Transformers: Till All Are One Volume 3 Review

It's a very appropriate time to be like, you

can't tell me what to do in my own head, Mike.

Well, we're talking about being in other people's

heads. This issue, this episode. Hi, this is

Margaret Scott, the first female writer on Transformers

comics, and you are listening to All Things Transformers.

Oh my gosh, this is so great! You've just jumped

inside the pull bag. Join TFG1 Mike and the rest

of the comic reading crew here at the GCRN as

they make their great escape into comics. From

DC, Marvel, IDW, Boom Studios, Xenoscope and

more, we have everything you want to read right

here. Transformers comics? Yeah, we cover that.

He -Man? Yeah, sure. DC superheroes like Batman,

Batgirl, Nightwing, and Batman Beyond? Yup, we

have those too. How about TMNT from IDW and I

Hate Ferland from Image Comics? Yeah, we have

all that here. Plus, so much more. It's all inside

the pullback here on the Geekcast Radio Network.

So without any further ado, it's time to talk

about the comics we are reading right now here

inside the pullback. Autobotly August 2018 concludes

as we talk about Transformers till all are one

volume three. That's right, the Fembots are back

for another week of Transformers comic goodness

here inside the pull bag on all things Transformers.

This is episode 323 .5 of The Pull Bag. I am

of course TFG and Mike. Joining me are three

Fembots that would give even Austin Powers a

run for his money. First up we have that Cyclonus

Levin knockout droolin... Cartoon real loving

Nicole Beals diva hand hailstorm. Hello. Oh,

baby Then we have the Megatron obsessed wrong

prime worship and Heather aka Hi Prime honest

rules that robbed him a strolls. What's up children?

Then there's that whirling wrecker girl who put

your eye out. She wrecks. She rules. It's Amy

aka lady wreck You'll put your eye out. I did

that the last time didn't I? I'm sorry. I just

you just say that and I just remember that little

you'll put your eye out. Yeah Yes, no one here

is dressed in a bunny suit. Thank God Today we

explore the final chapter of Till All Are One

by Marigret Scott. Till all are done. Yeah, till

all are gone. I know this conflict mattered at

the time when, you know, this series was running,

but at this point, currently, it's like this

was all for naught. Man, I hope not. I know.

I'm just sitting over here going let's pretend

that it's still alive and we're still gonna be

getting more story and la la la la la don't listen

la la la la Pretty much All right, so we start

out with issue nine of the series take it away

Amy Okay, do you want me to give all the like

everybody that's in it and everything? I just

did that a minute ago. But written by Marigold

Scott, Art and all that? Marigold Scott, Sarah,

Doris J, Joanne LaFuente on colors, Tom B. Long

on letters, with Carlos Guzman doing the series

edits. Yes. Okay, so this issue is titled Heavy.

We pick up after the last events in the or the

events in the last issue. The supposed badge

lists is a key that it was accused of killing

the decepticon in the last arc is having his

day in court. Starscream is bored about it and

bubble be knows it. Everyone is rebuilding after

last issues apocalyptic event. Metroplex is being

repaired and things are getting somewhat back

to normal, but all is not really back to normal.

While Starscream is mauling to himself over the

affairs of what is going on in the trial and

the political temperature of Cybertron, Rattrap

lets him know that he has something that he may

want to see. He's happy for the interruption

and calls for an hour recess, at which time he'll

give his ruling. That's the first one. Okay,

so Rattrap shows him that Alita One is taking,

or, bleh, taking, I have not. obviously edited

my own notes here. It's talking to the press

and he's not happy about it at all. He's basically

being called, she's basically being called the

hero of Cybertron. Says she has no idea what

Starscream attacked her and that she was present

when Windblade and Carcer made their sacrifice.

Starscream is so wonderfully happy about that

he crushes the datapad. It's more than just that.

He's just like, he's about ready to flip the

table. He basically, then he tells Rattrap he

wants to see Alita immediately. However, the

Mistress of Flame meets him in the hall outside

his office because she has something to talk

about with him. But he ropes her into the meeting

he's setting up with Alita in front of a select

group of delegates to confront her about hiding

Liege, Liege Maximo on her ship. at which point

she confirms he was on their ship, and that had

they not meddled, he wouldn't have been released,

nor would they be in this predicament, and it's

all Starscream's fault. Yeah, right. Starscream

gets to the point of the meeting. He wants her

to explain to them why they, why. They shouldn't

release this information and then let everyone

on Cybertron know that you guys aren't heroes

at all. Are you? So Alita one explains when liege

maximo and carcer were Tried for their crimes

ages ago her people took it upon themselves to

not only take him away from Cybertron But to

make sure his silver tongue never repeated his

past offenses again, they locked Carcer in his

ship mode and imprisoned Liege Maximo and vowed

to forever keep him that way, away from Cybertron.

And that's what they've done all this time, that

they've been away. Until Windblade released him.

She may have saved Cybertron, but for how long?

Silverbolt asks why she didn't trust them. with

the information to begin with, and she explains

that she didn't trust the information with anyone

because she couldn't risk someone power hungry,

finding out who may have tried to release him,

thinking that they could gain more power from

Oxmole. Cough, Starscream, cough. I mean, she

doesn't say Starscream, but you know that she's

like, oh, I don't know a certain someone, blah,

blah, blah. And I was just like, you just forgot

to say Starscream. She proposes now that her

people are completely dependent. Oh, maybe hold

on just a second. Okay, so she proposes that

now that her people are completely dependent

on Cybertron, it'll take weeks to repair, months

until they can make their ship into orbit, that

they rebuild. become as united and strong as

possible so that when Maximo returns, they will

be able to resist his vengeance and he will return

no matter what the inhabitants of Cybertron believe.

He will want to exact his vengeance on all of

Cybertron when he gets back. If they aren't ready

for him, he will rip the planet apart one way

or another. So they all have to decide, will

they tell all of Cybertron of what the Carcerians

have brought? If they do, Alita will be forced

to reveal that Starscream endorsed the attack

to release him, which may unbalance the Alliance,

sending all the factions back to where they came

from. And this distance may grant them protection

from his wrath, but then it might not. She will

guarantee that her people will say nothing, although

they vowed to never tell lies. They won't be

correcting others' lies. She leaves Starscream

and the Council members to decide what they will

do. So, haha, there you go. She just laid her

nice little, you know, hand of cards right there,

so. I leveled it up. She's got a set of real

big brass ones, doesn't she? Yeah. So, at that

point, the council are completely divided, leaving

Starscream the deciding vote. The council will...

back whatever decision he makes. And he's actually

amazed at this. I was amazed at that too. But

dismisses them because he's got to think on this

decision first. The delegates leave except for

Mr. Saflame. So that's the second decision he's

got to go for. He's got two decisions so far

and I just got one more. And Mr. Saflame that

has a request that Chromia be released to command.

authorities because regardless of his decision,

they all owe their lives to a command and she

wants to, you know, gather that right now. Starscream

isn't happy about this because she admitted to

her crimes on live coverage and it's kind of

hard to, you know, undo that and people will

be upset about that. So the mistress the mistress

leverages her request over having menace or and

swindle released to Caminus on the same grounds

that they damaged and attack attacked. Caminus

and Cybertron has continued to hold them. Bruticus,

not Menasaur. Menasaur? No, it was totally, it

was Menasaur who went to Caminus because Swindle

gathered all the senticons together and he rode

in on Menasaur's shoulder. We had that whole

argument last time about Swindle and Bruticus

and this, that, and the other thing. Combiner,

non -combiner, whatever. I put that right out

of the comic, so it was either the comic is wrong

or I didn't do my research right. But no, she

wants those guys. So it's either Chromia or the

other two, and that really makes one more. That's

the third decision that Starscream has to...

contemplate on. Poor Starscream. Geez, let's

just pile on his play here. Woo woo. So as soon

as he leaves, he again is ready to flip a table.

Bumblebee and he have a heart to heart and Bumblebee

advises him to do the right thing. Release the

badges, badge, badgeless, badgeless. that he

knows was set up because it's obvious. Make the

trade with Kamenis, and finally, tell Cybertron

the truth about Carsear and Alita. And he turns

right around and does none of these things. Guilty.

I love to look at Bumblebee. He's so adorable.

He's so crushed. It was so perfect. Oh my gosh.

Sarah is amazing with her artwork. Oh my gosh.

Yes, she is. I think we need to remind the audience

that Bumblebee is still dead. Yes. Okay, so this

will go with that. The Bumblebee stuff throughout

this entire story is all Starscream's mind games

that he's playing with himself. Pretty much,

yeah. No one else wants to play with Starscream,

so they gotta play with himself. Oh gosh. So,

lastly... Starscream gives Chromia a compromise.

He asks her to find a Liege Maximo and bring

his head back out of Pike in exchange for pardoning

her so he can keep his combiners and eat his

cake too. That's another t -shirt worthy quote.

