IDW - Robots in Disguise #24

Title: Dark Cybertron Chapter 5: Finest Hour

Written by: John Barber and James Roberts

Art by: Robert Gill and Livio Ramondelli

Colours by: Romulo Fajardo, Jr. and Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Nova Prime and Galvatron are coming through the portal in Megatron's chest, but appear to be a little stuck. Nova insists that Shockwave helps them, but he says he's a bit busy, just as the Autobots and Decepticons, now teamed up, arrive and attack them. During the fight, Bumblebee is shocked to see Metalhawk alive, and learns from him that Shockwave has promised him revenge for his death if he helps him out with this mission.

Ironhide and Skywarp work together to stoop Nova Prime from coming through the portal, by Ironhide physically stopping him, and Skywarp going to the controls to disable them. Unfortunately for Skywarp however, his teleporting powers have gone haywire and he keeps going non-corporeal and cannot use the controls. Dreadwing reveals that he's joined Shockwave because he's pormised him victory, unlike Megatron..

Nearby Arcee and Blitzwing are hiding the injured combatants in a small cavern whilst they mine for some of the resurrection ore so they can heal their allies outside.

During the battle Shockwave takes Waspinator's gun, whilch he's deduced can control the Titan, and uses it to command the Titan to attack. Upon his command, the Titan smashes into the city and causes massive damage.

In the Dead Universe Nightbeat greets his old friends and talks about how he's still alive following Hardhead executing him, and he meets Cyclonus, who he performs a cold reading of to learn everything about him, and about his recent experiences with Tailgate. Cyclonus gets mad and threatens to kill Nightbeat and everyone else, but Orion calms him down. They decide to carry on with their mission to the center of the universe, with Nightbeat taking the lead.

Back on Cybertron, the survivors leave the destroyed Crystal City where they find Megatron up and about, carrying Ironhide, willing to work with Bumblebee to stop Shockwave. However before anything can happen he is attacked and torn apart by Galvatron from behind. The others attack Galvatron, before noticing Shockwave, the Titan and the rest of his team are also assembled, ready to destroy them.

Back in the Dead Universe, Nightbeat reveals that he discovered when he examined the black Energon earlier, he noticed a fragment of Cyclonus' forcefield generator, meaning that he's not protected from the Dead Universe any more as it was damaged when he crashed into the Universe, meaning that he's part of this Universe again.

Nightbeat shortly starts to walk off on his own, and asks the others to stand where they are, when suddenly a containment cube appears around the others, Orion figures it out that Nightbeat is STILL under Nova Prime's command.

Speaking of which, Nova Prime comes crashing back into the Dead Universe now that the portal in Megatron has been stopped....

Characters

Autobot

Orion Pax/Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Rodimus/Hot Rod - Car

Bumblebee - Car

Hardhead - Personnel Carrier

Nightbeat - Car

Prowl - Emergency Car

Ironhide - Van

Arcee - Car

Decepticon

Megatron Split in Two by Galvatron

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Waspinator - Wasp

Dreadwing - Stealth Bomber

Soundwave - Van

Laserbeak - Data Disk Slashed by Metalhawk

Ravage - Cassette Slashed by Metalhawk

Rumble - Tank Slashed by Metalhawk

Buzzsaw - Cassette

Blitzwing - Jet/Tank

Needlenose - Jet

Skywarp - Jet Teleporting going Haywire

Starscream - Jet (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet

Nova Prime - Truck

Galvatron - Laser Tank

Metalhawk - Jet

Necrotitan - Space Ship

Tailgate - Car (Mentioned)

Notes

• When first shown, Galvatron seems to be pushing Nova out of the way when leaving the portal, explaining his appearance later on
• Metalhawk's missing arm seems to have grown back, most likely due to the resurrection ore in the city
• Bumblebee's face is revealed here to be covered in a mask, most likely to slowly heal his damages from the end of the war for Iacon.
• For the first time, neither the Lost Light, nor Iacon are shown in a Dark Cybertron issue.
• It's confirmed here that Waspinator's gun is the source of his ability to control Titans
• Bumblebee says "crap" instead of a common Cybertronian curse word like "scrap"...wonder if that'll be kept for the toy-re-release?
• Nightbeat's cold reading of Cyclonus reveals the reasons for his actions during the series so far, such as not replacing his missing horn until Tailgate gave him one, his self mutilation and even his feelings for Tailgate.
• Galvatron tearing apart Megatron (ie the portal to the Dead Universe) could mean that he's planning to strand Nova in the Dead Universe still.
• Nightbeat's sleeper agent reconditioning is revealed to still be in effect.
• It's mentioned here that Nightbeat's body must have been drawn into the Dead Universe following his death on Gorlam Prime, and that's how he's been revived...why didn't the Autobots notice his body was missing after the Expansion war though? He was kind of a big character after all...he was even on Optimus' crew for a while!!

