Transformers!

[anarky]

Something just hit me:

Shockwave's experiments with weird forms of energon is mentioned in conjunction with the portal to the Dead Universe on Gorlam Prime.

Shockwave is responsible for the crew of the Ark-1 being back in this universe. He inadvertently ended the war for his own purposes.

God damn, this guy's making Doom look like an amateur pussy.

[anarky]

I have a question I'd like to discuss, but I feel like I'm monopolizing this thread. Foolery, care to discuss?

I don't know if I'm subconsciously looking too hard for the really subtle clues that are the trademark of both Barber and Roberts, but I think the few issues leading up to Dark Cybertron told us more about Soundwave and Shockwave than was immediately apparent.

I'm using spoiler tags because I really hope one or two of our fellows will read this eventually.

Looking at all the flashbacks chronologically, we first meet Soundwave in an alley. The poor bastard is so overloaded with the thoughts and emotions he can read that he doesn't know who he is or how he wound up where he is. Ravage tells him that it's possible to focus on one thing at a time and learn to control the power, and it's obvious he did.

So Soundwave was obviously an "outlier" (which, just to say it, was a fucking brilliant way to explain some of the Transformer super powers). After getting his powers under control, he is hired by Ratbat, though working for his own ends. It's as a Senate operative that he joins the Decepticons and first meets Shockwave, though Shockwave was still a Senator and recognized Soundwave by sight.

When he first meets Shockwave, he immediately hates him. He chalks this up to not being able to "read" Shockwave at all. Of course, he also says Shockwave's emotionless nature is a result of his empurata, which might be a bit of unreliable or not-fully-informed narrator going on (since it was the shadowplay that brought that about).

On the other side of the coin, Shockwave is revealed to have not been quite as good and altruistic, pre-empurata, as we'd been led to believe from Chaos Theory and Shadowplay. We already know he had a fascination with outliers during this time, and was definitely experimenting on and killing Cybertronians after his empurata. Even being emotionless, he's taken aback when he is first introduced to Soundwave, being a bit surprised by the second syllable of the name specifically (which is obviously his own as well).

And keep in mind that the first time we encounter Soundwave, his mouth is visible. In every other appearance, including his time as Ratbat's agent and during his first official meeting with Shockwave, he wears his trademark mask. There has to be a reason for that aside from making him look "younger" in his first appearance. Nothing in these books is extraneous. (C'mon, we both know there's a reason Rung's been everywhere in just about every flashback where it wouldn't be completely impossible for him to be.)

I think we've just been told, very subtly, that Shockwave created Soundwave, though neither is aware of this fact, at least yet.

What I think went down is that Shockwave was conducting some naughty experiments. Either he was experimenting on outliers to find out what made them special, or trying to create his own outliers. Something went wrong. A Cybertronian whose name is unknown (and would be fucking awesome if it turned out the be Soundblaster, making Shockwave's surprise even more pertinent) was either a telepathic outlier or Shockwave was trying to turn him into one. What happened is that this guy wound up with out-of-control telepathy and hearing, so intense he couldn't even focus enough to remember who the hell he was. Shockwave dumped him in the Dead End (or whatever equivalent); he couldn't keep the evidence and it's unlikely that pre-empurata he'd be into the whole "Marvel #5 homage" corpses hanging from the ceiling bit. Maybe he erased the dude's memory.

So, some time later, Ravage and the condors find him and help him recover. Early on, they ask his name. He can't remember. The only name he can remember ends in "wave." They don't know it's the name of the SOB who's responsible for him being there. They all just figure that it must be his name, and the first part must be "sound" in keeping with his abilities. Or maybe if he was Soundblaster, he remembers part of his name and part of Shockwave's and blurs them together. In any case, he never remembers his past. But he recognizes Shockwave deep down, just enough to hate him, though he misinterprets the reason why. And Shockwave never recognizes him, because the mask is just enough of a change to his appearance (and the poor sap Shockwave experimented on didn't seem to control a menagerie of smaller robots).

What do you think? Am I full of shit, or onto something?

[Tom Foolery]

I don't know if it will play out exactly like that, but I do think there is some connection between the two, and Soundwave's "origin" isn't finished yet.

How fantastic is it these characters have been around for 30 years and this is the first time any effort has been made to give them anything more than a one-dimensional motivation and backstory. Soundwave is one of the top five, perhaps top three most famous/important Decepticons EVER, and he's been a total enigma that entire time. Goddamn, I love these books under Roberts and Barber.

I also love we get all this jumping around in time to fill in history. It's like finding back issues of old comics and reading them out of order. It reminds me of LOSTs narrative style. I imagine this gigantic fucking story-bible in the IDW offices where they've meticulously planned out every 'Bot and 'Cons story and how they all intracately relate to one another. It's been absoluteky fortuitous that the two biggest TF nerds ever are in charge, both of writing and editorially.

