Transformers Windblade #2 Review

Okay, let's operate. Operate. Operate. Where's

the dog? It's Operation the Wacky Doctor's Game,

where you're the wacky doctor. Batteries not

included. Oh, you blew it. My turn. Take out

a spare of this for $100. It takes a steady hand

because if you touch the side... Here goes his

bunny bun. Don't get nervous. I did it. That's

$200. Operation. A game from Milton Bradley.

It's like, we're gonna take something and we're

gonna make our own thing out of it! Woohoo! Look

at us! We're Disney! We can do it! Because we

buy everything! But on that note, since we're

all here, do you think we should talk about Princess

Windblade? Yes! We absolutely should! Princess

Windblade! Transmission is go! The pullback crosses

over with the under base podcast to review the

four issue miniseries Transformers wing blade

join your hosts the long -suffering TFG one Mike

the committed lady wreck the am tailstorm and

the Pretender ha he prime as they bring you in

-depth analysis of the mostly all -female team

of Margaret Scott writer and sarah stone artist

as wing blade takes idw publishing to new heights

of awesomeness get ready to pull your bag under

the base in this first ever crossover event welcome

to the underbase it's another crossover podcast

with geek cast radio networks the pull bag and

team angel hello angels awesome we have a beetles

diva bonjour we have a haji prime Oh crap! Dang

it! I wanted to break forth another language

and I don't have one that works! Hola! Yeah,

I know no Spanish and I'm like, hello in German

is hello! Aloha! Show off! I'll start talking

in Pig Latin, that'll show you. Wait, hello in

Pig Latin, wouldn't that be oh hell? We're off

to a roll, can't you see it? There you go. And

a TFG1 Mike. And of course me, Lady Rack. I think

the woohoo did it, so there you go. And the mission,

we are reviewing Windblade number two. Number

dos. So, compadres. I'm just gonna really ride

that one, aren't I? It's the amigos. I think

I'm listening to the Telemundo channel or something.

It's not the three amigos, it's the four amigos.

As long as we don't it's yours plus d 'Artagnan.

Yeah, there you go. Oh My god, just wait wait

stop now all as I can think of is the 93 David

Hasselhoff movie where he played John d 'Artagnan

and I'm Cole as Cheech Marin is Aramis This is

already Cause I like the bad guys. Stinky cheese.

Sorry. Colonel Rich, at least at one point I

was played by Christopher Walken, not Christopher

Walken, Tim Curry. There you go. That totally

trumps all awesome. Exactly. All right. Well,

before we get into another, you know, run of

of language and, you know, geek outs, whatever.

Ah, let's jump into the world of Cybertron. There

you go. Awesome sauce. Okay. So the credits,

Windblade number two is written by Margaret Scott,

art by Sarah Stone, letters by Chris Mallory,

and editorial assistants, Rebecca Huot. I really

liked that last name. I wonder if she was a Marine.

That would be awesome. That would be awesome!

Probably would be like, uh! Awesome sauce. And

then Captain Continuity as the editor. It doesn't

say that, but it should. It totally should. Totally

should. So the covers we have, we have three

covers. The standard covered is the bet. Not

the covered. Cover. The standard cover. is by

the lovely Sarah Stone. No, wait, I want Sarah

to go into everyone's household and start drawing

on their cupboards. Just make sure that no Indians

come out of the cupboards. Come on. I'll take

the Indian coming out of my cupboard. Wait, I

just want to go out and I can put my little tree

in the cup alive and then I could really have

all like tiny miniature transformers that pew

pew and Oh, that would be awesome. That would

be very, very cool. I think that's every kid's

dream and every adult's too. Transformers meets

Indian in the cupboard, oh my god. That would

be brilliant. Make it so, John. Next crossover.

Dude, that would be awesome! That's how they

could put My Little Pony in there too! Yes! Oh

my gosh! We're getting dark really quick here,

okay. On the move, here we go. Windblade. The

picture is Windblade on the move. The subscription

cover by Alex Milne and Priscilla Tramontano,

another Windblade looking badass with her sword

drawn, and then a completely unrelated cover

to the comic. A third of the anniversary cover

artwork. by Marcelo Matier and Priscilla Tramontano,

we have a really confusing cover. It almost looks

like it should have been in the Dark Cybertron

run because we have an Optimus Prime almost in

half escaping from some sort of dark hole in

the floor with the bodies of Hardhead, Rodimus,

and Cyclonus in pieces lying on the floor. I'm

sure you don't like this one, do you, Nicole?

Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The

first thing I thought of as soon as you said

that name, I'm like, okay, everybody just go

on mute and let Nicole spew for hours as cyclones

is dead this is someone's nightmare I okay cuz

which one is it cyclones is nightmare Hardhead's

nightmare or Optimus Prime's nightmare it's my

nightmare I blame Alex, Alex Milne because he

knows I have a fondness for cyclones and he always

threatens to kill cyclones but this was done

by Marcello I think Alex is spreading rumors

about me. Just telling everybody, go kill Cyclonus.

Watch Nicole go off. Trust me, you'll be amused.

Just do it. I'm going to commission you. You

need to get somebody to, at BotCon, commission

for Nicole, Amy. Be like, just draw dead Cyclonus

and we'll commission all the artists there to

draw dead Cyclonus and we'll mail them to Nicole.

I would be evil enough to do that too. Anybody

that's a fan of the podcast. You're going to

BotCon and you happen to be listening to this

episode. Just saying, I'm going to have a table

at BotCon. I will find you or you can find me.

You know, hey, slip me a piece of really quickly

sketched art of Cyclonus dead. I will make sure

it gets to the right people. I'm just saying.

Oh my gosh. Let's see, who do I know that's going

to BotCon that listens to this podcast? I know,

like, this is totally using our powers for evil.

I know, isn't it? But the thing is, you guys

think that's a horrible thing. Yes, me seeing

a dead cyclone, this is horrible. But who's going

to get a whole collection of artwork by professional

artists? That's true. Booyah! In your face, though!

Okay, so which one would you pick Nicole? I'm

gonna go with Alex's because she just looks,

I like the look of her body. It just looks great.

I like it. Yeah. Cool. Even though I shouldn't

give him credit because he always threatens to

kill sex loans. Alex is very talented and she

does look beautiful. How about you, Heather?

For me, it's hands down Sarah's cover. I actually,

Alex's style does not mesh well to me, in my

opinion, with the Windblade series. And I actually,

my second favorite is the crazy does not relate

to anything Marcella one, because it's really

cool looking and it's well done. But it has,

you know, it's just like, hey, look, Transformers,

dead bodies and stuff. But yeah, the cover A

is just, it's just awesome. Gotcha. Okay. And

Mike. I told you this off here, Amy, that I'm

just gonna spoil the rest of my cover choices

for this four -issue series. This is solely Marigred's

and Sarah's series. I'm always gonna pick Sarah's

because it's her art that's in the book. No offense

to Alex or Marcello at all. I mean, they do amazing

covers. There's a lot of other Alex covers that

I like on More Than Meets the Eye, but this is

their book. Well, I think it's great that IDW

is getting people to do the subscription cover

and the retail incentive That's all well and

fine, but I'm always gonna pick Sarah's cover

because it meshes well with the story that's

being told Gotcha. I and just to mirror that

I I totally agree. I do like the other two covers

The last one, not quite sure again. It's just,

it feels like it should have been in Dark Cybertron

and maybe they had a lot of artwork that extra

and they just don't, it was too epic and they

knew how much, you know, Nicole would squirm.

So on that alone, it's, it's worth it, I guess,

to see that. So, but yeah, I have to agree. I

don't think anything other than Sarah's work

on her, on her style of comic will do for me.

I really do. But for some reason her, I don't

know, her legs. to me just look out of proportion

just a little bit. Mm -hmm. I don't know what

it is. I think that was kind of the point. She's

just showing it at like a different angle and,

you know. I know, and for some reason it throws

me off. Gotcha. That's just me though. No, I

see what you're talking about and that's fine

and we can respectfully disagree. Yeah, if anybody

knows the sort of story why... Cuz cuz you know

Marcelo's doing great covers, but they have nothing

to do with it And if anybody knows why I would

like to know cuz I feel like the poor man's doing

this cool stuff And we're all like what the crap

this has nothing to do with anything And you

know I feel bad for dissing on you know good

art But just because it happens to be placed

with something that it bears no relationship

to Yeah, it happens, right? Yeah, if you're gonna

try cyclonus Stop with the dead, Cyclonus, man.

I'm fine with Rodimus being dead. I don't know

why. I like Rodimus, but I love it when he gets

his butt handed to him. There's just something

about torturing Rodimus that brings joy to me.

But you don't do that to my Cyclonus. He's got

a lovely singing voice, and he saved Tailgate.

Come on, man. Yeah, uh -huh. He totally did.

