IDW - Escalation

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Roller - Attack Buggy

Prowl - Police Car

Ratchet - Ambulance

Ironhide - Van (Injured in explosion)

Jazz - Porsche

Sunstreaker - Sports Car (Captured by Skywatch)

Wheeljack - Race Car

Bumblebee - VW Beetle

Nightbeat - Cybertronian Car

Hardhead - Self Propelled Tank

Hot Rod - Cybertronian Car

Dinobots Stasis Lock

Ultra Magnus (On Communicator)

Jetfire (On Communicator)

Springer (On Communicator)

Blades (On Communicator)

Decepticon

Megatron - Gun (formerly Cybertronian Tank)

Astrotrain - Space Shuttle/Train

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Thundercracker - F-22 Jet

Skywarp - F-22 Jet

Starscream - F-22 Jet (Mentioned)

Runabout - Pontiac Solstice

Runamuck - Pontiac Solstice

Ravage - Cassette

Laserbeak - Cassette

Sixshot - Tank/Jet/Car/Gun/Winged Wolf

Scorponok Dismembered Head Only

Shockwave - Ray Gun Stasis Lock

Bludgeon (Mentioned)

Soundwave (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Nova Prime - Cybertronian Truck (In Infraspace)

Human

Verity Carlo

Hunter O'Nion (Captured by Machination)

Jimmy Pink

Abraham Dante (Machination)

Drake (Machination)

Weiss (Machination)

Creel (Machination)

Senator Alexander Holt (Facsimile)

General Deacon (Facsimile)

Georgi Koska (Facsimile) Killed in Orbital Jump

Alexi (Brasnyan)

Breski (Russian)

Todorof (Russian)

Joshua Red (Skywatch)

Professor Goring (Archaeologist)

Clive (Archaeologist)

Major Arkurin (Mentioned, Skywatch)

Other

The Reapers

Headmaster Bodies

Storyline

Drake's team are staking out the Autobot base and waiting for one of them to leave so they can capture them, and performing test runs in a VR world whilst they wait. On Ark-19 Ratchet tells the humans that they're being taken home on Prowl's orders, much to the disappointment to all the others (bar Sunstreaker of course). At the Oregon Bunker, Megatron learns about Ore-13 and decides to use it for himself. Back at Ark-19 the Autobots say goodbye to their human friends, with Ironhide and Sunstreaker actually driving them. Prowl tells Optimus that the humans are gone now, which Optimus is glad of, since he wants them out of harms way now. Optimus tells Prowl that Jetfire has found out that Soundwave and Shockwave have both been on Earth before now, and that he wondered where they were now. Megatron gathers his Decepticons and tells them that things are going back to proper procedure now, and they are in Phase Two now, and that they are to activate the Facsimiles now. On the highway Ironhide and Sunstreaker are being followed by Drake's team, they get split up and Sunstreaker is attacked, leaving just a burning wreck behind, leaving Ironhide, Jimmy and Verity shocked.

Nine months ago in DC, General Deacon meets with Senator Holt whilst Runabout watches them, and targets Holt. Back in the present just East of St Louis Optimus and the Autobots are on route to recover Sunstreaker's already confiscated body from the humans. Ironhide explains everything that happened from his point of view all whilst Verity is having a break down in the toilets. Megatron starts sending out his Decepticons to cause disrupt in several places across the planet. Elsewhere Ironhide explains to the humans what Facsimiles are, since he believes the humans who attacked Sunstreaker are Facsimiles as well. At an impound lot in Springfield Jazz and Wheeljack break in after finding the security guard dead, they enter the pound and find the Machination operatives there trying to steal Sunstreaker's body, they use a device that hurts the two Autobots and escape and then causes an explosion at the pound, stopping them from following. The driver gets away, but is stopped by Optimus. Sunstreaker's body is returned to Ark-19, where Ratchet reveals that it's not Sunstreaker, but a good replica. Optimus is worried now since if it wasn't the Decepticons who did this, then that means the humans know of them. Jimmy and Verity are watching the news in their area of the ship when Ironhide lets them know that "Sunstreaker" was a fake, which means that Hunter might still be alive as well. On the news, Alexander Holt is said to be a presidential hopeful (that guy who is likely to be a Facsimile from earlier remember)

Megatron meets with one of the Facsimiles, Georgi Koska, in Brasnya, where he transforms into his new handheld gun mode and allows Koska to wield him, he then attacks a fuel line and sends the Decepticons into hiding, to wait. At Ark-19 Optimus has called in for reinforcements , which Prowl doesn't like (since Opitmus is taking over his command). In Brasnya, the two factions of humans begin to battle again, after their enemies coming into Brasnya to check on the fuel line, with Koska using Megatron as his personal weapon, and causing a lot of havok. Back at Ark-19 Ratchet meets with the humans, who are looking over the decoy's remains, where Jimmy uses his skills to determine that the decoy was made from an Ultra-lite alloy, which is only sold to three domestic suppliers, so using that they can work out who made the decoy and trace it. Optimus and Prowl have noticed the disputes in Brasnya and discover that Megatron is there and in his gun mode, so they know that Ore-13 is being utilized. Some of the Autobots arrive in Brasnya via an orbital jump and take on vehicle modes again for disguise, Optimus converts his trailer to it's command deck mode. Blitzwing gets Opitmus in a his sights and prepares to fire on him. In orbit, Ark-32 arrives with Nightbeat, Hardhead and Hot Rod on board, ready to join the battle. On Ark-19 Ratchet and the humans decide to go to find out which of the suppliers that sell the Ultra-lite alloy to work out who made the decoy. Ironhide says he wants to come as well.

Hunter is being operated on at the Machination base, and he's knocked out. Ironhide and the others arrive at a supplier in For Wayne, Indiana and the humans break into it. In Brasnya Optimus is driving alone, Blitzwing takes aim, but Optimus has Roller attack the Decepticon first. The Autobots attack Koska in vehicle mode, but he's protected by the Decepticons (actually protecting Megatron). Hot Rod and Hardhead orbital jump into Brasnya and joins the fight. Ratchet and Ironhide monitor Jimmy and Verity as they investigate the supply warehouse and they find a hidden area not on the schematics. Back in Brasnya, the humans are getting confused by all the random vehicles fighting, especially the space shuttle (Astrotrain). Hot Rod accidentally rams into Prowl as he's chasing Koska, when suddenly all the human originating transmissions all go dead in the area, Nightbeat tellls Optimus from orbit, and Optimus is challenged by Megatron in robot mode. Back at Fort Wayne, Jimmy and Verity are rummaging through the office they found and accidentally set off a security system that releases knock-out gas and sets off a timer for 10 minutes.