IDW - Regeneration One #97

Title: The War To End All Wars Part 2

Writer: Simon Furman

Breakdowns: Guido Guidi

Finishes: Stephen Baskerville

Colourist: John-Paul Bove

Letterer: Chris Mowry

Editor: John Barber

Editor-in-Chief: Chris Ryall

Plot

The Dinobots are watching as the Demons are placed in a resettlement camp by the Autobots, which disgusts Grimlock, however the Demons don't seem to care, and seem to be calm, and are worshipping an engraving of Primus, as if waiting for something to happen.

Elsewhere at the Presidium Jetfire and Rodimus rush to Nightbeat, Perceptor and Bumblebee to find out anything they learned about Jhiaxus, and they suggest that he has a meeting with the long long Cybertronian. Later on, Rodimus arranges a meetup but it causes a massive crowd to gather. Everyone is shocked when a spacebridge starts to materialize from nowhere and out come Jhiaxus and some of his forces. Rodimus welcomes him back to Cybertron, and Jhiaxus comments on how he's noticed the snipers in the towers nearby, just in case, and mentions that Optimus probably wouldn't have done that. Rodimus goes off with Jhiaxus for their talk in private, whilst Jhiaxus signals for his troops to leave them.

Back on Earth, Optimus is overseeing the construction of the spacebridge to Nebulos with some other Autobots both on Earth and Nebulos. Quickmix, on Nebulos tells Optimus about Fort Max almost being revived, and he seems glad.

At the Technodrome, the Nebulans are replanting Fortress Maximus' original head onto his new body, unaware that the dark Matrix spawn infested his head last issue. Upon connection Maximus starts screaming in pain, but suddenly calms down.

Rodimus takes Jhiaxus to Nova Point, as it's the most secluded area (though Nightbeat and the others are spying on them). Rodimus asks him why Primus believes him to be a loose thread and a danger to the grand plan, and Jhiaxus laughs at Primus' name, and mission. He then explains that he left Cybertron to build his own empire and destiny rather than await the destiny that Primus left for them (to fight Unicron) and shows him a massive hologram of the Hub Network.

The Primum Fugae fly over to the resettlement camp and find the Demons, they mention that they were told not to kill the Transformers, but these creatures don't count. They begin the slaughter. The Dinobots intervene and start to fight the Fugae as well.

Back at Nova Point, Jhiaxus offers Rodimus a change to add Cybertron to the Hub as well. Rodimus asks how many lives he killed to create the Hub, as the worlds he's used must have been cyberformed. Jhiaxus replies that it depends on what he considers life. Rodimus attacks Jhiaxus for that, but is quickly overpowered. Jetfire and Bumblebee come to his rescue, but aare easily taken out by Jhiaxus, all whilst the Dinobots are defeated. Magnus and his team arrive to try and save the day, but before they can do anything the Primum Fugae are called away by Jhiaxus. Jhiaxus also leaves, but causes major damage to Nova Point as he goes.

In the aftermath Rodimus and the others are tended to, but it's mentioned that the Dinobots are probably going to be out of commission for some time. Rodimus declares that they need to take the fight to Jhiaxus and his troops.

