IDW - Lost Light #16

Title: The Everlasting Voices 1: Metastasis

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Jack Lawrence

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Greg Goldstein

Plot

Rodimus and Cyclonus wake up in separate rooms and walk outside them, with them looking shocked and happy (respectively) to see a giant Matrix in the sky above them.

Soon afterwards, Rodimus contacts Ultra Magnus, who is also there, to see if he can identify where they are, arranging to meet "under the Matrix", where Rodimus comes across Ten, who thanks Rodimus for taking him in, and says that everyone made him so happy. At the moment of his happiness, Ten is stuck with light from the Matrix, his chest tears open and his spark leaves his body, leaving him dead on the ground. Ratchet arrives just afterwards, now not in his intangible form.

Back in the awakening rooms, Nautica is analysing the glyphs on her own bed when Brainstorm and Nightbeat arrive, Nautica deciphers the glyphs to be the creation story told by the Clavis Aurea, which tells about how Primus split into five individuals to start the Cybertronian race. Soon Drift arrives to tell them to come see what he's found outside...

Ratchet examines Ten's body and determines that he is indeed dead when Magnus arrives, with Whirl, Velocity and Swerve in tow. The assembled crew try to determine where they are, only for Swerve and Cyclonus to explain that they must be in the Afterspark, having been killed when Ten directed them to a portal where they were exposed to compressed space, and killed the entire crew.

The crew, especially Rodimus are distraught over this news, but Ratchet refuses to believe that he and the others are in some after-life, as that goes against everything he believes in. On cue, two of the long dead previous crewmates ppear from nowhere, Trailcutter and Pipes! The crew are shocked, and Cyclonus speeds off to find something...

Back with the other group, Drift explains to them how they died and is now in the Afterspark. Nightbeat is upset since this is yet another one of the great mysteries he has been denied of solving. Suddenly Roller appears with his friend from his days as a cop, Springarm, who was murdered on the job by Senate thugs. Roller rides off with him again after introducing him to his new friends, all whilst Brainstorms warning device freaks out and even burns his hands, showing that they are indeed in danger...

Ratchet examines Pipes to determine if he's actually alive or not, but can't find anything wrong. Trailcutter and Pipes explain that they are in a limbo-like location BEFORE entering the Afterspark, where their minds can be shielded from the intense emotions in the real Afterspark, but will be able to ascend when they "put their affairs in order".

On the note, Cyclonus locates what he was looking for, Tailgate, who was seemingly waiting for Cyclonus to arrive so they could pass on together, and the two embrace upon finding each other again.

The crew don't know what to do, but Whirl manages to get Rodimus out of his funk by asking him what he thinks Megatron would do in this situation. Rodimus immediately sets about to try and get answers, he asks Trailcutter who is in charge, which he just says "god" so Rodimus does the reasonable thing....he yells at the sky, demanding that Primus speak to him directly. The rest of the drew and embarrassed by his actions, until Rodimus gets struck by lightning and vanishes.

Rodimus arrives on a dias, where he is surrounded by the giant figures of the Guiding Hand, Primus, Epistemus, Mortilus, Solumus and Adaptus, and he offers them his hand in greeting!

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Drift - Car

Ratchet - Ambulance

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Swerve - Van

Velocity - Race Car

Nautica - Submarine

Nightbeat - Car

Brainstorm - Jet

Afterspark Tailgate - Car

Afterspark Trailcutter - Van

Afterspark Pipes - Truck

Rung - Photon Crystal Generator (Flashback Only)

Chromedome - Car (Flashback Only)

Rewind - Data Slug (Flashback Only) Injured by Sword Slash

Megatron - Tank (Mentioned)

Getaway - Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Skip - Space Shuttle (Flashback) Dead

Other Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Roller - Truck

Ten "Ascended" to Afterspark 

Afterspark Springarm - Motorcycle

Afterspark Primus

Afterspark Mortilus

Afterspark Adaptus

Afterspark Epistemus

Afterspark Solomus

Anode - Bi-Plane (Flashback Only)

Lug - Backpack Equipment (Flashback Only)

Wheelarch - Motorcycle (Mentioned) Dead

Kroma (Mentioned)