All I can see now is Cyclone is singing, I've

got a lovely bunch of coconuts. He can have my

coconuts. Okay, previously... So, yes, and the

story so far. After the events of Dark Cybertron,

the Titan Metroplex converted into city mode

and offered refuge to any other Cybertronian

in need. But Metroplex is still weak from his

injuries and while investigating power outages

in Metroplex, Windblade is nearly killed in an

explosion. that she realizes was set up by Starscream.

DUN DUN DUN! Spoilers, if you haven't read the

last issue, or listened to our last podcast,

we're going to spoil a little thing. But why

is the leader of Cybertron trying to kill the

only person who keeps his city going? Mike, you

wanted to... Why they didn't do this in the first

place in the first issue, I have no idea. Because

I do not remember a cast page in the first issue

now. I generally recently, probably as far back

as the beginning of Dark Cybertron, my main problem

with the cast pages have nothing to do with them

in the actual book. It's having to do with how

IDW uses them as part of the preview. I'm sorry,

that just doesn't look like a preview to me.

love that they put a cast page in here. You've

got Windblade, city speaker for Metroplex, not

from Cybertron. Chromia, bodyguard, not from

Cybertron. Ironhide, saw the future and became

Mopi. Was proven wrong. You know, creative license.

Starscream, ruler of Cybertron and not loving

it. I don't know how that could be. Blur, bartender,

not so ex -celebrity. That's definitely Swerve

writing that. And Waspinator, life's favorite

chew toy. I loved that so hard. That was really

brilliant. I have to agree. Awesome sauce. I

got hung up on typography on this page because

I'm like, why is Chromia's knot from Cybertron

bolded and italicized? She's like really emphatically

not from Cybertron. Windblade's like just incidentally

not from Cybertron. She's like, we are going

back, regardless of what she says. I was like,

oh, I wouldn't mind actually staying here as

long as Starscream's not in charge. I can totally

see Chromia just like dragging Windblade back

to Kamenous like by the hair. You're coming with

me. No, I don't want to. I love Metoplex. Yeah.

With every issue, I love Metroplex more. Agree,

agree. Okay, so this issue begins two days after

the explosion. We ended with Windblade issue

one. Windblade was strapped to a table and she

was getting better as Starscream came in waltzing

in to say, look who isn't dead. This is a slightly

bit just before that. So we have page one and

we are interviewing and harassing bots and macadams

about the explosion. Well, we're not, you know,

but Circuit and Long Tooth kind of are. Blur

is pretty adamant, you know, buy a drink or leave!

They also interview Chromia, who threatens to

break the camera, which would also be, what,

Long Tooth's face? Yeah, pretty much. Now, I

am glad that they went ahead and said this is

Long Tooth and Circuit, because I was going to

make a really, really poorly timed rewind joke.

I get to talk about blur down here. That is amazing.

Yeah. Because I would look, I know IDW blur is

not G1 blur, but the only voice that I've ever

heard for blur is John Machida jr. I would love,

love to hear him say the first line really fast.

And then when he gets to slow down, he slows.

I would love to hear that out of him. That would

be amazing. That would be awesome. Yeah. I know

it talks about. The facts, but I'm going to slow

down by a drink or leave. So is the, okay. So

his name's circuit. Has he always looked like

garris or is that just like. I'm yeah. Cause

he's totally full on garris right there. And

I don't, he's from some video game that like,

I don't even know, but there's a character that

looks exactly, exactly, exactly like that. Maybe

they were formed from the same mold. I mean,

look at the Seekers. They all look alike. Just

different color schemes. Yeah, there's gonna

be two people hating on me. There's gonna be

people who are like, I can't believe you don't

know that! And then there's gonna be people like,

what are you talking about? That's how it goes.

I just think of Garris 9 when you said that.

I'm like, Garris, Garris 9? And I can't even

remember what it's... Anyway, move along, move

ahead. So Tall Taker and Fat Taker are also interviewed.

Who says something cryptic? Waspinator does.

I'll hold that thought because we will come back

to it. And then Blur intervenes and of course

that's how it goes. So in the meantime we pop

over to a familiar habit. Screamer and Rattrap

as they come to visit a recovering Windblade.

But the party crushers are stopped by Chromia.

This time Starscream doesn't barge in without

exchanging words with Chromia. Before he walks

in to say well look who isn't dead So now we

know we're where we are and how we've caught

up at this point because yeah, that's okay I

want to talk about this certain panel of Starscream

and chromia with her hand on the door now if

there wasn't any words on there I'd be I Just

think of chromia is like my eyes are up here

And she's about ready to say I'm gonna punch

you in the face Just take out all the wordings

around it. My eyes are up here, Betty. My eyes

are up here. Yeah, I was having, you know, just

wondering why Starscream was shorter than Chromia

and had he always been shorter than Chromia.

And that's as far as I went with it, Nicole.

You took it to a dark place, Nicole. You took

it to a dark - I took it to a more realistic

place. A dark, dark place. I mean, look, he's

got a smirk on his face. He's enjoying being

shorter than her right now, okay? And that pic

was bored. Okay, we're not gonna go there. Okay,

so, Chromia, she's not so friendly to Rattrap.

You know, she's got the whole slash -ignore,

but she also does a lot of slamming doors in

this issue, so. And then Starscream, he's mostly

there to gloat about, well, the fact that he's

alive, and to invade Windblade's personal space,

because, yeah. Well, not only that, it's to intimidate

her as well, so. At which point she tells him

he'd better leave because, hey, Chromia hasn't

had a sparring partner for at least two days

and she's feeling aggressive tendencies. Honestly,

I think Starscream would do well to get a sparring

partner himself so he doesn't have to come and

intimidate the visiting Chameans. So, yeah. Three

pages in, we've got a whole lot of harassment

here. If it's not the paparazzi, it's the leadership.

How's the opening of the comic so far? I'm loving

it. i wish there was a little bit more comedy

like the line where chromia you're not gonna

tell it or wind blade you're not gonna tell him

right you know i i wish there was a little bit

more comedy here but i can deal with it not being

here yet um but overall i'm loving it the sad

thing is um now that we're talking about chromia

and sparring partners why am i flashing to the

joke and chasing amy the the three road joke

I don't know why. Anyway. But no, the art's great,

the writing's great. I have zero issues with

this so far. Cool. All right, Heather? I feel

like the art has taken a half step down. It feels

a little more sketched, this issue. That was

the very first impression that I had. It's still

not bad but it doesn't feel quite like there

was time to finish it and that's a little sad

but you know that it's just she's she's drawing

and coloring and there's only so much time to

get these done yeah so it's just a thing gotcha

still good though i mean it still works it's

still powerful it still tells the story well

it just doesn't have quite as much polish Seems

like a little bit of the pop is, is like, not

there. It's just, it's mostly in the lines. Yeah.

Gotcha. Okay. How about you Nicole? Oh, yes.

I agree that when I first read this, I felt the

same thing too. It's like, it doesn't look as

crisp. Um, the, the color seemed, I don't know.

Like you said, she's doing so much. the colors

start that it's almost watercolorish but not

really you know what i'm talking about yeah it

almost has that kind of a a blur effect so i'm

not you know i thought about that i thought i

hope it's not just the pdf because if it's the

pdf then that's the only thing is sometimes it

could be to be honest when i got this one i can

usually resize and make it look like it There's

just something about the PDF that I think might

be different this time. So I was kind of holding

off going Well, maybe it's just the PDF so I

will have to when I get the actual physical copy

to let's see in a couple days Yeah, we'll figure

it find out. Yeah, but yeah, you're right that

I wonder if the PDF is slightly in pairing that

just a tad So well, it doesn't help it was a

giant watermark in the middle of it like That's

what happens. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It didn't bother

me the last issue though. Now we're just like,

look at it. That's so awesome! Starscream seriously

needs to learn about personal space and how to

get off. Yeah. The whole... Like, dude, you're

making me feel uncomfortable. I think that was

the point though. He's like, he's totally there

to intimidate her and he's like totally in her

personal space. I'd be like... get away from

yeah he lost points with that elbow to the chin

what yeah i still like the guy he's a glorious

villain but he's meanie and i don't like him

she just need to set more boundaries with him

i think she's a little too nice i and that was

that was actually really good writing right there

when wind blade finally tells him off because

she's been so not the only word i can think of

is subservient right now and she kind of is but

she's starting to be like you know what Yeah,

you may be the leader and I'm supposed to follow

you, but you're also a creep get off. I like

that. You're also a creep get off. And I love

the line about I pray he doesn't see my hand

tremble. Yeah. I mean, who among us has not dealt

with some creep and we're trying to be brave

and like stick up for ourselves. And inside we're

like, Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh

crap. When you get to think about it in her terms,

this is the first time she's ever been to Cybertron.

This is her first time really, okay, take Dark

Cybertron aside, because I know she was introduced

there, but in this miniseries alone, this is

her first real interactions with this, you know,

supposed one of the best Decepticon villains

of all time, which he's so totally not. Well,

in Dark Cybertron, there was a clear enemy. This

one, it's the, the enemies are not so clear.

