Editing The Sensuous Frame

{{Comicstory
|series=mtmte|issueno=41
|prev=Our Steps Will Always Rhyme
|next=
|image=MTMTE41_subcvr.jpg
|title="The Sensuous Frame"
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[May 27]], [[2015]]
|coverdate=May 2015
|written by=[[James Roberts]]
|art by=[[Alex Milne]]
|colors by=[[Joana Lafuente]]
|letters by=[[Tom B. Long]] and [[Chris Mowry]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity|IDW continuity]]
|chronology=[[IDW timeline|Current era (2015)]]
}}

'''The crew of the ''Lost Light'' is invited to the "pre-wake" of the soon-to-be-deceased Thunderclash, but Nightbeat and Getaway soon learn there is quite ''literally'' more than meets the eye going on aboard the ''Vis Vitalis''.'''

==Synopsis==

Decorated space-faring hero [[Countdown (G1)|Countdown]] arrives on the ''[[Vis Vitalis]]'' to see his ailing mentor [[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]]—at last, the famous Autobot's old war wound has apparently gotten the better of him, and he now lies at death's door. Escorted by the ship's first officer [[Firestar (G1)|Firestar]] to the side of the mute, unmoving Thunderclash—trapped in alternate mode by [[rigor morphis]]—Countdown is left alone with his former teacher... at which point, he hears a knocking coming from within Thunderclash's trailer. Peering inside, Countdown only has time to scream...

On the ''[[Lost Light]]'', [[Brainstorm]], [[Getaway]] and [[Skids (G1)|Skids]] are all hanging out in [[Nautica]]'s room, but the [[Caminus|Camien]] bibliophile would rather read about the [[Froidian Classification System]] than indulge their silly antics. Mention of the psychologist's name leads Skids and Getaway to talk about [[Rung (G1)|Rung]], while Brainstorm manages to convince Nautica to try out his upside-down harness, which she ends up enjoying. Brainstorm has also completed an upgrade to Nautica's wrench at Getaway's request: the addition of a torch that counters [[attention deflector]]s, which Getaway plans to use to keep an eye out for the stealthy [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]. Just then, an unfamiliar ringing is heard throughout the ship...

Simultaneously, in "[[Swerve's]]", Ravage and [[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] observe as [[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]]—introverted following [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]]'s recent departure—finishes up his four-week viewing of every piece of human art and entertainment ever created. Just as he is describing the lessons he has learned, Swerve is interrupted by the ringing noise, which turns out to be a giant gong that [[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] is ringing in order to summon the crew together. The gong signifies that the crew have "accomplished something": they have caught up to the ''Vis Vitalis'', and Rodimus can barely suppress his glee when he announces the news that his long-hated rival Thunderclash is on his deathbed, and that the crew are invited to a "pre-wake" in his honor. After giving the crew the news, Rodimus and [[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] privately reveal to one another that they will not be attending the party, and their attempts to make excuses for not doing so lead to them scheduling a meeting for themselves during which they will "plan".

Later, the pre-wake party is in full swing aboard the ''Vis Vitalis'', and the ''Lost Light''ers are all enjoying themselves... except for wallflowers Rung, Nautica, [[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] and [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]]. While Nightbeat takes Nautica's wrench and goes off to snoop around the ship, Nautica is approached by Firestar, who it turns out is her old room-mate and [[Amica Endura]] from Caminus, and who joined the ''Vis Vitalis'' crew when she and some other Camiens picked up a distress call and helped fix some damage the ship had taken. As she and Nautica swap stories, however, it soon becomes clear that Firestar is more "frenemy" than "friend", her catty remarks about Nautica's abilities and insistence on using the hated nickname "Naughty Nautica" soon mounting up, culminating in an awkward silence and an uncomfortable parting of the ways.

In Thunderclash's quarters, Camien crewmember [[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] shows [[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Minimus Ambus]] the supposed map to [[Cyberutopia]] that Thunderclash has carved into the room's wall, drawn from his dreams. [[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] completes his examination of Thunderclash, which yields surprising results: whatever is killing Thunderclash, it is ''not'' his old [[spark]] injury, which has been miraculously healed around six months prior. Velocity explains that a passing medic was responsible, but cannot remember anything about her. Unable to deduce what has left Thunderclash in his current sorry state, First Aid opens his trailer to carry out an internal examination... but finds nothing.

A little later, after the party has wound down and most of the crew have returned to the ''Lost Light'', Nautica hems and haws about staying for the funeral. A tired, out-of-sorts Skids tells her a few others are staying too, and will be picked up by Rodimus on his way back from a supply run; others such as Nightbeat, who has just found a strangely exhausted Getaway napping in the middle of a corridor. Just as Nightbeat rouses him, Ravage runs screaming down the hallway, his attention deflectors sparking, claiming that something is "everywhere" and "won't stop looking at him". Immensely intrigued, the pair set off after the frightened feline.

