starscream uses the Enigma of Combination to repair the Aerialbots again, and then drafts the Protectobots into joining together into Defensor. The two Autobot combiners attack Devastator as a team and manage to fairly quickly destroy him, forcing him back into his component parts.

Starscream intends to have Prowl and the Constructicons executed, but Windblade insists that they be tried under Camien law, as their crimes were against Caminus. Prowl and the others are taken away to prison, with Prowl screaming at Optimus as he's dragged away.

Optimus tries to rationalize Prowl's actions as the war having unhinged him, but Chromia corrects him that it's fear that's changed him, and that when you're afraid you do stupid things as you think you, alone are right, acting as her acknowledgement of her own mistakes in the past to Windblade, renewing their friendship.

Nearby, the Camien leaders ask Starscream if he can station one of his combiners on Caminus for it's defence, which Starscream is MORE than happy about....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet

Chromia - Speedbike

Ironhide - Van

Prowl - Police Vehicle Arrested

Mirage - Race Car

Sunstreaker - Sports Car

Hot Spot - Fire Truck

First Aid - Ambulance

Groove - Motorcycle

Streetwise - Police Car

Blades - Helicopter

Rook - Armoured Van

Defensor - Protectobot Gestalt

Silverbolt - Jet

Air Raid - Jet

Skydive - Jet

Fireflight - Jet

Powerglide - Jet

Alpha Bravo - Helicopter

Superion - Aerialbot Gestalt

Nautica - Submarine (Mentioned)

Metroplex - City/Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Waspinator - Wasp

Fat Tankor - Tank

Sparkstalker - Insect Monster

United Cybertronian

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Rattrap - Rat

The Badgeless/Secret Police

Scoop - Front End Loader (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Devastator - Constructicon and Prowl Gestalt Destroyed by Defensor

Constructicons Arrested

Cybertronian Populace

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Camien

Lightbright

Red Leader

Yellow Leader

Notes

• It's mentioned that more Decepticons than Autobots are helping with the rebuilding of Caminus...I seriously wonder why that is? Maybe they just have more time on their hands, or maybe they want to repopulate on Caminus instead of staying on Cybertron in the aftermath. That could actually be the case considering Sparkstalker's comment of "This world is our's".
• Sunstreaker is confirmed as having remained on Cybertron following Dark Cybertron.
• Rook randomly appears with the Protectobots here, despite never being mentioned etc. This is clearly to tie in with his toy, but is still a bit glaring.
• Fat Tankor thinks everyone calls him "Fast Tankor"
• Superion and Defensor seem to have better control of their gestalt forms than Devastator, in that they can reconfigure themselves whilst still combined.
• The Enigma of Combination can heal apparently. It's unclear if it only works on combiners, but the Matrix was shown to be able to heal in the past as well, so maybe all of the artefacts of the Thirteen can do this too?
• Prowl's eyes are back to blue when he separates from the Constructicons...maybe the red eyes were just to indicate the start of their combination?

IDW - The Transformers #40

Title: Combiner Wars Part 2: The Possible Light

Written by: John Barber

Story by: Mairghread Scott & John Barber

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Shuttlecraft O Fortuna leaves the Lost Light with it's ambassador for the colony worlds Mirage, along with the newly formed "Protectobots" for security and Mirage's medical needs. Unfortunately Mirage is currently in stasis and is having a bad nightmare. He watches as Cybertron, Earth and Caminus burn from the Combiner Wars, but manages to speak with Ironhide, telling him that they need to help them choose....

Just then, Ironhide wakes up on Cybertron where he joins Optimus, Windblade and Wheeljack in watching Starscream's proclamation about Cybertron and Caminus coming together with Superion's help.

Optimus and Windblade head to Caminus to help with the rebuilding, but first the Mistress of Flame asks him how he can allow Starscream to be Cybertron's leader, and not him, and also cannot believe that he would dirty his own hands with the rescue operations, and sees it as somewhat blasphemous.

