Spotlight # 2
Written by Simon Furman
Penciled by Mark Bright
Colors by John Rauch

NIGHTBEAT

Summary:

An alien free trader named Krakon has offered Autobot investigator Nightbeat something quite valuable; the flight recorder from the first spacecraft to be named the Ark.  The first Ark had become something of a mystery amongst the Autobots; it and its crew vanished on its first mission with no record left behind.  Being the inquisitive mind he is, Nightbeat decides to look into this now-legendary mystery and agrees to meet Krakon in orbit over the planet Gorlam Prime.  But when Nightbeat's ship rendezvous with Krakon's ship, the Autobot boards the alien's craft to find Krakon lying mortally wounded.  The alien manages to spit out the words “There's a hole in the world”, then expires, leaving Nightbeat with a bigger mystery than before.  Cautiously, Nightbeat examines the ship's hold and finds no evidence of the flight recorder that Krakon had promised him.  Concluding that Krakon was killed to prevent the flight recorder from falling into his hands, Nightbeat decides to investigate Gorlam Prime, where Krakon claimed he uncovered the recorder.  He arrives on the planet surface via an orbital jump, and modifies his alt-mode to resemble the vehicles used by Gorlam Prime's inhabitants.  As Nightbeat explores the planet's residential areas, he notes that the inhabitants are in the midst of a vast evolutionary change; they are upgrading their bodies from organic to biomechanical.  He can't help but wonder if ancient Cybertron was similar to this planet.  As Nightbeat examines the excavation sites that were logged in Krakon's records, he notes that there is evidence of off-world manipulation in the manner and timing of Gorlam Prime's technological evolution.  When he arrives at the fourth excavation site, Nightbeat notes debris that is not only Cybertronian in nature, but dates back to the period of the first Ark.  A deep shaft sunk into the earth catches Nightbeat's attention, and recalling Krakon's last words, he decides to check it out.  First he sends the data he has already complied in a carrier wave to his vessel in orbit, and then descends into the shaft.  Unbeknownst to him, he is being tailed by four small vehicles that transform into robots after he goes down the shaft.  Once he reaches the bottom, Nightbeat discovers a series of tunnels that seem built for beings of his size and he continues to explore until he finds a chamber blocked by an enormous circular door.  Even though he knows he should return to the surface and call in an Autobot tactical team before going further, his curiosity overwhelms him and Nightbeat breaches the large door.  What he finds in the room is astonishing; a giant sea of metallic-looking liquid stretching as far as the optic can see.  Nightbeat hypothesizes that it is some kind of dimensional portal interface and decides to test his theory.  But even as he steps into the liquid, a foreboding sense of dread compels him to retreat.  Unfortunately for him, retreating is not possible as Nightbeat turns and finds the four smaller mechanoids, seemingly of Cybertronian origin, pointing weapons at him from the doorway.  Nightbeat notes that they are of a design and sophistication that he has never seen before, and asks them if they have names.  The smaller robots don't respond, even as Nightbeat asks if this place is their home.  Suddenly, Nightbeat becomes aware of more presences behind him, as three mysterious, menacing figures surface from the metallic sea.  Not willing to stick around any longer, Nightbeat leaps over the smaller mechanoids and transforms to vehicle mode, speeding off.  The four smaller robots are ordered by one of the mysterious figures to follow Nightbeat, and they transform to their own vehicle modes and take off in pursuit.  Nightbeat races back the way he came, but finds himself quickly shadowed by the faster, smaller vehicles.  One of the small mechanoids fires projectiles from its hood; these rounds are recognized by Nightbeat as neural disruptors, meaning they want him alive.  Nightbeat pulls off some fancy driving and tries to discourage pursuit with his own vehicle mode weaponry, but the smaller bots easily avoid his efforts.  Realizing that his opponents are far more technologically advanced than he is, Nightbeat desperately searches for a way to escape.  Unfortunately, two of the smaller vehicles maneuver in front of Nightbeat and drop spiked balls, blowing out the Autobot's tires.  Nightbeat desperately skids off-course and crashes into the end of a sealed-off tunnel.  As he desperately tries to get his bearings, one of the mysterious figures that rose from the metallic sea appears and tells the Autobot that the answers he was seeking are here.  Nightbeat raises his weapon, but gets blasted into unconsciousness.  The mysterious figure orders the smaller mechanoids to take Nightbeat away.  Sometime later, Nightbeat wakes up restrained on a surgical table.  He becomes aware of voices talking, saying things like “It is time” and “The expansion will soon begin”.  Nightbeat realizes that he was lured to Gorlam Prime on purpose and these mysterious beings have a use for him.  Although he cannot move or see, he is aware that the beings are doing horrible things to his mind.  They install some kind of cerebral implant in his head and as Nightbeat drifts in and out of consciousness, he catches certain words and phrases like “emissary” and “dead universe”.  Finally it ends and one of the mysterious figures says that when the time comes, they will call for Nightbeat and he will know what to do.  Some time later, Nightbeat is back aboard his ship; apparently he has no recollection of the events that transpired on Gorlam Prime.  He is getting restless and decides maybe he should try and solve one of the “Big Three” mysteries to occupy his time.  Optimus Prime radios him at that moment and tells him to join up with Ark-32, which is currently headed to the planet Earth; Prime needs Nightbeat's particular skills for a mission.  Nightbeat agrees, and then suddenly grunts in pain and touches his head.  Prime asks what is wrong and Nightbeat dismisses it as a simple cerebral surge and tells his commander that he'll be there soon.  As Prime signs off, Nightbeat can't help but get the impression that he's forgotten something.  We see this is true; on a nearby monitor in his ship, the data Nightbeat sent up via carrier wave before heading underground on Gorlam Prime was received and awaits further study.  THE END


