And There’s Nothing Left to do, but Kneel Down and Pray.
More Than Meets the Annual 2012: Primus: You, Me, and Other Revelations. September 12th 2012.
You’re right: The Universe is innately hostile. And if Primus is a warrior God, it’s because a lot of people out there want to see his children dead.
If you’re British of course, the return of the Transformers annual was a deeply exciting event that got all sorts of neurons firing in the brain. So, even though American annuals are different in format (just being a big issue basically), James Roberts must have been incredibly gleeful to get to write one.
It’s also important in two more practical ways: Effectively forming a two-part epic story with the Robots in Disguise annual, it’s the first time Roberts and Barber collaborate properly across an arc, meaning it’s effectively a testing ground for co-writing the same issue together.
Secondly, though Roberts had years’ worth of plans and various changes along the way (like adding in an Optimus Prime thread) means the books were already going to run for more than the originally promised year, the annuals mark the point the two series fully commit to the idea they’re going to have a healthier run than that, setting up major plot points that will take us past the 30th anniversary and into the end of the first “season” for the new run.
The linking material of the two annuals is the ancient history of Cybertron, something IDW has largely danced around up till this point, in particular the possibly apocryphal origin of the Cybertronians. Though sensibly, as some of these threads won’t pay off for even longer than the end of the anniversary celebrations, with enough wriggle room to accommodate outside factors forcing changes along the way.
You’re right: The Universe is innately hostile. And if Primus is a warrior God, it’s because a lot of people out there want to see his children dead.
If you’re British of course, the return of the Transformers annual was a deeply exciting event that got all sorts of neurons firing in the brain. So, even though American annuals are different in format (just being a big issue basically), James Roberts must have been incredibly gleeful to get to write one.
It’s also important in two more practical ways: Effectively forming a two-part epic story with the Robots in Disguise annual, it’s the first time Roberts and Barber collaborate properly across an arc, meaning it’s effectively a testing ground for co-writing the same issue together.
Secondly, though Roberts had years’ worth of plans and various changes along the way (like adding in an Optimus Prime thread) means the books were already going to run for more than the originally promised year, the annuals mark the point the two series fully commit to the idea they’re going to have a healthier run than that, setting up major plot points that will take us past the 30th anniversary and into the end of the first “season” for the new run.
The linking material of the two annuals is the ancient history of Cybertron, something IDW has largely danced around up till this point, in particular the possibly apocryphal origin of the Cybertronians. Though sensibly, as some of these threads won’t pay off for even longer than the end of the anniversary celebrations, with enough wriggle room to accommodate outside factors forcing changes along the way.
But the extra length isn’t just given over to serious epic plot setups, the first chapter (Signs and Portents, sadly, despite a similar commitment to a years long story arc, probably not a nod at the season one title for Babylon 5), opens with an extended comedy bit, albeit one that will have repercussions that might not seem to be immediately apparent. With each chapter opening with a quote from a notable public Cybertronian (Alpha Trion and Megatron bookending Beachcomber, which is adorable) on religion and Primus.
The opening involves a team led by Rodimus and made up of Skids, Whirl and First Aid, fighting robot monsters in a metal cave, with banter going on all around (including Rodimus having to admit that his low self-esteem hides that he really thinks he’s better than anyone else and Whirl mocking Skids fighting technique of driving into things).
The pullback reveal of a giant Ratchet staring at them through a gaping hole means they’ve actually be shrunk and put into Ultra Magnus’ mouth, to fight and kill “Nanocons” before they reach his brain and combine. With the pistons around them all rusty because they’re used for smiling…
At which point Magnus wakes up on Ratchet’s table, originally thinking the whole thing was a dream (especially as his bout of Nanocons was supposed to have been sorted years ago), and freaks out both at Brainstorm’s mass displacement gun having put tiny Autobots in his mouth and that one of them is Whirl. An armed Whirl on the honour system not to open fire.
Things get worse for him though, as he’s told the only way to destroy the Nanocons before they both kill him and break out and infect the ship, is to use those pistons in his mouth to kill them.
By smiling.
The opening involves a team led by Rodimus and made up of Skids, Whirl and First Aid, fighting robot monsters in a metal cave, with banter going on all around (including Rodimus having to admit that his low self-esteem hides that he really thinks he’s better than anyone else and Whirl mocking Skids fighting technique of driving into things).
The pullback reveal of a giant Ratchet staring at them through a gaping hole means they’ve actually be shrunk and put into Ultra Magnus’ mouth, to fight and kill “Nanocons” before they reach his brain and combine. With the pistons around them all rusty because they’re used for smiling…
At which point Magnus wakes up on Ratchet’s table, originally thinking the whole thing was a dream (especially as his bout of Nanocons was supposed to have been sorted years ago), and freaks out both at Brainstorm’s mass displacement gun having put tiny Autobots in his mouth and that one of them is Whirl. An armed Whirl on the honour system not to open fire.
Things get worse for him though, as he’s told the only way to destroy the Nanocons before they both kill him and break out and infect the ship, is to use those pistons in his mouth to kill them.
By smiling.
Which he forcibly does, leading to “The most humiliating day of my life,” something confirmed by the fact that he then can’t make the walk back to his office without every Autobot he passes making a smiling joke (“You’ll have to grin and bear it”).
His Magnus vision assesses every one of these Autobots (with, hilariously, each of them being summed up as “Potential troublemaker”, even the nothing negative to say about him Trailbreaker), but it’s his own reflection in the door to his office that gets the harshest critique: “Ultra Magnus: Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord: Laughingstock.”
Which is not only a fun over the top action opening with some story setup, but it also quickly establishes the tone if the series and the personalities of various key characters for anyone who isn’t a regular reader picking up the special.
The art from Jimbo Salgado and Emil Cabaltierra is also terrible, but more on that later.
Even if the art is perhaps not living up to the ideas, Roberts is at least being as inventive as ever with his structuring, using a double page spread, not for the action or big imagery you might expect, but to have three parallel scenes running in rows across the spread.
