Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8

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"Burning Bright" Dark Cybertron Chapter 8
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	February 5, 2014
Cover date	February 2014
Written by	James Roberts and John Barber
Art by	James Raiz, Atilio Rojo, and Livio Ramondelli
Colors by	Josh Perez and Livio Ramondelli
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2014)

The Autobots and Decepticons mobilize against the Necrotitan in Iacon, the Lost Lighters work with Windblade's team to save Metroplex, and it's showdown time in the Dead Universe!

Synopsis

On Cybertron, Bumblebee carries Megatron toward Iacon. The Decepticon leader does not seem especially hopeful of their chances in defeating the Necrotitan razing the city, given that they can't kill it since it isn't alive, but Bumblebee interprets this as a desire to not fight at all; in actuality, Megatron explains, he seeks to put saving the populace ahead of fighting their enemy.

In Iacon, Starscream has thrown in the towel, and congratulates Rattrap on out-scheming him. Rattrap, however, isn't very interested in taking charge of a burned-out city, and has allied with the combined Autobot and Decepticon forces under Prowl and Soundwave's command. Recognizing that Shockwave is relying on them in-fighting, Prowl takes charge of the situation and decides to play things logically, organizing the treatment of the wounded, the evacuation of the survivors, and a counter-strike against the Titan by Ironhide, Arcee, and the Dinobots.

Within Metroplex, Getaway defuses the standoff between his crewmates and the newly arrived Nautica and Chromia by observing that the two female Transformers are also wearing Autobot insignias. As the Ammonites come smashing into the room, the two females lead Ultra Magnus, Ratchet, and Brainstorm back up the cable they entered the room on, while the others hold off their attackers. On the way, Nautica recognizes Ratchet from her recent studies; the medi-bot attempts to raise the subject of their gender, but Chromia's nonplussed response convinces him to table the matter. Following the arrows on Metroplex's walls—painted by Chromia and Nautica—they arrive in Metroplex's left shoulder blade, now housing his relocated brain module and Nautica and Chromia's leader, Windblade.

In the Dead Universe, Nightbeat leads Orion Pax's team through a Sweep horde to the chamber holding Kup. As the weakening Cyclonus stands guard, the others set to work freeing the old-timer, and Rodimus explains to Orion the meaning of the numbers on his hand. After he revealed to his crew his role in the presence of Overlord on their ship, he invoked the Crisis Act and had them vote on whether or not he should stay on as captain; the majority voted for him, but 89 wanted him out, and he carved the numbers on his hand as a personal reminder. Instead of the "standard Optimus pep talk" he is expecting, Rodimus is instead greeted with scorn from Orion, who angrily points out that if he was actually ashamed of his actions, he would have simply resigned, and that he only invoked the Crisis Act because he thought he would win. The team subsequently sets Kup free, but just as the old 'bot is giving a speech about how he's ready for anything, Nova Prime appears, hurls the unconscious Cyclonus into Kup, and challenges Orion to a showdown.

Windblade explains the current situation to Magnus's team; infected with the alchemical virus, Metroplex transported himself to the alien planet they are now on, knowing its oceans would slow the disease's spread, then relocated his brain to hide it from any subsequent attempts on his life. As she and her team are only recent arrivals themselves, Windblade has been informed of this by Metroplex himself, who communicates in patterns of color and light that flash on his brain—the trio are actually members of Thunderclash's crew who came to Metroplex's aid at the request of Alpha Trion, who was unable to help his longtime partner because he was "close to finding the Holy Grail". Remembering the Lost Light's own previous encounter with Thunderclash and how they used its quantum engines to give his ship the Vis Vitalis a power boost, Magnus organizes a repeat of that procedure, with Metroplex as the recipient of the quantum energy. Using the alien sea as a conduit for the energy, Magnus tries to wake Metroplex, calling on him to use the ship's power to teleport them all home.