Keep your combiners and eat your cake too. That's

awesome. Yeah, okay, so discussion discussion

on number nine woo -woo this this was It shouldn't

surprise me at this point But it surprised me

how much marigold crammed into this without it

feeling like it's rushed or it's too long like

This whole month that we've been doing this as

I've said I've also been reading Optimus Prime

and lost light well lost lights a gem Optimus

Prime is the one out of these three series that

is just, I trudge through that series. It takes

me forever to read the Optimus Prime trades.

It really does. This is refreshing, it's interesting,

it's fun. The writing is so well done and it's

Marigold. We should know by now what she's, you

know. Yeah, the conflict is really great. I mean,

that's one of the reasons why I had a hard time

summarizing this in just like a few, I couldn't

really summarize it in a few sentences because

there's so much going on and all the conflict

that's in there is like super packed. I mean,

it goes by so fast and yet there's a lot going

on here and it's just like, I couldn't think

of anything that was missing. If anything, I

was like three different conflicts all within

you know, seconds of each other and they're going,

geez, Starscream. Oh, goodness. But and there's

so much character development here, too. I mean,

the fact that the Mistress of Flame woman, you

get all political now, aren't you? She's learned

how to be manipulative. And this is really this

issue. Totally. She's throwing down her hand

on that one. I was like, oh, goodness. So much

for being a spiritual leader now, eh? She's got

some interesting backstory, but it's in different

books. So yeah, yeah No, I thought that this

first part of this was was amazing I thought

issue 9 of the series was very well done The

story is just flowing right along and the whole

Starscream bumblebees ghost thing Don't think

I made this reference last time or the time before

that essentially Starscream is Demi Moore and

bumblebee is Patrick Swayze You'll never look

at that movie the same way again, will you? And

technically a Rattrap is Whoopi Goldberg. Wow.

Okay. They have the same non -existent eyebrows.

What did you think of the middle of the art style

change when they were talking about the Liege

Maximo's history lesson? It was so cool. I like

that. I think that was really cool. It really

worked for me too. I was like, whoa, that's awesome.

I love that. It was beautiful. It was great.

I'm almost certain that part is just all Sarah

because I know that she does a very painterly

style when she's doing her own art and colors.

And this looks like something she would have

just done the whole thing of. Oh, yeah. So you

think it's not Joanna on colors? Because I was

going to say. It is Sarah throughout the inflate.

There are no other actual artists in here besides

Sarah and Joanna But what you're saying is is

that you think that flashback scene is all Sarah

and none of Joanna's colors Yeah, I think just

those two, you know Three -quarter page sections

where it goes back into the past. I think that's

just Sarah on her own Individual issue. Hold

on a second. I'm trying to get to it. Yes additional

colors on pages 9 10 by Sarah mm -hmm. Oh wait

way to go researching good job. No, I just have

the individual issue So it's not just the whole

thing. Let me look and see if that's number ten

and nine and ten see Yeah, yeah, yeah nine and

ten that be she did that was all her Sarah all

Sarah I feel like Sarah's art has like come up

even yet another notch in this trade where there's

just she it feels like she has become much more

free in her characterization through expression.

Like the way she draws the poor little badge

list dude on trial. No, just like he is a living

little tiny chibi plush man where you just want

to take him home and love him and pat him and

name him George and cuddle him. Why you could

definitely tell this guy has no idea what he

was doing. Yeah, like and just a lot of things

there where She does it too with bumblebee where

she just really accentuates certain facial features

to show you through the way he looks the type

of personality that needs to be conveyed for

him to have. And there's even just some subtle

things like when Alita is talking to the populace

on the news, where she does this really nice,

welcoming, kind smile. And yet you know that

she's really a hard aft. Oh, I'd say more than

that. She's quite literally. I think I think

Starscream is already at some point. from here

on in before the end of this is all the issues

that we're reviewing. She even basically told

them that she's going to be the next tyrant.

She rules with an iron fist. I still have such

a hard time accepting this version of Alita just

because I am so used to old Hollywood Alita that

it's freaking me out. But anyway, oh, oh, just

so you guys can enjoy it, there's a tiny little

art thing that I love. And it is at the beginning,

where Starscream is presiding over the court.

If you notice, the stained glass window is behind

him. Uh -huh. I'm gonna see this now. I'm just

gonna let you find them, they're amazing. Okay,

at the very beginning? Yeah, very beginning.

He's sitting on a tall chair with like a sunburst

behind him, and on either side of these stained

glass windows. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. They're two

jets just like flying literally into the sun.

I'm like, oh my gosh. Good sir. Well, he did

call it his court. When it comes to all of Sarah's

art in the flashback, I feel like it's a different

version of Livio's art. I feel like it's a like

that's the stuff that he would normally do The

way her style is in this the way the colors are

the way the bots are drawn the background I feel

like It's like not saying that he was looking

over her shoulder, but I feel like that's who

she was trying to emulate with the Flashback

because I'm looking at this in the full page

now, and I'm like oh hmm It's got a very painterly

style. Yeah. In fact, you can actually see textures

in here. Yeah, you can see brush strokes. Livio

does something a little bit different with his

brush strokes and textures and things like that.

This looks like it should literally be an oil

painting on a canvas. Which is super cool. That's

an interesting comparison, Mike, and I see where

you're going with it because it's a slightly

less delineated, more kind of blocky, sketchy

look for everybody, and the colors are more muted

and more kind of gray. They're muted in places,

but they're also bright in places as well. Yeah,

the contrast, the light versus dark. She uses

the color to play, to draw your eye. Yeah. Absolutely.

That's cool. I hadn't thought to compare it with

Livio, but yeah. Well, it's, it's what we've

become accustomed to in these books where anything

from the deep past tends to be done by Livio

until Keizama showed up. Now she does, you know,

things too, but yeah. Yeah. Um, the, uh, Sarah's

cover for issue 10, I should have figured it

out. I should have figured it out as soon as

I saw it, but I did not expect Arachnid to show

up in this series. Look at the cover with Onslaught

and Blast Off, and look what's behind them throughout

the whole thing. Are you talking about the next

issue? Yes. You ready to summarize it, Amy? Let

me just make sure that I have one more thing

that I wanted to bring up about No. 9. Okay Okay,

there are two things and it's all about Starscream

I love the fact that in this issue, I mean and

we've it's been building up to this I mean This

is just we're gonna get like payoff after payoff

all the way to the very end where where things

happen with Starscream So I like that in this

one issue We have so many reactions and moments

bringing him to this point where he can like

where everybody's like he's perfect set up to

be the better bot Or to be the person That everybody

wants him to be and he literally doesn't about

face and does everything opposite even if it's

gonna backfire later But it's like it's true

to form work for him It's like everybody's setting

him up to be this thing and he's like literally

bucking against it completely Yeah, but yeah,

he turns around and gives chromia a choice and

she chooses completely differently than what

he would For different reasons, but he's like

has this really nice moment where he's like,

oh, I want you to be the better person So, oh,

yeah, that was a good line. I love that line.

It was like whoa Yeah, he's starting to become

self -aware and question His knee -jerk reactions.

Maybe it was a really surreal parallel Yeah at

the very end and strangely enough that felt like

a payoff to me. Yeah Like we're going to learn

something in the next four issues here based

off this little setup that we have right here,

this little tidbit of this nugget of fun. And

you're going to get this real parallel between

the two of them. And I kind of thought, whoa,

yeah, and Starscream. Whoa. Comparison time.

But yeah, and that's the only thing is that I

want to. that was it yeah everything else we've

covered um before amy does summarize uh issue

10 i want to bring up a interesting point that

i noticed in the art i know bumblebee's dead

i know he's a ghost he has not about similar

stars starscream does not have a decepticon symbol

anymore On Bumblebee's chest, he has an Autobot

symbol. On Starscream's chest, on his nose cone,

he no longer has a Decepticon symbol. Oh, Mike,

I remember when he ripped it off. He ripped it

off clear back at the beginning of our ID. That's

true. Yeah, that's right. That's been one of

his power grab moves was like, I am a man of

the people now. Yeah. Oh, that's okay. That's

right. So he hasn't had a Decepticon symbol for

a long time at this point. Which is maybe why

the Decepticons feel extra betrayed by him. Probably.

Yes. Because they're the ones stuck in the ghettos

at this point. Yeah. He has not taken care of

his own dudes. Especially since we're gonna find

out some of the... In this next issue we find

out some of the things that certain... bots used

to do. Oh my gosh. This next issues. Oh yeah.

Okay. Bring it, bring it, bring it. Let's do

it. Okay. All right. So this issue is titled

the price of you. Such a good title. The price

of you. I know. Isn't it perfect? Okay. Sorry.

I'm just like looking at it going, yeah, there's

so much, so much to be appreciated in this one.

Yeah. Okay. So, uh, okay. The issue opens with

a conversation between Bumblebee and Starscream

on the fallout of his decisions in the last issue.

