Secrets (FOC)

2012-09-02T01:39:44Z

124.191.193.142: Changed quote description

{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (comic)|The Transformers: Fall of Cybertron]]'' #2
|prev=Good Intentions
|next=
|caption=
|image=
|title="Secrets"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[August 29]], [[2012]]
|coverdate=August 2012
|story by=[[John Barber]]
|art by=[[Dheeraj Verma]]
|colors by=[[Priscilla Tramontano]]
|letters by=[[Chris Mowry]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[Aligned continuity family]]
|chronology=[[Aligned timeline|Great War]]
}}
'''Swoop stumbles upon Decepticon secrets.'''

==Synopsis==

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Swoop (WFC)|Swoop]] (1)
*[[Slug]] (8)
*[[Grimlock (WFC)|Grimlock]] (9)
*[[Snarl (FOC)|Snarl]] (10)
*[[Sludge (FOC)|Sludge]] (11)
|c2=
*[[Shockwave (Prime)|Shockwave]] (2)
*[[Starscream (Prime)|Starscream]] (3)
*[[Insecticon (Prime)|Insecticons]] (4)
*[[Sharpshot]] (5)
*[[Hardshell]] (6)
*[[Kickback (FOC)|Kickback]] (7)
}}

==Quotes==
"We secured intel from a '''Decepticon''' - secured it the '''hard way'''. That's how it '''started'''. The Decepticon told us a tale of a '''secret base''' with unlimited '''energon''' reserves. It was a '''crazy''' story. It was the kind of '''story''' a Decepticon would '''tell you''' when you got him to the point where he'd tell you '''anything'''. I'm not the '''believing kind'''. But there was '''one piece''' of evidence in the story's favor... ...the Decepticons that were '''killing us''' every day sure looked like they had an endless supply of '''energon'''. And the '''Autobots?''' One look at us and you'd know we sure '''didn't'''. I knew what '''Optimus Prime''' would do with the intel: '''nothing'''. Prime would '''never''' send an Autobot on a mission this dangerous. Fortunately I'm made of '''sterner metal''' than Prime- -and I had a soldier '''up''' to the '''task'''. '''Swoop'''. I sent him through the '''sea of rust''', searching for a Decepticon '''tower''' I didn't believe in, all because of a story told by a '''desperate Decepticon'''. '''Knowing''' what I '''know''' now... I'd '''thank''' the Decepticon for '''giving up''' the truth. But knowing what they '''did''' to Swoop, I'd have to '''kill''' that 'con. So it's just as well we '''took care''' of him when we did."
:'''—Grimlock''', emphasizing randomly

==Notes==
===Errors===

{{comicstub}}
[[Category:Fall of Cybertron issues]]

Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It

2012-08-21T08:16:28Z

124.191.193.142:

{{Comicstory|
|series=mtmte|issueno=1
|prev=Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime
|next=Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On
|next2=
|caption=
|image=MTMTE1_cvrE.jpg
|title="Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[January 11]], [[2012]]
|coverdate=January 2012
|story by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Nick Roche]]
|colors by=[[Josh Burcham]]
|letters by=[[Shawn Lee]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2011)]]
}}

'''It's launch day for Rodimus and the crew of the ''Lost Light''—what could possibly go wrong?'''

==Synopsis==
Following [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]'s [[Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|departure]] from [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus]] publicly announces his intent to do likewise aboard the ''[[Lost Light]]'', following the map found within the [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] in hopes of locating the [[Knights of Cybertron]]. [[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] predicts virtually no [[Autobot]]s will respond to his open invitation to join him, but Rodimus winds up with a little over two hundred recruits, including (much to [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]]'s consternation) [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]]—who believes he is getting old, a concern punctuated by his failure to save the life of a [[NAIL]] who has committed suicide as a political protest—[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]]—the loss of whose scientific talents particularly infuriates Prowl, prompting him to order the loading of a mysterious cargo onto the ''Lost Light''—and Chromedome's friend, [[Rewind]]. [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]], of course, has misgivings about nearly every recruit, but Rodimus is thrilled to have so many.

