IDW - Transformers: Salvation

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Yesterday, Starscream sends Flatline and his team to investigate the new spark field in Alyon, and maintain them. Swift arrives and demands to know why the sparks have been kept a secret from the population, especially since Barricade died protecting them. Starscream points out that he is unwilling to allow new life to be born when the planet is still in a state of turmoil, citing that Swift ended up joining the Decepticons after exposure to them, pointing out that new life may be swayed either way, like she did. He also hides from her that someone has been to the field and taken some of the sparks...

That night, Starscream arrives at the secret prison, where he agrees to free Sandstorm from jail, in exchange for taking down the rogue elements outside of Iacon, namely the Dinobots and Bludgeon, which he agrees to...

The Dinobots arrive at Tyger Pax and locate another abandoned lab of Bludgeon's, inside they find a bunch of dead or dying Sweeps, along with some more of the mutated energon. Within moments however, Slug is fatally shot by a sniper, prompting the other Dinobots to go after the sniper. Not wanting to allow his death to be pointless, he sets fire to the mutated energon, and causes it to explode, finishing himself off, and leaving the Dinobots without a leader now!

Following this, the sniper, Sandstorm, arrives at Alyon, where he finds Bludgeon killing the team left by Starscream, and is soon knocked out too, but not killed. Bludgeon uses some of the sparks, along with those of his partially living Sweep troops and the now dead Badgeless officers to repower Trypticon, and reanimate the dormant giant.

Trypticon approaches Iacon, along with his flying monster minions. The Dinobots are tearing at him, but can't slow him down. Devastator is sent to fight him by Starscream, but even the powerful combiner can't stop the rampaging monster.

Starscream watches the oncoming chaos from the Spire, along with Swift, who suggests that the giant Decepticon is a distraction, and someone may be after the still secret new Hotspot in Alyon, but Starscream points out that his team is still there guarding it.

As if he's cursed, Starscream is proven wrong when Swoop arrives at the field, and finds all the sparks gone, and most of the team left by Starscream are dead, except for Flatline and a sniper, who blasts Swoop's wing off and goes in for the kill. Sandstorm asks Swoop what his team did with the spark field, but Swoop points out that they'd never harm the next generation of Cybertronians like that, and both of them agree that it must have been Bludgeon. They team up, and Sandstorm flies them both off towards Trypticon

Whilst Devastator goes for another strike outside, the Dinobots have made their way inside Trypticon, where Strafe locates his brain module, and recognizes it as a Titan's brain. She comments on this, and Bludgeon agrees that Trypticon seems to be a Titan, he reveals that he is using the Void Sceptre, a device supposedly created by Mortilus, to control Trypticon, and plans to use him to cause havoc, then make people believe he is dead by Spacebridging away, so he can use the sparks he has stolen to create a secret army to conquer the universe with. Outside, Devastator has been defeated, and crushed under Tyrpticon's foot.

Swoop and Sandstorm arrive at Trypticon and enter the giant Decepticon to look for Bludgeon and the sparks. Upon seeing him, and learning he was the one who killed Slug, the other Dinobots attack Sandstorm, until Swoop forces them to stop fighting and work together until after the sparks are safe.

Bludgeon looks at security footage and praises himself on his decision to let Sandstorm live, so he could either kill the Dinobots or at least distract them during his final plans. Bludgeon orders Trypticon to go in for the final strike on Iacon, thus forcing them to use their full force against him, allowing him to teleport away to begin his long term plans, and expand a Cybertronian Empire.

Luckily, the other Dinobots arrive at the control room, and manage to destroy the Void Sceptre, disabling Bludgeon's control on the Titan.

Before Bludgeon can do anything to retaliate, Trypticon accesses his Spacebridge and teleports Bludgeon just outside his house, and sets off a scorching flame, burning the Decepticon, and finally defeating him as revenge for his forced control.

Starscream is happy with this result, and has now convinced Swift that he was right to hide the sparks from the population, as the world is still a mess.

Inside Trypticon, the Dinobots prepare to get revenge for Slug by killing Sandstorm, but Strafe tries to get them to keep their peace. They are all shut up when Trypticon speaks up and announces that he is taking charge.

Trypticon marches down to the cavern where he was created by Mortilus, and curls up, allowing himself to be cannibalized by the new sparks, and allow them to be born from his body. Allowing the first war-free generation to be born, as the Dinobots and Sandstorm stand watch over them.

Elsewhere, Starscream has recovered the still barely alive Bludgeon, and strung him up in a lab, where he also has the dead body of Slug, and one of the surviving mutated sparks...wondering what would happen if he combined them.....

