The Landscape of Fear

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	"The Landscape of Fear" {{#if: \| {{#if: \|; (')}} {{#if:\|; ""}}}}
Publisher	IDW Publishing}}
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First published	March 23, 2022}}
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Cover date	March 2022}}
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Written by	Brian Ruckley}}
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Art by	Anna Malkova (pg. 1-11) Blacky Shepherd (pg. 19-20)}}
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Colors	David García Cruz}}
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Letters by	Jake M. Wood}}
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Editor	David Mariotte, Tom Waltz and Riley Farmer}}
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{{#if: TF2019 41 cvrB.jpg | {{#if: IDW Publishing | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: March 23, 2022 | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: March 2022 | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Brian Ruckley | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Anna Malkova (pg. 1-11) Blacky Shepherd (pg. 19-20) | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: David García Cruz | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Jake M. Wood | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: David Mariotte, Tom Waltz and Riley Farmer | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: 2019 IDW continuity | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: |

{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}

Unexpected reinforcements shift the siege of Crystal City in favour of the Autobots, but with Cybertron itself under threat Optimus Prime must do the unthinkable.

Synopsis

Lesser Decepticons flee from Lodestar as the wounded Titan touches down in the ruins of Crystal City, but Strika and her Heavies aren't so easily intimidated. As she and the remaining Decepticons regroup, Lodestar's cityspeaker Lightbright contacts Optimus Prime--although her Titan's all but comatose after suffering severe damage, that's not the only asset she's brought to the fight--with the pull of a lever, a cargo hatch disgorges her secret weapon: Scattershot and his Technical Solutions team, the five Autobots join the battle as the mighty combiner Computron!

Undeterred, Strika and her team quickly swing into action; despite their combined martial prowess, however, Computron easily shrugs off their attacks, and his retaliations afford Ironhide and the remaining Autobots the chance to arrest Obsidian and the other members of the Heavies. Apeface gives the giant Autobot trouble to the point where a single punch knocks him over, but the distraction gives enough time for Optimus and the other Autobots to regroup and order the remaining Decepticons to stand down. Strika defiantly sneers that it'll take more than that to convince her to stand down... but abruptly agrees to the temporary ceasefire when Lodestar summons enough energy to slam a building-sized fist into the ground.

While Pyra Magna excuses herself after receiving a distress call from the planet's Sonic Canyons, Optimus considers how best to spin this unexpected development in his favor, and implores the Decepticon lieutenant to take a look at the damage they've caused: a piece of Cybertron's history has been reduced to shards, while rust worms and Insecticlones run rampant. As existential threats pile up, there's only one 'bot who can end this madness once and for all: Megatron. When the Autobot leader turns his attention to Scattershot, the Autobot explains that a freak encounter with the Combination Core in deep space somehow allowed him to absorb its power; before he can explain more, however, Lightbright interrupts to point out that her Titan requires immediate medical attention. Optimus understands, but has one last request for the pair: can they make it to Darkmount?

In Darkmount itself, Hound and his allies--including Tap-Out, Road Rage, Gears, and even a few brave alien immigrants--have had their hands full bravely fending off increasingly bold Insecticon clones. No sooner do they mop up the remnants of one swarm before another darkens the sky... but before the latest swarm can descend, a blast of artillery blows the entire swarm apart. That artillery heralds the arrival of Termagax's walking House, and Wheeljack pops his head from the top of the building to greet his allies.

Despite Ironhide's misgivings, Strika opens a diplomatic channel with Megatron in Iacon: although the Decepticon leader initially has no patience for negotiating with his hated enemy, Optimus points out that his own life is immaterial compared to the problems that now threaten Megatron's grander ambitions: ravenous Insecticon swarms, rapacious rust worms, and a reborn Exarchon all undermine Megatron's own plans for the planet. If solving these immediate problems requires temporary surrender to Megatron, that's a sacrifice Prime will willingly make; grudgingly, Megatron agrees to this unexpected truce.

