Earthfall Part 1: Hello Cruel World

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|colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center" | "Earthfall Part 1:
Hello Cruel World" {{#if: |

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Following a clue left by Alpha Trion, Optimus Prime leads a team of Autobots back to Earth, where an alliance of enemies old and new awaits them.

Synopsis

Six months have passed since the defeat of Shockwave and his plan to fulfill the Dark Cybertron prophecy. But those events went unnoticed by Thundercracker, who is continuing to live his life on Earth in relative peace, his interest in human television having turned him into an aspiring writer. After a day flying around the globe while working on his screenplay—starring female human nurse "Susan Journeyer" and potential love interest "Josh Boyfriend"—he returns home to find that his dog, Buster has gotten out. Taking her back inside, he is greeted with an acerbic critique of his writing by his human liaison Marissa Faireborn, who has come to request his help...

Half a million years ago, on Cybertron, the Decepticons lay siege to the Autobot stronghold Metroplex, with the Autobots incapable of doing little but fighting a holding action. When Bumblebee returns from a scouting mission with news that Megatron shows no signs of letting up, Optimus Prime decides to take the field of battle himself, much to Prowl's consternation. Alpha Trion speaks up in Prowl's favor, proposing an alternate tactic: fearful of the resurgence of dark secrets from Cybertron's past that Megatron and Shockwave's desire for a Metrotitan portends, Trion takes Metroplex and departs the planet, intending to stop whatever great game Shockwave has in motion out among the stars.

In the present day, the Ark-7 arrives in Earth orbit, only to be attacked by a barrage of missiles of highly advanced design that start burrowing their way through the ship's hull. Presuming the weapons to be of Cybertronian design but unsure of where humans could have obtained them, Prime orders the ship to pull back behind the moon. A frustrated Prowl protests, assuming they are giving up, but Prime reveals that he has another plan in mind: he is going to take a small team down to the surface aboard Sky Lynx. As the team heads down, their rear is covered by a rather grumpy Cosmos, who is unhappy to discover that the promise of building a new future that convinced him to leave the Lost Light has led only to yet more fighting.

One month ago, back on Cybertron, shortly after the conclusion of Megatron's trial, Cosmos tries to have a conversation with Prowl, but the police-bot is more interested in having somebody to complain to about the trial's verdict and Megatron becoming an Autobot. Starscream struts up to join the chat, further infuriating Prowl by comparing himself to him: perpetually destined to play second fiddle to his faction's leader... except Starscream has broken that cycle and taken leadership for himself. Optimus overhears and cautions Starscream to watch himself, his words backed up by Ironhide and Windblade, who promise to keep an eye on their new city leader while Optimus is away. Because Optimus is now preparing to follow a message from Alpha Trion, passed on to him by Windblade... a message calling him to Earth.

Reaching Earth's surface, Sky Lynx hides beneath the ocean for a time to be sure of shaking off their mystery attackers. After sending an update to the Ark-7, Sky Lynx surfaces, and Prime takes Kup and Jazz to track down a life-sign they detected upon approach to the planet, while Prowl works to discover who launched the missiles. Cosmos tracks Prime's team's progress from orbit, letting them know their proximity to the signal, but as they arrive at the site, he suddenly goes mysteriously silent. Realizing that the signal belongs to Thundercracker, Prime opens the door to his home to find the Seeker in a malaise, cryptically commenting that he is happy not to see Bumblebee among the Autobots, since he "liked him". Puzzled and annoyed, Prime inquires as to the whereabouts of Alpha Trion, but Thundercracker merely laughs, not having a clue. The Autobot leader explains about the end of the war, but it takes the reveal of Megatron's change of heart to make Thundercracker believe him. At that moment, the walls of the building are torn open, and a platoon of Decepticons led by Galvatron storms in, engaging the Autobots in battle! Thundercracker, it is revealed, was merely the reluctant bait to bring Prime in... but when the Autobots take the fight outside, they discover that Thundercracker is not Galvatron's only ally, as they are met by the armed forces of Marissa Faireborn and the Earth Defense Command, the human half of the "Earth/Decepticon Alliance", who place them under arrest!