On Ark-7, near the Earth's Moon, Prowl has brought the stolen Spacebridge back with him, and mostly ignores Jetfire's questions on where it came from. Suddenly, Prowl receives a message from his informant on Cybertron about what is happening on the planet right now.

On Caminus, Superion, Optimus and the others are freeing trapped civilians and making themselves known to the people. During this, Optimus receives a call from Prowl, who starts screaming at him about Starscream having access to Metroplex's spacebridge. Optimus ends the conversation, deciding not to pay attention to Prowl. not tell him about the Combiners. However Prowl already knows about the Enigma of Combination, and he gets in contact with his Cybertronian ally again.

On Cybertron, Swindle is taken away to a secret prison by Starscream, so he can't reveal his part in the attack on Caminus, Scoop finds the way Starscream is treating his prisoners disgusting, but Starscream doesn't care, and leaves Rattrap in charge of the prison whilst he deals with some Camien diplomats.

Once on his own, Rattrap transforms and starts making his way through the piping of Metroplex, whilst Optimus, Windblade, Starscream and the Camien leaders head to a meeting to discuss forming a council between the Cybertronian colonies and Cybertron.

Rattrap makes his way to the spacebridge chamber and activates it, allowing Prowl and the Constructicons to come through, so he can help solve Cybertron, and the colony's problems, however Prowl's eyes have now started glowing a somewhat evil shade of red...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Prowl - Police Vehicle

Wheeljack - Race Car

Superion - Aerialbot Gestalt

Jetfire - Fighter Jet

Ironhide - Van

Mirage - Race Car

First Aid - Ambulance

Hot Spot - Fire Truck

Groove - Motorcycle

Blades - Helicopter

Streetwise - Police Car

Sandstorm - Buggy/Helicopter In Secret Prison

Megatron - Tank (Flashback)

Rodimus - Car (Flashback)

Silverbolt - Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Waspinator - Wasp

Fat Tankor - Tank

Tall Tankor - Oil Tanker/Cargo Plane

Sparkstalker - Insect Monster

Menasor - Stunticon Gestalt (Footage)

Stunticons (Mentioned)

Monstructor (Mentioned)

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Circuit

Longtooth

Rattrap - Rat

Scoop - Front End Loader

Swindle - Off Road Vehicle In Secret Prison

Badgeless Officer

Caminus

Mistress of Flame

Hot Shot

Lightbright

Red Leader

Yellow Leader

Camiens

Rook (In Vision)

Other Cybertronian

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Hook - Crane

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Scavenger - Excavator

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Devastator (Footage)

Vision Combiners (In Vision)

Primus (Mentioned)

Caminus - City/Spaceship (Mentioned)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Other

Blackrock (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue was originally meant to be released after More Than Meets the Eye #40 (which has yet to be released) so some plot points mentioned here like First Aid being the Lost Light's Chief Medical Officer, or Mirage opening a bar that fails are kind of spoiled in advance
• Mirage's Spotlight issue is revealed to have been part of a medical condition of his that makes him a bit unbalanced mentally.
• The new toy Protectobots Rook is shown amongst the  Camiens in Mirage and Ironhide's shared vision. That means if Rook is involved in Defensor here, then this will be the first cross-colony gestalt.
• The gestalts seen in the vision include Defensor, Superion and Menasor very clearly, the other two are unclear.
• Starscream has FINALLY taken on his new body that's been teased all storyline so far.
• Superion reveals that he's not loyal to Starscream, but Cybertron itself, and he is willing to kill Starscream if he finds out he's in any way involved in the attack on Caminus
• Superion and Optimus' conversation about what it's like to be a combiner seems like it could be foreshadowing Optimus' own combination later in the series
• Swindle has been taken to the same secret prison as Sandstorm...wonder if the other Combaticons just happen to be there as well?
• Rattrap shows his lack of loyalty again, when he's shown to have teamed up with Prowl against Starscream and Optimus.