Notes

• We rejoin Team Rodimus following the events of issue 13
• I know all the crew are mentioned as being killed before this issue, but I don't believe it happened, so I wont be putting it in the character list section.
• So....Rodimus' communicator/phone works in the afterlife? hmm....
• Here's a weird thing...where are Anode, Lug, Chromedome, Rewind and Rung in the Afterspark? I could understand the former four as they would be "happy" and could instantly move on, but we know Rung has massive issues and worries in his life...so where is he?
• The characters in the Afterspark don't all remember what happened following Ten's big announcement...perhaps this is because they are false memories, planted by whoever placed them here?
• So...why is Pipes one of the guys summoned to show the crew the way to the real Afterspark? I mean I like seeing him again, but why is he there? His main joke was that no-one really cared about him. Wouldn't Skids have been a better choice, given the people assembled?
• Trailcutter being summoned and being of interest to Rodimus is a nice nod to how broken up he was over his death. He even tried to re-write history to make Trailcutter not die!
• Drift refers to Primus as the "Celestial Architect"...wonder if that is somehow connected to the "Grand Architect"? Perhaps he was called that before being split into five, and having the name inherited by one of his components? 
• It's confirmed here that the disappearances of Luna-1, Ark-1 and the purpose of Rung's alternate mode are the "Big Three" mysteries that Nightbeat has been investigating in his spare time since the start of IDW's Transformers line!
• Trailcutter's projection of what the Afterspark looks like seems VERY similar to what was believed to be Cyberutopia in issue 12 huh?
• If they are all in the Afterspark, then why are some of their belonging (Rodimus' phone and  Brainstorm's early warning device) with them?
• Pipes knows both who Velocity is, and what Nautica's nickname for her is....why? Pipes doesn't know who either of them are, having died well before either joined the crew. Maybe he can watch the Lost Light from the Afterspark? (or something more sinister!)
• Can I just say how perfect it is that the egotistical Rodimus is so confident in himself that upon meeting his creator Gods, he just asks for a handshake with a grin!
• Of note, the only four dead Cybertronians we see in this issue all died violent ways, Springarm was decapitated, Pipes was stomped to death, Trailcutter was torn apart and crushed against his own forcefield and Tailgate was (supposedly) killed by a spark explosion. Even if we count the Guiding Hand, they all were mentioned as dying or being turned into a new item during a war.
• Okay, it seems painfully obvious that the "Afterspark" isn't what it appears to be. There are so many things wrong there that it hurts. I've mentioned a few throughout these notes, but one major thing I haven't mentioned is that Brainstorm's Early Early Warning Device has been going off, and overheating throughout the issue, it even gets too hot to touch right after Roller rides off with Springarm.
• Here's my theory on what happened. At the end of issue 13, Ten told the crew what to do to save themselves and they wound up in the Warren and arrived at Cyberutopia, where they were knocked out and left to wake up in this scenario. The dead characters are facsimiles made from reading their memories, possibly including Ten himself who is noted as sounding different throughout the story. The crew are being tested to see if they can be used in whatever the Cyberutopians want to do to the Universe and that is what will be revealed over the next couple issues.
• Following the usual adverts, the back page features a funeral/memorial announcement for Kup, acting as an advert for Transformers vs Visionaries, where he died (and giving a small announcement about the "road to Unicron"underneath)

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #36

Title: Elegant Chaos Part 1: All Our Parlous Yesterdays

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Four Million years ago, in the Alyon Region of Cybertron, Orion Pax and his team of Outliers and Roller are on the run from the Senate following the raid they took part in at the Primal Basilica. They have stopped to protect a new Hot Spot that has opened up from the Senate, whom they believe wants to destroy it (due to it seemingly being in the shape of a hand print). During the fight, the Senate's Elite Guard tries to run away when suddenly a group of strange robots teleport in, unknowingly to Orion and the others, from the distant fuure.

In the future, on the Lost Light Rodimus has finished explaining what Brainstorm is up to in the past, and has gathered a team of Lost Lighters with similar spark types to travel back to stop him. They equip themselves with several new weapons from the weapons store, and a "Time Phone" to keep in contact with the present, and work out where Orion Pax will be in this time period from Rewind's database.

Back in the past, Rodimus introduces himself and the others to Orion Pax, and after a small confrontation they join forces. Orion explains what they're doing there, and admits that he doesn't know what the strange platform hovering above the Hot Spot is either. During the introductions, the Trailbreaker of the past appears, causing a major shock to Rodimus, who has just seen Trailcutter's corpse back on the Lost Light.

The two groups start to interact with eachother where Rodimus takes Trailbreaker to one side to talk with him, and Rung learns that Roller spikes his drinks with circuit speeders to increase his power to keep up with the Outliers.

Orion Pax finds the Time Phone, and answers it when it rings, where Megatron speaks to him, and tells him in veiled terms about the future (under the disguise of his present self) but ends the call by saying that he's sure he'll join Orion's side eventually.

Rodimus finishes telling Trailbreaker to avoid going to Ofsted XVII, and is glad that he's saved his friend when Orion comes in and hands over the phone to Rodimus to talk to Megatron. Whilst talking, Rodimus finds out that the time machine is starting to fail due to too many uses, and also that some radiation is leaking into the present from the past, revealing to Rodimus that the platform is irradiating the Hot Spot.

Rodimus tells the group about this, and Rewind "theorizes" (actually accessing his modified database) that the Senate are trying to irradiate the new sparks so they can create Outliers artificially.

The group head outside, and set up Trailbreaker's forcefield around the Hot Spot, and they start harvesting the sparks, and teleport them to Nyon for maturation, whilst the platform has grown guns and starts attacking the forcefield.

During the battle, Roller is injured in an explosion, and goes missing, whilst Orion uses himself as a bullet whilst combined with Windcharger and Trailbreaker's powers to destroy the platform. Rodimus also receives a call from the future saying that Brainstorm has time jumped again.

Afterwards, Rodimus tells a lie that they have to leave for another mission, and has all of Orion Pax's team shake Chromedome's hand (which has been rigged to erase their recent memories to protect the timeline some more) but has ordered him not to touch Trailbreaker (so his memories of their conversation will be spared). It all goes to plan, until Trailbreaker insists on shaking Chromedome's hand, causing him to forget as well, just as the team are transported to another point in time.

