Insignificant Other: Drift Empire of Stone # 4!

THE best thing you can say about the mini-series “Transformers Drift: Empire of Stone” is that it is finally over. The four-issue series from Shane McCarthy (who wrote Autobot Drift into continuity) and artist Guido Guidi had all kinds of problems from the get-go, which is a shame considering that the previous Drift minis were pretty good. Perhaps the worst aspect of “Empire” is the prevalent feeling that there would only be one thing in the series that would stick: that Drift would be convinced to return to the Lost Light crew that he had left in “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye.” After all, Ratchet had come all the way to wherever Drift was to convince the sword-wielding warrior to come back. That element aside, everything about “Empire” essentially doesn’t matter. After the events of “Empire” # 3, there were three things that would predictably happen in the fourth and final issue. 1) Gigatron would eventually betray Drift after agreeing to an alliance to battle former sidekick Hellbat and the titular Empire 2) The Decepticon Grit would die...

Nothing Much: Drift Empire of Stone # 3!

THIS review’s title isn’t really a statement about what happens in “Transformers Drift: Empire of Stone” # 3. Quite the contrary; more stuff happens in this issue that an any other previous issue of the mini-series.

            After Hellbat reveals that he has control over the titular stone warriors, Drift, Grit and Ratchet are in the fight of their lives when attacked by the stone soldiers. It turns out that Hellbat had gained control over the stone warriors by transplanting parts from captured Transformers. All this Hellbat did under the nose of his Decepticon boss Gigatron, who had been futilely searching for the same stone warriors. It turns out that Hellbat is really Hellbat-sh_t crazy and wants use the empire of stone to destroy, in his words, everything. “What is the point of us,” Hellbat monologues. “Kill. Our own kind. Others… That is why we’re here. Machines of war, of death.”

            The back story is that Drift, under his former name the Decepticon Deadlock, and his partner in crime Turmoil, had discovered the empire of stone  previously and killed all the peaceful monks who had been protecting the stone warriors. “I kind of feel like this is all my fault,” Drift says, referring to both what happened in the past and the present.

            In the middle of the fight, Drift manages to lead the stone warriors away to Gigatron’s throne room and reveals Hellbat’s duplicity. Gagtron singehandedly disposes of the stone warriors chasing Drift. Drift then says: “What is going to happen is you and I joining forces… We’re both going to put an end to (Hellbat’s) madness forever.”

Cast of Characters: Drift Empire of Stone # 2

AFTER leaving the Lost Light as part of a ruse, the Autobot Drift has traveled the universe trying to fight for justice as kind of robotic ronin. “Transformers Drift: Empire of Stone” # 1 showed the sword-wielding former Decepticon being found by Ratchet, who tries to convince him to return to the Autobots. But the two—together with a mercenary Decepticon named Grit—are captured by some isolated Decepticons led by Gigatron. Remembering Drift’s considerable past as Deadlock, Gigatron, flanked by his lieutenant Hellbat, asks him to rejoin their cause so they can conquer the system.

           

Shift Code: Drift Empire of Stone # 1!

ASIDE from the original fembot Arcee, there is no Transformer as controversial as the Autobot Drift. Created by writer Shane McCarthy and first appearing in the 2009 IDW Publishing series “All Hail Megatron,” Drift was criticized as being a fan’s fever dream. He was a former Decepticon named Deadlock who had seen the error of his ways and switched sides. More than the back story, it was his character, a samurai-like robot with ridiculously large swords that rubbed some fans the wrong way. But just like Arcee, many fans embraced Drift, turning him into, ironically, a fan-favorite character who would go on to appear in not one, but two mini-series as well as his own Spotlight issue. Back when it was still very uncommon, Drift got a comic-accurate toy from Hasbro. Drift proved so popular that he even appeared in the Michael Bay-directed film “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” as a triple-changer voiced by Ken Watanabe. In the comics, Drift had shifted from being a samurai to more of a crusading knight character when he joined the crew of the Lost Light in “Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye.” In the aftermath of the Overlord fiasco, Drift had elected to take the blame and was stripped of his Autobot status, leaving the ship afterwards. Where is he now?