He's supposed to be the leader and he's supposed

to be on their side. So it would come as a little

bit of a shock to find out. Oh, wow. What, what

do you know? He's actually a creep. Yeah. Get

away from me. Yeah. Give a shadow of a doubt,

but you know, he's not good in it. So, yeah.

Why am I always running into these pop culture

references in these records? All I can think

of is that, that old ad with the two kids. I'm

not touching you. I'm not touching you. I'm,

I'm, she's touching me. Awesome. Okay, so Starscream

and Rattrap leave, and Chromia goes to check

on her little sister, because that's what I'm

kind of looking them as. Is this your little

sister? There you go. And they sit down to have

a conversation, like literally. They have chairs

and everything. It's great. Is this the Rikers

sit that Sarah was talking about? I think so.

The Chromia does? Yeah, the Rikers sit. Oh, you're

right. Oh my gosh, I totally see that now. That's

awesome. I love it. I totally love it. The Riker

sit down. Oh. She mentioned that she'd put one

in so I was looking for it and I'm like, ah,

there it is. That's great. Oh, love more of that.

Get more of that Star Trek in there. Yeah. Okay.

So remember that wire I was reaching for, but

I almost died two days ago, you know, all that,

you know, um, no, wasn't important. It was part

of the igniter capsule. as Windblade paces, and

just before she's to go into the explanation,

they realize that the paparazzi are trying to

listen in. So, yeah. Chromia gets her rage on

with an axe. Luckily, the door slams again and

she only takes her rage out on the door. I really

think Chromia needs to see wrong. I mean... Oh

my gosh, her axe goes through the door! It does?

That's awesome. Yeah. And then the whole, yeah,

that would be very intimidating. And, you know,

I don't think that circuit and long tooth will

be thinking twice about coming to them to interview

again. Maybe reported reporters. Yeah. They are

going to be rust coated when she's finished with

them. Oh, they will rust themselves. Okay. So

it was SirScream, Chromia. Starscream tried to

kill me! And Chromia gives her a really, really,

really fast, great warning. She says, whatever

you're going to say next, whatever you accuse

Starscream of, you better have proof. He rules

the planet. You're, um, you're only going to

get one shot at this. And yeah, they're like,

ah, okay, really serious moment. And then they

leave for a more secure location with less microphones.

The wire in the last issue almost had the proof.

D 'oh! Yeah, I was super sad that she lost that,

because I thought she had it. Thought she had

it too. It looked like she'd grabbed it but oh

But now she was getting dragged away true I mean

when you're when you're that weak you don't really

notice what's going on. She might have dropped

it out of her fingers Yeah, so would now be a

good time for chroma to call Optimus Prime That

was a little one's job. Oh wait. She's not around

Yeah, I loved that line. I really have to say

you know she's like hey He said we can call him

if we have to. And then of course he called her

bluff. But I was like, yeah, yes, please call

him. Of course, what is he going to do is say,

Hey, I'm right in the middle of a problem right

now. He's like up to his ears in Galvatron right

now. Gotta go. Bye. That would take Galvatron

off so bad. That'd be awesome. Sorry. Moving

on. Yes. So how you liking Chromia and her axe?

I've always liked Chromia. You know, I don't

know why I did not realize this but I went back

to the first issue She had her axe in the first

issue for some reason I just did not see it and

then this issue happened I was like, oh cool.

She's got an axe. I was like, yes, it's so last

issue Now now we okay cuz Windblade has the sword

Nautica has the awesome wrench and of course

Krovi's got to have something she's gonna have

a melee weapon. Why not an axe? She's got a shield

and an axe. That is so tough. Awesome. Assaults.

Totally diggin' it. I'm worried right there.

Yes. Totally diggin' it. I love Windblade's,

like, frustrated, like, waving her hands around,

doing that, like, GAH! Yeah, there's killer body

language in this whole section. It's awesome.

It makes me happy. Yay! characters rock okay

so the ladies take off to the tower where iron

hide is guarding Metroplex's brain for them while

they're away okay and the conversation between

them is pretty much on the same page it's not

um you know it's not a determination of if Starscream

will attack them but a win and the dynamic duo

of Starscream and Rattrap which watch them go

and he's like she's going to be a problem and

Rattrap says I got something real special in

mind. Okay. I totally hear Beast Wars Rattrap

in this section. Oh yeah. Like, it really reads

him. Does anybody have any theories on what could

be better than a bomb? Because he's already used

the bomb. That was super special, right? Or as

the end result of this issue, what is the surprise

special yet? You know, we haven't yet talked

about what the end surprise of this is. But,

you know, do you think that that... Do you think

that there's going to be anything more than what

he's already got so far? I kind of think so.

Probably. It's Starscream. I mean, Starscream

plots and plans and schemes for the future, so...

Well, it's Rat Trap is supposed to be doing it,

yeah. Well, right, but I mean, it's him doing

it under Starscream's leadership. Gotcha. See,

that's actually Mike, that's why I think that

rat traps thing is separate because the thing

at the end of this issue feels much more like

Starscream's Delio. Whereas rat trap seems like

he's kind of doing stuff on the side. So do you

think that he may have a weasel move up his sleeve

against Starscream then? You still do that. Okay.

You still believe that. Yeah. How about you Nicole?

Oh me? Oh yeah. Right. Why am I flashing the

fan zone there's a rat in every town The thing

is I count I Like to see you a Starscream and

rat trap play with each other because they're

both playing each other they're both using them

for their own goods and something's gonna happen

and One of them's not going to come out looking

good. And I'm pretty sure that's going to be

Rattrap. Starscream always gets his butt handed

to him, but he always makes his way out of it.

He's the smooth talker. Well, if Rattrap gets

roughed up, maybe they'll reformat him and give

him wheels like in Beast Machines. Speaking of

wheels, I have to talk about chromia's alt mode

because I didn't notice at first The second panel

next to Starscream the close -up panel. I noticed

the far away panel when I zoomed in on and I'm

like, hey, that's blur Just on the on the top

model of her she reminds me so much of g1 blur

See, I kind of wish she was more like blur. I

was actually just talking to a pal of mine tonight

about the whole girls equal motorcycle thing

that ends up happening a lot with Hasbro. I'm

glad that Windblade at least isn't a motorcycle,

but there's an awful lot. This friend of mine

collects all the female Transformer toys. So

she's got, you know, a shelf full of motorcycles

in various and sundry colors. And so if anybody

at Hasbro is listening, we could do with some

girl formers that transform into something that's

not a motorcycle. I mean, at least Chromia is

a little more of a Tron bike than just a straight

up motorcycle. But girls can have more than two

wheels. They can. I'm waiting for my Strika.

Oh, yeah. Give us a tank. Come on. That would

be awesome. Oh Yeah, oh yeah Bring it forth people

bring it forth. Are they not gonna do a wind

blade toy? I figured they'd do it So basically

basically the wind well, I haven't but what I'm

assuming the wind blade toy is hey We're gonna

repaint Generations Thrust, because I swear,

every time I see Windblade, and I see those vitals,

I'm like, oh my god, she's Thrust's daughter.

Oh gosh, no! You just spawned fan fiction, Mike.

Yeah, you just totally did. It didn't come from

the ladies, it came from the guy. Come on, man.

You expected it from the ladies, and it came

from the guy. Could be worse, it could be, you

know... Don't, don't, no, no, no, no, no, don't

finish that thought. Don't finish that. It could

be worse. It could be a sequel to the girl who

loved Power Glide. Her toy does not actually

look like Thrust. I thought you said you were

going to say a sequel to Heart of Darkness. No.

I would like to see that happy just to see Mikey

squirm. I love you, Mikey. I think Mikey would

just explode in a shower of swear words and confetti.

Why would you say that? I picture Mikey being

attacked by a clown. We have nothing but love

here on the underbase. We just have nothing but

love here on the underbase. We're a bunch of

kids and siblings arguing with each other all

the time. Yes! Mikey, I love you. You entertain

me. Okay, so. Mikey, I love you, but I love it

when you're in pain. He is very amusing when

he's in pain. Okay, Windbladey, Windblade, Windblade.

Yes, yes, Windblade. Thanks for not pissing me.

Sorry, Dave. I was gonna call you Dave. I meant

to say Matt. Wow. I can't get anybody's name

right tonight. Mike, dang it. Okay. Why does

Ironhide look like Soundwave from War for Cybertron?

Oh, his mode, you mean? Yes, I don't like that.