His Magnus vision assesses every one of these Autobots (with, hilariously, each of them being summed up as “Potential troublemaker”, even the nothing negative to say about him Trailbreaker), but it’s his own reflection in the door to his office that gets the harshest critique: “Ultra Magnus: Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord: Laughingstock.”
Which is not only a fun over the top action opening with some story setup, but it also quickly establishes the tone if the series and the personalities of various key characters for anyone who isn’t a regular reader picking up the special.
The art from Jimbo Salgado and Emil Cabaltierra is also terrible, but more on that later.
Even if the art is perhaps not living up to the ideas, Roberts is at least being as inventive as ever with his structuring, using a double page spread, not for the action or big imagery you might expect, but to have three parallel scenes running in rows across the spread.
The first sees Chromedome wake up from a nightmare about Skyfall’s death from Bullets, an inherited memory (him presumably having injected the corpse, lovely), with Rewind both checking where the memory came from and reassuring him, which gets Chromedome wondering how he puts up with him.
Which on the surface is a simple scene, establishing Chromedome’s skill set and the risk for, again, a hypothetical new readership buying the special.
But it stands out for the fact that there’s no real ambiguity at this point, Chromedome and Rewind are just a romantic couple, Roberts having firmly committed to the idea, even if we’re still building up to the comic outright saying it. I’d love to know if the framing leaving it ambiguous if they’re sharing a bed or not was intentional or just down to the odd art.
In another hab suite, a very leggy Tailgate tries to invite Cyclonus to his Autobranding ceremony (him now having, just about, passed all of Magnus’ tests), with an awkward silence consuming the room as Cyclonus ignores him till he leaves.
Which is most interesting because this is the first real moment between them since the assault, and show’s that it is basically still an abusive “friendship,” with the silence treatment given to Tailgate here being needless and nasty. I’m curious now as to when that’s going to change, and how well it will be handled considering where this relationship is going to go.
Which on the surface is a simple scene, establishing Chromedome’s skill set and the risk for, again, a hypothetical new readership buying the special.
But it stands out for the fact that there’s no real ambiguity at this point, Chromedome and Rewind are just a romantic couple, Roberts having firmly committed to the idea, even if we’re still building up to the comic outright saying it. I’d love to know if the framing leaving it ambiguous if they’re sharing a bed or not was intentional or just down to the odd art.
In another hab suite, a very leggy Tailgate tries to invite Cyclonus to his Autobranding ceremony (him now having, just about, passed all of Magnus’ tests), with an awkward silence consuming the room as Cyclonus ignores him till he leaves.
Which is most interesting because this is the first real moment between them since the assault, and show’s that it is basically still an abusive “friendship,” with the silence treatment given to Tailgate here being needless and nasty. I’m curious now as to when that’s going to change, and how well it will be handled considering where this relationship is going to go.
The third duo is to be found down in the engine room, as Swerve is looking for the increasingly erratic Red Alert, stopping to chat to the still stuck in the engine Duobot Ore, not expecting an answer from the corpse… till it suddenly starts pleading with him for help, much to his horror.
In Rodimus’ office, where he’s carving into his desk with a big knife, Drift is trying to micromanage him over the Tailgate ceremony, in particular trying to get him to avoid saying his catchphrase of “Till all are one.” With Rodimus insisting he doesn’t say it that often, despite a flashback montage of him doing so repeatedly, with Drift pointing out Optimus only used the phrase in important moments, not when beating Highbrow at fullstasis.
Whilst this is all played for laughs (and leads into a joke nicked directly from Red Dwarf VI as they discuss what the Circle of Light, who’s planet they’re about to reach, could achieve with in partnership with them, that doesn’t really work because the map to Cyberutopia is actually more useful than a blue alert bulb), but is meant to be setting up the idea of Drift as a manipulative villain in what will become the Getaway role.
Also played for laughs but setting up something more serious is Ultra Magnus, clearly not recovered from having had Whirl in his mouth, bursts in demanding a new crew and insisting “Ultra Magnus is not supposed to be a figure of fun.” Which has Rodimus try to reassure him that all the taking the Michael from everyone is a sign of affection towards him, and this is better for him than being the guy who refers to himself in the third person, even as Magnus declares “The duly appointed enforcer of the Tyrest Accord must never change.”
Which just seems to be setting up the choice Magnus is faced with later in this issue, but that people have managed to have a good look inside him has so disquieted him to the point he talks about himself as if Ultra Magnus is a separate person, is all big and essential foreshadowing.
Magnus turns out to also be there because the Circle of Light aren’t answering the phone, but Drift brings up the events of his own miniseries, explaining that, if the Circle could survive that comic, nothing could take them down.
In Rodimus’ office, where he’s carving into his desk with a big knife, Drift is trying to micromanage him over the Tailgate ceremony, in particular trying to get him to avoid saying his catchphrase of “Till all are one.” With Rodimus insisting he doesn’t say it that often, despite a flashback montage of him doing so repeatedly, with Drift pointing out Optimus only used the phrase in important moments, not when beating Highbrow at fullstasis.
Whilst this is all played for laughs (and leads into a joke nicked directly from Red Dwarf VI as they discuss what the Circle of Light, who’s planet they’re about to reach, could achieve with in partnership with them, that doesn’t really work because the map to Cyberutopia is actually more useful than a blue alert bulb), but is meant to be setting up the idea of Drift as a manipulative villain in what will become the Getaway role.
Also played for laughs but setting up something more serious is Ultra Magnus, clearly not recovered from having had Whirl in his mouth, bursts in demanding a new crew and insisting “Ultra Magnus is not supposed to be a figure of fun.” Which has Rodimus try to reassure him that all the taking the Michael from everyone is a sign of affection towards him, and this is better for him than being the guy who refers to himself in the third person, even as Magnus declares “The duly appointed enforcer of the Tyrest Accord must never change.”
