Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On

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Revision as of 21:33, 16 February 2012 by 141.218.8.33 (talk) (→Notes: Nick Roche isn't writing this, ya know.)
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« The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #2
"Liars, A to D Part 2: Hangers On"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published February 15, 2012
Cover date February 2012
Story by James Roberts
Art by Alex Milne
Colors by Josh Burcham
Letters by Shawn Lee
Editor John Barber
Continuity IDW continuity
Chronology Current era (2012)

The recovering crew of the Lost Light are joined by Skids, a bot on the run... but on the run from what?

Synopsis

On the barren planet where the Lost Light has put down, Rodimus, Ultra Magnus and others go about gathering up the Autobots who have been scattered across the world's surface. Brainstorm radios in that he has discovered the source of their explosive mishap: the Duobot Ore was standing too close to the quantum generator when it activated, and wound up being "totally mashed" into it. Perturbed by Brainstorm's general tone of levity, Rodimus orders him to start helping with the search, then takes a call from Chromedome, who is with Rewind and Hoist, hauling Cyclonus out of a lake.

Meanwhile, in the skies above the planet, a small ship materializes. It's sole occupant is Skids, who awakens with an inhibitor claw on his back and the knowledge that he is running from something... but cannot remember what, finding that all of his recent memories are missing. Spotting a mode lock on the shuttle's console and realizing that it is trying to transform into something, he sets the ship on collision course with the planet and bails out. He watches the ship crash, but from the flames, its remnants transform into a pair of gigantic sword-wielding robots that speak only one phrase: "nineteen eighty-four". Apparently lacking in any weapons, Skids improvises with the nearby corpses of Polaris and Hyperion: he magnetizes the former to one of the giant robots, then uses the latter's gun to blow Polaris up, taking the monstrous mechanoid with it.

Aboard the Lost Light, Ratchet tends to the wounds Rung received before take-off, startling the timid psychiatrist by smashing his own hand with a hammer to loosen his joints. They discusss Tailgate, who is being carbon-dated by Swerve, and Ratchet grumbles about Drift's newfound sense of unbearable positivity before half-heartedly turning his attention to the unconscious Whirl. Suddenly, Whirl awakens, seizes Rung, and begins throttling him, heedless of Ratchet and Swerve's attempts to calm him. The maddened Autobot only stops when Rung chokes out the warning that if he kills him, he'll go back to prison. Whirl snaps out of it and stalks off, the ruckus having awakened Tailgate, who is relieved to find out he did not kill the unhinged Autobot. Realizing that Tailgate is a 'bot out of time, Swerve begs Ratchet to allow him to be the one to tell him, and the "gentle" manner in which Swerve relates the information elicits a horrified bellow from Tailgate that is heard outside the Lost Light.

Elsewhere on the ship, Rodimus meets with Cyclonus, who explains that he attached himself to the hull of the Lost Light to join in its mission. Though unapologetic for his past actions, he pleads his case for being allowed to stay and manages to sway Rodimus to his side, though Ultra Magnus is less than convinced. Having found Whirl skulking around, Magnus brings him into the room, and orders him to settle his argument with Cyclonus. Whirl does so without admitting any guilt, and is surprised when Cyclonus hugs him... only for him to whisper during the embrace that Whirl should watch his back, because he's going to kill him.

Swerve and Tailgate go for a walk outside, with Tailgate rebuffing Swerve's request to see his alternate mode on the basis that Ratchet told him to take it easy. They meet up with Chromedome and Rewind for some proper introductions, when Skids suddenly falls out of the sky with the last of the giant 'bots on his tail. Recognizing the Autobot—and noting that he has long been thought dead—Chromedome removes Skids's inhibitor claw for him, allowing him to deploy his weapons and finish his pursuer off with impressive ease. As things calm down, though, Chromedome points out that Skids has been holding a handgun all along, which he somehow never noticed...

Skids returns to the Lost Light with the other Autobots, quickly discovering he's earned himself a fan in Swerve, who artfully balances proposing that he and Skids team up and badgering Tailgate into transforming. Rodimus addressed the assembled Autobots on recent issues, but Whirl pipes up with a "pressing issues"—unimpressed with just about everyone else on the ship, he thinks the group should at least have a cool name. Swerve proposes "The Crusadercons", but Rodimus and Skids take issue with the -con suffix. Before any further discussion can be gone into, Rodimus gets a call from Red Alert, who has been investigating reports of noises on the lower decks with Shock... who is now lying dead by Red's side, his spark ripped out. Panicked, Red Alert relates his fear to Rodimus... that there's a Sparkeater on board!

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Others

Quotes

"Why are you—aak!—doing this?"
"It's your eyebrows! He's jealous of your capacity for self-expression!"

—When Rung is throttled by Whirl, Swerve proves to be little help.


Rewind: "Wow. It's time like this I'm glad I have a camera bolted to my head..."
Swerve: "Nice moves! Who are you? An ex-Wrecker? One of the Warriors Elite? An old pit fighter?"
Skids: "I'm a theoretician."

—That last line kinda feels like it's missing a "...motherf@#!er!" at the end.


Rodimus: "Look at them all. What do I tell them?"
Ultra Magnus: "The truth. We've lost contact with Cybertron, we can't find ourselves on the map, Ore is dead, Hyperion and Polaris are dead, but Cyclonus is happy, so that's okay".
Drift: "I think you should accentuate the positive. We've got the quantum generators working again—big tick. We're ready to resume our quest—big tick. And we've managed to save virtually all of the Autobots who got pulled outside—that's more of a little tick, but it's still a tick!"
Rodimus: "Hmm. I think I'll go for a mixture of depressingly gloomy and offensively upbeat. Thanks, guys."


"So, you gonna show me your alt mode or what?"
"Ooh, alright then. But I'm taking it slow, okay?"
"Tell you what: I'll speak to Skids and pop back in about six million years' time, okay?"

—Swerve only teases Tailgate because he loves him.


"'The Crusadercons.' The more you say it, the cooler it sounds."
"Someone hears that, they're gonna think we're Decepticons."
"What, so it has to end in 'bot'?"
"Well... yeah. Omnibots, Monsterbots, Duobots... it's kind of an unwritten rule, isn't it."
"Forget the rules! The war's over—it's time to reclaim the suffix!"

—Swerve is just a really quotable 'bot, okay? Skids doesn't share our enthusiasm for him.

Notes

  • If you don't get the double-meaning that British writer James Roberts has hidden in the Duobots' names, try saying "Shock and Ore" out loud with a British accent.
  • The last page includes a summary of the crew members already introduced, with short introductions beneath. These include factoids such as Swerve's weapon of choice is his mouth, and Ultra Magnus once smiled, and has regretted it ever since.
  • The big-bots-with-swords keep saying "nineteen eighty-four". James Roberts knows how to tease the fandom.

Errors

  • TBD

Covers (3)

  • Cover A: Rodimus amongst injured Autobots; art by Alex Milne, colors by Josh Perez.
  • Cover B: Skids gets blown out of the ship; art by Nick Roche, colors by Josh Burcham.
  • Cover RI: Sketch (uncolored) version of cover A by Alex Milne.
  • "Quit lying down on the job, ya bums!"
    "Quit lying down on the job, ya bums!"
  • Skids gets a helluva intro.
    Skids gets a helluva intro.
  • Cover RI
    Cover RI

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