Because it's a cool mode. He can have it. He

can borrow it. I give him permission. Yes, it

is a good mode. I like playing that character

when War for Cybertron and all that. Yeah. Okay,

so the ladies tell Ironhide everything because

they just got done saying they couldn't trust

anybody except him. I like that they feel like

they can trust him. It's really nice to have

a decent dude who's, you know, it's not like

Ironhide is going to backstab them. It's really

nice to show them being friends and trusting

people and not just holding up in their little

tower and be like, everybody's evil. No, that's,

that's, that's somebody else's job. Okay, so

that's Prowl's job. No, no, that's Red Alert's

job. Everybody's out to get us. You looked at

me. You looked at me. Flashy lightning of blue.

Moving on. Okay, so I love Chromia's response.

Do you have proof? Does the fact that you're

not even pretending to be shocked count? I love

that. It's great. He's like, hey, do you have

proof? Yeah. Ironhide confirms that you're gonna

need to get it. You're gonna need to get that

proof if you're gonna say that. And Windblade

is pretty sure that the evidence would have been

covered up by now because it's actually the second

person she's explained this to. So they'll need

to get the proof and they all put their heads

together to find it. No, they do not transform

all their heads together to find it, but they,

yeah, they start thinking. Yeah. Okay. So nevermind.

That was a bad joke. Wow. Holy crap now as I

can think of his iron hide and wind blade and

chromia as a headmaster threesome Sorry You decide

I'm not going there Like we said listeners can't

be responsible for what we say after midnight

So what happens next okay, so it can't be This

whole, you know, they're trying to find the proof.

The whole point of him coming after her can't

be because she went to McAdams to dig up dirt

on Starscream. Just because, you know, no one

likes him in a few bots and cons or, you know,

they don't trust him. Doesn't mean that she should

get in his crosshairs for that. So Ironhide says

that it can't be Metroplex because you're healing

him. At which point, Windblade wonders, well,

maybe it is Metroplex. Maybe it was the power

outages meant to get - her out of the way, staged

to get her into Rattrap's crosshairs, maybe?

What if they didn't want Windblade to find something

else that is wrong with Metroplex? So now they

go on a hunt to find out what it is that they're

maybe hiding and find that something in Metroplex.

So it turns out to be a really exhausting hunt

for Windblade as yeah, he's not completely healed

and even though the one the The oars did bring

it back from the brink. A titan at 50 % still

faces hundreds of problems daily. And we get

a whole page of Windblade trying to look and

weed out the problems to find a reason why Starscream

would want her dead. But there is literally too

much data to sort through. And in the meantime,

Chromia and Ironhide have put their heads together

to find a little something of their own. So explanation

time. Was it all a trap from the start? Starscream

is trying to get rid of wind blade before she

discovers what he's doing and expose him that

explanation work for you guys Mike yeah, I mean,

I don't know I'm I'm trying to keep an open mind

when it comes to Starscream, but Like I said

before Starscream is a sneaky conniving little

shit Decepticon. Oops. Sorry. He just is it's

just one of those things that And the bad thing

about, and I don't know if it's this Starscream

or any other Starscream, the bad thing about

Starscream in general is he's generally not a

chess player whatsoever. That's usually Prowl's

job and Shockwave's job. Right. Like Starscream,

he might think he has a plan, but you know, then

he'll get a fusion cannon to the face or a shock

cannon to the ear or you know, it just... It's

just one of those things where I cannot see this

turning out to where it comes in his favor. And

we don't even really know what the hell this

is all about. We, we see that that wind blade

assumes it's something to do with Metroplex.

And as you said, Amy, she's sifting through all

this data. And we, we got to talk about the data

again, because the way, the way that, that Meredith

writes the data and the way that, and this is

a very, very minor thing. It isn't even art,

but just the word balloons and the dialogue.

how Sarah does that up with Metroplex talking

to Windblade is just absolutely amazing. And

the sad thing is I'm hearing G1 Omega Supreme's

voice when I'm reading Metroplex here. That would

be good though. Yeah. No, I'm not saying it's

a bad thing. I'm just saying it's strange that

I'm hearing that voice. Yeah. Well, it's that

same kind of just simple way of talking. Well,

and the other thing is technically speaking it

isn't a voice. It's just a bunch of him. It's

it's it's him's you know relaying messages through

you know his Like symbols and stuff like that.

So, you know You can almost kind of hear this

Kind of like you said the voice of Metroplex

is so distinct Well, look at this Energon flow

diminished in sector 9. Okay. Yes, sure While

Windblade is looking at that and she's seeing

Cybertronian, we don't read Cybertronian. We

don't speak Cybertronian as the readers, so...

Think for yourself, bud. Damn. Okay, Cyclonus

stalker. Oh, I can examine him? Yes. Oh god,

that's a completely other podcast. The Underbase

explores Nicole's obsession with Cyclonus. You

don't have enough bandwidth for that. I honestly

think that people would probably listen only

because they're too terrified to look away. Oh

god, now all I can think of is that Clerks 2

trailer. It's so horrifying. I can't look away.

everybody in the last issue more than meets the

eye. I'd be like, no, we know. We don't want

to look, but we're looking. So what I'm saying

here is, as the readers and as the audience,

they have to put writing in here. And that's

what I'm saying. In the combination of reading

her internal monologue and Chromia saying whatever

Chromia is saying on this page where Metroplex

is talking to Windblade. Yeah, she's like, keep

going. Just keep going. Yeah. Or go do this.

You go do that. They're good. Exactly. You have

to I sometimes have to go back and read all the

yellow balloons just on their own. Yeah, they

they flow and then But yeah, it's cool. Yeah,

I'll say that it's not so a negative against

the this issue, but Some of the monologue balloons

and where they're placed not what's set in them,

but where they're placed in the book It's a little

strange for me I'm not saying that all have to

be across the top of every panel, but sometimes

I have a hard time in comics, and yes, I know

you read left to right, but sometimes when they're

spread out the way they are in this issue, I

have trouble keeping up with them. Because it's

like, oh, I'm reading this, and then I'm reading

this down here. I'm like, hey, wait, what? And

then I go back up to the other right -hand side.

Hey, there's something else over here. Why did

I miss that? Mike, is it just the Metroplex part

or the whole comic? It's... Windblade's monologue.

The yellow... Oh, yeah, okay. I kind of agree

with what you're saying. It's just her yellow

monologue. It's not the word... I said it wrong.

It's her internal voice, basically. Yeah, no,

I kind of agree with what you're saying. And

I don't like it. As much as I like Sarah's art,

I don't like this design on Waspinator. His face

design is I Don't know. It's a little strange.

I'm just gonna say it at some points. It doesn't

emote adorableness Before we skip too far ahead

yeah Yeah, so the explanation for me. I thought

like the explanation Kind of worked because it

kind of gave me the idea that actually this has

been in motion from before she's discovering

it right now that Starscream just wants her out

of the way because Starscream wants to, well,

we'll get there. But anyhow, um, he wants something

and they're going to get it and he doesn't care

who he has to kill off to get what he wants.

So, I mean, it's Starscream, you know, he, he

look what he did to metal blade, not metal blade.

Oh, metal. Metal Hawk. I'm sorry. I was like,

uh, brain fart. Yeah. And I was like, crap, I

lost Skype again. That's what I thought, I was

just like, I'm just dying. Amy dies and the world

comes to a screeching halt. I think the Reclets

are gnawing on her connection tonight. I just

pulled a Metroplex, I lost my voice. Oh god,

no you didn't just pull a Metroplex, you pulled

a Bumblebee. Oh wow, okay. Joy. Okay. Now, Amy,

whenever you talk to Mike, you have to just beep

and boop at him. I do think that absolutely every

single little speech square thingy that from

Metroplex is going to be important. And I, I

did clue in like when the very first one he's

like filtration system, you know, functioning

and dropping and like, Oh, that's going to be

important. Pay attention. Remember that. Really

think energy flow diminished and sector nine

Even some stuff towards the end where he's reading

that poem. I'm like What's this gonna be about?

This is gonna be something About and the part

and some were paired forevermore though fools

called them the least Like that's gonna be somebody

maybe not even in this comic it's gonna be something

important later but i just think that the poem

was his audition for sky bite and jazz he wants

to be part of their trio you know he provides

the base yes he's a subwoofer he's a subwoofer

i had to point out this real quick just because

i really really like this i really like the the

relationships between each of the characters,

but especially between Windblade and Metroplex.

Like you said, he is a character, Heather. He's

totally become a character. I like this idea

that he's like loss, change, repent, apology,

contrition, regret. It's like he realizes he's

like... picking up on all her emotions and all

of the things that she's not expressing to other

people. And she doesn't even have to explain

it on the page because he notices it. So it's

like, I'm glad that they don't dwell too much

on that. I'm glad that like, you know, Margaret's

not like always monologuing about what she's

feeling because the fact that Metroplex gets

it and gets it so quickly and so succinctly and

in just a little panel like that, I know exactly

all of her emotions. It's great. And then I like

this Godzilla looks at the soldier guy in the

movie. Yeah, and there's like Yeah, great big

giant dude actually paying attention, but I okay

so the part where he goes Futurity miss wind

voice will miss miss soon miss future tense That's

a little ominous. Mm -hmm very Gosh darn it,

you guys. Wind voice should not regret. I wonder

if she's picking up, if he's picking up on the

fact that she's worried that he's going to die

and it's going to be her fault. Yeah. Her face

right there, she's so sad. I hate to bring a

comedic moment to this moment of epic sadness,

but why do I feel this entire thing with Metroplex

is a giant game of operation? I want to see the

size of his spunny bone. Oh my gosh! Oh, wow.