Which just seems to be setting up the choice Magnus is faced with later in this issue, but that people have managed to have a good look inside him has so disquieted him to the point he talks about himself as if Ultra Magnus is a separate person, is all big and essential foreshadowing.
Magnus turns out to also be there because the Circle of Light aren’t answering the phone, but Drift brings up the events of his own miniseries, explaining that, if the Circle could survive that comic, nothing could take them down.
The second chapter, Sacraments and Ceremonies, opens with the gathering for Tailgate’s ceremony, as the soon to be Autobot tries to convince Rodimus to delay the start for the late Swerve. But, there’s no time for that before they reach the Circle, so—as Autobots in the crowd make bets on when Rodimus will say “Till all are one” and First Aid reveals the Autobots who were hurt in explosive decompression at the end of issue 1 have suddenly started crushing their ears in bed—the speech starts, with Cyclonus watching from the sidelines. Oh, he does care, when he’s not beating the little guy.
Amidst all this, it’s easy to miss Whirl being pleased with himself over having written Bender’s catchphrase as graffiti within Magnus’ mouth.
Rodimus—who’s “All are one” within 5 seconds is declared close enough by Brainstorm for him to have won the bet—turns out to be terrible at giving speeches when they’re not about him, being very half-hearted, not even remembering the words Optimus Prime said to him at his own ceremony when he tries to quote them, simply trailing off and not letting Tailgate do his own speech.
There is an interesting throwaway mention that it’s been ten years since an Autobot (Ambulon) joined up with the “Right of affiliation,” meaning they really are shrinking in numbers compared to recruits hard.
Amidst all this, it’s easy to miss Whirl being pleased with himself over having written Bender’s catchphrase as graffiti within Magnus’ mouth.
Rodimus—who’s “All are one” within 5 seconds is declared close enough by Brainstorm for him to have won the bet—turns out to be terrible at giving speeches when they’re not about him, being very half-hearted, not even remembering the words Optimus Prime said to him at his own ceremony when he tries to quote them, simply trailing off and not letting Tailgate do his own speech.
There is an interesting throwaway mention that it’s been ten years since an Autobot (Ambulon) joined up with the “Right of affiliation,” meaning they really are shrinking in numbers compared to recruits hard.
But instead of an Autobrand, Rodimus winds up burning words in old Cybertronain onto Tailgate’s chest, which Rewind thinks says “Let me out.”
Which leads into a rather tired already “Science/faith” debate between Ratchet and Drift over whether this is possession or not, with no actually evidence either way and Ratchet seeming rather a stuck in the mud grump considering there are Transformers like Bombshell who can possess another, even if not with a supernatural explanation.
Though Ratchet’s frustration at Swerve using this moment to call up and tell everyone the dead Duobot has come back to like is quite funny, even if Perceptor takes it much more seriously as Ore is now part of the engine and could trigger a quantum jump if he gets stressed, so Swerve has to keep him calm and ignorant of what’s happened.
Which is also the point the “Taxpayer funded” Galactic Council ship the Benign Intervention approaches them, captained by what Rodimus cheerfully calls “A fleshling in a stupid hat,” who insists the Cybertronian colony below is abandoned and this planet has been annexed by the Council.
This horrifies Drift, who refuses to believe it, but lets Magnus (whom the Council captain is aware of and impressed by) gets to use bureaucracy and legal terms with many a mention of a subclause, to argue the site below is of religious significance to their species and they should be allowed an hour on the surface.
Which leads into a rather tired already “Science/faith” debate between Ratchet and Drift over whether this is possession or not, with no actually evidence either way and Ratchet seeming rather a stuck in the mud grump considering there are Transformers like Bombshell who can possess another, even if not with a supernatural explanation.
Though Ratchet’s frustration at Swerve using this moment to call up and tell everyone the dead Duobot has come back to like is quite funny, even if Perceptor takes it much more seriously as Ore is now part of the engine and could trigger a quantum jump if he gets stressed, so Swerve has to keep him calm and ignorant of what’s happened.
Which is also the point the “Taxpayer funded” Galactic Council ship the Benign Intervention approaches them, captained by what Rodimus cheerfully calls “A fleshling in a stupid hat,” who insists the Cybertronian colony below is abandoned and this planet has been annexed by the Council.
This horrifies Drift, who refuses to believe it, but lets Magnus (whom the Council captain is aware of and impressed by) gets to use bureaucracy and legal terms with many a mention of a subclause, to argue the site below is of religious significance to their species and they should be allowed an hour on the surface.
Which has Skids declare this the best day of Magnus’ life, Rodimus mock the incredulity over the Transformers being a religious species with “Yeah, ‘cause war and religion never go together” and Tailgate have to ask who the Galactic Council are.
With, as you’d expect, them being a more cynical take on the Federation from Star Trek (though you can view them as an analogy for the EU as well, but, to be honest, there’s so much politics to come over the series, including Brexit, let’s park that idea for now because there’s a lot more to say down the line), who have blacklisted the Transformers and don’t like them very much.
To the point they don’t even let Rodimus chose who goes down to Crystal City, a selection are forcibly teleported away.
Which was part of the idea that this book is very much meant to be a Lower Decks (still only one episode of The Next Generation at this point, but influential enough it was almost inevitable it would become the name of a Star Trek spinoff at some point) series, with most of the focus characters, at least at this stage, not being important within the world of the fiction and wouldn’t be the first choice for this sort of mission with the captain. So, an outside force intervenes.
With, as you’d expect, them being a more cynical take on the Federation from Star Trek (though you can view them as an analogy for the EU as well, but, to be honest, there’s so much politics to come over the series, including Brexit, let’s park that idea for now because there’s a lot more to say down the line), who have blacklisted the Transformers and don’t like them very much.
To the point they don’t even let Rodimus chose who goes down to Crystal City, a selection are forcibly teleported away.
