Wrath of Karza issue 3
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Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
First published | July 12, 2017 | ||||||||||||
Cover date | June 2017 | ||||||||||||
Written by | Cullen Bunn and Jimmy Johnston | ||||||||||||
Art by | Andrew Griffith (pg 1-11, 13-20) and Ron Joseph (pg 12-13) | ||||||||||||
Colors by | David Garcia Cruz | ||||||||||||
Letters by | Tom B. Long | ||||||||||||
Editor | David Hedgecock | ||||||||||||
Chronology | Current era (2017) |
Thought dead by Baron Karza and his forces, Larissa and Microtron set out to rescue their captive friends.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Over a video link, Baron Karza speaks to a cabal of Earth's worst villains, and makes them an offer: though he will be conquering the planet as a new home for his people, he has no plans to destroy human civilization, and is willing to let them coexist with the people of Microspace... provided that they accept him as their ruler. Destro rankles at the idea of serving as one of Karza's "barons", and Miles Mayhem — who has had dealings with Karza in the past — threatens to see him chased off Earth once more; but Baron Karza has no fear of Earth's armies, having effortlessly defeated them through Enerchanging with Micronus Prime!
While Microtron sorts through the remains of the Heliopolis, Larissa gloomily speculates about the fate of their comrades; while Microtron is more optimistic, he still has trouble tracking down the rest of the crew, even with the help of the genetic data he's collected from them... until, that is, the Time Traveler's mask offers to guide them to Oziron Rael. Though surprised by the revelation that the mask is sentient, the two prepare to rescue the other Micronauts, with Microtron providing some extra back-up: the Trons, four robots built from the wreckage of the Heliopolis and consisting of the stammering Betatron, the battle-shy Gammatron, the stalwart Alphatron, and the kill-happy Omegatron! (Larissa remains unimpressed.)
In their cell in the Ministry of War's prison, Oz is berated by Phenolo-Phi for getting them captured; Biotron tries to console his friend, but is stymied by his heavily damaged arm falls off, something that Membros mocks; Karza's newly-appointed chief interrogator trades barbs with Oz, revealing that Larissa and Microtron are not believed to have survived the crash of the Heliopolis, and that Acroyear is being reconditioned to rejoin the Ministry's forces. At that very time, in fact, Acroyear is being tortured by another of his kind, his helmet sawed open and pulled from his face to begin the reconditioning process; while the other Acroyear believes him to be failing and obsolete, he feels that the Micronauts' Acroyear still has value... even if it's only to act as a shield for a more efficient warrior.
Shazraella implores her husband to finish his tale of his meeting with the Time Travelers, though Karza disputes the idea of "finishing" it, time having no meaning within the Entropy Cloud; inside it, he was shown places that were destroyed even before the Entropy Cloud came to be. The Time Travelers revealed to him that within the Cloud, all things are in a quantum state, both existing and not; they guided him to the last Time Traveler, the lone member of their kind still existing within the timestream, and the root of the Entropy Cloud through his madness; with his guidance, they promised, he would be the one to save Microspace, though to do so would mean it never existed at all.
The Time Traveler's mask guides Microtron, Larissa, and the Trons to the doorway to Karza's prison, held outside of time; at Microtron's behest, the Trons deal with the guards while Alphatron opens the door to the prison. Making their way through the prison, with Omegatron going ahead to massacre the guards, Larissa and Microtron locate the cell in which their crewmates are being held; Oz is in a bad state after one of Membros's "interrogation" sessions, in which he was never asked any questions, but directs the team to the torture chamber in order to try and find Acroyear. Breaking into Membros's "office", the Micronauts get ready to do some interrogation of their own, as they plan to get the help of some other allies: the Autobots Arcee, Jazz, and Optimus Prime!
Featured characters[edit | edit source]
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Micronauts | Ministry of War | Villains of Earth | Autobots | Others |
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Notes[edit | edit source]
Continuity notes[edit | edit source]
- The various characters that Baron Karza contacts and demands obedience from are the villains of the other Earth-bound Hasbro Universe books running alongside Wrath of Karza: Destro, who appeared in the M.A.S.K. annual; Baron Ironblood, Doctor X, Tomax Paoli, Iron Klaw, Razorclaw, and Storm Shadow, members of a villainous alliance from Revolutionaries; Miles Mayhem, leader of V.E.N.O.M. in M.A.S.K.; and Caleb Awan, leader of the Dire Wraiths in ROM. This should date the issue to before Revolutionaries #4, where Razorclaw was shot in the head by Kup; but see "Errors", below.
- Mayhem refers to having seen Karza thrown from Earth before, a reference to Revolution, where the villains were working together; that same series established Mayhem's xenophobic tendencies, so it seems appropriate that he'd be opposed to the idea of serving under Karza.
Micronauts references[edit | edit source]
- The Trons are based on the motorised Micronauts toys of the same name. Omegatron is a new character inspired by the others; while he shares Alphatron's head and vehicle top, the rest of his parts aren't immediately identifiable as coming from any other Micronauts toy.
- The Micro-scale building that serves as the entrance to Karza's extradimensional prison is based on the Micropolis playsets, such as the Interplanetary Headquarters and Mega City. Since the original playsets were modular and interchangeable, it seems to be a "generic" construction based on them rather than any specific set.
- In the Entropy Cloud, Karza sees a child in a Rom shirt playing with the original Baron Karza and Force Commander toys.
Errors[edit | edit source]
- Razorclaw's appearance doesn't really make much sense; while he appeared as a villain in Revolutionaries, it was against his will and as a brainwashed servant of Iron Klaw, so he probably shouldn't have his own screen in the conference call. Of course, this could be set after issue 4, where he was freed from his mind control... but that would require him to have survived his head exploding, something that seems unlikely at best.
- Razorclaw also manages to muck up his design twice: the distinctive fanged mouthplate head design comes from his Stormbringer-era design, which he hasn't been using for some years, and on top of that he uses the same incorrect head color configuration (red with yellow mouthplate, instead of the other way round) that was used in Revolutionaries #4.
- On page 6, Betatron is the Tron with the stammering speech pattern, while on page 15 it's given to Gammatron.
Other notes[edit | edit source]
- Originally solicited for release in June, this issue arrives a month late in the middle of July, continuing IDW's series of ongoing delays.
Covers (3)[edit | edit source]
- Regular cover: Phen battles Acroyears in the sky, by Alex Ronald.
- Subscription cover: Oz is the joker of the pack, by Chris Mercier.
- Retailer incentive cover: Acroyear being prepped for surgery, by Andrew Griffith and Thomas Deer .
Advertisements[edit | edit source]
- Wrath of Karza #4
- "The Hasbro Tribune" editorial page promoting June's Hasbro Universe titles, including G.I. Joe #7, Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook #2, M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand #8, this issue, Optimus Prime #8, Revolutionaries #7, ROM #12, Lost Light #7, The Transformers: Salvation, and Till All Are One #11.