Editing Tread & Circuits Part 3

{{Comicstory
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Wreckers—Tread & Circuits|Transformers: Wreckers—<br>Tread & Circuits]]'' #3
|prev= Tread & Circuits Part 2
|next=Tread & Circuits Part 4
|caption=
|image=Tread&Circuits 3 cvrA.jpg
|title="Tread & Circuits Part 3"
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[December 8]], 2021
|coverdate=December 2021
|written by=[[David Mariotte]]
|art by=[[Jack Lawrence]]
|colors by=[[Brittany Peer]] and [[Rebecca Nalty]]
|letters by=[[Val Lopez]] and [[Jake M. Wood]]
|editor=[[Riley Farmer]] and [[Tom Waltz]]
|continuity=[[2019 IDW continuity]]
|chronology=
}}

'''A full-scale attack on the Speedia 500 forces Thunderclash and the Wreckers to take Mayhem head-on.'''

==Synopsis==
The [[Speedia|Speedia 500]] is underway! As the racers leave the city limits and follow the racetrack out into the desert beyond, the competition heats up as the racers push themselves to their limits, and the [[Wreckers]] get into the spirit of the competition: with [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]]'s permission, [[Hot Shot (G1)|Hot Shot]] and [[Ricochet (G1)|Ricochet]] gun their engines and keep pace with the underhanded [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]]. With [[Override (BWU)|Override]], [[Road Rocket (G2)|Road Rocket]], and [[Sideways (RM)|Sideways]] all vying for position at the head of the pack, the racers get ready to take the second bend... and stumble right into a [[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]] ambush! From his vantage point, [[Skullgrin]] sets off a massive explosive charge that collapses part of the cutting straight onto the roadway, blocking part of the track and forcing the slower racers to maneuver around the sudden avalanche, which gives [[Axer (G1)|Axer]] the time he needs to mount his bespoke cycle, enter the race, and start picking off the disoriented racers. [[Road Pig (G2)|Road Pig]] is his first victim; after entangling his wheels in an energon net, the bike-bot loses control, skids off the track, and flies straight into [[Octopunch (G1)|Octopunch]], who slices him in half. Having hacked the floating camera drones to broadcast their execution to the citizens of [[Velocitron]], Octopunch turns to the camera: they didn't listen to their warnings, and now they pay the price. At the finish line, [[Breakdown (IDW)|Breakdown]] orders all the spectators to evacuate the track; when he tries to communicate with the racers on the track and call off the race, however, he finds his comms systems unresponsive; Mayhem's already locked down all of the emergency frequencies, and the racers are on their own.

When Hot Shot and Ricochet come across the sabotage, Drag Strip swerves around the pair and leaves them choking on his dust—thinking quickly, Hot Shot simply transforms and launches his comrade over the landslide to keep pace. Unfortunately for the pair, however, their aerial jaunt attracts the attention of more Mayhem operatives—[[Slugslinger (G1)|Slugslinger]] and [[Thunderblast (G1)|Thunderblast]] pelt the pair with a missile barrage! Slugslinger's second bombing run takes Hot Shot out of commission; as the pair discuss circling round for a third time, however, an angry [[Aileron]] rams Slugslinger and sends Thunderblast toppling straight onto the racetrack below, where Thunderclash piledrives her into the rockslide; the remaining racers do their best to weave around the three-way brawl between Thunderclash, Skullgrin, and Submaurader, and wind up trampling Thunderblast even further. Wounded but still in the fight, Thunderblast aims her rocket launcher and draws a bead on her foe... at which point [[Leadfoot (G2)|Leadfoot]], intent on saving his new friend, leaps into the fight to punch her unconscious!

Although Ricochet tries to rouse a wounded Hot Shot, it's Aileron who rouses him back into action by giving him a surprise airlift to get the drop—literally—on Slugslinger. As a living air-to-ground weapon, Hot Shot has just enough time to strike a heroic pose before he smashes straight into Slugslinger's fuselage and pile-drives him into the ground, right in front of Leadfoot and Thunderclash. While the Wrecker leader orders Ricochet to evacuate one of the wounded racers, Thunderclash and his new friend have a plan: riding Leadfoot's [[alternate mode]] like a skateboard, the pair catch up with the rest of the racers, who are under threat from a fast-moving [[Submarauder (G1)|Submarauder]] and Axer. The Wrecker commander carefully stepping-stones his way across the racers; from Leadfoot to [[Hauler]], over [[Clampdown (G1)|Clampdown]], and finally landing on [[Lickety-Split (G1)|Lickety-Split]]. With the Autobots on their tails, the Mayhem operatives have only one shot at taking out Road Rocket, but they make that count: Submarauder's harpoon impales the First Senator through the windshield, and as he and Override spin out of control, Knock Out skates around the pileup and takes the lead. At that point, members of Velocitron's security mob the track to pull Submarauder off Thunderclash and arrest the Mayhem operative... but none of them notice that the ''real'' Submarauder has already shed his outer shell and made his escape.

