Before & After

« The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #12 »
Call me crazy, but I think it's a bomb...
"Before & After"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	December 19, 2012
Cover date	December 2012
Story by	James Roberts
Pencils by	Alex Milne (before) Brendan Cahill (after)
Inks by	Atilio Rojo with Alex Milne (before) Brian Shearer (after)
Colors by	Josh Burcham
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	John Barber
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era (2012)

In the wake of a battle with the Decepticons on the planet Temptoria, Rewind lies at death's door and Chromedome is pushed to the edge.

Synopsis

Before... Aboard the scout ship Leading Light, a shuttle of the Lost Light, the rambunctious, fight-hungry 'bots in the craft's fore section are led in a war-chant by Whirl, and have to be silenced by Rodimus so he can deliver their mission briefing: they are heading for the planet Temptoria, current home to a group of Decepticons they suspect of kidnapping the Circle of Light. Around the ship, Tailgate and Swerve employ "Rungian Re-Experience Therapy", going to their "happy places" to calm themselves before battle; Hound and Pipes discuss Ultra Magnus's appointment in the stead of the wounded Red Alert; Hoist compliments Trailbreaker on his new leg-guns; and Rewind and Chromedome argue over a promise Rewind has broken. Before that particular argument can get going, Whirl barges into the rear section and calls for Rewind to accompany him on the front lines to take footage.

In "the Battery", the Decepticon base down on Temptoria, Blip responds to a summons from Nautilator, but finds himself more interested in the fact that the Seacon sounds exactly like Megatron. When Nautilator finally gets him to pay attention to the security monitor, he sees that the Autobots are air-dropping out of the Leading Light right on top of them! A ferocious battle soon erupts; while Rodimus and Drift squabble over who gets to take on which 'cons, Tailgate and Swerve head off to sneak into the enemy base, though Tailgate delays a moment to marvel at Ultra Magnus's fighting prowess.

After... The Autobots return to the Lost Light, but the battle is not without victims: twenty-one crew-members have been gravely injured, including "massive contributors to the Autobot cause" Spoke and Lockstock... and Rewind. A panicked Chromedome tries to ask Swerve what happened, but discovers the little 'bot has had his face blown off. First Aid rushes Rewind to the medibay where his spark is diagnosed to be rapidly fading. As Rewind's Conjunx Endura, Chromedome is given the option of using First Aid's spark-jumpstarting procedure to save him—an easy choice to make, and with his spark a match for Rewind's rare type, he volunteers for the process himself. Just before they begin, Tailgate bursts in, dragging the wounded Cyclonus behind him, begging for help.

While the other members of their team handle the fighting, Rewind and Tailgate search the Battery for the Circle of Light, and discover that the Decepticons have captured not them, but the native organic Temptorians, and are somehow converting them into fuel. A bomb is wired to the door of their cell, which Tailgate sets to work disarming while Rewind films; when Rewind asks what he is going to do, Tailgate calls upon him to hypothesize what the correct procedure would be, then proceeds to carry it out exactly as he describes. Whirl, Cyclonus and Swerve keep the Decepticons at bay just outside... although Swerve does manage to shoot himself in the face when Whirl tosses him Brainstorm's newest weapon, the Shoomer.

The jumpstart procedure complete, Chromedome waits with Tailgate outside the medibay. After Chromedome explains that the little vials left in the bay are symbolic offerings of innermost energon from the crew for Rewind, Tailgate is prompted to ask how the pair met. A little reluctantly at first, Chromedome relates Rewind's history: he was a member of the "disposable class" in the days of functionism, and was recruited to work as a data receptacle by campaigner Dominus Ambus. Rewind became friends with his new employer (whose list of achievements prompts Tailgate to take an immediate dislike to him), who was moved to fight for Disposables' rights, and accompanied him on a quest for Luna-1, only returning to Cybertron after the war had broken out. After some time, Dominus disappeared and Rewind began searching Relinquishment Clinics—since repurposed as assisted suicide facilities—in hopes of discovering his friend's fate. It was in such a clinic that he met Chromedome, who was seeking death to escape the war, and together, the pair gave each other something to live for. But Rewind has never given up his search for Dominus—this is the reason for his hoarding of "snuff movies", and why he has broken his promise to Chromedome to stop entering danger zones. Tailgate argues that perhaps Rewind only goes into battle to be beside Chromedome, but then, First Aid emerges with bad news: Chromedome's own weak spark means the process has not worked.

