First up, the third "main" writer for Phase 2, Mairghread Scott!
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5. LIEGE MAXIMO STEPS OUT FOR A SPELL
(Till All Are One # 8, 2017 )
With a horde of undead Titans descending upon Cybertron, Windblade has no time for Elita One’s refusal to have her own Titan Carcer transform to robot mode and lend a hand. Windblade leads a strike team into Carcer to force Elita’s hand and gain an edge against the attacking enemy city-formers. Elita has constantly said that Carcer must never transform and that her people are dedicated to never allowing their Titan to do so, but hasn’t provided a reason why.
As Elita’s generals Obsidian and Strika try and repel Windblade’s infiltration team, Windblade manages to get into Carcer’s brain chamber and activate the slumbering Titan with her telepathic Cityspeaker abilities. However, she discovers a terrible truth when she does; that Carcer is actually the Titan Vigilem in disguise… loyal guardian of the dreaded Prime of Lies- Liege Maximo!
While Windblade manages to get Vigilem to fight and destroy his undead brothers, the malevolent Titan takes the opportunity to free the captive Liege Maximo from a chamber within himself. Elita One tries to prevent Vigilem’s master from escaping by destroying the Titan’s massive brain module. However since Windblade was still connected to Vigilem’s brain, Elita’s act nearly fries Windblade’s own mind. And it’s all for naught… because Liege Maximo has already been released!
4. ASTRAL PLANE(S)
(TAAO # 12, 2017)
Just before Elita One destroyed Vigilem’s brain module, the malevolent Titan managed to download his brain patterns into Windblade’s mind. Now in a coma, Windblade is constantly engaged in a mental struggle with Vigilem as he tries to overtake her on the astral plane. While she is managing to hold him at bay, it’s only a matter of time before the Titan finds a weakness to exploit.
Enter Starscream, who has decided against his better judgment to interface with Windblade’s mind and give her a helping mental hand against Vigilem. However, Starscream isn’t as well-versed in psychic combat as Windblade is, and Vigilem quickly shifts focus to attacking him, exposing his greatest fears and insecurities and stripping him down to an image of his virtual spark. Windblade grabs Starscream’s “spark” and learns of his artificial “cold construction”, realizing that the Seeker has never felt comfortable in his own metal skin.
She mentally forges a true spark and body for Starscream- the idealized image of what he felt he should have been all along. Strengthened by Windblade’s psychic “rebuilding” of him, Starscream repels Vigilem from his mind and Windblade seals the screaming Titan within a mental prison in her own mind.
The two awaken in the physical world with a new understanding of each other, although Starscream is distinctly uncomfortable with what he witnessed in his own psyche. Windblade thanks him for coming to help and tells him that from now on, she won’t be participating in any political subterfuge or compromise, desiring only to speak her truth. Her resolve and Starscream’s own new understanding of himself will inform both of their decisions for the rest of the IDW universe and was truly a turning point for both characters.
3. CYBERTRON, ATTACK!
(TAAO # 5, 2016)
Starscream’s not the most popular leader around, or the most honest, but when the stakes are no less than the survival of the planet itself, there’s no time to be picky. A horde of undead city-sized Titans unleashed by Sentinel Prime looms over Cybertron, and everyone must put aside their differences and rally behind Starscream. Every spaceship is conscripted to either attack or ferry civilians away from danger, Windblade boards Metroplex to optimize his combat abilities, and all colonist representatives pledge their support to the planet's adamant leader.
Starscream gives a pretty epic speech before things kick off and it galvanizes the population. Politics are cast aside and for the first time, Starscream directs the entire population towards a singular goal; DEFEND CYBERTRON. Even in this post-war landscape, it was exceedingly rare to see everyone working together and even moreso following Starscream’s orders. While the battle against the undead Titans would have a lot of complications tossed in along the way, it at least began with a finally-united Cybertron speaking in one voice… Starscream’s voice.