What? Don't you think that - Oh, golly, you guys

are perverted. Oh, we were thinking about that?

Oh, okay. No, I'm still just stuck on the giant

game of operating. Just be careful, you know.

Don't touch the sides. That was wrong, that was

wrong. Oh, you get zapped into next week. Wait,

I want to see what did these artists draw a Metroplex

with a big giant glowing nose now. Yes. If you

don't want the fans will. Nicole, you know how

you love Cyclonus. I love him too. But at this

point, I love Metroplex that hard. So I'm like,

no, don't disrespect him like that. No, because

you can use that red light. Maybe it's a dark

room. I want to see Sarah or Alex or even and

somebody one of the IDW transformers artists

to actually draw Metroplex color him as If he

was an operation board game Okay, Matt Frank

we gotta ask him only if they sell it on Cybertron

Where did we leave off? Don't worry, don't worry.

I'm keeping track. That's my job, right? Okay,

so Chromia and Ironhide have come back to that

little gem of a comment that was Waspinator said,

too risky for Metroplex Lady Underground. Waspinator

know where he not wanted. Yeah. Poor Metroplex,

but they're like, hey, wait a minute This was

the comment that was made on the page number

one, which I didn't say then but I'm saying it

now So you could check it's exactly what he said

Okay, so they didn't tell him not to go near

Metroplex Someone has said something to him if

you know, it wasn't Ironhide. It wasn't Windblade

No one's has said anything to him. So we should

go and talk with him So the ladies asked Ironhide

to stand guard again as they go chat with Waspinator

And they find him at McAdams, where they, you

know, where he was last interviewed, at which

point he bolts. Like, ah, you raspinator? He

gets out of there. So he proves why, if Chromia

locks eyes on you, you better not run. Just stare

her down, be strong. She can see into your guilty

soul. She wields that axe like Optimus in War

for Cybertron. Yes. Yes, which would intimidate

anyone. And then the fact that she pulls out

the shield as well and just like ruff them up

with it is like It's like she was trained by

Die Atlas or something, right? Yeah, she reminds

me like more of like Optimus and Transformers

animated how he was always pitching his axe around.

Yeah, I could see that too. Not enough red in

there her acts though to make me see that yeah,

it's the I Bet you I bet you her acts has a second

transformation and I picture it as a pole pole

cue I bet you she plays billiards and she she

hustles everyone I could see her being hustler

And we're up to thousands of dollars in fan art

right now But it's worth it. It's always worth

it. Okay, so before Chromia can, you know, rough

Waspinator up too much, Windblade calls her off

and has a truly honest moment with Waspinator,

which I thought was aww. She doesn't intimidate

him. She's really, really nice, like too incredibly

nice. She's like really nice. Cause like, yeah,

everybody picks on Waspinator and he's like,

yeah, that's really sad. That's really depressing.

It's like aww. Nobody likes Waspinator. Oh, that

truly is depressing. No offense to John or to

James, but here's the truly excellent thing about

having a Beast Wars character be written by a

fan of Beast Wars, even though this isn't Beast

Wars. Like, Marigrid really gets his... Clumsiness

is the best term I can use at this point in time

But she really gets how he's supposed to be he's

not just there to use his tail is the key to

shockwaves endgame. Yeah you know and I absolutely

love that. I love the moments between Windblade

and Waspinator. That's what was so awesome about

Beast Wars to begin with is because he was the

comedy relief but You know what? He was always

there. And you're right. Everybody treated him

like crap. And he kept taking it over and over

again. I mean, I don't know any other character

they had to deal with all that. Until the very

end. True. Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

Everyone was happy for him at the very end of

Beast Wars, because he finally got what he deserved,

which was to have a crowning glory for once.

But we also knew that the humanoids could totally

take him, so we weren't that worried. Like, that

one little girl can take him. Well, yeah, but,

you know, it... See, and this is a complete Beast

Wars, Beast Machines tangent, but see, here's

the thing. In Beast Machines, it was revealed,

once we figured out that he got turned into his

own motorcycle, that he got sick and tired of

ruling the pre -humans, or the early humans,

and he basically found his own damn rocket and

blasted off to Cybertron. Oh, God! oh god waspinator

is a part of team rocket blasting off again holy

crap no we do not need pokemon and transformers

i will just reiterate that beast machines did

not happen it is yes no it did it did happen

it is part of how you can have all of it i will

send you every copy that has ever been made I

asked, okay well, okay granted this is something

that didn't happen, but I did ask Larry D 'Attilio

in the interview I did with him a few years ago,

if Beast Wars had continued what would you do

with the characters? We'd probably put them back

on Cybertron. It might not be the exact same

story we got in Beast Machines, but Beast Machines

for me, I absolutely love that entire series.

Sure, Optimus becomes a little bit too... Holy

roller. Yeah, but one of the reasons why I love

that series, and you cannot take this away from

me, is because it's a natural evolution of Cheetor's

adolescence growing up into an adult. Yes, Cheetor

was awesome in that series. There's only two

characters that matter in that series, and that

was Jet, Jetstorm? Yeah, and the drone. Megatron's

drone. He's the one that made that show. I have

no idea what you guys are talking about. I would

just like the people that say Movie didn't happen

because Prowl got shot. I'm like those people

That's how I am about beast machines because

Rhinox got totally shanked in that. Oh, see,

I... You think... But think about this, and again,

we are way off topic here. Yeah, we are so off

topic. This is gonna be the longest podcast ever.

Think about this, Heather. Look at the Dark Designs

episode, and then look at what happened to him

in Beast Machines. Crap, I never remember what

the name... We will talk about this later. Yes,

yes, yes. We will talk about this later. Oh,

the tagline for this... You know, episode's going

to be so many tangents. So many tangents. Yeah.

Okay. So you know what they say about kindness

and all that? You know, Windblade, she's not

really there to hurt Waspinator or intimidate

him, but she really needs his help. And when

he's reluctant to say, she asked him if, you

know, he could show her where it was that they

were when he, or where he was when they were,

he was told to stay out of Metroplex. Uh, cause

you know, all of their lives kind of depend on

it. She's able to convince him to help her. So

something that this comic really does well is

relationships. And I have mentioned, maybe I've

mentioned it before, I don't know. Okay, so we

have the relationship between Chromia and Windblade,

you know, the whole sister thing. And then Starscream

and Rattrap, yeah, the whole, we're gonna be

like, I'm better than you. No, I bet I could

be better than you. No, no, no, really, I wrote

the book on betters. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're

right, you did. So I'll just like follow you.

Anyhow, Windblade and Metroplex, aw, so much,

you know. Don't be regretting all that. Yeah.

Okay. So now we have wind blade and waspinator

What do you guys think about these relationship

connections in the story? Because I think they're

just ace and I think it totally makes the story

But you know, maybe not everybody agrees with

me. So discussion time Nicole I think out of

this whole comic this is the most realistic moment

I would say this is a moment where everyone can

relate to either with Windblade or with Waspinator.

Everyone's been in this situation before and

sometimes you just want to have a friend around

and Waspinator's finally getting that moment.

And so yeah, I love this moment. I thought it

was very well done. The writing was great. His

expression, just like, aw, for Waspinator, Waspinator

need hug. You just want to give him a kitten,

you know? Give him a kitten? He might eat the

kitten, are you sure? Oh, goodness. I can see

Waspinator like, you know, that big gorilla that

had a little kitten. I can see Waspinator being

like that big gorilla, just loving that little

kitten. How about you, Mike? You know what I

just realized about this comic series? We are

missing one person to make this the real world

on Cybertron and seven strange seven strangers

MTV's that this is This is the Transformers version

of MTV's the real world No, the relationships

are great, you know, I think it's interesting

how wind blade is able to somewhat Keep the peace

amongst everybody and she's a little bit like

you look at wind blade and chromia Chromia is

and I hate to say this but chromia is essentially

g1 ironhide she wants to bust some chops and

and wind blade is almost optimus prime like where

she wants to Actually figure out what's going

on versus just you know cutting waspinators head

off with an axe That's good point it's almost

Windblade is almost how Bumblebee should have

been written. Yeah, because we had way too much

Bumble baggage in the early days. Yeah. And now

he's not even alive anymore. Spoilers. Sorry.

I'm just gonna cry about that a little bit. From

a gold bug to a dead bug. Poor Bumblebee. It's

so sad. He gets no love. Neither does Waspinator.