In Thunderclash's quarters, First Aid gets as surprise when he hooks the dying 'bot up to a monitor desk, and Thunderclash begins voluntarily, selectively shutting his systems down in order to make his life-signs on the monitor resemble words. First Aid, Velocity and Minimus read his message: "You're all blind, you're all dead" ...and then turn when they hear the sound of knocking coming from within his trailer...

Nightbeat and Getaway follow Ravage into the ship's morgue, where they find the body of ex-racer-turned-public-speaker [[Photon (G1)|Photon]], and the ''still-warm'' corpse of Countdown. Shining the light of Nautica's torch onto Countdown exposes a horrible sight: a mass of [[technorganic]] eggs, clinging to his frame, invisible to the naked optic. Under the light, Getaway realizes they are on his body too... at which point, the pair suddenly find themselves surrounded by clawing alien creatures whose bodies are covered with the mysterious growths!

==Featured characters==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Firestar (G1)|Firestar]] (1)
*[[Countdown (G1)|Countdown]] (2)
*[[Thunder Clash|Thunderclash]] (3)
*[[Brainstorm]] (4)
*[[Getaway]] (5)
*[[Skids (G1)|Skids]] (6)
*[[Nautica]] (7)
*[[Swerve (G1)|Swerve]] (8)
*[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (10)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Rodimus]] (11)
*[[Rollout (G1)|Rollout]] (12)
*[[Boss (G1)|Boss]] (13)
*[[Siren]] (14)
*[[Aquafend]] (15)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*? <!--blue, beside Aquafend--> (16)
*? <!--yellow, red hand, above blue guy--> (17)
*? <!--green and pink legs--> (18)
*[[Joyride (G1)|Joyride]] (19)
*[[Atomizer]] (20)
*[[Hosehead (G1)|Hosehead]] (21)
*[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (22)
*[[Streetwise (G1)|Streetwise]] (23)
*[[Sky High (Pretender)|Sky High]] (24)
*[[Groove (G1)|Groove]] (25)
*[[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]] (26)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (27)
*[[Xaaron]] (28)
*[[Dipstick]] (29)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Pointblank (G1)|Pointblank]] (30)
*[[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (31)
*? <!--whatever that is above Whirl--> (32)
*[[Whirl (G1)|Whirl]] (33)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (34)
*[[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] (35)
*? <!--Smokescreen's buddy--> (36)
*[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (37)
*[[Repugnus (G1)|Repugnus]] (38)
*[[Doublecross]] (39)
*[[Jackpot (G1)|Jackpot]] (40)
*[[Mainframe (G1)|Mainframe]] (41)
*[[Rad]] (42)
*[[Crosscut (Autobot)|Crosscut]] (43)
{{!}}style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (44)
*[[Megatron (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Megatron]] (45)
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (46)
*[[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]] (47, see errors)
*[[Tailgate (G1)|Tailgate]] (48)
*[[Javelin]] (49)
*[[Rung (G1)|Rung]] (50)
*[[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] (52)
*[[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (53)
*[[Velocity (G1)|Velocity]] (54)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Minimus Ambus]] (55)
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (56)
*[[Photon (G1)|Photon]]'s corpse (57)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (9)

|c4=

*[[Cyclonus (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Cyclonus]] (51)
}}

==Quotes==

"This is wonderful! And look! '''Reading!''' I can read upside down! I've always wondered if I could!"<br>
"You never thought to, I dunno, turn a book upside down?"<br>
...<br>
"I'm not here and you can't see me. I'm hiding behind my '''wall of shame.'''"
:—'''Nautica''' tries out Brainstorm's upside-down harness with some help from '''Skids'''



"Finished! One '''upgraded''' wrench! Where's that '''one Shanix''' you promised me?"<br>
"I fear I may have exploited your ignorance of monetary value. Tell you what: if that thing works, I'll pay you '''two''' Shanix! Whaddya say?"
:—'''Brainstorm''' strikes a hot deal with '''Getaway'''.



