« Transformers #20 »
"Rise of the Decepticons: Swindle's"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	June 17, 2020
Cover date	April 2020
Written by	Brian Ruckley
Art by	Anna Malkova
Colors by	Joana Lafuente
Letters by	Jake M. Wood
Editor	David Mariotte, Tom Waltz and Riley Farmer
Continuity	2019 IDW continuity

The search for The Rise leads the 'bots of Security Operations into Iacon's criminal underbelly, but who's hunting who amidst Swindle's hive of scum and villainy?

Synopsis

In his quarters, a dejected Prowl tunes into Andromeda's latest news broadcast: since the fall of the Tether, Sentinel Prime has denounced the Ascenticons and put out a bounty on several key members of The Rise accused of involvement in the recent attacks, but the Ascenticons are now openly questioning the effectiveness of Security Operations against The Rise and the failure of the Autobots to effectively govern. Not even the arrival of Prowl's old colleague Nightbeat shakes him out of his funk; as tensions heighten and civil unrest sweeps Cybertron, Prowl admits that his inability to prevent the crisis has made him feel like a failure. Nightbeat tries to cheer up his friend by telling him that they might still have a chance to turn things around—there's someone in custody that Prowl might like to speak with...

Elsewhere, in Iacon's Xeno-Quarter, Hound assesses the damage to the city's A'ovan habitat, and A'ovan representative Pra'tyne reports that they may have lost a tenth of the arcology's native species during the Tether's destruction. Hound finds his somber condolences cut off when Sideswipe bounds onto the scene to demand a place in Hound's new counterterrorism unit. Already turned down by Novastar, Sideswipe's crestfallen when Hound tactfully explains that he lacks the experience and discipline Hound requires from his troops, and warns him not to push himself into being something he's not ready to be. As Hound walks off, Sideswipe grumbles that he does want to be something: something useful.

Strongarm and Bumper watch as Nightbeat introduces Prowl to Singe, arrested for stealing energon during the Tether's collapse. Prowl's angry and straightforward tactics toe the line of what's acceptable, but Nightbeat assures a concerned Strongarm that Prowl knows what he's doing. Indeed, the interrogation proves fruitful; as Bumper and Strongarm gear up for their next major operation, Strongarm worries for her safety and the increasingly fraught political situation on Cybertron. With Security Operations overstretched so, hundreds of Ascenticons have formed a blockade around Ascenticon Headquarters to keep out Chromia's officers; thousands of protesters have convened outside of the Senate, Lodestar remains injured and unable to fly, the Winged Moon's orbital trajectory has sent it spinning towards Cybertron's sun, and fighting between Autobot and Ascenticon supporters threatens to consume the Tagan Heights. But, as Sideswipe pulls up to join the team on their raid, Prowl encourages Strongarm to keep faith: thanks to Singe's tipoff, Security Operations might finally get the chance to get on the trail of The Rise to hit them before they strike... and that trail starts at Swindle's, whose shady proprietors employed Singe as part of an energon fencing operation, and who might have willingly supplied Rise members with stolen energon. Prowl lays out the plan: the inconspicuous Bumper will infiltrate the clientele, Sideswipe will take watch on the roof, while he, Strongarm, and Nightbeat will stay in reserve until needed—overriding Sideswipe's moaning and Bumper's concerns, Prowl tells the two to get into position.

Inside Swindle's, Cybertronians mingle, enjoy contraband energon, and place extravagant bets on the rowdy skitter races. Swindle officiates the latest such race from his skybox, Headlock runs numbers, and Trickdiamond works the crowd, but their new business partner Mindwipe and his compatriot Visper have little patience for their black-market sleaze—they're just here for the stolen energon Swindle promised. Unfortunately for them, Swindle explains that he doesn't have the goods, not after Singe's arrest partway into the heist. Correctly deducing that the police must be onto him, Mindwipe promptly lays into Swindle for foolishly inviting him here despite the danger, and his suspicions are vindicated when he spies Bumper in the crowd below, intently watching Visper's every move. On his private comms channel, Bumper reports his findings back to Prowl—when he mentions that Visper's winged compatriot might be on to him, Prowl immediately recognizes Bumper's description of the suspect and warns him to keep his distance; Mindwipe's ability to emit data-loaded light pulses makes him an extremely dangerous foe. Bumper asks for more information, before a quiet voice from over his shoulder cuts him off: Mindwipe has taken advantage of his distraction to ambush him from behind!

