Stick To Your Guns

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|colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center" | "Stick To Your Guns"
Spotlight: Destro {{#if: |

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|- {{#if: IDW Publishing | |Publisher || IDW Publishing}} |- {{#if: | |Published by || }} |- {{#if: | |Imprint || }} |- {{#if: | |Published in || }} |- {{#if: October 7, 2015 | |First published || October 7, 2015}} |- {{#if: | |Shipping date || }} |- {{#if: | |On-sale date || }} |- {{#if: August 2015 | |Cover date || August 2015}} |- {{#if: | |Credits || }} |- {{#if: | |By || }} |- {{#if: | |Manga || }} |- {{#if: | |Manga by || }} |- {{#if: | |Original story || }} |- {{#if: | |Story & art by || }} |- {{#if: | |Story and color art || }} |- {{#if: | |Story || }} |- {{#if: | |Story by || }} |- {{#if: | |Story consultants || }} |- {{#if: | |Story concept || }} |- {{#if: | |Screenplay by || }} |- {{#if: | |Screenplay || }} |- {{#if: | |Adaptation by || }} |- {{#if: | |Adapted by || }} |- {{#if: | |Adaptation || }} |- {{#if: | |Based on || }} |- {{#if: | |Writer || }} |- {{#if: | |Writers || }} |- {{#if: | |Writing || }} |- {{#if: Tom Scioli | |Written by || Tom Scioli}} |- {{#if: | |Written & art || }} |- {{#if: | |Plotter || }} |- {{#if: | |Plotters || }} |- {{#if: | |Plot || }} |- {{#if: | |Plot by || }} |- {{#if: | |Plot/Script || }} |- {{#if: | |Scripter || }} |- {{#if: | |Scripters || }} |- {{#if: | |Script || }} |- {{#if: | |Scripting || }} |- {{#if: | |Script by || }} |- {{#if: | |Script and art || }} |- {{#if: | |Sript [sic] consultant || }} |- {{#if: | |Translation by || }} |- {{#if: | |Artist || }} |- {{#if: | |Comic artist || }} |- {{#if: | |Artists || }} |- {{#if: | |Art || }} |- {{#if: Tom Scioli | |Art by || Tom Scioli}} |- {{#if: | |Additional art by || }} |- {{#if: | |Flashback art by || }} |- {{#if: | |Art assistant || }} |- {{#if: | |Art assist by || }} |- {{#if: | |Line-art || }} |- {{#if: | |Line-art by || }} |- {{#if: | |Line art by || }} |- {{#if: | |Penciller || }} |- {{#if: | |Pencillers || }} |- {{#if: | |Penciler || }} |- {{#if: | |Pencilers || }} |- {{#if: | |Pencil art || }} |- {{#if: | |Pencils || }} |- {{#if: | |Pencils by || }} |- {{#if: | |Penciled by || }} |- {{#if: | |Penciling || }} |- {{#if: | |Guest penciler || }} |- {{#if: | |Layouts || }} |- {{#if: | |Pencil breakdowns || }} |- {{#if: | |Breakdowns || }} |- {{#if: | |Breakdowns by || }} |- {{#if: | |Illustration || }} |- {{#if: | |Illustrations || }} |- {{#if: | |Illustrator || }} |- {{#if: | |Illustrated by || }} |- {{#if: | |Illustration by || }} |- {{#if: | |Illustrations by || }} |- {{#if: | |Finished pencils || }} |- {{#if: | |Finishes || }} |- {{#if: | |Finished art || }} |- {{#if: | |Finishes by || }} |- {{#if: | |Inker || }} |- {{#if: | |Guest inker || }} |- {{#if: | |Inkers || }} |- {{#if: | |Inks || }} |- {{#if: | |Inks by || }} |- {{#if: | |Ink finishes || }} |- {{#if: | |Ink assist by || }} |- {{#if: | |Additional inks || }} |- {{#if: | |Inking || }} |- {{#if: | |Backgrounds || }} |- {{#if: | |Backgrounds by || }} |- {{#if: | |Colorist || }} |- {{#if: | |Colorists || }} |- {{#if: | |Colourist || }} |- {{#if: | |Colourists || }} |- {{#if: | |Color || }} |- {{#if: | |Colors || }} |- {{#if: | |Color art || }} |- {{#if: | |Colour || }} |- {{#if: | |Colours || }} |- {{#if: | |Colored by || }} |- {{#if: | |Color by || }} |- {{#if: Tom Scioli | |Colors by || Tom Scioli}} |- {{#if: | |Color art by || }} |- {{#if: | |Colors assist by || }} |- {{#if: | |Color assists || }} |- {{#if: | |Color assistance by || }} |- {{#if: | |Additional colors || }} |- {{#if: | |Additional colors by || }} |- {{#if: | |Color assist by || }} |- {{#if: | |Colour/Computer FX || }} |- {{#if: | |Computer coloring/effects || }} |- {{#if: | |Color Reconstruction || }} |- {{#if: | |Flats || }} |- {{#if: | |Flats by || }} |- {{#if: | |MTMTE Profiles || }} |- {{#if: | |Letterer || }} |- {{#if: | |Letterers || }} |- {{#if: | |Lettering || }} |- {{#if: | |Letters || }} |- {{#if: Tom Scioli | |Letters by || Tom Scioli}} |- {{#if: | |Lettered by || }} |- {{#if: | |Lettering|Production || }} |- {{#if: | |Special Thanks{{#if: | To}} || }} |- {{#if: | |Collaborators || }} |- {{#if: | |Contributors || }} |- {{#if: Carlos Guzman | |Editor || Carlos Guzman}} |- {{#if: | |Editors || }} |- {{#if: | |Editing || }} |- {{#if: | |Edits by || }} |- {{#if: | |Compiled and Edited by || }} |- {{#if: | |Original series editor || }} |- {{#if: | |Original Edits by || }} |- {{#if: | |Deputy editor || }} |- {{#if: | |Assistant editor || }} |- {{#if: | |Editorial assistant{{#if: |s}} || }} |- {{#if: | |Editorial Assistance
provided by || }} |- {{#if: | |Senior editor || }} |- {{#if: | |Associate editor || }} |- {{#if: | |Story consultant || }} |- {{#if: | |Project manager || }} |- {{#if: Chris Mowry | |Production by || Chris Mowry}} |- {{#if: | |Designer || }} |- {{#if: | |Design by || }} |- {{#if: | |Designed by || }} |- {{#if: | |Design/editorial || }} |- {{#if: | |Book design by || }} |- {{#if: | |Collection designer || }} |- {{#if: | |Collection editor || }} |- {{#if: | |Collection Edits by || }} |- {{#if: | |Graphic design || }} |- {{#if: | |Graphic design by || }} |- {{#if: | |Collection Design by || }} |- {{#if: | |Creative Director{{#if: | / Layout}} || }} |- {{#if: | |Contributing editors || }} |- {{#if: | |Research editor{{#if: |s}} || }} |- {{#if: | |Managing editor || }} |- {{#if: | |{{#if: |Editor-in-chief|Editor in chief}} || }} |- {{#if: | |Editorial consultant || }} |- {{#if: | |Dinosaur consultant || }} |- {{#if: | |Publishing manager || }} |- {{#if: | |Cover || }} |- {{#if: | |Cover art{{#if: |ist}}{{#if: | by}} || }} |- {{#if: | |Cover Design {{#if: |and Elements }}by || }} |- {{#if: | |Inside cover || }} |- {{#if: | |Apologies to || }} |- {{#if: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe | |Continuity || Transformers vs. G.I. Joe}} |- {{#if: | |Chronology || }} |- {{#if: | |ISBN || }} |- {{#if: | |TPB ISBN || ISBN }} |- {{#if: | |UPC || }} |- {{#if: | |Page count || }} |- {{#if: | |Price || }} |- {{#if: | |Packaged with || }} |- {{#if: | |Printed in || }} |- {{#if: | |Animation || }} |- {{#if: | |Music || }} |}{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}

In a time long past... the origin of Destro revealed!