Things aren't going too well back on Cybertron, where doctors Flatline and Fixit are arguing, the attack on the Necrotitan isn't even registering (much to Slug's annoyance), and an energon leak in a burning building causes an explosion that takes out Arcee and Ironhide. Unable to follow the logic of Shockwave's moves, Prowl questions Soundwave in hopes of gaining more information, but the spymaster has no clue as to his goals, only a belief they can defeat him. Prowl, on the other hand, believes that they will need a miracle... at which point, having chosen his moment rather carefully for maximum drama, Megatron has Bumblebee carry him into view. Prowl is ready to start shooting, but Megatron offers up a plan: evacuate all survivors to Luna-2, gather all other Decepticon soldiers out in space, and strike back. Bumblebee refuses to retreat, scoffing at Megatron's attestation that he fights for freedom, and insists they will make a stand... and just as his speech concludes, the familiar light of a quantum jump appears in the sky, and the Lost Light and a functioning Metroplex appear!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Bumblebee (2) Swoop (6) Slug (7) Snarl (9) Prowl (10) Ironhide (11) Sludge (12) Arcee (13) Nautica (14) Chromia (15) Skids (16) Getaway (17) Brainstorm (18) Whirl (19) Ultra Magnus (20) Ratchet (21) Perceptor (22) Windblade (24) Nightbeat (26) Orion Pax (28) Rodimus (29) Kup (30) Metroplex (32) Fixit (34)	Megatron (1) Soundwave (8) Blitzwing (37) Buzzsaw (38) Ravage (39) Acid Storm (40)	Necrotitan (3) Starscream (4) Rattrap (5) Ammonites (23) Sweeps (25) Cyclonus (27) Nova Prime (31) Flatline (33) Sky-Byte (35) Scoop (36) Blurr (41)

Quotes

"Easy does it, Kup. Are you alright? Can you stand?"
"Can I stand? Can I stand? Kid, I've been standin' since before it was fashionable."
"But are you feeling okay?"
"I've had worse than this. I've been spiked by Squadron X, dipped in the smeltin' pool, framed for treason, shot into the sun—and I was the only 'bot still trapped inside the Nightmare Engine when everyone else woke up. I've seen off every rinky-dink, two-bit, catchpenny Decepticon rust-poker, and I got the dents in my knuckles to prove it. End of the day? I'm ready for anything you can throw at me."

—Nightbeat sets up Kup up for a pretty badass speech.

"I get the feeling that every second we're not on Cybertron, we're playing into Shockwave's hands."
(pause)
"Hand."

—Ultra Magnus. Dohohohoho!

"Trion was flustered. He could feel Metroplex was hurting but couldn't go to his aid because... what was it he said, Chromia?"
"I wasn't listening. He was being all faux-enigmatic and I wanted to lamp him."

—Nautica and Chromia

Prowl: "Unless your faith can conjure up a miracle, Cybertron is going to fall."
Megatron: "I've been called many things... but never that. Not by an Autobot, anyway."
Bumblebee: "He had me waiting there for like twenty seconds for a dramatic entrance."

"The people are my utmost concern. I've led an army battling for freedom for millions of years—"
"No, that's not what you led at all. You were a gang of destroyers, ravaging the galaxy in the name of a cause you'd forgotten—except when you needed an excuse."

—Megatron and Bumblebee

Notes

Continuity notes

• Nautica initially mistakes Ratchet for his fellow medical practitioner Pharma, who has put in previous appearances in issues #4-5 and #17-21. In fact, in real life Alex Milne based Pharma's head off of Ratchet's, giving an intentional similarity to signify their shared history.
• Overlord's rampage took place in issue #15; Rodimus's involvement in his presence was revealed in issue #21. We didn't see him reveal this secret to the rest of the crew on-panel, but the voting was hinted at back in Chapter 3 of the event, when a large "VOTE" appeared on the ship's noticeboard.
• Kup is seemingly cured of both the Zombie infection he experienced back in The Transformers: Infestation issue 2 and the madness-inducing Ore-8 Radiation addiction from all the way back in Spotlight: Kup. Neither affliction is mentioned within the issue however, nor is how he was seemingly cured ever explained, leaving at best the notion time alone was enough to restore him back to normal.
• Kup references Squadron X, the Decepticon commando group featured in Last Stand of the Wreckers, and the mysterious Nightmare Engine, also mentioned in that series and in issue #16.
• Thunderclash, the Vis Vitalis, and the quantum engine boosting procedure appeared in issue #22.
• Alpha Trion chronologically last appeared in the Ironhide mini-series, in which he was first seen working with Metroplex; Spotlight: Orion Pax expanded on the pair's relationship to show how long they had been working together.
• Flatline is not impressed with Fixit's med-trailer, which we saw in Robots in Disguise issue #18.
• Flatline also references the plights of Omega Supreme, who has been offline since Robots in Disguise #11, and the Aerialbots, who were gravely wounded in issue #15.
• Megatron notes that he has other soldiers out in space in addition to the Decepticon Justice Division; it's unlikely he's referring to them specifically, but we saw that there were indeed groups of other Decepticons who hadn't returned to Cybertron when we met the Scavengers in issue #7, and then later with the group occupying Temptoria in issue #12.