In the aftermath, Orion's team are a bit confused as to what happened, and also appear to have forgotten about Roller as well, and decide to leave the area for a drink without him....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Megatron - Tank

Perceptor

Riptide - Boat

Rung

Chromedome/Tumbler - Car

Rewind - Data Slug

Tailgate - Car

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter 

Elite Guardsmen (Past Only)

Nightbeat - Car (Mentioned)

Sentinel Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Prowl - Emergency Car (Mentioned)

Wreckers (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned)

Orion's Outlaws

Orion Pax - Truck (Past Only)

Roller - Police Lock Up Truck (Past Only) Caught in explosion, gone missing

Trailbreaker - Truck (Past Only)

Skids - Van (Past Only)

Windcharger - Car (Past Only)

Glitch/Damus (Past Only)

Zeta of Sistex (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Senator Shockwave (Mentioned)

Senator Decimus (Mentioned)

Nova Prime (Mentioned)

Functionist Council (Mentioned)

Senate (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• The stuff set in the past is set just after Shadowplay, and seems to be just before the start of Megatron: Origin.
• Amongst the characters able to use Brainstorm's time machine are those with 2 spark types Vitreus Positive and Ferrum Negative. This implies that Brainstorm may have 2 spark types somehow.
• We learn that the reason why Prowl and Chromedome broke up was because of him joining Sentinel Prime's forces.
• Trailbreaker was hinted as being amongst the Outliers in Shadowplay, here it is confirmed
• Several of Roller's characteristics and features are shown to hint that he is Tarn in the present day (which has been a popular theory since his introduction). Some of these similar traits are his addictive personality, interest in reading Megatron's work, desire to be more powerful to keep up with the others and his injuries at the end of the issue (having a facial injury).
• It' heavily implied here that Rodimus' spark is amongst the ones protected in this issue, meaning that all of this was MEANT to happen, otherwise he wouldn't have existed.
• It seems a bit weird that none of the present-day characters would accidentally call Trailbreaker by his modern day name "Trailcutter"

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #34

Title: Births, Deaths and Interventions

Written  by: James Roberts

Pencils by: Atilio Rojo

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: John Barber

Plot

One of the Lost Light's ships have landed on Ofsted XVII, and are waiting for word from Rodimus or the others about the Lost Light's condition when First Aid finds a badly injured Cybertronian inside one of the damaged lecture halls. The group assume that he was injured in the battle in orbit between the Galactic Council, Black Block Consortia and a group of Mechs. First Aid doesn't care about the bot's faction, so long as they can save him.

In the distant past on Messatine, Froid arrives to analyse a patient for Council, who is revealed to be Megatron. However he has made up his mind before even meeting the miner (who is in the council's bad books due to his political writings) aand permits Trepan to perform Shadowplay on him.

Back in the present, First Aid begins work on the Cybertronian, and arranges for the group to all donate a small amount of active Energon to ensure his survival. Meanwhile, Bluestreak finds the bot's detachable face amongst the rubble (revealing to the audience that this is Vos of the DJD)

Back on Messatine, Megatron is working on his books some more, when his terminally ill room mate and proofreader Terminus tells him to not give up on his mission, even if it means he has to take to physical violence as well as verbal protests. Megatron asks him why he's suddenly speaking like this, to which Terminus reveals he was visited by some senate men that day...then Megatron gets shocked from nowhere.

On Ofsted, after examining the face mask, and it's hidden spikes, Bluestreak and Mainframe back out of the procedure, knowing it's probably a Decepticon. First Aid tells them to leave the lecture hall if they're not going to help out, leaving Traiilcutter and himself to donate the Energon themselves, however, after using one of the lecture hall's devices to translate Vos' words (spoken in Old Cybertronian) and First Aid recognizes his words to be the DJD's motto, and immediately stops his donation, hating them for how they drove Pharma to madness, and in turn caused Ambulon's death at his hands.

Trailcutter however still continues with his own donation, but once Vos has a small amount inside of him, he attacks Trailcutter and tries to strangle him. Trailcutter uses his leg cannons and blasts the Decepticon across the room. First Aid leaves Trailcutter to grab the others to restrain Vos, whilst Trailcutter uses his forcefield to protect himself.

Unfortunately Vos points out an old chair in the rubble, who turns out to be Kaon, who was just de-energized until the forcefield repowered him, and is trapped in the forcefield with him.

On Messatine, Megatron wakes up on Trepan's table, and feels the Mnemosurgeon dig into his brain, and starts deleting his "anarchic" thoughts, until he gets a call from Froid to stop the procedure, since Rung has turned up with new legislation for Shadowplay procedures, following Shockwave's procedure, which requires TWO doctors to sign off now, which Froid knows Rung will never do.

Suddenly the Mine's alarms sound off, telling the entire staff to get off the planet.

Back in the present again, First Aid and the others return to find Kaon having torn Trailcutter apart, and playing with his brain module in his hands. The Autobots try to convince him that the war is over, and the Megatron has surrendered, so they should too, but Kaon doesn't believe them. Bluestreak shows him Trailcutter's newest read, an updated version of Megatron's autobiography "Towards Peace" with the surrender speech from his trial added in the end, and tells him to read it. Kaon agrees, but still scrapes Trailcutter's brain modeule across the still active forcefield.