It's revealed that earlier on, Starscream recognized Jhiaxus and his troops due to him retaining some of the Underbase's power and knowledge, and he declares that a reckoning will be coming to him for his actions in the past (killing the other creators)

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus Prime - Caravan

Optimus Prime - Truck

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex Injured by Primum Fugae

Swoop - Pteranodon Injured by Primum Fugae

Snarl - Stegosaurus Injured by Primum Fugae

Sludge - Apatosaurus Injured by Primum Fugae

Slag - Triceratops Injured by Primum Fugae

Jetfire - Jet Injured by Jhiaxus

Bumblebee - VW Beetle Injured by Jhiaxus

Perceptor - Microscope

Nightbeat - Sports Car

Ultra Magnus - Car Carrier

Tracks - Muscle Car

Sideswipe - Sports Car

Sureshot - Baja Buggy

Crosshairs - Off Road Vehicle

Skids - Van

Blurr - Race Car

Huffer - Truck Cab

First Aid - Ambulance

Fortress Maximus - Battle Platform Possessed by Matrix Spawn

Scoop - Front End Loader

Landfill - Dump Truck

Quickmix - Mixing Truck

Resettlement Camp Workers

Autobot Population

Hot Rod - Sports Car (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Shockwave Connected of Ark

Cybertronian Empire

Jhiaxus - Jet

Firecrest - Bird-Jet

Hawk - Bird-Jet

Rook - Bird-Jet

Nightjar - Bird-Jet

Wryneck - Bird-Jet

Other Cybertronians - Bird-Jets

Nebulan

Senior Scientist Borx

Other Nebulans

Other

Demons Mostly killed by Primum Fugae

Matrix Spawn Creature Possessing Fortress Maximus

Primus (Engraved Image Only)

Notes

• The multiple versions of Rook shown last issue are shown here to have different head designs and names, showing it's not just a mass-produced body like it was in G2
• Jhiaxus has developed a Spacebridge without a physical construct needed. This is commonplace in modern fiction, but not so in the 80's G1 series'
• The Primum Fugae consider the Dinobots to be only JUST above the level of evolution as the Demons.
• Jhiaxus is shown to be unbelievably strong here, due to his exposure to the Underbase during it's construction
• Starscream is revealed to still have some Underbase powers as he seems to channel the ones who built it, and recognizes Jhiaxus on sight.

IDW - Beast Hunters #8

Story by: Mike Johnson & Mairghread Scott

Written by: Mike Johnson

Art by: Agustin Padilla

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

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

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

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

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

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

The end...for now!

Characters

Autobot

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Slug - Triceratops

Swoop - Pteranodon

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Arcee - Motorcycle

Bumblebee - Sports Car

Bulkhead - Off Road Vehicle

Firestar - Hover Pick Up Truck

Chromia - Sports Car (Maybe?!)

Autobot Survivors

Optimus Prime - Truck (Fantasy) Dead

Decepticon

The Forged Defeated by the Autobots and Dinobots

Megatron - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Shockwave - Tank (Mentioned)

Predacon

"Rusty" - Winged Dragon Trapped in Old Decepticon Bunker

Predaking - Dragon (Mentioned)

Other

Unicron (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

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

Titan - Transformers Prime #4.18

Title: Power Outage

Script: Chris Cooper

Art: Horacio Domingues

Colours: Nestor Pereyra

Lettering: Comicraft

Cover Date: Jan/Fed 2014

Cover Price: £3.99

Poster: Optimus looms behind the three kids!

Plot

Jack is staying up late playing video games on a school-night, leading to his mother shouting at him, but before he can give a good excuse the power goes out, but not just for his room (as he thinks his mother cut the power as punishment) but in the entire town.

At the Autobot base the Autbots have detected this incident, but it's much worst than Jack believed, the entirety of the USA has lost it's power due to an EMP. Elsewhere, Starscream and Soundwave are finishing their work on the EMP's in three locations. The Autobots detect the locations (as the signals are stronger in three places) and head out to disable them.

When separated and all working on the devices, the Autobots are separately attacked by the three Predacons, Predaking, Darksteel and Skylynx, and are all pinned down by the much larger and more powerful beasts, however after a short time the teams manage to defeat the beasts and disable the devices, returning power the the US.

Back at Jack's home he and his mother are glad the power's back on, Jack later calls Raf and wonders if they should contact the Autobots about the blackout, but decide against it as it was probably nothing.

Jack soon goes back to his game, but gets annoyed when it's revealed that the blackout wiped out his saved game as well. June screams at him for not going to bed again.

