IDW - Transformers: Galaxies #3

Title: Constructicons Rising! Part 3

Written by: Tyler Bleszinski

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Wheeljack witnesses the Constructicons in their combined form complete a building, in the aftermath of the war, but is terrified when he sees the combiner destroy that same building, and smiles as he did so, much as he was expecting from the combination of all those minds.

Termagax manages to calm the giant down and gets him to de-combine. She suggests to Scrapper that the Constructicons need to control the seventh mind that appears when they combine, by allowing him to take the reigns in that form, which they agree to try out.

Later, in Iacon, Wheeljack meets with the Senate to report his concerns about the Constructicons, and despite Termagax's pleas to allow them to work to rebuild Cybertron as they are destined to, but the leader of the Senate, Nominus Prime, disagrees, concerned with the damage they can cause to Cybertron and it's population, and more importantly to him, the extreme amount of Energon needed to power their combined form. He allows them to fix the damage they caused recently, but after that, they need to be dealt with.

Some while later, the Constructicons complete their work in Iacon, having taken Termagax's suggestion about their combined form and are proud with their work. Nominus soon arrives and congratulates them on their hard work, and presents them with badges of honour.

Soon, Nominus gives the Constructicons a new mission, to help rebuild an energy processing plant on one of their outposts, so they can use that energy to further fix Cybertron. Termagax says she agrees with Nominus, but asks them to be wary and not everyone who has left Cybertron, has been for noble reasons.

The Constructicons leave Cybertron, heading to Mayalx, for which they hope to only be a short mission...

Characters

Cybertronian

Nominus Prime - Jet

Termagax - Van

Wheeljack - Car

Scrapper - Earthmover

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Hook - Crane

Scavenger - Excavator

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

"Devastator" - Constructicon Gestalt

Nominus' Senate Members

Nominus' Guards

Iacon Workers

Primus (Mentioned)

Megatron - Armoured Vehicle (Mentioned)

"The Abomination, Abominus" - Terrorcon Gestalt (Mentioned)

Iacon Rebuilding Teams (Mentioned)

Notes

• Sorry I'm so late on this one as well, but I've been busy with the new Pokémon games etc (plus as I mentioned last time, this series/storyline is kind of repetitive and boring)
• This issue is set entirely in a flashback showing what happened between the flashbacks in issue 1, and the present day scenes
• The scene of the Constructicons in "Devastator's" head seems to be based on the similar scene of the Combaticons inside Bruticus from Till All Are One.
• To possibly explain why the Constructicons blame Wheeljack for them being stranded on Mayalx, we see that he is the one who reported their violence to the Senate here...however Termagax tells them that SHE thought them leaving was a good idea, and we never see them learning that Wheeljack said anything...so.....what happened there?
• Nominus Prime finally makes a full appearance in a piece of media!!! YAY!!!
• Nominus directly references the early scenes from Issue 6 of the main comic, where he says that Megatron, the miners and archivists are pulling their weight in rebuilding, which we saw in that issue.
• The badges of honour shown this issue appear to be very simplified Autobot insignias, either meaning this is the origin of them, or that they simply base them off of their party's insignia for some reason.
• Since Nominus doesn't have a badge in this issue and it being set RIGHT AFTER the world changing war, we can assume that the Autobot party hasn't been fully formed yet, so I'm just going to class everyone as Cybertronian in the character lists.
• I think it's being implied from Scrapper noticing the workers also having the badges that there are some sort of symbol of trouble or perhaps an inhibiter of sorts, but we never see the Constructicons wearing them in this issue, or in the present day

IDW - Transformers: Galaxies #2

Title: Constructicons Rising, Part 2

Written by: Tyler Bleszinski

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

On Mayalx, the Constructicons are sparring in a make-shift gladiatorial arena to improve their fighting skills, since Scrapper believes the changing times on Cybertron will lead to problems, and he wants them to be prepared.

Elsewhereon the planetoid, the Insecticons devour a dead Cybertronian, and metabolise him into Energon between themselves. They get interrupted by a communication from Shockwave however, who orders Bombshell to pick up the pace in getting the Constructicons to join their cause.

Back at the "arena" Scrapper teaches the others a lesson, when he defeats Bonecrusher, without even using a weapon, and knocks him out. Bombshell soon arrives and creeps out the Constructicons, with his temptation to eat the injured Bonecrusher.