The one thing that Bumblebee is happy with is

what he did for Chromia. But it's interrupted

by a message inviting a rendezvous with a shady

character that Bumblebee then tries to convince

Starscream to be wary of. But he pretty much

says he's still going to be by himself regardless

of Bumblebee's ghostly attempts to trying to

convince him to be a better bot. If he doesn't

like it, then he can leave. He's like, hey, I'm

going to do my thing. If you don't like what

I'm going to do, then go away. As he's saying

this, he opens the door to Arachnid's lab. Ah,

Arachnid, yes. She's the one. She looks good,

too, man. Yeah. So she's the one who sent the

message and is fully aware of his unusual conversations

with nothing. It's not at all that uncommon for

hallucinations and paranoid delusions she would

know. But he continues with his claims that there's

nothing out of the ordinary here. He was thinking

out loud. Yeah, we'll call it that Lord Starscream.

The reason she called Starscream here was to

discuss the fate of Swindle and the other combaticons.

Basically, Arachnid is a mimosergeon. On Eucharist,

she was a fate spinner who did not have the gift

of prophecy. Instead, she attempted to learn

this talent through scientific methods, which

left her experiments pretty much brain dead and

the other fate spinners. They frowned on this.

So she was close to making a breakthrough, but

apparently they shut her down and exiled her,

so aw. And now she's using her unique skills

to fix Swindle and manipulate the combaticons

to work for Starscream. Only there's one catch.

She made an important epiphany that it's not

that it's disloyal, it just remembers that it

is. I really, really, really like this. I had

to point that out. So if they can convince one

of them to be their lynchpin and enforce the

false memories she's trying to plant, it'll take.

They just have to figure out which one. And that

one is Blastoff. Oh, poor Blastoff. Poor Blastoff.

He is also infatuated with one of his team members,

Onslaught. But that feeling has never been reciprocated.

So he's suffering silence poor little guy Starscream

makes a personal dreamland appearance to pitch

his plan right in the middle of a wonderfully

revealing fantasy where both blast -off and onslaught

are domestically entangled They have a painfully

truthful discussion about why blast off isn't

the monster that the rest of them are. It's simply

that he cares more than he should enough to make

justifications for those that are the monsters

and that really pisses him off. This infuriates

him so much to the point that he literally beats

the brains out of Starscream dream sequence Starscream.

But it is all in just blast off's head. So Starscream

continues his pitch. He wants blast off and the

whole team to work for him, be loyal to him.

He will plant different memories, actually saving

their lives twice, all this fun stuff. And blast

off will be the in on the truth and the lie.

So he can sell the lie whenever onslaught starts

to get a niggle. That doesn't add up. In return.

Starscream can make all the domestic dreams a

reality. Blastoff rejects his offer initially

because he wants his life back the way it was.

And then Starscream reminds him of what that

life actually is. He lives in a hubble with a

drunk sadist and someone who doesn't even know

he exists. They're all financially ruined and

mostly brain dead, which if they survive, they'll

be spending the rest of their lives in jail.

And if they escape, Onslaught is never going

to get over or get beyond the war. this will

eventually destroy him. Think of it this way,

blast off. I really liked this page, so we're

going to have to discuss it. You're saving his

life to make him happy and ultimately you happy.

It's good. Can so make a reference for for this

is when blast off says to him you're asking me

to live a lie Does that mean blast off is Rihanna

and onslaught is Eminem love the way you lie

That's a good reference mm -hmm I my absolute

favorite panel from this issue is it's not really

manipulation. It's just a little nudge the way

Sarah and Joanna did the art and the colors and

the way the characters are positioned just It's

like Starscream is just twisting that knife in

his back like there is no knife in his back,

but it just It's better than that. He's giving

him the ultimate temptation. Yeah But in these

justifying it right there. It's like it's not

really manipulation. It's just a little nudge

and the What he doesn't say is the rest of it

is up to you. It's implied. Horrifying. So twisted.

Oh my gosh. This is what gets to me is the thing.

The last issue, I was like, you're like, I feel

sorry for Starscream. I'm starting to feel sorry

for Starscream. And then you get to this issue,

you're like. This is why I like Starscream people

are like I such a Starscream fangirl is because

he's the character You never know what you're

gonna get because he plays for himself. He's

kind of the Loki character You're just like you

never know What's gonna bring the next page and

that's why I like his character cuz you're like,

oh, I feel sorry for him I'm like, no, I don't.

Oh, maybe I do. Oh, you're just like loyalty

he's loyal to himself, but at the same time He

can be loyal to a situation that worked out for

him, which is really odd. So he has he has a

code It's just a very twisted one Anyhow, um

black stuff agrees Then we do a quick scene change.

He converses with Ironhide about the combaticons

and what he's found out. And they're waiting

for them to recover. And they might actually

not even be responsible for their actions, blah,

blah, blah. Then we do a more sweet scene change.

And Onslaught wakes up. Blastoff is there, already

awake, has been watching him. And they do this

little kidding thing that they've been doing

this previously been talked about in other issues

and then onslaught notices something that he

did before puts his hand over blast off and you're

just like, Oh shit. He totally did it. Yeah.

I was like, Oh my God. Oh, that's the issue.

Yeah. I feel bad for blast off. But after they

say some of the things that the combaticons used

to do, I'm like, Holy crap. These guys are bad

vortex. Hobby? Yeah. Oh my goodness, wow. This

this issue is I think I have all the things that

have ever been written in Transformers. This

is the one that has the most things in it that

make me actually sick to my stomach to think

about. Because it just. really dark. They never

really go into incredible depths of the actual

sins of everybody on both sides. They always

imply things they talk about. They do a lot of

telling it. In fact, they do a lot of Oh, everybody

made concessions on both sides and did bad things.

Last end of the records, we found out that lots

of things happened. that shouldn't have happened.

Even the wreckers went off the rails and killed

people that they shouldn't have and got in trouble

for it on both sides. War is bad, yo. War is

bad. Give me a handout. I think the difference

is between this and War is Bad is everything

in this is not just personal, but actual. personality

manipulation and and uh words as torture like

where you are watching people being broken and

i can't think of a time i mean yes there's that

scene in wreckers where someone's actually literally

being tortured with the altogether now endoscopic

claw um which is Horrible, but it is physical

torture. Yeah, which yes. Okay. I have a really

powerful imagination and that thing scared the

everlasting crap out of me and used to keep me

up at night. But this is sorry. I shouldn't be

laughing. Hey, you can laugh. It's funny. But

this stuff in here is just viscerally horrifying

because we can we can identify with it. You know,

it's something that you can. You can feeling

yourself. Yeah. All of these things. Margaret

was really good about making it something that

you can relate to. Yeah. I'm just going to say

this right now. Margaret Scott is her own person.

She's her own writer. She can weave her own tales.

However, after reading this issue again, it's

like James Roberts is just pulling her puppet

strings. I know he's not. I know he's not. She

just went to a very dark place to write this.

I mean, even when Starscream shows up in his

dream world and Blasso says, this is the worst

kind of violation. Yeah, yeah. I mean, like there

is it right out there. How many people do you

let into your dreams? Yeah, I'm just saying anybody

out there thinking about that. You're worse,

you know that you're your fantasy land. How many

people do you bring into that? So it's like probably

nobody does that. But that is exactly what this

is. It's a violation. And then he goes on because

he was a decepticon. He knows things about these

guys that the sins of what they've done in the

past and how they are still those people. But

you're not. And yet you're with them. And he

twists the knife. And he takes all of those little

things to the extent that it infuriates Blastoff

that he's willing to beat the crap out of him.

Like literally, like in one page you find out

just how pissed off that made him. And he beats

the brains out of Dreamland Starscream, which

of course does nothing because he's just, you

know, a different version of him behind him.

It's like, you know, it's like... Have you gotten

it all out of your system now? Or does knowing

that it's not real suck the joy out of attempted

murder? You know, I had another thought. Another

reason why this is so rough to read is that we

are watching two characters that we had come

to have hope and love for fall. We're watching

Starscream do... horrible horrible stuff like

this is the worst thing this is there is no worse

yeah there is no worse thing done to anyone and

all of transformers there's like equally bad

stuff any anytime someone's brain is actually

reprogrammed it is bad but this is the first

time we are experiencing it and it is a choice

yeah Yeah, that's true. The only other thing

I can think of is worse is if unicorns munching

on your limbs This is worse to me. This is no

I agree Yeah, yeah ultimate temptation this is

his this is his His his temptation is he's you

know, whatever Right at the border of the gates

of hell and you know Starscream is the devil

and handing him exactly what he wants And he

falls for it, you know Making arachnid a nemosurgeon

was a stroke of evil genius I like how they incorporated

all the the the spider bots as they show black

arachnia as As one as well in just that little

panel her original beast wars Black arachnia

in that one little panel right there. I thought

that was pretty cool, too But even just well,

and actually, too, because we arachnid is another

character who's fallen by wanting something badly

enough that she no longer will keep to her scruples.