Kaon contacts Helex from elsewhere and has himself and Vos teleported out, telling the stunned Autobots that he'll  see them soon....

On Messatine, the planet is being evacuated, but Megatron returns to his dorm, to find Terminus missing, with no one knowing where he's gone, but due to the emergency he gathers up his data pads and runs for the escape vessels, feeling terrible for seemingly abandoning his friend.

Meanwhile, in the mines Brainstorm (seemingly fresh from the Lost Light) appears in a flash of light, holding his briefcase, wondering where to start.....

Characters

Autobot

Trailcutter - Van Torn apart by Kaon

First Aid - Ambulance

Bluestreak - Car

Mainframe

Rodimus - Car (Mentioned)

Pharma - Jet (Mentioned) Dead

Ambulon - Leg (Mentioned) Dead

Brainstorm - Jet (Decepticon Double Agent) Back in Time.

Decepticon

Vos - Rifle

Kaon - Variable Volt Harness

Helex - Smelting Chamber (Mentioned)

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Megatron - Armoured Vehicle (Flashback)

Rolt (Flashback)

Froid (Flashback)

Rung (Flashback)

Trepan (Flashback)

Terminus (Flashback) Missing

Messatine Miners and Staff (Flashback)

Senate (Mentioned)

Functionists (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Senator Shockwave (Mentioned)

Other

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

The Black Block Consortia (Mentioned)

Notes

• Bluestreak implies here that those NOT from the original Lost Light crew who were in the ships that disappeared during the incident were left floating in space, until the ships re-materialized
• The weakened space around Ofsted XVII, mentioned by Nautica last issue is revealed to have been due to a battle in orbit over the derelict Lost Light by the Galactic Council, Black Block Consortia and the DJD.
• The battle over the ship could also explain why Rewind was left alive on the ship, since the DJD was simply distracted by someone else to bother with them.
• We see First Aid's alternate mode for the first time here, meaning his Transformation Cog has been repaired since his introduction.
• A bit more of Megatron's timeline is confirmed here, as it seems following the evacuation from Messatine in this issue, he was likely sent to Mining Outpost Croteus 12, which is where Megatron: Origin starts off.
• This issue shows us that Vos' face mask has a button that extends his spikes, rather than them being open at all times.
• Terminus is revealed here as Megatron's room mate on Messatine rather than some evil guy like you'd expect from his name.
• Judging from Kaon and Vos' states here, but Helex and the others presumably being alive still, it's likely the DJD won their battle with the Council.
• Megatron's fear of Mnemosurgery is revealed to be due to Trepan's invasive procedure here, where he tries to fully modify his mind.
• This could also explain his instan killing of Trepan when Overlord brings him into the fold to teach him Mnemosurgery. Simple revenge for his actions here.
• The DJD, or at least Kaon are unaware of Megatron's surrender to the Autobots.
• Terminus going missing at the exact moment that Brainstorm appears, seemingly from the future could be a callback to the temporal displacement used when time travel occurred in the Marvel Transformers comics.
• Trailcutter mentions how he's taken up reading etc since Megatron disabled his ability to enjoy over-energizing (getting drunk)...however that was just that very day, maybe a couple of days earlier....

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #29

Title: World, Shut Your Mouth - Part 2: Words Hand in the Air

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colours by: Joana LaFuente

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editorial Assistance: Rebecca Huard

Editor: John Barber

Plot

On Luna 2, the Victim Impact Statements are in full swing, and Rodimus is fed up of hearing them all. Atomizer approaches him, and tells him he has the list of everyone who voted for him to be stripped of his command. Rodimus tells him to go away with it, as he would be in big trouble if he ever saw those names. Atomizer mentions that there's some members of the crew, who wanted to resume the quest on the list, and he should read it to see who are true believers of their mission...which makes Rodimus hesitate...

Starscream is brought to the stand, as speaks up in Megatron's defence, he basically calls Megatron a thug, who got way in over his head, and he should be pitied for being the monster he became due to the war. Afterwards Megatron asks to speak to Ultra Magnus alone, and is granted a 30 minute break.

During the break, Starscream and Optimus learn from Rattrap and Slamdance respectively that the opinion polls are showing that the public are warming to both sides due to their actions during the trial.

Following the break, Magnus announces that Megatron has changed his plea to "Innocent" and wishes to address the court, Optimus is stunned, and Magnus claims that Megatron simply had a change of heart.

At the same moment, Rodimus has tucked into a dark corner, reading a tablet that looks an awful lot like a certain list Atomizer teased him with earlier...

On the Lost Light, six months later, Tailgate is finally back to full health, and is exercising his Transformation Cog, and springing onto Cyclonus, showing off his "Finger in the Head" move which defeated Tyrest, and he is caught up on the recent events.

Tailgate sees Megatron as their captain, and is a bit confused, until he runs into Mainframe and Jackpot, and he is glad to hear that people missed him during his illness. He's having the best day of his life...then he walks into a Legislator....who is merely acting as a doorman for Swerve's bar, ass Swerve has reprogrammed him to serve his bar's rules.

In the bar, Skids, Nautica, Riptide and Trailcutter are hanging out reading the Lost Light Insider, which Nautica passes off as a scandal sheet. Trailcutter is drunk, but wants something even stronger, when Riptide mentions hearing about Megatron's "Superfuel" in the Medibay, which gets Trailcutter worked up.