Nightbeat, Prowl, and Strongarm promptly kick down the door, and, as the other patrons panic, Visper transforms and nails Nightbeat in the chest with his alternate mode while Mindwipe takes advantage of the sudden chaos to first order a hypnotized Bumper to kill Prowl, then call in Storm Cloud to scramble all nearby communications. Storm Cloud does so, then dives straight through the building's roof—but Sideswipe promptly leaps after Storm Cloud and stuns the Riser with a single jab of his thermal lance. Swindle, Gutcruncher, and Trickdiamond feign innocence as Prowl and Strongarm struggle to pin down the brainwashed Bumper; Visper takes advantage of the distraction to escape, followed by Mindwipe. As the pair soar away, Mindwipe puts through a call to Shockwave, cutting through his superior's furious bluster to warn him that Storm Cloud's capture might further compromise the Rise. With the situation now mostly under control, Prowl instructs Strongarm to keep Bumper pinned down until the hypnosis wears off, then storms off to confront Swindle. Brushing aside Swindle's fake outrage, Prowl warns him that, with a confirmed Riser now in police custody, Swindle's going away for a long time: Prowl will convince Storm Cloud to tell him everything he knows... and he's certain that the info will include the fact that Swindle's cut a deal with the terrorists.

At Rise headquarters, Sixshot unlocks a secure room, and informs Frenzy and Quake that they're getting ready to scuttle their current base in anticipation of another security crackdown. With all of Cybertron out for their blood, Sixshot reminds them they'd better not give him any trouble during the move...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I used to start every cycle wondering what I didn't know. Thinking about how I could find out. Now, I start each cycle wondering what I haven't done. And who'll die because of it."

—Prowl

"I'm just saying, I've had two deployments since I graduated and on both of them I wound up getting shot at. I'm cursed, Bumper."
"Nah. Streetwise gave you a commendation, didn't he? Primus just knows you can take getting shot at."
"And how would that be different from a curse?"

—Strongarm and Bumper

"Oh, no."
"What's the problem?"
"Sideswipe's here. I'm definitely going to get shot at again."

—Strongarm and Bumper

"That's against the natural order of things, Headlock. In a time of crisis, everyone should be looking for a escape. Trickdiamond, throw out some bargains. Gotta stamp on caution's shameful, unprofitable face whenever it shows itself."