In Tampa, Florida Mr Dante meets with a decapitated Transformer (later revealed to be Shockwave) in a Machination base and tells him that everything is going to plan. In Brasnya Optimus and Megatron begin to fight all out, with Optimus managing to destroy Megatron's cannon as well, so Optimus and Megatron proceed to fight hand to hand. The other Transformers fight it out amongst themselves with the local humans just watching on in wonder. Prowl and Hot Rod go after Koska, who's wandering over to the Russians, who will likely kill him on sight, thus meaning they can't analyse him. Back in Fort Wayne, Ironhide gets worried about Jimmy and Verity and so Ironhide rams into the building and sends his Holo-Avatar to look for the humans, he finds them and sees the timer as well, getting closer to 0 with each second. In Brasnya Optimus is losing the fight with Megatron, whilst Prowl and Hot Rod are still chasing Koska, though Hot Rod manages to catch him and holds him close. Optimus is knocked offline and Megatron starts to gloat. In Eureka, Nevada Professor Goring's archaeological site has been seized by Skywatch, as they continue to unearth Shockwave and the Dinobots.

Megatron stands above Optimus' badly damaged and seemingly deactivated body which leads the Autobots to attack him. Hot Rod is charged with keeping Koska safe. Optimus is in Infraspace, thanks to his trailer sending his mind there instead of him dying, where Optimus sees the face of Nova Prime. Back in Fort Wayne, Ironhide is trying to rescue the humans, but it's taking too long. In Brasnya the Autobots are going full out against Megatron, but aren't doing much damage to him. Hot Rod prepares to leave the planet with Koska thanks to Nightbeat, when the Decepticons start attacking him. In Fort Wayne, Ironhide manage to rescue the humans, but Ironhide is caught up in the explosion that was triggered, and is knocked out. In Brasnya again, Optimus wakes up and shoots Megatron at point blank in the face, which Hot Rod is caught by an orbital jump beam, which is damaged by Decepticon fire, causing him major damage and destroying Koska. Megatron calls for a retreat since his Ore-13 supply starts to destabilize, and he escapes inside Skywarp. Ratchet watches as the humans take away Ironhide's body to get crushed with the humans in his back, Verity still holding a Machination card she found in the shop. In Tampa, Hunter is taken to see the disembodied head and told that Sunstreaker will act as a template for Headmaster soldiers, and that Hunter will become one of those soldiers. Meanwhile, in Washington Joshua Red, head of Skywatch checks in on Ravage and Laserbeak, two of their finds from the 80's and confirms that the Transformers are on Earth now thanks to a Russian spy.

In Oregon Megatron comes out of the CR Chamber fully repaired and tells Astrotrain to summon Sixshot to Earth. Meanwhile on Mumu-Obscura the Reapers decide to follow Sixshot to help him destroy the planet as well.

Notes

• It's been at least a few days since the end of Infiltration
• Sunstreaker designed a computer game with himself as the star
• Despite being on Earth Optimus is still acting as Supreme Commander by having a communications Hub on the base
• The Autobots don't tend to get involved with the indigenous people of a planet because they prefer to work alone and not become attached to the people they're meant to protect
• Though not stated anywhere, Senator Holt is clearly a Facsimile as well
• Mass Displacement creates a great amount of energy discharge (though Soundwave transforming doesn't cause it in his Spotlight)
• Optimus destroys Megatron's arm cannon in this comic, but he gets a new one by Devastation...maybe he has a chest full of them?
• Skywatch is introduced here, and remain a part of the series until at least the end of the 2011 series
• Megatron can fire lasers out of his mouth...O.O

My Thoughts

Art

The artwork in this comic is similar to that of Infiltration (same artist after all)

Story

The story continues the plot started in Infiltration and adds to the continuity gradually

Continuity

The New Avengers/Transformers crossover story takes place during this comic series (unless you discount it). This story takes place after the end of Infiltration and before Devastation. Nightbeat was summoned to Earth by Optimus in his Spotlight issue, and Shockwave and the Dinobots were buried in Shockwave's Spotlight. Sixshot's storyline is continued on from his Spotlight, and Ravage and Laserbeak's presence are explained in Spotlight: Soundwave.

Other

I like how this series introduces three rather random characters (Hot Rod, Nightbeat and Hardhead) to the main cast. Nightbeat is understandable as Simon Furman likes to use the character, but the other two are quite wild card choices.

IDW - Stormbringer

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Jetfire - Jet

Nosecone - Drill Tank

Afterburner - Speedbike

Lightspeed - Car

Strafe - Jet

Scattershot - Jet

Springer - Helicopter/Rocket Car

Roadbuster - Gun Mounted Vehicle

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Twin Twist - Drill Tank

Topspin - Jet

Broadside - Jet

Sandstorm - Jet

Scoop - Front End Loader

Searchlight - Speeder

Dogfight - Jet

Bluster - Acoustic Tank

Smokescreen - Speeder

Siren - Car

Pincher

Crosshairs - Car

Groundbreaker

Overdrive - Car

Downshift - Car

Gunrunner - Jet

Kick-Off

Sureshot - Car

Pointblank - Car

Override - Speedbike

Backstreet - Car

Bluestreak - Speeder

Perceptor (Hologram Only)

Swerve (Hologram Only)

Omega Supreme - Space Shuttle (Flashback Only)

Decepticon

Thunderwing - Space Shuttle Comatose

Bludgeon - Tank

Iguanus - Speedbike

Skullgrin - Tank

Finback - Hovercraft

Bomb-Burst - VTOL Jet

Megatron - Tank

Darkwing - Jet

Dreadwind - Jet

Ruckus - Buggy Killed by Thunderwing

Skullcruncher Killed by Thunderwing

Thrust - Jet

Crankcase - Van Killed by Thunderwing

Roadgrabber - Jet Killed by Thunderwing

Razorclaw - Drill Tank

Rampage - Armoured Vehicle

Tantrum - Armoured Vehicle

Headstrong - Armoured Vehicle

Divebomb - Jet

Windsweeper - Jet

Carnivac

Blast Off - Space Shuttle

Triggerhappy - Jet

Spinister - Helicopter

Barrage

Quake - Tank

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank (Hologram Only)

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck (Hologram Only)

Trypticon - Battle Platform (Flashback Only)