Characters

Autobot

Slug - Triceratops Killed by Sandstorm, Body stolen by Starscream

Swoop - Pteranodon

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Sandstorm - VTOL Helicopter/Buggy

Metroplex - Iacon City (Flashback)

Optimus Prime - Truck (Flashback)

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex (Mentioned)

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Trypticon - Battle Platform Sacrificed body to allow new life

Bludgeon - Tank Scorched by Trypticon

Flatline - Van

Swift - Helicopter

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

The Firecons (Mentioned)

Barricade - Car (Mentioned) Dead

United Cybertron

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Devastator - Constructicon Gestalt Crushed by Trypticon

Badgeless Officers Many Killed by Bludgeon

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Strafe - Two Headed Dragon

Sweeps - Space Shuttles Killed by Bludgeon

Newborn Protoforms

Cyber-morphic Predators Presumably Killed with Trypticon

Mortilus (Flashback)

Primus (Mentioned)

Jhiaxus - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Council of Worlds (Mentioned)

Sandstorm's Victims (Mentioned) Dead

Titan Swarm (Mentioned) Dead

Cyclonus - Jet (Mentioned)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Other

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Solstar Order (Mentioned)

Notes

• This one-off comic acts as the finale to the "Dinobot Trilogy" preceeded by Punishment and Redemption. Though saying that, the end of this comic does leave another follow-up possible.
• Speaking of the Trilogy, all three issues were released shortly after and referenced the events of the "big event" for that year. Punishment was set just after Dark Cybertron and included the new characters introduced, Redemption was set after Combiner Wars and showed us some glimpses of the Torchbearers, and this one is set after Titans Return, and references the Titan Swarm and Trypticon being one too.
• Swift was last seen heading back to the Jupiter Sanctuary in the former Transformers ongoing series. Guess she got bored there and returned to Cybertron after a while. She may have been part of the rebuilding effort following the attacks from Sentinel Prime and the Titans however.
• Trypticon was most likely used in this comic as a partial advertisement for his new Titans Return toy, even referring to him as a Titan...then he dies at the end...good job Trypticon!
• It's revealed finally where Trypticon has been for the past few years. He joined in on the exodus from Cybertron following Thunderwing's rampage, but returned just before the planet was reformatted by Vector Sigma. When the planet was reset to it's original form, Trypticon was caught up in the energy and was buried under the surface, where people never noticed and simply walked over him. We saw him in this state in Redemption.
• It is mentioned that Trypticon was created as a rival Titan by Mortilus, Primus' rival, explaining his darker abilities. It is implied that following his defeat in Primacy he was properly recruited into the Decepticons by Bludgeon.
• Bludgeon plans to either destroy the Galactic Council or the Solstar Order first with his new army of Cybertronians. The prior is obvious, since they have attacked Cybertronians before. The Solstar Order haven't done anything to them so far though, but that could change when the Rom vs Transformers prequel series comes out.
• Maybe Strafe should call a Blacksmith to come from Caminus to help them with the formation of the new Cybertronians? It wouldn't hurt would it? They'd be more helpful than a bunch of bruisers with flamethrowers for mouths!
• Why did Starscream recover Slug's body with the intent of fusing it with the mutated spark? Doesn't he already have a closet filled with bodies? (We haven't seen one, but knowing Screamer, he probably does!)
• Swoop mentions that if they collect enough Sweeps then they may trade them for a Cyclonus...the joke would make more sense if they were trading for Scourge, the only named Sweep...

IDW - Transformers: Redemption

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Slug argues with Aileron and Sterling from Caminus on the streets of Metroplex about the role of the Prime, and it almost comes to violence until Swoop distracts Slug and they wander off towards the bar.

At the bar, Slug quickly gets drunk and begins a brawl with himself and some of the former Decepticons in the establishment. Before long Barricade arrives with some Badgeless officers and arrests Slug for disturbing the peace.

Later, Slug wakes up in a cell after having a dream/memory about his days as a gladiator before the war. He is met by Barricade, who asks for Slug's help in escorting him and two Camiens, the politician Strafe, and his new girlfriend Swift to Alyon with a mystery cargo, without Optimus and the others finding out. Initially he refuses, but then Barricade brings out a case of Shanix, which quickly changes his mind.

Slug is soon released, where he meets with the other Dinobots and tells them his plan to rat out the Camiens and Barricade to the Badgeless so they can keep the money, not have to go to Alyon, and get rid of a corrupt cop and some aliens at the same time.

The next day, the Dinobots meet with Barricade and the others in the Decepticon District where Slug sneaks a look into the cargo they're transporting, and learns that it has some new Camien sparks inside it, and realises that the group are planning to re-seed Alyon with new sparks to help with the re-population, and it's obviously against Camien law.

On the road out of the city, Slug gets a pang of conscience and turns on the Badgeless, killing them along with the Dinobots, turning them into outlaws, but keeping Barricade and the Camiens out of sight, keeping them safe. One of the Badgeless reports the Dinobot's betrayal to command, before they are all gone, and the Dinobots leave, knowing they can never return again.

In the Sea of Rust, group are attacked by some half-dead Sweeps left over from the Chaos war, as Slug and Strafe begin to get to know each other. After a while, the Sweeps run off scared, due to the sudden arrival of the Victorion Torchbearers, who allow Slug and the others to go on their way in peace, however unknown to everyone, Bludgeon watches the scene from a nearby cliff with some more Sweeps in tow.

Later, the group arrive in the Preatorus Wharf, and are now attacked by some Turbofoxes with new weapons attached to their backs, during the short-lived battle however, Slug notices that the Tuirbooxes appear to be showing emotions, despite them being physically and mentally unable to do so naturally. After the battle, the small group continue on, unaware that the Badgeless are still following them.

Continuing on the way to Alyon, Slug reveals to Strafe that during the war he and his team took out a group of Decepticons, and discovered a trailer full of sparks inside that were planned to become new Decepticons, so Slug destroyed them all, not even giving them a chance to make the choice between good and evil themselves, something he has always regretted since.