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Arcee - Motorcycle

Ratchet - Ambulance

Bumblebee - Sports Car

Bulkhead - Off Road Vehicle

Wheeljack - Race Car

Smokescreen - Race Car

Ultra Magnus - Truck Cab

Decepticon

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Soundwave - UAV

Vehicons - Cars

Megatron - Space Shuttle (Mentioned)

Predacon

Predaking - Dragon

Darksteel - Ursagryph

Skylynx - Winged Dragon

Human

Jack

June

Raf

Agent Fowler

Jasper Residents

Notes

• This issue is a continuity headache - Bumblebee still has no voice, Optimus is alive, yet the Predacons introduced in Prredacons Rising are up and about, and seem to be on the Decepticon's side!! AHHH!!
• At least Optimus looks like he's in his proper body this time around.
• Ultra Magnus and Smokescreen are actually seen here! Only took them a few issues!!
• Soundwave speaks freely in this issue...
• At one point Magnus is seen with a bot that looks like a combination of Wheeljack and Bumblebee, we can assume that it's meant to be Wheeljack due to context though
• Hey look! It's a Christmas tree!! It only appears in one panel though and shoved in a window, and added with the mention of Christmas holidays before, it seems likely they were just added to make this a festive story(ish) due to it's release date.
• The next issue is marked as "Introducing Skylynx" a character who appears quite a lot in this issue, and is even name-dropped at least once! Silly Titan!!
• Shouldn't June have called it "Christmas Vacation" rather than "Holidays" since they're American?

Other Features

Ultimate Smackdown - Airachnid vs Arcee

Megatron's Christmas Conundrums!! - Megatron gets festive....yeah

Competitions and Adverts - Splattered all around!

The Trans Files - Article on Insecticons

Whiizz Band Avenue! - Bumblebee vs Knock Out maze puzzle

Soundwave's Stumpers! - Soundwave gives you more puzzles

Mega Mouth - Arcee and Megatron read the fan mail again

IDW - More Than Meets The Eye #24

Title: Dark Cybertron Chapter 4: Into the Abyss

Written by: James Roberts and John Barber

Art by: Atilio Rojo, James Raiz, Nick Roche, Livio Ramondelli and Robert Gill

Colours by: Romulo Fajardo, JR. and Livio Ramondelli

Letters by: Gilberto Lazcano

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

The Lost Light is surrounded on the floor of the Red Ocean by an army of smaller robots, who the bridge crew determine to have alternate modes, and also seem to be combiners. Perceptor believes that the small robots aren't native to the planet as they don't seem to be outfitted for aquatic performance, but seemed to piggy-back to the ocean with the Lost Light's Quantum Jump. Magnus tries communicating with the robots, but doesn't get a response...at first! Then they attack the ship and blow a hole in the bridge!

Back on Cybertron, the city of Iacon is in ruins following the Necrotitan's energy wave, Scoop and his team are working to save people, whilst Starscream and Rattrap are wandering around trying to work out what exactly happened. Before long however Scoop approaches Starscream, and points out to the population that the black mark on Starscream's chest marks him as the one chosen to destroy the planet, not to save it as initially thought, which starts to turn the crowd against him further!.

Back at the Red Ocean, Magnus has managed to get the bridge crew into the hallway and sealed it shut due to flooding when he comes across Skids and Getaway. Skids identifies the attackers as Ammonites. Magnus orders the crew to engage the Ammonites and protect the ship. Doing so, Magnus and a few others go into Rodimus' personal craft, the Rodpod (being careful not to damage it, or Rodimus will kill them). The battle goes well for the Lost Lighters, as they seem to be capable of dealing with even the Ammonite's larger combinations.

Meanwhile, in the Dead Universe, the team are traveling towards the point of the gravitational pull when the topics of Rodimus potentially taking over full control of the Autobots, Rodimus saving all the cold constructed from death and the progress of his quest are brought up, as well as how Cyebrtron's new status as Starscream's domain is similar to how things were before the Decepticon uprising.

During the conversations, Rodimus notices that Cyclonus' face is leaking black Energon still, but at an alarming rate now. Orion tries to administer some medical aide, but Nightbeat, revealing himself and shocking the others, tells him that would be a bad idea to even touch him right now.

Back on Cybertron, the Transformers at the foot of the Necrotitan are dealing with their injured and wonder what to do next. Bumblebee asks Soundwave if he can pick up any transmissions from the city, but he cannot, however he does hear something unusual...Megatron screaming!