Other

Nebulans Killed by Thunderwing

Storyline

Whilst orbiting Cybertron, Jetfire and the Technobots detect a potent energy signature on the dead world and examine it from orbit, determining that it's a hybrid Energon (Ore-13) and think that it's a natural occurrence after the planet's been bombarded with debris for years since it was abandoned. They decide to take a look on the planet to make sure, despite it being an off-limits area now, they arrive in the Thunderhead Pass, where Thunderwing started his rampage and caused Cybertron to accelerate its death, and they commented that they never found his body. Optimus remembers the final battle with Thunderwing, and how he worked with Megatron to stop Thunderwing. Back in the present, Searchlight gives Optimus a message from Ironhide about the situation of Earth, and tells him to keep a monitor on the situation, whilst Optimus is still preoccupied with the Thunderhead Pass Incident. Back on Cybertron the team begin their scans for the Energon, when Jetfire remembers how Thunderwing had warned everyone about the planet's imminent destruction, but no one would listen to him. The team launches a probe into the orbit to take scans, when suddenly they are attacked by a group of cloaked Decepticons, who knock out the team and take them to their base. Nosecone and Afterburner, who are still on the Calabi-Yau (their ship) suddenly detect some missiles from the planet and launch a distress buoy, just as the missiles hit. Back on the planet, Jetfire wakes up underground and sees Bludgeon and his crew worshipping the inert form of Thunderwing.

Jetfire calls his captors insane for having anything to do with Thunderwing after what he did to the planet before, whilst Bludgeon counters that they destroyed Cybertron with the war, Thunderwing just accelerated it. Bludgeon then reveals that they are continuing his work by creating the Pretender shells, and Bludgeon brags that the Calabi-Yau was destroyed in orbit, unaware that Nosecone and Afterburner survived by riding part of the ship down to Cybertron. Back at the Hub, Searchlight tells Optimus that they've received a distress signal from the Calabi-Yau, and can't pick them up any more. Optimus tells Searchlight to tell the Wreckers to go to Cybertron to help him deal with it.

On Varas Centralus in the Kol System, the Wreckers are fighting the Decepticons of the planet, but aren't doing so well, when Springer is given Optimus' message and pulls out his team to head back home. On Cybertron, Bludgeon begins the awakening process for Thunderwing, but Jetfire fights back, trying to stop them but fails. Springer contacts Optimus on route to Cybertron, and says that he wants to destroy the planet if it will destroy Thunderwing once and for all (it's been assumed that the energy signature from Thunderhead Pass was Thunderwing). Optimus says that he'll take it under advisement. Optimus remembers when Megatron said basically the same thing in the past, and how he was unsure about his decision even then. On Cybertron, Nosecone and Afterburner watch as Thunderwing takes off and heads off into space, but start to fail due to a lack of forcefields, and are then approached by some of the old Centurion robots that Bludgeon reactivated. On Nebulos the Decepticon Infiltration team pick up on a signal approaching the planet, and witness Thunderwing's arrival on the poor unsuspecting planet.

Thunderwing begins to destroy Nebulos on Bludgeon's orders, as Bludgeon comments on his plans to use him to destroy all other planets and to rebuild Cybertron under their control, and how he plans to use the Pretender Process to give him and his team new protective shells. Elsewhere on Cybertron Nosecone and Afterburner are rescued from the Centurions by the newly arrived Wreckers and Optimus' team. The Autobots all head down into Bludgeon's base, which is revealed to be an old border fortification from the war days. Back on Nebulos the Decepticons decide to join in the fight against Thunderwing, as if the planet they are charged with is totally destroyed then Megatron would be angered. The Autobots break into the base and start killing the Decepticons. Iguanus goes to warn Bludgeon, but finds him inside his Pretender Shell, and acting out of character. Back on Nebulos, Thunderwing easily defeats the Decepticons, and proceeds to Ionize the atmosphere (doing what it did to Cybertron), Darkwing, Dreadwind and Thrust escape through the atmosphere before it's too late. Back on Cybertron again the Autobots go into the lab and find Bludgeon literally tearing his face off out of madness, proving that the Pretender Process is still a failure, and find Iguanus dead next to him, having been sliced up. Jetfire tells them that the Axis Cradle is what Bludgeon used to control Thunderwing, so Springer destroys it, just before Jetfire says that that was the only way to stop the Decepticon.

Razorclaw reports what happened to Nebulos to Megatron on Earth, who tells Razorclaw to destroy any world that Thunderwing goes to in order to destroy the beast, even if it's Cybertron itself. Back on the planet Broadside picks up on Thunderwing's signature, heading to Cybertron.

Thunderwing heads back home to Cybertron on an basic instinct and the Autobots prepare for his arrival. Elsewhere, Razorbeast orders his crew on the Thanatos to track down Thunderwing, and find him heading back to Cybertron. Razorclaw is hesitant to destroy the planet however. Once back on the planet Thunderwing starts to remember the events around the incident in the past and how Megatron disregarded his plans etc, leaving him to rage in the present day, and starts a rampage on the planet once again. The Autobots begin to attack the Decepticon, but are no match. Razorclaw watches from his ship and sends down some teams to help the Autobots in fighting the crazed Decepticon, but still keeping the orbital barrage active, just in case. The battle is going badly, until the Decepticons arrive and help out, and during the battle Thunderwing switches to his Ultra Mode, Razorclaw has his troops pull out of the planet and Optimus does a continuous blast on the Decepticon to stop him and manages to stop him in his tracks and knocks him out with just one second left on the Decepticon's timer. Optimus has Jetfire examine the Ultra Energon/Ore-13 and find out where it came from, and says that he's worried that things could get worse from here on out. Later Jetfire reports to Optimus that Bludgeon was put in charge of looking into Shockwave's Regenesis project, which was what created the Ultra Energon,a nd that he found it on Earth and transported it back to Cybertron off the radar. Upon learning this, Optimus decides to head to Earth to meet with Prowl's team and investigate the Ultra Energon himself as well.

