General Information:
Synopsis: Ironhide absorbs all this quickly and then asks if he's the last Autobot on the planet and Alpha Trion confirms this. But Ironhide notes an energy signature on a screen and recognizes it! He decides to go seek out the Autobot with or without Trion's permission. Later, Ironhide is looking down a chasm where a pile of body parts are littered all over the place. Scamper is with him but doesn't offer to help in any way. He climbs down and after some searching finds the half wrecked body of Sunstreaker! He scoops up the body of his comrade and Sunstreaker awakens and begins to apologize for everything that happened on Earth. Having no memories of the events on Earth, Ironhide just promises Sunstreaker that he'll get him fixed up. As he tries to climb out, a swarm of Insecticons attack! Ironhide transforms to vehicle mode, putting Sunstreaker in the back of his storage compartment and rams through the creatures at top speed! Later, back at the city, Alpha Trion chastises Scamnper for losing Ironhide. When he returns, Sunstreaker is draped over his shoulders. He puts him down gently and sunstreaker is shocked to see Alpha Trion, recognizing him instantly! Sunstreaker begins to babble again so Trion puts him to sleep, explaining his brain is stuck in a recursive loop. Alpha Trion is surprised Ironhide would risk himself for "scrap" and that's when Ironhide reads Trion the riot act. Alpha Trion finally explains that while he did live on to die on Earth, the version of his Spark and memories that have been restored was from Cybertron's distant past, so he would have no memories of those events. He goes on to explain that he brought Ironhide back for one very good reason: to save Cybertron. He's one of the toughest Autobots in body and spirit and he was one of Prime's most trusted advisors, making him ideal for the task. Ironhide understands the importance of his mission, so after strapping on some impressive looking weaponry, he heads out into the darkness of Cybertron to save the planet!
Story: Having Alpha Trion back in the spotlight is a treat. First introduced in the G1 television series, the character has been mostly sidelined through a lot of recent Transformers history. Now that he is considered one of the original "13" Transformers created by Primus, I'm not surprised to see him featured prominantly somewhere in the IDW universe. This version seems a bit more loopy and a lot less empathetic than past incarnations, and if indeed this Trion is the Trion that is now considered one of the "13", then this would make sense considering his relatively high position and his age. What's nice is that we're given small hints as to his brilliance including the most important feat: bringing Ironhide back to life. I also like the fact that he brought Ironhide of all Transformers to save Cybertron. In an era where many new Transformers are being introduced as cool because we're told so it's nice to see an old timer like Ironhide being given the respect he is due. Tossing Sunstreaker into the mix is interesting. While somewhat disturbing, I found his betrayal in the previous "Devastation" and "All Hail Megatron" series somewhat understandable. Sunstreaker was never portrayed as a mushy, human loving Autobot in his original tech spec. He was said to be a ruthless warrior, much harder edged than his brother Sideswipe. Given that, why wouldn't he go nuts with no regard for humans who only caused him pain? The default answer is "But he's an Autobot!" but I think this series has shown that Autobots can be as diverse in beliefs as humans themselves. That said, I see the opportunity for his character to change for the better and get some redemption, which makes this an interesting tid bit to add in. That said, I am quite curious why he knows who Alpha Trion is but Ironhide does not. One wonders if the gap where "this" Ironhide stopped being the Ironhide we first met in the IDW universe is where Alpha Trion revealed himself to the Autobots or something. This is a story point that I hope is picked up in a future series. Artwork: A lot of this issue is conversational, and thus for the artist a lot of emotion has to be conveyed without much action going on. Coller delivers the goods however. The facial expressions in this issue are fantastic. Between Ironhide and Alpha Trion we get a wide range from surprise to anger. It's very easy and tempting to make Transformers look emotionless since they're robots (and warrior robots at that) but the fact is these are sentient, emotional creatures so seeing emotions (beyond anger and apathetic) is always welcome. Coller not only draws these in the facial expressions, but body language as well. Ironhide holding his head in confusion, Alpha Trion's hands splayed out in confusion when Ironhide doesn't recognize him and Ironhide putting his fingers on his brow in frustration are fantastic as they convey a message even without text. Add to this that Coller manages to get good expressions out of Sunstreaker who is missing part of his face and it's even more impressive. The coloring work in this issue is fantastic. There is such a night and day contrast between the dark streets of Cybertron and the bright lights and surging power of Metroplex are incredible. It helps that Metroplex himself is mostly white and light grey. Also, I love use of lighting effects including a glow coming out of the eyes of the Transformers as well as the bright screens inside Alpha Trion's command center.
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