Due out Wednesday, February 27, 2008.

Got it, read it...
Well it's pretty much as Simon Furman said it would be in his blog, a few thing wraped up, some new story directions,
and now we see how these upcoming "decepticon focused" issues will fit in.
"Spoilered" for thoses that didn't read it:
HIGHLIGHT to view:
Not a big fan of Galvatron just being uber powerful and how the reapers seemed like a pointless plot device. Plus Runabout and Runamuck's deaths seemed to happen just cuz it seemed like someone had to be killed off and they were the perfect candidates...
I liked the issue, but then againg I liked spotlight arcee which most people didn't

That kicked some serious ass. Josh, nice pin-up at the end and colors all-around!

Alas poor Battlechargers, though...

Starscream using gun-mode Megatron brought a smile to my face though.

Jhiaxus's design is...interesting to say the least.

Ditto of a smile on Starscream using gun-mode Megatron.

Liked the scene between Hot Rod, the Machination Headmaster, and Hardhead.

And they weren't kidding about that Mosiac featuring Hunter. At least his is blue and looks a lot like Sunstreaker's head, compared to the more... darker Machination Headmasters' head designs.

How much of a time difference between the events of Magnus' Spotlight and up to this point? I mean, Scorponok apparently achieved that "wish" of a transforming person, albeit at the expense of his body. Willingly give up his body for that achievement with other ulterior motives? Or the Machination got REAL (read: like, "uh-huh") lucky?

Reapers, I'll agree with them being "meh" here. Galvatron standing over/near Sixshot seems to foreshadow something. And Nova/Nemesis reunited with Jhiaxus for more Expansion mess. Method to their madness?

At least Astrotrain's train-mode is as modern as modern gets with American freight trains. ;P

Love the pin up, Josh!

I think it was roughly twenty to thirty years.

More than enough time for Scorpy to get screwed-up, found by humans, to make a deal with them, and get the Machination tech to the point of Cybertronian advancement.

I enjoyed this issue. Liked how Galvatron intervened without the Decepticons knowledge. Its gonna be a blow to Megatron's ego if he finds out. Starscream using Megatron was great too.. Although you have to wonder what Megatron is thinking. Is Starscream that much of a better shot than the other Cons? He's a better shot than the dead Battlechargers I suppose! lol I was suprised to see them killed, but I liked it. Its not think they were going to do much anyways. Wonder if they will end up saved somehow. Also loving Hot Rod sticking around on earth against orders. Seems like Prime's got a few Autobots lying to him. Not the squeaky clean Autobots of old, that's for sure.

The BEST part was near the end though. A Decepticon happy ending! "I guess it all turned out OK in the end" I half expected them to hug each other!

Overall. I'm happy with Devestation. Whats the Focus on Decepticons stuff thats on the back cover?

Oh yeah.. while I'm on ads.. could we not have 4 of the 10 pages of ads and instead have 4 more pages of story?

The best part is Astrotrain sayin: Runamuck and Runabout, I can call that acceptable loses! Poor Battlechargers. Their toys sucked anyways. Nice to see The Decepticons work as a team. Megatron is a good leader and it was cool to root for the bad guys for once. Now the Dead Universe transformers have some of the most powerful transformers ever created! Thunderwing, Galvatron, and now Sixshot. Nevermind what strengths Nemesis Prime may hold.

I liked it a lot, a slight problem I have though:

In Spotlight: Sixshot, the Reapers seemed like they really were just messing around with the big goon. On earth, while battling the Autobots, he seemed unstoppable. That indicates that his level of power should be vastly > a "normal" warrior, ergo the Reapers MUCH more powerful than any normie.

Yet here, Starscream, Megs and co are taking them on with ease, killing one per-shot. Whether or not they would have won in the end is debatable, but still... I dunno just seemed like a decent sized inconsistency.

Jhiaxus looks like himself as a hobbled, crazy scientist, which I suppose is apropos. I liked Nova Prime's colors a lot more than Nemesis, but he still looks pretty boss.