The group reach Tyger Pax, which is now raining in the tainted Energon that once turned the Dinobots into monsters in the early days of the war. They're attacked by more Sweeps, and see some of them are quite intelligent and have feelings still, despite essentially being zombies. The Badgeless soon arrive and fight the Dinobots too. Slug has Barricade escape with the Spark trailer, but Barricade is cut down and killed by Bludgeon, who also destroys the Camien sparks.

Bludgeon injures Strafe, causing a wound that is soon infected with the tainted Energon, causing her to mutate into a two-headed dragon monster, as she declares herself a Dinobot and rejoins the battle, taking out more Sweeps and Badgeless.

Swift attacks Bludgeon, and knocks him off a cliff into a river of the tainted Energon, as payback for him killing Barricade. The Dinobots finish off the rest of their opponents

In the afetrmath, the group mourn the loss of the Camien sparks, but suddenly Swoop notices a glow from Alyon...the former hot spot has ignited itself again on it's own, showing that there is potential for new Cybertronians to be born after all. The group theorize that the intelligent Turbofoxes and Sweeps must have been given new sparks by Bludgeon from the Alyon hot spot. Swift wonders whether Bludgeon has tainted the new Sparks with his evil, but Slug tells her to give them a chance.

Afterwards, Slug lets Swift keep the Shanix that Barricade promised them for the job, and tells her to return alone, tell the people about the new sparks, and say that Barricade died protecting them. The Dinobots now vow to remain in the wilds of Cybertron, along with Strafe, who still thinks Bludgeon is alive somewhere, so she wants to finish him off for what he's done.

The five Dinobots all head off, and leave Swift alone with the money and her journey back to the city...

Characters

Autobot

Slug - Triceratops

Swoop - Pteranodon

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegoaurus

Tracks - Muscle Car

Sunstreaker - Sports Car

Blurr - Race Car

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Windblade - VTOL Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Bludgeon - Tank Knocked into Tainted Energon by Swift

Barricade - Car Killed by Bludgeon

Fat Tankor - Tank

Tall Tankor - Cargo Plane/Truck

Waspinator - Wasp

Trypticon - Battle Platform Possibly dead

Blackwall (Flashback)

United Cybertron

Badgeless Officers Killed by Dinobots

Starscream - Fighter Jet (Mentioned)

Camien

Strafe - Two Headed Land Dragon (previously Flying Car)

Swift - Helicopter

Aileron - Jet

Sterling - Car

Pyra Magna - Emergency Truck

Jumpstream - Sports Car

Dustup - Sports Car

Skyburst - Helicopter

Stormclash - Helicopter

Rust Dust - Motorcycle

Other

Bob

Maccadam's Patrons

Turbofoxes Killed by Dinobots

Sweeps Killed by Dinobots

Gladiator Pit Crowd (Flashback)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• This story is set as a sequel to Punishment, and shws the impact that that story had on the Dinobots
• The first pages are also recreated from Transformers issue 45, setting the location in the time line very clearly! (A rare instance in a side-story comic!)
• The yellow leader from Caminus is named here as Strafe...I wonder if the red leader is Scorn in that case?
• The "loser" that Swift ran off with is revealed to be Barricade here.
• The Sea of Rust is explained here to be the remains of the area that the Crystal City was destroyed, and was most likely ruined to such an extreme by the black hole created by Shockwave.
• More of the Sweeps are found to have survived the reformatting of Cybertron....how did so many survive the Chaos war?!?
• Bludgeon's cloak appears to be similar to Megatron's one he used on Planet Junkion in Monstrosity, and Alpha Trion's during the Ironhide mini-series, so it is likely designed to protect him against the Sea of Rust's harsh conditions.
• Trypticon is revealed to have fallen in the Preatorus Wharf, and either went into stasis or died there. He was last seen fighting in the last stand on Cybertron, as shown in Spotlight: Blaster.
• Despite having the tainted Energon removed from their bodies, at least Slug retained the ability to turn into his monstrous form in the past.
• Strafe's Dinobot form is a reference to the new Dinobot introduced in Age of Extinction, but only in name and her having two heads. The AOE version was mostly blue, male, used a crossbow (on the toy) and was a flying dragon, rather than a land-based one here.
• Despite now having her "Dino-mode" Strafe appears to have her vehicle mode kibble as well...does this make her a triple changer maybe?
• Also, where did Strafe get her flamethrowers from? I doubt an energon-conserving Camien would have flamethrowers built into her body....
• And...how is Swift going to get back to Metroplex safely? She had issues flying in the Sea of Rust, and was injured during the fights with the Badgeless, Sweeps and Bludgeon....yeah...she may die along the way....

IDW - Punishment

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Treadshot, Brisko and Wilder are plotting a heist on Starscream's quarters to take some of his "hoarded treasures" to sell on to help them survive on this new Cybertron, unfortunately during their plotting, there are attacked by a mysterious Cybertronian, who slaughters all three of them. They are later found by Barricade and the others, who investigate their murder, but only briefly as Starscream needs to greet Optimus at the spaceport.

Optimus returns to Cybertron for a personal errand and is quickly brought into the murder investigation, and learns that some Decepticons are living outside of Metroplex in a ghetto made from the ruins of the old city. Optimus goes to visit the ghetto, but is soon ambushed by a bunch of Decepticons, led by the Firecons. Luckily however Starscream rescues him by pulling him from the crowd and into the air.