In the skies above Cybertron, [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] grieves in his own way for the loss of the world he had known and all the memories he made there. Detecting a life-sign resembling [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]]'s, he investigates a small shack, only to find the unhinged [[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] talking to a collection of [[Sweep]] corpses that he has strung up inside. Cyclonus enters and interrupts him just as he is about to burn down the [[energon]]-soaked building, and Whirl immediately attacks him, professing innocence and explaining the bodies were already dead: he had merely collected them. Cyclonus, for his part, doesn't care in the slightest, but can't convince Whirl of this fact.

Elsewhere, [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] is running security checks on the Autobots who have signed up to join the ''Lost Light'': [[Brainstorm]], carrying a mysterious briefcase but exempted from security checks by Rodimus; [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]], in the mood for "a good quest"; and [[Rung]], whom Red Alert does not recognize at first, despite having been a patient of his for six centuries. Rung tempts fate by commenting on his knack for staying out of trouble: before the sentence is even finished, Cyclonus and Whirl's running battle swoops through the area, and Rung winds up with his forearm cleaved off by Cyclonus's wing.

Ratchet, Chromedome and Rewind, meanwhile, are making for the ''Lost Light'' through the [[Mitteous Plateau]], but are running behind schedule due to Rewind's lack of a vehicular [[alternate mode]], a trait of his that Chromedome has never understood. Just as the group are about to start having an argument about the validity of alt mode variety, Cyclonus and Whirl come crashing down out of the sky, their battle at an end with Whirl the victor. Whirl spins a few quick lies and is about to deliver a killshot when a sudden, unexpected energon explosion from beneath the ground blows him to bits. Peering into the blast crater, the Autobots find [[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]], who, unbeknownst to them, is a Cybertronian from six million years ago who was supposed to be on the ''[[Ark (G1)#IDW Generation 1 comics|Ark I]]'', but became trapped underground in a subsidence. He has spent the past six thousand millennia periodically going offline and reawakening, unaware that any time has passed, until he was just now finally able to detonate the energon rations he had with him in bid for freedom. Panicking and passing out before he can tell anyone any of this due to his belief he has killed Whirl, Tailgate is brought aboard the ''Lost Light'' by the Autobots, as are Whirl and Cyclonus. Rewind takes advantage of the brief confusion to slip off and purchase some golden discs from [[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]].

Soon after, the ''Lost Light'' takes off, and Bumblebee complains to Prowl that he thought he had a plan... at which point the ship is crippled by a mysterious explosion that forces the ship to [[quantum jump]] before preparation is complete, hurling it off to some far corner of the galaxy. A fifth of the ship's crew is sucked out into space before the breached hull repairs itself, and Rodimus orders them to set down on a desolate nearby planet, where they watch as the Autobots come raining down, burning up as they enter the atmosphere. All in all, as Rodimus succinctly puts it: "Not a good start."

And back on Cybertron, as Bumblebee sits in horrified mourning, back in Prowl's quarters a scrambled transmission plays. A transmission from one of the ''Lost Light''<nowiki>'</nowiki>'s crew. A transmission that has been sent back in time, from the future. But it has arrived too late, and now Rodimus will never hear the warnings of the dangers that await them...

==Featured characters==
{{Featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] (1)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus]] (2)
*[[Drift (G1)|Drift]] (3)
*[[Dipstick]] (4)
*[[Xaaron]] (5)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (6)
*[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (7)
*[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (8)
*[[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (9)
*[[Rewind]] (11)
*[[Chromedome (G1)|Chromedome]] (12)
*[[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] (14)
*[[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (15)
*[[Brainstorm]] (16)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (17)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Rung]] (18)
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (20)
*[[Sky Lynx (G1)|Sky Lynx]] (21)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (22)
*[[Mainframe (G1)|Mainframe]] (23)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (24)
*[[Fizzle]] (25)
*[[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]] (26)
*[[Rollout (G1)|Rollout]] (27)
*[[Siren]] (28)
*[[Polaris]] (29)
*[[Waverider]] (30)
*[[Hyperion (G1)|Hyperion]] (31)
*[[Rad]] (32)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Swindle (G1)|Swindle]] (19)

|c4=
*[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] (10)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (13)
}}

==Quotes==

"Did he give you all that scrap about finding the Knights of Cybertron and retracing our steps to the Golden Age? It's all scripted, you know, Drift writes it for him."
:—'''Bumblebee''''s not bitter!