The bug-bot proceeds to tell the Constructicons the story of how when he, and the others were forged, they were discovered to have a unique ability to eat raw materials, and create Energon from it, which was quickly put to use by society, however when the war started, the trio were pulled into it and eventually started eating the corpses of the war's victims, gaining their new title as Insecticons.

Following the war, the new bots in charge decided to distance themselves from these new monsters, and eventually sent them out to distant colonies to clean them up, and keep them out of sight.

Bombshell concludes his story by explaining that they wanted to get rid of them, because they were scared of them, and their powers, just like what happened to the Constructicons. The builders point out that the Insecticons ARE monsters though, and all the Constructicons want to do is build. But Bombshell reiterates that they are being kept underpowered and far away, never to return, due to everyone fearing their combined form, and hints towards them that he has allies that can allow them to live their lives, unchained and free from that fear... 

Characters

The Rise

Bombshell - Boll Weevil

Kickback - Locust

Skrapnel - Scarab Beetle

Shockwave - Hovercraft (On Communicator Only)

Other Cybertronian

Scrapper - Earthmover

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Scavenger - Excavator

Hook - Crane

Building Site "Accident" Victim Killed and Eaten by Insecticons

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt (Statue/Mentioned Only)

Brainstorm - Jet (Flashback Only)

Brainstorm's Cos-Researchers (Flashback Only)

Notes

• Sorry I haven't uploaded this thing before now, I've just been busy recently, and this series hasn't been too motivating to get it done earlier. (Assuming it's out on time, the next issue will also be a little late, due to a trip I'm taking next weekend)
• It's implied in this issue that the Constructicons are being kept underpowered to make them slower and cause them to have a reason for not being able to return to Cybertron sooner. It's also very likely that it is to stop them from combining into Devastator and causing another ruckus!
• The Insecticon's victim this issue is mentioned as having an "accident" leading to his death...me thinks they killed him for his juices!
• Bombshell knowing who Shockwave is, and seemingly working for him implies that he is a member of the Rise.
• Its mentioned that Shockwave has plans for Bombshell's Cerebro-shells, considering the title of the story-arc in the main comic is currently "The change in your nature" could this be a hint towards an upcoming plot point?
• The last panel of the penultimate page of Devastator's head in a closeup is unclear, it might be a statue, like I think, or it could be a flashback to when they combined. If it is a statue though...then why was it made, when it's been made clear than people are afraid of Devastator?
• Apparently the crater made when Devastator punched the ground outside Iacon was never filled in...is it just a bro-fist pool when the acid rains come then?

IDW - Transformers Galaxies #1

Title: Constructicons Rising, Part 1

Written by: Tyler Bleszinski

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

On Mayalx, the Constructicons are finishing off the Energon processing complex, and reminisce over the past, and long to return home to Cybertron, they hope that after this project they can return, but are also well aware that the people of Cybertron are afraid of them...

Long ago, following the war against the Threefold Spark, Iacon has been mostly destroyed, so Termagax and Wheeljack lead the reconstruction project, and are soon accompanied by the Constructicons , a team of prodigy builders.

During their work at Rivet's Field, the Constructicons have an unexpected discovery, the Enigma of Combination. Termagax explains to them that this artefact allows Cybertronians to combine and pool their abilities together, and asks them if they would be willing to attempt a combination to make the reconstruction process go past quicker, which they agree to.

The Constructicons soon embrace the Enigma , but struggle to even move with the new form, however they do manage to use their powers to smash a hole in the ground, saving them ten cycles worth of work in the process. The team decombine, and are drained. Scrapper is unsure if he wants to combine again, but Termagax says they should, and reiterates that they make a great team, unlike the previous combiner, whose members did not have a shared goal, and it went on a rampage, before being separated.

Termagax and Wheeljack leave, with Wheeljack worried about the Constructicon's new ability, but Termagax states that so long as they concentrate on building, then the combiner should have the same desires, and wont go on the rampage too.

Soon, with the help of the Constructicon's new form, Iacon is rebuilt, and it is considered a masterpiece.

Back in the present, the Constructicons continue with work on the processing complex, unaware that Bombshell is watching them...planning to use them for his plan....