Solid series, on the whole. Worlds more satisfying than the ascending, which I only point out because it was the last story arc I read.

They were hyped-up on Ore-13. Megatron at the very least.

The Reapers did kill Runamuck and Runabout and the other Cons aside from Megatron didn't seem to score any good kills. I think the infected Deathbringer accounted for most of the Reaper kills.

Great finale. Josh, you rock.

There was a lot of cool stuff here, but also (AGAIN) not a lot of payoff.

-It takes six issues for Hunter and Sunstreaker to combine? And not even then kick some ass? Just escape? Lame.

-I was glad to see Dante/Scorponok back in action, but unlike Sunstreaker, this one seemed to come a bit out of nowhere after not really being present much in Devastation.

-Galvatron didn't have as much presence as I wanted. You'd think that he'd at least meet some of the other TFs (Megatron most importantly)

- The Reapers seem more like a big distraction now more than ever. They were cool in Sixshot's spotlight, but making them out to be this apocalypse-level threat and then have Galvatron sweep them aside with maybe two instances of combat seems a bit ridiculous. Maybe it's just to show Galvatron's (and thus the Dead Transformers') level of power, but if that's the case, they wasted too much time doing it and could have done it another way.


However, I think I'll like Revelation a lot better. I'm really intrigued with Nemesis and Galvatron; I hope we get their full backstory soon. I really want to see Galavtron and Megatron interact. And I want to see what Prime (Optimus) is up to.

This story was good, and of course had many parts. I was very pleased with the art, and coloring. The pacing this issue also seemed to go well.

The one nag I have is the corrupting of Death Bringer by Galvatron. It seemed to come out of left field. You have a highly technical, and tough Galvatron, that generally relies on his physicality. Then, all of a sudden, he's able to summon some dark cloud that consumes / changes an entity. Maybe it would have been better if I knew the cloud was some kind of nan-ites that Galvatron released, but it just seemed like some mystical "cloud of evil" that a wizard would cast. Very "un-Galvatron-like." I know he's a different character in this universe, but what's the point in changing a character so much into being a previous character in name, and look only?

While I say the above, I did enjoy this issue, and look forward to what is to come.

I think we're getting that instead of a fifth spotlight. So the third series of Transformers Spotlight issues will be Blaster, Arcee, Grimlock, Mirage, and the Focus On: Decepticons. It sounds interesting, and I really hope this means the next round of Spotlights will be a Focus On: Autobots and four Decepticon Spotlights!

Not a lot of payoff? Like three different stories got wrapped up here. This issue had the most payoff of ANY IDW issue so far IMO.



Cartoon Galvatron was an insane person serving a dark master.

Comic Galvatron was an uber powerful badass.

IDW Galvatron is an insane uber powerful badass serving a dark master.

What more could you want?

Niiiice! I feel like a lot of the plot threads up to this point have been nicely tied up: the earthbound Decepticons' house is in order, Ironhide rescued, Scorponok and his Machination have been (Almost) fully revealed and restored, Sunstreaker is back, and the Sixshot/Reapers storyline came to a close. Oh, and there's movement on the Soundwave and Dinobots' fronts, following up on their spotlights. Even Nightbeat's mental tampering is being touched on, as was the fate of Leadfoot.

I didn't expect Hunter to fight; heck, he barely figured out how to transform in time and avoided being stepped on by Scorponok only with Sunstreaker's help. He clearly lacks the skills, and Sunstreaker was being tampered with, so he was barely able to move quickly himself, as he admits. Besides, we're talking Scorponok, here. He could probably pull Sunstreaker apart with his bare hands. That and Sunstreaker's head is still in their hands. (Heh.) Should be fun to see them on the run; hope they join up with Hot Rod at some point. (That interlude with Hot Rod and Hardhead was really fun; good characterization for both. I love these little moments.)


