Now and On Earth

	"Now and On Earth"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	June 17, 2015
Cover date	June 2015
Written by	John Barber
Art by	Livio Ramondelli (Cybertron) and Andrew Griffith (Earth)
Colors by	Livio Ramondelli (Cybertron) and Josh Perez (Earth)
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	Carlos Guzman
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era

While Arcee meets with Galvatron on Earth, on Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Prowl finally come to blows.

Synopsis

Over a communications channel to Earth, Optimus Prime catches Arcee up on recent developments on Cybertron. Starscream has allowed Devastator to reform, and he and Superion even now guard the spacebridge as Windblade and Chromia return from a mission to another of the colony worlds. Arcee asks what has become of Prowl, and Prime reveals that the police-bot is in his custody... though when Arcee inquires what his fate will be, Prime finds himself unable to answer.

After hanging up with Prime, Arcee turns her attention to a meeting that she had secretly arranged with Galvatron. The Decepticon leader soon arrives aboard Astrotrain, repulsed by her chosen meeting place deep within a swamp; Arcee immediately pounces on him, blade drawn, as he was supposed to come alone. Galvatron waves off her concerns, and they get to business, discussing the information Arcee has gained from Optimus regarding the recent happenings surrounding the Enigma of Combination on Cybertron, the discovery of the colony planets, and the formation of the Council of Worlds. Intrigued by the potential alliances that may result from these new players entering the game, Galvatron brings up the subject of the Autobots' space bridge, but Arcee, assuming he wants to use it, laughs in his face. Galvatron corrects her; it is not for himself he asks, but for the sake of Soundwave's dream. He tells Arcee about the construction of the Decepticons' Jupiter commune, but expresses distrust in the human allies helping to build it, and provides Arcee with something that may be able to tell them more about Garrison Blackrock's true intentions: a purloined Onyx datapad.

Back on Cybertron, Optimus Prime and Prowl sit down to talk. Prime is hopeful that Prowl has at last seen the error of his way, but when Prowl makes it clear that morality does not enter into his thought processes, the furious Optimus, at the end of his rope, finally throws a punch. Prowl fights back, but Prime kicks him out a window, onto the roof outside, then follows him to continue their brawl, with each combatant arguing all the while that peace has caused the other to lose sight of themselves. Prime angrily insists that Prowl foments chaos by manipulating his friends, but Prowl retorts that he creates order for the good of his planet, and that no 'bot is his friend. Prowl seizes an antenna and stabs Prime with it, but Prime headbutts him, a shattering blow that knocks him off the roof and leaves him lying dazed. Prime reluctantly draws his gun and holds it on Prowl, pleading with him to stay down, and to try and understand that everything Prowl does only harms the attempts they are making to build a new and better Cybertron. Prowl admits that his experiences as a combiner have changed him; he is sickened to admit that that he can no longer see the Constructicons as enemies, but as part of himself. In the same way, however, he knows that their brief time as Optimus Maximus has made him a part of Prime, and so he goads Prime to pull the trigger, knowing that with his death, the part of him that is within Prime will become indelible, unforgettable, a living-dead memory that will push Prime to live up to his ideals and reclaim Cybertron for the Autobots. Prime lowers his gun and turns his back to Prowl; he will not kill him, but he knows he is too dangerous to live. Unsure of what to do, he turns to look at his wayward friend... only to find that Prowl has disappeared...

Arcee returns to Ark-7, quickly dismisses the other Autobots' questions about where she has been, and hands the Onyx tablet over to Jetfire for study. Examining the base code of the pad's operating system, Jetfire soon discovers ancient Cybertronian source code, and while he sets to work on it, Arcee assigns Cosmos—who has made friends with D.0.C. to pass the many quiet hours he spends being ignored by everyone—the job of investigating the Decepticons' Jupiter commune.

Back on Cybertron, nestled in a secret bolt-hole, the wounded Prowl has little in the way of thanks for his saviour: Rattrap. Not having expected Prowl's plans for the colony worlds to have failed, Rattrap knows that it's only a matter of time before Starscream finds out he betrayed him and marks him for death... unless he and Prowl can manufacture a victory of their own first.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Others
Optimus Prime (1) Superion (2) Windblade (3) Chromia (4) Arcee (6) Prowl (7) Jetfire (10) Sky Lynx (11) Cosmos (12)	Astrotrain (8) Galvatron (9)	Devastator (5) D.0.C. (13) Rattrap (14)

Quotes

"You said you'd come alone."
"Indeed. Astrotrain was the most reliable manner of conveyance to such a... teeming location. Shall I kill him?"