On the outskirts of Darkmount, Hound outlines their situation to Wheeljack and Termagax: as Insecticon attacks ramp up, the city's supplies of energon continue to dwindle, while organic refugees go hungry. As the Insecticons continually probe their boundaries, Hound worries that a single coordinated Decepticon attack could push them over the brink. Their only hope is that Perceptor, Highbrow, and the other remaining scientists can get the last Ark operational, but not even that might be enough to stop the Insecticlones from pursuing them. The sight of one of the Insecticlones carrying a rust worm gives Termagax an idea: if the Autobots can capture a fully functional Insecticlone, and if Glyph can develop a sophisticated enough data package, the Autobots might have a way to cut the infestation off at its source--if they can scrape together a strike team in time to carry out a suicide mission, deep into the heart of the Cybertronian Mountains...

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
{{#if: ||(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)}}

{{#if:* Optimus Prime (6)

Sunstreaker (7)
Computron (10)
Ironhide (15)
Rust Dust (16)
Ultra Magnus (17)
Pyra Magna (18)
Strafe (19)
Nosecone (20)
Scattershot (21)
Lightspeed (22)
Afterburner (23)
Hound (24)
Tap-Out (26)
Road Rage (27)
Gears (28)
Wheeljack (29)|

{{#if:* Optimus Prime (6)

Sunstreaker (7)
Computron (10)
Ironhide (15)
Rust Dust (16)
Ultra Magnus (17)
Pyra Magna (18)
Strafe (19)
Nosecone (20)
Scattershot (21)
Lightspeed (22)
Afterburner (23)
Hound (24)
Tap-Out (26)
Road Rage (27)
Gears (28)
Wheeljack (29)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
Optimus Prime (6)
Sunstreaker (7)
Computron (10)
Ironhide (15)
Rust Dust (16)
Ultra Magnus (17)
Pyra Magna (18)
Strafe (19)
Nosecone (20)
Scattershot (21)
Lightspeed (22)
Afterburner (23)
Hound (24)
Tap-Out (26)
Road Rage (27)
Gears (28)
Wheeljack (29) }}{{#if:* Airwave (1)
Runabout (2)
Runamuck (3)
Strika (4)
Heavywait (5)
Apeface (11)
Obsidian (12)
Blitzwing (13)
Lugnut (14)
Megatron (30)
Termagax (31)
Kickback (32)
Bombshell (33)
Skrapnel (34)|

Autobots }}{{#if:* Airwave (1)

Runabout (2)
Runamuck (3)
Strika (4)
Heavywait (5)
Apeface (11)
Obsidian (12)
Blitzwing (13)
Lugnut (14)
Megatron (30)
Termagax (31)
Kickback (32)
Bombshell (33)
Skrapnel (34)|

Decepticons/Ascenticons }}{{#if:|

Humans }}{{#if:* Lightbright (8)

Lodestar (9)
Insecticlones (25)
Alien civilian (28)|

Others }}{{#if:|

Misc }}{{#if:|

Misc }}

Airwave (1)
Runabout (2)
Runamuck (3)
Strika (4)
Heavywait (5)
Apeface (11)
Obsidian (12)
Blitzwing (13)
Lugnut (14)
Megatron (30)
Termagax (31)
Kickback (32)
Bombshell (33)
Skrapnel (34) }}{{#if:|

}}{{#if:* Lightbright (8)

Lodestar (9)
Insecticlones (25)
Alien civilian (28)|

Lightbright (8)
Lodestar (9)
Insecticlones (25)
Alien civilian (28) }}{{#if:|

}}{{#if:|

}}

Quotes

"The unfocused warrior is a blunted blade."
"Whatever you say, Obsidian. Whatever you say."

—Obsidian and Apeface

"At our source, and in the end, we are one. Cybertron itself is a part of that whole, or we a part of its unity. Jumpstream has seen a dark future for this planet. For us all. The present darkness may make even that darkness unreachable."

—Optimus Prime

"We cannot blindly fight if the struggle itself consumes that which we claim to protect. But I surrender nothing, I promise you. I preserve what I can, for us to reclaim when that time comes."
"Very well. A truce. Until other threats are overcome. We should discuss the practicalities of my inheritance..."