Nightbeat is in his room working on some cases when Chromedome visits to tell him about his message from Rewind changing, and asks him to check it out to see if it was tampered with, but Nightbeat suggests that Chromedome just imagined it out of grief. Chromedome tells him to leave, but as soon as he turns he see's Rewind standing in the doorway!!

Elsewhere, Trailcutter is sneaking to the Medibay, with a head cam attached so the others can watch as well, however he finds the Medibay heavily locked. Nautica decides that this is a bad idea, so she leaves the group and decides to hide in her quarters. During this, Skids is jumped by Tailgate, showing off his new signature move, which knocks over the computer and damages it. This means he misses Trailcutter seeing the door disappear in front of him, and allows him to enter. He finds the superfuel and takes a swig of it.

Unfortunately for Trailcutter he set off a silent alarm, which has summoned a security team, Megatron, Ultra Magnus and Ratchet, who tell him to drop the fuel, as it won't agree with him. Suddenly Trailcutter collapses, and feels poisoned, Megatron approaches him to help him out, but Trailcutter activates his "panic button" which sets off a forcefield for 30 minutes. Megatron tells the others to leave while he deal with the situation.

Chromedome and Nightbeat race back to Nightbeat's room to grab Nightbeat's equipment, as Nightbeat believes that the rewind he saw, which disappeared when Chromedome turned around, was a Data Ghost, left behind due to the weight of the data he stored inside him, which fascinates Nightbeat. Chromedome thinks that Rewind must be haunting him as he hasn't kept his promises to him. Nightbeat manages to open his door (after several locks) only to find his back wall missing....

Trailcutter's forcefield pops, and he tells Megatron to take him away, he just doesn't want to fight with him. Instead Megatron smacks him across the back of the neck, and permanently activates his Fuel Intake Modulator meaning he can never enjoy getting drunk again. Trailcutter is angry at first, but Megatron gives him the role of Director of Security since he was unhappy with how easily he got into the Medibay, and warns him that if he does anything to sabotage his job in anyway, then he will destroy him.

His first official job however is to help Megatron open up the coffin that was brought aboard (since it was knocked ajar when Trailcutter set off his forcefield and appears to be free of viruses etc). Inside they find the dead, and partially decapitated body of Rodimus!

Characters

Autobot

Megatron - Tank

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Ratchet - Ambulance

Trailcutter - Van

Riptide - Boat

Nautica - Submarine

Skids - Van

Tailgate - Car

Swerve - Van

Chromedome - Car

Nightbeat - Car

Broadside

Mirage

Hot Spot

Groove

Streetwise

Mainframe

Jackpot

Hoist - Crane

Bluestreak - Car

Joyride

Aquafend

Grotusque

Repugnus

Doublecross

Rung - A Thingie (Hologram Only)

Rewind - Memory Stick (Data Ghost) Dead

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab (Flashback)

Rodimus - Car (Flashback + Corpse in Coffin)

Prowl - Emergency Car (Flashback)

Gripper (Flashback)

Atomizer (Flashback)

Arcee - Car (Flashback)

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter (Flashback)

Blaster (Flashback)

Slamdance (Flashback)

Star Saber - Jet (Mentioned in an insult)

Ambulon - Leg (Mentioned) Dead

Brainstorm - Jet (Mentioned)

Dominus Ambus (Mentioned)

Brawn (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Shockwave - Flying Artillery (Mentioned)

Scorponok - Scorpion Tank (Mentioned)

Decepticon Justice Division (Mentioned)

Vos (Mentioned)

United Cybertron

Starscream - Jet (Flashback)

Rattrap - Mole Rat (Flashback)

Other Cybertronians (Flashback)

Other

Cyclonus - Jet

Ten the Doorman

Titans (Mentioned)