Maybe there's something wrong with the bugs here.

This whole section felt very, very real to me.

I was totally inside Windblade's head for this.

I felt what she was feeling. I love the part.

I love her little biting her lip. There's some

good art stuff too where she's biting her lip.

I'm sorry about Chromia hurting you. It's not

a lie. That's really good. I love the panel.

That's Waspinator's eye view of Chromia. powering

over him and really super fast before we get

too far past it. One of my favorite panels in

this entire issue is where they open the door

to the bar and everybody goes, gosh, shield your

eyes. And then like streaks of light across it.

That's awesome. Yeah, it's good stuff. And I

love the, you know, the sort of message that

a little compassion can make a big difference.

That's cool. We need to hear things like that.

Well, how often do you see like, you know, the

moral of the story is, you know, in stuff like

this. And I'm kind of glad that, you know, that

they brought that in there. A little compassion

is always kind of a good thing. So, you know,

and she shows it definitely relates. And I think

it makes her a relatable character because like

she's trying to be like, you know, she realizes

that remember the first issue when she said,

you know, waspinator. And then it had like, what

was it that the tagline that was a, uh, a little

dim or something like that. She's like, she already

has him tagged for like, she knows him. She's

like, okay, he's a little bit dim. So be nice.

Cause he's like a little bit dim and he can't

help it. You know, it doesn't mean you have to

be judge me or, or, you know, being mean to him,

just like, you know, go with it. Give him a break.

Cause you know, he's not to hurt anybody. He's

not really hurting anybody. He's just being who

he is. So yeah. Okay, so sometimes when you get

to know someone, you know, we got this little

vibe going on between Waspinator and Windblade,

you know, she's being really nice to him. So,

you know, he's kind of opening up and you get

to know somebody and they find out that they

have really strange tastes. Waspinator is sort

of a bug. So he has some buggy like habits that

are truly gross. And that's what I kind of took

out of this next page is like okay actually next

couple of pages he shows wind blade where he

was and you know we find out pretty fast that

his reasons for being there is because he really

likes waste and they pretty much go up metroplex's

exhaust port to find this place so yeah can we

say Yeah, that was pretty nasty. I wonder if

this is the dark side that Merigrid was like,

you know, spoke of in this comic. They're serious.

They're just in the sewers, like they need to

meet the turtles. But yeah, that whole, it's

in that one little word bubble. I follow him

even when I stop wanting to go Merigrid. That

was epic. Awesome. Okay, so. the bowels of metroplex

when blade discovers literally the bowels yeah

the bowels it's the bloodstream okay it's the

bloodstream i'd say more than the bloodstream

this is the poop stream the brown stuff is the

bowels and the pink stuff is the bloodstream

and that's how it's gonna be in my brain and

you can't change it oh we're gonna change it

i'm looking at these colorings that i'm just

thinking oh metroplexity is a oil chain He needs

an oil change, he needs antifreeze, he needs...

A whole enema. Sorry, I had to go there. He needs

a transition, uh, transmission fluid flush. Transmission

fluid, power steering fluid. I'm thinking of

all the stuff wrong with my van. Metroplex should

have to do some serious downsizing to become

a vanformer. What's happened to me on miniature?

What are these little things in me? They're crying

a lot. They're dropping ice cream inside of me!

Okay, so within the bowels of Metroplex, Windblade

discovers the mine. And it hits Windblade that

Starscream is here to mine the ores out of Metroplex.

What? That is messed up. That is really messed

up, because, hey, I thought it combined with

him, but, you know, whatever. We're gonna rip

it out of him somehow. It's like taking fingernails

off a person's fingers, you know? We're gonna

rip it off. It's like drawing bone marrow or

something really, really... Yeah. Ouch. Not okay.

It's not a good idea. No one should ever have

that kind of power to do that either, so. It

makes owies. And heck, Shockwave shouldn't have

had that power either. We already saw what happened

in Dark Cybertron. So Windblade and Wellspinator

leave, but as they leave, they are seen by some

shadows in the depths of Metroplex, and one of

them says, we've got a problem, Houston. Yeah.

A city speaker dedicates their life to others,

putting them before ourselves. Any theories or

opinions on if Windblade will have to make the

ultimate sacrifice. She's definitely willing.

It's what she's been working for. She seems pretty

selfless. Any vibes to foreshadow how that is

going to turn out at the end in this point? Well,

I hadn't thought of it until you brought it up.

Oh, they've hit it out a couple times. You know,

so, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm really getting

that vibe in this issue, like going, jeez, you

keep saying it and all. I'm going, uh, please

say she's not going to die. No one ever dies

in Transformers. Tell that to Bumblebee. Bumblebee

will be back. He'll just come back as a zombie.

Or he'll be combined with Shockwave. They'll

call him what? Bumble Shock? Shock Bee. Shock

Bee? You know, the whole face morphed together

like Ratchet and Murgatron was in, you know,

the Marvel version. Yeah. Kill us! Only said

in, like, Shockwave's really nasal, anal voice

from G1, that'd be amazing. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!

Just think of, like, the Ratchet in Regeneration

1. Ouch! Yeah. I try not to think of the Ratchet

and Regeneration. It's combined with something.

Kind of traumatic. It's like, you get to be my

sled ornament. Poor Bumblebee. I thought that

was awesome. That's because you're evil, Nicole.

Heartless and evil, all your love goes to Cyclonus

and there's none left for anybody else. Wow,

you really said that, didn't you? I say this

stuff to her all the time, but I know it's not

gonna happen. I know he's safe for a while. James

said so. Yes, but he can always change his mind.

You really believe James Roberts? Come on now,

how many times has he twisted you guys around?

You should never trust him. I trusted him about

Rung. He said Rung was dead, and then he wasn't,

and I was like, yay, but then, what? You lied

to me. So for like a whole month, maybe longer,

I was like totally mourning the loss of Rung.

fictional character, but in my mind it was like

I Think cyclonus is fine for right now. They

gave me the scare in dark cybertron You know

totally relapse Okay Anybody else have any any

foreshadowing vibes about anybody else not making

it anybody potentially Metroplex. I'll throw

this out. They've been talking about Chromia

being her bodyguard constantly. I wouldn't be

surprised if Chromia sacrificed herself to save

Windblade. It's like, which child are you gonna

sacrifice to the altar of like, Og? The one that

pissed you off that day. I'm getting a thought

here. I'm getting a thought. No, don't even,

Amy. We're doing Whiplash here. One minute we're

laughing, the next minute we're crying. One minute

we're laughing, the next minute we're crying.

We are totally bipolar. Yes, yes we are. You

know, the sad thing is if they kill Metroflex,

alls I can do now is build Fort Max. Yes, but

Fort Max is still live, remember? Oh yeah, that's

right, he's somewhere in the Lost Light. I still

don't get that ship, and it's sad that I'm gonna

make the Doctor Who reference it's bigger on

the inside. I just don't get the Lost Light at

all. Oh god. He'll get around to explaining it

eventually. Yeah. Okay, so Windblade returns

to the surface and makes a few phone calls, first

to Chromia to gather the troops that we maybe

have it. You know, McAdams. And then she calls

the paparazzi crew. And after a quick wash -up

from the ewe and the smell, Windblade addresses

a video, not live, but a recording, where she

claims Starscream is threatening, like threatening

everybody, nay, destroying Metroplex in hopes

of extracting Shockwave's auras from the system.

And they say, hey, do you have proof of this?

I have the mine. And she gives that stare into

the, you know, dramatic stare into the camera.

It's like, I have the mine. And they go to the

mine, Chromia, Blur, Windblade, and the recording

crew, and they hear a tick, and Chromia's spider

senses tingle, and she whips out her trusty shield

just in time before KRAKOOM! And they are under

attack from the Terracons. Uh, last panel is

of a sword drawn, Windblade, and she's like,

if the explosion taught me anything, it's that

neither of us are going down without a fight.

WE'RE STARTING A FIGHT! To be continued. You

know what was cool that I clued in on the second

time through this? When she says neither of us,

she's talking about her in Metroplex, not her

in Chromie. Because the whole time she's been

talking about, I'm the voice of Metroplex. I

would gladly offer my life for his. I speak for

Metroplex, not for Starscream. If the explosion

taught me anything, it's that neither of us are

going down without a fight. Which that foreshadows

some cool things that maybe Metroplex could do

something start participating Oh, oh, oh, oh,

I just got a thought which would be really really

really really cool. I just got a thought that

That like okay, so last issue explosion time,

right? She looks like she's fading out. What

if Metroplex saved her? Yeah, that could be possible

how would he have done that I have no idea Mystical

Beetlejuice powers? He's a Metroplex, he's a

Metro Titan, come on. Do you mean in terms of

shifting something so that the explosion didn't

hit her from a lethal angle, or like legitimate

healing her? Because I could believe the first

one, but not so much the second one, because

there needs to be some sort of direct connection.