The call goes out for other donors to save Rewind while Chromedome goes to his quarters in a grief-filled haze. As he sits in silence, a voice calls to him through the door... a voice that tells him it has discovered a way to wipe out the Decepticons and stop what happened to Rewind from ever happening again... an answer that lies in the basement. Suddenly, First Aid calls Chromedome on his comm and summons him to the medibay: Whirl has proven to have a compatible spark and has saved Rewind's life. On the other side of the bay, Tailgate is about to leave some of his innermost energon for Cyclonus when he suddenly awakens and knocks the vial from Tailgate's hand, shattering it. Cyclonus mocks the small 'bot for believing they share a bond, but upon noticing how many offerings have been left for Rewind by the others, while none were left for him, he silently kneels to help Tailgate pick up the pieces of glass.

After Whirl and Cyclonus finish off the remaining Decepticons, Whirl compliments Cyclonus on his fighting ability, and suggests they become friends and put that whole "death threat" business behind them. Cyclonus is not interested and reiterates his intent to kill Whirl some day, at which point Rewind calls for their aid: Tailgate has triggered a timer on the bomb, but refuses to leave until he can drain the explosives so the blast won't reach the prisoners. Cyclonus seizes his diminutive contemporary and hurls him out of the chamber to safety, only to be trapped inside as Whirl surreptitiously presses the lock button in order to take out his would-be killer. Rewind is trapped inside with Cyclonus, but at the last second, just before the bomb detonates, Cyclonus throws himself in front of the archivist, shielding him.

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Ultra Magnus informs me that running through the Lost Light shouting 'Who's up for a fight?' doesn't technically qualify as a 'briefing.'"

—Rodimus

"I'm Nautilator, by the way, one of Snap Trap's crew. I thought you'd want to see this."
"Woah. Say that again."
"What?"
"You sound exactly like Megatron."
"Everyone says that, but I really think you should look at the monitor."
"Ha! Brilliant. Is that your actual voice? Say, um, you know—something something tyranny."

—Nautilator and Blip

"D'you mind if I film this? If I die, I don't want my last recorded footage to be of Whirl punching himself in the face to prove he's 'super-unvincible.'"

—Rewind

"The day I snuggle up to a bomb and don't fear for my life is the day I get sloppy."

—Tailgate, eyes flashing with panic as he sets to work.

"Please! I surrender! Don't shoot!"
"That is uncanny! Has anyone ever—?"
"Megatron, yes, I know! Just don't shoot!"
"Okay, you be Megatron, I'll be Prime. "You who are without mercy, now plead for it?" Wait wait wait. Try again: "You who are without—" Not deep enough. "You who are—" How can anyone's voice be that low? Ah, frag it."

—Nautilator and Whirl, just before Whirl shoots Nautilator in the head.

"I'll admit I've made no real effort to understand the warped moral code by which you live your atrocity of a life, but I assume you think that by helping me fight a common foe you've atoned for past sins. You're wrong. There's no before or after to our 'relationship': I'm still going to kill you. All that changes is the manner of your death, which becomes more elaborate and protracted by the day."