"Having devoured 30,000 years' worth of stories and songs—and having read and watched and listened to everything from ''The Maxims of Ptahhotep'' to ''Infinite Jest''—it's only '''now''' that I've come to realize three things—'''three bold and shining truths''' that I'll carry with me '''forever.'''<br>
:'''One:''' Life is inherently tragic—and over far too quickly.<br>
:'''Two:''' All art thrives on conflict. We valorize fiction because it helps us make sense of ourselves.<br>
:'''Three:''' Season 4 of ''Community'' was a serious misstep."
:—'''Swerve'''



"Have you met him?"<br>
"Not as such. I've tried to '''kill''' him several times..."
:—'''Rodimus''' and '''Megatron''' on Thunderclash



"I'm gonna plan you '''into next week.'''"<br>
"Maybe. Or maybe after five minutes you'll get bored and start carving pictures onto your desk."<br>
"'''Wrong,''' actually! Utterly, demonstrably, '''villainously''' wrong. I ran out of space '''ages''' ago."
:—'''Rodimus''' and '''Megatron''' on their joint planning session



"What. Is. The. Matter. With. You."<br>
"I'm '''resting''', I'm not—why are you talking to me like I'm a '''broken vending machine?'''"<br>
"I'm trying to show concern. I've seen other people do it."
:—'''Nightbeat''' and '''Getaway'''



'''Velocity:''' "He's killing himself to send us a message...?"<br>
'''Minimus:''' "A '''grammatically correct''' message. Look at that apostrophe..."<br>
'''First Aid:''' "He had to reduce his lifespan by six hours to generate that apostrophe."<br>
'''Minimus:''' "I know that's not supposed to '''impress''' me, but..."



"Aren't you going to look? Dead bodies. They're your favorite."<br>
"'''Murders''' are my favourite. A dead body's just a statement. A murder is a '''question:''' whodunit?"
:—'''Getaway''' and '''Nightbeat''' in the morgue

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
* The presence of Mirage and the Protectobots on the ''Lost Light'' places this story before the ''Combiner Wars'' storyline, already well underway in the book's [[The Transformers: Robots in Disguise|sibling]] [[The Transformers: Windblade|titles]] by the time this issue was released.
*Copious amounts of [[innermost energon]] have been donated for Thunderclash; we were introduced to this practice back in [[Before & After|issue #12]].
*[[Rigor morphis]] debuted ''waaaay'' back in [[Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It|the very first issue]].
*Brainstorm's ability to work while hanging upside was previously seen in [[Rules of Disengagement (issue)|issue #7]].
*Nautica notes that Rung lent her the book she is reading; it was implied in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 1: Towards Peace|issue #28]] that the pair had been exchanging books.
*Skids defends Rung, which indicates he's taking to heart [[Ratchet (G1)/IDW Generation 1 continuity|Ratchet]]'s request from [[Our Steps Will Always Rhyme|last issue]] to be a friend to the psychiatrist.
*Megatron and Rodimus's argument about "sulking" and "taking stock" echoes the one they had in [[World, Shut Your Mouth Part 2: Words Hang in the Air|issue #29]], with the roles reversed.
*Rodimus's habit of carving pictures into his desk was introduced in "[[Signal to Noise]]", back in [[More than Meets the Eye issue 13|issue #13]].
*Nautica mentioned having an Amica Endura back in [[slaughterhouse|issue #32]].
*Firestar is the new first officer of the ''Vis Vitalias'', which the ship was in need of since the [[Paddox|last one]] turned out to be an [[Ammonite]] in [[Little Victories|issue #22]].
*Thunderclash's map includes multiple uses of a familiar symbol: a gear-like heiroglyph seen engraved on the surface of [[Moonbase One|Luna 1]] and in the speech bubble of a mysterious giant spark, both from [[Remain in Light 5 of 5: This Calamitous Life|issue #21]].
*Minimus Ambus mentions that the ''Lost Light'''s version of the map was "memory-resistant", which was discovered in [[Under Cold Blue Stars|issue #15]].
*The fatal injury that Thunderclash has lived with is revealed to have been received after the fall of [[Grindcore (prison)|Grindcore prison]], an infamous location previously mentioned in [[Elegant Chaos Part 3: Predestination: An Expert's Guide|issue #39]] and "[[Bullets]]".
*Countdown is famous for his role in the [[Simanzi Massacre]].

===Transformers references===
*Firestar was one of the original [[Female Autobots]], who first appeared in the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]] episode "[[The Search for Alpha Trion]]". This is her first major role in G1-based fiction since then; she's mostly shown up in cameos since her original debut, partially due to [[Hasbro]]'s inability to [[trademark]] her name, requiring she be replaced in most stories with her lookalike, [[Flareup (disambiguation)|Flareup]]. Only the [[Aligned continuity family|Aligned]] [[Firestar (Prime)|version]] has had any significant role in her continuity's fiction
*Generation 1 [[Micromaster]] Countdown is a similarly little-seen character, having received his biggest fictional role in [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]]'s [[Transformers: Micromasters|''Micromasters'' mini-series]]. His being a legendary, highly-decorated space hero comes directly from his original [[bio]].
*Rodimus's quarters are numbered "077"; the original Rodimus Prime toy's [[List of Japanese ID numbers|Japanese ID number]] was C-77.
*Swerve notes that Ratchet would have loved the party on the ''Vis Vitalis''; it almost never factors into his characterisation in ''any'' fiction, and certainly the current old-and-grumpy IDW incarnation of the character seems ''well'' past enjoying this sort of thing, but Ratchet's original Generation 1 bio does mention that he loves to party.