Characters

Cybertronian

Scrapper - Earth Mover

Hook - Crane

Scavenger - Excavator

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Bombshell

Mayalx Energon Processing Complex Staff

"Unnamed Devastator" - Constructicon Gestalt (Flashback Only)

Termagax - Truck (Flashback Only)

Wheeljack - Car (Flashback Only)

Abominus - Terrorcon Gestalt (Flashback Only) Defeated and Parts Scattered

Primus (Mentioned)

Megatron - Armoured Vehicle (Mentioned)

"The Threefold Spark" (Mentioned) Defeated

Notes

• The present day segments of this story appear to be set along with the present day of the main title. The flashback scenes however seem to tale place before the events shown in issue six of the main title, due to the future Senators discussing the Constructicons as established builders there.
• The flashbacks of this story appear to be the earliest set story in this new continuity so far, showing just after the war against the Threefold Spark
• The Constructicons are mentioned to have left their Mentors earlier than usual.
• Termagax is revealed to have been Megatron's Mentor in the past.
• Termagax mentions the need to "Ascend", likely showing us the birth of her future Ascenticon movement.
• The Constructicons blame Wheeljack for them finding the Enigma of Combination, and causing them to combine and be "exiled"...but Termagax was literally the one who suggested that they should combine...why isn't she to blame?
• The Enigma is located in Rivet's Field, which in the old IDW was one of the Hot Spots and later the launch site of the Lost Light.
• The Enigma was an artefact first seen in the old IDW, as the signature item of Nexus Prime, which, like here, allows Cybertronians to combine.
• Devastator is shown to have normal optics, with a retractable visor to go over them, referencing the different head models of Devastator from the G1 cartoon.
• The previous user of the Enigma isn't named here, but from the words "Terror" and "Abomination" as well as his recognizable silhouette, we can easily see it's the Terrorcons and Abominus 
• The last two pages are seemingly in the "present", even though the comic itself neglects to show that, with another "Now." caption, like with every other time skip.
• The statue that Bombshell is shown standing on at the end appears to be of Megatronus/The Fallen of the Thirteen.

IDW - International Incident

Characters

Autobot


Optimus Prime - Truck Cab
Bumblebee - Sports Car Badly injured by Joe Gladki
Cliffjumper - Sports Car
Ratchet - Ambulance
Smokescreen - Sports Car
Prowl - Police Car
Wheeljack - Race Car
Jazz - Sports Car
Jetfire - Jet Injured by Vortex
Broadside - Warship/Jet Injured by Vortex
Cosmos - Orbiter
Brawn - SUV
Red Alert - Lamborghini Gallardo Emergency Vehicle
Silverstreak - Sports Car
Ironhide - Van (Mentioned) Dead
Blurr - Cybertronian Race Car
Hot Rod - Sports Car (Mentioned)
Springer - Helicopter/Rocket Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon


Thundercracker - F15 Jet
Onslaught - Anti Air Missile Truck Crippled by Autobots
Brawl - Tank Crippled by Autobots
Vortex - Military Helicopter Crippled by Autobots
Swindle - Military Jeep (Mentioned)
Rampage - Tiger
Divebomb - Falcon
Headstrong - Rhino
Tantrum - Bull
Scrapper - Front End Loader Killed by Spike
Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt (Flashback)
Starscream - F15 Jet
Megatron - Gun Badly injured
Shockwave - Ray Gun
Soundwave - Cassette Player
Razorclaw - Drill Tank
Dreadwind - Jet Killed and Cannibalized 
Darkwing - Jet (Mentioned)
Needlenose - Jet
Quake - Tank Killed by Starscream
Pounce - Puma
Acid Storm - F15 Jet
Sunstorm - F15 Jet
Rumble - Cassette
Bombshell - Boll Weevil
Kickback - Locust
Shrapnel - Stag Beetle

Human


Major Spike Witwicky (Skywatch)
Joe Henderson (Skywatch)
Campolongo (Skywatch)
Kyle Pennington (Skywatch)
Sandra (Skywatch)
Emily (Skywatch)
Schwalbe (Skywatch Engineer)
Kim Jong Du
Joe Gladki
US President (On Screen)
Russian Prime Minister (On Screen)
General Daniel Witwicky
General Allenby
News Anchor
Kim Jong Il (Mentioned) Dead/Dethroned
Korean DMZ soldiers
North Korean Soldiers
US Military Soldiers
Skywatch Personnel
Mrs Witwicky (Flashback)
Tim Simmons (Flashback) Killed by Devastator