—Cyclonus, to Whirl

Notes

Continuity notes

• Magnus was seen returning from his reconnaissance mission in issue #10. Now we know where he went!
• Tailgate claims that, when in the Primal Vanguard, he fought and killed organics. While immediately a bit jarring for such a naive, innocent little guy, it's been established for a while now that the Vanguard were Nova Prime's off-world army, and given his expansion ideals, it shouldn't really come as any surprise that this is what they were up to for all those years.
• Judging from the 'bots present, Tailgate's "happy place" would appear to specifically be the "movie night" he attended in issue #8.
• Trailbreaker has added guns to his legs in emulation of Fortress Maximus, after drunkenly grumbling about the latter's legs back in issue #6.
• Blip was previously mentioned by Ultra Magnus as a Decepticon who thought he was a Sparkeater in issue #3. His slobbering monster alternate mode certainly helps sell his delusion, and explains why Nautilator confuses him with Blot, who's also a filthy beast.
• While the Terrorcon leader has had his name spelled quite a few ways across various Transformers stories at this point, "Hun-Gar" is a new one. He was "Hun-Grrr" in his only named IDW appearance before now, in Spotlight: Sixshot.
• One of the Decepticons in this issue is Tailwind, who is usually a Micromaster. A Gorlamite appearing to be Tailwind appeared back in Spotlight: Hardhead, but at the time this wiki hadn't documented that appearance, which presumably led Roberts to consider him fair game!
• On page 5, we see Pipes unconscious on the ground, apparently one of those Autobots injured in the fighting. This is the latest incident in his streak of bad luck that began in issue #4 (brought down by plague) and continued in issue #6 (gunned down by Fortress Maximus).
• Chromedome off-handedly mentions Rewind is "allergic" to ultraviolet light, the only known way to illuminate neuro-surgery insertion scars. But hey, that's probably a coincidence.
• The footnote regarding the conversion of organics into energon points readers to the deluxe hardback edition of Last Stand of the Wreckers; specifically, the process was seen in the short story included in that tome, "Escape".
• The substance propex was previously mentioned in "Shadowplay". There, "propex conduits" were blamed for some explosions.
• The nature of innermost energon is expanded upon after passing mentions in issues #3, #7, and #8.
• Dominus Ambus was mentioned by Alpha Trion in Spotlight: Orion Pax.
• The disease cybercrosis was previously mentioned by Swerve in the 2012 Annual.
• At this point, quite a few characters have mentioned seeking the missing Luna 1, intimating that many searches for it have taken place. We get a little bit of a reason for that with this issue, in that the moon lies at the centre of romanticized legend. We also find out that it's the same thing as the "Seething Moon", something included in a list of non-existent folk legends by Trailbreaker in issue #3.
• A relinquishment clinic was heavily implied to have played a role in Chromedome and Rewind's first meeting back in issue #6; we get the full story here.
• Rewind's "snuff movies" were introduced in issue #6.
• Tailgate's innermost energon is green, rather than the pink seen in all the other offerings. Although this gives it a resemblance to the propex Tailgate was seen draining earlier in the issue, James Roberts confirmed^[1] that it was his real energon being decanted.

Transformers references

• When Blip asks Nautilator to say "something something tyranny", he is evidently trying to recall Megatron's motto: "Peace through tyranny."
• The Decepticon base on Temptoria has Energon Drillers from Transformers: Prime stationed outside.
• Tailgate identifies the bomb as a "C-61"; this was the Japanese ID number of Tailgate's Generation 1 toy. Further, he recalls the bomb's progenitor, the "C-12S"; "12" was the ID number of Windcharger's toy, which was retooled to create Tailgate's.
• In attempting his Optimus Prime impression, as transcribed above, Whirl is, of course, quoting from Prime and Megatron's famous exchange from The Transformers: The Movie.

Real world references

• Whirl's upcoming film, Harder, Faster, Wrecker, is presumably a reference to the 2001 Daft Punk song, "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".