Synopsis

At the dawn of man, an Autobot spaceship falls from the heavens...

Hundreds of years ago, in medieval Scotland, Laird Mac Cullen embarks on a pilgrimage to the island of the gods, bringing with him his strongest warrior and right hand, and his mute younger brother. Met by the druid-priests who guard the cave of the gods, Mac Cullen professes his desire for wisdom from the gods, hoping to learn when the Viking raiders who have been terrorising neighboring islands may come to attack his valley. Permitted access to the cave—in truth, the ruined hulk of the Autobot spacecraft—the three warriors are warned not to touch anything they find within. The two older men stare in awe at the frozen forms of the robotic "gods" that stand around them, but the younger Mac Cullen brother finds himself mesmerized by a small glowing cube on the ground. Heedless of the priests' warning, he picks it up and inserts it into a receptacle in the wall, bringing the ship's computer, Teletran-One to life. The computer releases a Sky Spy that scans the mute Mac Cullen, "exchanging information" with the boy and using his form as a basis to revive one of the robots. The three Scotsmen panic as one of the Decepticons comes back to life, and they attack with their blades; Mac Cullen manages to cleave its metal face off, after which the tiny spark of energy infusing it and Teletran with life flickers out, and both robot and computer deactivate. Believing they have bested a god and are now worthy to claim a prize, Mac Cullen takes parts of the robot's body, but as they leave, his attempt to hide his trespass from the druids fails. The trio barely manage to escape the mystics' wrath, and return to their valley, where an incredible transformation soon evinces itself, as the young Mac Cullen speaks for the first time.

In time, the injuries sustained by Mac Cullen's right hand take their toll, and he passes away. His body is placed upon a funeral pyre, but when the pyre is lit, the flames illuminate the sails of a fleet of Viking longships bearing down on Mac Cullen's land. Armoring himself with the stolen pieces of the Decepticon's body and wearing the robot's severed metal face as a mask, Mac Cullen declares himself the "First Laird of Destro", and plunges into battle alongside his men. Mac Cullen fights hard, but eventually is slain by the Viking horde. Where the laird has merely mimicked the physical form of the gods, however, his younger brother has truly been touched by their wisdom: as the battle has raged, the new, alien thoughts racing through the boy's mind have led him to fashion a new weapon from powder and fire... the first gun, which he uses to slay the Viking leader Thor FalkenHauser. Aberneth the Hawk-Helmed takes the fallen Thor's tomahawk, and they flee back to their ships in the face of the boy's power.

Donning his fallen brother's metal mask, the young Mac Cullen returns to the island of the gods, realizing the druids sold out his people to the Vikings as punishment for their sacrilege. Using the weapon he has created, Mac Cullen drives the druids away from their land, and in the months that follow, he builds his own castle there, atop the spacecraft: Castle Destro. Travelling the world to expand his knowledge, while also listening to the murmured words of the sleeping "gods" beneath his castle, "Destro" enhances his body to ensure himself cybernetic immortality, while forging an empire built on the advanced weaponry their otherworldly science allows him to create.

In the closing days of the 20th century, having moved Castle Destro brick-by-brick to California, Destro is approached by Cobra Commander. The Commander questions Destro's method of doing business, which commonly involves selling weapons to both side of any conflict; what use is having the biggest gun, the Commander wonders, if the enemy has it as well? To that end, he offers Destro a literal pyramid of cash to become a Cobra-exclusive contractor, providing weapons for them and them alone.