Transformers references

• Simon Furman created the idea of the Crisis Act in the Marvel Comics issue "The Pri¢e of Life!", in which Kup threatened to invoke it and relieve Optimus Prime of command. James Roberts made use of the concept once before, in his unofficial novel, Eugenesis, in which it was Prowl's leadership put to the vote.

Real-world references

• This issue takes its title from the William Blake poem, "The Tyger", which contains the line: "Tyger, Tyger, burning bright/In the forests of the night."
• In page 8, panel 4 when Chromia and Nautica are leading Ratchet and Ultra Magnus to Metroplex's brain, Chromia sarcastically refers to her commander, Windblade, as "She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", a reference to the character of Voldemort, the primary antagonist in the Harry Potter series, who is often referred to in-story as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
• On page 14 Brainstorm scans Metroplex's brain module with a P.K.E. Meter from the Ghostbusters franchise.
• In page 17, panel 3 the wounded include characters colored by Josh Perez after the Z-Bots characters Samur and Zentor.

Errors

• Rojo draws practically every character as being the same size. An intact Megatron should tower over Bumblebee, for one.
• Rodimus mentions he hasn't heard from Drift for "ages"; this is odd, considering it's only been half a week since he was exiled.
  • Of course, seeing as it is Rodimus saying this, he could just be exaggerating.
• The final page informs readers the story "Continues in Transformers: Robots in Disguise #27!", but Chapter 9 is actually The Transformers: Robots in Disguise #26.
• On the penultimate page, Starscream suddenly appears for a single panel behind Megatron. The next issue shows that he is still at the medcenter in Iacon.

Edits

Similar to the pack-in versions of various other existing IDW comics, the version of this issue available with the Generations Deluxe Class Windblade toy was also subject to some changes:

• Multiple edits right on page 1 (not counting the "previously" page): In panel 3, Megatron's first speech bubble completely omits the sentence "I'd say we're both full of something.", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly; in the same panel, Bumblebee's speech bubble has the sentence "If it's alive, we can kill it." changed to "If it's alive, we can destroy it.", without the speech bubble itself being resized; in panel 4, Megatron's second speech bubble is changed from "Shockwave's ores control life and death—and his monster has both running through its veins." to "Shockwave's ores control life—and his monster has more than that running through its veins.", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly; Megatron's subsequent speech bubble in the same panel is shortened from "We can't kill it because it isn't alive. It isn't anything." to simply "It isn't alive. It isn't anything.", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly; and lastly, in panel 5, Bumblebee's speech bubble is changed from "So you just want to let everybody die, let Cybertron fall?" to "So you just want to let everybody down, let Cybertron fall?", without the speech bubble itself being resized.
• Three edits on page 3: Rattrap's second speech bubble in panel 2 (with panel 1 being the two-page spread across pages 2 and 3) is changed from "Guys're dyin' out dere." to "It's lookin' bad out dere.", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly; Starscream's second speech bubble in panel 3 has "guessing what's going to kill me" changed to "guessing what's going to destroy me", without the speech bubble itself being resized; and his third speech bubble in the same panel has "you putting a bullet in my spark" changed to "you blasting my spark", also without the speech bubble itself being resized.
• On page 4, Starscream's first speech bubble in panel 2 has "big purple killing machine" changed to "big purple destruction machine", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly.
• On page 5, Prowl's first speech bubble in panel 3 has "Starscream—either lay down and die" changed to "Starscream—either give up", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly.
• On page 7, Ultra Magnus's speech bubble in panel 1 is changed from "Ammonites…" to "Minicons…", without the speech bubble itself being resized.
• Three edits on page 10, all of them without the speech bubbles themselves being resized: In panel 1, Cyclonus's first speech bubble is changed from "Shoot on—* kaff* —sight?" to "Blast on—* kaff* —sight?"; Optimus Prime's second speech bubble in the same panel is changed from "I can't imaginge anything trying to enter this room that doesn't want to kill us…" to "I can't imaginge anything trying to enter this room that doesn't want to destroy us…"; and Rodimus's third speech bubble in panel 3 completely omits the words "and people died".
• One small edit and one major edit on page 15: In panel 1, Brainstorm's first speech bubble has "In fact, here sucks." changed to "In fact, here stinks."; and in panel 3, Windblade's first speech bubble completely omits the sentence "At this rate, Metroplex is going to die out here, millions of miles from home.", with the speech bubble massively resized and both Ultra Magnus's first speech bubble and Windblade's second speech bubble moved further up. Because the sentence it would have followed up on is now missing, Ultra Magnus's speech bubble also begins with "Maybe. But" instead of "Maybe not." On the other hand, the name "Ammonites" in Brainstorm's second speech bubble in panel 1 isn't changed to "Minicons", as it was on page 7.
• On page 17, Fixit's first speech bubble in panel 4 has "this flatline idiot" shortened to simply "this flatline", with the word boldfaced for emphasis and the speech bubble itself not resized.
• On page 18, Slag/Slug's second speech bubble in panel 2 is changed from "Hey"! Hey, jerk!" to "Hey! Hey, you!"
• On page 20, Prowl's speech bubble in panel 3 has "convince me not to start shooting" changed to "convince me not to start blasting".