At the Crystal City, Shockwave is operating on the operational Megatron as he's trying to activate the Space Bridge technology he implanted within him. Shockwave reveals that he doesn't care about the goals of Nova Prime, and that he's using them, as well as others. Megatron is offered a chance to work with them for his ultimate goal of equality, but he refuses. Shockwave then actiavtes the Bridge and Nova Prime starts to climb out of a screaming Megatron's chest.

Back on the Red Ocean, the Rodpod is running from a group of Ammonites (in the shape of an actual ammonite) and hides in a cavern they find. However upon inspection, they find some strange compounds in the cavern, and realise what it is....they're inside the eye socket of Metroplex himself!

Characters

Autobot

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Ratchet - Ambulance

Mainframe

Blaster

Brainstorm - Jet

Perceptor

Skids - Van

Getaway

Whirl - Osprey Helicopter

Waverider - Aquatic Vehicle

Chromedome - Car

Trailcutter - Van

Cosmos - Orbiter

Sunstreaker - Car

Swerve - Van

Rung

Atomizer

Metroplex - Space Ship Injured in Red Ocean

Rodimus - Car

Orion Pax - Truck Cab

Hardhead - Personnel Carrrier

Nightbeat - Car

Bumblebee - Muscle Car

Ironhide - Van

Prowl - Emergency Car

Arcee - Car Injured

Swoop - Pteranodon

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Slag - Triceratops

Lost Light Crew

Dominus Ambus (Mentioned)

Sentinel Prime (Mentioned)

Zeta Prime (Mentioned)

Thunderclash (Mentioned)

Aquastar - Aquatic Vehicle (Mentioned)

Hydrobots - Aquatic Vehicles (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron Used as Space Bridge by Shockwave

Shockwave - Flying Artillery 

Soundwave - Van

Rumble - Tank

Frenzy - Tank Maybe Dead

Ravage - Cassette

Skywarp - Jet

Cybertronian

Cyclonus - Jet Leaking Black Energon

Nova Prime - Truck

Galvatron - Laser Tank

Metalhawk - Jet

Necrotitan - Space Shuttle

Starscream - Jet

Rattrap - Mole Rat

Scoop - Front End Loader

Holepunch - Gun

Tracer - Gun

Sky Byte - Flying Shark

Iaconians Injured in Necrootitan's energy wave

Construction Patrol (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

The Senate (Mentioned)

Functionists (Mentioned)

Nominus Prime (Mentioned)

Other

Ammonites (2026 of them)

Paddox (Mentioned)

Galactic Council (Mentioned)

Black Block Consortia (Mentioned)

Notes

• The Ammonites are referred to here as Mini-Cons at times (as in Miniature Decepticons) before their species name was actuallly identified by Skids (though Magnus does still call them Mini-Cons once afterwards). This could be because the toy set of the Mini-Con Assault Team is supposed to be released with this issue in the future, so it just makes sense from a marketing point of view too.
• The Lost Light is 15 miles long and 10 miles wide, and was not designed to be a submarine.
• It does have spotlights on the outside though!
• Magnus makes reference to his no longer being the Duly Appointed Officer of the Tyrest Accord.
• Rung is shown using a staff weapon for the first time (though he did have one on the cover to the fifth TPB of MTMTE)
• Nightbeat reveals himself to Orion's group! (Look, I'm a Nightbeat fanboy, so every time he so much as has a cameo I'll mention it, 'kay?)
• Frenzy looks a bit dead here....
• Speaking about Frenzy, he and Rumble appear to have been drawn in their cassette bodies originally, but with tank treads added to the arms to try and correct the mistake.
• It' revealed here that Shockwave is also just using Nova Prime and Galvatron as well...wonder what his true aims are?
• The Necrotitan's attack hit the population totally at random, and not to do with being cold constructed etc (like Tyrest's attack was)

IDW - Robots In Disguise #23

Title: Dark Cybertron Chapter 3: Winners & Losers

Written by: John Barber and James Roberts

Art by: Atilio Rojo and James Raiz

Colours by: Josh Perez

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Starscream visits Metalhawk's corpse again, and talks too him about the Titan returning, and asks for his silent advice again, unknown to him though, Rattrap is spying on him and overhears him apologizing for killing him once again.

Iacon is soon filled with hysteria as the people have heard about the Dark Cybertron prophecy from someone (Scoop's partners Holepunch and Tracer most likely) and Starscream vows to go speak with the Titan, Rattrap goes to him seemingly out of respect, but Starscream points out that he was in Rattrap's position of being the traitor-to-be for a long time, and advises him to not make his first move unless he's sure about his last, pointing out Megatron's disabled body in the process. Starscream then flies off to meet the Titan.