Which was part of the idea that this book is very much meant to be a Lower Decks (still only one episode of The Next Generation at this point, but influential enough it was almost inevitable it would become the name of a Star Trek spinoff at some point) series, with most of the focus characters, at least at this stage, not being important within the world of the fiction and wouldn’t be the first choice for this sort of mission with the captain. So, an outside force intervenes.
Though perhaps awkwardly as this “random” selection also includes the right combination of high rankers and people with the right knowledge of the City and its history (Ratchet, Drift, Rewind and Cyclonus) who’d have been fairly obvious picks anyway.
Down in the engine room, Swerve gets a moment of introspection he could never manage with one of his actual friends, as the blind Ore (thinking he’s on a slab in medibay after an accident) mistakes him for Pipes, who apparently has a very similar voice to that “Lug-nut” Swerve.
Letting “Pipes” reveal he can’t stand “Swerve” himself, not after the incident with Rung, where it turns out he only fired at all because he was worried he’d not be allowed to keep his bar open. Meaning he has to agree with Ore’s reaction that Swerve must be a total scumbag.
It will later become a key part of an issue that Swerve has issues he hides from everyone, and this is a clever way for him to talk about some stuff without breaking that isolation too soon and is one of the more subtle but most successful examples of how Roberts extreme long-term planning can payoff at times.
It’s only a quick visit to the planet to show the selected team (Rewind, Ratchet, Brainstorm, Rodimus, Cyclonus, Skids, Whirl and Chromedome) arrive and briefly moan about the forced teleportation, before a shocked Drift sees the destroyed remains of Crystal City.
Down in the engine room, Swerve gets a moment of introspection he could never manage with one of his actual friends, as the blind Ore (thinking he’s on a slab in medibay after an accident) mistakes him for Pipes, who apparently has a very similar voice to that “Lug-nut” Swerve.
Letting “Pipes” reveal he can’t stand “Swerve” himself, not after the incident with Rung, where it turns out he only fired at all because he was worried he’d not be allowed to keep his bar open. Meaning he has to agree with Ore’s reaction that Swerve must be a total scumbag.
It will later become a key part of an issue that Swerve has issues he hides from everyone, and this is a clever way for him to talk about some stuff without breaking that isolation too soon and is one of the more subtle but most successful examples of how Roberts extreme long-term planning can payoff at times.
It’s only a quick visit to the planet to show the selected team (Rewind, Ratchet, Brainstorm, Rodimus, Cyclonus, Skids, Whirl and Chromedome) arrive and briefly moan about the forced teleportation, before a shocked Drift sees the destroyed remains of Crystal City.
At this point, it’s worth mentioning the odd art and genuinely wrong characters showing up, coupled with different editions trying to fix some of those mistakes, means it’s sometime very hard to work out who is who on the planet, and answers will depend on which version you’re reading. So, I’m just going to acknowledge here there’s some very confusing panels coming up and not try to decipher every single one.
Back in the engine room, Swerve has effectively turned his attempt to keep Ore calm into a therapy session, about how he feels lied to about what would happen after the end of the war and he’s worried he’s confused peace with happiness and has no idea what he’ll do once they’ve found the Knights, trailing off as he tries to suggest maybe going on another quest, realising that’s just a distraction technique over his real issues.
The far more cheerful Ore, who was only aboard with Shock to do a favour for a “friend,” is planning to jump ship at the next stop and really take advantage of peace by doing crazy and new things like befriending a Decepticon. He also reassures “Pipes” that inner-peace is going to be a lot harder to achieve than war-peace after all they’ve been through, they should just be glad to have survived.
Back in the engine room, Swerve has effectively turned his attempt to keep Ore calm into a therapy session, about how he feels lied to about what would happen after the end of the war and he’s worried he’s confused peace with happiness and has no idea what he’ll do once they’ve found the Knights, trailing off as he tries to suggest maybe going on another quest, realising that’s just a distraction technique over his real issues.
The far more cheerful Ore, who was only aboard with Shock to do a favour for a “friend,” is planning to jump ship at the next stop and really take advantage of peace by doing crazy and new things like befriending a Decepticon. He also reassures “Pipes” that inner-peace is going to be a lot harder to achieve than war-peace after all they’ve been through, they should just be glad to have survived.
Not glad about anything is Drift, who’s on the verge of a breakdown, first snapping at Rewind for suggesting his use his Great Sword to find out what happened, then outright decking Whirl for mocking “Happy clappy Drift” no longer being present.
Followed by him shouting at the heavens about how the crew have faced down every challenge thrown at them and deserve more than a dead-end, before almost subconsciously following Rewind’s idea and symbolically thrusting his Great Sword into the ground. With only enough time for Rodimus to suggest punching Whirl again if it helps before said ground collapses beneath them.
During all this, Magnus got diverted to the Benign Intervention, where the captain cheerfully greets him, praises him as someone much admired by the Council, before being offered a chance to join them. And it’s very More Than Meets the Eye that the end of the second chapter is a character moment, when either the previous or following page would have made a more traditionally dramatic cliffhanger.
Followed by him shouting at the heavens about how the crew have faced down every challenge thrown at them and deserve more than a dead-end, before almost subconsciously following Rewind’s idea and symbolically thrusting his Great Sword into the ground. With only enough time for Rodimus to suggest punching Whirl again if it helps before said ground collapses beneath them.
During all this, Magnus got diverted to the Benign Intervention, where the captain cheerfully greets him, praises him as someone much admired by the Council, before being offered a chance to join them. And it’s very More Than Meets the Eye that the end of the second chapter is a character moment, when either the previous or following page would have made a more traditionally dramatic cliffhanger.
Said opening of Epiphanies being a near full-page reveal that the Lost Light landing party have landed after their fall, on what turns out to be the secret of Crystal City: A Metrotitan.
That is to say, a double of Metroplex (with the overall name for this type of Transformer ultimately being shortened to just “Titan” rather than the full name of his Japanese repaint), the chosen form of transport for the Knights of Cybertron because of their super-sparks that let them teleport over vast distances (and, as Drift also believes but Ratchet doesn’t, “straddle multiple planes of existence and commune with the divine”).
