A Better Tomorrow

« The Transformers: Robots in Disguise #5 »
"A Better Tomorrow"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	May 30, 2012
Cover date	May 2012
Story by	John Barber
Art by	Andrew Griffith and Casey Coller
Colors by	Josh Perez
Letters by	Shawn Lee
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2012)

The arrival of Sky-Byte causes events on Cybertron to reach a critical juncture, prompting Ironhide to take a surprising stand.

Synopsis

Ironhide watches as another NAIL shuttle arrives on Cybertron, its sole occupant proving to be an ex-Decepticon poet and old acquaintance of his named Sky-Byte. The obvious distaste Sky-Byte has for his former faction prompts Starscream to step aside and leave the welcoming to Metalhawk; Bumblebee, meanwhile, eschews taking part at all. Prowl, though, elects to watch Sky-Byte's welcome from afar, with Arcee quietly whispering in his ear all the while. He instructs her to get back to looking for Dirge, but she cautions him to remember that she is not his assassin to order about.

Metalhawk takes Sky-Byte to meet with fellow NAILs Tappet, Hipotank, and Zetca, who address his concerns about Decepticons being allowed to roam free by telling him about the inhibitor/deterrence chips, though that only increases his worries about the Autobots' methods. The next day, Sky-Byte withdraws to the edge of the city to ruminate on what he has learned, and is found by Ironhide just as he is composing a poem over some Sweep remains. Ironhide tells Sky-Byte about his lost memories and the new perspective his missing years have given him, and surprises the shark by proposing that he speak to some Decepticons in order to get the whole picture before making any choices about life on Cybertron. The pair return to the city, and while Sky-Byte heads off to follow Ironhide's suggestion, the old soldier continues to play advice-giver by meeting with Blurr and convincing him to fulfill his old pre-war dream of opening a bar by refurbishing Maccadam's Old Oil House.

Back at Autobot command, Metalhawk kicks off another argument with Bumblebee over the I/D chips, holding up Starscream as evidence that the Decepticons can change. Bumblebee counters with the fact that even the NAILs hate the Decepticons, and that Sky-Byte tried to kill him once. Starscream sarcastically notes that there were too many those who wished to do this. Enraged, Bumblebee orders Prowl to remove both Metalhawk and Starscream, but the police-bot has disappeared during the conversation.

Sky-Byte, meanwhile, has met with Swindle, who tells him of Prowl's recent Decepticon executions, and takes him to a bolt-hole where Needlenose is watching over Dirge, from whom they learned of the Constructicons' deaths. Unfortunately for them, Sideswipe, having learned of Ironhide's suggestion to Sky-Byte, has tricked another NAIL to keep tabs on Sky-Byte's movements for him by telling him that he was responsible for nearly killing Zetca. Following the information he receives, Sideswipe leads Streetwise and Prowl into the Decepticons' hideaway, where a firefight ensues. Dirge and Swindle escape, but Sky-Byte and Needlenose are captured, and a riot ensues when they are brought above ground and a crowd of NAILs attempts to lynch them. Ironhide comes smashing his way into the crowd and puts the mob down, then, as he finds himself staring down the barrel of Prowl's gun, makes a speech that concludes with a plea to Bumblebee to have the I/D chips turned off as the first step towards equality for the future.

The next morning, Prowl confronts Ironhide and Sky-Byte in the repaired and re-opened Maccadam's, furious over Bumblebee's decision to follow Ironhide's advice and deactivate the chips. Stopped by Blurr before things get physical, Prowl grumpily sits down for a drink with the pair and demands to know why Ironhide is so sure everything is going to work out. Ironhide explains that in the moment when everything turned to white as Cybertron was reborn, he had a vision of the future, of himself and Alpha Trion telling stories to the next generation of Transformers on Gorlam Prime. That's how he knows the future is bright: because in it, all the other Autobots and Decepticons and all their old grudges... are dead.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	NAILs
Ironhide (1) Jazz (2) Broadside (3) Bumblebee (4) Wheeljack (5) Prowl (9) Blurr (14) Streetwise (18) Sideswipe (19) Bluestreak (20) Cliffjumper (21) Sky Lynx (22)	Starscream (7) Swindle (15) Needlenose (16) Dirge (17)	Metalhawk (6) Sky-Byte (8) Arcee (10) Zetca (11) Hipotank (12) Tappet (13)

Quotes

"Starscream?"
"My reputation precedes me."
"You're known throughout the galaxy. A conniver, a liar, and a killer. In short a—Decepticon."
"I like this guy."

—Sky-Byte and Starscream

"Barren wasteland
consumes so many. Desire
leaves me alone."