IDW - Transformers vs G.I. Joe #2

Title: Targetmasters

Written by: Tom Scioli and John Barber

Art, Colours and Lettering by: Tom Scioli

Production by: Chris Mowry

Edits by: Carlos Guzman

Plot

The Joes start pelting Iacon with their Creeper (Green) Bombs, assuming it is the Capitol of Cybertron, unfortunately for them though, it was abandoned a while ago after the Autobots were defeated. Nearby, Perceptor and his team are watching the vines attacking the city and analyse the substance. Before long they discover the Joe's ship and decide to head out and investigate them.

On the invading Joes ship, Psyche-Out is protesting the use of biological weapons on this alien world, but the other Joes don't care. They locate the Decepticon's base, the giant Decepticon Trypticon, and proceed to attack, but find a forcefield protecting the Decepticon. From within, Megatron sends out his troops to attack the invaders, which includes the giant gestalt Devastator.

After a short battle, most of the Joes run away, and Wild Bill pilots their ship into Devastator, knocking him into his component parts.

Nearby, Perceptor and his team are rolling away, when the Joes try to mingle in with them as traffic, only for Perceptor and Brawn to be captured by Cyclonus and his team. Wheeljack tries to reach the humans, but is attacked by them, and they escape, unfortunately though, four of the Joes are captured by the Insecticons.

The remaining Joes head to an area that they've started terraforming to be habitable for humans and set up camp.

Meanwhile, Scourge and Cyclonus present the captured Autobots to Megatron, who is displeased, and kills Scourge for bringing him relics, especially with the arrival of the humans. Speaking of whom, the Insecticons present their captives to Megatron, and he proceeds to start torturing them.

Unknown to the Decepticons, Mirage has snuck inside Trypticon, and frees the other two Autobots, and creates an Optimus Prime hologram to distract Megatron, as they escape, with the humans in tow, heading back to metroplex.

Back at the Joe's base, the team find Wild Bill alive, despite his kamikaze mission, and also capture one of the "evil alien robots" Wheeljack in their totally heroic creeper vine traps.

Characters

Autobot

Perceptor - Cybertronian Tank

Wheeljack - Cybertronian Car

Mirage - Cybertronian Car

Brawn - Cybertronian Van

Optimus Prime (Hologram Only)

Bumblebee (Head Only)

Metroplex (Mentioned)

Decepticon

God King Megatron

Tyrpticon - City

Cyclonus - Cybertronian Jet

Scourge - Space Shuttle Killed by Megatron

Thrust - Cybertronian Jet

Astrotrain

Kickback - Locust

Bombshell - Boll Weevil

Shrapnel - Scarab Beetle

Scrapper - Cybertronian Front End Loader

Bonecrusher - Cybertronian Bulldozer

Mixmaster - Cybertronian Mixing Truck

Hook - Cybertronian Crane

Scavenger - Cybertronian Excavator

Long Haul - Cybertronian Dump Truck

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt

Generic Decepticons

GI Joe

Scarlett

Psyche-Out

Heavy Duty

Wild Bill

General Flagg

Breaker Captured by Joes

Clutch Captured by Joes

Jinx Captured by Joes

Cover Girl Captured by Joes

Blowtorch

Alpine

Lowlight

Tunnel Rat

Sci Fi

Charbroil

Too Many Joes....

Cobra

Dr Venom (Mentioned)

Notes

• Once again, I'm not very familiar with the GI Joe franchise, and coupling that with this art style, I can only really identify characters who are named on page here. Sorry about the lacking character lists because of this!
• One of the first things the Joes do on Cybertron is bomb what they think is a capitol building with a bio-terrorist weapon....yes...still totally rooting for these guys!
• The Green Bombs are reuses of the Creeper Bombs stolen by the Joes in issue #0
• Why are some of the Decepticons (who all turn into jets) flying on external jet things, but others are just flying under their own power?
• Perceptor is shown using his seldom seen tank mode here...that's one good thing here at least!
• So Devastator's defeated pretty easily here huh?
• Megatron has Bumblebee's head on a chain around his neck, he was last seen being killed by Starscream in issue #0
• As well as the Joes having the Creeper Bombs, they also have a Weather Dominator and are starting to terraform Cybertron....THESE ARE THE HEROES!!??