Creators: Dan Watters (writer), Andrei Bressan (artist), Adriano Lucas (colorist), Rus Wooton (letterer)
Story: Tomax and Xamot are meeting with Artyom Darklon, willing to buy MARS since Destro hasn't been seen in 8 days. However, they are disappointed to discover that the Battle Android Troopers aren't able to live up to their expectations. Meanwhile, Destro has been reading over many confidential U.S. government files and is making his next move. Destro makes an appearance at a party hosted by Astoria Carlton-Ritz (The Girl Who Loved Powerglide), who tries to run from Destro but he and Scrap-Iron are able to stop her. It ends up, Astoria is much more shrewd than she appears and tells Destro about Project Overkill, an AI system meant to defend the world. It was Overkill that attacked the arms show (though it was Astoria who tried to kill Destro). Back at M.A.R.S. Industries, Tomax and Xamot welcome Cobra Commander.
Writing: This issue really takes what we thought was going on and moves it into a new direction. It ends up an AI is potentially going to neutralize all war on the planet. We also get the beginnings of Extensive Enterprises and MARS working together and the introduction of Cobra Commander to the series. While we do get a brief scene with General Flagg, I'm not sure if it was really needed.
Art: Art is staying strong in this issue. Bressan does a good job of making Astoria look like a typical party girl/fool, even though she really is quite crafty. There are a couple of "easter egg" bits and pieces in various places (like seeing the HISS tank).
Overall: A good set-up issue, we have all the pieces on the board and we are building to the conclusion of this arc. Introducing Astoria into these series was an interesting way to use a one-off character from the original Transformers TV series and giving her a lot more depth (that we see here).