Other trivia

• The bomb Tailgate is studying on Cover A matches the alt modes of K-Class Decepticons seen in issue #8. This, coupled with a solicitation for the issue that mentioned "a band of rogue Decepticons", led pretty much the entire fandom to the conclusion that the Lost Light crew would be meeting Fulcrum and the Scavengers. Whoops!
• Also, in an amusing little bit of foreshadowing of what will happen, the bomb Tailgate is examining on Cover A has the words "Keep Out of Reach of Small Bots" scrawled on the side of it.
• The transition from page 4 to page 5 makes a semantic juxtaposition of the phrases, "It's raining Autobots" and "Autobot down!"
• If you hadn't got Chromedome and Rewind's relationship from the rest of the issue, note that "Conjunx"—from "Conjunx Endura", the Transformer term for "significant other"—is Latin for "spouse". Not Roberts's first use of Latin wordplay!
• Flip Sides and Rosanna's cameo in this issue comes courtesy of Dave Reyn, who served as an unofficial color flatter for Josh Burcham.^[2]

Crew manifest

• 21 crew members are seriously injured, but with no fatalities as of yet.
• 5 deaths, 5 new arrivals (plus 20 or so Faders) and 1 boxed since the launch.
• A number of Decepticons — those "too dumb to run" — are incarcerated in the ship's brig.

Errors

• Temptoria's capital is spelled differently the two times it's mentioned: "Sensensica" (page 2, panel 2) and "Sensenica" (page 4, panel 1). In the TPB the latter was corrected to Sensensica.
• On page 15, panel 2, "Cybertronian" is misspelled "Cybetronian". This was also corrected in the TPB.
• On page 1, panel 1, Ambulon's eyes are colored blue instead of yellow.
• On the very last page, panel 3, Cyclonus' fingertips are colored green.

Soundtrack

• "Airbag" by Radiohead
• "Prelude for Time Feelers" by Eluvium

Foreign localization

Japanese

• Title: "Before & After" (ビフォア＆アフター Befoa ando Afutā)

Swedish

• Title: "Före & efter" ("Before & After")

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Tailgate looks over a Decepticon bomb, by Alex Milne and Josh Perez
• Cover B: Ultra Magnus and Rodimus under fire, by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham
• Cover RI: The assembled crew of the Lost Light, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente, in homage to the cover of the Beatles album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Part of a theme month along with Robots in Disguise #12, which also features an incentive cover based on a famous album.

• 

  It's a bo... Not a bah, a bomb!

• 

  Who did Rodimus piss off now?

• 

  The Lost Light class of 2012.

Advertisements

• Robots in Disguise #13
• Spotlight: Thundercracker
• IDW Limited
• Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time (back cover)

Reprints

• The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Volume 4 (July 17, 2013) ISBN 1613776918 / ISBN 978-1613776919
  • Collects More than Meets the Eye issues #12–16.
  • Bonus material includes art from most covers, and the prose story "Signal to Noise".
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Box Set (December 2, 2015) ISBN 1631404741 / ISBN 978-1631404740
  • Collects More Than Meets the Eye volumes 1–5.
  • Bonus material unknown at this time.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 3 (February 24, 2016) ISBN 1631405403 / ISBN 978-1631405402
  • Collects Spotlight: Thundercracker, Bumblebee & Megatron, More than Meets the Eye Annual 2012, issues #9–11 & #12–13 & "Signal to Noise", and Robots in Disguise Annual 2012 & issues #10–11.
  • Bonus material unknown at this time.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 55: Shadowplay (January 9, 2019)
  • Collects More than Meets the Eye issues #7–13 and Annual 2012.
  • Bonus material includes the second of a new three-part interview with Roberts, early pages of scripts, design sketches from Alex Milne, a cover gallery and a forward by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: Kaos och skuggor (November, 2020)
  • Collects The Transformers (2009) issues #22–24, #26, #28 & #30, The Death of Optimus Prime, and More than Meets the Eye issues #9–13.
  • Hardcover format.

• 

  More than Meets the Eye Volume 4 – cover art by Alex Milne and Joana Lafuente

• 

  More Than Meets the Eye Box Set – cover art by Marcelo Matere

• 

  The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 3 – cover art by Marcelo Matere and Tom B. Long

• 

  The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 55: Shadowplay – cover art by Don Figueroa (Whirl) and Alex Milne (retro)

• 

  Kaos och skuggor – cover art by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham

References