So she wants to have this ability of prophecy

that some of the other spiders have. And she's

willing to do absolutely horrific stuff to try

to get. And so she has been. hacking into people's

brains and killing them trying to get a sort

of There's a lot of matrix parallels in this

for me. Yeah, just because her idea is What is

it by examining everyone's minds in their entirety

it should be possible to predict the future far

more accurately so she's just trying Trying to

hook into everyone's brain and have like this

incredible power, you know Another character

who's just hungry for power and willing to do

whatever to get it So if she's the Morpheus who

the hell is the Neo? Oh, she's definitely not

Morpheus Neither of them But Starscream is Agent

Smith and - Oh God, no. Last off is Morpheus

in It's Not Really Manipulation, It's Just a

Little Nudge. That is absolutely that scene.

Absolutely that scene. That's true. I did like

how they'd use the art to show the twisted -

Wicked web that she's twisting between all of

the combaticons in the art. Did you remember

did you guys catch that? Yeah, beautiful That

was that was really really cool. I like that

parallel right there. That was good This is this

is an issue I have not read to my kids And that

was hard for me it when when this came out this

issue traumatized me for a lot of reasons I think

I've talked to you guys about it, but like I

wasn't ready for, like, smoochin'. And because

I just, I'm like, really? Do they though? They're

robot people? And it just, the themes in it are

so dark. I'm just like, this is the first time

there's been a comic and I can't read it to my

kids! Technically, they really don't do anything.

They're just having a very domestically schmoopy

schmoopy moment where they're talking nice and

You know almost like pillow talk, but not pillow

talk because they're not in a bed. Oh They are

getting though there when he first wakes up.

Yeah, and he's like Totally wasted and then onslaughts

like nuzzle nuzzle and then they've got like

this big old bed that they share Well, now they're

older, because it's been a couple of years. I

gave it to my oldest. My kids are 16, 14, 11,

and 9. Okay. You could probably read this to

the 11 and 9 year old and somehow equate it to

sex ed. No, they know about all this stuff. Like,

it's not like it's unfamiliar territory. It's

just I wasn't, when this came out, I wasn't ready

to It took me like a good year to make peace

with this issue because I have my own baggage,

you know, and I I'm just I'm a product from a

different time and a different culture and It

took me a while but also just this is really

messed up stuff and the whole thing So, I don't

know. I mean there's times when I'll be reading

them. I'm like check this out. This is messed

up guys But this, I'm like, this is, I don't

know, man. I mean, we - It took you well to process.

We still will be like, don't let anyone get away

you, okay? Do not let people pull this crap.

Don't let anyone get away you. I like that. That

should be on a t -shirt. We had like a serious

discussion. Like, if someone starts making you

feel crappy about yourself just so that you'll

do what they want you to do, you tell me about

it and you kick them in the shin. Only in the

shin. I don't know. If they get really pressing,

you kick them a little higher up. Anything else

we want to talk about in this issue? It was really

good. I mean, this is the last two issues. I

like the whole series, but this one really just

hit a high point for me, just because you see

this situation where Starscream is back in his

own, he's doing his thing. He's doing what he

does well, which is he knows how to manipulate

people. He get his little, if anything, I think

he would be, he's like the current Liege Maximo.

Oh yeah, definitely. He's got a silver tongue.

He knows how to work this. It's a moment where

he plays a role, he wants to get something done,

and he plays the ultimate temptation for somebody

who wants something that he's never had. It's

sad to see them fall into the depths of hell

over it, because they literally put themselves

in position. It's just like, wow. You know, in

one issue, we go from really liking these guys

to realizing that they're just as messed up as

the rest of them are. Yeah. You know, I just

realized, A, I think this is one of the best

issues, single issues ever of all time in Transformers.

And this is also one that if there was a person

that was being snotty and being like, comic books

aren't literature, I'd be like, read this and

then come back and talk to me. Yeah. All right,

we ready? Ready. Let's go for the next one. OK,

strap the heck in, you guys, because these next

two issues are my favorite story that has ever

been told in all of Transformers. OK. Gushing

alert. Yep. This issue is called If I Know You.

Um, Onslaught is holding Blastoff's hand when

Starscream walks in to establish the Combaticons'

role as his bodyguards now. Blastoff jerks his

hand away and hides his hands behind his back.

Starscream saunters out and is met by a medic

who tells him... Hang on, I'm pulling my paper

up close so I can not be facing away from the

mic. Okay. I have actually wrote out a summary

and everything, you guys. I'm super on it. That's

awesome! Alright, Starscream saunters out and

is met by a medic who tells him Windblade is

in stasis and declining because Carcer's brain

downloaded into hers. The medic asks Starscream

to help him find a specialist to save Windblade

-ish because she is the bot who saved Cybertron.

And Starscream gets all huffy because he saved

Cybertron too and nobody helps him. Oh, I'd say

it was more than just Huffy. I think he actually

got angry. That was a real like if there was

a table around, he'd be flipping it. Totally.

Yeah. Hang on. Totally lost my place. Bumblebee

chides his petty poor leadership. And now it

is read a long time for just a second. So Bumblebee

is getting in his face and he says, people expect

things of you because they believe in you. He's

just said, you haven't been a schemer only for

a long time. You've started to be a more complex

person. Okay. People believe in you and that's

something you should be proud of, not something

you're determined to destroy. Why is it so important

for you to be alone? And Starscream says, Because

I am alone because the nanosecond I forget that

life most often in the shape of Megatron beat

the truth back into me literally It's been a

while since we found. What is this? Was it? Spotlight

Megatron where we actually see how he was to

Starscream. This is not just him upset. This

is him unglued Yeah. Oh, yeah. He is unglued

over this. Yeah, because he was. He is a product

of abuse. Yeah. Again, remember how I just said,

like, you know, that whole thing with Starscream?

Now you kind of feel sorry for him again. You're

just like, dang it! What? Dang it! Throughout

this whole exchange between him and Patrick Swayze,

You know at the end of it when he's like Bumblebee

question mark and then it pans out to the panel

of him Just standing there with his him slumped

over and his head hang hanging down I'm like

you put some lockers on that wall on those walls

and he's essentially the loneliest kid in school.

Yeah This is a moment because this they they

use a whole page to get this across. Yep Yeah

yeah he's like if my behavior is so offensive

why don't you leave and bumblebee disappears

and this heartbreaking line see i told you oh

he's just it's heartbreaking so anyway the first

time i read yeah yeah and not only that is it

it's like this self -fulfilling prophecy he's

using this as evidence that he should be alone

and it's like Damn it, Bumblebee, why did you

leave? Oh, I'm on Bumblebee's side in this one,

though, because Starscream has reached a certain

very specific point. Anyway, OK, so moving on.

So we cut to a Mindscape city where Carcer is

trumping around, crushing it as a symbol of how

he's weakening Windblade's brain. Windblade tells

him she knows what he's up to, but is willing

to die if it means he stays trapped in her mind

and he dies too. He tempts her with power and

he shows her the dangerous weakness of Starscream

and Alita's power grabbing. He looks into Windblade's

past and brings up her sins as she has had to

become kind of a little bit like Starscream.

He says that... She has outplayed Starscream

at his own game, which is harsh. He's trying

to get her to let him take over her body to,

quote unquote, save Cybertron by making her doubt

herself. So we go back to Starscream, who's at

his desk working. We see him working all day

and all night. reaching out to Bumblebee, but

he never gets a response. That evening, Onslaught

and Blastoff come in to report, and when he first

hears them calling him, he's like, Bee? It's

so sad. Then he realizes it's them. So they report

Onslaught being his loyal bodyguard now because

he's been programmed. Blast off stays behind

for kind of a more secret tette -a -tette with

Starscream, and Starscream mocks him for being

angry while he gets to date Onslaught. And there's

another little bit I wanted to read aloud, but

I forgot to switch around. Crap, I was so on

the ball. He's acting angry, but to be honest,

he's just ashamed of what he's done. Yeah. And

that's why Blastoff is the better bot, is because

he's actually ashamed for what he fell for. Yeah.

And that's the reason why he was so easy to manipulate,

too, is because he had this temptation and Starscream

exploited it. But he's back to his old games

again, where he's like, if you're going to yell

at me, please do something. Just let me know

before you do it. Oh, yeah. That was that was

the part I was doing. So good. It's such good

writing. Yeah. Sorry. I was talking right over

here. So nobody even heard it, but it's really

good. All right. So, uh, OK. So, uh, OK. So blastoffs

like take me to see Swindle or I will tell everyone

what you did. So Starscream takes blast off to

see Swindle. Arachnid. is totally not creepily

at all repairing him. And Swindle's all, hey,

I'm totally happy. How you doing? And there's

this heartbreaking little face where Blastoff's

like, it's good to see you, Swindle. Little half

-sad smile. So while Blastoff and Swindle are

catching up, Starscream takes Arachnid aside

and asks about Windblade. He actually cares enough

to ask if there's any way to fix her. And I reckon

it's like, sure. But the only way to fix her

is for someone else to be willing to risk themselves

by going into her brain to fight Carcer with

her. But since she's already... dying from having

carcer in her brain, having an extra person will

just make her die faster. And Arachna's just

like, delicious, isn't it? That's not how she

talks, but that's how she talks. Kind of, it

is how she talks, because the whole time I'm

reading this, I'm hearing Gina Torres in my head.