—Swindle

Notes

Continuity notes

• The Decepticons are rising! Sentinel Prime has followed through on his threat to denounce the Ascenticons as liars—"Decepticons"—a threat he made in the previous issue. In #10, Orion Pax had previously encouraged the Senate to rebrand The Rise with a new name, although all he only got as far as "Dece-" before he got cut off.
• After more than a year in real-world time, Prowl's pet returns; last seen in issue #5, this issue dubs her "Green" and notes that Prowl purchased her egg from a Voin trader. Prowl explains that her species, the flyts, attach their egg strands to Leviathan; this is consistent with Leviathan's appearance in issue #3, which saw the massive crawler surrounded by a flock of flyts as she trundled along.
• Rubble briefly passed by the A'ovan habitat in issue #5, while issue #2 had Wheeljack mention that the skitters who appear here at an illegal (but also very cute!) gambling racetrack stowed away in A'ovan refugee ships and subsequently turned invasive after arriving on the planet.
• Singe last appeared in issue #18, where he and Gutcruncher raided an energon storage yard; while Gutcruncher escaped, Singe got the snot knocked out of him after he shot at Gauge and attracted Arcee's unwanted attention, leading to his arrest. This issue reveals that the pair weren't just randomly looting: they were deliberately trying to procure extra energon for Swindle's under-the-table operations.
• Strongarm mentions that she's seen action twice since joining Security Operations; her first mission took place in issue #15, where she helped provide covering fire during a standoff in the Cybertronian Mountains, and her second adventure occurred in issue #18, where she helped bring in Singe after Arcee took him down.
• Strongarm mentions receiving a commendation from Streetwise; he received a previous namedrop in the last issue, which established that he ran one of Cybertron's police academies.
• Following her battle with Vigilem in issue #17, Lodestar remains wounded. Orion Pax tells Lightbright to prepare her Titan for a weaponized refit to pursue Vigilem, whom Skystalker observed had gone missing in the last issue.
• Sideswipe previously wielded his thermal lance in issue #9.
• Headlock's last chronological appearance was also in issue #9; however, it's not clear if he's always worked for Swindle or if this is a more recent job he's taken on since Prowl busted him. Either way, when Sideswipe takes down Storm Cloud, Headlock is shown to have already made his escape through a nearby door... presumably so that he doesn't repeat his encounter with Cybertronian law enforcement.
• Pipes appeared as a member of the Senate Guard in issue #16 but attends the skitter race in this issue. Guess even civil servants have their vices.
• Ever since his infamous run-in with Rubble in issue #5, Quake's absence has proven conspicuous; confirming what prior issues implied, this issue reveals that he's under the clandestine protection of The Rise along with Frenzy, the 'bot suspected of killing Brainstorm just before the events of issue #1.
• An old poster in Frenzy's room reads "IACON ARENA: APEFACE vs. LUGNUT." The Transformers Valentine's Day Special one-shot touched upon Apeface's former gladiator career, while Megatron remembered a bout with Lugnut during a flashback in issue #16.

Transformers references

• Prowl watches a news broadcast that features Andromeda; although her original incarnation hailed from the multiversal city of Axiom Nexus, subsequent Wings Universe tales eventually established the existence of a nigh-identical "Generation 1" version of the character. Continuing this unexpected Fun Publications homage, Andromeda specifically describes Shockwave and the other members of The Rise as "Cybertron's most wanted," in what's assuredly a reference to the 2015 BotCon comic of the same name (a comic in which, coincidentally, TransTech Andromeda appeared).
• Obscure female Autobot Vibes, who last appeared in Dreamwave's The War Within miniseries, makes a cameo in this issue as a Security Operations member alongside Chromia and Pointblank during a standoff with the Ascenticon Guard.
• Features of Cybertron alluded to in this issue include the Tagan Heights, which played a major role in the The Dark Ages, and the Rust Sea.
• The riot at the Tagan Heights include a pair of dragon-ish Transformers who appear to be based on Doublecross and Grotusque. What's not clear is if they're actually meant to be these characters, as "Doublecross" is green and "Grotusque" is blue. Another robot in the same scene, meanwhile, sports Wheeljack's head, but isn't immediately recognizable as a pre-existing character.
• The splash panel on page ten features a huge variety of Transformers watching the skitter race. More than Meets the Eye original characters Anode, Photon, and Riptide appear, and other prominent characters from the prior IDW universe include Misfire, Pipes—drawn specifically to resemble Nick Roche's concept art for the character as he appeared in More than Meets the Eye—Hubcap, based on his appearance in the Sins of the Wreckers miniseries, Vanquish, who featured in Till All Are One, and a two-headed Transformer who cameoed in the earliest issues of Robots in Disguise. Other faces in the crowd include Seaspray, the Seacons Tentakil and Nautilator, a mini-Megatron lookalike that's undoubtedly Titans Return character Nucleon, Megaplex, who is modeled upon Armada Starscream's Energon toy based on a digital mockup, and the Micromasters Big Daddy, Trip-Up, Hubs, Sledge, and Twirl (phew!) Finally, the red dog-faced bot sitting next to Sledge on the bottom right is Sharpclaw, an original Robots in Disguise character created by the daughter of prominent Transformers artist and writer Nick Roche.^[1]
• Non-specific characters in the crowd include a character based on Starscream's Machine Wars body; below them is an off-white Transformer who appears to sport Quark's head. Another face in the crowd on page thirteen resembles Rung, although he shares Toxitron's lime and purple paint job.
• Trickdiamond debuted in the Unite Warriors manga as part of Megaempress's 4 Guards. Although her bio noted that she possessed a connection to Swindle, this never really played a role in any of her adventures in the Unite Warriors or Legends comics, but her appearance here takes direct inspiration from her original profile and reimagines her as one of Swindle's business partners. Her design is heavily based on her Unite Warriors toy, but her profile and color patterns are taken from Jumpstream's design in IDW's previous continuity.
• Trickdiamond hawks double measures of engex, an intoxicating beverage that appeared throughout the 2005 IDW continuity; K-Juice, Roller's drink of choice in More than Meets the Eye; and illicit "multiworld simulations," a reference to the computer game that appeared in issue #26 of the US Marvel comic.
• Mindwipe sardonically notes that Swindle probably pushes nucleon, which in addition to its more famous Action Master-creating properties, has been used as a narcotic in various Transformers stories such as Beast Wars: Uprising; and syk, an illegal circuit booster that debuted in Marvel UK's Earthforce stories.
• When Storm Cloud lands in front of Swindle and Trickdiamond, "Vortex Rulez" is scrawled on the wall behind him.