All of which is the heaviest foreshadowing yet for the plans that will take us up the 30th anniversary and well beyond. Considering Metroplex has played a decent sized role in a couple of stories now, suddenly revealing he’s almost the Transformers equivalent of the Biblical Ark (as opposed to the Transformers Ark) if there was a fleet of them does feel a little out of leftfield. And the ideas are still a little in development with no mention of Space Bridges or the need for a City Speaker. But it’s fair to say, this is one of the biggest and most important info-dumps IDW ever did.
Following a fun little gag of the “Crusadercons” going on a brain quest that only takes a panel as they quickly get to the Metrotitan’s brain module. Though there’s a strange moment of Rewind being terrified of Cyclonus speaking, not realising he wasn’t mute, despite them having stood next to each other when Cyclonus reported the result of his arial reconnaissance to Rodimus just a few pages earlier.
But Rewind is excited to learn that Cyclonus used to pray in the shadow of Metrotitans whilst reciting the “Primal sacrament,” a version of the creation myth Rewind doesn’t have a recording of, making him excitedly badger Cyclonus into…
That is to say, a double of Metroplex (with the overall name for this type of Transformer ultimately being shortened to just “Titan” rather than the full name of his Japanese repaint), the chosen form of transport for the Knights of Cybertron because of their super-sparks that let them teleport over vast distances (and, as Drift also believes but Ratchet doesn’t, “straddle multiple planes of existence and commune with the divine”).
All of which is the heaviest foreshadowing yet for the plans that will take us up the 30th anniversary and well beyond. Considering Metroplex has played a decent sized role in a couple of stories now, suddenly revealing he’s almost the Transformers equivalent of the Biblical Ark (as opposed to the Transformers Ark) if there was a fleet of them does feel a little out of leftfield. And the ideas are still a little in development with no mention of Space Bridges or the need for a City Speaker. But it’s fair to say, this is one of the biggest and most important info-dumps IDW ever did.
Following a fun little gag of the “Crusadercons” going on a brain quest that only takes a panel as they quickly get to the Metrotitan’s brain module. Though there’s a strange moment of Rewind being terrified of Cyclonus speaking, not realising he wasn’t mute, despite them having stood next to each other when Cyclonus reported the result of his arial reconnaissance to Rodimus just a few pages earlier.
But Rewind is excited to learn that Cyclonus used to pray in the shadow of Metrotitans whilst reciting the “Primal sacrament,” a version of the creation myth Rewind doesn’t have a recording of, making him excitedly badger Cyclonus into…
The standout part of the issue, and indeed the two Annuals as both have a similar sequence: Three pages of Guido Guidi art, playing into his reputation as the classic style Generation One artist (something recently solidified by his covers for Regeneration One), drawn and coloured (by Joanna Lafuente on these pages) to ape the style of the early Marvel comics to represent the possibly apocryphal ancient past.
This is the first full on take on the Primus origin story from IDW, with innovations small (Cybertron starts as a separate entity to him), and big. In particular that Roberts and Barber (because this was very much developed between them) have given space Jesus the equivalent of the disciples: The Guiding Hand, four (Primus himself making the fifth finger, or arguably thumb) beings nearly equal to him power that Primus created himself as he wandered the surface of the mystery planet Cybertron.
Mortilus (bring the necessary balance of death to life), Solomus (wisdom), Epistemus (knowledge, and it’s interesting that the choice has been made to have smartness and wiseness be different things. Or maybe they couldn’t think of a fourth useful attribute) and the blessed with a variety of infinite shapes, Adaptus.
During this, a convenient interruption from Rewind about the recording means Cyclonus lose his place when talking about Primus being forged by the “Universal furnace” to take on his rival… who goes unnamed. A bit of coyness that turns out to be lucky, because, even though at this point the long game intent was for More Than Meets the Eye to end with Unicron (in a role that will be filled instead by… a more unexpected choice), changing circumstances means the dark God will show up in IDW in a way that is totally new and impossible to be a part of Cybertronian myth.
The Hand wound up populating the planet with a race gifted with a second shape, beginning a golden age. One that ended with Mortilus, in the Judas role, turning against his brothers in a battle that destroyed one of Cybertron’s moons and was so violent that even though he was eventually killed, the cost to the others was harsh. With Primus forced to retreat into the heart of Cybertron and become Vector Sigma, Solomus became the Matrix and the most damaged of all, Epistemus and Adaptus, became the brain module and transformation cog, respectively.
This is the first full on take on the Primus origin story from IDW, with innovations small (Cybertron starts as a separate entity to him), and big. In particular that Roberts and Barber (because this was very much developed between them) have given space Jesus the equivalent of the disciples: The Guiding Hand, four (Primus himself making the fifth finger, or arguably thumb) beings nearly equal to him power that Primus created himself as he wandered the surface of the mystery planet Cybertron.
Mortilus (bring the necessary balance of death to life), Solomus (wisdom), Epistemus (knowledge, and it’s interesting that the choice has been made to have smartness and wiseness be different things. Or maybe they couldn’t think of a fourth useful attribute) and the blessed with a variety of infinite shapes, Adaptus.
During this, a convenient interruption from Rewind about the recording means Cyclonus lose his place when talking about Primus being forged by the “Universal furnace” to take on his rival… who goes unnamed. A bit of coyness that turns out to be lucky, because, even though at this point the long game intent was for More Than Meets the Eye to end with Unicron (in a role that will be filled instead by… a more unexpected choice), changing circumstances means the dark God will show up in IDW in a way that is totally new and impossible to be a part of Cybertronian myth.
The Hand wound up populating the planet with a race gifted with a second shape, beginning a golden age. One that ended with Mortilus, in the Judas role, turning against his brothers in a battle that destroyed one of Cybertron’s moons and was so violent that even though he was eventually killed, the cost to the others was harsh. With Primus forced to retreat into the heart of Cybertron and become Vector Sigma, Solomus became the Matrix and the most damaged of all, Epistemus and Adaptus, became the brain module and transformation cog, respectively.
