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07:00:00

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TAAO1 regcvr.jpg
Space Robot Politics: The Graphic Novel
"07:00:00"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published June 15, 2016
Cover date June 2016
Written by Mairghread Scott
Art by Sara Pitre-Durocher
Colors by Priscilla Tramontano
Letters by Tom B. Long
Editor John Barber
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology Current era

When public distrust of Starscream's secret police force escalates to the point that citizens begin dying, Ironhide is assigned to the case.

Contents

Synopsis

Life on Cybertron has changed following the formation of the Council of Worlds. As more citizens from the various colony worlds arrive on Cybertron, pressure on Starscream to allow expansion outside of Metroplex/Iacon has increased. Starscream, however, has more pressing concerns. A mysterious informant known only as "DC-357" has led Onslaught and the remaining Combaticons to believe that their supposedly-deceased comrade Swindle is actually still alive, and a conspiracy that claims he's really being held prisoner by Starscream has subsequently spread through the populace, carried by a simple, spray-painted slogan: "Swindle Lives!" This much, at least, is untrue; Starscream knows he is not holding Swindle, but the threat that the Combaticon con-man and the secrets he holds could pose to his political position means that the "Chosen One" is dedicating all his energy to finding out whether or not he is actually alive. Unfortunately, the aggressive attitudes of his "Badgeless" secret police employed in pursuit of this goal has in turn led to increased public distrust of them, leading more and more citizens to hire the services of Ironhide's new private security firm I.H. Cybertronian Securities to keep them and their enterprises safe.

Ironhide is summoned to a meeting of the council, where Obsidian talks all assembled through a recent series of attacks on Decepticons that have left them badly beaten and sporting mnemosurgery wounds. Starscream insists that it is an internal Cybertronian matter for him and his Badgeless to investigate, until Obsidian reveals that the most recent victim, who has died from his injuries, was a supplier of parts to Carcer. Consequently, the Titan-ship's captain Elita One has insisted that the attacks be investigated as a Council matter. Obsidian gives voice to the suspicion that the Badgeless themselves are responsible for the attacks, and that the victims are being targeted for information about Swindle, then proposes that Ironhide's company be retained to investigate the matter. Starscream bristles at the suggestion, but promises to deliver a ruling the following day.

Elsewhere in Iacon, Onslaught is deep in thought over the Combaticons' current predicament. As far as he is concerned, the increased aggression of the Badgeless is proof that their informant was telling the truth about Swindle—but despite an intensive search of every nook and cranny of Metroplex, Onslaught can find no trace of him. His team-mates are growing concerned, voicing a need for cash and employment, and when Blast Off tries to talk Onslaught into giving up the search, the Combaticon leader angrily storms out. In doing so, however, he leaves his datapad behind... just as a new communication from DC-357 arrives. Blast Off reads the message and follows its directions to a dumpster behind Maccadam's, inside which he finds a parcel containing a suit of Badgeless armor. Grabbing and incapacitating a passing Badgeless, he uses the suit to take the officer's place...

After the council meeting lets out, Ironhide receives a call from Blurr at Maccadam's to deal with an unruly customer. Windblade and Chromia have other commitments, so Ironhide heads to the bar alone, where the drunk Decepticon is harassing Greenlight and Lancer. Ironhide forcibly escorts the 'Con outside, where two Badgeless immediately take notice of them. Ironhide tries to play down the "disagreement," but the drunk gets belligerent and attacks one of the officers, shouting "Swindle lives!" The slogan is all the justification the Badgeless need, as they overpower him and threaten to "cut up his memories" to find out what he knows about Swindle; when Ironhide ties to intercede, the terrified 'bot breaks away and runs into a nearby alley. One Badgeless follows, and, with both 'bots out of sight, the sound of a gun discharging is heard. The other Badgeless clocks Ironhide and runs into the alley; two more gunshots sound before Ironhide can stagger to the alley entrance, where he sees the drunk lying dead on the ground, and the two Badgeless—guns smoking—standing over his body. The Badgeless insist they were attacked and merely defended themselves, but the noise has drawn a crowd of passers-by, who quickly accuse them of murder and threaten to riot. Unnoticed in the fracas, a lone Badgeless slips away, after which a shot fired in the air sends the citizens fleeing, just as Windblade, Starscream, and Obsidian arrive in response to a summons from Ironhide. Once briefed on the situation, Windblade accuses Starscream of being responsible for the recent attacks, and Obsidian departs to inform Elita and the rest of the Council about the incident. Alone for a moment, Starscream warns Windblade that if she pushes the matter, he will all too happily reveal what he knows about the deaths called by Chromia's bombings and Windblade conspiring to cover it up. Before the pair can argue any further, however, news reporter Circuit comes running up to get a statement from Starscream about the murder. Starscream claims it is far too early to call the 'bot's death "murder," but Circuit thinks otherwise: footage of the 'bot being shot has already been sent to his station, and is now broadcasting live across Iacon!

Featured characters

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

Autobots Decepticons Others

Quotes

Ironhide: "Does anyone want a drink?"
Windblade: "I have a mountain of paperwork that barely makes sense sober."
Chromia: "Strika and I are gonna do some sparring. I am not fightin' that lady drunk."