—Sky-Byte does this thing. To a degree.

"Sky-Byte's reactin' like that 'cause he used to be a Decepticon. Tried to kill me once."
"Who hasn't?"

—Ironhide and Starscream

Notes

Continuity notes

• Back during Heart of Darkness, Galvatron assembled an army of robots of all shapes and sizes, but by the time Chaos rolled around, these varied mechanoids had vanished, replaced by endless legions of Sweeps. It's unclear if this was intentional at the time (the relationship between Heart of Darkness and Chaos is wobbly at best), but this story touches on the issue, explaining that all the robots were gradually transformed into identical Sweeps, presumably through the power of the Heart of Darkness.
• Arcee refers to the mass torture of Jhiaxus she started back in Spotlight: Sideswipe.
• A passing mention is made of Wheelie, who Ironhide notes has left Cybertron.
• Mention is made of Varas Centralus (previously seen in Stormbringer #2) and some terrible events perpetrated there by the Constructicons that prompted Sky-Byte to leave the Decepticons.
• Ironhide's loss of memory came about as a product of his death at the beginning of the ongoing series and subsequent resurrection in his own mini-series.
• Blurr's desire to run a bar was first mentioned by Swerve in More than Meets the Eye #3.
• Ironhide's vision of the future consists of the events of the final issue of the ongoing series, at the time merely designed to serve as a coda to the series.

Transformers references

• Sky-Byte swears by Primus, a rare oath in IDW continuity.
• Sky-Byte remarks that a Sweep reminds him of "someone he knew, long ago", a joke about how the Sweeps all look like Scourge, and how Robots in Disguise Sky-Byte knew a different Scourge.
• A couple of Junkions appear among the NAILs on page 9.

Errors

• On page 3, Metalhawk says "Cybertonians" instead of "Cybertronians". This is corrected in the trade paperback.
• Sky-Byte's poem, if it is supposed to be a haiku (and why shouldn't it? He's Sky-Byte!), consists of four, seven, and four syllables, instead of the correct five, seven, and five.
• On page 15, panel 3, Andrew Griffith has drawn Streetwise as having been heavily injured by Needlenose's flamethrower, partially melted and blackened. But on the first panel of page 16, where Casey Coller starts the first of his fill-in pages, he's drawn normally, with only the only indication of his injuries being a slight "burned" effect in the colors by Josh Perez.

Foreign localization

Japanese

• Title: "Yori Yoki Ashita" (より良き明日, "Better Tomorrow")

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Bumblebee and Metalhawk argue while Starscream watches, by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez.
• Cover B: Ironhide charges into action as Bumblebee, Metalhawk and Starscream look on, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente.
• Cover RI: Ironhide and Bumblebee by Marcelo Matere and Priscilla Tramontano, the second half of a combined image formed with the RI cover to More than Meets the Eye #5.

• 
  I am the yellow guy in charge, not you!
• 
  Ironhide smash!
• 
  Dull anger!

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Reprints

• The Transformers: Robots in Disguise Volume 1 (July 25, 2012) ISBN 1613772912 / ISBN 978-1613772911
  • Collects Robots in Disguise issues #1–5.
  • Bonus material includes art from most covers and notes on issue #3 by the author/artists.
  • Trade paperback format.

• The Transformers: Robots in Disguise Volume 1 (Reissue) (May 21, 2014) ISBN 161377964X / ISBN 978-1613779644
  • Collects Robots in Disguise issues #1–5.
  • New cover by Livio Ramondelli.
  • Bonus material includes cover gallery and notes on issue 3 by Barber, Griffith, and Josh Perez.
  • Trade paperback format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 1 (September 3, 2014) ISBN 1631400401 / ISBN 978-1631400407
  • Collects The Death of Optimus Prime, More than Meets the Eye issues #1–3 & #4–5, and Robots in Disguise issues #1–5 & #6.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: Robots in Disguise Box Set (December 2, 2015) ISBN 1631404261 / ISBN 978-1631404269
  • Collects Robots in Disguise Volumes 1–5.
  • Bonus material unknown at this time.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 54: A Better Tomorrow (April 3, 2019)
  • Collects Robots in Disguise issues #1–7.
  • Bonus material includes a new interview about the Robots in Disguise by John Barber.
  • Hardcover format.

• 
  Robots in Disguise Volume 1 – cover art by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez
• 
  Robots in Disguise Volume 1 – cover art by Livio Ramondelli
• 
  The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 1 – cover art by Saren Stone
• 
  Robots in Disguise Box Set – cover art by by ???
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 54: A Better Tomorrow – cover art by Don Figueroa and Andrew Griffith