Except for right there, she goes full Tim Curry.

anyway the last page is just Starscream kind

of tossing and turning on his bunk and he's still

talking to Bumblebee and like railing against

an impulse to do something good he's trying desperately

to not care to not want to help he's bringing

up everything he can about why he shouldn't like

or help Windblade And what he says, he needs

someone who's actually a good person. And then

he finally just stops and he's just like, I hate

you. And we see an actual shadow of actual Bumblebee

who replies, I know. I love it, I love it. I

thought you didn't need Bumblebee Starscream.

Everyone needs a bumblebee in their life. Well,

you know, that's the thing is that it's it's

the charm of the fact that he believes bumblebee

is like they're kind of, you know, being his

bestie trying to make him trying to help him

do things. He gets frustrated with him because

he's like his conscience and he just wants to

kick him and throw him and get him away. But

then when he's not there, he actually misses

him. Yeah. I think this is a moment where you

kind of see a little bit of he's changed because

he's never had a Bumblebee until now, and now

that he's had it, he actually enjoys the companionship.

And that's really interesting coming off the

bootstraps of the last issue. Where he could

easily fall it right back into his silver tongue,

you know old habits and yet here He's actually

becoming more of a leader than you would that

he even thought that he could be Because he's

actually listening to somebody that actually

cares You know Wow, it's amazing two cool things

one I still get the sense that we are meant to

believe eventually that that was somehow... real

Bumblebee. Am I right? I feel like... I'm getting

the hint of that because when Starscream goes

into Blastoff's mind, if Bumblebee was just a

figment of his imagination, wouldn't he have

seen all of that, too? But he didn't. They never

have a conversation about it. Ever. Yeah. feel

like he is somehow projecting himself out from

the little singularity he's trapped in and I

love that he like that speaks well of Bumblebee

that he decides you know what I feel like I can

actually help Starscream and he's been very patiently

trying to build a Starscream up in a positive

way and help him be a better leader Bumblebee

sees more than anybody else does. Other people

have done the same thing. Ironhide has given

him that. Wheeljack has given him that. That's

true. Yeah. There have been people along the

way that have been there for him in different

capacities. Yeah. Even Vettelhawk. Yeah. Get

out of my brain. That's what I was going to say.

Everybody, everybody has seen things along the

way. Bumblebee sees more than anybody else because

we're not quite sure what his state is. but I

think he sees more than everybody else because

of whatever it is that he's stuck in. The reason

why I think you believe that he's alive is because

this is the first time we've actually seen some

physical shadow. Yeah. Like manifestation that

he's actually there with the shadow. And that's

like, this is where I went, ooh, ooh, he's not

dead. He's not dead. There's a shadow. He can't

be dead because there's a shadow, damn it. So

I was like super excited. I was like, ooh, Barbara,

you've got to tell us this story now. Bumblebee

was off in Never Neverland with Peter Pan and

having a spot of tea and fighting Captain Hook.

I've been waiting. Let's just say this came out

about a year, a year and a half, however long

it came out. I'm still waiting for that, OK?

I still want to see that. Little tidbit mind

by mr. John Barber and I still haven't read it

yet and I hope that it's some somewhere in Optimus

Prime at this point because I Want my money back

damn it Comics are lemons and you ain't getting

your money back. He's he's Wait, we're still

talking about Bumblebee, right? I feel like I

lost the keyword there. He's out now. Out. Like,

Prime went in and got him. Okay, shh. Don't tell

me. I want to read it. Okay. Sorry. There is

an explanation. Yeah, there is an explanation.

That's why I was like... Dang it! I've been waiting

so long for that explanation that I'm just like...

I, when this, when this, when Till All Are One

ended, I was like, crap, now we'll never know

what Bumblebee is. Yeah. I feel like because

I have such a harder time keeping the story of

the Optimus Prime series in my head, I'm still

unclear as to what actually happened, but yeah.

I'll go back and reread it. What do you guys

think of the way, and it's so funny, if I'm looking

at him and he's got his face markings, he becomes

Vigilim in my head, but if he doesn't have his

face markings, he's Carcer. What do you think

of the way he looks when he turns into his dark

wind blade mode? Oh, that was awesome. That's

really creepy. It was very creepy. It was. I

totally agree with that. It's like he morphs

into, because she gets really big. And she's

trying to cut him in two. And she even gets more

decorative when she gets huge. And then he starts

morphing into a dark version of her, like a shattered

glass of her. And I was like, ooh, wow. It looks

like, oh, what is it? It looks like the - Are

they called Oni? The devoid version of her or

something. Yes, yeah. I feel like there's these

Japanese demons. Yeah, they're Oni. Thank you.

Yeah, that's what she like. Like cyclonus almost

looks a little bit like that. That same sort

of jaw with the open cheeks. Yeah, same kind

of look. There's a really it. threw me off a

little at first the way this is visually representing

a very morphable landscape and how things change

according to people's strength of will and So

sizes morph and the landscape morphs and it because

they are static pictures. It would throw me and

I would lose I would miss key visual elements

on occasion, but now I've read it enough times

and closely enough that I'm like, who are you?

Well, it makes sense because they're basically

in a mindscape, basically. Yeah. And which is

so cool. It's so conceptual, but yet they're

images that work when they need it to work that

way. And they they morph and change when they

need them to. And I really like that about going

into, you know, her brain, and that's what's

going on there. So. Yeah. Absolutely. That's

good stuff. So have we said everything that we

wanted to say about Starscream and his Bumblebee?

No one? I think so, yeah. All right. Yeah. There

was one more thing I was going to say, and I'm

trying to - Oh, good. I'm trying to find it.

Go for it. Maybe not. Poop. Poop. Yeah issue

12 that cover oh my god that covers messed up

I love this cover. I Find it deeply disturbing.

I love it Yeah, all these covers this whole series

of dark creepy covers that Sarah did are really

memorable shall we say and become increasingly

memorable as the series goes on it's like the

first one was like oh dang that's that's cool

and then like the second one oh dang oh dang

oh now i remember what i wanted to point out

sorry okay so it's going back to the bumblebee

star scream thing i wanted to point this out

bumblebee never really left He just made it so

that Starscream couldn't see him. Yeah, and that's

the sad part. It's like dude You think you're

alone, but actually bumblebee never really left

I bet he's been watching him the whole time and

just been like I'm gonna let you sit on this

one and feel it for a while I Was a little bit

if you live a bumblebee, but at the same time

like, you know But he Starscream is so, it's

like he's torturing himself for all the torturous

things that Megatron did to him. And it's like,

dude, you do realize that no one, this is all

in your head. No one actually left you. Bumblebee's

still there. He's probably just, you know, not

showing up for various reasons. But in the end,

the people still support him. Nobody knows what's

going on in his head. And yet he is isolating

himself. He has the support. No one knows what's

going on in his deepest darkest head and yet

he's torturing himself Yeah, and this is a good

book. Yeah, I was dang it by the last page of

that issue I'm just like fully like I love Starscream

like a real person Yeah, you just want to reach

out and give him a big hug. Yeah, I can't don't

forget me how you felt the issue before I know

it's a That's the problem with Starscream. This

is why I like Starscream, because he's just so

complex. I love those complex characters. I have

a confession to make. I have hated Starscream

for so long. I don't get why people like Starscream.

I remember when I first met you, you hated him

so much. I hated him. I was like, get rid of

that guy. He's a jerk. Until Marigold got a hold

of him. Until I saw Transformers Prime, and then

she got ahold of him in the IDW stuff. I'm like,

I hated him. And I had a dream about him last

night after reading this. What the heck? I do

not get this way about Starscream. Yes, you do.