2. THE REVENGE OF BRUTICUS
(TAAO # 3-# 4, 2016)
Onslaught and the Combaticons aren’t happy with Starscream’s leadership of Cybertron nor his apparent killing of Swindle. In order to get revenge, the Combaticons kidnap Wheeljack and Rattrap after learning that they spirited Swindle’s body away after his apparent death. Swindle had dirt on Starscream’s illegitimate dealings while in office, and if it could somehow be retrieved, the Combaticons could topple Starscream's entire regime. They discover that Swindle is still alive, but brain-dead and kept on life support. Onslaught forces Rattrap to retrieve the one object that could let them access Swindle’s dormant memory banks… the mythical Enigma of Combination.
Using the Enigma, Onslaught and the other Combaticons merge with the brain-dead Swindle into the gestalt Bruticus, who immediately lashes out in fury. We see events from the perspective of Bruticus’ shared mindscape, as each Combaticon reacts to being part of the entity differently. While Onslaught single-mindedly rifles through Swindle’s memories, Vortex revels in the power that Bruticus provides.
Brawl is dragged into Swindle’s void of a mind and forced to relive his “death” at the hands of Starscream. Blast Off desperately tries to keep his comrades coherent as in the physical world, Bruticus rampages and clashes with Ironhide’s security forces. Onslaught finally obtains the proof he needs to take Starscream down, and Vortex and Brawl manage to latch onto Onslaught’s resolve as well. Only Blast Off’s reluctance to continue fighting prevents a tragedy, as his doubt gives Bruticus pause long enough for Ironhide to take the combiner out.
While a suitably-dramatic action sequence on its own, what really makes this scene special are the renderings of Bruticus’ mind and how each Combaticon reacts to being linked to each other. The two-page spread you see above is one of my absolute favorite images in any Transformers comic EVER- there’s just so much going on in there! Their time as Bruticus will also affect Brawl and Blast Off’s character development later on in this series and lead to some surprising choices from them down the line.
1. THE CHOSEN ONE UNITES CYBERTRON
(TAAO Annual 2017)
Ever since Starscream and Windblade shared mind-space and Starscream got a glimpse of his “idealized” self, the former Decepticon has had a confidence in himself and his leadership that is at an all-time high. He’s even allowing and fast-tracking free elections on Cybertron, assured that he can win the hearts and minds of the people. What’s more, Starscream’s plans to improve Cybertron’s infrastructure, energy production, and alliances with the other colonies are borne of a place of a legitimate desire to serve his people. With this new confident, borderline-altruistic air about Starscream, some of his biggest doubters are starting to question if they should even stand in his way.
One such doubter is Rattrap, who despite being Starscream’s one-time adviser, has quietly gathered evidence on all the various criminal activities perpetrated during the former Decepticon’s leadership of Cybertron. However, since he’s unsure if he’d be doing more damage than good to Cybertron by releasing it, Rattrap hands over all the evidence to Windblade, who is currently running against Starscream in the upcoming election.
Just before a public debate, Windblade furiously confronts Starscream after examining the evidence, leaving it all with him and telling him that he’d better have a good defense for it as she plans on telling the truth no matter what.
Starscream panics and prepares to throw up his usual smokescreen of misdirection, denials and lies, distraught that all his good intentions will mean nothing if the truth of his previous crimes come out. He believes that the warlike Elita One, who is the third candidate in this election, will spell ruin for Cybertron and desperately tries to think up a way to prevail against both her and Windblade.
At the debate, Windblade gives an impassioned, yet humble speech that simply asks for everyone to vote their conscience and that she’ll do the best she can if elected. Starscream is up next, and when the spotlight shines on him, he pauses… and…
Starscream confesses to all his crimes since taking office. He throws the election to give Windblade the votes she needs to win over Elita One. In a way, Starscream effectively fulfills the (later revealed as false) prophecy that was told to him by the overzealous Scoop and misguided Metrotitan- the “Chosen One” unites Cybertron… against him.
Later, having been locked away in his cell and given life imprisonment for his crimes, Windblade visits Starscream and gives him a holo-image of the “true self” he saw in their shared minds. She completely understands the choice Starscream made and who he decided to be. Even though Starscream’s motivations and ideals would zig and zag a few times more after this point in IDW continuity, this was probably his most defining moment. It turns out, the most unexpected and powerful thing Starscream could do was tell the truth.
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Dishonorable Mention- YOU’RE MY COMBATICON FANTASY
(TAAO # 9, 2017)
We all know why THIS is dumb…
-Onslaught doesn’t even have a mouth!
