IDW - Transformers: Beast Wars #17

Title: The End

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: Jazmine Joyner

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Plot

Rhinox wakes up outside the Darksyde, where he finds the Maximals and Predacons fighting the Children of the Vok, with the latter clearly having the advantage due to their sheer numbers.

Through the battle, many personal battles and moments happen, until the Vok interrupt, and decide to kill all the Cybertronians due to their violent nature's (despite this battle being agreed to by them previously) and start disabling the Cybertronians, whilst preparing their reversion device to wipe out the planet's inhabitants, and start over again.

Meanwhile, Rattrap and Waspinator have been getting the Axalon's engines working, to enable it to fly at low heights, and Rattrap decides to weaponise the Transwarp engine since the Vok clearly seem to hate it.

Soon, the duo fly the Axalon to the battlefield and use their weaponised Transwarp engines to destabilise the Vok, seemingly destroying them.

In the aftermath, the Children of the Vok give up, seeing their gods as the monsters they truly were, and return to the wid, asking Optimus and the others to leave them alone.

Megatron takes the opportunity to attack Optimus from behind, but he gets blasted by Rattrap's Transwarp weapon. Since the Predacon isn't an energy monster though, he simply gets blasted a "few" cycles into the future, for them to deal with later.

Following the battle, Optimus offers the other Predacons amnesty and suggests they work together to get the Axalon working and return home to Cybertron, but they decline the offer, since without Megatron they would be used as scapegoats for his actions, since their crime was very public.

The Maximals leave to commence their repairs and to try and find Megatron, and the Predacons, now led by Blackarachnia, and joined by Inferno of the Children of the Vok, begin work on repairing the Darksyde, planning on using the Vok's weapon for spare parts...

114 cycles later, Megatron rematerialises in a cave, and begins plotting his revenge on the Maximals, and his plans to rule this world, now that the Vok are gone, and declares that the Beast Wars will not end until he wins, not noticing a large Protoform with an X on it in the cave too...

Characters

Maximal

Optimus Primal - Gorilla

Rhinox - Rhino 

Dinobot - Velociraptor

Cheetor - Cheetah

Nyx - Bat

Rattrap - Rat

Predacon

Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex Exiled into near future by Rattrap

Blackarachnia - Black Widow Spider

Waspinator - Wasp

Skold - Alligator Snapping Turtle

Tarantulas - Tarantula On the Run from the Predacons

Zombie Terrorsaur - Pteranodon Destroyed by Rhinox 

Children of the Vok

Tigatron - White Tiger

Airazor - Falcon

Inferno - Fire Ant (Joins Predacons)

Polar Claw - Polar Bear

Saberback - Stegosaurus

Wolfang - Wolf

Cybershark - Hammerhead Shark

Armordillo - Armadillo

Snarl - Tasmanian Devil

Claw Jaw - Squid

Razorclaw - Fiddler Crab

Snapper - Snapping Turtle

Spittor - Frog

Transquito - Mosquito

Jetstorm - Dragonfly

Buzzsaw - Yellow Jacket 

Insecticon - Stag Beetle

Powerpinch - Earwig

Retrax - Pill Bug 

Vok

Pakak Destroyed by Transwarp Weapon

Tonrar Destroyed by Transwarp Weapon 

Tikaani Destroyed by Transwarp Weapon 

Other Cybertronian

Protoform X In statis Pod

Department of Justice (Mentioned)

Fallen Protoform Pods (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue marks the end of the IDW Beast Wars series. However the ending caption implies that the story may continue in the future, and even ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger...so...maybe the new publisher will be good to us?
• Dinobot mentions that the army gathered by the Vok are made from every other Protoform, but there doesn't seem to be enough for that to be the case, plus we clarly see the Protoform X pod in the cliffhanger.
• The new Children of the Vok we see this issue are made from the early figures of the original Beast Wars toyline.
• Polar Claw and Saberback are seen during the wide shots of the battle, but both of them died in issue 15...maybe they're just repaints?
• Something to note, the Children's eyes change from the green of the Vok to their normal colours after the Vok die, implying they may have been being mind controlled.
• We never learn who Tarantulas contacted on Cybertron...maybe it'll be picked up in a sequel series?
• Armordillo finally makes.his appearance, after being shown in the Beast Wars Annual...but he is just a one panel cameo, and possibly does offpanel from Megatron's blast.
• The floating islands around the planet are revealed to be weapons of the Vok's, the one shown here being a "reversion device", intended to wipe out all life from the planet, much like the Planet Buster from the cartoon. 
• This issue features a couple instances of fourth wall breaking, with the Vok wondering if another universe put their planet wiping devices on a moon and Waspinator commenting on how they can clearly hear the Vok, from outside the ship.
• Snapper appears in this issue, who was the basis for the new character for this series, Skold.
• Inferno joins the Predacons in the closing pages of this issue after losing his previous "queen's" (The Vok), much like he did in the cartoon, where he joined after his Pod was destroyed (he considered it his colony)
• Megatron got very lucky he wasn't transported a couple of cycles later, he may have rematerialized inside the wall of the cave he landed in. That would have been painful.
• The end of this issue includes letters from the main artist and writer for the series, which includes some hints at what plans for the series would have entailed, should it have had a longer life. (Though most of them honestly could still fit in a sequel series)