Darn it, Scott. Yeah, she's good. She got it

in my head! Dang it! She got it in your head

like a memo surgeon? And for anyone that wants

to hear Amy's Starscream hater story, you can

listen to her Origins episode way back in the

pullback episode 15. Good stuff. Final issue

in the series before the annual is called Your

First Mistake. So we're in Windblade's mind,

and Vigilim splits into three aspects. His dark

Windblade look, his carcer look, and Vigilim

look. Windblade Earth bends the ground to hold

him, but he tells her it's no use. In the instant

she passes out just before her death, he'll take

over her body. And at that point, he is blasted

in the back. When yeah, and we see Starscream

there and he's all full heroic mode and he's

like got this snobby face He's all don't worry

the Cavalry's here. I scream. How did you you

idiot? Yeah wind blade panic It is good But she

panics because she knows that vigilem will just

now try to possess Starscream and he unlike her

has no training So Starscream, who's just arrived

thinking he's Optimus level hero, I put that

in for you, Mike, only to be called an idiot

by the one he was trying to rescue, looks up

at vigilante. Because Optimus is an idiotic leader,

Rodimus is so much better. Enough fire. My husband

yesterday was talking about Roddy and he was

like, man, he goes from a hot rod to an RV. Space

Winnebago are the words that came out of your

mouth. Exactly. Because I know what the 80s toy

and design was. It was a Space Winnebago. It's

where Lone Star and Barf hang out. I know. Transformers

meets Spaceballs. This must be where they got

the Space Tyrannosaurus Rex from, right? Oh,

Trypticon? Yeah, probably. No, it's a space dinobot.

You don't remember that one? That's how they

pitched it to Hasbro, as they called him. He's

a space dinosaur. All right, so Starscream looks

up at Vigilim and he's trying for his usual bravado

and he says, you wouldn't be the first person

to underestimate me, you flying tin can. And

Vigilim, who can now see through him, says, I'm

sure I'm not. Who were the others? And he grows

in size and he says, and which one do you fear

most? And poor Starscream's eyes get huge and

he's terrified. He says, you're not real. You

can't hurt me. I know that. And now Vigilum has

transformed into full G1 Megatron and he's just

he's got his fusion cannon trained at this poor

tiny silhouetted Starscream and he says are you

sure Starscream after all there are so many kinds

of pain and he shoots him and I remember at the

very beginning of IDW where they are establishing

Transformers as they're they're establishing

the base characterizations and Starscream has

kind of gone against Megatron and Megatron shows

up as this all -powerful just force of nature

and he blasts Starscream into a cliff just like

this and everyone assumes that he has just killed

him and that's what it reminded me of and anyway

as he he has shot Starscream and they both disappear

down this like black coal way that is an entrance

into Starscream's mind. Windblade takes a moment

to kind of figure out if she can do it or if

she should and she follows them in to go and

try and rescue Starscream now. I have to say

about the art here from Sarah, like after we

see the part where Starscream said where Megatron

says So you do have a spark one just as unremarkable

as any other the next panel where it's him saying

You don't seem quite so special from here chosen

one. I love this panel. This is the best Megatron

has ever looked No, but yet this this art is

amazing this art is powerful because yeah anyway,

okay, so It's interesting to me though that Starscream's

Mindscape is Kaon, but it is a ruined Kaon. I

think that's really interesting. I think the

reason why that is is because Megatron ruined

his life. That's where it started. That's where

it started, is in Kaon. Dang! This is some serious

psychology... Level 400 class stuff. Yeah Totally.

That's why I said I married went to a dark place

and channeled a dark place to do this It's she

did such a freaking good job So we see Megatron

and he's just like He's not even crouched beside

Starscream. He's crouched on him Starscream's

on his back and Megatron is ripping his armor

off in Layers and under each layer is the previous

sort of look that he has worn because, as we

remember, he's gone through a bunch of different

bodies. And Megatron says, so vain, Starscream,

wrapping yourself in all these facades. Maximo

always said to beware of bots who change their

skin too often. They're always trying to hide

a rotten core. So he is just, he's getting at

Starscream's deepest, deepest weaknesses. And

yeah, the part that you were bringing up, Mike,

where he has ripped him down to his beginning

of IDW look and his chest is broken open and

you can see his spark and Megatron Vigilum says

that it's just there's nothing special about

it. And just as he is about Starscream devolves

into nothing but a spark lying on the ground.

And just as Megatron Vigilim is charging his

fusion cannon to blast him into oblivion, Windblade

jumps in, clutches the spark to her chest and

like throws herself across the room to save him

from the blast. And she tells Vigilim she's not

finished. And he, Vigilim, is back to himself

now. He's all, really? Do you think he's going

to walk it off? You normally need legs for that.

That was good. That was a good, nice little stamp

there. And then, oh, he's just so good at undercutting

people. The next thing he says is, but then you

are one of Caminus's spawn. He was just as naive

as Solus. Guess it ran all the way down the line.

And then he puts his hand down and he begins

rewriting Starscream's brain. The city falls

down and it starts to become these red lines

that our vigilance face being in glowing and

cracks in the ground. And he now is sort of halfway

buried in the ground escape of Starscream's brain.

He's allowing himself to be absorbed. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. It's a good way of thinking. It's like

absorbing right through one of the eyes. It's

like he's merging. It's just like, ah, stop him,

please. Yeah. And it just he's still undercutting

her he says don't feel shame spec soulless prime

was no warrior You have no advantage here and

a spark is no weapon and here's where it becomes

Like revelatory crap and she says wind blade

says no, it's not a weapon It's so much more

and she remembers the way that line right there

got to me when I read that. Yeah I wish that

panel was bigger. I just wish that single panel

was bigger with that single line. I'm like, cause

it was that line and that panel should have been

so much more. It should have been bigger. Except

then where would you put I know panel? I know.

I know. I know. I know. Oh man. This is so good.

Okay. So she, uh, all right, hang on this. Okay,

guys, this is the issue that I grabbed my poor

husband and I'm like, This issue spoke to me

on like a change who I am level. I need to read

this out loud and I read it to him. And this

is the part where I just started blubbering,

because I just love this so much. OK, so Windblade,

we're just going to read aloud, kids. Gather

round, crisscross applesauce, story time with

Prime. OK, a spark is not a weapon. It's so much

more. It is the flame of Primus itself, the forge

in which each transformer is shaped according

to his design. And she's remembering her training

under the Mistress of Flame, who tells her that

the act of creation is sacred above all things,

but no task is more costly than that of building

something new. Every new alliance, new weapon,

new world is forged and reforged in the burning

heart of truth until all slag falls away. The

Mistress of Flame is speaking words which she

has been told by Solas, who is standing behind

her in this vision of memory. it is only the

purest servant of solace prime who can keep forging

until they reach the real miracle the creation

of a single true thing which oh my gosh you guys

i'm always telling people anything i ever make

i'm like i'm just trying to make something true

i still like to have somebody write it down i'm

like so good okay it is so very good we see Wind

blade is now able holding Starscream spark. She's

able to see his history and she sees how he was

taken from like literally a batch like a cooler

full of sparks and put into one of the Jillian

secretion yeah your repaint bodies and She says

a spark is shaped by all who touch it But the

first hand meant to is primus sparks are meant

to be forged in the design of his divine choosing

but not for you. And she's horrified by by cold

construction, and how he is never let bots not

born but built never allowed to find their true

shape. And I'm like, Whoa, what a cool concept,

Margaret, instead forged and formed to the specifications

of another's greed. I just I hadn't thought before

that this was the idea of cold construction was

that maybe there was a different choice that

you were meant to be different that that's a

cool idea that I don't think anyone had thought

of before Margaret anyway and she's like is this

what you were seeking Starscream escape from

a foreign skin the belonging you thought was

lost forever Did you forget it was here all along?

And she gets this blinking hammer, and she says,

Vigilim, I may not be a warrior, but I do worship

a smith. And there is no forge purer than a spark.

It remembers everyone who touches it. And she

starts pounding with this hammer that's like

she has called up in her mind the Forge of Solus

Prime. And she calls up. she pounds the spark

and kind of this ghost version of Bumblebee pops

out and Vigilum just mocks her and he's like

a copy of a cripple. I said everyone and she

wangs it again and again and all these people

come out, all the people who have been influential

in Starscream's life, including for all the people

who ship them, Skyfire. But like there's Wheeljack

and like Whipmetalhawk and Chromia sound wave.

Yeah. Yeah. And they iron hide. Yeah. Strangely

enough. Yeah. Jet fire and Optimus Prime. But

all of these these kind of blue ghosts attack

Vigilum and he Rattrap is there too. Sorry. Yeah,

he's right behind the clang, clang, clang. You

can't really see him. You can see his kneecaps.

They got the words back in the way. Oh my gosh.

Whoops. Oh, Ravage. Ravage is there too. I know.

I was noticing Ravage. That's, oh man. I think

we got it. Yeah. Usually Mr. Tom B. Long is really,

really good at letter placement, but every so

often, that's no good spot to put things. He

couldn't be sure that he couldn't really help

that, but I still saw him. I still saw Rat Trap.

