IDW - Transformers Shattered Glass #2

Written by: Danny Lore

Art by: Daniel Khanna

Colours by: John-Paul Bove

Letters by: Neil Uyetake

Editor: Riley Farmer

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Design by: Jake Wood & Johanna Nattalie

Plot

Megatron's life of solitude past the Rust Sea is interrupted by the arrival of Starscream, who collapses after arriving from his injuries from both the Bodyscrappers and the Sea itself, forcing the reclusive Decepticon to help his loyal lieutenant.

Inside his hideout, Megatron patches up Starscream, and complains about his follower seeking him out, since he is no longer his leader, since losing the war, but Starscream counters that they haven't lost yet, and they still have a chance to save their planet from the Autobots.

Starscream reminisces over the first time he saw Megatron, he was at a protest, protecting Ratbat's right to protest from Prowl, and ended up getting arrested for attacking the officer.

Megatron was later released from prison by Orion Pax, due to their friendship, but the two get into an argument, after Orion threatens him with Empurata to try and fix his wild ways. The fight was soon broken up, but the two didn't speak again, until the war started...

Some time later, the war enndednup on Earth, with the final battle taking place in Hollywood, Megatron orders the other Decepticons to retreat, knowing they can't win, and takes on the Autobots alone, behind eventually beaten down by Megatron, but not before dealing some major damage to the Autobots, and saving multiple Decepticons from their enemies, allowing most of their forces to escape.

After Megatron awoke, following the battle, he escaped the remains of Earth on a shuttle, and returned to Cyberton, where he discovered the Autobots had conquered the planet in his absence, leading to his exile.

Back in the presence, Starscream continues to try and prove their potential to win the war still, when he reveals that he's continued to examine his unique spark, and believes he has found a way to use it to reawaken the sleeping Titans, and use them to take back the planet...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax - Truck (Flashback)

Prowl - Police Car (Flashback)

Jetfire - Jet (Flashback)

Bumblebee - Car (Flashback) Blasted by Megatron, Reformatted into Goldbug

Ironhide - Van (Flashback)

Ratchet - Ambulance (Flashback)

Blurr - Race Car (Flashback)

Jazz - Car (Flashback)

Blaster - Boom Box (Flashback)

Windcharger - Car (Flashback)

Brawn - SUV (Flashback)

Downshift - Car (Flashback) Possibly Dead

Sunstreaker - Car (Flashback)

Sideswipe - Car (Flashback) Injured

Hot Rod - Car (Flashback) Injured 

Other Autobots (Flashback)

Dinobots (Mentioned)

Bodyscrappers (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron - Space Shuttle

Starscream - Jet

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Flashback)

Thundercracker - Jet (Flashback)

Skywarp - Jet (Flashback)

Soundwave - Cassette Player (Flashback)

Rumble - Cassette (Flashback)

Frenzy - Cassette (Flashback)

Ravage - Cassette (Flashback)

Refraktor - Hovercraft (Flashback)

Scrapper - Front End Loader (Flashback)

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer (Flashback)

Kickback - Locust (Flashback)

Bombshell - Bill Weevil (Flashback)

Other Decepticons (Flashback)

Other Cybertronian

Ratbat - Cassette (Flashback)

Chromedome - Car (Flashback)

Miners (Flashback)

Empurata Protesters (Flashback)

A Titan (Hologram Only)

Whirl - Helicopter (Poster Only)

The Senate (Mentioned)

Drillers (Mentioned)

