Robots in Disguise issue 3

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Publisher	IDW Publishing}}
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First published	September 30, 2015 (digital); October 7, 2015 (print)}}
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Cover date	September 2015}}
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Written by	Georgia Ball}}
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Art by	Priscilla Tramontano}}
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Colors by	Josh Burcham}}
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Letters by	Tom B. Long}}
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Editor	John Barber}}
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This article is about the third issue of the comic from the 2015 franchise. For the third issue of the 2012 IDW comic, see "Stick Together"{{#switch:{{#sub:Stick Together|-1}}

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{{#if: IDWRID2015-3-regcvr.jpg | {{#if: IDW Publishing | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: September 30, 2015 (digital)
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{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}

The Bee Team wages a storage war against Cybercomrade Sect member Overhead in hopes of tracking down the sect's leader, but all is not what it seems!

Synopsis

Denny, Russell, Sideswipe, and Fixit are hanging out discussing the latest episode of reality TV show "Bin Battles" until Denny is called away to take delivery of his newest bit of vintage junk. Strongarm despairs; she just doesn't understand reality television, she tells Bumblebee, only for it to turn out that 'Bee is a huge "Bin Battles" fan as well. Fixit then calls the group together to brief them on his latest discovery: using the information he has compiled on Cybercomrade Sect leader Clipshade, the Mini-Con has identified another sect member active on Earth named Overhead, who has been responsible for a series of thefts made using her Crown City Security Co. alternate mode as a disguise. Bumblebee, Strongarm, and Grimlock head out to find Overhead, while Sideswipe, Denny, and Russell are sent in the opposite direction and instructed to visit every storage facility they come across, in order to distract the attention of Ultra Magnus team, should they be spying on them.

At the Crown City Municipal Bank, Overhead, in alternate mode, ejects her driver and makes off with the cash that has been loaded aboard her. She returns to her hideout at the abandoned U-Pack-It Self Storage Facility, but Bumblebee, Strongarm, and Grimlock are waiting in ambush. Grimlock leaps out to attack, but when Overhead merely stares back in confusion, he switches tactics and tries to pretend he is a fellow Decepticon. Overhead isn't fooled and headbutts him into submission, then grabs him by the tail and hurls him into Bumblebee. Strongarm distracts her long enough for Grimlock to get back to his feet; after a brief tussle, during which the pair crash through one of the storage shed walls, the three Autobots manage to surround the Decepticon. Overhead offers information about her boss in exchange for freedom, revealing that Clipshade is actually just a face for the Cybercomrade Sect, and that its true leader is operating on Earth. Explaining that she never meant to steal anything, and that humans merely kept inadvertently loading her with goods while she was in vehicle form, she provides the Autobots with a transmitter to contact her boss, and in return, they agree to her request not to be placed in a stasis pod.

Bumblebee and Grimlock leave Strongarm to guard the stasis-cuffed Overhead while they take the transmitter into the nearby woods and activate it. Bumblebee contacts Sideswipe to have him rejoin the team in preparation for the arrival of the mysterious "boss", but Sideswipe doesn't make it back before the mystery 'bot appears on the horizon. As the figure draws closer, however, everyone is shocked to see that it is the supposedly-captured Clipshade! A scuffle inevitably ensues, but is abruptly ended when Clipshade reveals that he is actually an undercover Autobot working for Ultra Magnus—he's actually an actor (stage name "Spectrosynth"), and the fearsome "cannon" on his shoulder shoots only colored lights. Bumblebee's high-profile "arrest" of him back on Cybertron, Clipshade explains, was a carefully-calculated plan by Magnus to get an operative inside the Cybercomrade Sect. But he has arrived in response to the transmitter, which is broadcasting a distress call that belongs to the real leader of the sect...

Back at the storage facility, Strongarm is examining the various goods that Overhead claims to have unintentionally stolen... but the more Strongarm sees, the more she realizes that they are not random objects, but the components necessary to build a space bridge! Unfortunately, this realization comes just a little too late, as Overhead—true leader of the Cybercomrades—busts out of her cuffs and knocks Strongarm out. Bee's group arrives soon after, but Overhead is already long gone, leaving the injured Strongarm behind. Bumblebee resolves to get some answers from Ultra Magnus, at which point Magnus himself appears with Bulkhead and Arcee, and agrees that answers are overdue...

Featured characters

{{#if:*Sideswipe (3)

Strongarm (4)
Fixit (5)
Bumblebee (6)
Grimlock (8)
Bulkhead (9)
Clipshade (10)
Ultra Magnus (11)
Arcee (12)|

{{#if:*Sideswipe (3)

Strongarm (4)
Fixit (5)
Bumblebee (6)
Grimlock (8)
Bulkhead (9)
Clipshade (10)
Ultra Magnus (11)
Arcee (12)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
Sideswipe (3)
Strongarm (4)
Fixit (5)
Bumblebee (6)
Grimlock (8)
Bulkhead (9)
Clipshade (10)
Ultra Magnus (11)
Arcee (12) }}{{#if:*Overhead (7)|

Autobots }}{{#if:*Overhead (7)\|	Decepticons }}{{#if:*Denny Clay (1) Russell Clay (2)\|	Humans }}{{#if:\|	Others }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}
Overhead (7) }}{{#if:*Denny Clay (1) Russell Clay (2)\|	Denny Clay (1) Russell Clay (2) }}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:\|	}}

Quotes

"I would have reported back sooner but it took me a few days to identify Clipshade's favourite chrome alloy pie. It's magnesium meringue."
"I just said that for emphasis. I didn't really need to know."
"Ohhhhh. Well, he has excellent taste. The recipe looks vicious—suspicious—" <FZZZT> "—delicious!"

—Fixit and Bumblebee

"For the time, no! I'm not stopping at every gas station until we find "Moon Pies". I don't know what "moon pies" are but we've already stopped for "boiled peanuts," "silly taffy," and "toasted corn bits". I have to draw the line somewhere."
"If you know what Moon Pies were you would stop."

—Sideswipe and Denny

<Grimlock and Overhead crash into a storage unit; Grimlock winds up with a feather boa draped around him>
"Looks good on you."
"You think? I don't usually go for the flashy stuff—hey! That compliment was not sincere!"

—Overhead and Grimlock

Notes

Continuity notes

Overhead is a Buffaloid, and as such is basically identical to previously-introduced Buffaloid Terrashock, except with purple armor and one broken horn.
When asking Fixit to put together a dossier on Clipshade last issue, Bumblebee hyperbolically claimed he wanted to know everything about him, down to his favourite chrome alloy pie. As you can see from the quote above, Fixit actually found that out!
Clipshade refers to Bumblebee's killing of Megatron, from the Prime episode "Deadlock".

Real-life references

"Bin Battles" is a riff on real-life storage auction televison shows like [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Storage Wars|{{#if:||Storage Wars}}]].
Denny makes a purchase through "Peg's List", based on real-life website Craigslist.

Other notes

The digital version of this issue was released on the last week of September, but for unknown reasons, the print edition was not published until the following week, a little behind schedule in the first week of October.
Spot the visual gag! Denny takes delivery of an old sign for "Morton Donuts", but some of the letters are missing, resulting in a sign hanging above Denny's head that reads "MORON NUT".

Covers (2)

Regular cover: Denny and Russell ride Grimlock, by Priscilla Tramontano.
Subscription cover: Strongarm squees over Arcee, by Josh Burcham

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