Trivia

• Artist breakdown: No surprises here—Rojo on Cybertron, Raiz on the Lost Light, Ramondelli on the Dead Universe.
• This issue marks the first appearance of Windblade, the first "Fan-Built Bot", who received her own toy in the Generations line as part of Hasbro's Thrilling 30 celebration, and unsurprisingly, this issue came packaged with her figure. However, this issue would begin a trend that carried through to the end of "Dark Cybertron", where the packaging art of other, unrelated characters was featured on one of the variant covers, rather than the relevant character the comic was packed with, as had been the case for the first half of the crossover—perhaps suggesting that the planned order for the toys had become uncertain, requiring "emergency" fill-ins. For this issue, Jiminez's packaging art of Legends Class Generations Tailgate is used for the subscription cover.
• In James Roberts' fan novel Eugenesis, Prowl also underwent the Crisis Act with a ratio of 108 to 86. Compare that with Rodimus's 101 to 89.

Covers (4)

• Cover A: Prowl and Soundwave stare up at the Necrotitan as Iacon burns, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente
• Sub cover: A rather beefy Tailgate, by Phil Jimenez and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
• Cover RI: Windblade, Nautica, and Chromia, by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
• Hasbro exclusive cover: Windblade, by Phil Jimenez and Romulo Fajardo Jr., exclusively available with Generations Deluxe Class Windblade.

• 
  Burnin' burnin, Iacon inferno!
• 
  Tailgate hit the gym!
• 
  Ladies Night.
• 
  Deluxe Class Windblade

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Reprints

• The Transformers: Dark Cybertron Volume 2 (June 11, 2014) ISBN 1613779984 / ISBN 978-1613779989
  • Collects Robots in Disguise issues #25–27, More than Meets the Eye issues #26–27, and Dark Cybertron Finale.
  • Bonus material includes covers of each issue.
  • Trade paperback format.

• The Transformers: Dark Cybertron (February 11, 2015) ISBN 163140072X / ISBN 978-1631400728
  • Collects Dark Cybertron #1, More than Meets the Eye issues #23–27, and Robots in Disguise issues #23–27, and Dark Cybertron Finale.
  • Bonus material unknown at this time.
  • Hardcover format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 6 (October 18, 2017) ISBN 1684050855 / ISBN 978-1684050857
  • Collects Dark Cybertron #1, More than Meets the Eye issues #23–27, and Robots in Disguise issues #23–27, Dark Cybertron Finale, and Windblade (2014) issues #1–4.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 60: Dark Cybertron, Part 2 (February 21, 2018)
  • Collects Robots in Disguise issues #25–27, More than Meets the Eye issues #26–27, and Dark Cybertron Finale.
  • Bonus material includes a "blow-by-blow account of Dark Cybertron's hidden secrets", a cover gallery and a forward by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: Best of Windblade (December 7, 2022)
  • Collects Windblade's first appearance from More than Meets the Eye #26: "Burning Bright: Dark Cybertron Chapter 8", Windblade (2014) #1: "A 'Bot and Her City", Till All Are One Annual 2017: "The Chosen One", and Transformers (2019) #9: "The Cracks Beneath Your Feet Part Three".
  • Bonus material includes an art gallery.
  • Comic format.

• 
  Dark Cybertron Volume 2 – Phil Jimenez and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
• 
  Dark Cybertron – cover art by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente
• 
  The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 6 – cover art by Marcelo Matere and Tom B. Long
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 60: Dark Cybertron, Part 2 – cover art by Mark Brooks (Brainstorm) and Andrew Griffith (retro)
• 
  Best of Windblade – cover art by James Biggie

External links

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