"You know what '''your''' problem is, Chromedome? You think that just because the war is '''over''', we can afford to stop '''fighting'''!"
:—'''Prowl''', summed up in one sentence.

"'''Please''' tell me you're here to wave us off." 
"No, no, no, I'm here for the quest. Love a good quest. Haven't been on a quest since the whole Luna 1 thing. The Moonquest." 
"Stop saying 'quest.'" 
"So, can I go on board?" 
"Of course—if you promise to never, ever speak."
:—'''Red Alert''' and '''Swerve''' evidently have a history.

"Oh, it's started. The alt mode bashing. Every time you get '''agitated'''... Let's have a go at Rewind because he turns into a '''giant memory stick''' and not a... '''super space tank''' or—or—whatever..."
:—'''Rewind''', on the defensive.

"Remember the old saying? 'Everyone's shape serves a purpose.'" 
"Yeah? Tell that to Sky Lynx."
:—'''Rewind''' and '''Ratchet''' have a difference of opinion.

"Don't open the coffin. Don't let them take [[Skids (G1)|Skids]]. Don't go to Delphi. And do not — I repeat do not — look in the basement. And for the sake of the Cybertronian race itself, please don't''kzzzzzzzk''"
:—'''Ominous Future Message'''

==Notes==

*The title of this issue pays homage to the Dexys Midnight Runners song, "Liars, A to E" (with A and D of course standing for "Autobot" and "Decepticon"). James Roberts previously used it as the title for a comic-strip prequel to his unofficial Transformers novel, "Eugenesis", published in the souvenir magazine for UK convention Transforce 2001.
*Prowl explicitly states one of the capabilities originally outlined in his ''[[The Transformers Universe|Transformers Universe]]'' profile, that he can observe 800 moving objects and almost instantly compute their trajectories.
*The NAIL who dies on Ratchet's table could previously be spotted in three scenes in ''[[Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime|The Death of Optimus Prime]]'', carrying the placard that lies discarded in the corner of the room in this issue. He was red in that issue, indicating that he has turned grey upon his death, a trait that stretches back to ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'', but which has only been seen in IDW continuity before now in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'', which was, not-coincidentally, the work of this issue's creative team.
[[Image:Mtmte brainstorm teaser.jpg|right|thumb]]
*The trailer Tailgate is carrying his energon rations in is a [[Micro Trailer]].
*Tailgate thinks the ''Ark'' is doomed without him. The mission ''did'' go [[Spotlight: Galvatron|horribly wrong]]...
*After having spent the entirety of ''[[Infestation (IDW)|Infestation]]'', ''[[The Transformers: Heart of Darkness|Heart of Darkness]]'' and ''[[Chaos (IDW)|Chaos]]'' being misidentified in-story as a Decepticon, Cyclonus is finally back to asserting that he is an unaffiliated Cybertronian.
*Tailgate's role was originally going to be taken by [[Powerglide]] until the latter appeared in the present day during Chaos.
*Several concepts introduced in Roberts's earlier story "[[Bullets]]" reoccur: Brainstorm's [[Malevolent Counterintuitive Pathogen|mysterious briefcase]], Rung's fondness for model spacecraft, Whirl being kicked off the Wreckers under unspecified circumstances, and an unseen Autobot named [[Hyperion (G1)|Hyperion]].
*Brainstorm's security pass sports a [[Tech Spec]]s graph and a [[rubsign]].
*Their small size makes them hard to determine, but at least some of Rung's model spaceships are recognizable: they at least include the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]] as it appeared in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]], the [[Axalon (BW)|Axalon]] from Beast Wars, and a [[Trident Attack Craft]]. We wager there are more familiar ships in there!
*It's hinted strongly that Prowl did something to the ''Lost Light'', but in a shocking twist next issue it'll turn out [[Ore|to be something else]] that dun it.
*Among the list of lost Autobots is one new name: [[Polaris]]. This ''might'' be a reference to online Transformers fanzine [http://www.polarismagazine.co.uk/ Polaris Magazine], whose publisher Graham Thomson is a long-time member of Transmasters, the UK fan group that Roberts and Roche were both major contributors to.