Notes

• All of the alternate modes in this comic are Cybertronian/Alien.
• Jetfire's character model is based on/was the basis for his Classics toy, otherwise all the characters here have new character models, like in Infiltration.
• The Autobot Orbital Command Hub is above Planet Opulus.
• Due to Blaster being currently lost in space, the guy in the Hub is his cousin "Bluster"
• The Transformers are only able to walk on Cybertron thanks to specially made forcefields due to the storms caused by the planet losing it's atmosphere.
• The Pretender process is called the Polydermal Abrasion Grafting Process here...it sounds gross, but is does protect them from radiation etc!
• There's a brief scene where a light that looks like the Matrix is found in Optimus' chest, but this is impossible since Nova Prime still has the Matrix. So the light must have been Optimus' Spark or something showing instead.
• Bludgeon's team's character models are based on a combination of their inner robot modes and Pretender Shells from the G1 line.
• The Wreckers are introduced into the IDW continuity here, and would reappear multiple times over the years.
• Nebulos has been destroyed, or at least mostly destroyed in this comic by Thunderwing...that can't be good for Cybertronian relations with the rest of the galaxy!
• Despite Optimus having Ark-27 take him to Earth to help Prowl and the others, he doesn't have any of it's crew go down to the planet with him, DESPITE him sending for Nightbeat, Hot Rod and Hardhead as reinforcements in the next story!
• The Autobot Battlecruiser used by the Wreckers, the Xantium looks like it could transform into a large robot (akin to Fortress Maximus) but this has never been shown, and it's been heavily implied that the ship was destroyed during Megatron's big push in All Hail Megatron, so we'll never know.

My Thoughts

Art

This story has fantastic artwork, it shows a lot of characters in their pre-earth modes, and of course, since parts of it were set on ships and space stations there are a lot of cameos of characters, who even now haven't made a full appearance yet.

Story

The story was quite strong as well, it works well to show that there's more to the Civil War than what was happening on Earth, and also explains that happened to Cybertron, and sets up a couple of future plot points, such as Thunderwing's involvement in the Expansion conflict, and helping to explain the Ore-13 found on Earth.

Continuity

This story is set at the same time as Infiltration, as can be seen from a few crossover points, like Optimus getting Ironhide's message and Razorclaw talking to Megatron. This comic leads directly into the last page of Infiltration.

Other

The character designs in this comic are different to the ones seen in Megatron: Origin, but honestly I don't care about that, it's a great book and a little visual continuity error is hardly uncommon for a comic series!

IDW - Infiltration

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Prowl - Police Car

Ratchet - Ambulance

Ironhide - Van

Bumblebee - VW Beetle

Jazz - Porsche

Wheeljack - Race Car

Sunstreaker - Sports Car

Decepticon

Megatron - Cybertronian Tank

Starscream - F-22 Jet

Thundercracker - F-22 Jet

Skywarp - F-22 Jet

Runamuck - Pontiac Solstice

Runabout - Pontiac Solstice

Blitzwing - Jet/Tank

Astrotrain - Train/Space Shuttle

Razorclaw - Drill Tank (Offscreen Only)

Human

Verity Carlo

Hunter O'Nion

Jimmy Pink

Stoker/Finklerock (Machination) Killed by Battlechargers

Lindy Simmons and her crew

Abraham Dante (Machination)

Mr Drake (Machination)

Miss Svenson (Machination)

Mr Jolly (Machination)

Storyline

Verity chooses her next target in Phoenix, Arizona and catches the same bus as him, stealing his palm computer once he falls asleep, and pretending to be sick to get off the bus once she stole it, unaware that her target, Stoker, is being followed by the Battlechargers, Runabout and Runamuck. The two Decepticons contact Starscream at the Oregon base, telling him that they have killed Stoker, but he doesn't have the palm computer on him. Starscream tells them to find it. Elsewhere, Verity hitches a ride with Hunter in his van, where he tells her that he believes that aliens are amongst them, when she mocks him he tries to explain what he means when he sees the bus Verity was on, now crashed up ahead. The driver tells them that everyone's okay, and the two humans continue their journey, whilst Hunter explains that he thinks the aliens on Earth are robots, Verity starts laughing, but stops when Thundercracker (in jet mode) appears above the van and causes a sonic boom. Starscream tells him to get the device and kill the humans. Thundercracker destroys Hunter's van, and the two humans run away from the attacking jet, when Ratchet appears in Ambulance mode and attacks the F-22. Ratchet tells the two humans to get inside the Ambulance if they want to live.

Ratchet and the humans are racing away from Thundercracker, when Hunter suddenly realises that Ratchet's one of the aliens, suddenly the Battlechargers appear alongside him and attacks the Ambulance in car mode, Ratchet fights back, and manages to chase off the Battlechargers and Thundercracker. Once the Decepticons are chased off, Verity tells Ratchet to take them to Riverside, where her friend Jimmy is located (as he's a mechanic and can help fix the Ambulance). Hunter finds the palm computer is Verity's bag, and turns it on, unknowingly alerting the Decepticons to their location. Hunter shows an image of Starscream transforming that's on the device and Ratchet says that this is bad news. Verity goes outside in a hissy fit for Hunter taking the device, but quickly comes back inside when the Battlechargers arrive, the two Decepticons tear open the wall and tell the humans to give up the device.

Ratchet, in his Holo-Avatar form pretends to give the device to Runabout, but ends up electrocuting him, being transforming himself and attacking Runamuck. Ratchet transforms again and tells the humans to get inside and he'll take them to safety (as Jimmy laments his now totally destroyed garage). Ratchet races away from the garage. Elsewhere, Stoker's dead body is found by the police, and a Machination spy informs his bosses about it. Thundercracker appears behind Ratchet and begins to attack him, whilst the Battlechargers arrive on the scene in their Siege Mode formation and begin ramming through the human's cars to get to Ratchet. Back at their Oregon base, Starscream is ready to start using the Ore-13 Energon substitute found on Earth for his Decepticons. Ratchet manages to escape the Decepticons, and Verity screams at him to stop, she gets out and freaks out, Jimmy goes to calm her down. Hunter starts talking to Ratchet alone, but Verity and Jimmy run back in and tells them to get driving again, as Thundercracker's on the scene again. Ratchet uses a Turbo Booster to get away at full speed, and he drives right towards 3 more Autobots, Ironhide, Prowl and Sunstreaker, who proceed to attack Thundercracker, and chases him off. Prowl tells Ratchet that he's in big trouble, but Ratchet quickly tells him that the Decepticons are in Siege Mode now, leaving Prowl speechless.