With the Cybertronians now gifted with sentience, wisdom, intellect, change and (because they just killed death itself) immortality, the self-appointed Knights of Cybertron, on their Metrotitans (one actually in the colours of Metrotitan toy), left the world to help the Universe.
Which is an awful lot to cram into just three pages (less than Marvel UK devoted to their first go at the origin), the swagger and clarity of the art really hopes to convey what’s happening and stop it getting too confusing, making it somewhat of a relief this was handed by a different art team.
The only real problem is, a Hasbro desire (that must already be in effect behind the scenes) to include elements from the Aligned continuity means we’re not that far from IDW having to bring in that originally created by Dreamwave more literal take on the disciples that is The 13, which even includes their own Judas. Meaning IDW are going to end up with one layer too many of Christian imagery that will wind up a bit of a mess and means two lots of all powerful godlike custodians of Cybertron fall into betrayal and conflict that sees them seemingly lost to time.
All of this gets dismissed as nonsense by Ratchet, leading to a full-on conflict with Drift (disgusted at him wearing his atheism “Like a badge of honour”) at the tensions between them finally snap, with it turning out Ratchet’s real issue is he had failed to save a lot of Autobots Drift killed when he was a Decepticon and none of this is about faith, it’s about absolution. Which is when he gets a sword held to his neck and Rodimus splitting them off, taking Drift for a walk whilst ordering Chromedome to use his fingers on the Metrotitan’s brain and find out what happened here.
Which is a strong scene, but what stood out to be on this reread is, despite being the two believers, there’s no interaction between Drift and Cyclonus. Indeed, I think there’s barely any across the entire series. Which is a kind of curious choice, possibly born out of how sincere Drift is actually meant to be at this point.
Which is an awful lot to cram into just three pages (less than Marvel UK devoted to their first go at the origin), the swagger and clarity of the art really hopes to convey what’s happening and stop it getting too confusing, making it somewhat of a relief this was handed by a different art team.
The only real problem is, a Hasbro desire (that must already be in effect behind the scenes) to include elements from the Aligned continuity means we’re not that far from IDW having to bring in that originally created by Dreamwave more literal take on the disciples that is The 13, which even includes their own Judas. Meaning IDW are going to end up with one layer too many of Christian imagery that will wind up a bit of a mess and means two lots of all powerful godlike custodians of Cybertron fall into betrayal and conflict that sees them seemingly lost to time.
All of this gets dismissed as nonsense by Ratchet, leading to a full-on conflict with Drift (disgusted at him wearing his atheism “Like a badge of honour”) at the tensions between them finally snap, with it turning out Ratchet’s real issue is he had failed to save a lot of Autobots Drift killed when he was a Decepticon and none of this is about faith, it’s about absolution. Which is when he gets a sword held to his neck and Rodimus splitting them off, taking Drift for a walk whilst ordering Chromedome to use his fingers on the Metrotitan’s brain and find out what happened here.
Which is a strong scene, but what stood out to be on this reread is, despite being the two believers, there’s no interaction between Drift and Cyclonus. Indeed, I think there’s barely any across the entire series. Which is a kind of curious choice, possibly born out of how sincere Drift is actually meant to be at this point.
As Chromedome prepares, Skids tries to have a conversation (as referenced in the already published issue 9) with him on his worldview that life is pain and people are at their best at a distance. Something refuted by Chromedome, who was saved from suicide by meeting the right person at the right time, and there might even be someone like that, who sees the best in everyone, out there for Skids as well. All said over a rather lovely panel of Rewind and Cyclonus continuing their chat in a corner whilst looking at a map of ancient Cybertron, completely absorbed.
Meanwhile, Drift rather pathetically asks Rodimus if he really believes in the Knights, because he used to think he was flaky sort going from one obsession to another (like the Magnificence), but now he’s totally convinced this is his captain’s destiny, and he’s going to do something incredible.
Which, again, considering Drift was still going to be a baddy at this point, was probably meant to be ego-stroking bullshit, but now has to be taken as a genuine shaking of his faith and need for reassurance.
Chromedome, fully aware Rewind is disapproving what he’s about to do (and so not as absorbed as he seems), but do it he does, plugging into the Titan’s brain module…
And unleashing a wave of a pain as he’s overcome by images of the 1984 bots from issue 2 (including ones directly based on art from that issue) attacking the Circle of Light with such violence, it not only wakes up the Metrotitan, but laser beams also shoot from his eyes and blast so far into orbit, they hit the Benign Intervention.
Causing the Captain to assume an attack by the duplicitous Cybertronians and having had his answer from Magnus off-panel, sends the Autobot back to die with his shipmates, before sending an attack force down to the planet on “Threat level 10.”
Meanwhile, Drift rather pathetically asks Rodimus if he really believes in the Knights, because he used to think he was flaky sort going from one obsession to another (like the Magnificence), but now he’s totally convinced this is his captain’s destiny, and he’s going to do something incredible.
Which, again, considering Drift was still going to be a baddy at this point, was probably meant to be ego-stroking bullshit, but now has to be taken as a genuine shaking of his faith and need for reassurance.
Chromedome, fully aware Rewind is disapproving what he’s about to do (and so not as absorbed as he seems), but do it he does, plugging into the Titan’s brain module…
And unleashing a wave of a pain as he’s overcome by images of the 1984 bots from issue 2 (including ones directly based on art from that issue) attacking the Circle of Light with such violence, it not only wakes up the Metrotitan, but laser beams also shoot from his eyes and blast so far into orbit, they hit the Benign Intervention.
Causing the Captain to assume an attack by the duplicitous Cybertronians and having had his answer from Magnus off-panel, sends the Autobot back to die with his shipmates, before sending an attack force down to the planet on “Threat level 10.”
As things shake below, Chromedome reveals the Metrotitan is screaming, having heard the call back to Cybertron, but being unable to move in response, the exertion to try and teleport himself going so far as to be killing him, with the real translation of Tailgate’s chest being “Set me free.”