Other

Humans (Mentioned) Possibly killed by Autobots

Notes

• This issue, again, came with a free figure, this time of Shattered Glass Megatron! (The price was a lot higher, though there is a cheaper option without the toy if you'd prefer)
• Megatron's Cape in the present setting appears to be based on the one worn by Optimus and Megatron in their G2 Cybertronian Alliance design.
• Laste issue Prowl was shown in shadows, seemingly to hide his design, possibly for a future toy reveal...but we see him in all his glory this issue!
• Whirl is shown on a pro-Empurata poster in the background of this issue, the old IDW continuity had Whirl as a stern hater of Empurata, following his own punishment.
• Optimus Prime/Orion Pax's windscreen crack is revealed to be an injury caused from his first fight with Megatron, pre-war.
• It's unclear what happened after Megatron was defeated, but from the ground looking pretty torn up, we can assume the Autobots probably raized Hollywood, if not more of Earth.
• Among the injured Autobots seen laying around are Downshift, Sideswipe and Hot Rod, the latter two being important characters in the previous continuity, but who knows with this one.
• Bumblebee is seen this issue during th flashback, where he is coloured like Bug Bite. We also see here that his injuries, that led to him being rebuilt as Goldbug were caused by Megatron shooting him with his fusion cannon.
• Starscream having an unusual spark is a recurring theme in Transformers fiction, with him usually being shown as being unable to permanently die.
• Earth having "Rarified Energon" is likely in reference to the Classics Universe from Fun Publications, which was the "positive" counterpart to the original Shattered Glass continuity. In that version the Energon was because Earth was actually a giant Transformers called Gaia, but I doubt they're doing that here again...

IDW - Transformers #20

Title: Rise of the Decepticons, Part 3: Swindle's

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood

Editors: David Mariotte

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Plot

Prowl is watching Andromeda's stream on the recent events, when he's interrupted by Nightbeat, who has a prisoner who needs to be interrogated.
He man-handles Singe, the prisoner, to get some information out of him, about who he was scavenging Energon for following the Tether's collapse.
Elsewhere, at an A'ovan sanctuary, Hound is mourning over the many animals killed when the Tether fell on the building, but is interrupted by Sideswipe, who wants to join Hound's team of Heavies to go after the Rise, but is denied as he lacks experience.

Later, as they're preparing for their next raid, Strongarm starts to believe that she's cursed, since every mission she's been on since she recently graduated has resulted in more problems, and the whole world is falling apart around them, with riots and protests from all factions, the Ascenticons blocking entry to their base from the Security Forces, and Lodestar needing heavy repairs before she can be refitted with weapons to go after Vigilem, and on top of that, the now loose Moon is heading to the Sun, with Wheeljack believed to be still onboard!
Prowl however, suggests that she not worry about the rest of the world's problems and deal with their mission. They're joined by Sideswipe and head towards Swindle's joint, where Bumper will go inside, since no one will likely know who he is.

Inside, a Skitter race is being held, but despite the attendance, Swindle and his crew realize that not much is being better on, most likely due to the recent events, so Trickdiamond offers a drink deal if people start spending more.
Mindwipe arrives, and tries to get Swindle to give him the Energon he promised to supply to him for his experiments, but Swindle renages, insisting that he would never of knowingly helped  a Rise member, Mindwipe starts to protest this, but then notices Bumper watching them from the crowd.
Bumper reports Mindwipe being there, and Prowl warns him not to look in his eyes, but Mindwipe appears behind him.

The security team bust through the doors and start their raid, Mindwipe hypnotises Bumper ordering him to kill Prowl, whilst Visper and Storm Cloud fight the Security team. Bumper tries attacking Prowl, but is subdued. Mindwipe and Visper manage to escape, but Storm Cloud is captured for interrogation. Swindle gets arrested for his illegal dealings (again) and Bumper to restrained until the hypnosis wears off.

Mindwipe reports Storm Cloud's capture to Shockwave, who is furious, and orders for the Rise base to be evacuated, in case it's location is compromised.
Suxshot goes to the lower quarters and tells Rumble and Quake to get moving, and to not get any further on his bad side for their murderous actions...