Slagged!:

-Alas, poor Krakon, we didn't know you well.  Generic aliens are always the first to die.  Nightbeat finds him with a hole in his chest and postulates that something drained the life right out of him.

-Nightbeat is outmaneuvered and reigned in by the small vehicle-mode Transformers, then pretty much mind-raped by our mysterious villain who no doubt has future plans for everyone's favorite Autobot gumshoe.


Sightings:

-Nightbeat is drawn with his distinctive visor, a remnant of his Marvel days.  You see, Nightbeat's toy doesn't actually have a visor on his face.  Apparently, an artist accidentally switched Nightbeat and his fellow Headmaster Siren's heads around, so all subsequent Marvel stories with them had Nightbeat with a visor and Siren drawn with two optics, whereas the toys are the opposite.  Nightbeat's visor has been a distinct part of his visual appearance ever since then, and Mark Bright had no inclination to change it.

-Nightbeat transports to planet side via orbital drop, much like Megatron in Infiltration # 6 and the Dynobots in Spotlight # 1.

-Nightbeat adapts his body to better fit in with the vehicles of Gorlam Prime, resulting in a more squared-off car mode.  It apparently affected his robot mode as well, as his Gorlam Prime-adapted head doesn't have his distinct “gun” antennae.

-The smaller Transformers that hassle Nightbeat are the Micromaster Sports Car Patrol, comprising Road Hugger, Hyperdrive, Blackjack, and Detour.  Their alt-modes are tweaked a bit seemingly to fit better with Gorlam Prime's native vehicles.

-Okay, speculation time here.  Based on comments made by Simon Furman and what vague glimpses we could see, I'm going to guess that the mysterious villain is Galvatron.  We get a look at his silhouette and his face, but it isn't distinct enough to tell.  Still, the evidence points to old sand-castle head.  And the fact that three larger figures in total emerge from the metallic substance seems to suggest, as usual, that Galvatron is accompanied by Cyclonus and Scourge.  Of course this is a whole new Transformers universe, and Furman can do as he likes, but based on previous material, this is the closest guess there is on who the other two figures are.


Hearings:

-It appears there are several spaceships in service bearing the name “Ark” in this Transformers continuity.  The first Ark is revealed to have been lost, Ark-19 is Prowl and company's HQ on Earth and Prime tells Nightbeat to meet up with Ark-32 at the end of this issue.

-Nightbeat observes that the Micromasters are both more sophisticated and more technologically-advanced than him, a larger Transformer.  This could be a subtle nod to the eventual downsizing/upgrading of Autobots and Decepticons into Maximals and Predacons in the far future.