[anarky]

How fantastic is it these characters have been around for 30 years and this is the first time any effort has been made to give them anything more than a one-dimensional motivation and backstory. Soundwave is one of the top five, perhaps top three most famous/important Decepticons EVER, and he's been a total enigma that entire time. Goddamn, I love these books under Roberts and Barber.

Not only that, but this is the first continuity--even the first time in this specific continuity--of Transformers (ANY version of Transformers, not just G1) where it actually feels like there's a race of alien mechanoids with a long history of things other than "Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons," including day-to-day lives with all the excitement and mundanity this involves. Yeah, we know Megatron was supposedly a gladiator prior to becoming Decepticon Leader in most versions of the story, but it always seemed an afterthought. Here, he's a guy who wanted to fix a problem and was corrupted by his own quest. Little details like showing the interior of apartments or schools, the inclusion of a psychiatrist, genderless robots still being capable of something beyond friendship (you can't really say Chromedome and Rewind are gay if there's only one gender, mad experiments notwithstanding), using bars for more than "this is where the next small skirmish will begin," and especially things like Prowl hating Scrapper but hating Spike more for killing him in cold blood, or Starscream referring to Wheeljack (not dead! YAY!!) as a friend and giving the impression that they just happened to be on opposite sides--these guys feel like real characters who happened to get caught up in a long, nasty war. Even Furman, awesome as he was and still is, has never really accomplished this (or even tried much).

I also very much like that this is not the only huge war the Cybertronians have been involved in, even if we know practically nothing about the previous war(s), that the tendency toward a faction isn't genetic (though don't get me wrong; I like the opposite in G1/RG1 because that's the way it's always been portrayed there), and, especially, that the factions didn't exist until Megatron and Orion Pax came up with the names... for two factions that should've been on the same side against the Senate, had things played out differently.

Seriously. Goddamn awesome.

Oh, and, since it appears Shockwave's master plan involves time travel somehow, I'm willing to bet that the message from way back in issue #1 of MTMTE (I think) will be sent during this crossover.

[anarky]

Something else occurs to me. I suspect Roberts and Barber, even if not immediately, will explain what the hell is so important about Earth.

Shockwave seeded the planet with Ore-13. The Dynobots chased him down, and all were trapped here.

Soundwave was sent to figure out what the hell Shockwave'd been up to. He and his cassettes were also trapped on Earth.

Flash forward. It seems like, aside from Shockwave, there was no Transformer interest in the planet at all until the 1980s. Then we have a Decepticon Infiltration cell, and the corresponding Autobot cell to keep tabs on it. The Decepticons are led by Starscream, and Thundercracker, the famed former Titan Hunter, is among them. The Autobots include no less than Prowl, Bumblebee, Ironhide, Jazz, and Ratchet.

Meanwhile, Scorponok flees from Nebulos and founds the Machination on Earth at some point in the interrim.

Starscream discovers Ore-13 (and, somehow, knows the name Shockwave gave it), bringing Megatron into the fray, followed by Optimus Prime.

After some battles, Megatron gets the jump on the Autobots by way of Hunter O'Nion. After taking the Matrix, decimating the Autobots, and essentially leaving everyone for dead, where's he go? Cybertron? Nebulos? Gorlam Prime? Nope, Earth.

Then the Transformers stay on Earth in relatively large numbers. Why? What's their interest? At no point after Furman leaves does anyone seem to give a shit about Ore-13 anymore. Megatron, when revived, even returns the Decepticons here.

Also, much as I don't want to acknowledge it, Infiltration takes place entirely on Earths throughout the multiverse, and its impact on TF cannot be understated, since it killed off Kup and appears to have been responsible for the existence of the Dead Universe.

So, prior to all hell breaking loose, Earth is home (at least temporarily) to Shockwave, Grimlock, Soundwave, Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, Prowl, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Starscream, Scorponok, Jazz, and Thundercracker. Once things get heated, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Hot Rod, Omega Supreme, Sixshot, the Constructicons/Devastator, Swindle, Ultra Magnus, and probably others I'm blanking out on wind up here. That's practically a who's who of the most important Cybertronians. I'm almost surprised Rung isn't in there somehow.

What the fuck is so important about Earth? And, since hardly anyone knew about Ore-13 before Starscream came across it, and everyone seems to have forgotten it since, that can't be the answer.

[Tom Foolery]

DEATH OF A HERO! BUMBLEBEE! RODIMUS! ULTRA MAGNUS! PROWL! One will fall in final battle with SHOCKWAVE! This one is for all the marbles, folks—it just doesn’t get any bigger than this!

Who do you think it will be?
Bumblebee would be the most shocking, so I'd believe that.
Rodimus not being on the Lost Light would open up a lot of story possibilities.
They've already 'fake-killed' Magnus more than once, so that feels underwhelming.
Prowl seems the most disposable character of the four, and he's been a jerkass since forever. I can see him being redeemed and sacrificed in one play as his "final" story.

