The World & Everything in It
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| "The World & Everything in It" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | February 22, 2012 (1st printing) March 21, 2012 (2nd printing) | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | February 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Story by | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Andrew Griffith | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Josh Perez | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Shawn Lee | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era (2012) | ||||||||||||
Starscream helps the Autobots to foil Ratbat's plans.
Synopsis
After witnessing Horri-Bull's death, Skywarp teleports back to the Decepticon HQ. Ratbat boasts to the Decepticons that it is thanks to him (with just a little help from Soundwave and Shockwave) that their inhibitor/deterrence chips actually no longer work, rendering them all free once again. He then warns the Decepticons about the consequences of disobeying his rule, at which point Starscream protests and leaves. Ratbat orders Long Haul to tail him. Starscream thinks to himself that he despises Ratbat more than anything, being the personification of the ancient Senate's privileged corruption that was everything the Decepticons initially stood against in the first place.
Bumblebee and Metalhawk discuss the planned memorial for the Lost Light and the Horri-Bull incident, with Metalhawk stating that he cannot endorse Bumblebee if he were to murder another Cybertronian, Decepticon or not. Sideswipe interrupts them, as he has just sighted Starscream. The latter is received at Autobot HQ by Bumblebee himself. Starscream seemingly wants to cut a deal with the Autobots, but a furious Bumblebee declares he is done trusting that faction and electro-shocks him with a specially modified weaponized cane. He and Prowl take Starscream away.
Starscream wakes up in a cell, and Prowl interrogates him. Surprising both of them, Starscream tells the truth: Ratbat wants to assassinate Bumblebee at the memorial, courtesy of an I/D-chip-free Skywarp, and then will blame the incident on a NAIL—after which time he'll launch a full-scale assault and make his coup.
Elsewhere, Skywarp and Needlenose beat up the NAIL who they blame for instigating Horri-Bull's death. Skywarp teleports away with him.
At the memorial, Long Haul confronts Starscream and demands to know his motives. He reveals that he knows of Starscream's stay at Autobot HQ but that he hasn't informed the others of this yet. Starscream appreciates this. As the memorial begins, Bumblebee makes a rallying speech, while Skywarp, hidden with Zetca in a nearby tower, aims for him with his rifle... only to be stopped by Prowl, who had logically identified that tower as the perfect spot for a sniper. After a quick fight, Skywarp is deactivated, and, on stage, Metalhawk pledges his devotion to the new Cybertron. Long Haul is disturbed by the fact that Bumblebee is not dead, but Starscream tells him to inform Ratbat that the assassination was successful.
Back at Decepticon HQ, Mixmaster tells Ratbat that Bumblebee died, and Ratbat tells the remaining Decepticons to prepare for his assault. Shockwave seems less than enthused, even by his own unemotional standards. Nonetheless, Ratbat retreats to prepare in his quarters, where he is attacked by Arcee, who easily kills him before joining Prowl at the tower. The two agree that Arcee tried to arrest Ratbat, but he was armed and aggressive, and Arcee was merely defending herself.
While Bumblebee continues his speech, Starscream interrupts him, declaring that, for the new era of unity to work, Starscream has to be part of the government.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | NAILs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
"Fantastic. I'll go back to Earth and strike up a conversation with a fortune cookie when I want nuggets like that."
- —Starscream whines. Again.
"They are not my people, Bumblebee. They are people. As are the Decepticons."
- —Metalhawk
"You... you tried to arrest him, right, Arcee?"
"Why would—"
"You tried to arrest him."
"Of course. He was armed and I had to kill him in self defence."
- —Prowl and Arcee get their stories straight
Notes
Continuity notes
- Ratbat recalls his involvement in Megatron Origin, and how his manipulations caused the Decepticon uprising in the first place.
- Prowl remembers the "last time" the Autobots trusted Starscream, referring to All Hail Megatron, in which the Seeker lured them into a trap.
- Skywarp speaks of the payback he owes Bumblebee, evidently still bitter about the defeat 'Bee handed him in Bumblebee #4.
Foreign localization
Japanese
- Title: "Sekai to Sono Subete" (世界とその全て, "The World and That Everything")
Covers (4)
- Cover A: Shockwave, Bombshell, Soundwave, and Ratbat; art by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez
- Cover B: Skywarp punching Prowl; art by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente
- Cover RI: Sketch version of Cover A by Andrew Griffith
- Second printing: Starscream stalks the streets by Griffith and Perez, cropped from page 4
-
"I get another closeup: extremely logical!"
-
Skywarp thinks he's Ironhide.
-
Ratbat sucked out the colors.
-
Is anyone else getting Pat Lee flashbacks?
Advertisements
Reprints
- Contains issues #1 to 5.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers and notes on issue #3 by the author/artists.
- The Transformers: Robots in Disguise Volume 1 (reissue) (May 21, 2014) ISBN 161377964X / ISBN 978-1613779644
- Contains issues #1 to #5.
- New cover by Livio Ramondelli.
- Bonus material: cover gallery and notes on issue 3 by Barber, Griffith, and Josh Perez
- The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 1 (September 3, 2014) ISBN 1631400401 / ISBN 978-1631400407
- Contains issues #1 to #6, as well as "The Death of Optimus Prime", and More than Meets the Eye #1 to #5.
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise Box Set (December 2, 2015) ISBN 1631404261 / ISBN 978-1631404269
- Contains The Transformers: Robots in Disguise Volumes 1 to 5.
- Bonus content 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.
-
Volume 1; cover art by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez
-
Volume 1 reissue; cover art by Livio Ramondelli
-
IDW Collection Phase 2 Vol. 1; cover art by Saren Stone
-
Robots in Disguise Box Set slipcase; cover art by ???
-
Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 54: A Better Tomorrow; cover art by Don Figueroa and Andrew Griffith