IDW - Transformers: Beast Wars #15

Title: Children of the Vok

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Winston Chan

Colours by: Ellie Wright

Letters by: Nathan Widick & Jake Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: Jazmine Joyner

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Plot

Optimus Primal and Megatron wake up in a cave, behind powerful forcefields, guarded by several unfamiliar Transformers, all of whom worship the Vok as god's, and order the other Transformers to either leave the planet, or go offline to stop tampering in the Vok's experiments.

After a while, Optimus figures out that the forcefields don't work when he is in beast mode, and manages to escape, forging a truce with Megatron to get to safety. The Vok witness this from subspace, and decide to test this new truce with an attack...

Outside, the two Transformers are ambushed by the Vok's followers, with Megatron quickly killing Polar Claw and Saberback in the process.

Soon, one of the Vok, Palak possesses the dead body of Polar Claw, and orders the fighting to stop, and demands for them to pay for all the damage they have done to the Vok's experiments. Optimus tries to explain what happened, and how they arrived on the planet by accident, but Megatron simply blasts the corpse of Polar Claw, to show that the Vok are not truly gods.

Unfortunately for Megatron, the Vok decide to reveal their true forms following this, terrifying the Predacon leader, and they proceed to attempt to snuff out Megatron's spark. Optimus stops them, stating that he needs to be tried for his crimes, and not just murdered, shocking the Vok.

Optimus suggests that they could learn more about the Transformers by having the Maximals and Predacons join forces to face off with their Children, which intrigues the curious gods, they give them seven cycles to prepare themselves, but neither group really believe the normal Transformers have a chance at defeating gods...

Characters

Maximal

Optimus Primal - Gorilla

Predacon

Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tarantulas - Tarantula (Mentioned)

Children of the Vok

Tigatron - White Tiger

Airazor - Falcon

Inferno - Fire Ant

Polar Claw - Polar Bear Killed by Megatron

Saberback - Stegosaurus Killed by Megatron

Vok

Tonrar

Tikaani

Pakak

Notes

• Still no sign of Armordillo, who was revealed in the Annual special backmatter...maybe he's just another one of the Vok's many kids?
• Optimus is shown to still be under the effects of the Red Energon at the start of this issue, but quickly gets through its effects within a couple of pages...was there really no point to that plot line?
• On the subject of the red Energon, the Vok are angry that the Transformers tampered with it in the first place...but they clearly left it in an open field, which must have been relatively close to the Predacon base...what did they think would happen?
• Joining Polar Claw and Saberback as Children of the Vok are Tigatron, Airazor and Inferno, The remaining three major characters from the Beast Wars cartoon's Season One, who haven't otherwise appeared in the series yet.
• The forcefields not working on Transformers in their beast modes is quite similar to the Vehicon scanners not picking up on the Maximals in beast mode in the Beast Machines cartoon.
• The end of this issue, with the Maximals and Predacons being forced to join forces to face off against the Vok, was spoiled in the preview for issue 16 in the Annual, which was released before this issue came out.

IDW - Transformers: Beast Wars #13

Title: The Speedway of Central Consciousness

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Winston Chan

Colours by: Sidvenblu

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: Jazmine Joyner

Supervising Editor: David Mariotte

Plot

The Maximals and Predacons battle it out on an Energon crystal field, but at one point an errant blast hits one of the crystals, knocking out Cheetor...

Cheetor wakes up on Cybertron, before the launch of the Axalon, but still remembers the events of the Beast Wars. Upon waking up, he is asked by multiple people about how Protoforms are modified, confusing the former racer, but eventually he remembers the explosion, and thinks that he's just dreaming following the trauma.

Soon, one of the Vok, Pakak, appears before him in a dark version of his own form and tries to force him to give up the information for him to use on the Protoforms in the real world, since he cannot unlock the information, for now. During his torture, Cheetor realizes that Palak needs him to live to get the information, which further infuriates Pakak.

The Vok offers Cheetor a deal, if he can win in a race against him, he will be awoken, but if Cheetor loses, he has to give up the information. Cheetor agrees, but soon regrets it when Pakak changes his form to Blurr's, the greatest racer in history.

After a close race, Cheetor manages to win, but Pakak reveals that he didn't care, as their race was along circuitry inside of Cheetor's own mind, allowing him to access the information he wanted. Pakak still frees Cheetor from his mind as a reward to winning, but causes a hard reboot of his systems upon reawakening, just after Cheetor mentions the word "Vok" to Optimus Primal and Rhinox, before returning to Subspace for their master plan with the Protoforms...