I say Prowl.

[anarky]

I have to say I 100% agree with everything you said. It's got to be Prowl, with Magnus being kind of a waste. Though it might get a good one-liner out of Magnus about Shockwave violating every single rule of the Tyrest Accord.

I'd add that it won't be Bumblebee because he has a more recent toy that will still be on shelves.

Truth be told, though I don't know how the story's playing out or will continue to, I'd almost like to see Orion go down against Shockwave. I love the guy (who doesn't?), but it would be the ultimate topper to the eons-old friendship/rivalry.

Prowl being gone could also open up all sorts of worm cans. Who knows what his grubby hands have been involved in during the entire war? Not to mention some great potential character development for Arcee and the Constructicons.

[anarky]

I can't link on my phone, but I saw Regeneration One #100 Cover B, and it is fucking glorious. No "#100 in a 4-issue miniseries," but even cooler.

[anarky]

Oh, and, uh, Dark Cybertron 12 has two of the four potential casualties chilling with Orion on the cover. Unless it's a total red herring (or a doctored cover in solicitations), neither Prowl nor Bumblebee die.

Granted, Bee is shown in his old body, and the Bots look a lot like those who fought for Iacon in Autocracy, so it is possible it's a flashback image.

[anarky]

Looks like Windblade, the winner of the "create a Transformer" poll, will feature heavily in the post-Dark Cybertron status quo.

Oh, and she's a girl. And the writer of her miniseries finds Furman's Arcee origin "offensive," because that's not how it works on Earth.

Because, of course, robots have to have females!

Personally, I'm a bit worried that her introduction could undermine Arcee. Not to mention it retroactively makes Chromedome and Rewind properly gay. I don't have a problem with that in and of itself, but I rather liked the "all Transformers (except that one Jhiaxus screwed around with) are asexual, so sometimes they fall in love, and it's not gay or straight in the traditional sense." But now there are two genders, so the standard human-based orientations apply.

[anarky]

Read RGO #95 by way of the paperback that came in the mail yesterday.

There were so many TFTM references, I felt like I was reading an issue of Autocracy!

I guess we know for sure who'd win between Soundwave and Blaster, G1-wise, even if the part of the battle we saw was pretty short. Shockwave guilt-tripping Starscream was unexpectedly priceless.

I have to say, not that I like watching characters get slaughtered, but I'm a bit disappointed Bludgeon didn't appear to kill any of the Wreckers. If what he did to Sandstorm wasn't fatal (and we saw both Sandstorm and Roadbuster still fighting after getting cut down), it's a safe bet Topspin and Rack'n'Ruin survived. This is the blaze of glory Bludgeon's wanted, even if I already know from the #96 preview that he's not dead; I expected it to be a bit bloodier, so to speak.

I wanted some variation of "I knew you had potential," but the "didn't see that coming" was just as good.

[anarky]

IDW's been releasing "After the Dark" teasers through their Facebook page. The first two were either Optimus Prime or Orion Pax (since, hey, same guy and all) with Earth in the background. Second was Windblade, the new fan's choice character who is a female whether that contradicts Arcee's story or not.

The third, though, holy fucking shit. At first I thought, "Dammit, let's retread the war again," but then I took a closer look at his chest, and also close enough to realize the ship ain't his new alt mode, and shat myself. Three times, in fact.

[Tom Foolery]

WHAT. THE. FUCKAROONIE???!!!

[anarky]

No shit.

MTMTE ought to be really fucking interesting if the DJD now has Megatron himself in their sights. Not to mention the wonderful tension of Megatron and Whirl seeing one another again. (Though I could totally see Megatron telling Whirl he's indirectly responsible for everything, and Whirl yelling, "Awesome!!!")

I hope this is a long-term redemption story. I honestly can't think of one, at least not for a guy so far gone to evil. Period. Vader was rushed in ROTJ. Magneto changes allegiance weekly. I really hope that, for whatever reason, Megatron thinks, "Wow, I was a pacifist. I wrote essays. One political assassination later, and, holy shit, our entire fucking race is split into two warring factions and we're totally destroying entire civilizations to get energy to keep fighting. Look at the guys I'm surrounded by--lunatics like Shockwave, Overlord, Scorponok, and backstabbing shits like Starscream. I need to dial things way the fuck back. Orion had the right idea all along." Because, lately, he's been portrayed more and more as a guy who made shitty choices--granted, he knew he was doing the wrong thing, but, still, he started off good.

It could be truly, truly great. Seriously thinking of going to floppies again for all the TF titles.

(I am worried that the solicits for the first post-Dark Cybertron MTMTE indirectly spoil who dies, though.)

[Tom Foolery]

(I am worried that the solicits for the first post-Dark Cybertron MTMTE indirectly spoil who dies, though.)

That's exactly where my mind went as well.