*The release of this issue was preceded by a "scavenger hunt" of sorts on [[January 10]]th, with one each of a series of twelve images spotlighting individual characters being released to twelve different websites, both Transformers fansites and popular comic book new sites. Only eight actually made it up before the book's release: [http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/comics-16/transformers-mtmte-1-promo-image---out-tomorrow-174117/ Brainstorm at TFW2005] (at right), [http://www.newsarama.com/comics/transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-120110.html Drift at Newsarama], [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36350 Ratchet at ComicBookResources], [http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/121/1216240p1.html Red Alert at IGN], [http://www.seibertron.com/transformers/news/exclusive-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-promo-art/23642/ Rewind at Seibertron], [http://tformers.com/transformers-exclusive-transformers-more-than-meets/16985/news.html Rung at TFormers], [http://www.allspark.com/content/view/9829/ Swerve at the AllSpark] and [http://www.fullmetalhero.com/content/idw-transformers-more-than-meets-eye-1-treasure-hunt-exclusive-image-2604/ Whirl at FullMetalHero]. Subsequently revealed were [http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=269973&highlight=#269973 Chromedome on the IDW forums], [https://twitter.com/#!/TheJohnBarber/status/157175756353585152/photo/1 Cyclonus on John Barber's Twitter], [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150512162858279&set=a.10150239372238279.337626.8473603278&type=1 Rodimus on IDW's Facebook] and [http://ryalltime.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/mtmte-teaser-ultra-magnus/ Ultra Magnus on Chris Ryall's blog].
* Geographic features that Cyclonus mourned the loss of due to the rebirth include [[Mesmerica]], [[Obex]], [[Pess Pess]], the [[Pious Pools]], [[Subterrania]], [[Tetrahex]], the [[Transeptum of Infinite Reach]], the [[Vaulted Heights of K'th Kinsere]], and the [[Warrior's Gate]].
* Nick Roche's design for Ultra Magnus's vehicle mode went unused, but he revealed it on the blog [http://eclecticmicks.blogspot.com/2012/01/almost-met-eye.html Eclectic Micks] on January 6th. Alex Milne chose to use a different design in the next issue.
* In the TPB Roberts claims that the hardest part about writing issue 1 was spelling the "transformation sound" phonetically. The result; 'Tsche-chu-chu-chu-tsche', is used when the NAIL suffers from rigor morphis.
* This issue's cover is a tribute to (or parody of) the cover of Justice League Vol 1 #1 [http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Justice_League_Vol_1_1]

===Crew Manifest===
*Drift stated the crew had 208 sign-ups and rising. The total number of crew members prior to launch is unknown. Whirl and Tailgate were included as last minute additions.

===Errors===

===Covers (7)===
All seven covers to this issue feature a silver foil-stamped logo.
* '''Cover A:''' Ratchet by [[Alex Milne]] and Josh Perez
* '''Cover B:''' Ultra Magnus by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
* '''Cover C:''' Rodimus by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
* '''Cover D:''' Drift by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
* '''Cover E:''' The assembled cast by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham, in homage to [http://www.comics.org/issue/42881/cover/4/ 1987's ''Justice League'' #1].
* '''Cover RIA:''' Fold-out gatefold cover combining the interlinked covers A-D.
* '''Cover RIB:''' Hand-drawn Sketch Covers by Josh Burcham

<gallery>
Image:MTMTE1_cvrA.jpg
Image:MTMTE1_cvrB.jpg
Image:MTMTE1_cvrC.jpg
Image:MTMTE1_cvrD.jpg
Image:MTMTE1_cvrE.jpg
Image:MTMTE1_cvrRIA.jpg
Image:MTMTE1_cvrRIB.jpg|Finally, Polar Claw's time to shine!
</gallery>

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Secrets (FOC)

Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It