Characters

Maximal

Optimus Primal - Gorilla

Cheetor - Cheetah (Race Car in Dream)

Rhinox - Rhino

Rattrap - Rat

Nyx - Bat

Dinobot - Velociraptor

CatSCAN - Car (Dream Only)

Science Ministry (Mentioned)

Predacon

Megatron - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Skorponok - Scorpion

Tarantulas - Tarantula

Skold - Alligator Snapping Turtle

Waspinator - Wasp 

Vok

Pakak - Cheetah (as Cheetor), Race Car (as Blurr)

Other Vok (Mentioned)

Other Cybertronian

Cheetor's Fans (Dream Only)

Random Cybertronians (Dream Only)

Blurr - Race Car (Disguise Used in Dream) Implied Dead

Other Racers (Flashback Only)

Afterburner - Speedbike (Mentioned) Implied Dead

Rev (Mentioned)

Crashed Protorform Pods (Mentioned)

Notes

• CatSCAN's design is based on a version of the Transtech version of Cheetor, rather than using Cheetor's Cybertronian node from this series, to better differentiate the characters this issue.
• The shorter of Cheetor's fans seems to use a modified version of Swerve's Titans Return design.
• I really hope we get a Pakak repaint of Cheetor from his appearance this issue... They could just call him Nemesis Cheetor for marketing if they need to!
• Pakak indirectly mentions that Blurr is dead by the present day in this issue. Similarly, an "Afterburner Memorial Speedway" implies that the Technobot is dead too.
• The "Tiwaz Maneuver" mentioned a few times this issue is just a red herring, from Cheetor's days as an athlete, but due to its repeated use, I'm going to guess it'll reappear later in the series.

IDW - Beast Wars #2

Title: Savage Landing, Part 2

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Josh Burcham

Letters by: Jake M. Wood

Assistant Editor: Riley Farmer

Editor: David Mariotte

Supervising Editor: Tom Waltz

Plot

Rhinox is studying the layout of the planet they're found themselves crashed on, but can't understand how this world works and ends up having an argument with Rattrap over his consumption of some of the local fruit. Unknown to thyem however, they are being watched by a trio of Vok, who are themselves trying to figure out what is going on. The trio transport themselves to the Predacons next, and realize that they are rival factions and could cause damage to their experiments on the planet.

In lieu of cleansing the planet of the invasion, the Vok decide to watch the newcomers to see what happens...

Terrorsaur thinks someone is watching them, but decides he's just going stir-crazy so he goes out for a flight. Scorponok goes to see Megatron to see if he needs help deciphering the stolen Golden Disk, but the Predacon leader flat-out refuses, stating he doesn't want to be disturbed.

Elsewhere, at the Axalon's crash site, Nyx is working on the hull, when Optimus approaches her to say she should take a flight break, which she eagerly accepts, having wanted to try out her new wings since she got them.

Back at the Predacon ship, Dinobot tries to get a situation update from Tarantulas about the local environment and any dangers it contains, but the scientist tells him that it's not his job, and he's more interested in the globules of Unspace that Skold detected on the ship, much to Dinobot's annoyance.

Out on her flight, Nyx is exploring the environment. She tries contacting the Axalon to report the strange landmarks etc, but is soon attacked by Terrorsaur, who easily out-manoeuvres her, shooting her out of the sky in the process. Later, Megatron is still trying to decrypt the Golden Disk when he is interrupted by a returning Terrorsaur, carrying the uncious Nyx in his arms, saying he'll be interested in this.... 

Characters

Maximal

Optimus Primal - Gorilla

Rhinox - Rhino

Cheetor - Cheetah

Rattrap - Rat

Nyx - Bat Shot and Captured by Terrorsaur

Predacon

Megatron - Tyrannosaurs Rex

Dinobot - Velociraptor

Tarantulas - Tarantula

Waspinator - Wasp

Terrorsaur - Pteranodon

Scorponok - Scorpion

Skold - Alligator Snapping Turtle

Vok

Pakak

Tokaani

Tonrar

Notes

• Continuing from last issue's remake of the first episode of the Beast Wars cartoon. This issue continues the story, leading up the end of the battle between Waspinator and Cheetor, but now retold with Terrorsaur and Nyx (and ending with Nyx being captured instead)
• The Predacon's ship hasn't been named in the series yet, so I'm just going to assume they haven't named it yet (since it was stolen anyway)
• Whilst the reveal of the Vok was left for the finale story of Beast Wars Season One, and their real forms were left until the finale of the series in general. Here we see them in full early on.
• The planet's patchwork environments are a direct reference to the original series' varied landscapes, all within easy walking distance of eachother.
• Megatron's rubber ducky returns, though he's using it as a stress toy, rather than a bathtub toy here.