Feels like it's ready to take off in a new direction with minimal baggage left, namely in the trajectory of "All Hail Megatron" (The author of that story arc confirmed that "All Hail" is the next story arc in the ongoing; it's "in continuity"--this was mentioned in the Dev #5 topic for those who missed it.) Starscream's "Us against the world" comment, and the Ark leaving...gave me a great sense of ominous things to come. ^ ^

Seems like these multiple storylines per issue have been deftly balanced to me; I liked getting progress on multiple fronts per issue; it's interesting. It means you get a tiny bit less of each storyline per issue, but more story for your buck in terms of quantity. In any case, I think the quality's stayed right up there. Feels like the plot threads have gradually built (Infiltration had, like, one main storyline, Escalation a couple, and this one three to four) but it's never gotten convoluted or confusing.

I really quite liked the Reapers, personally; their presence facilitated character establishment/growth for Sixshot and let us see the Decepticons kiss, make up and kick ass, made this universe seem like a larger place, then they were summarily yanked from the stage before they could steal story time from actual Transformers. I'm personally all for seeing the Transformers threatened by beings, whether human or alien, outside of their own species, so seeing 'em tangling with these organic/techno-organic beings was a lot of fun. Besides, they were tough; they iced a couple cons! (Poor Battlechargers: they were taken out in their first Marvel appearance, and then didn't reappear for dozens more issues.)

Oh, and Galvatron was freakin' *scary*. I LOVE that corruption power; unexpected and creepy. Rather than G1 Galvatron, who threw himself at anything and tore it limb from limb, it's nice how manipulative this one is, using other beings to do his bidding, having his own agendas, and trying to avoid making a splash while still shaping things. Nice.

I really disliked Screamer having apparently learned his leason and siding 100% with Megs with no indication at all that anything was on his mind other than being a faithful servant.

Really? I thought they were pretty clear Screamer still had his own mind.

Megatron: "Do you serve me...or yourself?"
Starscream: "I serve...the Decepticon cause!"
Megatron: Meh. Close enough.

Yeah, I didn't get the impression Starscream was lockstepping with Megs at all. His dialogue, as Xaaron says, shows he clearly still has his own drives.

Starscream Never sided with Megs. He sided with the Decepticon cause ... Megs in his arrogance believes the Decepticon cause is non-existant without him. Kinda like saying Rome only existed for Julius ceasar. (hmm... now to think about it it seems this Starscream has a bit of "armada" Starscream in him. I am referring to Aramada Screamer's death speech)

That's just it. The whole "evil magic" thing throws it off for me. It feels like a short cut in an otherwise good writing of the character. He is also silent mostly. That's never been a trait of Galvatron. Also, Galvatron as an underling of another common Transformer (not Unicron) changes his dynamic considerably. He's a good character, just not enough like the previous Galvatrons you mention to seem like him in new form. I felt the same way about Arcee. However, Blaster was recognizeable.

"Only a fool fights in a burning house."

I didn't think Starscream was at all serious with that "I am EVER your humble and willing servant," either. That was clearly classic Screamer sarcasm. Maybe if he hadn't emphasized "ever" in that way. ^ ^

...Actually, I found it interesting: considering they were once the closest of allies (Ruler and bodyguard/confidant--for examples of trust, Screamer alone of the prisoners in Megatron: Origin #5 was made privy to Megs' plans, and he also knew Sixshot's deactivation code) that in a crisis situation, they'd fall back into their old relationship, in which Megs would trust Starscream to wield him. Actually, this last couple issues and Megatron: Origin has gone a long way toward helping me better understand their relationship.

Nightbeat classifies what Galvatron uses to kill people like Leadfoot as a "necrotic virus" that causes cellular degeneration, so it isn't magic. I see no reason to assume his effects on Deathbringer are anything but another manifestation of this power. He infected him and turned him loose. I mean, he was dying the whole time, hence the fact that his body was smoking. Maybe Galv gave him a mental nudge, but this is a guy who implants things in peoples' brains, and he and Deathbringer both seem to be mechanoids, so mind control isn't beyond the pale.

