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Race Against the Light

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« The Transformers: Windblade vol. 2 #5 »
Windbladev2-5-regcvr.jpg
"Race Against the Light"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published July 29, 2015
Cover date July 2015
Written by Mairghread Scott
Art by Corin Howell
Colors by Thomas Deer
Letters by Tom B. Long
Editor John Barber
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology Current era (2015)

In a vicious race without rules, Blurr's going to need a little Titan-manipulating help from Windblade in order to win.

Contents

Synopsis

Windblade realizes that the wall of fire chasing the Velocitronian city is actually the light of the planet's sun scorching its surface, and that this is the reason Velocitron's cities have to constantly move. Desperately trying to keep up with the city as the burning dawn nips at their heels, the team radios Moonracer, who directs them to an access hatch that will allow them to safely enter the mobile metropolis. Ironhide almost doesn't make it, but Chromia's refusal to leave his side gives him the encouragement to make the final leap through the hatchway. Once everyone is inside, they are met by Moonracer, who explains that she earned her position as ambassador by keeping pace with the city—actually the planet's capital, Delta—for an entire day. An incredulous Ironhide wonders what being fast has to do with being suited for politics; Moonracer wearily agrees that it's a nonsensical system of government, but she can't change the way the planet works. She details the three unofficial tiers of Velocitronian society—the racers, who rule everything; the well-respected "direct support" who aid the racers physically and medically; and everyone else—then introduces them to her assistant, Clocker. Matters then turn to the race Blurr is here to participate in: the Benefit 500, a race in which there are no rules, and one which he will have to not just win, but win spectacularly in order to get the planet's people on his side. This is especially necessary because the planet leader Override's power is tenuous at the moment, with her rival Ransack vying for control, and massive public support will be necessary for any decision she makes based on Blurr's win.

While Moonracer leads Blurr and Ironhide to the racetrack, Windblade and Chromia have Clocker take them to the brain of Navitas, the Titan upon whose body Delta is built. Perturbed by the decadence of Velocitron society, Windblade is even more appalled to discover how neglected Navitas is, his brain chamber having gone undisturbed for years. Using her cityspeaking talents, Windblade converses with Navitas, explaining her origins and the reasons for her presence on Velocitron, but soon discovers that Navitas's mind is impaired from countless years of neglect when he immediately forgets who she is in mid-conversation. Lacking the time to fix him or merge with him, Windblade begins examining the inner workings of his brain, searching for the connections that control the racetrack...

Ironhide, Blurr, and Moonracer are stopped by a pair of guards when they try to enter the track, but Blurr's speed quickly puts them to shame and the trio are allowed access. Blurr heads down to the starting line, where he meets the arrogant Racemaster, and soon, Override—watching from a spectator's box overhead—calls for the race to begin. Blurr gets a taste of Velocitronian dedication to victory almost immediately when Racemaster rakes him with blades protruding from his side, but Blurr's refusal to play dirty by fighting back despite the fact the race is specifically "no holds barred" intrigues Override. Knock Out, meanwhile, is disgusted when he realizes who Blurr is, but Moonracer smiles and informs the pair not to count the Cybertronians out yet. Her words prove prophetic, as Windblade manipulates Navitas's brain to control the surface of the racetrack, re-shaping it and hurling obstacles in the path of all the other racers, while providing Blurr with the ramps and jumps he needs to soar to the finish line. The victorious Blurr introduces himself to the frenzied audience and invites them to experience the thrill of racing on all new worlds by joining with Cybertron; Override calls for a vote on his proposal, and thunderous applause from the stands ensures that the Cybertron/Velocitron alliance is now a certainty. Windblade barely has a moment to enjoy the win, however, as Wheeljack radios her to let her know that Starscream is about to meet with ambassadors from another of the colony worlds...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Others

Quotes

"I raced for a while, and made a name for myself by keeping pace with the city for an entire day. It's why I was made ambassador to Cybertron."
"No offense, but how does bein' fast make you a good ambassador?"
"Between you, me, and the Titan, I agree with you. But that's not how things work here."

—Moonracer and Ironhide


"This place is huge!"
"No need to be polite, Blurr. The Benefit has always been held on one of our smaller tracks."

—Blurr is shocked by what Moonracer considers "small" on Velocitron


"They call me... Racemaster."
"Heh... not the most original name I've ever heard."
"Who cares about originality? I've got speed."

—Racemaster and Blurr

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Knock Out's Conjunx Endura, mentioned last issue, appears in the crowd at the race. We know it's him because, per Mairghread Scott's comments after last issue, he looks like Prime Breakdown, but we don't know what his name is, because there's already a Breakdown in this continuity.
  • Ransack appeared in a montage of Velocitron last issue, but with a different color scheme.
  • In another example of Windblade's developing underhanded nature, after scolding Clocker over the Velocitronians using Navitas to suit their own ends, she turns around and rewires him to do the exact same thing. One could argue, however, that she knew Navitas would not get help if Blurr did not win the race.

Transformers references

  • Delta was first named as a major city on Velocitron in the Transformers: Exiles novel.
  • Ransack was just a troublemaking shmuck in the Cybertron cartoon; his position of importance in Velocitronian society originates with the version of the character from the Exiles novel.
  • Chromia shows off an unshakeable dedication to saving Ironhide's life, another moment referencing their romantic relationship in original The Transformers cartoon.
  • Clocker is based on the live-action movie toyline Clocker, who was a redeco of the Cybertron Velocitronian Clocker and was later re-released (as the Cybertron character, but in his movieverse counterpart's deco) under the 2008 Universe line.
  • Clocker mentions that Ransack might beat Override in "the next Speedia race"; the Speedia 500, seen in the final episode of the Cybertron cartoon, is the race which decides the overall leader of the planet. The same race also played a similar role in Exiles.
  • "Racemaster" takes his name and red-and-gold color scheme from the Transformers United EX alias for Rapido. Does that mean he is the IDW continuity version of Rapido? We're not sure.
  • Navitas refers to Windblade as "Caminus' sparkling". The term "sparkling" is used in some parts of the fandom to refer to the idea of a Transformer child, often a literal "baby" robot. This marks its first use in official fiction, carrying a similar connotation as Windblade like all Camiens was born of the hot spot carried within Caminus.

Errors

  • The lower parts of Windblade's wings are inconsistently colored red or black throughout the issue.
  • On the second panel of page 7, the inner part of Ironhide's arm is colored like a wheel, when it should be plain red.
  • On page 9, Navitas speaks of "Cybertron's decent into superstition." That ought to be "descent". This was fixed for the trade.
  • On page 16, Knock Out calls Blurr a "Cybertonian" rather than "Cybertronian". This was also fixed for the trade.

Covers (3)

  • Windbladev2-5-regcvr.jpg
  • Windbladev2-5-subcvr.jpg
  • Windbladev2-5-cvrRI.jpg

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Reprints

  • Transformers: Windblade - The Last City (February 14, 2018) ISBN 978-1684052240
    • Collects Windblade (2014) issues #1–4, and Windblade (2015) issues #1–7, but not the alternating chapters of Combiner Wars from The Transformers vol. 2 needed to complete the story. Um.
    • Bonus material includes covers from each issue.
    • Trade paperback format.

External links

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