No, but seriously, this is more jarring than truly offensive to me. The scene in question is actually a mental projection in Blast Off’s mind, so it is literal Tumblr-shipping fan fiction on his part. And it makes perfect sense for Blast Off as a character to have a crush on Onslaught (read his original tech specs, he’s so lonely!)
I think this is just weird because I’ve never conceived of the words “Combaticons” and “romantic relationship” being in the same sentence. Furthermore, while the concept of Transformers having romantic relationships is one I’m down with, I always thought it was weird that they’d be physical in the same way humans would. Going all the way back to Blackarachnia and Silverbolt smooching in Beast Wars or (shudder) Rattrap and Botanica swapping sap in Beast Machines, it just seems… a little MUCH to me, I guess.
Hey, so this relationship's shipping name would be "OnOff", right?
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Now, we conclude this list with my top three favorite Nick Roche moments/scenes/things. Roche actually contributed a chunk of material for "Phase 1" of IDW Transformers, most notably the universally-acclaimed "Last Stand of the Wreckers." "Last Stand" would be on my list of favorite Transformers stories ever PERIOD, but this list is limited to offerings from Phase 2, so here we go!
3. DECEPTICONS REASSEMBLED
(Spotlight: Megatron, 2014)
After Megatron is left near death after a battle with Optimus Prime during the Decepticons’ first attempted conquest of Earth, Starscream seizes command. His tenure as leader is an embarrassing farce that leads to the Decepticon army fracturing across the galaxy and over a hundred of them taking refuge on a barren asteroid for nearly two years. With no resources to pilfer and Starscream unable to organize them in any meaningful fashion, the Decepticons fall to disrepair and cannibalism. Fortunately, Soundwave and Shockwave have been secretly toiling day and night to revive the comatose Megatron in a new, more powerful body.
Upon awakening and finding his empire in utter disarray, Megatron wastes no time in seeking out the despondent Starscream for some “course-correction” (and to work some resentment off.) Delivering a vicious physical and verbal beatdown to Starscream, Megatron ultimately spares him (as always), explaining why he never kills his treacherous subordinate. Starscream’s presence always reminds Megatron of the need to keep on his toes, to never stop watching his own back, and to maintain his edge.
He then addresses his haggard troops, and with customary sound, fury and ironclad conviction, does in less than a minute what Starscream could not do in two years. Megatron reforges the Decepticons into an army, an empire, an IDEAL again with mere words.
2. SPRINGER: ENDGAME
(Requiem of the Wreckers, 2018)
Springer’s one of the most heroic and decent Autobots there is; an impressive distinction considering he’s the leader of the Wreckers, the legendary squad of down-and-dirty commandos called in when the situation has reached beyond “FUBAR.” Springer spent nearly five years in a coma thanks to hideous injuries suffered at the hands of Overlord, reawakened to discover that he is an artificial Cybertronian created by the mad scientist Tarantulas, and then shortly thereafter had to cope with the death of his beloved mentor-figure Kup. Time and task have certainly worn on Springer and he retires to Earth to reevaluate his life alongside the Autobots’ human ally Verity Carlo.
Springer and Verity are abruptly and violently dragged into another tangled plot involving infiltration, assassination, and time travel thanks to the former leader of the Wreckers and his OTHER mentor-figure Impactor. Stumbling upon an alliance between Overlord and his progenitor Tarantulas, Springer and Impactor saddle up one last time to take the villains down.
In the end, Tarantulas dies trying to protect his “son” and Impactor sacrifices his life to give Springer a shot at beating Overlord. Springer and Verity manage to send Overlord’s two components to separate ends of history via a time-window, ending the Decepticon Phase-Sixer’s threat for good.
Afterwards, Springer decides to use the time-window and return to a point before the Autobot/Decepticon war. He’s not intending on trying to change the events of history at large; that’s simply too big in scope for him to consider. Instead, Springer decides to focus on changing a person at a time, and hopes that he can make enough of a positive difference to alter the fates of those he cares about and perhaps avert the war. After a heartfelt goodbye to Verity, he sets off on his next and final quest, but leaves a message for those he has left behind.
