The One Hand #5: We really go off the rails here, in the best possible way.
We pick up right where we left off last issue, with Ari talking to the One Hand killer through the wall. He asks what the writing on the wall represents, and the killer says that it's a language. Ari asks what it says, and the killer says that's what he's been doing — trying to find meaning. Ari asks why he's been killing all these years, and the killer is adamant that he didn't kill his victims. Ari asks if they're all cogs, and the killer again says he isn't a killer. Ari asks what he is, and the killer responds that he's an archeologist, which is creepy as fuck.
In what seems like a parallel dimension on the other side of the wall — a cave of some sort — a woman addresses the killer as "Johannes" and says they have to go before Ari shoots through the wall. Ari runs next door only to find a storage closet. Mac then calls Ari to tell him that the lieutenant is coming with a response team and a warrant and Ari needs to run. Mac tells Ari that he'll find him the usual way, and Ari bolts.
Ari then meets Helene for lunch, at her invitation. (She got word to the precinct, and Mac passed on the message to him.) Helene asks if Ari was looking for someone named Nemone and confesses she hasn't stopped thinking about her since the day he visited. Even though she's never met anyone by that name, she tells Ari that she has the feeling of being haunted "by a memory that isn't real." She then recounts a legend related to the Greek Titan Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, from which the name Nemone derives. Mnemosyne would give her priests the ability to see other people's memories, and Helene asks Ari if he believes memory can exist beyond our own lifetimes.
Helene tells Ari that Nemone would be happy to know that Ari didn't stop looking for her. Ari then carefully asks Helene if she knows what she is, and Helene stands up, kisses Ari and then holds his chin as she says, "Ari..." She then leaves, asking behind her, "Do you know what you are?"
At a safe house (or, more accurately, a safe apartment), someone (I think Juice from issue #2) gets Ari a clean gun as Mac arrives. Mac tells Ari that he thought he'd finally gone around the bend when he asked whether the victim was a cog, but the coroner called him to the microscope because he found the killer's symbols in the blood or tissue sample he was examining. Suddenly, the coroner's entire system then burst into flames. Mac remembers that, when they were looking at the security footage at the hospital looking for Odell's murderer, it suddenly went glitchy, too. Realizing someone is protecting the killer, Mac has the IT boys put together a path of camera outages, which leads to an apartment building. Mac tells Ari that he's giving him a head start, but he's going to the lieutenant with it.
At the apartment building, Ari finds the woman from the art show, who tells Ari that she knows he's looking for the man with six fingers, whom she calls Johannes Vale. The woman is nuts, but she tells Ari that Johannes' father went missing when he was young and he "still sees him every now and then." We learn her name is Ada, and she tells Ari that Johannes went lookin for someone named Helene. Ada tells Ari that he's "talking to someone now, detective...a voice only he can hear. It sends him places...opens doors that don't exist."
This story concludes next issue, which seems crazy. I guess at this point, though, our only real question is whether we're dealing with someone or something supernatural, as Johannes seemed to create the pocket dimension behind the wall that Ari couldn't find. I guess we'll see.
The Sacrificers #8: Remender delivers another brutal issue that makes you want Pigeon just to raze this place to the ground.
It begins with a tired old man taking Pigeon on his wagon to the South End Trading Post, from where Pigeon'll head home. The world is clearly collapsing around them, and Pigeon fights his anger over the way his family treated him as he makes his way from the Trading Post to his village. There, he finds it completely destroyed, and we're reminded that he's really only there for Beatrice. But he finds her destroyed doll in the wreckage, and you can see something break in him.
Later, Pigeon arrives in Noom's devastated village, and the townspeople come close to killing him, blaming him for their lot. A guy who looks like the king appears, but he informs Pigeon that the king left for higher ground before the storm hit. Pigeon loses consciousness, and later he's seated at a banquet table with the Fake King who serves him...chicken. Asshole. (Pigeon sticks to the vegetables.)
The Fake King asks Pigeon about Paradise, and Pigeon tells him it was "hell, a factory of death." The Fake King rages at him as a blasphemer, telling him that he can't believe a Sacrificer who abandoned his responsibility. He accuses Pigeon of inventing the story to justify his failure; when Piegon mentions Noom, he blames her as well. The Fake King mentions Piegon's people were destroyed, commenting, wickedly, "I would imagine your family amongst them."
