The Arrival issue 3

« Transformers Animated: The Arrival #3 »
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	October 8, 2008
Cover date	October 2008
Written by	Marty Isenberg
Art by	Boo (on "'Bots of Science")
Pencils by	Dario Brizuela (on "Stiletto")
Inks by	Leandro Corral (on "Stiletto")
Colors by	Liam Shalloo
Letters by	Chris Mowry
Edits by	Denton J. Tipton
Continuity	Animated cartoon continuity

On present-day Earth, the Autobots take down a thief; long ago on Cybertron, Ratchet discovers a Decepticon scientist.

"Stiletto"

Synopsis

Professor Sumdac has once again been robbed. The Autobots and the police are investigating the scene, when one of the officers reveals to Fanzone the perpetrator is a woman who goes by the alias "Stiletto", a former kick boxer turned industrial saboteur. The professor reveals that the stolen materials were two new prototypes: a new kind of metal alloy and a high-power laser scalpel. Optimus Prime assures Sumdac the Autobots will do all they can to catch the crook, but Fanzone suggests they leave it to the police. After all, she isn't just gonna show up, parading the goods out in the open, now is she?

Meanwhile, out in the open, Stiletto is parading the goods by slicing bridge cables. Prowl shows up, but as Stiletto attacks, she passes right through. The real Prowl throws one of his stars, but she kicks it out of the air and jumps onto an oil tanker. Bumblebee takes a shot, but Stiletto punctures the tanker, and it promptly blows up, with Prowl caught in the blast. Optimus douses the flames, while an ever cranky Ratchet repairs the bridge cable. Meanwhile, Bulkhead charges, but only ends up hitting himself on the head with his own wrecking ball. Bumblebee blocks Stiletto's escape, but she punctures his tires, steals a bike and makes a break for it. The bike is summarily pulled out from under her by Ratchet, and Prime lassos her. She slices free and ATTACKS!...and promptly gets her heels stuck in Optimus' axe. In one last attempt to flee, she slips out of the boots, but Optimus pins her to the bridge using her own heels and leaves her for the police to find. Back at base, the Autobots wonder why she tried to collapse the bridge.

Megatron, watching the news feed, considers this test of the material he plans to use for his new swords a successful field run.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

• None yet identified.

Errors

• The Retailer Incentive cover is listed as "Bulkhead" art, rather than Ratchet.
• The title of this story is typoed "Stilleto" on the first page, although it is correctly spelled on the inside cover. In the trade paperback the title on the first page has been corrected... to "Stilletto".

Items of note

Transformers references

• Stiletto's getaway motorcycle looks very familiar...

"'Bots of Science"

Synopsis

Millions of years ago, knee-insignia were all the rage.

On the Hydrax Plateau, Ratchet arrives to find dozens of Transformers, both Autobot and Decepticon, dead, killed by a chemical weapon created by the Decepticons that's been nicknamed "Cosmic Rust". Ratchet is horrified, both by the loss of life and by the fact the 'Cons seem so willing to sacrifice their own. He is contacted by his commander, but before he can report, he hears someone calling for a medic. Rushing towards the voice, he realises it is a Decepticon. Despite being ordered to leave him be, Ratchet can't go against what he believes, and begins working on the fallen soldier.

After the examination, he tells the Decepticon he has to lose his leg to save his life, but the 'Con reveals he knows an antidote, and just needs someone with medical training and supplies to help create it. After a few moments of wariness, Ratchet agrees. The 'Con introduces himself as Oil Slick, and they get to work. During the operation, they begin comparing philosophies, and as the formula is finished, Ratchet hopes that maybe someday they can learn a bit more about each other, without being on opposing sides. He applies the antidote, but Oil Slick suddenly turns on him, infecting him with the rust.

Oil Slick reveals he is the chemical warfare expert who created the rust, and that he considers the loss of a few soldiers worth it in the grand scheme of things. Oil Slick transforms and drives away but not before Ratchet manages to snatch enough of the antidote to not only cure himself but bring back for mass production. As he leaves the plateau, he muses on the little bit of deception he learned from Oil Slick... and whether or not something from the Autobots might rub off on the Decepticons one day.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"So all that talk about ‘bots of science and trust was just..."

"Lies! Deception! It’s right there in the name. Decepti-con. When will you Autobot fools ever figure that out?"

—Ratchet and Oil Slick discuss the nuance of Cybertronian names.

Errors

• In the last panel on page 19 (seen above), Ratchet's Autobot insignia —which is computer-generated rather than hand-drawn— is correctly aligned with the angle/plane of his chest... but is incorrectly placed, weirdly hovering a couple of centimeters (or real-life meters) in front of his body, just hanging in space in front of his knee.

Items of note

• Among the dead Transformers killed by the Cosmic Rust is Generation One Optimus Prime.

Continuity notes

• This story was adapted and expanded for the Adventures in Reading Bots of Science book.
• "'Bots of Science" is similar to "The Thrill of the Hunt" insofar as it depicts Ratchet during the Great War having a traumatic, up-close-and-personal encounter with a coolly calculating evil bot. Look, he said he didn't want to talk about it!
• The story depicts Oil Slick breaking off the right half of Ratchet's forehead crest, despite the fact that "Thrill of the Hunt" had already established that it was Lockdown who had been responsible for breaking it. Ratchet has his EMP, which definitively places this story before the flashback events within "Thrill of the Hunt." In fact, Ratchet's crest is already cracked when he and Oil Slick first meet. This was a detail added by Boo, intended to imply that Ratchet had received this same wound multiple times over the years, and by the time of the cartoon had simply given up fixing it.^[1]
• In the episode "TransWarped", Oil Slick is shown with a very different body than the one here.

Transformers references

• The term/idea of "cosmic rust" has cropped up a few times, going back to early Generation 1. Cosmic Rust

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Oil Slick, looking evil; art and colors by Marcelo Matere.
• Cover B: Ratchet helps Oil Slick; art by Boo, colors by Liam Shalloo.
• Incentive Cover RI: Cybertronian mode Ratchet stock art

• 

  Mwahahahaha!

• 

  I'm a doctor, not a... oh yeah!

• 

  Before the gut.

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• Target: 2006 TPB
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• Igor movie prequel
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• Comics Grading Corporation
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• "Presidential Material" comics and merchandise (back cover)

References