So, who can you look forward to seeing in this issue? Well, all of the TOA make an appearance (I’m suspecting that this will remain constant through the rest of the run), all of the BOHROK VA also show up, and a few LEHVAK and TAHNOK have some panels (and some PAHRAK and GAHLOK are on the cover, but they don’t figure into the story). More importantly, three BOXORs play a part in this story, though they are all driven by the MATORAN that comes in the BOXOR set. We also see one EXO-TOA, and a shot of CAHDOK and GAHDOK, the BAHRAG leaders of the BOHROK swarm.

As for what happens, well, I don’t want to spoil the plot, but KOPAKA’s secret is revealed on the first page, we find out that the BOHROK are basically just exo-suits for the KRANA, and we are told that the BOXOR is a machine that the ONU-KORONANS made with spare BOHROK parts. While we still don’t know the name of the BOXOR pilot, I guess that means he’s officially from ONU-KORO.

Beyond the actual comic bookness, there are a few neat tidbits thrown in. Above, you can see a scan of a page that shows the silhouette of TAHU NUVA strapped into the EXO-TOA, which means they obviously must be able to use it. Okay, so lots of people have noticed that. But I still haven’t seen anyone point out that he appears to not be wearing his shoulder armor in that shot, which means the TOA NUVA probably have to remove that cool armor in order to strap in. Beyond that, I still maintain that POHATU won’t be able to fit into the back-cradle, and given that POHATU NUVA appears to once again use the inverted torso, I’m positive that he won’t be able to either. ONUA’s head might be too low for the chest armor to close, but ONUA NUVA stands a little taller and has the same neck design as the other four TOA, so he should have no problem.

There’s also an ad for the BOHROK SWARM CCG, which includes three new decks (and the cards have new cardbacks) that will present the ability to remove your opponent’s GREAT MASK cards by using new BOHROK cards. The deck will also contain a storybook that’s seperate from the rulebook, so even those of us who don’t play the CCG will probably want to pick up at least one deck. These should be out later this month.

On the back cover, there’s an ad for the McD’s promotion that starts on the 24th. Each pack will contain five exclusive cards, one of three exclusive mini-comics, and it sounds like some packs might include story cards. The ad claims that each person only needs one 5-card pack to play the game, which really makes me wonder what this game is like. I’ve watched a demo of the first CCG, and there’s no way it would work with only five cards. The mini-comics will include URL’s for exclusive games on BIONICLE.com, and the card-packs will not be available in the basic Happy Meals. This promo is tied to the Mighty Kids Meal, though I remember that with last year’s promo you could buy the MATORAN sets seperately from the Happy Meals, in case your villager requirements exceeded your appetite.