A little later, the Autobots have returned to Ark-19, where they have put the humans into a little holding area for their protection, and Verity starts annoying Sunstreaker. Prowl starts to reprimand Ratchet, whilst Ratchet explains everything that happened, from him finding Stoker dead to meeting with Verity and Hunter. Ratchet starts yelling at Prowl and asking why they're even on Earth if not to help the humans. Ironhide asks if Prowl's going to inform Prime or not, Prowl says no. In Arizona the police are looking for information on the dead man (known to them as his alias, Finklerock, when Skywarp and Blitzwing arrive on the scene and destroys his former mobile home. Back at Ark-19, Ratchet visits the humans in their cell, and he expands it to give them more room, Ratchet asks Verity for the computer and she gives it to him, and he starts downloading the data to analyse it. Elsewhere on the ship, Ironhide sends a message to Optimus Prime, defying Prowl's orders. From the device, Ratchet learns that there are two Decepticon bunkers on Earth, one in Oregon and an abandoned one in Nebraska, and that the device has images of both on it. Back in Roverside, Lindy Simmons is reporting on the destruction of the garage when suddenly a tank (Blitzwing) rolls in and blasts it into nothingness, then it transforms to jet mode and takes off with Skywarp, leaving the film crew and Lindy astonished.

The humans volunteer themselves to investigate the Nebraska bunker, but Ratchet is reluctant. Bumblebee sneaks up behind Ratchet and says he agrees with the humans, so they decide to take them there. Back in Phoenix, the bus that Stoker was on is destroyed by Skywarp and Blitzwing, and Starscream orders them to destroy the Nebraska Bunker next, whilst he's fueling himself up with Ore-13.

Verity and the other humans are lowered into the Nebraska Bunker and are communicating with Ratchet and Bumblebee via a radio each. Meanwhile in Dallas, Mr. Drake is introduce to Abraham Dante and the board members of the Machination and is given his mission to hunt down the Autobots and Decepticons. The humans are investigating the Bunker, when Verity finds the corpse of General Deacon inside one of the tubes. Outside, Skywarp and Blitzwing begin attacking the two Autobots, who tell the humans to get out of there. Verity ignores their orders and goes further into the base. The two Autobots transform and fight off the attacking Decepticons, with Ratchet getting badly injured in the process. Back in the bunker Verity walks in on Megatron, who is talking to Razorclaw over a communicator about destroying Cybertron if needed.

Bumblebee helps out Ratchet and tell the humans to leave again, but Hunter won't leave until he finds Verity. Verity is still glaring at Megatron, who just ignores her, more interested in what's happening on Earth in general, so Verity just, nervously films the Decepticon when the roof begins to cave in from the activity above. Verity runs to escape as Megatron is covered in the Earth from above. Jimmy escapes the bunker, but Hunter is still worried about Verity but ends up leaving as well. Back in the Oregon base Starscream gets ready to use the Ore-13. The Autobots rendezvous with the humans, and Verity reaches the exit just as the land starts caving in around it, together they manage to rescue Verity and drive off to safety. Skywarp and Blitzwing hover over the now destroyed base when Megatron punches his way out of the ground and immediately attacks the two traitors for attacking the base whilst he was in there. Ratchet and Bumblebee see this and stop to watch. Blitzwing goes to attack Megatron, but ends up getting beaten down as well. Megatron walks off, ignoring the Autobots, and sets out to find Starscream, to punish him for his actions, and they worry about what Starscream could have done to make Megatron so angry, and inform Prowl and the others.

At the Oregon Bunker, Starscream has taken in the Ore-13 whilst the other Decepticons are worried about Megatron coming here. Starscream just says that he'll take care of Megatron. The Autobots from the Ark and Ratchet travel to Oregon to see what's happening, as Bumblebee watches the Bunker from a distance. Megatron Orbital Jumps to the Bunker and calls out to Starscream to face him. The Battlechargers, Astrotrain and Thundercracker go out to attack Megatron, but put down their weapons out of fear. Starscream however speeds out of the base and attacks Megatron full on. The Autobots arrive and the other Decepticons start to attack them, but stop whilst Megatron and Starscream battle it out. Megatron grabs Starscream and blasts a hole through him, unimpressed by his new-found power. Megatron tells the Battlechargers to take Starscream inside and to attend to his injuries. Megatron looks at Prowl and just tells him that Phase Two has begun. The Autobots leave. Later, the Autobots arrive back at Lake Michigan and dive under the water, unaware that Drake and his team are spying on them for the Machination. Back in the base, Hunter tells Prowl that Optimus has arrived.

Notes

• This comic introduces the Holo-Avatars for the Autobots
• This comic establishes that Starscream's team arrived on Earth in about 2002, with this comic being set in 2005
• The Ark ships are a numbered fleet of identical ships which the Autobots use to travel with. They remain in the series until the events of All Hail Megatron
• Despite being important characters in this storyline, until their deaths, the Battlechargers aren't getting a new G1 toy until next year (2012) thanks to the Collector's Club.
• Transformers have weaponry hidden in their vehicle modes
• The dead guy from in the Facsimile Seed Pod is General Deacon, who later reappears, as a Facsimile in Escalation and Devastation, though his blue Navy uniform here was an error, it should have been green (unless he changed to a different Military branch)
• The Machination are introduced here, they remain as one of the bad guy groups until Maximum Dinobots
• Nicely, this comic hardly features Optimus Prime or Megatron until the end
• Ark-19 is located at the bottom of Lake Michigan
• Lindy Simmons later reappears in Devastation, and finally gets footage of a Transformer

My Thoughts

Art

The artwork in this comic is pretty good, it's not extremely detailed, but still looks good

Story

The story is strong, and does a good job of introducing the reader into the new IDW continuity

Continuity

This is the first comic made for the IDW continuity, but isn't the earliest set comic, with several issues, and parts of issues being set before this one. This comic happens at the same time as Stormbringer, this is shown where Razorclaw is shown talking to Megatron through a communicator, which is shown here, and Optimus receiving Ironhide's message and heading to Earth, again shown here as well.

Other

The character models in this comic have different designs to their traditional ones, and aren't based on any existing toys at the time. It also introduces the three main initial Humans in the series, Verity, Hunter and Jimmy, with Verity and Hunter playing major roles in later stories as well.