===Real-life references===
*We don't really need to point out that this issue takes its title from a line in the [[Tennyson|Alfred, Lord Tennyson]] poem ''{{w|In Memoriam A.H.H.}}'', since the poem opens this issue (or more accurately, the 50th of the poem's 133 sub-sections). We previously saw [[Verity Carlo]] with a book of Tennyson's poems in ''[[The Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers|Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'' [[Last Stand of the Wreckers issue 5|issue #5]].
*As Swerve watches television, the narration from the opening sequence of ''{{w|Quantum Leap}}'' plays.
*Specific works Swerve mentions having experienced include {{w|The Maxims of Ptahhotep}} and ''{{w|Infinite Jest (album)|Infinite Jest}}''. For the latter, we'll assume it's the indie rock album, rather than the {{w|Infinite Jest|David Foster Wallace novel}} because, hey, James Roberts.
*As quoted above, Swerve references TV show ''[[Community]]'', but gets cut off before he can finish complaining about the firing of series creator {{w|Dan Harmon}}.
*The "next issue" box promises "murder on the dancefloor", a reference to the {{w|Murder on the Dancefloor|Sophie Ellis-Bextor song of the same name}}.

===Errors===
*The 'bot at the centre of the dancefloor in our first look at the pre-wake is [[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]], but he's been coloured in pale blue, lavender and white instead of his normal yellow, red and orange.
*While listing Camiens onboard, Firestar mentions a "Skystalker", but a few pages later, Nautica talks about a "Sky''striker''". We'd guess that the former is the error, since there are plenty of [[Skystalker (disambiguation)|Skystalkers]] in Transformers already and aside from Firestar, these Camien characters are all newly-created with non-legacy names. Whether or not the name is a deliberate reference to the [[Skystriker|''G.I. Joe'' vehicle]], we couldn't be sure.
*As Getaway and Nightbeat watch Ravage flail around, one of Ravage's speech bubbles ("They won't stop looking at me!") is misaligned—it's supposed to be touching the edge of the panel, but has been placed a little higher, leaving visible the flat edge of the bubble without an outline.
*In the same sequence, some of the sparks flying off of Ravage are miscolored as part of his body, making him appear somewhat tattered.

===Other trivia===
*In addition to Javelin, Velocity, and the above-mentioned Skystriker, new Camiens named but not seen in this issue include [[Proxima]] (who appears on the cover), [[Acceleron]], [[Exocet]] and [[Skimmer (G1)|Skimmer]]. Acceleron and Proxima are both female, while Skystriker is male; Skimmer and Exocet's genders are not mentioned.
*And speaking of which, Acceleron and Proxima are a ''couple'', making them the first-ever official female same-gender couple in Transformers history!
*An additional female Camien, [[Roadmaster]], appears on the cover but is not seen or mentioned in the story.

===Soundtrack===
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kMT7r5lABc Last Night I Nearly Died (But I Woke Up Just In Time)]" by {{w|Duke Special}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjF6akZ2WqI Sweetest Decline]" by {{w|Beth Orton}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvkI9MTQw4 Cannonball]" by {{w|The Breeders}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9KVfZQgCYg Call Me Ishmael]" by {{w|Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly}}
*"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIHaNh3jRXg Flightless Bird, American Mouth]" by {{w|Iron & Wine}}

===Covers (3)===
*'''Regular cover:''' Nautica reunites with Firestar and her other old Camien friends, by [[Alex Milne]] and [[Josh Perez]]
*'''Subscription cover:''' Thunderclash's huge pre-memorial statue, by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]]
*'''Retailer incentive cover:''' Drift and Ratchet, by [[Kotteri]]

<gallery>
File:MTMTE41 regcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE41 subcvr.jpg|
File:MTMTE41 cvrRI.jpg|
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
*''More than Meets the Eye'' #42
*[[Combiner Wars]]
*''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]'' [[Expelled from the Garden|#6]]
*IDW ''[[Jem|Jem and the Holograms]]'' comic
*''[[Godzilla]]: Rulers of Earth'' trade paperbacks
*''Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland'' (back cover)

==External links==
*[http://www.newsarama.com/24609-funeral-for-a-fallen-autobot-in-transformers-more-than-meets-the-eye-41-exclusive-preview.html Preview]