Which, thanks to the power of a Metrotitan, explains all the weirdness: Resurrected Nanocons and Duobots and the medibay Autobots hearing the scream.
Chromedome is now excited to go back in, over Rewind’s protests, because the Metrotitan can not only tell them all about the Guiding Hand, but he can also even go as far as proving the existence of God.
But it’s Drift who steps in to suggest that they think about this, with the start of the attack by the Galactic Council troops above leaving it ambiguous as to if he’s scared of harm to a religious icon like the Metrotian, scared of God being disproved, scared of God being proved or some combination of all three.
As Rodimus sends Whirl to lead a “no fatalities” team to take on the troops, the debate becomes, do they save the Titan (somehow), or use it to answer the questions they need for the rest of their quest?
At first, saving doesn’t even seem an option, but it turns out Brainstorm has been carrying the miniaturisation gun (in miniaturised form) he used to get inside Magnus’ mouth. So, what if they shrunk the Metrotitan to the point he could successfully teleport himself back to Cybertron?
The conversation gets interrupted by a call from Magnus: The Lost Light has been encased in an “Incineration shell,” a forcefield that’s going to burn them all to death, with him responding to the order to “survive” by asking Rodimus not to make his last act disobeying an order.
Which, thanks to the power of a Metrotitan, explains all the weirdness: Resurrected Nanocons and Duobots and the medibay Autobots hearing the scream.
Chromedome is now excited to go back in, over Rewind’s protests, because the Metrotitan can not only tell them all about the Guiding Hand, but he can also even go as far as proving the existence of God.
But it’s Drift who steps in to suggest that they think about this, with the start of the attack by the Galactic Council troops above leaving it ambiguous as to if he’s scared of harm to a religious icon like the Metrotian, scared of God being disproved, scared of God being proved or some combination of all three.
As Rodimus sends Whirl to lead a “no fatalities” team to take on the troops, the debate becomes, do they save the Titan (somehow), or use it to answer the questions they need for the rest of their quest?
At first, saving doesn’t even seem an option, but it turns out Brainstorm has been carrying the miniaturisation gun (in miniaturised form) he used to get inside Magnus’ mouth. So, what if they shrunk the Metrotitan to the point he could successfully teleport himself back to Cybertron?
The conversation gets interrupted by a call from Magnus: The Lost Light has been encased in an “Incineration shell,” a forcefield that’s going to burn them all to death, with him responding to the order to “survive” by asking Rodimus not to make his last act disobeying an order.
But there is one last idea Rodimus has, meaning he asks to be put through to Swerve…
Who, by an amazing coincidence Roberts tries to handwave by Ore saying it’s a natural thing to think about in his very ill position, has gotten into a conversation about Primus with the Duobot.
Swerve believes, because otherwise life seems pointless. Ore on the other hand, has the same viewpoint as Skids, life is indeed pointless and violent. And though Swerve is, understandably considering the almost certainly terminal state of who he’s talking to, desperate to hope he believes in the Afterspark at least, nope, Ore just thinks that’s an excuse for people to do bad things and sometimes get away with it.
So, the religion of Primus is Catholicism, basically. Because all basic religions in Western SF are Catholicism in the end.
Most of this discussion happens over footage of Whirl’s team fighting with extreme violence to emphasise his point.
But the final argument he makes is about “Pipe’s” mate (characters are just unashamedly British by this point) Swerve, what really matter is that he does feel genuinely bad about shooting “Whatisface,” and therefore isn’t really a scumbag. And isn’t that the best any of us can hope for in the end?
Who, by an amazing coincidence Roberts tries to handwave by Ore saying it’s a natural thing to think about in his very ill position, has gotten into a conversation about Primus with the Duobot.
Swerve believes, because otherwise life seems pointless. Ore on the other hand, has the same viewpoint as Skids, life is indeed pointless and violent. And though Swerve is, understandably considering the almost certainly terminal state of who he’s talking to, desperate to hope he believes in the Afterspark at least, nope, Ore just thinks that’s an excuse for people to do bad things and sometimes get away with it.
So, the religion of Primus is Catholicism, basically. Because all basic religions in Western SF are Catholicism in the end.
Most of this discussion happens over footage of Whirl’s team fighting with extreme violence to emphasise his point.
But the final argument he makes is about “Pipe’s” mate (characters are just unashamedly British by this point) Swerve, what really matter is that he does feel genuinely bad about shooting “Whatisface,” and therefore isn’t really a scumbag. And isn’t that the best any of us can hope for in the end?
Which is when Rodimus’ call comes in on Swerve’s “Inter-Autobot radio”: He needs to tell Ore what’s really happened to him right now, so it will trigger a quantum jump and save the ship. Yes, even though this will almost certainly kill the Duobot.
We don’t immediately hear Swerve’s response to this direct order, with him just telling Rewind “No” was pretty much all he said, as the actual words play over the panel: Swerve has again been presented with the order to hurt someone or save them, and this time he’s choosing to save them, the only choice a real Autobot can make, even as their last choice.
Which is perhaps a bit selfish of him considering they’re all going to die, including Ore, so it’s more a choice between intentionally hurting one person or allowing everyone to die. It’s not even really a trolly problem as the singular victim is on both tracks.
This also knocks the wind out of Rodimus’ sails enough that he doesn’t even try to just have Magnus send someone down from the bridge instead (or even tell Ore over the ship’s Tannoy), instead accepting the whole crew are about to die.
But he does just about manage to authorise Chromedome and Brainstorm to free the Metrotitan.
With Brainstorm cheerfully admitting using the shrinking gun will probably kill them all, he fires it at the brain module… bathing the Autobots in all three locations (underground, overground, Wombling free… err, I mean on the Lost Light) in a white light…
We don’t immediately hear Swerve’s response to this direct order, with him just telling Rewind “No” was pretty much all he said, as the actual words play over the panel: Swerve has again been presented with the order to hurt someone or save them, and this time he’s choosing to save them, the only choice a real Autobot can make, even as their last choice.
