Constructicons Rising, Part 2

	"Constructicons Rising, Part 2"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	October 30,2019
Cover date	October 2019
Written by	Tyler Bleszinski
Art by	Livio Ramondelli
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	David MariotteandTom Waltz
Continuity	2019 IDW continuity

As the Constructicons prepare for an uncertain future, the team discover that they're not the only group of Cybertronian castoffs on Mayalx... but what do the Insecticonsreallywant from them?

Synopsis

In an improvised gladiatorial arena,Long HaulandScavengersquare off for the fight of their lives—the latest in a series of illegal, unsanctioned sparring matches against a disturbingly eagerBonecrusher,who relishes the opportunity to pummel his opponents into the dirt. Unmoved by this brutality,Hookwonders justwhytheir team leaderScrapperhas put them up to such a task, and theConstructiconleader responds that, with their return toCybertronstill up in the air, he's just preparing his team for the future, a future that his instincts are telling him may not include a stable Cybertron.

Down below, neither of Bonecrusher's teammates are able to handle his unchecked violence, and the bulldozer-bot is able to swiftly overpower the both of them at once, forcing them down into the dirt. Before Bonecrusher can get carried away, however, Scrapper interrupts the proceedings, and explains that Bonecrusher was able to beat them because they let their fear rule their decision-making. Long Haul grumbles that they're not gladiators, but Scrapper reminds him thathewas given the opportunity to work withSecurity Operationsafter his forging, and now he's trying to pass on what he learned there to his teammates and toughen them up. Hook, however, isn't taken by this explanation, and wonders aloud if these grotesque "training exercises" are for anything more than Bonecrusher's own amusement. Not far away,Mixmasteris fueling up with the help of Hook's newest invention, a recycling device that converts waste products into usable energon. Scavenger warns him not to overindulge, however; a fully-fuelled 'bot is a difficult thing to hide. As he yanks the cable out of his arm, Mixmaster grumbles that the process is vile anyway, but Scavenger points out that he wasn't complaining about the prospect of becoming fully-fuelled a minute ago...

Elsewhere onMayalx,three figures bear down on the corpse of the dead worker who Hook had accidentally killed and set about devouring his remains.SkrapnelandKickbackare content to simply chow down on the dead Transformer, butBombshell,who led them to this feast, has bigger goals... and warns them that this unexpected windfall has delayed his plans, and won't make certain others happy. At once, however, the three are encircled by energy as their "hyper-metabolization" abilities kick in... but no sooner has it begun then Bombshell finds himself interrupted by a pressing communications call. The beetle-bot creeps away to a secluded crevice to take it, and finds himself speaking toShockwave,who's displeased with the lack of progress he's made in recruiting theConstructiconsto their side. Waving away Shockwave's condemnation of their gluttonous ways, Bombshell tries to explain that life on impoverished Mayalx is different from Cybertron, but Shockwave isn't hearing it, and warns his underling that if he ever wants to return to Cybertron then he'll execute their plannow.

Back in their impromptu base, the Constructicons are taking turns using Hook's recycling device, and a freshly-fuelled Scrapper invites Scavenger and Long Haul to see how it's done. The Constructicon leader invites his teammate to give him everything he's got, and Bonecrusher obligingly charges at Scrapper wielding some improvised weapons... only to be easily dodged and thrown onto the ground by Scrapper, who explains that sometimes it's necessary to out think your opponent and use their overconfidence against them. Before he can finish his lecture however, a multi-legged figure leaps from overhead and lands in the center of the arena, burrowing underground!

Thinking quickly, the Constructicons transform and create a perimeter, while Scavenger uses his shovel arm to detect any kind of subterranean movement; just as Scavenger announces that their foe is going for the fallen Bonecrusher, the figure bursts from the ground to assess him, announcing that he's still alive. The interloper—revealed as Bombshell—congratulates Scrapper on his combat skills, while the Constructicons wonder just how this figure knows their names; Bombshell explains that he's been watching them for some time now, and is a big fan of theirs. Though the Constructicons are suspicious of the newcomer, and worried that they might get busted for illegal gladiatorial combat, Bombshell waves off their concerns: he just wants to tell them a story, a story that they might find familiar...

Bombshell, Skrapnel, and Kickback were forged together many years ago, and emerged with an aberrant, insatiable hunger for raw materials—a hunger that compelled them to begin eating whatever they could get their hands on. In this new role, the Insecticons became a mobile processing team, eating everything in sight and "metabolizing" whatever they ate into a highly distilled and powerful variety ofenergon.Although Cybertronian scientists tried to find out just how the trio were able to do this, they were unable to, and the group was eventually set free to do what they were forged to do and tackle Cybertron's waste products—transforming garbage and other messes into clean, powerful fuel for the entire planet. Though they were promised that the people of Cybertron would celebrate them for their efforts, the trio found themselves confronted by a more pressing problem: the cataclysmicWar of the Threefold Spark.Unhindered by anything except their own hunger, the group found a new role for themselves on the battlefield, cleaning up the dead and dying. Although they were only doing what they had been forged to do, the new postwar regime became fearful of them; branding them with the lowly name of the "Insecticons",Cybertronian leadership began to worry that they would one day develop a taste for the living. Thus, the three 'bots found themselves banished from Cybertron, sent to Mayalx to once again clean up Cybertron's waste.