Characters

Security Operations/Autobot

Sentinel Prime - Space Shuttle
Orion Pax - Truck
Chromia - Car
Prowl - Police Vehicle
Nightbeat - Car
Sideswipe - Car
Strongarm - Police Vehicle
Bumper - Car
Hound - Jeep
Ironhide - Van
Pointblank - Car
Vibes
Novastar - Car (Mentioned)
Springer - Helicopter/Car (Mentioned)
Streetwise - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)

Ascenticon/The Rise

Mindwipe - Bat

Visper - Jet

Storm Cloud - Jet Arrested by Security
Sixshot - Car/Jet/Gun/Wolf/Tank
Frenzy
Quake - Tank
Runamuck - Car
Runabout - Car
Skytread - Tank and Jet
OtherAscenticon Guards
Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Voice Only)
Barricade - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)
Skystalker - Car (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Swindle - Van Arrested by Security
Trickdiamond - Car
Headlock - Forklift
Gutcruncher

Andromeda

Lightbright 

Lodestar - Senate Titan Ship Under Repairs
Singe In Custody

Vanquish - Jet

Seaspray - Hovercraft

Hubcap - Car

Machine Wars Starscream - Jet

Two Headed NAIL

Megaplex - Jet

Photon - Race Car

Anode - Bi-plane

Nucleon

Tentakil - Squid

Nautilator - Lobster

Trip-Up - Car

Big Daddy - Car

Hubs - Car

Riptide - Boat

Misfire - Jet

Sledge - Truck

Pipes - Truck

Sharpclaw - Car

Twirl - Jet

Third Plaza Patrons

Senate Protesters

Tagan Heights Rioters

Swindle's Patrons

Apeface (Poster Only)

Lugnut - Jet (Poster Only)

Strika - Battle Tank (Poster Only)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Thirteen (Mentioned)

Wheeljack - Car (Mentioned) Believed to be on the Winged Moon

Leviathan - Harvester (Mentioned)

Vigilem - Titan War Ship (Mentioned)

The Other Titans (Mentioned) Inert and Failing

Other Species

Green, the Flyt

A'ovan Pra'tyne

A'ovan Creatures One Tenth Killed in Tether Collapse

Racing Skitters

Voin Scavengers (Mentioned)

Notes

• There's quite a few new characters introduced this issue, including Andromeda from the Fun Publications lines, Twirl from the Linkage comics, Trick Diamond from the Japanese United lineeline, and even Nick Roche's daughters OC Sharpclaw to name a few notable ones.
• Prowls pet alien is revealed to be a Flyt named Green, because she is green!
• Singe was arrested following his scavenging mission and attack during issue 18.
• In an update to the aftermath of Vigilem's attack, the Winged Moon has floated off into space, and is approaching the Sun, and Vigilem himself has headed off into space.
• Trickdiamond's profile mentions her connection to Swindle, but it was never elaborated on in her comic appearances until now.
• Bumper getting mind controlled to attack Prowl is likely a reference to the similar plot line introduced at the end of Dreamwave's run, bit never went anywhere.
• The end of this issue all but confirms that Frenzy was the one who killed Brainstorm at the start of the series

IDW - Transformers Galaxies #6

Title: Wannabee, Part 2

Written by: Kate Leth & Cohen Edenfield

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: David Garcia Cruz

Letters & Design by: Jake M. Wood & Val Lopez

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

A long time ago, Bumblebee walks out of the Great Pyramid at Iacon to cheers and warm greetings, however, when the crowd disperses, a horrible discovery is made, a second Cybertronian was forged by mistake, one named Cliffjumper, who is unwanted by everyone still present...

Back in the present, Cliffjumper wakes up on Probat, just after Deathsaurus knocked him out following the murder of the Probat Foreman, Natalus. Cliff tells his superior that he intends to tell the Senate about the murder and his plans to use the spires, where the Probats live, to create powerful Energon crystals. Deathsaurus however knocks out the smaller bot again, and leaves to enact his plan..

Outside, Deathsaurus claims that they have all been lied to, the bot he came with is NOT Bumblebee after all, and that he killed Natalus, and he sets the Probats onto the red false-Bee!

Cliff, soon getting chased by the Probats, transforms and races away, but soon discovers a small Probat child inside his alternate mode, having been on his back when he transformed, but she soon says that she knows Cliff didn't kill Natalus, since he is too kind.