So rather than magic, it's more like a plague of some type. (Actually, I like the apocalyptic connotations of Galvatron summoning a swarm of pestilence and death). ^ ^

...Personally, it made me happy to read the situation with Deathbringer as his desperately reaching out for his friends for help, but killing each one he touched. ^ ^ Not that it's explicit that's what's happening: It's more up for interpretation.

I personally have no problems with a character being written in a new way if I find it entertaining. New universe, chance to try new things. It helps that I don't have a strong attachment to G1 Arcee's personality *at all*, and not much of one for Galvatron's (Who was Megatron amped up, including the craziness.) which means they're much more interesting characters to me, now. ^ ^ Might step on some toes, but hey, I'm reading for my own pleasure.

Galv is cool. On the one hand, he's like the Four Horsemen rolled into one being. On the other, he's got a lot going on in his head in terms of thoughts, aspirations and desires (As Jhiaxus observes) that he's hiding behind a relatively silent and loyal facade.

And speaking of Jhiaxus, he's totally a Movie 'bot! Leave it to the scientist to keep up with the latest design trends. XD

Best Issue so far. Down right AWSOME!!! Now things are getting interesting.


..............Is it me? Or is Jhiaxus a Headmaster? His design looks very simailer to Hunter, Dante and the other Sunstreaker Head Masters. Perhaps he transforms until a Head for his Ultiamte Experiment?

I love the idea of a former Prime Being the Main villain in this story. I can think of Optimus's Speech to a defeated Nemisis Prime. (Wishful Thinking)

"I always feared that I would never be anything like you and other Primes before me, But now, I realize. That I am more then any of you will ever be"

I kinda feel this issue was a pretty crappy ending to a pretty crappy miniseries.
This series deserves every complaint about poor pacing that it gets. I'm sorry, I know I say that with every issue - but it's true. I think that the whole of this miniseries and the last one could be compressed into maybe eight issues and there would be leftover room.

The art? I'm sorry, but the empty backgrounds have just started to bug me. Flat grounds and empty skies bore me - but the second page is pretty awesome, too bad we've ALL already figured out what it's revealing. Same with the last page, only the art on that page isn't as fun.

You forgot about Wheelie who's supposed to be getting a spotlight as well.

Didn't forget -- hadn't heard! Tfarchive.com lied to me. A Wheelie Spotlight isn't surprising, given his cameo in Prime's Spotlight, but this outta be interesting to say the least.

Untill its reveal what he's really Alpha Trion, who what been age regreesed into a child by Jhiaxus for kicks, and is out to get revange on the universe becuase he doesnt want to go through robo-puberty again.

It's like Kill Bill with Transformers.

...actually, I had a scary thought today: Who's to say that Galvatron hasn't subtly been manipulating events in Cybertronian history toward The Expansion for *years* now...? A little nudge or shove here or there...

Jhiaxus has certainly been shown in the Arcee issue to have agents working in "our" universe even though he's in the Dead Universe.

I don't think that's quite accurate. Most of it, yes.. but I think the Expansion really doesn't center around Cybertron. Remember Spotlight: Galvatron paints a much larger picture. And don't forget the alien world from Spotlight: Nightbeat. Nova's ambitions are crazy and out of control. Man I want more now.

Oh, I know, and I love it too--I meant that he might have had to influence the Cybertronians before as part of the larger overall plan involving many different worlds. My mind leaps to them foremost because they're the stars of the show and he very recently affected them. Who knows what kind of mischief he's been up to elsewhere in the universe. ^ ^ Nothing good, that's for sure.

...Heck, I'm still wondering if maybe he's the one who put Scorponok in that sorry state! Scorp was intact after Ultra Magnus's Spotlight, so someone or something clearly hugged him up in the intervening period. ^ ^

I think it was the revival of the Megatron: Origin thread that reminded me of Cybertron's political instability and how tweaking certain bots here and there could produce or prevent changes.