During their escape, Optimus notices one of the Decepticons acting suspicious, so he lets go of Starscream and gives him chase. The Decepticon, Heavy Barrel, runs inside his hideout to find his two bootlegging cohorts dead. He starts to panic, and flies off when Optimus arrives too, but the Autobot manages to disable him and causes him to crash. Starscream arrives a few minutes later, having broken up the mob outside, and both are shocked to find Heavy Barrel murdered as well.

Later, Windblade finds out that one of the dead Decepticons was Stratotronic, and was friends with Gutcruncher who was now running a bar in the Ghetto. She determines that there is a link between the bar, and the bootlegging, so she heads there with Optimus.

At the bar, they find Sandstorm, who has started frequenting there, as he's fell out of the Autobot way. Gutcruncher takes the news of Stratotronic's death badly, and tells Optimus and the others to leave the revenge to him.

Sandstorm decides to help Optimus with the investigation, and goes to investigate the first murder site with him, there he finds something unusual in a shell casing, but before he can explain what, Windblade calls in and reports that Gutccruncher's bar is on fire!

By the time Optimus and Sandstorm return to the bar, the whole place has burned down, with no survivors left. Sandstorm at first blames Optimus as he was helping him, but quickly calms down, and reveals that the bullet casing he found was from an Infernus Bullet. These weapons were locked down by the Autobots due to them being a very painful and horrible way to die, and Sandstorm reminds them that the Decepticons made them from reverse-engineering them from the Firecon's abilities, which could also explain who started the fire here.

The security team inside Metroplex locate the Firecons and attack their home brutally disabling them all in the process. Sandstorm is about to execute Sparkstalker, when Optimus turns up and forces him to stop.

Windblade and Starscream break into the building as well, and tell everyone to drop their weapons, and get medics for the Firecons.

By the next morning, the Firecons are in a holding cell, and Sandstorm still can't believe he almost executed someone. Windblade is feeling a bit disenchanted as well, as all she's seen so far is war on this planet that she was hoping to find help on.

Optimus determines that the Firecons are being framed, as they'd have no use for Infernus Bullets, and the fire at the bar was far too controlled for their abilities. He believes he knows who the killer is now though, and heads to the Dinobot's park, where he confronts Slug as the killer due to his hated of Decepticons and flame abilities. After a short fight between the two, Starscream calls in to report another set of murders, this time of Autobots.

At the crime scene, Optimus continues to accuse the Dinobots for the murders, and gets them angry leading to Optimus declaring that he should have had Slug and the others killed after the war, just to stop them from causing trouble during their peace, he then leaves with Windblade.

Slug returns to the park, to find the other Dinobots, and angrily says that he'll kill Optimus for what he said to him, when suddenly the park starts to blow up. Thankfully due to a series of fail safes set in place by Optimus the Dinobots are saved, and Optimus confronts the REAL killer, Sandstorm.

Sandstorm admits to everything, and reveals that he's punishing all the Cybertronians who have committed horrible crimes during the war, but were never dealt with before now. He tries to escape again, but Optimus catches him, and knocks him out, putting him under arrest.

In the aftermath, Optimus and Windblade return to the scene of the first crime, where Optimus was planning to go all along, and Optimus explains that this is the place where he because Prime (during Autocracy), but admits to her that he is truly worried about their people with loose cannons like the Dinobots still around, eager for battle, but he still needs to hold out hope for a better tomorrow...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Windblade - VTOL Jet

Slug - Triceratops

Swoop - Pteranodon

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Chromia - Speedbike

Warpath - Tank

"Hot Spot" - Fire Truck

"Streetwise" - Police Car

Metroplex - City/Space Ship

Skram - Car Killed by Sandstorm

Fireball - Dragster Killed by Sandstorm

Diver - Submarine Killed by Sandstorm

Lander - ATV Killed by Sandstorm

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Blurr - Race Car (Mentioned)

Wreckers (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Barricade - Car

Sparkstalker - Mandibled Dragon

Cindersaur - Horned Dragon

Flamefeather - Beaked Dragon

Sinnertwin - Two Headed Dragon

Acid Storm - Jet

Treadshot - Car Killed by Sandstorm

Brisko Killed by Sandstorm

Wilder - Wolf Monster Killed by Sandstorm

Heavy Barrel - Jet Killed by Sandstorm

Ransack - Jet Killed by Sandstorm

Stratotronic - Jet Killed by Sandstorm

Gutcruncher - Tank Killed by Sandstorm

Morsa Killed by Sandstorm

Blood - VTOL Jet Killed by Sandstorm

Skidmark - Motorcycle Killed by Sandstorm

Ghetto Dwellers

United Cybertron

Starscream - Jet

Sandstorm - Helicopter/Buggy Jailed by Optimus Prime

Metroplex Civilians

Other

Primus (Mentioned)

Traujorans (Flashback) Killed by Treadshot's Group

Notes

• This story explains where Optimus went to following him recent exit from Robots in Disguise (or rather the series formerly named that)
• Several of the victims in this story are made from lesser known repaint characters, or characters repurposed from other toy lines.
• Slug has been shown to have taken Grimlock's place as Dinobot leader in his absence.
• Barricade's role as a cop in this series may be a reference to his later incarnations rather than his G1 persona (such as Prime or the Movies)
• Windblade notes the irony on Warpath's (one of the "good guys") name
• There's been a statue of Optimus and a park built within Metroplex. This is clearly a recent addition since if it was there the last time Metroplex acted as the Autobot's city, then it would be in his pre-Earth body.
• Barricade explains why he still wears his Decepticon sigil. despite officially being of the United Cybertron. This could also explain why other characters, like Blurr still do the same.
• Optimus doesn't confirm or deny Sandstorm's theory that High Command knew about some of the Autobot faction's war crimes. Honestly I can believe that Prowl would know and sanction some of the exterminations taken place, and shown here.
• It's quite handy that all of Sadstorm's victims were all still hanging out in their same groups huh?
• Hot Spot and Streetwise are both seen on Cybertron here, despite being on the Lost Light, either these are just similar looking guys, or a mistake.

