Transformers!

[anarky]

Fuck me.

I figured three people would die, but only got two right. Megatron stone-cold executing Springer wasn't exactly a surprise, but was rather unexpected. Didn't factor in Auntie as the fourth, if "she" counts, but I should've. I'm assuming all the other "casualties" were just wounded and not killed.

So it was Meg's link with Ratchet that allowed him to "resurrect" the zombie Decepticons all along. And Galvatron seems to have been awakened by Megatron's passing, making me think that Megatron's mind somehow transferred into a Galvatron he would never become. Leaving one glaring question: where the hell is Shockwave during all this? He's not on the Ark, but there's no fucking way Megatron wouldn't have subjected him to the same fate as Starscream if they weren't in cahoots. Starscream was a known traitor, but never got the best of Megatron. He severely fucked up Ratbat and Scorponok (and I'm presuming Megatron would know this due to his shared memories with Ratchet), but never Megatron. (The closest he came was around #78, when Megatron was dazed after reviving in the Ark.) Shockwave, though, deposed Megatron once, humiliated him before the Decepticons, and, when he finally decided joint leadership was logical, openly plotted against Megatron multiple times. If Starscream deserved his semi-aware zombie state, Megatron would surely think Shockwave deserved the same or worse.

So, somehow, he was out of the picture by the time Megatron awoke.

Couldn't help but notice Hot Rod's vision of pre-Primus Cybertronian Demons (albeit in their later mechanoid forms).

Scorponok is also clearly not planning with the Soundwave/Bludgeon faction, and seems to have (based on the #86 tease) be leaning more toward his IDW-verse "forced evolution" angle. I have a feeling Grimlock will outsmart him, seeming to give in to his demands but undermining his plans in secret. He was the fucking Autobot leader, though never to Scorponok's knowledge. (Does Scorponok retain any of Zarak's memories? Can he be reasoned with at this point?)

Still no hint of why Jhiaxxus appeared in #80.5, but I'm sure there's a reason.

[anarky]

IDW-verse question: What Combiners are there?

The special teams all exist, but quite a few can't combine for various reasons.

The Aerialbots, Protectobots, Technobots, and Combaticons are essentially given to be non-Combiners, mostly due to their being scattered all over creation.

The first Combiner was Monstructor, one of Jhiaxxus' experiments, IIRC.

The second Combiner to be seen was Devastator, leaving a bit of a gap in between Monstructor's appearance and his own, where, presumably, the Decepticons put a plan into high gear to duplicate and perfect the process within about a year or two.

Ambulon was the leg of a prototype Combiner. Since he's older than a couple of years, this means the Decepticons were probably working on the process long before they knew of Monstructor (or, maybe, had heard of him long before). My guess is they somehow reverse-engineered or observed Monstructor to perfect something they already had in the works, maybe even throwing in some knowledge gained from Scorponok's Headmaster experiments.

But those three are it, right? And Devastator is dead.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Yeah, you always see different individual Bots from various Combiner Factions(like First Aid being on the Lost Light, or Swindle being a major player on Cybertron) but never any mention of them being Gestalts.

Of course at this point, the concept of ANY of them being Robots who Transform, is secondary or even tertiary to the idea that the writers are just telling good stories regardless. Transforming(or combining) is no longer integral to the plot. Turning into a car to hide from humans just isn't an issue anymore. Combining into a giant fighting robot is even less so.

[anarky]

It might be cool, if the Seacons or Terrorcons haven't shown up (I don't think they have, but I'm not sure), to have either Piranhacon or Abominus show up as a villain in the future. I'm thinking this would fit in MTMTE better, maybe with the Lost Light coming upon a planet or solar system completely dominated by one team. (I picked them for a few reasons: they're not especially well-known, so they're sort of blank slates; they are insanely powerful; I'm pretty sure no components have appeared and died; and, well, they're both made up of fucking monsters who turn into robots and merge to form a super-robot, and Monstructor was obviously taken.)

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Ha! Anarky's post directly above this one is now exceptionally hilarious in light of issue 12 of MTMTE.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

My sister, who lives in Omaha, bought my daughter an Owl City CD on Amazon and had it shipped directly to our house. Since it wasn't enough to qualify for free shipping, I had her add a Trade I'd been looking for. But then it turned out she had to spring for the higher shipping so it'd arrive on the 24th so the extra item was unnecessary. But either way, I wound up finally getting

Transformers: Autocracy. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had the benefit of previous stories setting up Pax and Megatron as sympathetic "friends" but also showing Megatron beginning his megalomania. I was really impressed with Hot Rod's backstory.
I may have to go back and read some of the "Pre war" books like Megatron:Origin and some of the Spotlight issues. This continuity is becoming so rich with mythology about who all these characters were before and who they were forced to become because of a 4 Million Year conflict.

[anarky]

Most of the Spotlights are pretty good. Origin is just okay. It's technically a Dreamwave holdover that was shoehorned into IDW, and, if you pay attention, there are some discrepancies with characters who shouldn't be around, or who are killed and show up later, and that sort of stuff. Most of it's been smoothed over by now.

[anarky]

Robots in Disguise Volume 2. Wow. The three best comics are all G1 TF's.