"You.....you're one of those 'Cam-yans' right? The fam-bots?"
"Those aren't words, Drunkatron. For Prime's sake."

—"Drunkatron" doesn't realize he's barking up the wrong tree with Lancer

Notes

Continuity notes

  • And we're back! Till All Are One continues where the second Windblade series left off, following the formation of the Council of Worlds in the final issue.
  • Scott has said this takes place "roughly in the same timeframe... give or take a couple of weeks, couple of months" as The Transformers vol. 2 in general and the "All Hail Optimus" storyline in particular.[1]
  • Windblade notes in conversation with Metroplex that Navitas, Titan of Velocitron, is on the mend. We met this Titan in Windblade vol. 2 #5, where it was explained that years of neglect had left him in a state of disrepair.
  • Starscream killed Swindle in Windblade vol. 2 #3, in order to prevent him from revealing that Starscream was responsible for orchestrating Menasor's attack on Caminus. The Combaticons began spray-painting the "Swindle Lives" slogan around the city in Windblade vol. 2 #7.
  • Obsidian refers to Optimus Prime's annexation of Earth, currently taking place over in The Transformers vol. 2, as well as Galvatron's "instigations" on Cybertron, referring to the short-lived Decepticon insurgency that took place in that book during the "Conquerors" storyline. It's not clear when precisely this issue occurs in relation to "All Hail Optimus", though, as Circuit and Longtooth were sent to Earth during that story (in issue #53, to be precise), and they are active on Cybertron in this one. A reasonable guess might be that this issue is roughly concurrent with The Transformers vol. 2 #51, given that they were originally intended for release the same month (see below).
  • Brawl and Onslaught have hooked back up with Blast Off and Vortex after visiting Earth in the aforementioned "Conquerors" storyline, then traveling by spacebridge back to Cybertron in The Transformers vol. 2 #50 and escaping in the chaos of that story. But see "Errors" below!
  • Blast Off sarcastically recalls how all the Combaticons had to worry about in the past was "an Autobot putting a flaming sword into [their] guts." It might sound like he's speaking generally and just referring to the war, but no: Arcee stabbed him through the chest with her flaming sword all the way back in Spotlight: Arcee!
  • Greenlight and Lancer appeared previously in Windblade vol. 2 #7. The ill-fated Decepticon, who Lancer derisively refers to as "Drunkatron", is still having trouble getting his head around colonies and genders, as he assumes that since they're female, they must be Camiens.
  • When threatening Windblade, Starscream refers back to Chromia's crimes and Windblade's cover up, events from the first Windblade mini-series.
  • The fact the assaulted Decepticons have all suffered mnemnosurgery comes back around later in issue #10...

Transformers references

  • Ironhide running a security firm is an outgrowth of his original function as "Security," as described in his bio, which has never factored much into his depictions in-fiction.
  • The Combaticons are now all sporting stylized versions of their Combiner Wars designs. Blast Off in particular is sporting his Combiner Wars head design, with a visible mouth and nose, but he's also got a deployable mouthplate to give himself a more traditional appearance. Vortex is also shown with four helicopter blades rather than two.
  • One crowd member fleeing after the Badgeless fire a shot into the air looks rather like the mecha of the People's Liberation Army Mecha Force over in sister title The Transformers. With only one optic, the (most likely) 'con looks to be a victim of empurata.

Real world references

  • Policemen shooting dead someone they wanted for a minor crime, claiming he had attacked them, and being caught on tape doing the dirty deed is a combination of multiple American police scandals of the mid-2010s.

Errors

  • Vanquish and Fireshot's color schemes are swapped on page 5.
  • Last time we saw Brawl, he was firing on security forces after his involvement in sedition and invasion had gone tits up. Starscream complains that criminals are escaping, meaning Brawl. But yet here, the Combaticons, Brawl included, are pulling day jobs and are not on the lam. Starscream runs a forgiving police state!
  • Obsidian's head has been squashed down from its usual long self. This is probably our fault, as the majority of pics on Obsidian's page showed his head dead-on from the front at the time. Still not as big a "whoops" as that time the wiki got Roadburner coloured wrong!
  • On the final panel of page 19, Starscream says "I can take you, Chromia and and your entire little planet down with me." This remains uncorrected in the trade paperback.

Other trivia

  • Till All Are One was originally announced with a March 2016 release date, but was apparently held back until June to give Sins of the Wreckers, which was filling the gap between series but was delayed during production, time to finish.
  • The title of this issue is the hour of the day that the story begins, counted down to in captions on the first page as the last of the Decepticon victims is seen staggering around the outskirts of town before collapsing.
  • In a silent panel, we see that Chromia has the names "Exhaust" and "Technimus" written on (scored into?) her metal skin beneath her helmet.
  • Badgeless armor is revealed to both project a hologram around its wearer and disguise their voice, allowing all members of the secret police to remain anonymous by looking and sounding exactly alike.

Covers (6)

  • TAAO1 regcvr.jpg
  • TAAO1 subcvr.jpg
  • TAAO1 cvrRIA.jpg
  • TAAO1 cvrRIB.jpg
  • TAAO1 cvrREA.jpg
  • TAAO1 cvrREB.jpg

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External links

References

  1. ↑ Episode 177 – Mairghread Scott Talks Till All Are One, 35:48 to 37:00
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