...I want Quintessons in this universe. I'm not hugely fond of the cartoon origin, mind you, but I do like the Quints in their capacity as criminal businessmen. They've the sort of beings I could see playing a Destro-like role in terms of selling arms to both sides in an alien race's civil war. Design wise, those aliens in the Galvatron issue reminded me of them just a bit. C'mon Wheelie comic!!!

Galvatron taking Sixshot hmmm...

Does anybody else here think that the Terrorcons may try a search and rescue mission?

Hey Sixshot did save them when everybody else gave up on them maybe they'll try to return the favor.

Only for it to turn out horribly wrong.

Abominus anybody?

Hmm...




Good point. I can see that very clearly now. Scorponok goes to a world thats being influenced by Jhiaxus and Nova. He starts unwittingly breaking into their front with the same tech. Maybe for all we know he stole the technology from one of their worlds by taking a cybernetically enhanced biological creature from one of their occupied worlds. They send Galvatron to punish him before he teleports to earth and gets found by the Machination.

I'm with all the people here who enjoyed this issue and arc, for the same reasons. I even really enjoyed Su's art this time around, even though I'm usually fairly "meh" about it.

My one nag is in regards to the Hunter/Skorpinok storyline- I felt it was over too fast, the big reveal about the villain being Skorpy was highly predictable, and I'm not quite clear on how much of Sunstreaker's mind is still left in his partially dismantled original head. It just felt very unfinished, and on a whole the arc seemed to be dragged out throughout Devastation.

I also have to give a shout-out to Furman's overly dramatic dialogue. I just love it! "I am its fiery heart and soul" indeed, Megatron.

I thought the art in this issue was fantastic.

Also, isn't this the first time seeing Astrotrain's train mode? I've never seen it before, and that's one mode I can't picture how he'd transform into it (like every other IDW verse character who you can figure the transformation by their details). Definitely a departure from what we're used to for a train mode.

Randy

I like how he mounted the gun on top of his train mode; that's one of the really fun aspects of the Classics toy. He could just drive down the tracks causing devastation across the countryside. ^ ^

Anyone else think they look like G1 Minispies?




Yeah, and to Nemesis/Nova the Autobots and Decepticons are still Cybertronians. The last natives of their homeworld and basically the bulk of their species. It's very possible the war was engineered by them to cripple Cybertron to the point of death so that Cybertronians would have no choice but to beging expanding to the universe and conquering other worlds.

Pretty much now you have two well trained armies that are Cybertronians, occupying worlds and one group actively conquering them. Kill the two leaders and the rest may very well fall in line. It's not like all the Autobots have the same rigid level of Morality that Optimus has. While some cons would simply follow whoever is the most powerful and influential.

To anyone that might be reading this post who colors Transformers comics:

Knock it off with the glow effects. Seriously. You're making the art damn near unreadable.

As IDW:G1 issue #22, I liked it; as Devastation #6 I didn't. I really don't think this miniseries format really works for the way the book is structured. At the end of the series I should expect a big climatic payoff; instead, we get some rushed resolutions: Scorponok's reveal/sudden rebirth, the death of the Reapers, and Galvatron's mission. The only really good "ending" was Hot Rod staying behind. This is the problem with throwing several plotlines together...not only is the pacing thrown off for some because you have to refer to it every issue, but they interfere with each other's pacing because some things (Autobots leaving, Hot Rod staying behind, Scorponok) simply isn't as climatic as other stuff (the battle with the Reapers, Nemesis and Jhiaxus big DUN DUN DUN).

It seems like Furman hasn't really been able to write a good climatic battle for awhile now (Armada #18 and Stormbringer #4 both stand out in my mind as poorly done). I think the reasoning for this is simple...you really need one whole issue to set aside to the battle scene alone, with plenty of time to ride up to it, as he got in Marvel #75. There was no time here for the Reapers to really grow as a threat, I still think they would've worked better as one-off villains/universe scene-setters left alone in Sixshot's spotlight. Ah well.