At the Necrotitan's location, Soundwave's Decepticcons and Bumblebee's Autobots are battling, but stop when they notice Starscream approaching the Titan's shoulder.

Back in Iacon, Rattrap has gone to meet with Scoop, who shows him that Starscream's meeting with the Titan is also part of the prophecy, and that he believes that Starscream is destined to destroy Cybertron, rather than save it. Rattrap seems to agree and begins plotting with Scoop to dethrone their leader.

On the Lost Light, Ultra Magnus is commanding the ship, when he notices that the ship is subtly changing course without being piloted to do so, Brainstorm contacts him and asks him to come to Shuttle Bay 3 with Getaway, as he knows the most about Titans from his time with Tyrest. When they arrive in the Shuttle Bay, they find Trailcutter and Brainstorm with what is believed to be Metroplex's thumb levitating. Brainstorm believes that this may be Metroplex, or another Titan trying to call for help, and that they can use the thumb to locate the source of the activity.

At the Necrotitan's location, Arcee is ready to kill Starscream, but Bumblebee isn't sure what to do, the two factions consider joining forces to stop what is happening, but Prowl is throwing a fit about working with the Decepticons (especially after what happened to him with Soundwave and Bombshell). Meanwhile, Starscream lands on the Necrotitan's shoulder and begins to talk to him, and asks what he's there for, and if he's the same Titan he spoke to before, when suddenly the Titan's eyes light up, and he sends out a massive wave of energy.

Starscream quickly transforms and heads off the shockwave of energy before it reaches Iacon, whilst at ground zero the Autobots and Decepticons are injured in varying ways, Bumblebee orders for them to deal with repairs before going in to attack the Titan, which Prowl hates the idea of.

Starscream just beats the wave back to Cybertron, and warns everyone to get away, but too late as the wave hits and damages the city. In another side-effect though, Metalhawk is revived and attacks Starscream, announcing out loud that he was the one who killed him, but he'll wait for his revenge as he goes into the room Megatron's being held in, de-activates his force-field bubble and abducts him.

A newly escaped Scoop and Rattrap see Metalhawk flying away with Megatron, but decide to help the injured before worrying about that or dethroning Starscream, especially since it seems that the public have turned against Starscream now anyway.

On the Lost Light, Ultra Magnus is deliberating on whether to follow Orion Pax's orders to hunt down Jhiaxus, or go after Metroplex, Perceptor and Brainstorm point out that Meroplex is extremely important, and he wouldn't be calling for help if he didn't need it, and point out that Orion Pax isn't their leader anymore. Magnus agrees and sets course for the signal. The ship Quanttum Jumps into a red ocean, and is surrounded by an army of small robots.

Back on Cybertron, in the Crystal City, Metalhawk has delivered Megatron to Shockwave, who needed him to create a new Space Bridge to the Dead Universe, now that the one created by the Titan is gone.

Characters

Autobot

Bumblebee - Car

Ultra Magnus - Vehicle Transport

Ironhide - Van

Prowl - Emergency Car

Arcee - Car Badly Injured by Dark Energy

Slag - Triceratops Badly Injured by Dark Energy

Swoop - Pteranodon

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Perceptor

Trailcutter - Van

Ratchet - Ambulance

Mainframe 

Blaster

Highbrow - Helicopter

Brainstorm - Jet

Getaway

Metroplex (Mentioned)

Optimus Prime/Orion Pax - Truck Cab (Mentioned)

Xaaron (Mentioned)

Swerve - Van (Mentioned)

Rung (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Megatron Abducted by Shockwave and Metalhawk

Shockwave - Flying Artillery

Soundwave - Van

Ravage - Cassette

Skywarp - Jet

Needlenose - Jet

Astrotrain - Space Shuttle/Train Badly Injured by Dark Energy

Blitzwing - Jet/Tank

Other Decepticons

Constructicons (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Starscream - Jet

Metalhawk - Jet Reanimated by Dark Energy

Necrotitan - Battleship

Rattrap - Mole Rat

Scoop - Front End Loader

Holepunch

Tracer

Skybyte - Flying Shark

Blurr - Race Car

Other Cybertronians

Prophecy Titan (Mentioned) Dead

Titans (Mentioned)