Storyline

Megatron laments over the recent events from his CR Chamber whilst being repaired, the Decepticons are fighting and stealing amongst themselves. Dreadwind is hunted down for stealing from the others and killed, all whilst Razorclaw is watching. Shockwave is busy doing a mystery project whilst Soundwave is slaving over fixing Megatron. Starscream is strutting around the base, made from their crashed shuttle with the Matrix around his neck and goes to see Bombshell, who rather than working on a way to replenish their supplies has been working on a cerebro-shell design to control anyone fully. Starscream is angry at him for wasting his time when Quake blasts into the lab intending to kill them for leading them to their doom, when Starscream throws the shell at him and tells him to die, which he does. Starscream asks if he has any more of them.
On Earth Daniel Witwicky is officially introduced to Optimus Prime as an ally and when alone he tells Spike to be careful, considering what they've been up to in secret. Later, after the general leaves Spike introduces Sandra, a new member to the Autobots, all whilst Megatron waits to heal up.

Spike works out at the gym and reveries over how he doesn't like relying on machines and how he likes to work out to make himself stronger. Later he meets with the chiefs and explains his decision to ally with the Autobots to them which they don't seem too happy with still.
Spike goes out on the hunt and finds Scrapper in a building site, where he attacks him with weapons designed specifically to harm Cybertronians like an acidic compound. When he manages to pin down Scrapper using some fallen girders he says that he wants to kill him because of how he's a part of Devastator, and that the Gestalt killed a good friend of his in New York. He grabs a specially designed gun and blasts him in the head, utterly killing him. He leaves as he knows that a Skywatch patrol will be called in to pick him up later.

North Korea has started to produce Energon for an unknown reason to the rest of the world, but it's causing concerns across the globe as the country has been quiet since the Decepticon Occupation of Earth. In Korea's demilitarized area the Combaticons Onslaught, Brawl and Vortex attack on orders from Kim Jong Du (Kim Jong Il's son) to try and take Seoul.
Back in America Skywatch have learned of the Combaticons involvement in the crisis and admit that they expected something like this would happen sooner or later with Decepticons allying them with the more aggressive nations and they decide to get involved.
Ratchet is showing the Skywatch engineers how to help with repairing Transformers whilst fixing up Cliffjumper, whilst Jetfire and some others are worried that they might try to harm them again, since they were just doing so a few months ago. Spike goes a speaks with Optimus, who is still in a cell voluntarily and he asks Optimus to help them out as a "consultant". Bumblebee and Optimus agree that the Combaticons have to be stopped, and say that they're stronger than that average Decepticons who have been left on Earth, so they need a team to attack them.
Before they can assemble a team however the US President appears on TV and announces that the US are not allied with Autobots and that any country that is will be treated as harbouring nuclear weapons, and will be dealt with as such. Spike says that they need to change their plans now.

The Skywatch team arrives in South Korea via boat, but encounters some problems with a dock manager, until he's knocked out. The Autobots on the team leave their crates, they head into a warehouse, transform and plan their moves, including outfitting their vehicle modes with weapons.
Elsewhere the Combaticons have finished an attack and are taking an Energon break, when Du appears and moans at them for being lazy and idle. The Combaticons obey Du until they can come up with a plan for themselves. The nearby Military are getting ready to attack the Combaticons, when some heavily armed cars appear and start blasting at them (so the Autobot's involvement can be kept secret). They target Vortex so he can't fly off but he manages to fly into the air, where he's intercepted by Jetfire.
The Autobots and Skywatch lure the Combaticons to the nearby water where they mock them by reminding them that they're waterproof, however Broadside starts blasting them from the water in boat mode. Until Vortex uses his rotors to slice off one of Jetfire's wings, making him plummet down into Broadside, taking them both out of the battle. The Combaticons leave in the confusion.
Later Jetfire and Broadside are taken into the wraehouse for repairs whilst Optimus and the others worry about how they can't even win with the element of surprise, however Optimus has been in contact with Bumblebee, who has a plan to help them out.
Back in America Bumblebee meets with Skywatch at his hideout and asks him to help them out.