IDW - Beast Hunters #8

Story by: Mike Johnson & Mairghread Scott

Written by: Mike Johnson

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

The Autobots and Dinobots team up to take down the Forged members who are attacking them, and afterwards share some stories about what's happened since they last saw each other, which includes Arcee telling them about Optimus' sacrifice to restore the Allspark to Cybertron and allow a new generation to be born.

Before they head back to Kaon however, the rogue Predacon attacks again, and flies off with some of the random Autobots in the group (no one with a name, don't worry!). Grimlock however has a plan to deal with the Predacon before he can pick them all off one by one.

As part of Grimlock's plan, the group splits up into smaller groups and starts heading to Kaon separately. The Predacon soon appears and attacks one of the groups. Swoop baits the Predacon into following him and lead shim back underground into an old Decepticon bunker. Grimlock and Bumblebee then attack him, and trap him in the bunker (which is built to last). Bumblebee asks why Grimlock didn't just kill the Predacon, but he says there's been enough destruction for him.

The groups make it to Kaon City, and the Dinobots feel out of place (due to their animalistic modes) and start to leave, but are stopped by Arcee and the others, who explain that Optimus wanted Cybertron to be a haven for ALL Cybertronians.

Before long Arcee and the others are preparing plans to rebuild Kaon and the rest of Cybertron, but Grimlock says they can't help as they have a city of their own to build, a replacement to Last Spark called "New Spark".

The end...for now!

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Slug - Triceratops

Swoop - Pteranodon

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Arcee - Motorcycle

Bumblebee - Sports Car

Bulkhead - Off Road Vehicle

Firestar - Hover Pick Up Truck

Chromia - Sports Car (Maybe?!)

Autobot Survivors

Optimus Prime - Truck (Fantasy) Dead

Decepticon

The Forged Defeated by the Autobots and Dinobots

Megatron - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Tank (Mentioned)

Predacon

"Rusty" - Winged Dragon Trapped in Old Decepticon Bunker

Predaking - Dragon (Mentioned)

Other

Unicron (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the last issue in the Beast Hunters comic series, though from the "The End...for now!" line at the end, we can assume that there may be a future series in the Aligned continuity
• With the remarks of Optimus' sacrifice here, the episode can be clearly placed AFTER Predacons Rising.
• Arcee mentions that she thought Predaking would be the last Predacon they'd see...what about Darksteel and Skylynx?!
• Ratchet's no where to be seen here, so presumably he returned to Earth following the events of the movie (though then again, Smokescreen, Magnus, Wheeljack and Knock Out aren't shown either...)
• The end states that New Spark is being used to replace Last Spark for it's civilians...but the only person from Last Spark who should be alive still is Firestar! Wow that'll be a lonely city!!
• The Arcee shaped person on the last page COULD be Chromia, as otherwise Arcee just went with Grimlock to the New Spark construction zone without any of the others and hung out with Grimlock and Firestar (and Chromia is unaccounted for otherwise)

IDW - Prime: Beast Hunters #7

HOORAY! I worked out how to use my scanner with Windows 8! Rejoice!! You can now have pictures in these blogs again!

Story by: Mike Johnson & Mairghread Scott

Written by: Mike Johnson

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Grimlock and Swoop have made their way to the now living surface of Cybertron again and find Snarl and Chromia with the other survivors. Whilst wondering what happened to the planet to wake it up, they receive a transmission from Kaon to have all Autobots regroup there. This makes Grimlock wonder if the war is actually over now.

Beneath the surface Sludge learns from Firestar and Zoom about Last Spark's destruction in the quakes, when suddenly the walls start shaking, and a Predacon smashes his way in. Sludge has the others escape while he fights the beast.

On the surface the Autobots want to head to Kaon, but Grimlock wont let them until all the unaccounted for are located. Just like that, Slug appears and tells them that Blackout is dead (and no-one says "who?!" evn though no-one there met him....). He tells them that Sludge is still down below, however before any sort of rescue mission begins, some of the remaining members of the Forged attack the group.

Underground, Sludge gets soundly beaten by the Predacon, who then goes after the others, and abducts the unsuspecting Zoom as he's climbing to the surface while Firestar can only watch, a short while later, Sludge finds the dying Zoom, and gives him his final wish, by calling him a Dinobot too. Following his death Sludge hears someone behind him, who startles him.

Up on top, the Dinobots take on the Forged while Grimlock tells the others, including a newly resurfaced Firestar to head to Kaon, when the Predacon suddenly smashes out of the ground. The Dinobots concentrate on him and manage to badly injure him and he flies off to safety.

Sludge then reappears on the surface along with three old friends: Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Arcee!

