IDW published a Transformers Halloween Special back in September.

[thanekos]

It's one story, about Starscream and a ghost.

It's set in IDW's current main continuity, taking place after the Decepticons have seized the city of Iacon.

Starscream, frustated at overheard aspersions on his dedication to the cause, found an outlet in a report from the scouts Runabout and Runamuck: " A ghost in the wastes. A howling. "

The latter connected their observations to an old myth: " .. a ghost who screams in the wastes.. a disembodied spark trapped forever without a body, looking to steal the shell of any Cybertronian who wanders near. "





(" Mentor " is meant in this continuity's " teacher to one newly come online " sense.)

Starscrean followed the coordinates into the wastes of Cybertron - and followed screams he overheard there, to one scared.



(The ape-like's one of the servitor thralls of the Voin, an organic species with a presence on Cybertron.

The narrator in this story's not Starscream - they were quoting him in the last panel of the previous one.)

' It would be interesting to know what he would have done. '

What short-circuited that was his knife touching the cable - then arcing energy, screaming pain for the mech and the monkey, and the cognizance of flesh.



Starscream grappled with being a spark in meat.



The narrator's commentary became pointed: ' But you are going the wrong way, Starscream, and you are leaking all your thoughts where I can see them. '

' What? ' exclaimed Starscream. ' Who said that?! Who's in here with me?! '



" .. it's been so long, I forgot to make myself a body, too. "

" Cryak?! "



She had made herself immersant, out in the wastes - let the planet take her.

The Voin ape (" I do not know if it was escaped, released, or simply lost. ") had come across her in that state, the wires of the planet taking her.

Its head-connector had somehow gotten " tangled " in what'd grown over her. In its frenzied attempt to free itself, it'd seized and bitten one of the planet's wires - just as her spark was being drawn down it.

" And here we have been trapped in this terrible limbo for over a megacycle. "



(Cryak's self-image reflects the time she's spent inside the fleshy ape.)



Starscream objected.



' This is how it feels to us.

' Like a great battle, as we navigate around the organs of our animal prison.



' But it is not. '

Starscream defeated Cryak, and took the exit she'd tried to.



" Perhaps those nauseating lips and teeth are not well designed for speech. "



" Goodbye, Cryak. "

He turned and left, leaving her alone with the realization of what he was doing.



(Pagecount's 9 and under 9/10ths of 30.

Writing's Dan Watters, art's Beth McGuire-Smith, colors're Nahuel Ruiz, and letters're Jake M. Wood.

Publisher's IDW.)

Comments

[remial]

why did they need to introduce a new ghost, when canonically, Ghost Starscream can travel between dimensions and time? Starscream meeting his future self and saying "well, now I know what mistakes to avoid, this time I'll get away with it." is a VERY Starscream thing to do.

[janegray]

Because this is much more interesting and makes for a much better story than the immortal spark ugly nonsense.

[tripodeca113]

There, there Cryak it's only a matter of time until Cybertron gets devastated in some horrible cataclysm and the monkey won't be able to survive anymore.

[tinygaylaura]

Surprising to see a version of Starscream who actually has some standards and won't go along with any given evil action

[janegray]

It's not as rare as it may seem.

Starscream in the first IDW series had a ton of depth and character development and multiple scenes where he did the morally right thing at great personal cost to himself (which is why I'm absolutely fucking livid at the way they wasted it, they had pure gold and chose to ignore it, I loathe the IDW1 ending with every fiber of my being and now refuse to give IDW2 a chance).

Starscream in a previous comic series (I think it was the Marvel one) actually pulled a genuine Heel Face Turn, and spent the rest of his life as an ambassador of peace. This series also gave us the "IS THIS EMOTION" page, which is objectively the greatest page in TF comic history.

Even in the Prime cartoon, Starscream occasionally could be very vaguely moral. Such as when he chose to rescue Arcee to pay her back for when she spared his life.

And of course, there is the Armada version, who started as a villain and became flatout heroic.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Until Energon undid it, of course. Ugh.