Knights of Cyebrtron (Mentioned)

Chief Justice Tyrest (Mentioned)

Jhiaxus (Mentioned)

Other

Small Robots in Red Ocean

Verity Carlo (Mentioned)

Notes

• Rattrap is shown to be very sneaky here, as he begins spying on Starscream when he's alone (ie when he visits Metalhawk's corpse)
• The crowd of NAIL's shown here includes a few cameos from other continuities, like the Mini-Con Skyblast, and even what looks like Live Action Movie Salvage as well.
• Scoop reveals that he believes Starscream is the Chosen One, but that he is chosen to destroy Cybertron rather than save it.
• Metroplex's thumb was brought on board the Lost Light in Spotlight: Trailcutter.
• It's also pointed out here that it's not clear if the thumb IS Metroplex's or another Titan's.
• The wave of energy from the Necrotitan seems to have affected the Transformers hit by it to differing extents (Prowl was barely injured, but Astrotrain looks dead for instance)
• The re-animated Metalhawk seems to be in contact with Shockwave in some way, as he takes in Megatron as he wished.
• It seems likely that the small robots in the red ocean are the Ammonites and Terrordores, first shown in MTMTE#22.
• Shockwave must have implanted the Space Bridge technology from Megatron's old body into his new one as well (seems a bit odd though, why didn't he just put it inside Dreadwing or someone he could easily control?)
• Ultra Magnus being a small guy in a suit is a conspiracy theory on Cybertron, this is actually true!

IDW - Regeneration One #96

Title: The War to End All Wars: Part 1

Writer: Simon Furman

Penciler: Guidi Guido

Inker/Finisher (Pages 17-22): Stephen Baskerville

Colourist: John-Paul Bove

Letterer: Chris Mowry

Editor: John Barber

Editor-in-Chief: Chris Ryall

Plot

At some point in time, an older looking Rodimus Prime is standing in a fiery and melted room, reflecting on his massive past mistakes....

In the present day, Rodimus leads the Autobots in a rescue mission in Iacon, which has been devastated in the recent war with the Decepticcons, which leads to some guys like Kup wondering if it would have been better if they'd lost instead. Amongst the carnage they find a barely living Bludgeon, who begs Rodimus to finish him off so he can have his honourable death, but Rodimus declines and orders a medic, when available to heal him up, as a punishment.

Rodimus begins plans to do as Primus wished, and fix the remaining mistakes he was shown in his journey through time, beginning with Galvatron. He has Ultra Magnus take a team to apprehend him, as he's gone missing from where Magnus left him following the battle. After that, he barely acknowledges the Dinobots and Demons, and rolls off, leaving the Dinobots feeling a bit annoyed.

On Earth, Optimus is building a Space Bridge, since the humans have agreed to relocate to Nebulos for their survival, but Circuit Smasher isn't happy, and is tempted to "accidentally" destroy the bridge. Optimus touches on a sore subject by mentioning Buster's death, which really pisses off Circuit Smasher.

Optimus receives a message from Cybertron, and is greeted by Rodimus Prime, whom he agrees to pass off leadership to. Rodimus discusses with the assembled Autobots and Optimus about the loose threads Primus showed him, but Optimus isn't sure how Circuit Smasher can be a major problem.

Elsewhere, in Kalis, Ultra Magnus and his team have located Galvatron and engage him in a battle, the battle seems to be going well until the Acolytes of Unicron appear and abduct Galvatron, as they see him as a herald of Unicron and see his return as a sign of his return.

Nightbeat and Bumblebee are looking into the old archives, and manage to find an obscure image of Jhiaxus, but realize that Jhiaxus only wiped out the data on himself from Cybertron''s databanks, not other planets, so they send out a message to all Cybertron's past trade partners for any information, and start waiting.

On Nebulos, the Autobots there are building their side of the pace Bridge for the transfer, whilst the Nebulons are working on rebuilding bodies for the remaining Autobot heads kept in their labs, including Fortress Maximus. However unknown to them, the dark spawn of the corrupted Matrix is on Nebulos and enters the tank that hold's Fortress Maximus' original head.

Back on Cybertron, Nightbeat and Bumblebee are concerned about how there are absolutely no responses of any type from any of Cybertron's past traders, so they send out a probe to find out more.

