Got my hands on a physical copy of Green Arrow (2001) #44 today (I am so pumped, it was only $2!!!), and I'm flipping through and the adds are so funny in this issue. Because on one side of the page you have this:
And RIGHT NEXT TO IT is this:
The rest of the issue is mostly video game adds that fit the style better, but this is the first page. That's the add on the back of the cover. And just... The utter comedy of these two pages side by side as the first thing you see when you open the comic is killing me.
Ginga choosing Koma Village as the final battleground against Nemesis makes this whole series and his character arc come full circle, ever since he first got Pegasus
More Than Meets the Eye #44 — Censere and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcape
This issue is about the Necrobot, who we haven’t heard about in a hot minute! Anyone remember what his whole deal was?
Ah, right. Thank you, Rewind.
Rewind’s busy bothering Rodimus while he moves furniture, Chromedome follows from a distance because he starts crying if his husband isn’t in his line of sight.
Megatron, meanwhile, is busy trying and failing to banter with Ultra Magnus, as they consider the bullet Velocity yanked out of Swerve’s shoulder at the end of the last issue.
Can you two leave some room for space Jesus? For fuck’s sake, you’re his superior officer, Megatron.
Megatron is assuming that Agent 113 is Vos, though he’s got no idea how the fucker can do his signature “firing a bullet through the eye of someone’s Autobot badge” thing since Vos has claws.
Which, I mean, he’s a gun, so it wouldn’t really matter if he’s got stiletto nails or not. Megatron, did you not pay attention to your extreme employee review team?
Someone finally opens the door for Rodimus, and he chides the two for discussing top secret matters in public, except it doesn’t really matter anymore, because the video inside the bullet was played in front of everyone’s favorite blabbermouth.
…Okay, maybe this sentient pile of knives could have an issue pulling a trigger.
So it turns out that the Vos we know isn’t the same Vos that Megatron was thinking of, being a replacement for Knife Vos here, who is our Agent 113. The bullet he popped into Swerve is a warning that he’s potentially been compromised, and considering the Vos we’re all familiar with is slightly less pointy, I think Knives McGee might have been right on the money.
Because the bullet sat in Swerve’s shoulder for literal years, most of the info in it is either corrupted or old news. The only thing the gang really has to work with is a potential location for the Necrobot, which is why Rewind was talking about the guy earlier. Rodimus makes a reference nobody but Swerve would get, while everyone else states what a waste of time going to visit Necrobot Planet would be. Magnus’s main concern is how they’ve been taking a lot of detours on what’s supposed to be the Knight Quest. Magnus must really want Megatron tried in court again. Can’t say I blame the guy.
Chromedome goes to bat for his husband, saying that it wouldn’t take that long to see the Necrobot, but Rodimus is certain that Necrobot Planet is in the opposite direction of where they’re supposed to be going. How could he know this, if Thunderclash is the only one who has the map to Cyberutopia in his brain, and he’s taking a big fat chronic illness nap?
Turns out that Rodimus has been chipping away at this since the explosive start of this adventure, mistaking it as run-of-the-mill carving shit into his desk up until Magnus finally said something. Still, Rodimus is very happy to have this proof of connection to Primus, or at least that’s what he thinks it is. It’s at this point that Chromedome eggs Rewind on to tell Rodimus the real reason he wants to see the Necrobot.
Because the big thing about the Necrobot is that he records all the Cybertronian deaths that happen in the galaxy, he would know if Dominus Ambus is dead or not, which would clear up a lot of stuff for Rewind. The whole point of Rewind signing up for the Knight Quest was so that he could search for his first husband.
Megatron agrees to help Rewind, probably because he knows that Rewind probably wouldn’t hesitate in murdering him again if need be, and so Rodimus is overruled. We’re going to Necroworld! Yaaaaaay!!
As the Lost Light makes its way, Ultra Magnus calls a private meeting with Rewind. Or rather, Minimus Ambus does, though the headless Magnus armor does make an appearance, looming off to the side in a rather grotesque fashion.
Just in case you forgot about all the quantum bullshit that happened a few issues back, Rewind mentions that they’ve had this conversation before, Rewind having assaulted the quantum duplicate of Minimus Ambus after he’d made the claim that Dominus was dead. Our Minimus called this meeting to level with Rewind, since the chance of actually confirming Dominus dead is pretty high. As was established in Last Stand of the Wreckers, spark twins can feel each other’s sparks, and actually depend on both sparks being maintained to survive. Dominus and Minimus aren’t twins, but they are brothers, and the fact that Minimus doesn’t feel him anymore doesn’t leave much room for hope.
Rewind then mentions how similar they look, and Minimus says “gee thanks, I get that a lot and I hate it, this is why I spend all my time in a mech suit.”
Later, we approach the Necroworld, which Rodimus thinks looks lame as hell. Mainframe asks for orders in relation to hailing the planet, Rodimus confuses the poor bastard to hell, and it’s revealed that not everyone is going down, as the Rod Pod is stealthily launched in an attempt to catch Cybertron’s Bigfoot.
Skids needles Nightbeat, asking how far he’s going to stick his nose into things on Necroworld, though Nightbeat seems to not be feeling the best. In what feels like a bit of a non sequitur, though maybe I’m just tired, Skids then talks about his lack of faith.
I’m sure the narrative isn’t going to make you eat those words later, Skids.
It’s at this point that we’ve gotten close enough to the planet’s surface to see that it’s covered in statues of Cybertronians (and also Windblade). So that’s a weird thing we’re going to have to figure out while we’re here.