Don't worry, Tom. Rattrap's there just like the

little you know rat that he is So they all of

these memories attack vigilem and he is he is

unbowed and He says I will not be defeated by

such weak facsimiles and wind blade says this

is not about your defeat vigilem It's about doing

the only thing that really matters in this life

making something true and she pounds again and

this light shoots up and we see this person we've

never seen before this sort of blue and white

sort of interestingly flared out armor guy who's

looking down sort of like if you combine drift

and the hot rod and our screen yeah but here's

here's the thing you guys i saw him and it instantly

felt like i knew him i'm like Oh, there you are,

Starscream. And I followed my guts out. My transistors

are trembling. Starscream stomps Vigilim through

the floor and back into Windblade's brain. And

Windblade is now huge and powerful, and she realizes

that instead of having to fight Vigilim... all

she needs to do is embrace him. And she does

this thing that Madeleine Lange wrote a long

time ago that I've always loved of taking the

bad, horrible thing and just putting it into

your own being and thus taking away its power.

And because the writing in the TF wiki is so

beautiful that I believe it deserves to be highlighted.

The last line in their description is that is

written in the TF wiki. It's probably McFeely.

Good job says just as the forge of Starscream

spark burned away everything until the singular

truth of his being was revealed. When blade uses

her spark as a forge to burn away a vigilem until

all that remains is his single truth. But there

is no truth to be found in the heart of the Titan

that serves Liege Maximo, Prime of Lies. And

he is incinerated with the fires of her soul."

Boom, y 'all. That's awesome. Drop the mic. Yep.

So that is, thank you all for listening. This

has been Storytime with Prime. That's awesome.

I love it. That's what happens. So they basically

wake up. Arachnid says, welcome back. And they

kick her out, look at each other. Starscream

picks her up. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Sorry, yeah. Starscream

picks her up. And he's trying to say nothing

changes, but Windblade says she has changed and

she will now speak for herself, not for the Mistress

of Flame, not for him, not for anything. She

is not going to be under his thumb anymore. And

she hopes... Under anyone's thumb, really. Yeah.

And Solis and Primus gave me truth too, and I'm

going to speak with my own voice from now on,

which is very powerful because she's been speaking

for other people her whole life. She's been a

city speaker and now she's like, I won't be me.

So it's a good issue. I love it. It's interesting

that the first thing that happens is he tells

Arachne to get out because literally he's revealed

completely in everything. to wind blade in a

way that he he couldn't stop the the fact that

he's still processing. She's like, no, I know

exactly what I would do in my life. I'm like,

hey, I just had an epiphany and I am not going

to be that anymore. Boom. And he's still going,

what, what, what, what, what, what, what? You

know, even his look, he's just like completely

dumbfounded. What just happened? I thought this

about me. It's like, no, it was about her, but.

This is the first second that he has. And this

will become more apparent in the annual we get

to it. This is the moment and he's still processing

what that moment meant. He says it doesn't mean

anything. Nothing changes, but everything has

changed. He's still denying it. He's still doing

that thing where he's self abusing himself like

dude. And I suppose that's good writing, because

it would be so tempting to be like, and now Starscream

is fine and good and righteous all the time because

he's seen his true form. But we don't change

as quickly as we might like to. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,

no. That's good stuff. It changes every constant,

but it's difficult. It depends on the person.

It depends on the consequences and the... Cost

of what you've done so far because that's the

next thing we have to find out is in the end

Well with wind blades change that was not gradual

that's been over true three different series

at this point. It's like you know 17 million

nano clicks inside only because she saw Stars

our screen went through and realized I don't

want to be that person so therefore yeah I'm

going to make a change. Boom. It's not the same

for Starscream because even his change, there's

got to be consequences to your actions. And he

has a lot of consequences. He's done a lot. This

is going to be juicy. All hail Starscream! Okay,

are you guys ready? We are so ready. Okay, so

starting off the annual, I got my... Kind of

like how this wraps up everything. So Windblade,

she wakes up. Love the girls. She actually gets

some sleep. She's having an inner monologue,

and she's looking about the damage that's done

on Cybertron, and she's trying to fight back.

I love her inner Starscream voice. And she's

finding herself more lonely than ever, as she's

saying goodbye to Chromia. because Chromia is

departing with her new crew as they try to scourge

the galaxy to defeat Liege Maximo. Then when

Blake finds herself in a small little ceremony

at the councils with the press there, but during

the hype with the press there, she leaks out

that Liege Maximo is on blue. So what? Oh, no.

Then this kind of upsets Sorry, this is a quick

review This upsets the mistress of flame and

that a delicate a delegate would actually act

this way and And she gets five fingers across

the face She got a big laugh. Wim Blake kindly

reminds her, I'm no longer a delegate and I don't

have to abide by the rules. And I love this diva

move as she runs out the door and she's like,

you two come here and she spills it all. I love

this woman. So to the news guys, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And so then because of this move, she starts

like. basically the next political upheaval.

Then good times at the bar with Blur. So many

brawls have started and Blur actually convinces

her, why don't you run for office? What? Okay.

Then we go over to Starscream. and where he is

going over his visions of grandeur that he was

having, you know, in the previous episode, issues

that we were talking about, from his link up

with Windblade. And Rattrap walks in and he gives

Rattrap the details to the debate and the transitions

to what's going to be happening with the new

elections and stuff. And then we turn back to

Windblade, where she is drinking up a storm with

the people that she's meeting up with. My gosh.

She knows how to hold her liquor, this girl.

Oh yeah. She's been lurking up to it for a while.

This girl needs a drink, after which she's been

through. And then here comes her last customer,

Rattrap. and he spills it all about secrets about

himself, about Starscream, and everything. Well,

then that means when Blade rushes over to Starscream,

it's like, what the hell? And she throws the

briefcase and all hell's breaking loose. So she

pretty much reveals that she is going to run

against him, and she's reveal everything at the

debates. And of course Starscream's like, My

gosh, I was going to plan. I had all these great

plans. I was going to change everything. I was

going to become a good guy. And I kind of feel

sorry for him again. You're just like, dang it!

Stupid feeling sorry for him again. And then

we move over to the debate night. Windblade gives

an amazing speech. You know, how she's talking

about, I was not born here, but, you know, I

am one of you. And it was an amazing speech.

But this is what comes next is what makes this

issue. Starscream's turn comes up and the one

panel, they say he confesses it all. Well, I

was not expecting that. I was not expecting that.

So not a Starscream move. It's just like he confesses

everything. And I was just like, I would have

never guessed. I was shocked when I saw that.

I was just like, did not see that coming. did

not see that coming. So nobody else did either.

It was just like, what? Wow. Wow. And so fast

forward, basically when Blade wins the elections,

spoiler alert, and is the new leader. But she

has one last interaction with Starscream as she

basically saves him from the death penalty. And

she gets him the one last reminder of what he

can still become, which is so beautiful because

she gives him the reminder of the leader that

he saw when they were linked up again. And I

thought that was so beautiful because Starscream

still has that ounce of hope. And you're just

like, again, you go back just three issues and

you're just like, you are a horrible human being,

but then you feel sorry for him again. And you're

just like. Dang it! No, this issue was like a

really good wrap -up of a good little bow on

the present that we had with the previous four

issues, a good tie -in of what happened, the

conclusion. Absolutely. My favorite moment out

of this entire issue here is the last moment

that she has with Metroplex before she goes to

meet the people. Yeah. Windblade heard the voice

of Metroplex. Windblade will hear the voice of

Cybertron. If you lead others to make your life

better, you will be a tyrant. If you lead others

to make their lives better, you'll be a hero.

Absolutely love that. Yeah, that's cool. This

is after she gets, this is when she realizes

that she's going to be running and she needs

a moment to run away from her party. And it made

absolute sense that the first person she'd go

to is him because he's kind of been, again, we've

already highlighted their relationship as it

is. This is like her father figure to a point.

And so she goes back to Papa. Yeah. Her grandfather

or whatever the great because he's totally gonna

say dad to Like this is the father figure relationship

that she has is with Metroplex he's old and ancient

and old and ancient and She runs to the first

person that she she's the most Revealed with

is with him That's true My other random favorite

part is where there's two combaticons out guarding

because that's their new job is to guard Starscream

and hang on I've got to find it because oh that's

right oh my god is so good at writing banter

okay and like dudes being dudes and so Vortex

is like what do you think they're talking about

in there it must be important if we weren't even

allowed to stay in the building think they're

planning a murder murder really conjoints into

a proposal then she's doing it right now how

does your brain even work she stormed up murder.

If it was a proposal, I'd have heard more screams.

That was so awesome. I'm like, okay, Team Vortex

now. So good. But then later after Starscreams

confessed everything and the combaticons are

all in one jail cell and everybody shoved over

to one side looking crestfallen and angry and

Blastoff is all by himself. Oh, jeez. Because

he's been outed. Yeah. And Onslaught's, like,

refusing to look at him. That's right. Oh, my

gosh. Yeah. Now, Merigrid says that if this story

had continued, that Onslaught would eventually

have been like, let's be con drunks and do it.