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Swoop - Pteranodon

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Slug - Triceratops

Chromia - Sports Car

Firestar - Hover Pick-Up Truck

Zoom  Killed by Rusty

Arcee - Motorcycle

Bumblebee - Sports Car

Bulkhead - Off Road Vehicle

Other Autobots

Decepticon

The Forged

Megatron (Mentioned)

Blackout (Mentioned) Dead

Predacon

Rusty - Winged Dragon

Other

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• Before I start the notes, I'll just mention that I have a new facebook like page for my comic series, which will of course most likely branch out to my blogs too, so here's a link if you want a little peek/like: https://www.facebook.com/HumanCookies #ShamelessAdvert
• This issue continues the confusingness of this previous two to such an extent that I have to bring out issue 6 just to remember what happened!
• It's not clear WHEN exactly this issue takes place during Predacon's rising. But since the Autobots didn't seem to think there was anyone else on Cybertron during those events, it can be assumed that this is just AFTER the movie, and the last 2 issues happened during it's storyline.
• The transmission heard from Kaon is most likely Team Prime sending out their recall message into space (but since it's so jumbled even so close, let's see how far it gets into the cold vacuum of nothingness!)
• The unnamed Predacon here is based on the Skystaler character model, which could mean that he's a mis-coloured Backbite...but because he's orange and black, I'll name him "Rusty" until something better comes up!
• Yeah so, Blackout died from his injuries in his last panel last issue (couldn't tell at the time) so Slug has abandoned his corpse, and has walked up to the surface very fast...if they were so close to the surface then why did he and Sludge not just head that way (especially considering all the quakes in the underground lately!?!)
• Yeah so Zoom gets killed off very quickly here despite him seeming to have a big plot role to play from his earlier appearances
• It's very strange how they made Chromia look so much like Arcee in her appearances, yet when Arcee actually appears here so looks off-model.
• Grimlock, after making his speech to Swoop about how everyone needs a fresh start now, and how he doesn't want to rule all of Cybertron, takes control of all the Autobots in this issue, and refuses others advice.

IDW - Beast Hunters #6

Plot

Snarl and his unnamed buddy are looking at the now ruined underground city, but are confused as to why the planet started shaking, and even more confused that those who survived the assault are actually stronger than before. Meanwhile on the way to Last Spark Slug and Sludge drag the injured Decepticon, now revealed to be Blackout along with them as an act of mercy. Along the way they realize that his leg injury is quite bad, so thye need to operate on it before they can go much further.

At New Kalis, Grimlock, Chromia and Swoop have managed to drive the people away, so they don't drown in the new Energon pools being formed. They head through the caverns and try to go higher to safety. At his city, Snarl orders the surviving people to evacuate as well.

On their way to Last Spark, Sludge and Slug run into some problems when Blackout starts to fall off a bridge into the abyss, however using teamwork they manage to catch him an dget across to (relative) safety.

On their way to the surface, but behind the stragglers of their group (to ensure they make it) Grimlock and Swoop are attacked by a giant Razor Snake, however they manage to defeat it after a short battle.

Sludge and Slug make their way towards Last Spark when they run into Firestar and Zoom, whom were looking for them in turn, as the city was destroyed in the quake, and all the other denizens were killed.

Swoop and Grimlock make it to the surface, but Grimlock tells Swoop to keep his actions in the caves, ie defeating the Razor Snake, a secret, as he feels that everything deserves a fresh start (meaning that he's giving up his leadership too). On the surface they find the planet filled with life again and Autobots frolicking in the Energon pools up there, and that Snarl and his group have joined them as well.

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Swoop - Pteranodon 

Sludge - Apatosaurus Trapped Underground

Slug - Triceratops Trapped Underground

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Snarl's Aide

Chromia - Sports Car

Firestar - Hover Pick-Up Truck Trapped Underground

Zoom Trapped Underground

Optimus Prime (Mentioned)

Other Autobots

Last Sparkers (Mentioned) Killed in the quake

Decepticon

Blackout Injured in the quake, Trapped Underground

The Forged (Mentioned)

Insecticons (Mentioned)

Other

Giant Razor Snake Killed by Grimlock

Prima (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• Seriously IDW, what was the point of this issue and the previous one? Basically nothing happened, except it showed what happened underground during the last episode of Transformers Prime! You could have at least done this as just a one issue story, or something.
• The Decepticon I predicted as being Blackout last issue is confirmed here to be Blackout...HOORAY!
• However Snarl's little helper guy is still unnamed....
• It's shown here that Grimlock's confusing rage actions last issue were just him trying to force the people in the city to abandon it....okay?
• GAH! The page order here is just as messed up as in the previous issue. For example, on one page we have Blackout falling off a bridge, then they cut to Grimlock doing stuff for a page, then we cut to Blackout being almost saved by Slug, then switching to Grimlock for 2 pages, then switching BACK to Sludge saving both of them for a page! WHAT THE HELL IDW!??!?!
• What a coincidence it is, that the only 2 named currently living Last Sparker's were the only 2 survivors too!!

IDW - Beast Hunters #5

Story by: Mairghread Scott & Mike Johnson

Written by: Mairghread Scott

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Inks by: Jose Aviles

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano, Josh Burcham & Josh Perez

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Snarl has been left in the Dinobot's encampment to deal with the problems of the other Autobots, while Grimlock and Swoop are at New Kalis, and Slug and Sludge are doing some work in the caverns. Snarl starts to get annoyed with his recent meeting with Scrounge when the planet is hit by a bright blue beam of light and the entire world starts shaking.