I hope we definitely get more of Megatron/Starscream interactions (especially Starscream as a Decepticon patriot rather than just powerhungry) and that Sixshot still gets to keep some individuality when brought into the Dead Universe's merry band. All Hail Megatron should be fun...Decepticons, Scorponok, Skywatch, and Hot Rod and Sunstreaker...

Oh, and Jhiaxus. What the hell.

I kinda agree with you Magnus, I liked it, but there was so much to wrap up in this.

Scorponok is finally back and he only gets 3 pages. (well 5. but I mean from when he's up and has a body) Oh, before I forget, I love the damage on his head, it's so messed up with his optic hanging out and seeing the hydraulics in his mouth.

Also any Gurren-Laggen fans laugh when we saw Dante? It looks like his jaws hitting the floor and he has those cool shades for optics. I don't think I'll be able to look at Headmasters the same because of that anime.


Just how many Reapers are there? I thought it was a small group like the seven(?) we see in Sixshots spotlight, now theres like an army of them.

I loved seeing Megatron going all out, and his and Starscreams banter.

"Do you serve me... Or yourself?"
"I serve... The Decepticon cause!"

And I think I let out a little squeal when Megs transformed and Screamer caught him.

Too bad about Runabout and Runamuck, for some reason I thought they were Stunticons. Then I looked up who they were.

The part with Hotrod and Hardhead was great, and is Hound and his crew gonna meet up with Optimus and his crew at Garrus-9? If so nice way for them to meet up. Nightbeat's doing his detective thing, but I'm confused, is he going to off on his own on that ship?

Galvatron finally jumps into action, grabs Deathbringer and turns him into a walking plague, I guess it's the same thing he did to Leadfoot, but didn't kill him instantly. Cool but, not how I imagined Galvatron to fight.

I kinda felt bad for the first one Deathbringer kills, calling out to his brother, then turns to dust. And it looked painful. But I don't really care about the Reapers, theres so much going on with different groups of Transformers and they add another race/faction trying to recruit Sixshot and attacking Earth.

I think it's great with how Infiltration ended seeing the Decepticons working together in this.

Galvatron, I's guessing takes Sixshot with him to the Dead Universe, where we learn Nov-err Nemesis Prime and Jhiaxus don't fully trust him, or are they testing him? Galvatron has many secrets, ambitions and agendas huh?

If it wasn't for his dialog at the end of his own spotlight I would think Galvatron was taking Thunderwing and Sixshot for his own little army.

Anyway I love how Jhiaxus looks, whoever said he's a movie style bot, I agree with that and think he looks great.

Nemesis Prime, I like, a lot. Love the comment on the Wikia about him . But he's not really your normal black repaint, his colors are just flipped from Nova Prime to Nemesis Prime. Still we need a toy of him, preferably Nova but I'll take Nemesis, I just want a toy of him.


Really looking forward to the next series now.

The only reason he's powerhungry is because he think he'd do a better job for the Decepticons as leader.

He was like that in the cartoon. The Marvel comic is about the only place I recall him being about power for the sake of power.

You can read it as implied in the cartoon, but I don't think it was expressly stated. He wanted to be on top, his "I would make a better leader" stuff is to try and convince others to follow him. Here I really think he believes in something more than himself (the Decepticon Cause) and sees Megatron as endangering that cause.

There was a diagram of Astrotrain's transformation posted by Ej Su a while back over at the IDW forums.

In light of this issue, I went back and re-read Spotlight: Nightbeat. Several neat things jump out at me that didn't have obvious meaning back then. For instance, the adventurer who offered Nightbeat the Ark I flight recorder was, it now seems clear, a victim of Galvatron, since he suffered from the same advanced necrosis as Leadfoot. Hence Nightbeat's sense in #6 that he's seen these symptoms before. Second, when he's under surgery by the Dead Universe Transformers, he picks up several words like "Dead Universe" and "Expansion"...something I'd totally forgotten. Finally, of great significance...although his memories of the incident were entirely buried by his captors, he DID sent a carrier wave to his ship before being caught that described his findings on Gorlam Prime up until right before discovering the "hole in the world," including his observations of the dead bot. So, if he digs around enough in his own files, he should be able to recover the information that he's lost. ^ ^

But see how neither of what we could see of his captor's faces resemble Galvatron, Nemesis Prime or Jhiaxus?