With the rest of the racers tangled up by security, it looks like the race will go to Knock Out,  but he's got one more competitor to deal with—Axer, intent on finally ending the Speedia by killing the last useless layabout, attempts to run him off the road, before a missile from Breakdown obliterates Axer as Knock Out outruns the explosion. 
At the finish line, [[Xaaron]], [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]], and [[Signal Lancer (G1)|Signal Lancer]] wonder what's become of the racers now that Mayhem's successfully ruined the race. For the first time in its history, Velocitron may have no First Senator... until a lone plume of dust on the horizon reveals the victor of the race: Knock Out! As the rest of the racers and officers limp over the finish line, [[Minerva (G1 robot)|Minerva]] rushes out to greet the other Wreckers, but Thunderclash grimly informs her that at least two racers are dead and the members of Mayhem have escaped amidst the confusion triggered by local security blundering into a situation they don't understand. Thunderclash doesn't care who won the race—all that matters is that the Wreckers have failed...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Hot Shot (G1)|Hot Shot]] (1)
* [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] (2)
* [[Ricochet (G1)|Ricochet]] (3)
* [[Aileron]] (5)
* [[Minerva (G1 robot)|Minerva]] (26)

|h2=[[Decepticon|Ascenticons]]|c2=
* [[Knock Out (G1)|Knock Out]] (8)

|h3=[[Mayhem Attack Squad|Mayhem]]|c3=
* [[Skullgrin]] (13)
* [[Axer (G1)|Axer]] (15)
* [[Octopunch (G1)|Octopunch]] (16)
* [[Slugslinger (G1)|Slugslinger]] (21)
* [[Thunderblast (G1)|Thunderblast]] (22)
* [[Submarauder (G1)|Submarauder]] (25)

|h5=Others|c5=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
* [[Drag Strip (G1)|Drag Strip]] (4)
* [[Road Rocket (G2)|Road Rocket]] (6)
* [[Override (BWU)|Override]] (7)
* [[Sideways (RM)|Sideways]] (9)
* [[Road Pig (G2)|Road Pig]] (10)
* [[Lickety-Split (G1)|Lickety-Split]] (11)
* [[Hauler]] (12)

{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
* [[Leadfoot (G2)|Leadfoot]] (14)
* [[Signal Lancer (G1)|Signal Lancer]] (17)
* [[Scrounge (G1)|Scrounge]] (18)
* [[Xaaron]] (19)
* [[Breakdown (IDW)|Breakdown]] (20)
* [[Clampdown (G1)|Clampdown]] (23)
* [[Burn Out (Diaclone)|Burn Out]] (24)

{{!}}}
}}

==Quotes==
"We '''told''' you what would happen. You did not take us '''seriously'''. Now suffer the '''consequences.''' '''We''' are Mayhem... and '''you are dead'''."
:—'''Octopunch'''


"Sorry all! Seems there's some scrap in the road trying to block our way!" <br>
"I'll-you-servo-sniffing-'''Thunder-poser!'''" <br>
"You should watch your mouth. Most of those words aren't allowed on the air, you know."
:—'''Thunderclash''' runs over '''Thunderblast'''


"C'mon, hothead, you're missing all the action." <br>
"Ricochet? You're helping me?" <br>
"Course. You can't '''eat my dust''' if you're lying down."
:—'''Ricochet''' and '''Hot Shot'''


"Ya don't care about our trauma. Ya don't care about the bots that live here. Ya just care about '''winning'''." <br>
"You're right. I care about winning. And right now, you're keeping me from that. '''So goodbye'''!"
:—'''Axer''' and '''Knock Out'''

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* The announcer notes that Knock Out's representing the [[Decepticon|Ascenticon]] party in the race—confirming our theory from [[Tread & Circuits Part 2|issue #2]], this would indeed set the story at some point before [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] formally renamed his movement in [[Rise of the Decepticons: We Have Deceived You|issue #23]]. 