It soon ends though, and all the Transformers in the underground cities are feeling rejuvenated, and the caverns and planet's structure is reformed to an earlier state. Slug and Sludge are trapped in the caverns when the tunnel they were following is suddenly gone, but Sludge remembers that Last Spark is nearby in the other direction, so they head towards them for help.

In New Kalis, the walls in the city start to crack, and raw Energon starts pouring in, everyone, despite being rejuvenated all rush toward it out of habit, but Grimlock reminds them that too much raw Energon is dangerous. At the Dinobot's encampment only about six of the people present survived the quake, with Scrounge being one of the dead. Snarl takes charge though and starts a mission to escape the building.

In the caverns Sludge hears someone calling for help, but Slug doesn't care, but says he'll go find out who it is, as Sludge knows where the city is, and he doesn't. Meanwhile, Swoop bathes in some of the raw Energon, but gets worried when the Energon doesn't stop flowing. Slug finds the bot in distress, but finds out it's a member of the Forged, who managed to escape his settlement before it was destroyed by the quakes. Slug frees the Forged member from the rubble he's trapped under.

At New Kalis, Grimlock and Chromia are growing worried about the raw Energon, especially when others start rushing towards the Energon for themselves, despite the danger. Chromia, Swoop and Grimlock have to fight off their allies, which results in Grimlock going into beast mode and shooting fire off at them as well. Swoop transforms to fly people out, whilst Chromia goes off to recover anyone running away from Grimlock.

Everyone is in danger now, as Grimlock seems entranced by the raw Energon as well, Slug gets the Forged member out to safety, and Snarl watches as the Dinobot's encampment burns to the ground....

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Slug - Triceratops

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Swoop - Pteranodon

Chromia - Six Wheeled Car

Snarl's Assistant

Scrounge Killed in quake

"Cobra Commander"

New Kalis Denizens

Dinobot Settlement Denizens Several Killed

Last Spark Denizens (Mentioned)

Decepticon

"Blackout"

People in the Forged Settlement (Mentioned) Killed in quakes

Other

Robo-Squid

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue is set during the last couple of minutes of the Transformers Prime episode "Deadlock", and shows how bad things are for the Transformers underground on Cybertron when it's being revived.
• It's a bit odd that this issue, and the solicits seem to make it sound like the beam might destroy Cybertron, when the episode showing it revived came out weeks earlier....
• One of the Generics seems to have been coloured to resemble Cobra Commander, so that's what I'm naming him here!
• The only thing Snarl could find of Scrounge was his special arm...how ironic!
• Despite appearing many times here, Snarl's helper goes unnamed, same with the Forged member.
• The main problem the Transformers are facing here with the revival of Cybertron is that the caverns under the planet's surface are filling with Energon once again, meaning they'll probably all drown, if they don't escape.
• The Forged member shown here looks like he's based on Movie Blackout's design, so maybe he's Blackout here as well?
• Chromia's appearance here seems to be based on Prime Arcee's design, though she turns into a car instead of a motorcycle.
• Grimlock's actions and Chromia's reactions at the end of this comic seem confusing, all Grimlock did was shoot fire off to get the civilians to leave the area, granted this might ignite the Energon, but rather than being worried, she seems more disappointed in him for some reason with her "how could you?", and then Grimlock stating that he's King. I guess he could have killed some of them, but it's not clear from the artwork.
• 
  

IDW - Beast Hunters #4

Story by: Mike Johnson & Mairghread Scott

Written by: Mike Johnson

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Inks by: Jose Aviles

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano & Josh Burcham

Additional Colours by: Thomas Deer

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

At Last Spark the three Dinobots working there are getting worried about Grimlock and Swoop not being back yet, and consider going to look for them, Zoom, the annoying kid of the city asks to tag along, but they just say no, because he's not a Dinobot (jerks).

Meanwhile at Shockwave's hidden lab, Grimlock and Swoop take on the Dinoclones, with Grimlock going all out against the T. Rex, however after a short battle, all the clones run away, so the two Dinobots have to hunt them down. Swoop gets ambushed by the Pteranodon, who then escapes to the surface, Swoop follows it, and chases it in the air, until the Pteranodon seems to lose the ability to fly, so Swoop catches it, and takes it underground again.

At Last Spark, Zoom is moaning at himself for sounding pathetic to the Dinobots when suddenly the Dinoclones smash through the wall and knock him down. Before long, the three Dinobots at the city engage the Dinoclones, however before long all the clones start to glow with Energon and blow up, leaving just puddles behind. Grimlock turns up and says he knows what they were.

All the Dinobots go down to Shockwave's hidden lab, where they find in the database Shockwave's experiments on some creatures he scanned from another world (Earth) and pumped them with Energon for his experiments which eventually led to the Dinobots, the Dinobots now feel sorry for the poor creatures they just witness die (due to not being able to survive out of the tubes for long) and resolve further to hunting down and stopping Shockwave once and for all.