Thundercracker says he doesn't want to get involved, but Bumblebee appeals to his warrior side by asking himhow long will it be before he gets bored of just watching TV. Thundercracker comments that he must have been a good saboteur before his promotion. At a Skywatch base the left behind Autobots are bored with waiting for something to do. Sandra is irked by having to go against Presidential orders for the Cybertronians, but is told to just follow the orders given.
The Combaticons are relaxing after their victory in Korea when they suddenly see  alot of smoke around them and Optimus rams through the wall of the building and knocks Vortex out, where Ratchet clips his rotors and the others are stalling the other two. Meanwhile Cosmos is in orbit and manipulates the satellite monitoring the area, and alters it to show some false images, allowing the Autobots to transform and fight properly. Voretx manages to escape and gets into the air, but is stopped by a newly arrived Thundercracker and forced to the ground. The Autobots fight with the Combaticons with Skywatch's help, but are stopped by the Predacons from entering Chinese territory, which they are very nearly approaching, and the Predacons have been hired to protect.

Optimus manages to avoid fighting with the Predacons by promising not to bring the fight into China, and they start to walk off when Onslaught shoots Rampage in the back making them believe that they've broken their word, and they begin to fight with them. The situation is getting worse in the Korean/Chinese border and Cosmos is having to alter the satellite feeds again and Sandra gets worried that someone might notice how suspicious these video feeds are if analysed, she flips and turns off the encryption, allowing the real footage to go live instead of Cosmos' false images.
Skywatch learn of what Sandra just did and that she left the base right afterwards. The images are now on the news stations and the White House makes a statement. The Russian Prime Minister announces that they will start and investigation of this incident, and that they are going to air strike the battle field so that the Transformers will be destroyed, rather than having a repeat of the Occupation occurring again.
Pennington contacts Spike and warns him about the nuclear strike coming, and he informs everyone else in the battle field. The Predacons leave the area for China again to get to safety, whilst Cosmos grabs the missile and hacks into it, redirecting it into the Arctic Circle, whilst Thundercracker flies off and destroys the Energon production facility in Pyongyang. The Autobots worry about what's going to happen next, since it's been revealed that Skywatch is fighting along with the Autobots on the news thanks to Sandra. They leave the Combaticons in Korea, with no energon supplies and no way to fix themselves.
A week later Spike and his team are still on route home, whilst Skywatch's base is being hounded by protesters all saying to send the robots away. Bumblebee decides to leave the base and speak to the protesters himself and insists that they aren't here to harm them, only help and tries to explain how they are different to Decepticons, he sways some of the protesters, but one of them, Joe Gladki gets out a special gun and blasts Bumblebee square in the chest, sending him offline, causing mixed reactions from the protesters.

Notes

• The Decepticons are cannibalising amongst themselves to keep alive
• Thundercracker's lair is full of TVs so he can watch several channels at once
• Skywatch provided a ship for Springer's people to leave Earth
• It's not clear why Razorclaw stayed on the Decepticon asteroid whilst the others went to Earth...
• Spike's workout scenes are oddly homoerotic!
• Kim Jong Il must have been killed during the occupation of Earth
• I can understand why Swindle isn't with the Combaticons, since he's on the run from Magnus, but why isn't Blast-Off with them?
• The Combaticons working for North Korea is very similar to what happened in the G1 cartoon when Octane and Trypticon worked for Carbomia
• Bumblebee gets shot :3
• It's not clear why the Predacons have taken on beast modes on Earth, maybe it's of mythical significance for China?
• Ratchet uses his G1 toy's sled to help him in repairing the injured Autobots.

My Thoughts

Art


The art in the first issue of this story is much more simplistic than the rest of the book and was a drastic change after the movie-inspired issues before. The remaining issues are quite well drawn with bold colours and lines.

Story


This is actually quite a fun story-arc and looks into what would happen if other countries made alliances with Transformers, rather than just the Autobots being allied with America

Continuity


The events of Infestation happen before the events of the International Incident storyline. The rest is continued on from the earlier issues of this storyline. Springer is mentioned from Last Stand of the Wreckers. Megatron was badly injured in All Hail Megatron, but will be fully restored in Revenge of the Decepticons. Sandra's storyline will conclude in Chaos: Police Action. Ironhide was killed in For All Mankind.

Other


Cosmos' and Smokescreen's new character model is based on their Universe toys. Cliffjumper has switched to his G1 based character model rather than his previous IDW model. For some reason Thundercracker is shown in his F15 body again here, despite being back in his F22 body in the next storyarc!