IDW - Megatron Origin

Characters

Autobot

Sentinel Prime - Truck Killed by Megatron

Prowl - Speeder

Bumper - Speeder Killed by Megatron

Fastback - Small Truck Killed by Megatron

Blades - Helicopter

Roadbuster - Gun Mounted Vehicle

Whirl - Helicopter

Springer - Helicopter/Rocket Car

Hound - Jeep Injured by Megatron

Jazz - Speeder

Red Alert - Speeder

Bumblebee - Speeder

Hubcap - Speeder

Cliffjumper - Speeder

Orion Pax - Truck

Ultra Magnus - Truck

Elita One - Car

Alpha Trion - Speeder

Gears - Speeder

Windcharger - Speeder

Ironhide - Van

Chromia - Car

Wheeljack - Race Car

Warpath - Tank

Ratchet - Medical Transport

Brawn - Small Truck

Air Raid - Jet

Scrounge

Blaster - Acoustic Tank

Bluestreak - Speeder

Mirage - Race Car

Jetfire - Jet

Broadside - Jet

Trailbreaker - Van Injured by Starscream

Autobot Guards - Tanks

Decepticon (by the end)

Megatron - Armoured Vehicle/Tank

Starscream - Tetrajet

Skywarp - Tetrajet

Thundercracker - Tetrajet

Soundwave - Acoustic Tank

Rumble - Cassette - former Armoured Vehicle

Frenzy - Cassette - former Armoured Vehicle

Ratbat - Cassette

Laserbeak - Cassette

Buzzsaw - Cassette

Ravage - Cassette

Squawkbox - Cassettes

Swindle - Jeep

Hook - Crane

Scrapper - Front End Loader

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Scavenger - Excavator

Hun-Grrr

Razorclaw - Drill Tank

Rampage - Armoured Vehicle

Headstrong - Armoured Vehicle

Tantrum - Armoured Vehicle

Divebomb - Jet

Motormaster - Truck Injured by Sentinel Prime

Dead End - Speeder

Wildrider - Speeder

Drag Strip - Race Car

Thrust - Jet

Onslaught - Anti Aircraft Truck

Runabout - Speeder

Runamuck - Speeder

Crasher - Speeder

Sixshot - Gun/Jet/Tank/Car/Winged Wolf

Kickback

Unaffiliated/Unknown/Other

Council Killed by Starscream/Soundwave

Senator Decimus Killed by Starscream

Senator Ratbat Killed and repurposed by Soundwave

"Worm" Killed by Ratbat

Clench - Truck Killed by Megatron

Cy-Kill - Motorcycle Killed by Megatron

Grimlock - Armoured Vehicle

Slag - Armoured Vehicle

Sunstreaker - Speeder

Sideswipe - Speeder

Grapple - Crane

Inferno - Truck

Betabear Killed in battle

Wheezel - Killed by Constructicons

Skyquake - Jet

Stalker - Armoured Vehicle

Overlord - Tank/Jet

Spinister - Helicopter

Seawing

Slugslinger - Jet

Full-Tilt - Car

Huffer - Truck Cab

Rotorstorm - Helicopter

Monstructor

Darkmount Possibly killed by Starscream/Soundwave

Storyline

The Cybertronian Senate begin to shut down some of their Energon mines, and spark a riot on one of them, Outpost C-12, where Megatron attacks Senator Decimus, and ends up getting a lot of his fellow miner's killed and/or arrested. On the way to Penal Facility H-3 (The Rig) Megatron and the other prisoners stage a coup and take the ship, attacking Decimus' ship as a distraction and hide out in Kaon's underground. Sentinel Prime, who is based in the Security Services HQ in Kaon is told about this by Prowl, but doesn't care about such a small matter, so he ignores it.

Megatron has joined the Gladiator Circuit and makes his first kill against Cy-Kill. Nearby, Senator Ratbat goes about his business and looks at the declining culture of Cybertron, thanks to the mine shut downs etc, where he learns of Megatron and the Gladiators, and takes interest in it. Megatron continues his battles, and ends up killing Clench to take his place as Pit Boss. The Autobots begin to look into the Gladiator battles and decide to close in on them. Bumper and Fastback are sent to monitor on a location, when the Constructicons arrive and start building the next arena there. Megatron and his troops arrive on the scene where they are met by Soundwave who offers to supply them with weapons, thanks to his master Ratbat. The two Autobots monitor this situation, but are noticed by Megatron and the others, and are attacked, and apprehended by them. Megatron kills Fastback on the spot, and Soundwave interrogates Bumper, where they learn about the Autobots looking into them now. Now that's he's given up the information, Megatron kills Bumper for calling him a Psychopath before.

Soundwave continues his clandestine meetings with Megatron, whom is being fixed up after a very rough battle. Soundwave introduces him to Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker, who he welcomes into his new team, but not as Gladiators, but part of his army. Elsewhere, Bumper and Fastback are given a state funeral, where Sentinel declares his intentions for revenge for his fallen soldiers. Elsewhere again, Senator Decimus unveils a statue of himself, which is immediately attacked by Starscream and his troops, and they kidnap the Senator. Megatron's troops are continuing their attacks, and Ratbat starts to think that he made a mistake. Later again, Megatron holds a rally where he has the Gladiators all meet up, and unites them under his new Decepticon faction. Decimus is brought into the arena to be killed, when the Autobots raid the area, taking in all they can as prisoners and rescuing Decimus. Back at Kaon's Security Service HQ Soundwave is pardoned by Ratbat and allowed to go free. Starscream makes a deal with the Autobots to give over Megatron's secrets for his freedom.

Starscream is taken before the Council, where he proceeds to kill them all, along with Soundwave and his cassette army (now including Rumble and Frenzy). The freed Decepticons let out Megatron and the others and takes them to the weapons room, where they outfit their army, and proceed to launch attacks all over Kaon. Sentinel leaves the battlefield to recover his Apex Armour, whilst Soundwave returns to Ratbat's office, where he finds him getting ready to make a run for it. Soundwave proceeds to kill the Senator and places his Spark inside one of his spare cassettes. Sentinel returns to the battle, now donning his armour and turns the tide of the battle to the Autobot's favour. However despite the now over-powered Sentinel being in the battle, Megatron manages to tear through the armour and throws Hound at the Autobot leader, and then proceeds to pummel the leader, whilst the Decepticons look on.

Hubcap manages to get through to Iacon, when Skywarp drops off Sentinel's body to the Autobots, Prowl tells the rest of the Autobots that they're pulling out of Kaon, and returning to Iacon. Megatron looks out at Cybertron and states that he has a few ideas for the future, whilst sitting in a throne made of the Apex Armour.

