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The Life of Sideswipe

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"The Life of Sideswipe"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published July 12,2017
Cover date July 2017
Written by John Barber
Art by Kei Zama
Colors by Josh Burcham
Letters by Tom B. Long
Editor Carlos Guzman
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology Current era

Confronted by the reality of post-war Cybertron, the restored Sideswipe must ask himself—was it all worth it?

Contents

Synopsis

InBikini Atoll's "Little Cybertron"refugee camp, thepresidentandMarissa Fairebornwatch newsmanBrad Emoryreporting on the sudden end toJazz's live interview. Marissa blames the president for not stopping theG.I. Joeraid that broke the interview up, but the president claims she did all she could. She credits Marissa for the progress being made on the island, and together, the pair watch as aJunkionshuttle takesWreck-Garup to the hoveringAutobot City.Marissa explains that the Junkion leader is taking theAutobotssomething that will help them, prompting the president to note that she may have something for them too, and to raise the subject of Marissa "travelling abroad"...

Aboard Autobot City, Wreck-Gar delivers the reconstructedpositron coreto the Autobots, who are able to use it to finally repair the critically woundedSideswipeand bring him back online. Warmly welcomed back by his fellow Autobots, Sideswipe is eager to get back to fighting bad guys, but he senses that something isn't right, and spots the silentArcee,who has been watching over his injured form for months, slip away without saying anything. He follows her and finds her brooding about the fact that Sideswipe's brotherSunstreakerhas not shown up for his reawakening despite promising he would. Sideswipe is not particularly fazed by this; he and his brother have always had a troubled relationship, and he long ago stopped caring what Sunstreaker thought about him. Arcee tells him that Sunstreaker's last message mysteriously cut out, and quietly speaks of a brother of her own that she once had in the distant past, who she allowed to die through inaction...

Taking the hint, Sideswipe heads forCybertronto check on Sunstreaker, accompanied by Arcee. Having been off-world throughout many of the recent societal upheavals on the planet, Sideswipe is set on edge by the state ofIaconand its diverse population, never having expected that this "ugly, dirty" shared Cybertron would be the outcome of the war he spent millions of years fighting. The pair check out Sunstreaker's apartment, but are pounced on by something waiting inside; Sideswipe nearly shoots it until Arcee identifies their "assailant" as Sunstreaker's petInsecticon,Bob.After apologizing to, and feeding, the hungry little guy, Sideswipe observes some scuff marks on the floor that suggest foul play by theBadgeless.Sideswipe has Bob serve as bloodhound, tracking Sunstreaker's scent, which leads them to a warehouse in theDecepticonghetto. Before Arcee can stop him, Sideswipe smashes his way through the doors and, thinking he has caught a group of Decepticons in the middle of anenergonsmuggling operation, opens fire on them all. After wounding most of them, Sideswipe turns his attention to the apparent "ringleader,"Soundwave,and starts pummeling him... until Sunstreaker suddenly appears and yells for him to stop!

Sideswipe is confused; is his brother in league with the Decepticons? Sunstreaker explains to his brother that there are no "sides" any more—he had just remained on Cybertron to help with the relief effort following a fire in the Decepticon district. What's more, Arcee knew about it, and the whole "mission" was just a way to help Sideswipe move beyond his wartime attitude by showing him how peace has changed Cybertron, and them all, for the better. At first, Sideswipe agrees to join in and help purely to show up Sunstreaker and prevent him getting one over on him, but as he takes in the thriving city and its populace and the noble goals they are working towards, he comes to understand what Arcee and his brother have been trying to show him. He sincerely thanks Arcee for watching out for him all this time, and looks out over the city, realizing that a world where everyone works together in peace is what he was fighting for all along.

And with that contentment filling his heart... Sideswipe dies.

Arcee and Sunstreaker disconnect from themnemopathis projectorprovided by Wreck-Gar, with which they have been able to link their minds to that of the dying Sideswipe, still contained in his stasis tube, never having awoken from his coma. Through the story they have projected into his mind, they have given him the final gift of a peaceful passing, secure in the knowledge that everything he fought for was worth it. Arcee retreats to ruminate, caught up in a mixture of happiness and sadness she is unaccustomed to;Aileronfollows her, and tries to reassure her by describingher religion's belief in reincarnation. The atheist Arcee laughs—not a mean-spirited laugh, as Aileron at first interprets it, but a laugh at the idea of how much trouble she would be in if everyone she and Sideswipe had ever killed came back to life. Aileron offers to leave, but Arcee asks her to stay awhile, and, addressing her words to the stars in the sky, bids Sideswipe a final farewell.

Featured characters

Characters initalic textappear only in flashbacks, or Sideswipe's "dream."
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans Others

Junkions

Quotes

"He wassupposedto be here. "
"Probably walked past amirrorand gotdistracted."