The Rod Pod lands, and Nightbeat races after a closing door on the only building in the area, having seen someone go inside. He doesn’t make it, but points for trying. Swerve— who I’m not sure should be out of the hospital just yet, even if Velocity is also here— and Tailgate discuss how their plan of attack might have been misguided, while Mainframe has fun messing with the hologram statues. Chromedome hypothesizes that once a Cybertronian dies, the Necrobot turns off the statue for them, basing said theory of having found Ambulon’s plinth. Also, Ambulon’s full name is a little fucked up.
This is a Sakamoto issue, if you couldn’t tell.
Off in the tree line, Ravage is griping about how Megatron totally let Rewind walk all over him for this sidebar of a trip. Megatron, however, sets the record straight, saying that he agreed to to go to Necroworld to extend his time among the free and living. Rodimus suddenly having a map got him spooked, because it puts an actual timer on things.
Back over at that fortress Nightbeat smashed his face into, Detective Ikea is staking out, claiming that he won’t leave until the Necrobot lets him in. The Necrobot, who probably knows how stubborn Nightbeat is, gives in pretty quickly.
Damn baby, that’s a sick-ass cape. You get that at Hot Topic, along with that nondiegetic halo?
Over with the married couple, Chromedome is explaining to Rewind what Mainframe told him, about how all these statues probably have a singular database they’re pulling from, and that as such, he can hack one of the empty plinths to find Dominus’s status, so they don’t have to wander the whole planet looking for the guy. While Chromedome runs some tests to make sure this is actually going to work, Rewind messes with some of the blue flowers that are simply all over the place.
Chromedome calls Rewind over so they can do this thing. As he’s about to hit ‘enter’ however, Rewind hesitates, not sure he actually wants to know. He tells Chromedome to tell him what to do, like Chromedome doesn’t have a cocktail of complexes over his husband’s holding a torch for his ex.
The two of them kneel in the grass under the setting sun talking about how this will affect their relationship and calling each other pet names until Rewind finally hits the button.
A moment of silence for our Chromedome/Dominus endgame.
Back with Nightbeat, the Necrobot has lead him into a room decorated in what I’m going to call the “Gilded Rodimus” style, as they discuss how a lot of the folks who came out of the Rod Pod should be fucking dead. Guess the Necrobot didn’t consider the possibility of quantum duplication. Rookie mistake.
Necrobot— whose real name is Censere— reveals himself to be old as balls, having been around prior to the Functionists. He also explains what his whole deal is, saying that he’s just a guy who pays respect to the dead and catalogs them, so their death record exists in at least one place. Nightbeat looks disappointed, having expected he was magical, or perhaps even diefic. Unfortunately for Nightbeat, the internet exists, and Censere wouldn’t be living up to his name if he didn’t know how to keep records of who was around and how they generally lived their lives. He knows where to go and has a means to get there because his machinery has quantum tech that can scan for spark signatures. Censere seems kind of put off by Nightbeat’s questioning, and is beginning to wonder what’s up with Detective Ikea.
Nightbeat, you forced yourself into this man’s home and accused him of being the fucking tooth fairy, you can’t be mad when he doesn’t meet your wild-ass expectations.
NIGHTBEAT WHAT DID I JUST SAY
Yes, it turns out that being shot in the head and spending a few years in the Dead Universe actually did get to him a bit more than he typically lets on. He’s convinced that there’s no afterlife in any sense, and now that he’s back in the saddle of life, it tortures him to think that this is all he gets.
Hey, Roberts, did Nightbeat bully you in grade school or something? Why do you keep giving him existential crises? I’m starting to become concerned.
Nightbeat has a seat, and Censere comforts him, saying that just because he died and didn’t see anything, doesn’t necessarily disprove the afterlife existing. Who knows, maybe he didn’t die enough before the Dead Universe nabbed him to actually find out. It’s not like he can visit the afterlife to check, right? Maybe it’s fine!
Anyway, Nightbeat is still a detective at the end of the day, so he gets back to asking questions, wanting to know why Censere let him in.
Smashcut to Swerve taking a selfie with the goddamned Necrobot, while Rodimus calls the married couple to come back to the Rod Pod. Wonder if Misfire follows Swerve on Spacebook, I’m sure he’d die of jealousy if he knew this was happening.
Perceptor (who is also on this little excursion) is examining the weird blue flowers that are all over the place. It turns out that they’re made to hold residual spark energy, and the glow they put out is from the dozen or so sparks Censere’s shoved into each. Also, Nautica is posing in the background for some reason. She wasn’t back there a panel ago.
Chromedome and Rewind show up, Chromedome seeming to have fallen off the wagon once again, offering to yank the information about Dominus’s passing out of Rewind’s head. Before a lovers’ spat can start up, Nightbeat grabs Rewind and pulls him along to see something interesting. The interesting thing is a wall labeled “In Memory of the Disappeared”, and Nightbeat’s name is on it. Nightbeat’s statue is also known to be turned off, since when he got shot back in his Spotlight, Censure didn’t find his body and assumed that a headshot did the trick. There are many names on this wall, but only one is really relevant to Rewind, and it’s not the one that I’m choosing to believe is “Omlet”.
Chromedome/Dominus can still win.
We hit the epilogue, Nightbeat and Censere shaking hands as everyone else boards the Rod Pod. Nightbeat, being himself, asks another question, wanting to know if Censere would have saved him if he’d gotten there before the Dead Universe did its thing. Censere says that that’s against the rules. Nightbeat reminds him that Censere literally made every single guideline that he operates under, and oh hey, did you know that Cybertronians are an endangered species since their means of reproduction aren’t working anymore? Just a thing to consider, Mr. Necrobot.
Rodimus is ready to ship out, but his fellow co-captain is still out, having decided to got on a little jaunt with Ravage, since he found out what the flowers are really for.
See, Censere only plants flowers at the base of the plinth of the robot who killed the sparks housed within. And if there’s one thing Megatron’s known for—