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
{{#if: ||(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)}}

{{#if:{|border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"

Metroplex (4)
Sky Lynx (7)
Bluestreak (8)
Wheeljack (9)
Ironhide (10)
Prowl (11)
Optimus Prime (12)
Alpha Trion (13)
Kup (14)

Bumblebee (15)
Megatron (17)
Sideswipe (19)
Jetfire (20)
Arcee (21)
Jazz (22)
Cosmos (23)
Windblade (25)

|

!! style="background:#ffdddd;" | Autobots }}{{#if:*Thundercracker (1)

Laserbeak (5)
Buzzsaw (6)
Soundwave (16)
Ravage (18)
Galvatron (28)
Blitzwing (29)
Brawl (30)|

!! style="background:#ededff" | Decepticons }}{{#if:*Starscream (24)

Longtooth (26)
Circuit (27)|

!! style="background:#fbefde;" | NAILs }}{{#if:*Marissa Faireborn (3)| !! style="background:#ffeeb8;" | Humans }}{{#if:*Buster (2)| !! style="background:#d5e6d5;" | Others }}{{#if:| !! style="background:#fedeb5;" | Misc }} |- {{#if:{|border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent" |- |style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"|

Metroplex (4)
Sky Lynx (7)
Bluestreak (8)
Wheeljack (9)
Ironhide (10)
Prowl (11)
Optimus Prime (12)
Alpha Trion (13)
Kup (14)

|style="background:transparent; border-right: 0px" valign="top"|

Bumblebee (15)
Megatron (17)
Sideswipe (19)
Jetfire (20)
Arcee (21)
Jazz (22)
Cosmos (23)
Windblade (25)

|}|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |

Metroplex (4)
Sky Lynx (7)
Bluestreak (8)
Wheeljack (9)
Ironhide (10)
Prowl (11)
Optimus Prime (12)
Alpha Trion (13)
Kup (14)

Bumblebee (15)
Megatron (17)
Sideswipe (19)
Jetfire (20)
Arcee (21)
Jazz (22)
Cosmos (23)
Windblade (25)

}}{{#if:*Thundercracker (1)

Laserbeak (5)
Buzzsaw (6)
Soundwave (16)
Ravage (18)
Galvatron (28)
Blitzwing (29)
Brawl (30)|

| style="background:#ededff;" valign="top" |

Thundercracker (1)
Laserbeak (5)
Buzzsaw (6)
Soundwave (16)
Ravage (18)
Galvatron (28)
Blitzwing (29)
Brawl (30) }}{{#if:*Starscream (24)
Longtooth (26)
Circuit (27)|

| style="background:#fbefde;" valign="top" |

Starscream (24)
Longtooth (26)
Circuit (27) }}{{#if:*Marissa Faireborn (3)|

| style="background:#ffeeb8;" valign="top" |

Marissa Faireborn (3) }}{{#if:*Buster (2)|

| style="background:#d5e6d5;" valign="top" |

Buster (2) }}{{#if:|

| style="background:#fedeb5;" valign="top" |

}}

|}

Quotes

"Susan approaches the HOSPITAL and JOSH BOYFRIEND, a male Earth human who is handsome like an F-22 jet fighter, greets her."

—One of many tone-deaf lines from Thundercracker's screenplay.

"Megatron has reasons for his actions? Fine—but he hasn't got justification."

—Prowl on Megatron

"If it'll help, I can go out there and blast the missiles myself. I have a jetpack and everything."

—Sideswipe

"2000 years of studying at the Institute so I can pilot a spaceship on account of I turn into an airplane..."

—Jetfire, muttering to himself

Prowl: "We've no shortage of enemies on this planet."
Jazz: "Maybe so, man—but only a few cats can keep a missile launch of that magnitude off the airwaves, dig?"
Kup: "You got a way o' speakin', Jazz—makes a fella miss havin' a universe to himself."

"Thundercracker. We come in peace."
"Sure, that's what you all say—then somebody pulls a piece."
"Wordplay from a Decepticon Seeker?"
"I'm not a Seeker. I'm a writer. I write screenplays. Really good ones. I almost have an agent."