—Optimus Prime and Megatron

"I was convinced that retiring to Darkmount might be wise. And that it would be... kind... to transport you back there. But I wasn't volunteering for companionship or constant chatter. Nothing personal, but I am unused to company."
"Might be for the best, since when you were used to it, you lit the forge that spat out the Decepticons."

—Termagax and Wheeljack

Notes

Continuity notes

Airwave last appeared in the first issue of 2021's Escape miniseries.
Heavywait remarks that Computron resembles "what the Constructicons" turned into; as explained in the first arc of Galaxies, the Constructicons used their combined form for the first time to reconstruct Iacon after the War of the Threefold Spark ravaged the city.
Apeface's snippy remarks about Blitzwing carry on from their appearances in issue #29, where an argument over who had the better alternate modes eventually culminated in Apeface "accidentally" shooting Blitzwing in the back.
Upon capturing Strika and the other members of the Heavies, Ultra Magnus triumphantly tells Strika that it's her turn to see what it's like being a prisoner--the Decepticons captured Ultra Magnus in the final scene of issue #37, although the Autobots rescued him two issues later.
Optimus refers to Jumpstream's trip to an Exarchon-dominated future, which occurred in issues #31 and #32.
In his conversation with Scattershot, Optimus notes that he witnessed the loss of the Enigma of Combination during the battle of the Rust Sea in issue #36. All is not lost for the combiners, however: as he notes here, the 2021 annual ended with Scattershot falling into Airachnid's artificial Combination Core and somehow absorbing its power.
Hound, Gears, and Road Rage last appeared in the final issue of Escape where they defended Darkmount against a swarm of Insecticon clones. They're joined by one of the four-armed, helmeted aliens that appeared briefly in Escape wielding the same anti-Cybertronian technology seen in Escape #5, though it's not immediately clear if this is the same individual or just another member of the same species.
In a later conversation with Termagax, Hound remarks that Highbrow, Perceptor, and other scientists are working to get the final Ark operational after its mothballed stardrive exploded at some point before the events of Escape #4. As per dialogue in the previous issue, Perceptor left Crystal City for Darkmount well in advance of the battle, presumably so that he could collaborate with the other scientists in the city.
Tap-Out and Glyph were among the many Autobots ousted from Iacon after Megatron seized the city in issue #28; Tap-Out formally joined the Autobots in issue #34, but must've left the city ahead of the Decepticon advance to join his romantic partner Glyph when she evacuated to Darkmount.
Termagax's autonomous spectrosynth drones make a brief appearance in this issue shooting down the Insecticlones--evidently, she must've been able to either salvage a few from the battle of the Rust Sea, or she's manufactured more in the time since.
The Insecticons are still based out of the Cybertronian Mountains, the Titan graveyard that first appeared all the way back in issue #1. However, after the events of Escape, the Titan's head has been burned away to reveal a skull-like visage, presumably the result of Emissary crashing into the mountains in Escape #4.

Transformers references

In an odd bit of toy fidelity, Gears possesses an "M" shaped decal on his backside, an apparent reference to his the moulded detail on his original toy which was itself a remnant of the enigmatic "Mysterians" toyline.

Errors

On page thirteen, one of the Bombshell-type Insecticlones possesses a black and red abdomen.

Other trivia

Originally solicited for a March 16th release, this issue arrives just one week late.

Covers (3)

Cover A: Our heroes entangled by rust worms, by Umi Miyao and Priscilla Tramontano
Cover B: Computron versus the Heavies, by Ed Pirrie
Retailer incentive cover: Lodestar approaches Darkmount, by Juan Samu and Thomas Deer

Reprints

Transformers Volume 6: War's End (November 16, 2022) ISBN 1684059410 / ISBN 978-1684059416
- Collects Transformers (2019) issues #37–43, War's End issues #1–4, and Fate of Cybertron.
- Bonus material currently unknown, most likely alternate covers.
- Hardcover format.

Volume 6: War's End – cover art by Cryssy Cheung

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