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Swoop - Pteranodon

Slug - Triceratops

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Zoom Injured by Triceratops Dinoclone

Last Spark Denizens (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Shockwave (Footage only)

Dinoclones

Tyrannosaurus Rex Blew up due to defects

Triceratops Blew up due to defects

Pteranodon Blew up due to defects

Stegosaurus Blew up due to defects

Notes

• Still no sign of the Apatosaurus clone (except in the last image where they imagine them all) Which again could be because Sludge was recreated before the others
• These Dinoclones must be made of some strong stuff, Grimlock bites the T Rex one and it seems to have no effect on it in the long run.
• As a possible reference to the TV series, Swoop mentions that they don't go too far away from the Energon Deposits underground, which would explain why none of the characters have encountered the Dinobots etc when they've come to Cybertron in the course of the series.
• I'm guessing that Last Spark isn't too far away from Shockwave's Dino-Lab as they all arrive at the city quite quickly (considering that they can't survive long out of their tubes)
• It seems here that Shockwave's first experiment with "Dinobots" was to infuse fossils or real Dinosaur with energon to give them life. All of this of course, including the Dinobot's creation, seems to be precursors of the Predacon experiments.

IDW - Beast Hunters #3

Story by: Mike Johnson & Mairghread Scott

Written by: Mike Johnson

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Long ago, Shockwave began to take an interest in Earth, and began watching it out of curiosity.

In the present day, Grimlock and Swoop are underground in some old tunnels, where Swoop annoys Grimlock by talking too much, and they encounter a group of the Forged's soldiers, whom the 2 Dinobots manage to take down fairly quickly. Grimlock figures out that the group couldn't have been down there just to guard some old rubble, so he removes it and reveals an old door, which opens into an abandoned lab of Shockwave's, filled with discarded bones and damaged equipment.

Meanwhile, at Last Spark Snarl and Sludge have returned to help them rebuild and repair after their fight with Airwave, the people of the city are wary of the two Dinobots, but are willing to believe they are there to help out.

Back at Shockwave's old lab, the two Dinobots have found some shattered tubes, but also see some still intact, until whatever's inside it smashes out, revealing a living Tyrannosaurus Rex! Swoop comments on how he looks like Grimlock, but Girmlock disagrees, transforming and taking on the real Dinosaur, meanwhile three more tubes begin to smash open, leaving Swoop to contend with a Pteranodon, Stegosaurus and Triceratops alone.

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Swoop - Pteranodon

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Firestar - Hover Pick-Up Truck

Zoom

Last Spark Denizens

Airwave - Jet Dead

Slug - Triceratops (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Forged Warriors Killed by Grimlock and Swoop

Shockwave (Flashback)

Other

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Pteranodon

Stegosaurus

Triceratops

Notes

• This marks Swoop's first appearance since the end of Rage of the Dinobots
• It's not clear, but the thing Snarl is carrying at Last Spark looks a bit like Airwave's corpse...
• Zoom's love of talking, and name could be references to Blurr
• The dinosaurs shown here in Shockwave's lab are lacking feathers, and have glowing eyes, possibly hints that they aren't really dinosaurs after all, but robotic copies
• The lack of an Apatosaurus could be a reference to how Sludge was originally just a test subject
• The Pteranodon is coloured like G1 Swoop

IDW - Beast Hunters #2

Story by: Mairghread Scott & Mike Johnson

Written by: Mairghread Scott

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Snarl and Sludge fight the Insecticons led by Kickback, during which Kickback taunts Sludge about how he was just used by Shockwave as a test-subject for the Dinobot's and was just abandoned, then forgotten about for some time. All of that of course annoys Sludge to the point that he half kills Kickback, and learns from him that the Insecticons haven't been draining the victims, and they believe it to be the Forged, he also reveals that an aerial Autobot scout witnessed a fight between them over it, so there's proof. Snarl admits that the Insecticons aren't the killers, and Sludge agrees...this time, and subsequently kills Kickback.

Afterwards the two Autobots discuss what happened, recharge and decide to return to Last Spark on a hunch. Inside the city, the two Dinobots meet with Firestar, who takes them to the morgue inside they find some marks on the corpses similar to those on the draining victims and believe that the morgue was used as a practice ground by someone in the city, just then Airwave walks in, and the Dinobots realize that only Airwave has an aerial mode in the city, menaing he must be the attacker.

Airwave, rumbled, attacks Firestar and leaves her for dead, he takes off in jet mode and blames the Dinobots for Firestar's death, leading the city's people to attack the two outsiders. During the following battle Sludge manages to ground Airwave and they argue, as Airwave claims that everyone left on the planet is doomed, that's why he's doing anything to survive. Airwave's about to kill Sludge, when Firestar, who wasn't killed after all skewers him through the chest, slices him in half and finishes him off.

Afterwards, Firestar and the rest of the people in the city decide to remain behind, despite all that's happened, whilst the Dinobots return to their own city. Sludge goes to see Grimlock who says that he's glad he disobeyed his orders, and he needs Sludge to help him do what is right now and again, then proceeds to get ready for the day's duties.

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Firestar - Hover Pick Up Truck

Airwave - Fighter Jet Killed by Firestar

Last Spark Denizens

Decepticon

Kickback - Insect Killed by Sludge

Insecticons - Insects

Shockwave (Mentioned)

The Forged (Mentioned)

Other

Primus (Mentioned)

The Thirteen (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue concludes the story line begun last issue, indicating this series should be more episodic than just one single ongoing story (like the Mini's are)
• Still no sign of Swoop yet...
• This story finally addresses Sludge's absence, and return to the Dinobots, which was somewhat of a continuity burp before now
• I think we all saw that Airwave was going to be revealed to be the bad guy here...I mean he WAS based on a Decepticon after all
• Airwave has a VERY Earth-like alternate mode, despite his team-mate Firestar having a very Cybertronian looking one.