At the spires, Deathsaurus starts burning the spires in his dragon mode, since the Probats were distracted with chasing Cliff. The small red bot and the young Probat race off to stop Deathsaurus, Cliff drives along a newly sharpened and exposed spire, whilst the child breaks off a piece of the Energon spire, and jabs it into Cliff's body, supercharging him, allowing him to pummel the dragon-bot, knocking him into the Energon spire, skewering him, to Cliff's horror and the Probat's joy.

Later, Cliff returns to Cybertron, along with a comatose and injured Deathsaurus, claiming it was caused by a an Energon stockpile exploding to Chormia and Prowl, and that the planet's Energon stores are dry now.

The two cops don't seem to believe him, but let him go, just saying that the investigation isn't over, and Cliff flashes back to Probat, where the people there are now free and have built a statue of their new saviour...

Characters

Security Forces

Chromia - Car

Prowl - Police Vehicle

Bumblebee - Winged Hovercraft

Other Cybertronian

Cliffjumper - Hover Car

Deathsaurus - Winged Dragon Skewered and Rendered Comatose by Cliffjumper

Deathsaurus' Attendants

Nominus Prime - Jet (Flashback Only)

Sentinel - Space Shuttle (Flashback Only)

Megatron - Mining Vehicle (Flashback Only)

Soundwave - Hovercraft (Flashback Only)

Shutter - Telescope(?) (Flashback Only)

Brainstorm - Jet (Flashback Only)

Windblade - VTOL Jet (Flashback Only)

Wheeljack - Race Car (Flashback Only)

Cyclonus - Jet (Flashback Only)

Elita-1 - Car (Flashback Only)

Other Crowd-fillers (Flashback Only)

Orion Pax - Truck (Mentioned)

The Senate (Mentioned)

Probat

Probat Girl

Foreman Natalus (Skull Seen) Killed by Deathsaurus

Probat Dogs

Other Probats

Other

Voin Scavenger (Flashback Only)

Voin's Enslaved Organics (Flashback Only)

Notes

• Sorry this is later than it could have been, the delays in delivery times and my current schedule has been a bit hectic.
• We learn this issue that Cliffjumper is essentially Bumblebee's younger brother, but that his forging was unintended
• Bumblebee mentioned in a past issue that his mentor was female, here we learn that her name was Shutter. We don't see her alternate mode this issue, but she appears to turn into a telescope of some sort.
• This issue confirms that Bumblebee is younger than most of the other major characters in the main series (like Windblade, Brainstorm and Wheeljack)
• The timing of the present day of this story is unclear, Deathsaurus mentions that Sentinel is "playing with the organics", likely a reference to the colony tours he was on at the start of the series, but the end of the issue shows Bumblebee still seemingly as a part of Security Forces, despite him having been ejected for some reason for a while at the present of the main comic. It could be that Sentinel goes on his tours frequently, but hopefully it gets some sort of explanation later...
• Cliffjumper's alternate mode looks more like his usual car mode, just with wings on the side, unlike Bumblebee's G1 cartoon-opener hovercraft mode, so at least he's not a total copy of Bee I guess!
• The hole in Deathsaurus' chest appears to shrink between his skewering on the Energon spike on Probat, and reaching Cybertron, this could be a sign of him healing...or just an inconsistency in the artwork....take your pick!

IDW - Transformers (2019) #10

Title: The Cracks Beneath Your Feet, Part Four

Written by: Brian Ruckley

Art by: Angel Hernendez, Anna Malkova and Beth McGuire-Smith

Colours by: Joana LaFuente & Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editors: David Mariotte

Plot

Megatron meets with his guards, Elita-1 and Bumblebee, and they escort him towards the Senate meeting, on the way they come across a silent protest starting, in honour of the recent murder victims, which people are blaming on the extremist group, the Rise.

Meanwhile, Froid visits Cyclonus at a medical facility, where he brings up his dead friends, and asks if he ever talks with Paragon, who was killed by Pyra Magna. Upon hearing his name, Cyclonus snaps, and heads off alone again, to get away from society...