Gotcha, gotcha. That would be cool, that would

be awesome. The more things Metroplex gets to

do, the happier I am. You're right, you're totally

fanning on him, like, you know. I am. This issue

pushed me over the edge point. Never mind, I

love him. Patrick, you said that. I just, like,

I want to give a challenge to Metroplex to wink.

He only has one eye. Oh my gosh. My eyes! Somebody

stole my eyes! I'm sorry. Okay, so earlier in

the podcast I said something about rat trap talked

about a something special are the tarot cons

that's something special or do we have yet to

see the rat trap super surprise special I Think

we're still up for something. I do too. I think

the tarot concerts are loyal to Starscream and

rat traps got his own thing going Think my theory

because I asked that question is that I'm still

undecided Okay, there was no title on this issue

at least in the review PDF I don't know if there

is one because the first one was a bot in her

city Something like that. I think yeah, so I

didn't see a title. I was like, oh, okay. Well,

yeah, so now that we've talked about this issue

Fembots explanation we mentioned it last uh,

issue and I know I'm bringing it up, but I'm

like, Hey, you guys said some pretty important

things that you're like, it has to be addressed.

And it wasn't really in this issue. So disappointed

or let's keep going and see what happens. Let's

keep going. I didn't miss it. I mean, I was the

one that was like really, you know, going off

about it, but I guess maybe, maybe it was the

months of being like, well, they're from a different

planet. They evolved differently. It did show

us that. Maybe that's all we need. And also,

you know what it was, Amy? It was that nobody

poked at it, this issue. And maybe that's all

I needed. You're like, okay, we're done. Moving

on. Cool. It was when they were constantly bringing

up, there's a she, it's a she. But since this

time they weren't, I was like, okay. They should

always point out that, you know, Waspinator,

it's a bug. It's a bug. It's a bug. Yeah. Poor

Waspinator. I can't get past this panel where

he slurped. It's like, ew, he's drinking it!

He's drinking blood! It's more than that. I'm

thinking of a vampire. It's someone's energon.

Somebody exhaust port. Gross, disgusting. Okay,

yes, Nicole, what do you think about the whole,

you know, explanation, not explanation? Oh, about

them being females? Yeah. I think there's been

so much talk. They kind of explained it in the

last issue, but I don't think they're going to

say any more in this little mini series. They

might bring it up once it splits off though,

I'd say. Gotcha. It's going to be casual. It's

going to be casual. I'd say it's going to be

at Blur's Bar. Gotcha. How about you, Mike? Don't

think we need it I mean they they poked fun of

it a little bit and they made a little bit of

an explanation But I don't want this series to

be the sole basis of it to be explaining to me

why they're female You know, it's like They just

are accept it and move on It's kind of like chromia

said in the first issue to rat -trap leave it

alone Yeah I'd love for them to go to that planet

in more than meets the eye. That would be cool.

You mean go to Kamenis. I've kind of been about

that. The reason why I brought it up, like I

said, is because last time when I brought it

up, it was kind of like, oh, OK, you guys are

really like, no, it has to be there. It has to

absolutely be there. And I thought, OK, we've

had a month to percolate over that. Do we still

feel the same? And, you know, OK, all right.

After, you know, four or five weeks, we are.

We're moving on and I'm good with that. So, okay.

So art, let's talk about the art and what would

you say was your favorite art or panel or page

or something? Heather. I can be dependent on

to squeeble about art. Um, back to the whole,

this one is not quite as good because there were

fewer bits where I was just absolutely gobsmacked

by it. Part of that is actually that now I know

how good the art is in this. I'm not blown away

by every page, because I know what Sarah brings

to it. It still boils down to really, really,

really good expressions and body language. But

I still feel like the lines are a little bit

sketchier in this one. The shapes are fine. Everything's

fine. It's still got that same very animated

feel, and that's fine. But I want to see a little

more finish because it feels like there wasn't

enough time to really go over and say, okay,

you know what? I want that line to be precisely

this thick. I want it to be this, you know, tapered

here and shaped this way that there wasn't quite

as much finishing. It was a little bit more.

I just colored straight over the pencil as I

went. But yeah, still pretty, still really good

expressions and fun and enjoyable to look at.

So yeah, I just chalked it up to not quite enough

time. Gotcha. And yeah, the story was there.

So I just enjoyed it. Cool. How about you, Mike?

Since I'm always a fan of seeing the various

ways that they can destroy Waspinator. I'll say

the panel where where chromia access him a question

Because that that oh my god Looney Tunes moment

he has was absolutely awesome the again I'm not

gonna really put a grade on the art for this

because It's the Pete I think I honestly think

it's the PDF because I think when we get the

issue in hand It's gonna look a lot better. Maybe

it's the lines. Maybe it's not Honestly, as far

as the art goes, probably Chromia is my favorite

character, is how expressive Sarah makes her

in comparison to Marigold's awesome writing.

I mean, because Chromia is that no -nonsense

femme bot. She's not going to take crap from

anybody. She doesn't. She doesn't take crap from

anybody. Yeah. How about you, Nicole? The artwork,

see, now I am going to judge it for what I see

right now. it could change but not it is a little

sketchy like heather said um and it still has

like that kind of water color feel to me and

there's just a couple panels that kind of threw

me off like there's this one where it looks like

when blade's adjusting herself i don't know if

you guys picked up on that one i think i know

which one you're talking about yeah i'm just

like she's adjusting herself in front of iron

hide okay oh that one yeah Is it before or after

she entered Metroplex's bowels? Way before. It's

where she's talking to Ironhide page 16. Oh,

yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just like, oh, okay. I

don't know. There's just a few things that...

He's not even paying attention, which is good,

you know? Sneaking it in while he's not even

paying attention. I do that to myself all the

time and I don't know this. It just happens.

It happens when you've got, you know, a couple

of extra... you know, things that you have to

carry around as... I feel your pain. You know?

Geez. You gotta adjust yourself sometimes, you

know? Guys have their own thing, so just saying.

You know, being a mom to boys, I see this a lot.

Oh yeah, trust me. I did love the artwork every

time when she is... it's Greenblade and Metroplex,

when she's... The coloring, it just seems to

be crisper, and the lighting of it, the design

of it, I enjoy it when Windblade and Metroplex

are together, and she's adjusting, you know.

That sounds really weird. You know, I like her

vision of Metroplex. That's what I'm trying to

say. But, and you know, I love the coloring that

she uses for Chromia most of the time, that blue.

Love that blue. We talked about that before.

What about you, Amy? I definitely have to say

there's a few things I did like about this. I

definitely loved the panel at the very beginning

where Chromia, she's like waving off the interviewer,

the interviewing people. And her hand is in super

focus and as you pull away, it gets all fuzzy.

I really liked that effect. Um, I loved the Metroplex

and Windblick page like you, um, Nicole. Um,

I think I will always love those pages because

I just have to say, yeah. Uh, and I also have

to say, as gross as it was, I really loved the

filtration system pages. The green was truly

disgusting. Um, but then it was also followed

by, you know, this magenta purple and turquoise.

It was like really radioactive. And I've really

never associated magenta. purple and turquoise

with the cut disgusting before. So that really

rocked my world. Uh, and lastly, the expressions,

uh, as always also sell it for me. So Sarah's

is just really amazing with what she's got going

on here. And I love her work and I want more

of her work and we should have more of her after

wind blade. She needs to be on something regular

in some way. So yeah. Yep. Yeah. Sign a petition.

I will sign it. Yep. And finally thought la final

thoughts in a rating Mike. Um, Overall for Windblade

number two, I really dug it. I thought it was

interesting. I'm going to probably enjoy it more

when I don't have to try to. And I literally

tried to do this, even though I know I can't

do it. I tried to see around the stupid watermark.

But, uh, but overall, I absolutely loved it.

Um, I. Don't want to give the art a grade because

I think it is the PDF That it's making us have

the the questions about the art So I'm only gonna

give a grade to the writ to the writing. I Got

to give it a four out of five It's not a bad

issue, but it's not as It's not as I don't want

to say new, because the first issue, we didn't

know what we were going to get. I mean, you know,

unless you looked at the previews and the solicits

and all that stuff, like most of us do, but I

didn't know what I was going to get out of that

first issue. And I mean, I know it's Marigold

and I know what I'm going to get out of her writing

style, but as far as the story with Windblade

being a new character on Cybertron, I wasn't

exactly sure. Because like we said before, there's

a difference between John and James writing Windblade

in Dark Cybertron and what Marigret is doing

here. So for issue two, it's not, it's a triple.

It's not a home run, but it's a triple. So. Okay.

All righty. Heather. I was being very quiet.