The Fake King sees a glint of guilt in Pigeon's eyes at that comment and convinces him to sacrifice himself. Clad in ceremonial gear, Fake King prepares to cut off Pigeon's head, but Pigeon grabs the axe before he can. Furious, Pigeon tells the Fake King that Noom did sacrifice herself. He says he'd understand if only his village perished, but the fact that Noom's village also perished makes no sense. Stalking the Fake King, Pigeon tells him that he's tired of assholes like him telling him what his responsibility is when the collective never did anything for him. In fact, this guy is only focused on making things better for himself.
Repeating something he said earlier, the Fake King tells Piegon that it isn't his job to question the gods but to serve them. Pigeon then cuts off his head, telling his corpse, "Then that's what I'll do." Team Pigeon, y'all.
Star Wars: Darth Vader #46: Ugh, I don't know if I care enough to put in the effort necessary to understand the nuance of Pak's story here. I mean, once you involve the Sith Eternal, you've pretty much lost me.
Anyway, we start with the sequel to the Darth Vader story in "Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars" #1 as Warba joins Sabé in her search for Luke Skywalker. Warba claims that she wants to see Luke before Sabé and Vader do whatever they're planning on doing to him, but we know Warba is also serving Vader so who knows.
Meanwhile, Sly Moore sends Corleque to deliver a shipment to the Sith Eternal on Exegol, since they'll scan his mind and see that he hates Vader. The teams passes through the Red Honeycomb Zone in a Kyberite-plated shuttle, which more or less protects them from the Summa-Verminoth. (Pryde does see his death on Exegol.)
On Exegol, "Vader" engages the Sith Eternal and loses, which draws the other Sith Eternal to see his defeat. However, it turns out the cargo that Corleque delivered has the real Vader and battle droids, who launch another attack. We learn that Vader is there for the Kyber Temple, which he destroys for the kyber. The attack somehow frees the M.A.R. Corps, but, before we can process that, the apparent leader of the Sith Eternal (or at least this contingent of them) hits a button that fires a beam from...somewhere?
The beam appears to come from the sky onto a large black monolith, particularly since Pryde gloats that Vader somehow deflected it from hitting them. (They're all standing next to the monolith.) But then Vader says they weren't aiming for them, and the beam seems instead to have come from the monolith to the sky, where it hits the Summa-Verminoth. Why the Sith Eternal decided to do that now is beyond me, but I guess Pak'll tell us at some point.
Transformers #8: I know it's ridiculous to say about a series revolving around sentient robots, but this issue is an emotional tour de force.
With Arcee along, Carly takes Spike to a lake at sunset, hoping some fresh air clears his head. Spike admits that he doesn't feel anything, because the world has changed so much. Carly shows the anger that we saw last issue, telling Spike that they now have "big metal warriors" to help them get revenge on the "ones who killed our dads!" But Spike notes his father just disappeared, like his brother.
Cliffjumper arrives with some "colas" because he's learned that it's "the thing to do near bodies of water." (Fair, Cliff.) He offers one to Carly, who doesn't respond. Spike encourages her to speak to Cliff, reminding her that he saved her from "Lazerbeam." Carly tells Cliff that she isn't "not" talking to him but she's furious that he had the chance to stop Starscream after he murdered his friend (Cliff brokenly mutters, "Bumblebee," at this point) but didn't take it. As such, she feels like she can't trust him. Cliff sits with his head between his legs, in the most dejected (and human) way a robot can look, and Spike wordlessly put his hand on Cliff's arm.
On Cybertron, Elita is motoring with the body she's carrying. The robot speaks, telling her that he's endured 150 years of torture, day and night, and begs Elita to kill him. Elita tells him that she's sorry it took her so long to find him but, yes, if they "get taken" she'll end both their sparks.
On the U.S.S. Henry Harrison, Soundwave and Thundercracker land on deck. Soundwave orders Thundercracker not to destroy the ship yet, and the sailors try to stop them. Thundercracker grabs the captain who begs him not to kill him. Thundercracker places him on the deck, telling him that he pities humanity's fragility and that they should all "be on [their] way."