The Senators meeting begins, and the topic of discussion is, of course the recent murders and rising tensions and riots across the planet. Megatron dismisses the claims and tries to accuse the others of blaming his Ascenticons for the riots and recent troubles.

Orion points out to Megatron that there is no real discussion to be had, the Autobots hold the majority vote, and they will uphold Nominus' Edict, and they will not be removed from power until the next voting season, so Megatron will have to disband his private army, the Ascenticon Guard, and also join the rest of the Senate in publicly denouncing the Rise as an extremist group and even rename them.

Before Pax can give the new name to the Senate, Megatron starts to leave, dismissing the idea as Pax trying to deceive the population.

Outside, Megatron is met with his guards, but his is noticed by a member of the crowd, and a riot starts, with the population starting to equate the Ascenticons to the Rise and start attacking the Senator. Bee and Elita fend off the rioters, whilst Megatron gets to safety, but the two guards begin to question what they are doing, when they start injuring the rioters...

Megatron heads off into the wasteland outside the city, where he meets with his associate, the leader of the Rise, Shockwave, whom Megatron put in the position to cause chaos, but screams at him that he wasn't to kill anyone. he warns Shockwave to not cause the Ascenticons any more problems and to never let it be reveals that they have a connection...but Shockwave has other plans in mind....

Prowl heads towards Ascenticon HQ, where he asks Soundwave to hand Barricade over to them, as they need to speak to him about some recent actions he has made, but Soundwave simply refuses them entry...

Elsewhere, a large Cybertroninan lands on the planet, and deploys her precious cargo, of Sentinel Prime and his retinue, who is fairly pissed off at the recent events on his planet, and wants to head to the Senate offices immediately to start smashing some heads together! 

Characters

Autobot

Sentinel Prime - Space Shuttle

Senator Orion Pax - Truck

Nominus Prime (Mentioned)

Security Forces

Prowl - Police Vehicle

Sideswipe - Car

Ironhide - Van

Windblade - VTOL Jet In Protective Stasis, Following Injuries

Security Cadets

Ascenticon

Senator Megatron - Treaded Vehicle

Senator Soundwave - Hover Craft

Elita-1 - Car

Bumblebee - Winged Hover Craft

Acid Storm - Tetra Jet

Skytread

Other Ascenticons

Barricade (Mentioned)

The Rise

Shockwave - Space Craft

Flamewar - Motorcycle (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Froid - Jet

Flatline

Senator Heretech

Senator Crisscross

Starscream - Tetrajet

Nautica

Hound - Jeep

Firestar - Car

Road Rage

"Giant Woman" - Senate Space Shuttle

Other Two Meeting Senators

Medical Facility Staff

"Silent" Protestors

Primus (Mentioned)

Cyclonus' Ghost Friends (Mentioned) Dead

Paragon (Mentioned) Death Caused  by Pyra Magna

Pyra Magna (Mentioned) Imprisoned

Rubble (Mentioned) Dead

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned) Dead, Confirmed Killed by a Rise Member