Notes

• This story was most likely designed originally for the Dreamwave series, but was tweaked to fit in IDW instead. It wasn't clear if this story was in continuity with the IDW series until lately when it was heavily referenced in the Drift series and Chaos Theory.
• The Gladiator battles are made available on the black market video market.
• The war is shown to have been started here in this continuity as being because of a corrupt government, but in All Hail Megatron it's said that it was because of the Matrix.
• Megatron's Gladiator opponent in issue two is based on the Go-Bots character Cy-Kill
• There are A LOT of cameos in this series
• Rotorstorm has a VERY brief cameo in this comic on one of Ratbat's security videos, he later becomes a main character in Last Stand of the Wreckers.
• One of the dead gladiators in issue two bears a striking resemblance to Beast Machines Tankor
• Megatron becomes leader of the gladiator pits by killing Clench, his Aligned counterpart did the same thing in the Exodus novel, by killing his former bosses
• Fastback is clearly meant to be Outback, but was altered when Outback was shown as having died in Spotlight: Kup
• Despite Fastback and Bumper's memorial stones having Cybertronian writing on them, their names are actually written in English.
• Several of the character models used in this comic are different to what they're shown to have been in flashbacks in later comics (such as Ironhide's face shield)
• There's a lot of female Transformers in this comic, despite Arcee claiming to be the only one later...maybe Jhiaxus made more and Arcee just didn't know?
• Nova Prime is seen as a statue here, he is later shown as the main bad guy in the first story arc of the main series
• Soundwave forces Ratbat into serving him by killing him and transplanting his Spark into a spare cassette
• Sentinel Prime's Apex Armour is a reference to the Apex/God Bomber Armour from the Powermaster Optimus Prime mold
• The large Autobot guards seem to share Fortress Maximus' design
• Under Megatron's helmet is an ornate head dress...KEEP IT ON MEGS!!!
• Bumper and Fastback being killed by Megatron for looking into him was also used in Exodus as well.
• Sentinel can change his paint scheme to black for some reason (maybe as an explanation of Nova Prime's later colour change when he became Nemesis Prime?)
• Sunstreaker wants to join the Gladiator battles, but this is never seen again, and Sunstreaker is not seen again after this conversation with Sideswipe, so perhaps he made him change his mind?
• This is one of those rare instances where the Decepticons are the out-right winners by the end of a storyline, normally the Autobots win, or it's an ambiguous result.
• Soundwave has a rub-sign Decepticon insignia to hide his true allegiance
• Due to Straxus being off in the Dead Universe right now, I'm calling his doppelgänger Darkmount, after his recent toy's rename.
• I've included Kickback and Monstructor in the character lists as they were drawn there...but they can't actually be there, since Monstructor is in a different dimension right now, and Kickback isn't even alive yet!

My Thoughts

Art

The artwork is good, but the colouring is quite dark, and sometimes confusing, making it harder to see who people are or what is going on.

Story

This story works very well as a stand alone series, but as part of the main continuity it's a bit confusing, and in need of quite a lot of retconning.

Continuity

This is currently the earliest set IDW comic published. Because of this some characters seeming to be killed (Hound, Inferno, Trailbreaker) make it seem a bit wrong. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe seem quite pally in this comic, despite it later being shown that Sunstreaker was just Sideswipe's superior officer. Despite him saying at a later date that he didn't know who Alpha Trion is, both he and Ironhide are at the funeral scene, near to each other, even though that version of Ironhide was from a point AFTER this issue!

Other

This series uses a lot of the character models based on the ones from Dreamwave's War Within series, and also shows Megatron in an earlier form of an armoured vehicle, before gaining his cannon and becoming a tank.

Titan - Prime Volume 4 #2

Basic Information

Cover Characters: Stock image of Megatron

Cover Date: December 2011

Price: £2.65

Poster: Megatron in front of a Space Bridge

Comic Title: War Story

Script: Robin Etherington

Art: Horacio Domingues

Colour: Perayra Nestor

Lettering: Comicraft

Comic Plot

The Autobots and their human allies are enjoying a rare moment of peace, so Miko ruins the moment by asking Optimus to tell her a war story about Megatron, Optimus agrees as he feels this story is worth telling.

In the past Megatron, Soundwave and a small Decepticon battalion attack an Autobot base, but are ambushed by Optimus' troops. Megatron tells Soundwave to plant a bomb to blow the base up whilst he covers him with gunfire. Optimus manages to blast Soundwave, and Megatron acts to rescue his ally, this inspires the rest of his troops to work harder, and makes Optimus falter, as he thinks Megatron actually cares about his troops (He actually just can't afford to lose any more troops).

Megatron sets off the bomb, and Optimus lets him escape, later Optimus is scolded for his actions by the elders, and some Autobots grow mistrusting of him.

Back in the present day, Optimus tells Miko that he won't let himself be fooled next time, and that he won't hesitate to kill him in the future.

Comic Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Ratchet - Ambulance

Bulkhead - Off-Road Car

Bumblebee - Muscle Car

Arcee - Motorcycle

Flashback Autobots

Decepticon

Megatron - Cybertronian Jet

Soundwave

Starscream (mentioned)

Flashback Deceptions

Human

Miko

Jack

Raf

Comic Notes

• Although they are just generic characters, a lot of the Decepticons and Autobots have some interesting colour schemes that resemble older characters, mostly from the Beast Era in fact!
• The seemingly referenced Beast Era characters are: Scorponok, Sandstorm, Armordillo, Spittor, Terrorsaur, Cheetor, Depth Charge, with the Scorponok and Sandstorm even having the Beast Era heads at least once!
• Talking about generic designs, some of them have some pretty elaborate designs for just generics, such as one having a goatee beard, and another having a Samurai helmet chevron
• This story is somewhat at odds with the continuity set in Exodus where it shows that Optimus was just a soldier for a while, rather than being made the leader almost imediately.
• Though they appear in this comic, Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee do absolutely nothing
• Soundwave talks a lot here, and have a normal face in most panels (taking on his grim reaper abyss face towards the end randomly, maybe it's a battle mask?)
• Megatron doesn't rescue his team mates out of loyalty, just because he's short on generals and soldiers
• Optimus randomly has an opened Speech mark at the start of his last speech bubble...there's no reason for it to be there

Extra Features

Adverts

Competitions

Team Prime - Meet the Humans

The Missing Link! - Complete the picture of Bulkhead killing a Vehicon!

Episode Guide: Volume 1 - Darkness Rising Part 2 + a micro-quiz to test you!

Go Go! Energon Game! - Help Optimus traverse an Energon Minefield

Find Miko! - Help Bulkhead look for Miko in a generic city (or not, up to you!)

Mega-Mouth - Arcee and Megatron host the letters page

Starscream's Wordsearch! - Starscream uses his might to force you to play with him!