So there's a time machine that moves sideways through time (which, I'd imagine, means it teleports). It's missing all of a sudden. Orion, Wheelie, and Garnak are headed to the planet where Wheelie was stranded practically forever. Only the same volume makes a point to hammer home that all three Reflector components are alive and well, when at least one was dead in Wheelie's Spotlight, so I'm guessing time travel may play into that as well. Bludgeon is the bad guy fighting those three, and he makes a point that Jhiaxus created Monstructor because gestalts were the next phase in Cybertronian evolution. Meanwhile, Ironhide and the Dinobots find themselves up against something that has created (an evil) Superion from the Aerialbots.

Can't help but think all these things are related in some way that's not been revealed. I don't know how yet, but it seems like there are just enough clues that they're tied together.

Also, I love how this goes back to the Furman stuff with Energon-13. Love it or hate it, the period where they just sorta pretended it didn't happen was a bit weird.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

I got to the final page of Robot in Disguise 13 moments ago and literally yelled "WHAT THE FUCK?!?" out loud to an empty room. Mostly because it was awesome. But partly because it left a cold lump in my gut seeing That one Decepticon and That Autobot side by side. Along with the supposedly deceased Constructicons and bunch of other very pissed off looking 'Cons.
The look of abject horror, disbelief, and soul crushing realization on Starscream's face is going to stick with me for a very long time.

This book kicks all other books in the nuts.

[anarky]

God damn it, I read your spoilers, and now I'm thinking "What the fuck"? Volume Whatever cannot get here fast enough. My guess is Prowl got royally fucked by Arcee and someone else. Or Prowl royally fucked Starscream. Also, I'm guessing Scrapper wasn't in on the fun and is still really dead?

However, this book does not kick RG1 and MTMTE in the nuts, because that would set off a nut-kicking war that no one can win.

BTW, total change of subject, but any idea if the current round of Spotlights will be collected in another volume of that sorta series? IIRC, there's Megatron and Thundercracker so far, and they both look pretty important to the overall picture.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Haha! Yes I did that so you'd be as shocked as I was. I didn't want to spoil things, even with Spoiler Tags. Seriously, it's a double-page splash page that's so fucking sick with awesome, readers of Budainsky's series would deem it impossible.

I do believe RID and MTMTE are ever so slightly better than ReGen. But regardless, TF fans are getting spoiled silly with excellent writing.

And yes, I went back and looked and there's only five Constructicons. It looks as if Scrapper is the missing one.

A future collection of Spotlight issues is probably a safe assumption. Orion Pax will probably be in it as well. I would be tickled with a regular Spotlight series to complement RID and MTMTE. They'll have to come up with something to replace ReGen when it ends next year. Perhaps a Decepticon centered title much like Cobra is in the GIJoe line.

[anarky]

I wonder if a Furman-penned continuation of Generation 2 would work.

I'm absolutely serious. It's now superfluous, but it did end on a cliffhanger as well.

Might be cool to see how that version of the Joe team deals with a devastated Earth. Or, hell, a book about the Joes from 1992-2012 in the RG1 continuity, even though we know they all get killed.

[anarky]

Transformers Spotlight: Thundercracker. After the events of Autocracy, Decepticons are looking for Metroplex. T-Cracker begins to have doubts about the Decepticon cause. Hah! The Deluxe Insecticons! Remember those clowns? Wow. Talk about obscure.

Well, they were in RG1 80.5, too.

This raises an odd question. So the Deluxe Insecticons existed long ago (if this takes place after Autocracy). There was a Decepticon named Bombshell who looked like the Insecticon, and who used a cerebro shell to control Beachcomber. Only this wasn't THE Bombshell, who was created with the rest of the Swarm shortly before All Hail Megatron, and who looks like the other guy and has a similar MO and powers.

IDW's official stance on Bombshell to explain the clusterfuck of AHM, not some weird bullshit I came up with. Oy vey.

[anarky]

I had an unexpected package in my mailbox today, containing RG1 86-87.

I notice Grimlock didn't have his CNA altered, so far as I can tell. And the three Headmasters were a bit more... ruthless than amoral versions of themselves should be. Scorponok's got more up his sleeve than he's saying. But so does Grimlock. Since Scorponok said the "warrior gene" doesn't actually affect allegiance, it wouldn't surprise me if Grimlock genetically appears to be a Decepticon already.

Optimus hinted at undoing the damage his resurrection brought about. Hmmm.... Wonder what that means.

How did Soundwave escape?

Surprised that all those Decepticons were just disintegrated. Even more surprised that there were leftover Autobots in there. I foresee Grimlock getting some blame for his hasty and incomplete resurrections.

Shockwave hooked up to a still-functioning section of the Ark. Hmmm.... I'm going to go out on a limb and say HE is behind everything. He just let Megatron think he was in charge of things. And he may be controlling or influencing Spike somehow.

[anarky]

Also, want to place bets on whether Hi-Q will be making a return?

Prime wants to stay on Earth. He doesn't want his damage repaired. He says that the Last Autobot was wrong to resurrect him. It makes sense. The humans won't want the leader of the Autobots on Earth, but might not mind an alien who's human in most respects (aside from that weird two-bones-in-the-upper-arm dealio that's technically a fuckup by Wildman because he did it in G.I. Joe, too, but I'm saying it's canon and Nebulans have more bones than Earthlings).