Notes

• The "previously" section has been turned into a humorous monologue detailing the recent events
• The Roll Call page has also returned, but lacks mini bios, and only seems to feature major characters for that story
• Tailgate has finally recovered from his bout with Cybercrosis, meaning he can now fully transform, move around and everything (which he does here)
• Tailgate has seemingly decided to milk his moment of glory during the battle with Tyrest by making his "finger in the head" move his signature.
• He has also been finally given his Autobrand, which Cyclonus doesn't seem to approve of.
• As of this issue every Protectobot is on board the Lost Light (with several being on Cybertron in Season One) - Wonder if this means we'll have some gestalt fun, since Megatron is here too?
• Cyclonus is shown with his Great Sword again, despite him not having it at all during Dark Cybertron.
• The crew of the Lost Light are revealed to actually like Tailgate, and sincerely wanted him to get better
• The "Vos" described during the trial is clearly not the same guy we saw with the DJD, confirming that they rename themselves after the "First Five Cities" when they join the group.
• The majority of the crew in the bar scene are new cast members, which is meant to show us as many new faces as possible most likely.
• Trailcutter knowing the newcomer Nautica's name, but not long term crewmate Riptide's at first is a bit insulting!
• The author of the Lost Light Insider is clearly screwing up facts to make Megatron seem much more irrational and bad than he is during these events. Due to his past as a broadcaster, and place on the Bridge during the coffin incident, would probably indicate that Blaster is the author.
• Nightbeat is studying a hologram of Rung's "alternate mode" when he is met by Chromedome, a reference to it being confusing, or something more?
• 2 of the "Big Three" mysteries mentioned in Spotlight: Nightbeat are revealed here to be Ark-1 and Luna-1's locations. Could the 3rd be Rung's alternate mode? Or just the location of the Knights?
• If you look in the background during the scene with Nightbeat examining the hologram, you can see his walls vanishing, and the stars showing through.
• Nightbeat's room number (221) is clearly a reference to 221b Baker Street, the address of Sherlock Holmes
• Nautica is shown to be able to lower her visor with her fingers rather than it being automatic.
• Ambulon's belongings are still sitting at his desk...IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS GUYS!!
• Hey look! Slamdance is still around! I wonder where he's been since Chaos! I mean, if he was on Cybertron you'd assume he was the news caster rather than Circuit, and if he was on the Lost Light, then why wasn't he doing announcements rather than Siren?
• Despite being quite close to each other (room 208 and 221) Chromedome and Nightbeat decided to drive back to Nightbeat's room...
• Despite the wall being missing, none of Nightbeat's stuff is being blown out into space implying there may be a forcefield in place, or the wall is just invisible.
• Chromedome confirms that Dominus Ambus was indeed rewind's first Conjunx Endura
• Trailcutter is given the role of Director of Security, which has been part-time filled by Ultra Magnus since Red Alert's "accident"
• Um....why is Rodimus dead, with half a head inside a coffin?!
• The Autobots are clearly shown to be using microphones during the trial now...this is adorable in a practical way!
• Megatron has implied that he turned off his own F.I.M. chip, has this been for a while? Or since he started taking his "superfuel"?
• It's entirely possible that the tablet Rodimus is reading at the end is NOT the voting results, but something else altogether...this is James Roberts' work after all!

IDW - Spotlight Trailcutter

Title:The Reluctant Specialist

Story by: James Roberts

Art by: Matt Frank

Colors by: Thomas Deer

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editorial Assistant: Thomas Boeing

Editor: John Barber

Plot

Whilst on it's merry way through space the Lost Light is hit by a fragment of something, which tears open the hull, which requires Highbrow, Brainstorm and Chromedome to patch it up, with Trailbreaker helping them with his forcefields. Later, the team, minus Trailbreaker are all awarded medals for their actions, which leaves Trailbreaker annoyed. 

At the after after-party in Swerve's bar, Trailbreaker drowns his sorrows whilst the trio are admired by everyone, when Whirl turns up and tries to cheer up Trailbreaker by mocking him, and taunting him with his own medal, and makes Rodimus admit that the reason why he doesn't have one is because all he does is use forcefields.

Later, Whirl continues to try and "cheer up" Trailbreaker, he convinces him to improve his name and says that people respect fear and an attitude. He takes him to see Brainstorm to see if he can have a new weapon, but Brainstorm points out that he already has the best weapon (Magnawheels, not Forcefields) and Trailcutter gets annoyed and drives off to recharge. Whilst getting ready to recharge Swerve contacts him and annoys him by asking for him to put a forcefield around his mouth so he can stay quiet long enough to earn a medal too.

12 hours later, Trailcutter wakes up to find himself feeling somewhat hollow, and then finds the whole ship seemingly frozen. Trailcutter makes his way up to the bridge where he finds an incoming message from Hoist, which he goes to answer, when suddenly some Decepticons board the ship and shoot the communicator screen. Trailcutter tries to put up a forcefield, but his generators aren't working, so he uses the frozen Whirl as one instead.

Trailcutter makes a run for it and hides in the medibay, where he sets the doors to close violently, and it slams into Venom's head, knocking him out, after which, Trailcutter shocks Chop Shop with some resuscitation pads. Lockdown contacts Chop Shop, so Trailcutter imitates him and learns that the other Decepticons are all in Shuttle Bay 3, so he heads to Brainstorm's lab to get his "secret weapon", a remote.

In the Shuttle Bay Trailcutter arrives and acts tough against them, and learns from them that the fragment earlier is actually a part of Metroplex that was shed off some time ago due to his age, and that his team is hunting him down. Trailcutter tricks the Decepticons into thinking he's some unholy creature who's able to use his forcefields to do anything, like make them levitate (by using the remote to turn off the artificial gravity and using his Magnawheels to keep him on the ground. Next he tricks Lockdown into thinking he's going to make his spark explode with a forcefield, and scares off the Decepticons, who speed away.

Trailcutter returns to the bridge and watches them leave and relaxes in Rodimus' chair just as everyone recovers from the freezing and Rodimus goes to ask why he's in his chair, and freaks out the poor fella.

Later Hoist returns from his mission a bit dinged up and Trailcutter tells him what happened, explaining that Brainstorm was the reason for the freezing as one of his inventions went wrong. Then he reveals that he finally has a medal because of his actions during this...just when Hoist reveals that he has a giant version of the medal for his actions on his mission, as well as everyone who was frozen too. This leaves Trailcutter annoyed again, and he heads out to Swerve's bar to get courage to talk to Rodimus about this....