On the Ark in an asteroid field Starscream is getting fed up of waiting still, when he suddenly gets scared of "him" being there.

All of a sudden Cybertron's sky is filled with strange ships, and Rodimus is greeted on a communications screen by the face of Jhiaxus, who claims to come in peace.

Characters

Autobot

Rodimus Prime - Caravan

Optimus Prime - Truck

Ultra Magnus - Car Carrier

Gunrunner - Jet Shot by Acolytes of Unicron

Skram - Race Car Shot by Galvatron

Rapido - Race Car

Blurr - Race Car

Nightbeat - Sports Car

Bumblebee - VW Beetle

Prowl - Police Car

Perceptor - Microscope

Jetfire - Jet

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Grimlock - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Swoop - Pteranodon

Slag - Triceratops

Sludge - Apatosaurus

Snarl - Stegosaurus

Quickmix - Mixing Truck

Erector - Truck Cab

Groundpounder - Front End Loader

Takedown - Mixing Truck

Neutro - Bulldozer

Crumble - Crane

Hot Spot - Fire Engine

Hosehead - Fire Engine

Streetwise - Police Car

Blades - Rescue Helicopter

Siren - Emergency Car

Drench - Race Car Injured in Iacon attack

Fixit - Ambulance

Powerglide - Jet

Wheeljack - Race Car

First Aid - Ambulance

Grapple - Crane

Hoist - Tow Truck

Mirage - F1 Race Car

Fortress Maximus - Battle Station Being Rebuilt - Head infected by Dark Matrix creature

Chromedome - Car (Flashback)

Hot Rod - Sports Car (Mentioned) Became Rodimus Prime

Decepticon

Shockwave - Ray Gun Hooked to Ark

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Galvatron - Laser Canon Kidnapped by Acolytes of Unicron

Bludgeon Dying - Being fixed

Krok Arrested

Blitz Engines Destroyed

Megatron (Mentioned)

Soundwave (Mentioned) Arrested

Decepticon Heads in Captivity (Mentioned)

Cybertronian

Jhiaxus

Cybertronian Empire

Demons

Acolytes of Unicron

Dead Guys in Iacon

Boltax (Flashback)

Past Senators (Image)

Spannerbots (Mentioned)

Other

Spike Witwicky/Circuit Smasher

Nebulon Senior Scientist

Dark Matrix Creature

Stylor - Chromedome's Head (Flashback)

Unicron (Image)

Deathbringer (Image)

Primus (Mentioned)

Buster Witwicky (Mentioned)

Witwicky Family (Mentioned)

Little America Collective (Mentioned)

Notes

• Bludgeon somehow survived his plummet to Cybertron, albeit only JUST.
• What caused the massive damage shown in the opening scenes? The Warwold exploded too high up to cause massive ground damage, it could have been from the damage caused by the Warworld shooting the planet, but that damage didn't look like this before.
• Rodimus totally snubs off Grimlock and his Demon army, possibly as a reference to Primus doing the same in the past
• How have the Autobots organized the space bridge project so fast? This story seems to have taken place minutes after the end of the battle, but Optimus and Quickmix's team have almost set up new space bridges on Earth and Nebulos already!
• Rodimus Prime is officially made Autobot leader in this issue.
• Is it just a coincidence that Nightbeat makes his first appearance in Regeneration One at the same time he makes his reappearance in IDW's main continuity? Hmmmm....
• The Acolytes of Unicron have been in hiding since their last appearance just before the Unicron war.
• Erector makes a full, completely unmistakeable appearance here! YAY!
• The Nebulons seem to be fully recovered now as well...how long has it been since the end of the Scorponok sctoryline?
• Chromedome and Stylor are revealed to have both survived the wars in the past, but are now separate and reunited with their original head/reintegrated to society (respectively)
• The Decepticons who went to Nebulos' original heads are being kept detained until further notice.
• The dark Matrix creature has somehow made its way to Nebulos.
• The lack of responses from Cybertron's past traders most likely means they've been destroyed by the Cybertronian Empire (Jhiaxus' guys)
• Rooks alternate mode shown a few issues ago is revealed here to be a mass produced body type.
• Starscream is implied to know who Jhiaxus is, possibly as a reference to Jhiaxus being a bulked out Sekker body-type, maybe.