Featured characters

{{#if:*Generic "Datsun" Autobot (6)| {{#if:*Generic "Datsun" Autobot (6)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |

Generic "Datsun" Autobot (6) }}{{#if:*Generic Seeker (5)
Generic Mini-Cassette (8)
Not-Ratbat (11)|

Autobots }}{{#if:*Generic Seeker (5) Generic Mini-Cassette (8) Not-Ratbat (11)\|	Decepticons }}{{#if:*Mac Cullen's warrior (1) Laird Mac Cullen (2) Mac Cullen's brother/Destro (3) Cobra druids (4) Aberneth the Hawk-Helmed (9) Thor FalkenHauser (10) Cobra Commander (12) Cobra troopers (13) Bespectacled bikini-clad babes (14)\|	Humans }}{{#if:*Teletran-One (7)\|	Others }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}
Generic Seeker (5) Generic Mini-Cassette (8) Not-Ratbat (11) }}{{#if:*Mac Cullen's warrior (1) Laird Mac Cullen (2) Mac Cullen's brother/Destro (3) Cobra druids (4) Aberneth the Hawk-Helmed (9) Thor FalkenHauser (10) Cobra Commander (12) Cobra troopers (13) Bespectacled bikini-clad babes (14)\|	Mac Cullen's warrior (1) Laird Mac Cullen (2) Mac Cullen's brother/Destro (3) Cobra druids (4) Aberneth the Hawk-Helmed (9) Thor FalkenHauser (10) Cobra Commander (12) Cobra troopers (13) Bespectacled bikini-clad babes (14) }}{{#if:*Teletran-One (7)\|	Teletran-One (7) }}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:\|	}}

Quotes

"Clad in the flesh of the gods, I fear no man!"

—Laird Mac Cullen

"What business has a blackguard such as ye here in this holy place?"
"Ye betrayed my brother—sold us out to those outland marauders."
"Ye sealed your own fate, stealing from the gods."
"I've come to make good. I've come to return what I've taken. I've come to return fire stolen from the gods."
<click-BOOM>

—The druids and the young Mac Cullen

"After World War I Castle Destro was moved brick by brick, stone by stone to California after centuries in the gloom of the old world. It made sense in the dawning of a new age, Castle Destro stand in perpetual sunlight."
"It wasn't to escape the ghostsss? They say Castle Destro is haunted by every soul that died on the wrong end of a Destro gun."
"I ghost-proofed this new version of the ancestral home. Architectural tricks, stairs to nowhere, etc."
"It's an expensive affectation, to move a whole castle."
"When you're as rich as I am, no affectation is too expensive."

—Destro and Cobra Commander

Notes

Continuity notes

Per Scioli's notes at the end of the issue, the druids who guard the crashed Ark are "the ancestors of Cobra, or maybe an offshoot that shares a common ancestor"—the common ancestor would logically be the ancient spawn of Koh-Buru-Lah.
We previously saw Hawk's tomahawk in the hands of Vikings in issue #5. We now know from this issue that the character holding the weapon was an elderly version of Aberneth the Hawk-Helmed, and that he and his Vikings had obviously learned a lot more about the Transformers between now and then, as they and their ships were adorned with assorted Transformers symbology.
Destro revealed himself to be long-lived thanks to cybernetic enhancement in issue #3, with this issue revealing just how old he really is.

Transformers references

The Ark is, of course, drawn based on its animation model from the Generation 1 cartoon.
Generic Transformers seen within the Ark include a Seeker, and a "Datsun" Autobot (that is, one sharing the body-type of Prowl, Bluestreak, and Smokescreen). The Transformer awakened by Teletran-One is of the humanoid Decepticon Mini-Cassette design used by Rumble and Frenzy, its small, nearly-human stature explained to be the result of Teletran reconfiguring it into a "human" form after scanning the young Destro—similar to the manner in which the Dinobots were created in the Marvel comic, based on scans on real dinosaurs. Later in the story, Destro is shown listening to the murmurs of a slumbering bat-Decepticon inspired by Ratbat. We're not willing to definitively identify any of these characters as named, pre-existing Transformers.
Teletran-One utters the line "Repair! Repair!", taken from the Generation 1 cartoon episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". The computer also remarks "And now, on with the countdown!", the catchphrase of actor and radio disc jockey Casey Kasem, who provided the computer's voice in the cartoon.
The narration refers to the slumbering Transformers beneath Castle Destro as "dwellers in the depths", after the Generation 1 cartoon episode title, "The Dweller in the Depths".
The issue's title "Spotlight: Destro" is named for the occasional sub-series of IDW Generation 1 comics.
The Transformers on the subscription cover are mostly familiar faces, but two more lesser-known characters are also present; 1988 Decepticon cassette Squawktalk, and the Autobot traffic light from Cybertron, Signal Lancer.