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus - Car

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Drift - Car

Trailbreaker/Trailcutter - Van

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Brainstorm - Jet

Highbrow - Helicopter

Chromedome - Car

Swerve - Van

Fortress Maximus - Tank

Skids - Van

Hoist - Crane

Ratchet - Ambulance

First Aid - Ambulance

Ambulon - Leg

Perceptor

Sunstreaker - Car

Rewind - Giant Memory Stick

Energon Landmine - Armoured Tow Truck-Plough

Rad

Huffer - Truck

Dipstick - Car

Smokescreen - Car

Red Alert

Metroplex (Mentioned)

Rest of Lost Light Crew (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Lockdown 

Chop Shop Injured by Trailcutter

Venom Injured by Trailcutter

Barrage

TFA Blitzwing

Lugnut

Rest of Titan Hunters

Killmaster (Flashback)

Other

Tailgate - Car

Bob

Diagnostic Drone

Metrotitans (Flashback)

Lockdown's Employer (Mentioned -  Probably is Megatron...but maybe not.....)

Knights of Cybertron (Mentioned)

Scalp - Massive Head (Mentioned)

Notes

• Trailbreaker's name change to Trailcutter is explained here as being Whirl's doing, because having "break" in your name sounds weak.
• This issue is set between issue 5 and 6, of course it's very unfortunate that it has some appearances from characters who've just died in the most recent issue.
• Chromedome, Highbrow and Brainstorm all received their names from the Institute...wonder if Hardhead got his from there too?
• I wonder what Whirl did to earn his medal!!
• Energon Landmine is seen in the scene in Shuttle Bay 3, this is either an artistic mistake (ie it's meant to be G1 Landmine) or this is a new look for Landmine's Pretender shell, or just another character who uses this body type, but was mis-coloured as Landmine
• The scene where Red Alert turns in Rewind for his golden disks is shown here during Trailcutter's trip through the frozen ship
• Lockdown has taken over command of the Decepticon's Titan Quest from Bludgeon it seems. It's also worth noting that last time we saw Lockdown he was at the Crystal City, a known location for a Metrotitan.
• It's implied here through the silhouettes that Metrotitans can have different body types.
• Lockdown's team is filled with characters from other continuities, including Animated Blitzwing, who has a G1 Counterpart already active in this time period.
• Hoist's off-screen adventure alluded to here seems likely to be te plot of the next Spotlight issue.
• Trailcutter later gets Brainstorm to upgrade his legs with weapons like Fort Max's, also his heading to the bar at the end of this issue seems to lead right into the events of issue 6
• Ratchet is shown seeming to take stock of medical supplies from Delphi.

IDW - More than Meets the Eye #3

Comic Staff

Title: Liars, A to D Part 3: The Chaos of Warm Things

Written by: James Roberts

Art by: Alex Milne

Colour by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Shawn Lee

Editor: John Barber

Storyline

Just as the Lost Light takes off from the planet Shock goes to see Ore's remains in the engine room and says his goodbyes before deleting the evidence of Prowl communicating with him before the original launch. Shock then goes looking for the tracking device that Prowl had them take into the engine room and tries to complete his mission, when suddenly a trapped Sparkeater breaks out of a now damaged door and attacks Shock, eating his spark. Red Alert shortly finds him and informs Rodimus, who seems excited.

Rodimus has the crew, bar a few members who could be of use, go to some habitation suites so they can be safe.Whilst leaving Tailgate recognizes Cyclonus from before the Ark launched and asks him for some help.

In the lower decks Ratchet and the rest of the Autobots assembled by Rodimus look into what happened to Shock and soon they believe it is indeed a Sparkeater. This is confirmed by Ratchet examining the body, and Chromedome using his Mnemosurgeon abilities to see Shock's last few moments of life.

Upstairs Cyclonus and Tailgate find a room and claim it, whilst Hoist and Boss look at Cyclonus in an unhappy way, though Cyclonus doesn't really care about that. Tailgate's happy with the room, but again Cyclonus doesn't care. Elsewhere Swerve and Skids find a room, but soon discover that it's an Engex distillery and bar, which leads Swerve to reminisce about how he and Blurr had always wanted to run a bar together before the war. Skids gets bored and goes into an airduct, but before he leaves he asks if Swerve likes music, and then comments that "Skids and Swerve" DOES actually sound quite cool.

Back in the lower decks Chromedome pulls himself out of Shock's brain and is in pain, but confirms that it was a Sparkeater. The team begin to search for it, but Rodimus and Drift remain behind to investigate the area, and because Rodimus has a plan, since Ratchet believes the Sparkeater will go after the brightest spark he can find to eat.

Upstairs Animus knocks on Whirl's door to get him to open it and let him in, as he didn't find a room yet himself and he doesn't want to get in trouble with Magnus, when he hears a noise. Whirl tries to let him in, but discovers that the door is locked. outside the Sparkeater has just killed Animus when Whirl busts out of the room and fires some missiles at him. Trailbreaker appears and protects the Sparkeater with his forcefields and Whirl is told that if he detonated one of those sparks then half the ship would explode. The Sparkeater goes hunting for Rung now, as he has the brightest spark on the ship.

Rung has just finished decorating his office when the Sparkeater breaks in and begins to attack him, however Skids appears from the airduct and rescues the Autobot. In their room, Cyclonus and Tailgate talk about what happened in the past 6 million years whilst Tailgate was asleep, and Cyclonus wonders what side Tailgate would have chosen if he had the choice.