Real-life references

• One of the protest signs at the Senate reads "No Justice, No Rule," a variant on the "No justice, no peace" slogan often used during anti-racism protests.

Errors

• The credits page for this issue accidentally misspells artist Anna Malkova's name as "Asnna Malkova."
• Issue #18 depicted Singe as all-black in keeping with his Siege toy; this issue, however, colors him to resemble his original 1988 figure, with white forearms and blue thighs. However, this issue also takes the liberty of depicting him with a white helmet and blue crest, a trait that none of his toys possess.
• On page 8, Prowl's line "Bumper take a look" is missing a comma.

Other notes

• Originally solicited for April 1, this issue was deliberately pushed back to mid-June as part of IDW Publishing's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this meant that the comic also landed smack-dab in the middle of the historic George Floyd protests, an event that has led to many real-world institutions taking a frank look at issues of police brutality and race. While Transformers is no stranger to morally-questionable depictions of the police, some of the imagery in this comic—which include Prowl implicitly abusing the limits of his power by roughing up a suspect in police custody, a later panel that depicts him pointing a gun at a prone, handcuffed Storm Cloud, and a sign at the Senate protests that reads "no justice, no rule"—provoked backlash due to the comic's (unintentional, but admittedly poor) timing. Brian Ruckley later apologized on Twitter; although he clarified that the issue had been finalized months in advance and that he did not intend his story to parallel real-world issues, he understood the criticism and promised to take it into account when writing.^[2] Malkova apologized for including the sign, which was not a part of Ruckley's script.^[3] Finally, editor David Mariotte issued a formal apology and promised to review future issues more stringently.^[4]
• On certain close ups on Singe's face, you can see that he has optics beneath his visor.

Covers (3)

• Cover A: The shadow of Mindwipe looms over Nightbeat, Strongarm, and Bumper, by Ed Pirrie and John-Paul Bove
• Cover B: Hound makes a friend, by Jack Lawrence and Josh Perez
• Retailer incentive cover: Prowl and Nightbeat make a raid on Swindle's, by Blacky Shepherd and Josh Burcham

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Reprints

• Transformers Volume 3: All Fall Down (February 24, 2021) ISBN 1684057396 / ISBN 978-1684057399
  • Collects Transformers (2019) issues #19–24 and Galaxies issues #7–12.
  • Bonus material includes alternate covers.
  • Hardcover format.

• 

  Volume 3: All Fall Down – cover art by Cryssy Cheung

References

External links

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