Other

A Skitter Crushed by Megatron

Pterasaur Aliens

Notes

• This issue's cover and synopsis was switched with last issue's, explaining the mis-matched covers, though it doesn't appear that the issues themselves were swapped, since this issue directly references the previous one heavily.
• The art duties this issue are as such: Hernandez does the scenes Senate meeting scenes, and the protest outside, Malkova deals with the scenes in the medical facilty and Sentinel's return to the planet, and McGuire-Smith does the meeting between Megatron and Shockwave.
• Uh oh, Windblade is in a "protective stasis" tube now! Last time we saw that sort of thing was when Sideswipe, who sustained injuries from an explosion and being in a crashing ship, and subsequently stayed in one for a couple of years and then died...let's see where this goes....
• Paragon, mentioned by Froid as someone whom Cyclonus has to speak to earlier is revealed to be dead, and that Pyra Magna was responsible for his death, possibly explaining why she is imprisoned too?
• Sideswipe claims to not know Flamewar's name, but since she knows his name, does this mean that he's well-known or some sort of celebrity?
• One of the Senators in the meeting is using a holo-generator to appear....why doesn't Sentinel do the same if he needs to speak to Orion and the others so badly?
• Another of the Senators is Heretech, revealed to be the leader of the Reversionists, mentioned here as being affiliated with the Autobots. This is interesting since Heretech in IDW's old continuity was a Decepticon
• Orion Pax's plan to rebrand the Rise as something more appropriate (a word that begins with "Dece-" hmmm?) is reminiscent of the use of the term "Daesh" to de-legitimize the terrorist group ISIS.
• Elita-1 shows the first signs of her not fully agreeing with the Ascenticon ways, when she shows remorse for hurting others during the protest riot.
• I CALLED IT!!! I said early on in this series that The Rise would just be an off-shoot of the Ascenticons and would in fact be controlled by Megatron or one of his cabal secretly! (I believe I even suggested Shockwave was in charge!)
• It is revealed this issue that Nominus exiled some troublemakers offworld, though this was kept quiet, so many believe it to just be a conspiracy theory.
• Interestingly, Megatron attributes Brainstorm's death to a member of the Rise, but also to Rubble's death too....is Quake classed as a member of the Rise now due to his actions, despite his prominence in the Ascenticon Guard, or does Megatron not know that Quake was the killer?
• It's finally revealed what the Rise actually is now, it was an off-shoot of the Ascenticons created to cause trouble and force the hand of the senate to give control of Cybertron to the Ascenticons, as they are the only ones who can take them down, by repealing the Nominus Edict. However Megatron claims that he never planned for anyone to actually die by their actions, and is now blaming Shockwave for it.
• The large Cybertronian who turns into a spaceship for Sentinel and his crew MIGHT be a Titan, but she may just be a giant Cybertronian (like Leviathan was mentioned as being). Also, I believe it's a female Cybertronian, simply due to her general form and appearance, I could be wrong though!
• Sentinel's comments about smashing heads together may be a reference to the toy he is modelled after being a Titan Master (aka his head turns into a tiny robot)
• We don't see any insignias on any of Sentinel's crew, but since all of them (except Starscream) are traditionally Autobots, and are under his command, we can probably assume they are in the political party too.

IDW - Transformers (2019) #8

Title: The Cracks Beneath Your Feet, Part Two

Written by: Brain Ruckley

Art by: Anna Malkova, Angel Hernandez & Beth McGuire-Smith

Colours by: Joana LaFuente & Josh Burcham

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Flamewar calls in to Shadow Striker, reporting that Cyclonus is ripping up their hidden cables, and despite Shadow Striker's orders to stand down, Flamewar decides to attack to stop him.

Inevitably, Cyclonus pummels the smaller bot, but the tides turn when Shadow Striker appears and starts firing on Cyclonus too. Cyclonus flies off, but Striker fires upon him, hitting the flyer, and Striker berates Flamewar for her stupidity.

Elsewhere, Megatron visits Termagax in her fortress, where he tells her about the recent bombing at an Ascenticon rally, but she has no interest in the outside world, and is busy building in her workshop. She says Megatron can just continue leading the Ascenticons, as she doesn't trust or believe in the Senate any more, so he leaves.

Outside, Megatron contacts Soundwave and tells him that she won't get in their way...

Back in the city, Bumblebee has been accepted into the Ascenticon Guard and Elita-1 informs him that Megatron wants him to be part of the guard for Megatron at an upcoming Senate meeting, so he can show off an ex-security officer and friend to Autobots has joined his side, which Bee seems fine with.

Meanwhile, at the Security HQ, Froid is being questioned by Chromia and Prowl about if Quake could be capable of murder, due to his well known anger issues and his recent disappearance. Froid agrees that he is likely to be capable of murder, but also that many more could be too, as their species is being repressed too much, and someone was bound to snap eventually.