===Transformers references===
* In addition to some returning cameos from #2, "virtual redecoes" in this issue include a gold and white [[Blurr (Prime)#Robots in Disguise (2015)|''Robots in Disguise'' Blurr]] and a red and yellow [[Sideswipe (RID)#Warrior Class|''Robots in Disguise'' Sideswipe]]''.
* Other unnamed but recognizable racers include a tiny yellow Formula based on [[Mirage (Armada)|''Armada'' Mirage]], [[Clampdown (G1)|Clampdown]] the police car, and a massive green construction crane who can only be everyone's favorite one-scene wonder [[Hauler]]. Clampdown and Hauler are drawn as repaints of ''[[War for Cybertron: Siege|Siege]]'' [[Sideswipe (G1)/toys#War for Cybertron: Siege|Sideswipe]] and ''[[War for Cybertron: Earthrise|Earthrise]]'' [[Grapple (G1)#War for Cybertron: Earthrise|Grapple]], respectively.
* New Mayhem operatives in this issue include a new Generation 1 incarnation of ''[[Transformers: Cybertron (cartoon)|Cybertron]]'' femme fatale [[Thunderblast (Decepticon)|Thunderblast]]—she'd previously been namedropped way back in a ''[[Transformers: Wings Universe|Wings Universe]]'' prose story, but this marks her first speaking role. She's teamed up with [[Slugslinger (G1)|Slugslinger]], who's using a body based on his recent ''[[Slugslinger (G1)#Titans Return|Titans Return]]'' toy.
* As Breakdown tries to re-establish contact with the racers, Scrounge is shown deploying a microphone from his left index finger: this, is, of course, his infamous "special arm" in action, a power that dates all the way back to his first appearance in [[The Smelting Pool!|issue #17]] of [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|the Marvel US comic]]. 35 years and there's still no other like it!
* Leadfoot becoming a deputy Wrecker is likely based on IDW's own ''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One]]'' maxiseries, which included him as a new member of the team—in turn, a double homage to both the ''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Generation 2]]'' comic and [[Leadfoot (DOTM)|his live-action film]] counterpart from ''[[Transformers: Dark of the Moon (film)|Dark of the Moon]]''. 
* Amidst the chaos, Submarauder bails by shedding his outer armor as a decoy; while his outer armor takes inspiration from [[Submarauder (G1)#Power of the Primes|most recent ''Power of the Primes'' figure]], his inner robot is faithfully coloured to resemble his original [[Pretender]] toy. That Submarauder—and presumably Octopunch and Skullgrin as well—are classic-styled Pretenders at all is pretty notable: their fellow Pretender [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] of [[Light/Star|2021 annual]] fame is ''not'' a Pretender; like many modern incarnations, he simply unites features from his outer shell with his inner robot.
* Thunderclash briefly uses [[Lickety-Split (G1)|Lickety-Split]] as an improvised ride, who tells him that she's a big fan. Her characterization as a sports aficionado dates back to her [[Lickety-Split (Animated)|''Animated'' counterpart]]; the ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|AllSpark Almanac II]]'' guidebook established her as a big fan of, um, [[Buzz Lightyear]] (just go with it).
* Knock Out becoming Velocitron's First Senator evokes the events of ''[[The Transformers: Windblade|Windblade]]'', in which he and [[Moonracer (G1)|Moonracer]] became delegates representing Velocitron on Cybertron's [[Council of Worlds]].

===Errors===
* On page ten, "''Robots in Disguise'' Blurr" is colored light green instead of gold and white.
* Lickety-Split's vehicle mode colours vary from appearance to appearance—on page three and page nine, her headlights and wheel well are grey, while in all other panels she's completely orange.
* Another car, who may or may not be Moonracer, goes from teal and grey to grey and purple on page fifteen.

===Covers (3)===
* '''Cover A''': Knock Out and Axer play chicken, by [[Adam Bryce Thomas]] and [[Leonardo Ito]]
* '''Cover B''': A retro poster advertising the Speedia, by [[Winston Chan]]
* '''Retailer incentive cover''': The Wreckers, by [[Casey Coller]] and [[Brittany Peer]]

<gallery>
File:Tread&Circuits 3 cvrA.jpg
File:Tread&Circuits 3 cvrB.jpg
File:Tread&Circuits 3 cvrRI.jpg
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
* ''[[Star Trek]]: The Mirror War-Data''
* ''[[Godzilla]]'' graphic novels
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===Reprints===
*'''''Transformers Volume 5: Horrors Near and Far''''' <small>([[May 22]], 2022 **''scheduled''**) ISBN 1684058066 / ISBN 978-1684058839</small>
**Hardcover.
**Collects ''Transformers'' issues #31–36, ''Wreckers: Tread & Circuits'' issues #1-4, ''Transformers Annual 2021'', and the ''Transformers Halloween Special''.
**Bonus material currently unknown, most likely alternate covers.

<gallery>
File:TF-IDW-2019v5.jpg|'''''Volume 5: Horrors Near and Far'''''; cover art by [[Cryssy Cheung]]
</gallery>

==External links==
* [https://comic-watch.com/news/sneak-peek-preview-of-idws-transformers-wreckers-tread-circuits-3-on-sale-12-8-2 Preview]

[[Category:Wreckers: Tread & Circuits issues]]