—ArceeandSideswipe,on Sunstreaker


"There's areasonI left Cybertron. It was gettingconfusing,messy. Used to be, it wasgood guysversusDecepticons—the end. Reason enough to live, and simple goals. Now it'sheorsheandDecepticonsliving witheverybody elseand it sounds like they getattackedevery few weeks by who-knows-what. It'suglyanddirty(...)Thisis what I fought for? What my friendsdiedfor? To give a home to everybody whoruinedour world. "

—Sideswipenarrates


"Thingschange.Iscrewed upone time. I mean, I'm sure I screwed upmore.But thebig onemade me rethink things. I thought I was so muchaboveeverybody and everything I thought I could... I could fix everythingmyself.But it's not aboutme.It's aboutallof us. "
"Thewarchanged us. But thepeace... maybe the peace can change usagain."

—SunstreakerandArcee


"Decepticons. Comeon.I didn't fightforthem. I foughtbecauseof them. But Sunstreaker thinks he's gonna get oneoveron me? Ifyoucan do it, Streaker... youknowI can do it better. "

—Sideswipeisn't convinced by his brother's argument at first.


"I just don't know another way to start a story, besides losing someone."

—Arcee


"Let me justlookat this place, one more time. Cybertron full of people trying tohelpeach other, huh? Well... I guess... what elsewerewe fighting for? This is okay, guys... thanks for showing me it'sokay."

—Sideswipe's final words


"I feelsad,but also a littlehappy.I've seen no shortage of death, but that was... well, Wreck-Gar's machinedidhelp. I think he feltbetterwhen he died than when he lived. (...) Goodbye, Sideswipe. Until I see you again. After all... it'snicehaving someone watch over you. "

—Arcee

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Sideswipe has been comatose since receiving his injuries back inThe Transformers#49.He remembers some of the specific circumstances of the story as he awakens, including the black sphere that surrounded theArk-7and blotted out the stars.
  • The upside-down scene of Sideswipe's awakening is a direct homage toThe Transformers#33,in which Wheeljack awoke in a similar manner. The water drains away in therightdirection in this issue!
  • The positron core was destroyed inissue #6,its detonation reducing Wreck-Gar to the disembodied head he currently remains.
  • Sideswipe recalls his troubled relationship with Sunstreaker, which was first laid out way back inSpotlight: Sideswipe;it was in that same issue that we saw Sideswipe work past his hang-ups, and conclude he no longer cared what Sunstreaker thought about him. He also remembers Sunstreaker's attempts to join Megatron's underground gladiatorial games, and how he prevented him from doing so, as seen inMegatron Origin#3,and Sunstreaker's eventual ruining of everything for everyone inAll Hail Megatron.
  • Arcee mentions having a brother who died under undisclosed circumstances. John Barber confirmed that this was not an oblique reference to Sideswipe's passing.[1]Issue #10would reveal that she was talking aboutGalvatron,who recently perished at Optimus' hands.
  • Arcee explains how the Badgeless now report to Ironhide, not Starscream, following the events ofTill All Are One#2.
  • While running through his personal history, in addition to his time as an Autobot under Optimus, Sideswipe recalls when he served as an enforcer for theSenate(a period of his life essentially undetailed, alluded to only by a single panel inMore than Meets the Eye#3), and when he was a "cop for the city" (which was the role he served throughout "season one" ofRobots in Disguise,beginning inThe Death of Optimus Prime).

Transformers references

Real-life references

  • Following Sideswipe's death, Wreck-Gar pays homage to the late, greatDavid Bowieas he remarks "Wish upon wish upon day upon day, I wish, oh Lord, I wish I coulda repaired the positron core," paraphrasing the lyrics of Bowie's song "Golden Years".

Other trivia

  • The fact that Sideswipe's awakening isn't all it appears to be is subtly foreshadowed on page 2: Marissa mentions that Wreck-Gar's head is being taken to Autobot City, but when we next see him, he's fully intact. When the issue returns to the "real world" at the end, Wreck-Gar is once more a disembodied head.

Covers (4)

  • Cover A:Sideswipe emerges from his tube, byKei ZamaandJosh Burcham
  • Cover B:Arcee and Sideswipe, byCasey Coller
  • Cover C:Optimus Prime byTom Whalen;one of several "art deco" covers produced by Whalen for various IDW July titles
  • Retailer incentive cover:Arcee byZEROB
  • (thumbnail)

    G2 to the X-treme!

  • (thumbnail)

    "I love you."

  • (thumbnail)

    Artsy!

  • (thumbnail)

    Happiness is killing your enemies.

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Reprints

References

  1. ↑"It was not a metaphor for Sideswipe—sorta surprised you're the first person to ask! We'll find out more..." —John Barber, Twitter, 2017/07/13
  2. ↑"Yeah I remember pretending he was eagle eye when I colored that guy in particular:)" —Josh Burcham, Twitter, 2017/07/14
  3. ↑Kei Zama, Twitter, 2017/07/12(dead link)
  4. ↑Kei Zama, Twitter, 2017/07/12(dead link)

External links

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