At that moment, Cyclonus crashes into the wall, burying Froid in rubble, and hobbles in injured from the earlier attack. he tells Chromia that Shadow Striker attacked him, and where they are, before being allowed to go see Ratchet. Froid offers to join him, but Cyclonus flat out refuses. Froid calls out that he should talk to Paragon, confusing everyone else, to which Froid just explains that he's the one Cyclonus needs to talk to really, before leaving.

In the aftermath, Chromia tells Sideswipe to open up the armoury so they can go after Shadow Striker and the rest of her suspected Rise members, regardless of whether it's going to get them in trouble....

Characters

Security Forces/Autobot

Chromia - Car

Prowl - Police Vehicle

Sideswipe - Car

Froid - UAV

Sentinel Prime - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Orion Pax - Truck (Mentioned)

Windblade - VTOL Jet (Mentioned)

Barricade - Police Vehicle (Mentioned)

Ratchet - Ambulance (Mentioned)

Ascenticon

Termagax

Megatron - Treaded Vehicle

Elita-1 - Car

Bumblebee - Winged Hovercraft

Other Ascenticons

Soundwave - Hovercraft (Mentioned)

Skytread - Tank and Jet (Mentioned)

Refraktor - Hovercraft (Mentioned)

Quake - Tank (Mentioned) Gone Missing

The Rise

Shadow Striker - Car

Flamewar - Motorcycle

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Grudge (Ghost)

Gridlock (Ghost)

The Senate (Mentioned)

Paragon (Mentioned)

Rubble (Mentioned) Dead

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Pyra Magna (Mentioned)

Starscream - Jet (Mentioned)

The Missing Cybertronians (Mentioned)

Brainstorm's Killer (Mentioned)

Other

Primus (Mentioned)

Preserved Voin Corpse (In Termagax's Workshop)

Notes

• This issue comes with another packet of Transformers TCG cards, and again I got nothing good from it :(
• Art duties this month are split as such: Malkova does the Cyclonus vs Flamewar scene, Hernandez does the Megatron and Bumblebee scenes, and newcomer McGuire-Smith does the Security Forces scene at the end. Interestingly, I legitimately thought that was Andrew Griffith doing the final pages until I just checked the credits page....I am shocked!
• The first page of this issue takes place before Flamewar attacks Cyclonus last issue, giving us her side of the situation.
• From the dialogue this issue, we learn that Shadow Striker, and by extension Flamewar, were amongst the missing Cybertronians mentioned previously, and are part of The Rise, who have gone underground to hide.
• Shadow Striker mentions playing something called "Dead-Dark-Drone" with someone who's name begins with "Fr-". This could be anyone, but considering Froid's presence in the issue, and his history of being someone evil-ish, we might be able to assume this is him?
• Also, Shadow Striker is a mostly purple robot, which could be seen as bluish in the dark. Is she Brainstorm's killer?
• Shadow Striker's design is based on her Cyberverse counterpart, rather than her pre-existing G1 counterparts.
• Flamewar has hidden flamethrowers in her arms....this makes sense with her name!
• Grudge's ghost mentions how Shadow Striker and Flamewar have illegally good weapons, likely being a reference to the Nominus Edict that stops Cybertronians from having external weaponry.
• Dialogue also implies that Shadow Striker was in some way related to the war with the Threefold Spark to, since Gridlock and Cyclonus both recognise her.
• Oh...Termagax actually appears!! I'm not sure what she would turn into yet, but she does have a claw-like hand, which sort of looks like a satellite receiver when opened up (still a cool design though!)
• Termagax appears to have a collection of dead things or weapons...that's not ominous at all!
• Termagax name-drops Pyra Magna here, and asks if she's been "let out", maybe she's the one who Froid isn't allowed to visit in the jail?
• Oh! Sideswipe also makes an appearance for the first time (despite speaking before)
• And adding one more to the character appearances, on the cover preview for next issue, we finally get a look at Sentinel Prime, who seems to be based directly on his Titans Return toy