—Optimus Prime and Thundercracker

Notes

Continuity notes

Thundercracker has been living on Earth since the end of the 2009-2011 ongoing series; chronologically, he was last seen in Spotlight: Bumblebee, in which he was packing up his old home (that's why he's got a new one in this story). He refers to his turning against the Decepticons during Megatron's attack on Earth, which took place in All Hail Megatron #12.
Marissa compares Thundercracker's screenplay to the TV show Nurse Whitney, which Thundercracker was shown developing a fondness for in issue #4 of the ongoing. 'Cracker's script includes the line "That would be just beautiful"; Nurse Whitney's catchphrase was "That's just beautiful."
The reason and circumstances for Metroplex's departure from Cybertron have been a mystery up until now, hinted at only as a "secret mission" of some kind in the 2012 Robots in Disguise annual. It is here explained that he and Alpha Trion have been working against Shockwave's plans for the last half-million years—these activities are evidently tied in with the still-untold story of how Metroplex acquired the Ore-7 that played a key role in "Dark Cybertron". The 500,000-years-ago timeframe of the flashback places it right around the time Shockwave himself left Cybertron to examine the fruits of his Regenesis program.
After abandoning his faction to stay within Iacon in issue #18, Jazz is back on the Autobot side again.
Prowl recalls Jazz's destruction of Skywatch's stockpile of Cybertronian technology in #29 of the ongoing.
Jetfire mentions studying at the Institute. Although there are several "Institutes" in IDW continuity, the context makes it sound more like the academic Institute for Higher Programming, and not the secret brainwashing Institute.
Cosmos joins the cast of Robots in Disguise after spending the last two years over in More than Meets the Eye on the Lost Light. He didn't do much of anything over in that book, but did put in a couple of crowd-scene appearances that proved memorable because of how surprisingly gigantic he was. He's still bigger than you might imagine Cosmos being in his appearance this issue, but he's not nearly as huge as More than Meets the Eye depicted him.
Kup reminds everyone of his last experience on Earth—being blasted through a portal to the Dead Universe—from Infestation #2.
Prime references Jazz's killing of human John Powell from ongoing #17.
Thundercracker remembers the last time he saw Alpha Trion as being the time he tried to kill him and Prime, as seen in Spotlight: Orion Pax.

Transformers references

"Buster" is a name with history in the Transformers franchise, but has been used for a dog once before.
John Barber seems to be taking a pop at his own writing style with Marissa's critique, as she notes it's "pretty hacky to use a voice-over". First-person voice-over narration has been a consistent element in Barber's Transformers work.
Blitzwing appears with the design of his 2013 Generations toy.
Arcee's design is updated from her Dark Cybertron redesign, which was based on her upcoming Transformers: Generations toy. Her body is now pink, contrasting with Hasbro's prior instructions to make Arcee red. <ref>https://twitter.com/dyemooch/status/468837384034189312</ref>

Real-life references

This issue's title is, of course, an inversion of the cartoon-cliche pre-suicide phrase "Goodbye cruel world", which has also been used as the title of various songs and albums, though its origins are unknown. The inverted phrase is also the title of a song that, coincidentally enough, James Roberts selected as the theme for Tailgate in More Than Meets The Eye.

Trivia

This issue's story is followed by a letter from John Barber welcoming readers to the book.
Similar to the pre-launch promotion for More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise two years prior, this series was trailed by a "scavenger hunt" for a series of six promo posters that were released to various sites around the internet: Optimus Prime on IDW's Facebook page, Arcee on The Underbase podcast's Twitter (typo'd as "Acree"; a corrected version was released through John Barber's Twitter), Cosmos on The TransMissions podcast's Twitter, Galvatron on Seibertron.com, Jazz on TFW2005.com and Prowl on TFormers.com.

"Determined"
"Undecided"
"Disgruntled"

"Uncivilized"
"Beleaguered"
"Discontented"

Covers (3)

Standard cover: Optimus Prime superimposed over the Earth, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente
Subscription cover: Optimus, Sideswipe, Jazz and Arcee by Andrew Griffith and Lafuente, in homage to issue #1's cover E.
Incentive cover: Optimus Prime by Livio Ramondelli, part of a three-piece image alongside More than Meets the Eye #28 and Windblade #1.

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