-The words Nightbeat manages to hear during his harrowing invasive surgery ordeal about a “dead universe” and an “emissary” seem to suggest his captors are from another dimension, likely one that collapsed.  If this mysterious figure is indeed Galvatron, it wouldn't be the first time him and his cronies dimension-hopped in a Transformers comic story.

-Nightbeat mentions a “Big Three” of Cybertronian mysteries.  One is no doubt the fate of the first Ark.  Wonder what the other two are?

-Optimus orders Nightbeat to Earth, meaning this story takes place somewhere between Infiltration and Escalation, most likely after the conclusion of Stormbringer.


Wreck and RULE!:

-Furman gets to dust off another of the characters he made famous, and does so with great success here.  Nightbeat is just as compelling as ever, and even those readers unfamiliar with Nightbeat's previous appearances in the Marvel comics are given a crash course on what makes him tick.  Furman also seems to have a knack for mystery/horror-type stories and it certainly shows through here.  Nightbeat's internal dialogue lets the reader know exactly the sense of dread he experiences when faced with the unknown.  And we get a plot thread seeded that will undoubtedly pay off in the future, with Nightbeat being set to appear in Escalation and all.

-Mark Bright's retro-ish art may not appeal to all, but it certainly is a mood-setter.  It goes especially well pushing a feeling of “danger just out of sight” in several places and leaves the reader's imagination to wander.

-This is a minor point, but it's nice that Nightbeat's Spotlight issue is devoted solely to him and him alone.  While the Shockwave issue was a great read, it seemed to devote an equal amount of time to the Dynobots as well.  Here, we get Nightbeat's perspective the entire way through, and are even privy to things that Nightbeat is made to forget.

-Furman introduces a major threat that will factor in to future stories here, and manages to effectively lend weight to this hidden danger with only a few allusions and glimpses.

-Steeljaw got Furman to sign this issue for me at Botcon.  Rock on.  Oops, sorry, back on topic with me.


Wreck and ROT!:

-I guess if you aren't a fan of Nightbeat, there isn't much for you here.  Not much here either if you aren't a fan of mystery/horror-type stories.  Admittedly, beyond characterizing Nightbeat and his quest for the Holy Gra- I mean, the first Ark, this story isn't much more than a set-up for a future one, but damned if it isn't a nice and very creepy set-up.

-Okay, I gave my praise to Mark Bright for some stuff.  Now I have to critique.  Krakon and the inhabitants of Gorlam Prime are all a bit indistinct and generic (Although, admittedly that's more the colorist's fault, giving them all dull gray skin.).  There also seems to be some kind of inconsistency with Nightbeat's design; he looks like normal when he orbital drops to Gorlam Prime's surface, then mentions he had modifications done to his body and transforms to car mode.  When he transforms back to robot mode a few pages later, his robot mode design is a bit different- especially the head and forearms.  Then at the end, when he's back on his ship, Nightbeat is back to the usual design he started the issue off with.  I guess you can write this off as Nightbeat having some kind of internal reformatting system reworking his robot mode while he's in car mode.  And then you could say our mysterious villains switched Nightbeat's modes back to normal on the operating table to eliminate evidence that he had been to Gorlam Prime.  But still, it just looks inconsistent when you compare the pages.

-On the last two pages, Mark Bright turns in what has got to be the WORST rendition of Optimus Prime's head I have ever seen, and yes I'm counting that children's book where Prime has a mouth and is smiling.  I don't know how you can draw something as distinct as Prime's head and have it come out looking that ugly.  Oh wait, the concept artists for the upcoming live-action movie did too.


Final Judgment:

A neat little atmospheric tale by Furman and Bright that promises big things in the future; it's not as crowd-pleasing as the Shockwave Spotlight, but still a solid piece of work.  Furman gets to try and get into the dark corners of a reader's mind a bit with the dialogue and imagery.  Bright's retro artwork may turn some people off, but I think it fit rather well with the story being told.  Putting aside what I mentioned in Wreck and ROT, he did a fairly decent job on the creepier scenes, like Nightbeat's discovery of the underground portal and his time on the operating table.  I'm loving this Spotlight series thus far, and can only hope IDW continues them past five issues.  Peace.


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