The Nothing Man

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|colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center" | "The Nothing Man" {{#if: |

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|- {{#if: IDW Publishing | |Publisher || IDW Publishing}} |- {{#if: | |Published by || }} |- {{#if: | |Imprint || }} |- {{#if: | |Published in || }} |- {{#if: September 30, 2015 | |First published || September 30, 2015}} |- {{#if: | |Shipping date || }} |- {{#if: | |On-sale date || }} |- {{#if: September 2015 | |Cover date || September 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: John Barber | |Written by || John Barber}} |- {{#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: Andrew Griffith | |Art by || Andrew Griffith}} |- {{#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: Josh Perez | |Colors by || Josh Perez}} |- {{#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 B. Long | |Letters by || Tom B. Long}} |- {{#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: | |Production by || }} |- {{#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: 2005 IDW continuity | |Continuity || 2005 IDW continuity}} |- {{#if: Current era | |Chronology || Current era}} |- {{#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=}}

The Autobots find themselves caught between a Blackrock and a hard place when the secret of the Onyx operating system is revealed.

Synopsis

At the Earth Defense Command headquarters on Bikini Atoll, Marissa Faireborn, Ayana Jones, Thundercracker, and Buster wait outside the cell holding Spike Witwicky as Garrison Blackrock talks to him inside. Thundercracker is unsure why Blackrock gets to speak to Spike, and argues that he should be given the chance as well, thinking he can get the human to open up, but Faireborn is uninterested in anything Spike might have to say. Not so for Blackrock; he has something he wants Spike to do for him, and as he builds up to his request, he tells Spike about his family lineage and shows him the Onyx source code, now running on three billion devices across the Earth...

Jetfire is also studying the Onyx code aboard the Ark-7, and has deduced that all copies of the code are linked via a quantum signal, the collective code altering itself in response to changes to other copies. Using D.0.C. to track the signal, Jetfire—accompanied by Jazz and Kup aboard Sky Lynx, with Cosmos observing from orbit—follows it to its source on the Antarctic island of Bouvetoya. Their atmospheric approach is detected by the Decepticons in the Nemesis, but Galvatron decides against alerting their EDC allies—because, as the Autobots soon discover, the humans are well aware of their arrival, and have defenses of their own in place.

Kup's complaints about the freezing weather fade to nothing when compared to the four gigantic Thrust/Ramjet clone-combiners they find guarding the station at the signal's source location! Created by Blackrock using the knowledge he gained from the Enigma of Combination, the colossal monstrosities pound Jetfire and Kup until they are offline, and rip Jazz's arm off—even Sky Lynx's firepower fails to stop them, and when he tries to flee, they even prove able to transform and pursue him! Arcee instructs Sky Lynx to lead the combiners to the Ark-7, where she has Sideswipe unleash the full might of the ship's armament against them. Unfortunately, disaster strikes: through the Onyx source code running aboard the Ark-7, Blackrock has gained control of the ship's systems and activates its deflector shields! Every missile and blast unleashed by the Ark-7 explodes against the inside of its own shields, shredding the ship, while Sky Lynx's momentum causes him to crash into the shield from the outside, knocking himself offline. Trapped inside the ship, inside a shield that will not even allow communications signals to pass through, Arcee tries to take stock of the situation while Alpha Trion deduces what is going on: the Onyx code... the code written in ancient Cybertronian, the code that is inextricably linked across all space... is the very source code of the Enigma of Combination itself!

Back on Earth, Blackrock explains that the worldwide inter-linked Onyx network gives him direct, personal access to literally every piece of information on every device running the system. But it's not just simple data—the knowledge gives the Blackrock an understanding of the people behind the data, letting him digitally "see" into their hearts and minds. Blackrock is able to peer into the soul of anybody... but when he turns that insight on himself, he sees nothing. And this, he explains, is at the core of what he wants Spike to do for him. Spike Witwicky's task, from within his prison cell, is to find out why Garrison Blackrock has no soul.

Aboard the Nemesis, the Decepticons survey images of the destruction that has been wrought upon the Autobots. Soundwave believes Galvatron knew of Blackrock's plan, but Galvatron refutes the notion; he and the Decepticons are not the sort who scheme, Galvatron claims, not the kind to justify what they do with ideas of good and evil, but 'bots who are honest with themselves and the actions they take. And now the time for taking has come... the Decepticons will storm the Ark-7 and take the Autobots' spacebridge!

Featured characters

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

{{#if:* Jetfire (7)

Cosmos (9)
Arcee (10)
Kup (11)
Sky Lynx (17)
Jazz (18)
Sideswipe (20)
Alpha Trion (21)|

{{#if:* Jetfire (7)

Cosmos (9)
Arcee (10)
Kup (11)
Sky Lynx (17)
Jazz (18)
Sideswipe (20)
Alpha Trion (21)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
Jetfire (7)
Cosmos (9)
Arcee (10)
Kup (11)
Sky Lynx (17)
Jazz (18)
Sideswipe (20)
Alpha Trion (21) }}{{#if:* Soundwave (12)
Laserbeak (13)
Skywarp (14)
Galvatron (15)
Rumble (16)|