And Blastoff wouldn't have been able to keep

tricking him. He would have been like, OK, I

got to tell you something, dude. Here's what

is really going on. so I like that she had that

in her head that that he wasn't gonna continue

to trick him forever but it's still it's messed

up on every side because like on the one hand

I'm like but you two get along so well but that's

really messed up yeah very messed up come on

Margaret I honestly, I didn't see that until

now, like actually having a little bit of motion

here for the last one. Dang it, that's not fair.

I hadn't noticed it either. Yeah, it is fair.

It is fair. It is fair. But I'm just like, oh,

I feel so much for last off right now. Gosh darn

it. It's, yeah. Flip a table, dang it. Yeah.

Prowl is not around. Sorry. I'm just channeling

my inner plural right now. So what can I say?

There's there's a lot going on in all of those

panels where you see wind blade walking through

the Various past the various cells. Yeah, like

rat traps just like I'm so safe in here. I'm

the happiest dude I'd rather be here than anywhere

else because uh, yeah. Oh my gosh. Iraq that

is like Digging holes. She's punching holes in

the wall with her spider feet. Yeah, she's angry

Anyway, moving on. Alright folks, that's gonna

do it for Autobotly August 2018. This is episode

323 .5, Chilala 1 volume 3. Nicole, what would

you rate it zero to five? Zero to five? Like

I said, when I was reading this for the second,

or actually the third time, I'm just gonna say

it, it's a five. I loved every moment of it,

all the different emotions, the artwork, the,

yeah, Margaret and Sarah. blew it out of the

park, loved every moment of it. Heather, what

about you? Well, I feel that the annual, I can

I can see the plot pieces being put into place.

And so it's not quite as as fun a read as the

previous four issues because it feels very deliberate.

And this is us winding up all the story. And

it's not quite as real feeling and satisfying.

That said, There isn't a high enough rating for

me to give this. I mean, this is some of my favorite

Transformers fiction of all time. And the art

is phenomenal. And everything is just, yeah,

the best thing ever. So a six. I'm gonna rate

it a ten. Fight me. I'm also going to rate it

a five. Yes, technically. I'm also gonna rate

it a five. I absolutely loved it. I loved all

three of these volumes. I loved the entire story

from the writing to the art. all of these women

did an amazing job. I can't wait to see if they

ever come back to whatever next new incarnation

is. When they come back. When? When? When if.

You never know. I mean, you know, Meredith's

over there on Batgirl right now, so, you know,

killing that, that, that stuff at DC. Uh, Nicole,

where are the people who will find you online?

I just Googled Beatles, Steve. That's Beatles

like the band, not the bug. You'll find me there.

Heather, what about you? Google hockey prime,

and it's me. Amy, what about you? Lady of rack,

fight me. Watch out. I know where you live. Stop

saying that. Well, you just bowed over anything

I was gonna say about it I just said that you're

like you went on to whatever you're to say I

was like, okay. All right, fight me then Come

find me online. I'll tell you what I really think

about till all or one Sadly folks there are only

seven episodes left this year for the pull bag

So we've got episodes 324 to 330 coming out before

the end of the year And then we're taking a couple

of months off at the beginning of next year because

I don't know what the hell is gonna happen with

this show right now You can find us on Twitter

at the pull bag at geek cast radio visit geek

cast radio comm make your greatest game in the

comics And we will catch you next time here inside

the pull bag But wait, there's more We Decepticons

now face our darkest hour. I know that we talk

about, like, oh, the perfect text. Like, look,

I look at story as not ever being perfect. There's

no such thing as a perfect story. But when you're

getting all of the elements together, you're

getting good character development, great art,

wonderful dialogue. When everything is working

in the right direction, you get what they call

a perfect experience. And that's exactly what

was reading this. You get this payoff that you

didn't expect. And I like the fact that Windblade

becomes the next leader of Cybertron. And it's

sad that Starscream has this moment where he

wants to turn things around and the consequences

of his actions catch up to him. and make that

not possible. Does that mean that he can't become

that person? Oh, he can definitely become that

person. He just won't be doing it leading Cybertron.

There's just so much here. The most interesting

character development for Starscream that I've

ever experienced. And Windblade, new to... Transformers

basically she hasn't been around for that long

and yet she we've got a really strong Storyline

that we've had for her as well. It's just it's

it's brilliant If you know and then just trickle

down from there all of the other sub characters

that pop up we get great You know rat trap. I

mean I'm gonna miss somebody because we're not

gonna have all the time to go through every single

one of the characters Say look how much they

grew Every some every character that Marigold

got a hold of she made them move in a way and

Develop in a way and it's just she made it look

like it was so frickin easy and you know Marigold

ever comes back to Transformers. I'll be embracing

that second it happens We'll throw our own party

we'll make the nearest Barbie Blur's bar I did

hear her mention that the idea of Windblade becoming

the ruler of Cybertron was something that John

brought up. John Barber was saying, you know,

eventually she probably should rule because she's

the one person who's able to rule fairly without

bias. And the fact that this was able to have

like, you know, when, when Windblade was first

invented and If somebody had said, oh, yeah,

she's going to eventually be in charge of all

Cybertron, we would have thrown knives. You know,

that's true. Marigold after they did the whole

they did the fan contest and made her and all

of that, if they would have said if they would

have done the same thing they did with like they

did with Driftworth, he's cool. Yeah, we would

have been right. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. But

after realistically. Yeah, it made sense. In

fact, now that I've, you know, hindsight 2020

being what it is, looking back at it and saying,

you know what, they're right. She should be the

leader because she's definitely been moving in

that direction. I love the fact that she stood

up to the mistress of flame. Yeah. Oh yeah. Like,

wow. She just said something very... Blasphemous

right in her face in such a huge way and Not

to be mean or defiant like a jerk would she's

just like no this is this is my truth Yeah, yeah,

you know another cool thing that Marigold does

in in the annual is the little scenes where people

are Having drinks with the candidate and talking

to wind blade about things. Yeah, there's really

good little bits and my absolute favorite. So

these are single page character moments. Almost

single panel, in fact. Yeah. And my favorite

one is brawl. And he shows up and he's got a

drink with all the fancy straws and umbrellas

in it. And he's like, I only drink straight injects

if the guys ask. So right away we know. that

he's someone who's pretending to be tough, but

is actually more complicated than that. And then

he talks about how when they combined with Swindle

when he was brain dead, he felt what it was like

to be dead. And he now no longer wants the war

to come back. And it's such a simple little thing.

And Windblade just kind of reaches across the

table to put her hand on his arm. And it's just

this beautiful little moment of showing Here's

just a random guy that we've always seen as a

bruiser and doesn't really care and it's kind

of dumb and Here's there's more to him and he's

learned and I'm like good job He was the one

he was the one combatic on that they that she

didn't actually do anything with so that's kind

of interesting I mean, you're right. Oh, yeah,

I saw this and not only that is it I don't want

the word come back when blade puts her hand on

on him and then the next panel See how he's getting

up and he's got the hand with the finger going

up kind of like I said something that made me

vulnerable and now I'm pulling away kind of like

I can't see anything else. Yeah, like he's all

I'm big now and tough. Yeah, I'm back. I'm hiding

my fancy glass. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's just the

storytelling is really good with that. Oh my

goodness. She's made us love all the combaticons.

She's such a I know that she's a very Politically

aware person and that really does come out in

her writing All the things that the stories that

she chooses to tell You can always tell that

she's she's putting a lot of her own thoughts

in in it in a Positive way not a preachy way

like a here everyone. I'm telling you what to

feel And I know I've complained that I thought

that was a little bit much of the police brutality

stuff. But yeah, she makes me want to vote. Gosh

dang it. I also like the fact that Rattrap is

the guy that's been sneaking around behind everybody.

Oh yeah. DC 357 dude. Who is that? Who is that?

It's Rattrap. He's been playing underhanded the

whole time. Ah. So he's been gathering stuff

on Starscream to use it at the right moment.

And even he gets conflicted because he's seen

since he came back out that he's been doing different

things. And so he's like, I can't make this decision.

That's why he throws it on Windblade to do it.

Poor Windblade. Everybody's always doing it.

I know. Well, she'd be the most fair, to be honest.

Yep. That's what she does. She opens up and looks,

and then she takes it to Starscream and throws

it in his face. You're insane, Starscream. Talking

with both of the attached cabinets. And don't

get me started on your eight -legged friend and

the quiet. Yeah. That was good. That was really

good. She's essentially Elizabeth Warren, and

he's Trump. Please don't say that. What? I'm

going to have to pull my ears off now. Please

don't say that. Oh, come on. Starscream is redeemable.

Just saying, the difference is Starscream is

redeemable. OK, OK, then Rattrap is Trump. Somebody's

got to be trolling this scenario. No, they don't.

Nobody has to be. No, no, we're not going to

immortalize that guy in Transformers, please.

Oh, gosh, please no. Holy cow. Yeah I Mean, you

know fat tanker could be Chris Christie. Okay

cut it the everlasting frag out That's funny

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