As the ship burns around them and they watch the liferafts drift into sea, Soundwave asks what Thundercracker is doing, and Thundercracker comments that the humans can't hurt them. Soundwave says they can't have witnesses, and Thundercracker starts to object — but then Soundwave simply kills them. It's brutal, you guys. It's interesting how...noble Thundercracker has been. Whereas Cliffjumper's pacifism comes from a place of exhaustion, Thundercracker has almost Optimus levels of compassion and conscientiousness.
We then move onto a pretty hilarious segment. Optimus enters the Ark's main room as Wheeljack and Skywarp are trading insults. Wheeljack confirms that he can't separate Skywarp from Teletran 1 until he gets more Cybertronian tech. Optimus has Wheeljack replay the video for Skywarp of Starscream and Soundwave ripping him into pieces, but they're interrupted when Carly enters with a RPG (with the intent to kill Skywarp). Optimus is like, "For fuck's safe, Carly," and Carly falters when he explains that they need Skywarp — even if he's the reason Spike got shot — to save the other Autobots. Carly accidentally shoots the RPG, and Arcee hurls herself in front of the blast, saving Skywarp. Suddenly, Skywarp fixes Wheeljack's legs, to his delight. Optimus tries to talk to Carly, but she tells him that it isn't an "Optimus teaching moment." Ha! She asks if she's just supposed to "wait around and get squished," and, honestly? It's a good point.
Arcee follows Carly to her van, telling her it's "quite the vehicle." Carly apologies for shooting Arcee and asks why Teletraan didn't fix her. Arcee explains they're low on Energon, since the Decepticons used most of it on the Constructicons. Carly asks why the Autobots don't act as badass as they are, and Arcee explains that they "were scattered and lost" before the war but Optimus brought them together to fight for peace. Carly snidely comments, "easy for him to say," and Arcee cautions her that Optimus' losses "could fill a chasm."
On the seafloor, Soundwave explains that they sank the Harrison since it has the most advanced energy technology the humans have — nuclear power — and then orders the Constructions to unearth the Nemesis.
In the Ark (seriously, this issue has so much jammed into it), Jetfire awakens. He's hazy, and Optimus tells him that he lost some of his spark. Ratchet is there and expound that they could only bring back one form, his jet form. Jetfire asks why Optimus didn't let him rest, and Optimus explains they need his help to travel the world (per his comment at the end of last issue). Devastatingly, Jetfire asks if he's really just a husk to them, saying that he can't see anything, including the stars. Optimus offers to leave, but Jetfire asks him to stay, since it's so dark. Optimus sits next to him, and it's just so much, you guys.
Soundwave and company enter the Nemesis and hear pounding. They're all surprised that the Transformer in the cell making the noise survived the crash. Thundercracker is nervous, but Soundwave orders him to open the cell, since they need all the help they can get. Suddenly, Astrotrain emerges like Jack Nicholson in "The Shining." He demands to know where "he" is, throwing Thudnercracker into a wall when Soundwave says that they don't know. He's just a total raving mess, and Soundwave swears when they find Megatron (aha!) Astrotrain is free to do whatever he wants with him. But, for now, Soundwave has a mission.
At the Ark, Wheeljack notes the awakening of Cybertronian technology (i.e., the Nemesis), and Optimus calls the Autobots to action. Optimus refuses to bring Carly with them, and Arcee asks if she can take on Carly as her Iron Apprentice. Optimus says only two Cybertronians can have that relationship, but Arcee says she's willing to try if Carly is. Arcee explains that it's a "sacred bond" between two beings, "one older and one younger." It marks the beginning of a clan, and it's what she had with Ultra Magnus. Although Carly doesn't formally agree, Optimus leaves Arcee and Carly to stay with Wheeljack to defend the Ark and watch over "young Spike." Cliffjumper then takes control of Jetfire, and he, Jazz, Optimus, and Ratchet head to the Nemesis.
On the Nemesis, Soundwave tells Thundercracker that the goal of resurrecting it wasn't to fly it, but to use its antennae to call for reinforcements. Enter Shockwave!
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