Autobots }}{{#if:* Soundwave (12) Laserbeak (13) Skywarp (14) Galvatron (15) Rumble (16)\|	Decepticons }}{{#if:* Ayana Jones (3) Marissa Faireborn (4) Garrison Blackrock (5) Spike Witwicky (6) Sanjay Bharwaney (22)\|	Humans }}{{#if:* Thundercracker (1) Buster (2) D.0.C. (8) Thrust/Ramjet clone combiners (19)\|	Others }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}
Soundwave (12) Laserbeak (13) Skywarp (14) Galvatron (15) Rumble (16) }}{{#if:* Ayana Jones (3) Marissa Faireborn (4) Garrison Blackrock (5) Spike Witwicky (6) Sanjay Bharwaney (22)\|	Ayana Jones (3) Marissa Faireborn (4) Garrison Blackrock (5) Spike Witwicky (6) Sanjay Bharwaney (22) }}{{#if:* Thundercracker (1) Buster (2) D.0.C. (8) Thrust/Ramjet clone combiners (19)\|	Thundercracker (1) Buster (2) D.0.C. (8) Thrust/Ramjet clone combiners (19) }}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:\|	}}

Quotes

"Now this—this is the exciting stuff. Computer coding. Not all that running around and shooting people nonsense."

—Jetfire, giant nerd

"Autobots on Earth? Any update on whether water is still wet?"

—Laserbeak gets a good line... for me to poop on!

"I think that guy is called Bucket."

—Blackrock tries to recall Kup's name

"Weapons online. Correction—weapons hella-online."

—Sideswipe

"I can see into everyone's soul, Spike. That's not a joke. Beyond the data, beyond the information, I see the meaning—I can see what makes people tick. But when I look at myself... I see nothing. I find that discomforting. I don't understand it. So that's what I want, Spike. I want you to find out why I have no soul."

—Blackrock

"Everybody's cell is the world around them."

—Blackrock

"You and I, we do not scheme. We understand our adversaries. And make no mistake, everyone is an adversary. They tell stories of heroes and villains. They lie to themselves. We must be beyond such concepts. We take what we need, for this is the way of the universe."

—Galvatron

Notes

Continuity notes

Thundercracker recounts how he saved everyone in All Hail Megatron #12, though calling himself "hero of the Cybertronians" is probably pushing it since he was immediately shot by one of his own for doing so. Can't win fer tryin', TC!
Jetfire remarks that it's "about time [Arcee and Kup] got back." The pair are returning from the events of the Sins of the Wreckers mini-series, which had yet to begin at the time of this issue's publication.
We saw Blackrock's army of Thrust and Ramjet duplicates in action at the climax of the "Onyx Interface" story arc, in issues #37 and #38.
Blackrock being "empty inside" should serve as a reminder of what we learned back in issue #43, when Faireborn mentioned that there was no record of his existence from more than three years ago...

Transformers references

Sky Lynx recalls an old adventure on Athenia, the planet which served as Autobot secondary command post in The Headmasters animated series.
We only get a few glimpses, but Jetfire's stealth colors are based on the Gentei! Gentei! Dark Skyfire figure.
With his plan complete, Blackrock remarks that "all are one", invoking the old Transformers maxim, "'Til all are one".
Jazz is brutally ripped apart by a gigantic enemy. Sound familiar?
Jetfire's moment of mid-transformation as he lands on Bouvetoya looks hauntingly similar to his G1 toy's third mode.

Real-world references

This issue continues the theme for his arc, with a story title taken from a [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}The Nothing Man|{{#if:Jim Thompson novel|Jim Thompson novel|The Nothing Man}}]].
When Jetfire and D.0.C. first show up in their new stealth decos, D.0.C. makes the noise "FLEEK", probably in reference to the briefly-popular slang term meaning "attractive or stylish".
"We're gonna need bigger guns", Jazz laments upon seeing the combiners, probably a riff on the famous "bigger boat" quote from [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Jaws|{{#if:||Jaws}}]].

Errors

If the station relaying the quantum signal is supposed to be a human-scaled building (and it has what appear to be doors and windows that indicate it is), the perspective on the art is pretty shonky, making either the building look minuscule, or the Autobots look the size of mountains.

Covers (4)

Regular cover: Jetfire, Jazz, and Kup in action, by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez
Subscription cover: Jetfire, Jazz, Kup, Sky Lynx, and D.0.C. in the Antarctic, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente
Retailer incentive cover: Galvatron the barbarian, by Kei Zama and Yamaishi; one of September's series of retailer incentive covers by Zama.
Acme Comics exclusive cover: The cast of the series and Metroplex recreate the 1986 Generation 1 toyline back-of-package mural, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente, complete with signage for Acme Comics.

Reprints

The Transformers Volume 8 (March 16, 2016) ISBN 1631405853 / ISBN 978-1631405853
- Collects The Transformers (2012) issues #42–45.
- Bonus material includes covers from each issue.

Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 67: Conquerors (July 24, 2019)
- Collects The Transformers (2012) issues #43–49, and Combiner Hunters #1.
- Bonus material includes development art by Andrew Griffith, a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.

The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 10 (January 1, 2020) ISBN 1684055849 / ISBN 978-1684055845
- Collects Windblade (2015) issues #6–7, The Transformers (2012) issues #44–45, Combiner Hunters #1, Sins of the Wreckers issues #1–5, More than Meets the Eye issues #45–47 & #48–49, The Transformers Holiday Special: "Choose Me" & "The Thirteenth Day of Christmas".

Volume 8 – cover art by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 67: Conquerors – cover art by Don Figueroa and Andrew Griffith
The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 10 – cover art by Marcelo Matere

External links

Preview

The Nothing Man

Contents

Synopsis

Featured characters

Quotes