A team of gifted workers, hated and feared by Cybertron and banished by those who don't understand them... does this, asks Bombshell, sound familiar to the team? Scrapper insists that they'renotalike: his team are peaceful builders, and the Insecticons are ravenous forces of nature. Bombshell agrees—the city ofIaconis still a masterpiece of engineering, the greatest city on Cybertron... but on Mayalx, the team is kept underfuelled, underfunded, and underwhelmed by their undemanding job. They willneverbe brought home, and they willneverbe recognized for their accomplishments again... because, just like the Insecticons, they will forever be tainted by Cybertron's fear of their combined form.

As Bombshell slinks back into the shadows, he offers the team a choice: they can stay as they are now, slaves to a regime who fears their potential. Or, he continues, they can break their chains and become everything they were meant to be, to once more shake the very foundations of Cybertronian civilization... what will they choose?

Featured characters

Characters initalic textappear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Ascenticons

Cybertronians

The Rise

Quotes

"I was so ravenous that I ate too fast and nowallmy receptors are buzzing. This one even had actual droplets ofsparkin it. So delicioussssss. "

—Kickback

"It's amazing what I can improvise, but this machine makes my insides feel like they're melting."

—Hookon his new invention.

"Outthink and outsmart and eventually you willoutlastyour opponent. "

—Scrapper

"You willneverbe brought home. You willneverbe celebrated. You will live out the rest of your existence in squalor and half-function because offear.Fear of the mostpowerfulform of the Constructicons. "

—Bombshell

Notes

Continuity notes

The body that the Insecticons are shown eating is presumably the corpse of the worker who Hook threw a girder at inthe previous issuethough it wasn't clear at the time that he'd actually beenkilledby the impact.
Shockwavemakes his appearance here as Bombshell's superior. Presumably, Bombshell and the other Insecticons are members ofThe Rise;issue #10of theTransformersongoingestablished that nobody outside of theAscenticoninner circle is aware that Shockwave has returned to Cybertron to help mastermind The Rise.
Bombshell's flashback shows the three newly-forged Transformers emerging from what appears to be thePyramidin Iacon. This building was first introduced inissue #4of the ongoing, and was established as the building by which all new Transformers—including bothRubbleandGauge—are introduced to Cybertron.
Bombshell's flashback also showsBrainstormas a member of the team tasked with investigating the Insecticons, which is presumably a nod to the now-deceased scientist's reputation inTransformersissue #1as a talented energon engineer.

Errors

Back in the first issue, Scrapper chides Hook for accidentally killing a worker, reminding him that people were already afraid of the Constructicons. In this issue, they're both puzzled by the idea that Cybertron is afraid of them.
On page 8, panel 5, Shockwave says "It better be important, you disrupted me." The two clauses should be divided by either a semicolon or period, not a comma.

Transformers references

Hook describes Cybertron's bureaucracy as being full of "beryllium baloney,"a line that was most famously spoken bySlaginThe Transformers: The Movie... though itwasalso used byHufferin "Dinobot Island, Part 1"with a connotation that's closer to its usage here.
Shrapnel is known here by his modern, trademark-friendly name of "Skrapnel," a trend that began in 2014 in theGenerationstoyline (though the 2012Fall of Cybertrongameinitially gave him the moniker of "Sharpshot." )
This isn't the first time the Insecticons have worked with Shockwave: they most famously teamed up in theFall of Cybertronvideo game as affiliates of the mad scientist.
In a similar vein, this comic sees the return of Skrapnel's odd vocal quirk based on his performance in the original 1980sTransformerscartoon; a speech tic that he had in theDreamwave comicsbut not in the originalIDW continuity,continuity.

Trivia

Originally solicited for October 16, this issue arrives late, landing at the very end of the month.

Covers (3)

Cover A:The Insecticons, byLivio Ramondelli
Cover B:The Constructicons, byAlex MilneandJosh Perez
Retailer incentive cover:The Constructicons again, byAndrew GriffithandPriscilla Tramontano

Reprints

Transformers Volume 2: The Change In Their Nature(September 16,2020)ISBN 1684056756/ISBN 978-1684056750
- CollectsGalaxiesissues #1–6 andTransformers(2019)issues#13–18.
- Bonus material includes alternate covers.
- Hardcover format.

Transformers: The Definitive G1 CollectionVolume 100: Constructicons Rising(November 4,2020)
- CollectsTransformers(2019) issues#15–17andGalaxiesissues #1–4.
- Bonus material includes a 2-page afterword on the full Hachette G1 collection series, a tiny cover gallery of the Hachette series, a retrospective on the various G1 publishing companies, a cover gallery of the IDW issues and an intro bySimon Furman.
- Hardcover format.

Volume 2: The Change In Their Nature– cover art byCryssy Cheung
The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 100: Constructicons Rising– cover art byDon Figueroa(Scrapper) andLivio Ramondelli