I feel like my ratings are still all over the

place because I haven't settled down. I'm going

to give this a 3 because I think this is a good,

solid comic. Very good, but not mind -blowing

in any way. I think I need to remember that 3

means good comic. It does everything it needs

to do. This is also coming down from the introduction

in issue 1 where I was just like, But I think

mostly because of the art feeling less finished,

it's who I am. I see art. That's what I focus

on. And so, yeah, I did want to say quickly before

I finish a quick writing note that I was talking

about this series with... My art night friends

and I was trying to explain the whole like oars

and everything and so I and it just sounds ridiculous

and I love That marigold has several bits, but

she's just like yeah magical oars. I know it's

crazy, but just like When Metroplex first returned

to Cybertron he was dying and although a miraculous

or saved his life true story it failed Just like

good job It's like she's channeling her inner

swerve The writing is really good. I agree with

Mike about sometimes the placement of the different

speech bubbles can be confusing. It works with

Metroplex because that's supposed to be scattered,

but when you're trying to keep track of Windblade's

inner monologue and read the speech bubbles,

it works. It works fine, but you lose the flow

of her monologue, which is why I would have to

go back and... and read it as one piece without

being interrupted by the speech bubbles, because

there were times when going back and reading

it all the piece, I would catch things like the

fact that she's talking about her in Metroplex

at the end. Yeah, it's a good, solid comic, and

I'm excited to see where it goes from here, and

yeah. Okay, cool. Nicole? I'm going to voice

her opinion, giving a good solid three. the artwork

was it was just a little edgy for me like I said

but it still looks great overall um for some

reason the whole thing with Ironhide that kind

of threw me out and I didn't feel like it had

to be there for some reason what they they talked

about could have just been between her and Chromia

I don't know for some reason it just felt like

it was Ironhide was kind of forced in there but

that's just me that's just me people maybe there's

gonna be another reason later like you know yeah

something else going on yeah and that and maybe

maybe you know but i gotta admit oh go ahead

can i give you a reason for why ironhide was

there and you can see if you agree to me it adds

to the feeling of tension that they must leave

a guard with metroplex and he's the only one

they trust And because if they just walked off,

I would not have that. I would not have that

feeling of we must protect Metroplex. So that

that's what he serves for me. I don't know. I

kind of see that. But it just it shouldn't have

had to take as many pages as it did. I mean,

it's almost two and a half pages. And I guess

that's like said, it's just maybe my thing. But.

the whole part with Chromia, Windblade, and Waspinator.

Well, mostly Windblade and Waspinator. I love

that part. That was a very realistic part and

I've really enjoyed that moment. So yeah, like

I said, three's a good solid comic. Give it a

three. Okay, all right. I honestly have to say

that Windblade as a character is really, really

working for me. The relationships, like I've

mentioned before, are really key to this comic,

but every relationship, you know, I think every

relationship in this comic moves the story forward.

But it's just the movements, it's the moments

between characters that like truly hook me and

every second of the comic. So the only thing

that I think that broke me out... strangely enough

get this it was the first page because it was

all about the paparazzi but then I got to the

end and I realized upon reflecting back on that

that it was sort of important to show that these

guys like are around and that their element is

established as being interruptive the very end

when you actually find out hey like they invite

them to be the medium in which they're the truth

is gonna be publicized right and It made sense.

So I'm actually good with the opening now. I

was like, I don't get the opening Why did they

it just didn't start off as a who do why do we

care about the camera crew? Oh, that's right

because they they're kind of important at the

very end. Yeah So the relationships really do

it for me. I think what it's really cool about

it is that it keeps me like keeps me in the storyline

to be honest because like technically this is

kind of like a CSI wind blade and As much as

I'd like to see Starscream bested by a girl The

fan of me would really giggle at that I think

it's more about the characters than the plot

and I think that it makes for a stronger story

when you have both Because it's you know great

meaningful relationships with pop plot it all

works together so what I'm gonna rate it is a

four because I think it's solid and While I have

to agree that there's just some really strange

vibe that just seems like I want to wait until

I actually see it in like hand before I actually

say yay or nay about the art. I think that regardless,

I think that even if it's at this quality, I

still would probably give it a four just because

I'm really digging everything else that's going.

Just because it comes down a little bit doesn't

mean that I didn't appreciate it as much. So

yeah, I'm going to be cool with that. So no,

I got to, I got to point out something here.

Nicole, you said that the, the Ironhide pages

were a little too long. All's I can see him now

is a combination of Eeyore and a Royal family

guard, a British soldier guard that you poke

at in London at the fucking palace, the guys

with the hats. I can just see that now. Awesome.

I can just see Swerve poking at Ironhide. Finger

in the head. Finger in the head. Yep. I love

that line. It's brilliant. It's brilliant. Shall

we talk about the fate of Cybertron really quickly?

A couple of things. I just now noticed that you

said the story is more about the characters than

it is about... The series is more about the character

interactions in their story than it is about

finding out the actual story I just realized

this is Transformers if Transformers was clue

Awesome I don't I'm trying to decide who is gonna

be Miss Scarlet or or the other one Yeah, Mrs.

White that one the other thing was For a preview

of the next issue, we have the cover. In this

issue three's main, I assume it's the main cover,

with Windblade covered in blood. This was the

first one that I saw in previews that I was like,

hey look, it's Lydia from Beetlejuice. But the

fate of Cybertron, Windblade learns more about

the new face of the planet, and lesson number

one is, never underestimate Starscream. How far

will the scheming Decepticon go? to keep Windblade

out of his way. I'm really really actually worried

about Metroplex now. I'm sorry Heather. It's

kind of like Unicle, you just stop thinking about

them killing Cyclonus every chance they get.

Well people have threatened me with that so many

times. She's got a thicker skin now because of

it right? It's like, just wait. When it actually

happens, she'll be in tears and we'll be there

to record it. Baby. Baby. Baby. If he ever actually

dies, I'll be having tears too, so it'll be a

really messy, wet flood. Cyclonus has been won

over by a lot of us, so yeah. Hope he goes out

by a true hero true hero fashion because if he

has anything less I will be angry Don't say stuff

like that James will hear you James if he does

not have a hero's death. I will be pissed He's

safe for at least a year, okay Nicole, you are

so crazy. You've officially out fan fictioned

me. Wow. That's one of the best images ever.

Fan fictioned. Is there something I'm missing?

Yes, I will send it to you. She just shared a

picture of Windblade and Drift on Facebook. Oh

no. Okay, let's wrap up the podcast first. Okay,

so another Stellar Review evening my friends.

Thanks for joining me Nicole. Aloha. Thanks for

joining me Heather. Auf Wiedersehen. See you

found something. And Mike. Yes, you're welcome.

And thank you listeners. And we will catch you

next week here on The Underbase. I've got a lovely

bunch of coconuts, dee -dee -dee -dee -dee, there

they are, standing in a row. Big, one small,

one sum, as big as your head. HARDCAST GOOD!

Okay, there we go. Sorry, I'm like totally tripping

over my own words here, okay. You can do it!

I can do it! I have superpowers! Okay. Woohoo!

So something this this comic really does really

really well... Hold on. Who's messaging me? Oh

crap. Heather! What did I do? You guys! Just

kidding. It's okay. It's alright. I had to blame

someone. It's Mike! It's Mike, he's passing notes.

He's passing notes during the class. Of course.

Actually, I should probably drink some coffee

like twitchy from hoodwinked. I'll be back in

a minute. Okay, cool. Okay. Awesome. Oh my god,

I'm getting too old for this challenge. Oh, I

love the fact that he said that because I got

it on tape. You totally have to use it. Woohoo!

Oh, wait a minute. Okay. So that's okay. It's

like, I don't know. I was very, it was a very

wrong conversation. A very wrong conversation.

Oh my gosh, I just realized really profound stuff

and I don't have to have guilt about this and

that and the other thing. It's okay. Yeah. Oh,

life through the eyes of a Transformers fan.

Yes, exactly. You're always relating it to something

in more than meets the eye. Boom. It's kind of

pathetic. Like get up in the morning and I say

something snarky. I'm like, oh my gosh, I totally

sound like swerve. Yes Yeah, it felt really funny

because today I went and saw Godzilla and so

all day today I've been fangirling about Godzilla

and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm fangirling about

something that's not Transformers. Yeah, Godzilla

is way too, you know, it's the reason why you

have to go over it. It's a good show. Oh, it

was so good. Mike's jumping the gun. Yeah, he's

silly jumping the gun, but it's okay. Woohoo!

Welcome back, Mike. Yes. His pain brings me joy.

Quiet you. Oh, just because you said that, you

think that's gonna shut me up? Oh. It is odd.

It is so odd, like Donkey Kong. I'm like backing

away slowly. That's like just poking the snake,

you know? I'm such like a chronic peacemaker.

I'm like, let's all get along. I've turned into

the chronic hazer. You do it. Go for it, man.

Go for it. That's really funny. I've been hanging

out at convention way too long. Starscream here,

and I am the lord and master of the GeekCast

radio network. Don't tell Megatron. You've just

heard the latest episode of The Pullback, the

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