Titan - Prime Volume 4 #1

Basic Information

Cover Characters: Optimus Prime

Cover Date: November 2011

Price: £3.99

Poster: DOTM Shockwave in Chicago

Comic Title: The Safe and the Failsafe

Script: Robin Etherington

Art: Jeremy Tiongson

Lettering: Rona Simpson

Comic Plot

Ratchet has completed work on the "Safe" in Autobot Outpost Omega One and the Autobots test it out, although Bulkhead goes a bit too far and actually smashes open the floor, much to Ratchet's annoyance.

Arcee looks into the whole and sees a Nuclear bomb with a timer ticking down, and then are told by Jack and Miko that there are Decepticons approaching the base, having been attracted by the radiation from the exposed warhead.

Optimus, Arcee and Bumblebee head outside to deal with the Vehicons, whilst Bulkhead, Ratchet and the humans stay behind to deal with the warhead. Outside, the Vehicons are dealt with very easily.

Inside the base Raf works out a way to deal with the warhead, since literally disarming it would be too dangerous he decides to trick it's triggering device by making the numbers ascend instead of descend, meaning that it'll never reach 00:00 and blow up.

After the warhead is sorted with Agent Fowler and a team of scientists arrive and explain that they were informed when the bomb was exposed due to a tracking device inside it, and that some higher ups decided to leave the bomb there as a failsafe, just in case the Autobots turned out to be evil. They remove the bomb, and later Ratchet decides to fix up the Safe with Raf's help this time.

Comic Characters

Autobots

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Bumblebee - Muscle Car

Bulkhead - Off Road Car

Arcee - Motorcycle

Ratchet - Ambulance

Decepticons

Vehicons - Sports Cars

Humans

Miko

Raf

Jack

Agent Fowler

Comic Notes

• The DOTM based poster, and the DOTM pull-out including several puzzles implies that these pieces were intended for a 5th issue of DOTM, but it was decided to switch the series to Prime rather last minute (though not as last minute as the decision to drop TFA was!)
• Miko is constantly mis-spelled as Mika
• Raf's glasses are drawn like they were blue lensed shades, unlike how they appear in the series
• The "Safe" isn't an acronym, it's just a safe room to train in
• With the pop up guns and other threats, the Safe is likely a reference to the Danger Room from the X-Men franchise
• This appears to be the first piece of fiction to use the term "Vehicons" for the Decepticon soldiers
• The Autobot's base was fitted with a nuclear bomb in case the Autobots went rogue.....EXTREME MUCH??!?!
• There are at least 87 levels at Omega-One
• The sign on the Safe reads "No one beyond this point who cannot be rebuilt using cogs and gears"...despite the kids having been invited inside......
• Raf suggests having pop-up targets in Megatron's image, similar to those seen in the G1 episode "The Rebirth Part 1"
• Raf hasn't met Megatron by this point as he calls him "that guy Megtaron!" meaning that this must be set before episode 23 of Season One.

Extra Features

Adverts

Competitions

Meet the Autobot Team! - Introduces the main Prime Autobots

The Missing Link! - Solve the puzzle

Megatron's Favourite Words...SEARCH! - A word Search

Episode Guide - Prime - Darkness Rising Part 1

Dark of the Moon Pullout - Including Poster, Puzzles, Megatron & Optimus vs Sentinel feature

Mega-Mouth - Megatron and Arcee take on the letters page

Titan - DOTM Volume 3 #4

Basic Information

Cover Characters: Sentinel Prime

Cover Date: October 2011

Price: £2.50

Poster: Sideswipe in Chicago, Starscream vs the Air Force

Comic Title: Automatic for the People

Script: Robin Etherington

Art: Dario Brizuela

Lettering: Rona Simpson

Comic Plot

Ratchet and Ironhide have been sent to keep a watch on an anti-transformer rally outside the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California, but aren't exactly happy about it. Ratchet and Ironhide try to speak for their people, but the protesters won't listen, and they keep twisting the Autobot's words. Suddenly the Museum is attacked by the Decepticons, Barricade and Starscream. The Autobots start to defend the crowd and begin to sway their opinions in the Autobot's favour.

Starscream, seeing that they're going to lose the fight picks up and throws an oil tanker at the protesters, but Ironhide intercepts it, causing it to explode in mid-air. Starscream grabs the unconscious Ironhide and readies his gun to kill him, suddenly the Protesters pick up their crowbars, wrenches and blowtorches and begin to attack the Decepticons.

The Decepticons comment that those feeble weapons can't hurt them, when Optimus arrives on the scene to help out. Seeing this, the two Decepticons run away. Afterwards Optimus tries to speak with Marcus (head of the protest) but Marcus tells him that he's changed his views to pro-Autobot, but Anti-Decepticon, a sentiment that Ironhide fully condones.

Comic Characters

Autobots

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Ironhide - Pick Up Truck

Ratchet - Emergency Humvee

Decepticons

Starscream - F22 Jet

Barricade - Police Car

Humans

Marcus Castor

Protesters

Comic Notes

• This is the last issue of the DOTM Volume, significantly shorter than the earlier volumes, but this is most likely because the likelihood of a 4th movie is currently unclear, and there's a current TV series they can be earning from instead!
• The title may be a more wordy version of the phrase "Power to the People"
• This comic may have been made to give one last hurrah to Ironhide, who was killed off in DOTM (and constantly refers to him going on suicide runs and stuff too)
• The main plot involving some anti-transformer protests seems to be a holdover from an abandoned plot line for the DOTM movie
• Barricade appears to have his MechTech weapon in use here!
• Ironhide's shirt size is apparently sized XXXXXXXXXL (though big, that's probably not quite big enough for a giant robot still)
• The protester's signs don't all make sense...."What Machines the Machines?" is obviously an homage to "Who Watches the Watchmen?" but it doesn't make sense. or "Earth for Earthliners"...what is an Earthliner??
• The line "And stay out, you psychotic motherboards!" is most likely a Cybertornian-ized version of "Mother Fuckers!" from the context.

Extra Features

Adverts

Competitions

The Lowdown... - Ironhide R.I.P. (yeah...they ACTUALLY put R.I.P.!!)

Sideswipe's Armoury - Wingsuits!! (those things that make Lennox look like a flying squirrel)

Ratchet's Word Search! - Puzzle

Ratchet to the Rescue! - Maze puzzle

Starscream's Stumpers! - Puzzles

Mega-Mouth - Sideswipe and Megatron argue and chat

Relaunch Announcement - Volume 4 is Prime!