G.I. Joe references

The druids all have blue skin, an allusion to G.I. Joe: The Movie, which revealed that Cobra Commander was a blue-skinned Cobra-Lavian beneath his mask.
It's been staring us the in face all along, but Hawk's tomahawk—which shares its shape with the sigil of the Viking raiders, one obviously having inspired the other—is based on the 1970s G.I. Joe Adventure Team logo, a combined A and T atop one another.
Though unnamed in the story, the leaders of the Viking raiders are identified in Scioli's commentary as "Aberneth the Hawk-Helmed", Hawk's ancestor (his real surname being "Abernathy"), and "Thor FalkenHauser", Duke's ancestor (his name a joint reference to Duke's real surname, "Hauser", and to his half-brother, Falcon).
The women draped over the pile of money Cobra Commander offers Destro all look like the Baroness, with their round glasses and raven hair. Destro and the Baroness have historically been romantically linked throughout the G.I. Joe franchise.

Jack Kirby references

The sight of proto-humans staring up at the crashing Ark is, as Scioli notes in his commentary, highly evocative of the film [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}2001: A Space Odyssey|{{#if:||2001: A Space Odyssey}}]]. Kirby did both an adaptation and spin-off series of the film for Marvel Comics.
Cullen's theft is revealed by the cobra-headed staffs of the druids, which emit a sound effect when they detect the metal beneath his cloak. This sound, "PING PING", is the sound effect of [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Mother Box|{{#if:||Mother Box}}]] from Jack Kirby's [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Fourth World (comics)|{{#if:"Fourth World" comics|"Fourth World" comics|Fourth World (comics)}}]].

Real-life references

The druids use [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Greek fire|{{#if:||Greek fire}}]] on Mac Cullen's fleeing boat.
The Vikings hail from "Giant Island Jotunheim", a cute allusion to "G.I. Joe", but also a reference to [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Jötunheimr|{{#if:Jotunheim|Jotunheim|Jötunheimr}}]], land of the giants, from Norse mythology.
Destro's 'ghost-proofing' of his castle is a parallel to the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Winchester Mystery House|{{#if:||Winchester Mystery House}}]] which also was said to be haunted by the ghosts of those who were killed with the guns that the owner manufactured.
The Sky Spy shares some scientific and mathematical information with young Mac Cullen, including [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Mass–energy equivalence|{{#if:Einstein's famous formula|Einstein's famous formula|Mass–energy equivalence}}]], [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Pi|{{#if:π|π|Pi}}]], and the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Golden ratio|{{#if:golden ratio|golden ratio|Golden ratio}}]].

Other trivia

The double-page spread of the crashing Ark is the first thing you see when you open the comic, printed across the inside-front cover and the first page of the issue. The credits, normally on the inside-cover, are moved to the second page of the comic. The second half of the spread is also reprinted on the inside-back cover, so that if you were to remove the cover from the comic, you'd have a "mini-poster" of the scene.
As with last issue, this issue was inexplicably only available digitally a week after it came out in physical shops. Moreover, the digital version is missing both the first half of the above-mentioned spread and the final story page.

Covers (3)

Standard cover: Serpentor and Unicron by Tom Scioli
Subscription cover: They came from Cybertron - the Earth came for them! By David Lafuente and John Rauch
Cover RI: Megatron holds aloft a handful of G.I. Joes, by Benjamin Marra

Reprints

Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Volume 2
Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Quintessential Collection Hardcover
Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 74: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Part 2

Volume 2; cover art by Tom Scioli
Quintessential Collection; cover art by Scioli
Definitive G1 Collection: Vol. 74: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Pt. 2; cover art by Don Figueroa and Scioli

Stick To Your Guns

Contents

Synopsis

Featured characters

Quotes