Skids and Rung are escaping the Sparkeater in the ducts when Rung gets a message from Rodimus, who explains that they found the room the old owners of the ship trapped the monster in and had fed it Turbofoxes to keep it quiet. He asks Rung to lead the monster to the engine room as he has a plan. Skids and Rung make it to the elevator shaft and jump down it, and enter the elevator, where Brainstorm is confused.

The Sparkeater rips into the elevator, but Rung and Skids escape, leaving Brainstorm to die, but he's spared when the Sparkeater concentrates on hunting down Rung.

In the engine room, Rung makes it to Rodimus, who uses him as a lure for the Sparkeater to come closer to the engines and himself, whilst Drift keeps Skids from interfering. Rodimus throws Rung to the side at the last moment and grapples with the Sparkeater, and then holds him against the generator, whilst Perceptor activates them, drawing the monster and Rodimus' arms into the engines, impressing both Skids and Drift in the process.

Later in the Medibay, Ratchet has replaced Rodimus' arms, whilst Magnus tries to tell off Rodimus, who has to remind him that HE'S in charge of this mission, not Magnus. On the other table Tailgate is being fixed by Ratchet and he talks about how he's been thinking about the war recently, and reveals that if he's allowed to, he'd like to be a Decepticon.

Characters

Autobot
Rodimus - Speedy Car
Ultra Magnus - Truck
Drift
Ratchet
Swerve - Off Road Vehicle
Skids - Van
Whirl - Osprey Helicopter
Animus - Treaded Vehicle Killed by Sparkeater
Shock - Treaded Vehicle Killed by Sparkeater
Ore - Treaded Vehicle Killed by Quantum Generator
Trailbreaker
Chromedome
Rewind - Giant Memory Stick
Rung - Communications Maintenance Vehicle
Brainstorm - Jet
Perceptor - Treaded Vehicle
Red Alert
Hoist - Tow-Crane Truck
Boss
Prowl (Flashbacks/On Ore's Communicator Screen only)
Cosmos - Orbiter
Smokescreen
Brawn
Grapple
Powerglide - Jet
Pointblank
Xaaron
Inferno
Huffer
Dipstick - Car
Blurr (Mentioned)
Sentinel Prime - Truck (Flashbacks only)
Nominus Prime - Truck (Flashbacks only)
Impactor - Tank (Flashbacks only)
Sideswipe - Speeder (Flashbacks only)
Sunstreaker - Speeder (Flashbacks only)
Grimlock - Armoured Truck (Flashbacks only)
Decepticon
Megatron - Cybertronian Tank (Flashbacks only)
Starscream - Tetra Jet (Flashbacks only)
Blip (Mentioned)

Cybertronian 
Cyclonus - Space Jet
Tailgate - Car (Wants to be a Decepticon)
Proteus (Flashbacks only) Killed by Starscream
Senate (Mentioned) Killed by Decepticons

Other
Sparkeater Killed by Rodimus with Quantum Generator
Turbofoxes Killed by Previous owners of ship

Comic Notes

• This story confirms that Prowl was communicating with the Duobots before the ship departed, and judging from the dialogue here they were drafted by Prowl after they pulled a prank on him (welding his hands together).
• The thing Prowl asked the Duobots to place on the ship was a tracking device, which it's unclear if it's still around or not now. (this also caused the Generator to go wrong when Ore went too close to it)
• Rodimus seems to be a bit of an unconventional leader, he thinks that a Sparkeater hunt would be fun, he locks his crew in quarters with no knowledge, and even uses Rung as live bait in the end.
• Ratchet really doesn't like Drift...
• I can totally see Swerve becoming the bartender on the Lost Light now...
• Skids seems to be warming up to Swerve as a partner/friend
• Animus was first seen in the prose story Bullets (just like Hyperion) and just like Hyperion he dies after his name drop. However in Animus' case he actually appeared unnamed in the previous issue in a crowd scene. It's revealed here that he lied in order to get himself on the Ethics Committee before.
• Animus seems to be made up of a combination of a few older character models and body types. His torso seems to be based on Cybertron series Leo Breaker (complete with lion face on chest) his back features some tread kibble like Lio Convoy did in The Gathering and The Ascending. His head looks like a combination of Beast Wars Razorbeast and Ironfist...what a fun character!
• Rung has his own office on the Lost Light, which he has just finished decorating (until the Sparkeater slams down the door). Rung has some of his toy spaceships however, so I guess he recovered at least a few after Cyclonus accidentally sliced off his arm.
• Cyclonus' recounting of the war that Tailgate missed seems awfully in favor of the Decepticon's point of view as the right way, which could explain why Tailgate decides he wants to be a Decepticon in the end. (plus you know, Tailgate's experiences with Autobots so far is basically Swerve...YIKES!!)
• One of the swords left behind in the Sparkeater's chamber seems to have similar markings to Drift's sword, and Drift seems interested in it as well
• Perceptor still has his Sniper-eye, but appears to have returned to a scientific mindset as well
• Okay...we now have Ore, a Sparkeater and Rodimus' arms in the Quantum Generator....When are they going to remove them exactly??
• Rung's spark is the brightest most likely because he's stayed away from the war, unlike most of the others on the ship.