Which is perhaps a bit selfish of him considering they’re all going to die, including Ore, so it’s more a choice between intentionally hurting one person or allowing everyone to die. It’s not even really a trolly problem as the singular victim is on both tracks.
This also knocks the wind out of Rodimus’ sails enough that he doesn’t even try to just have Magnus send someone down from the bridge instead (or even tell Ore over the ship’s Tannoy), instead accepting the whole crew are about to die.
But he does just about manage to authorise Chromedome and Brainstorm to free the Metrotitan.
With Brainstorm cheerfully admitting using the shrinking gun will probably kill them all, he fires it at the brain module… bathing the Autobots in all three locations (underground, overground, Wombling free… err, I mean on the Lost Light) in a white light…
Cut to the medibay sometime later, where Swerve is taking the Drift opinion of what happened, telling the comatose Rung that by helping the Metrotitan, the giant’s faith in Transformers was restored, resulting in him saving them all by teleporting the Autobots with him when he escaped. And though they don’t know where the Metrotitan went, he took Ore with him, wherever it was.
All of which has restored Swerve’s faith and self-esteem, leaving him confident Ore has been sent to the Afterspark.
A place he not only didn’t believe in, but actively didn’t like the idea of, so that’s a bit disrespectful to him, Swerve. You’d probably be into retrospectively baptising dead celebrities if you were from the Deep South.
Though it is intentionally amusing in retrospect that a scene that is basically played as a Catholic confession, talking about Primus, is played with Rung.
Rodimus and Magnus on the other hand are team Brainstorm (I guess really answering Drift’s question on if Rodimus actually believes in any of the reason for their quest): Ore had become linked to the Metrotitan after being resurrected by him, and that was enough to trigger a quantum jump once he beamed himself out of the planet (though the whiteout effect isn’t how such jumps work in this series).
Chromedome can’t remember who he saw kidnapping the Circle of Light (conveniently), but, on the assumption the Decepticons are the best bet, they’re going to investigate a system with reports of Con activity. Because Rodimus has decided it’s time to take this quest more seriously after everyone nearly died, especially as, if Primus is a warrior God, it’s because so many beings want his children dead.
All of which has restored Swerve’s faith and self-esteem, leaving him confident Ore has been sent to the Afterspark.
A place he not only didn’t believe in, but actively didn’t like the idea of, so that’s a bit disrespectful to him, Swerve. You’d probably be into retrospectively baptising dead celebrities if you were from the Deep South.
Though it is intentionally amusing in retrospect that a scene that is basically played as a Catholic confession, talking about Primus, is played with Rung.
Rodimus and Magnus on the other hand are team Brainstorm (I guess really answering Drift’s question on if Rodimus actually believes in any of the reason for their quest): Ore had become linked to the Metrotitan after being resurrected by him, and that was enough to trigger a quantum jump once he beamed himself out of the planet (though the whiteout effect isn’t how such jumps work in this series).
Chromedome can’t remember who he saw kidnapping the Circle of Light (conveniently), but, on the assumption the Decepticons are the best bet, they’re going to investigate a system with reports of Con activity. Because Rodimus has decided it’s time to take this quest more seriously after everyone nearly died, especially as, if Primus is a warrior God, it’s because so many beings want his children dead.
Leading us to the Galactic Council captain reporting to a superior, both that the Cybertronians are fractured and vulnerable, and that Magnus turned down his offer to join them and stop the potential corruption of his integrity by that crew of idiots… with a smile.
That’s an issue that issues the added length to be denser and use the central religion idea to try and explore more ideas than even the couple of two partners Roberts has done so far have managed. It doesn’t all work, but it’s clearly cheerfully having a great time throwing as much at the wall as it possibly can, and, as a story, makes for an excellent start to the Annual duology.
It’s just a shame the art is so appalling, and it’s mildly surprising this big important attention grabbing and difficult issue went, outside of those three excellent Guidi pages, to an untested on Transformers art team. I’m all for a break in style and trying a new look, but this is ugly, clearly rushed and becomes hard to follow at times.
There will be points in the future where IDW will be fairly dismissive of the importance of the art team to the book, it’s a shame they didn’t learn from this experience they are just as vital as the writer because the failure does undercut the story quite hard. Especially as it’s such a long issue with only that brief break in the middle from the bleakness.
There’s still a lot to enjoy and take in here, it’s just a shame the art is fighting against the reader doing so.
Now, with apologies for it coming right after an unplanned break, I’m taking the next two weeks off for a holiday to Berlin, but when I return, we’ll get the almost immediate answer to where the Titan went…
ROBOTS IN DISGUISE ISSUE 9
2012
COMMENT
KO-FI
That’s an issue that issues the added length to be denser and use the central religion idea to try and explore more ideas than even the couple of two partners Roberts has done so far have managed. It doesn’t all work, but it’s clearly cheerfully having a great time throwing as much at the wall as it possibly can, and, as a story, makes for an excellent start to the Annual duology.
It’s just a shame the art is so appalling, and it’s mildly surprising this big important attention grabbing and difficult issue went, outside of those three excellent Guidi pages, to an untested on Transformers art team. I’m all for a break in style and trying a new look, but this is ugly, clearly rushed and becomes hard to follow at times.
There will be points in the future where IDW will be fairly dismissive of the importance of the art team to the book, it’s a shame they didn’t learn from this experience they are just as vital as the writer because the failure does undercut the story quite hard. Especially as it’s such a long issue with only that brief break in the middle from the bleakness.
There’s still a lot to enjoy and take in here, it’s just a shame the art is fighting against the reader doing so.
Now, with apologies for it coming right after an unplanned break, I’m taking the next two weeks off for a holiday to Berlin, but when I return, we’ll get the almost immediate answer to where the Titan went…
ROBOTS IN DISGUISE ISSUE 9
2012
COMMENT
KO-FI