I'm getting bored of waiting for Nightbeat to do whatever it is they programmed him to do. Okay, so he may have killed the humans and facsimilie in the Jump but it was never said that he was directly responsible.

Well, of course, it could have been anyone operating on him--the Ark I had a whole crewful of Transformers.

I personally like Nightbeat's storyline, and in fact, the whole Dead Universe subplot, cooling its heels in the background while other events took the stage; an apocalypse isn't fun without long-term buildup, and a sleeper agent wouldn't be any fun to me if he didn't spend considerable amounts of time doing stuff with no apparent relation to his psychological programming. Maybe if they'd kept from touching on it for another whole story arc, I would have called for more development, but considering he's making active steps now to uncover what happened to him...I can't really complain.

He's now wrapped up in his sense that someone or something has altered his memories, that he knows he's seen Leadfoot's symptoms before, and now he is going off on his own to investigate.

He had his hands full with other stuff up till now. Kind of the point of a sleeper agent is that he lives his ordinary life until they activate him...just what he's being doing. They said to him, pretty much, when we need you, you'll know what to do...which suggests that he's needed for some specific act of betrayal, rather than ongoing sabotage. (That's Double Dealer's bag, anyway...now, Double Dealer, THAT'S a story arc I wanna see get more play. I loved that he was involved in Arcee (How did the dude get the info? Well, hey, he is Hot Rod's most trusted friend, and Hot Rod is a ranking officer (Love that he's equal to Prowl...burn.) on the team of Prime himself...plus, it's not as if Prime's crew from his larger ship like the Targetmasters weren't around when the Monstructor dudes were loaded on. Word gets out...).

The Koska incident, if there is some foul play there, will be touched on before long, and anyway, the next two story arcs after All Hail being Revelation and Expansion says to me that everything related to the Dead Universe is about to leap to center stage. Shortly, as Jhiaxus said, channeling Bob Skir, "All will be revealed".

Nothing makes me scoff more than traitors who reveal themselves too quickly; this is why I had trouble taking Sideways seriously, much less Reverse Convoy/Rebirth Megatron, who reveals his true identity about 0.3 seconds after being introduced. ^ ^

It could actually have been one of those three. Nightbeat was the worst drawn of all of IDW's comics so far (remember that Optimus Prime head at the end?)


Anyway, Furman knows we are thinking Nightbeat may have done some sabotage during the Jumps. He purposely wrote it that way and even said that whether he was responsible or not, we'll find out in the next arc (or the one after that, I forget).

I've got to agree there. The glow effects are just getting insane in the new issues. What are they even meant to represent... natural light just doesn't WORK like that. It makes it a lot less pleasant to look at... as well as making the images less clear.

As for the issue itself -- it's not quite there, is it? This sort of collision of plot-lines worked really well for Furman in the original comics... because each issue still felt like a self-contained piece. But this seems to have forgotten to have a plot to hold the colliding pieces together.

--Boltax.
(I enjoyed it, though.)

from IDW's forum:

Would've been a nice thing to throw in right before the shot of the Ark zooming off. Hardhead beaming up with Wheeljack and Ironhide, and Jimmy & Verity in some kinda makeshift med bay recovering or exchanging a glance. You might think it seems squeezed in, but those little things go a long way.

Heck, I was still waiting for them to find Ironhide, much less rescue him. Dev #5 had Hot Rod commenting that he should be at the presses, and heading in that direction, but everything onward was him just combating the Headmasters...no indication they ever actually found Ironhide until he told Hardhead to just take Wheeljack and Ironhide with him.