In addition to the surviving Wreckers, it’s nice to see that Springer cared enough to send the message to Prowl (who could be considered something of a godfather to him, despite their fractious relationship), Carnivac (a former rival), and even some rookie Wreckers (“Wrookies”) he had been remotely training. Springer’s message to erase the current, oil-stained legacy of the Wreckers and start a new one is a lovely cap on the entire mini-saga of the team that Nick Roche started back in 2010.
1. SPIDER/COP
(Sins of the Wreckers, 2015-2016)
In the earliest days of the Decepticon uprising, Prowl secretly worked with an extraordinarily-gifted neutral scientist by the name of Mesothulas to produce weapons and technology for the Autobots. Something of a socially-stunted eccentric, Mesothulas thrilled at providing whatever Prowl’s cunning, logical mind could concoct. Moreover, he started to see the whole of Cybertronian society as a Petri dish, and considered the Autobot/Decepticon conflict itself a living organism that he and Prowl were experimenting on. Prowl knew that Mesothulas had these unhealthy appetites, but the results of their collaborations were simply too valuable and groundbreaking for him to walk away from.
Mesothulas set to work planning his reunion with/revenge on Prowl. He examined and improved on technology and scientific advancements that had been developed in his absence, notably those by the amoral logician Shockwave. Mesothulas adapted mass-shifting technology to work in concert with bestial transformations, and chose the form of an Earthen spider as his new size-changing alternate mode. Mesothulas had become… Tarantulas.
Tarantulas went on to kidnap and blackmail Prowl, setting up the events of “Sins of the Wreckers”. Leaving aside how that story played out, I really just loved the concept of Prowl and Tarantulas being linked in this way. My favorite G1 character and my favorite Beast Wars character sharing a rivalry/friendship/whatever weird thing they had seemed tailor-made for me, and it was nice to see Nick Roche and I were on the same wavelength in this regard. The fact that Tarantulas was also linked in the story to Shockwave and Roadbuster, two of my other favorite G1 characters, was something I also appreciated.
The tangled sort-of “family tree” of Tarantulas, Prowl, Springer, Impactor, Verity, and Kup that was revealed added extra layers to each character involved and enriched them all in the final analysis. Tarantulas’ being Springer’s creator also added an element of tragedy and depth to the creepy spider-bot that you would never expect from him in previous incarnations. Nick Roche made me feel terribly sad for Tarantulas, despite all he had done, and exposing a new, interesting facet to one of my favorite characters will always be something I take notice of.
Of course, Prowl’s end of the relationship would also expose something I didn’t so much appreciate, as we move on to...
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Dishonorable Mention- MORALLY-BLACK PROWL
(Sins of the Wreckers # 3, 2015-2016)
The thing with skirting the line and being all morally-gray is; you’ve got to maintain a fine balance with the character or you risk them going to a place where your audience suddenly can’t follow them. Prowl had done some truly questionable and terrible things in IDW continuity, but for the most part, you could see the logic behind them and still understand he was making a hard choice for the greater good.
I had always felt Nick Roche handled Prowl in this manner with the most care out of all the IDW writers. John Barber’s Prowl was a bit too angry and volatile, and James Roberts’ Prowl seemed a bit too spiteful and bitter. However, Roche virtually leaped off the moral tightrope that Prowl had been maneuvering on in the third issue of Sins of the Wreckers, where he revealed that Prowl and Mesothulas had perpetrated a “false-flag” operation in the early stages of the war.
Perhaps Mesothulas went ahead with this operation anonymously and behind Prowl’s back after the two had brainstormed it, and after Prowl had rejected the notion. It’s still a horrible thing for Prowl to concoct, but I really don’t want to believe he actually signed off on executing it. The way he flatly reports on it to Mesothulas and the fact that he very shortly thereafter has the scientist disposed of makes me think the situation simply spiraled out of his control.
In whatever case, this is a moment I cringe at re-reading, and I think Roche should have pulled back a tic before deciding to include it in the story. Prowl’s still a “good guy”, despite it all, and something like this makes it impossible for you to relate to him anymore.
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And that's that! Maybe one day I'll go back and do a list for "Phase 1" of IDW Transformers 1.0, but for now, thanks for reading!
-Mike
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