—Arcee and Galvatron

"Yes, attacking the spacebridge without coming to you was wrong, but..."
"I'm glad to see you coming to grips with the morality behind your actions."
"What? I mean, tactically, it was wrong. I wound up a prisoner. What's morality got to do with any of this?"

—Prowl and Optimus Prime. It's hard to quote the sound of Prime decking him, but we would if we could.

"You know what it's like to be a combiner, Prime. It's hard to stop... so maybe I got out of line with the Constructicons. Maybe. But I can't look at them the way I used to. They're not just enemies. They're a part of me. The Decepticons are a part of me. And I'm a part of you, Prime. You gave Megatron—Megatron!—more of a chance than you gave me. But if you kill me, I'll burn into your spark forever. You'll never forget me... what I represent... what I believe in. You've lost your way, but with me gone... you'll find it again. You'll tear down Starscream and destroy Megatron. So do it."

—Prowl tries to goad Prime into killing him

Notes

Continuity notes

Astrotrain doesn't have the visor he's been sporting since issue #30, and accordingly, is seen using a pair of binoculars instead. We learned he had "bad eyes" and carried binoculars to compensate back in More than Meets the Eye #25.
Prowl's speech about how killing him will burn him into Prime's spark forever because he is now a "part" of him seems to be an explanation for Prowl repeatedly calling the Constructicons "Scrapper" over the last year, as the memory of the dead Constructicon has been burned into Devastator.
During their discussion of the Decepticon commune, Arcee rather pointedly comments "Brotherhood, eh?" to Galvatron, something which is later given deeper context in Optimus Prime #10.

Transformers references

When Arcee meets with Galvatron, she uses the color-changing stealth-paint seen in numerous previous issues. However, she doesn't simply turn completely black, as past users of the paint did: rather, she adopts a partially-black color scheme based on her upcoming San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Combiner Hunters toy, and wields the giant sword the toy comes with. Her body design remains the same, and is not modified to resemble the actual toy to any greater extent.
Sky Lynx name-drops Metascan Alpha, a planet from Blackthorne Publishing's Transformers in 3-D. He alludes to the native Logicons, calling them "big-headed fleshlings", which they certainly were.

Real-world references

The issue is named after the Jim Thompson novel, Now and on Earth.

Errors

On the recap page, Starscream and Windblade are said to "vye for control". That's an obsolete spelling, which ought to be "vie".

Other trivia

"D.0.C." is revealed to stand for "Dynamic Zero-Phase Chalcogenide", which is the type of memory unit he has.
Now that the crossover's finished, the series is reduced from 22 story pages to 20 going forward, as More than Meets the Eye was a few months back.

Covers (4)

Regular cover: Optimus Prime bein 'all sad and the like, by Andrew Griffith
Subscription cover: Prime versus Prowl, by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente
Retailer incentive cover: Galvatron, by Naoto Tsushima and Lei Kagami
Convention cover: Combiner Hunters Arcee, by Sara Pitre-Durocher, available exclusively from IDW at San Diego Comic-Con 2015.

"I really need a manicure!"
Cue Star Trek "Amok Time" battle music.
"I love causing chaos."
IDW exclusive San Diego Comic-Con 2015 cover.

Reprints

The Transformers Volume 8 (March 16, 2016) ISBN 1631405853 / ISBN 978-1631405853
- Collects The Transformers (2012) issues #42–45.
- Bonus material includes covers from each issue.

Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 65: Combiner Wars (October 31, 2018)
- Collects The Transformers (2012) issues #39–42, and Windblade (2015) issues #1–4.
- Bonus material includes an article on the Prime Wars Trilogy.

The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 9 (June 19, 2019) ISBN 1684054842 / ISBN 978-1684054848
- Collects The Transformers (2012) issues #39–41, #42–43, Windblade (2015) issues #1–3 & #4–5, and More than Meets the Eye issues #41–44.

Volume 8 – cover art by Andrew Griffith and Josh Perez
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 65: Combiner Wars – cover art by Don Figueroa (Defensor) and Livio Ramondelli (retro)
The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 9 – cover art by Marcelo Matere