Was looking for your euh... well... I mean... literate... ya know... comment to copy so I could... ya know... euh... use it to comment on someone else's post.
Back then I didn't think your comment deserved an answer. Now I realise you must only be aquainted with IDW.
You might want to read up on late Marvel comics if you really think Spinister needed IDW's idiot savant depiction of him to give him characterisation.
If around the third alinea you realize Optimus and Megatron's "leadership" is a laughing stock that's perfectly normal  

From TFwiki:
Spinister was recruited into the new Mayhem Attack Squad by Snarler, and placed in charge of training and grading other new recruits to the squad. During a training exercise, a fresh-new warrior named Needlenose went AWOL in the middle of a battle. Spinister went after him, knowing the desertion was punishable by death in the Decepticon Army. He saw promise in the young soldier, though, and so instead faked having difficulty against an Autobot drone he was fighting. Spinister hoped that seeing him in danger would force Needlenose to act, and he was right. Needlenose came back and fought off the drone to "save" Spinister. Because of this, Spinister ignored his temporary loss of courage in the official report, and nominated Needlenose for full membership in the Mayhems, and their mission to hunt down the traitors Carnivac and Catilla. The Hunting Party

Arriving on Earth, the Mayhems confronted Carnivac separately from his new Autobot comrades in the Survivors, and ran him to ground. Way of the Warrior Carnivac managed to escape them when the National Guard arrived to interfere. The head of the human military unit ordered his soldiers to "blow away" the Decepticons, an order that Spinister told him would be his last. The humans were slaughtered in short order, and Spinister's group managed to track down Carnivac again with little fuss.Survival Run Seeing Carnivac's newfound care for fleshlings, Spinister opened fire into a crowd, committing Carnivac to taking the fire himself in order to protect the humans. Stunned by the gunfire, Carnivac lay wounded as Spinister transformed and was about to pass sentence on him. His fellow traitor Catilla leapt out from nowhere, however, spoiling Spinister's aim. Bludgeon managed to impale the new arrival with his sword, but the Mayhems were then driven off by the Survivors before they could finish Carnivac off as well. A Savage Place!



Spinister joined Needlenose, Ruckus, and Windsweeper in serving their commander, Thunderwing. They investigated why Autobots were patrolling a sector of space, taking a group of Autobots as prisoner on the planet Pz-Zazz. Bird of Prey! The hostages revealed the search for the Creation Matrix, inflaming Thunderwing's obsession to obtain the artifact. The Mayhem Attack Squad were soon taken to Cheyne, where Spinister and Ruckus took down Dogfight for Thunderwing. As the Autobot proved to be of little use, the Decepticons left. Kings of the Wild Frontier. They next went to Pequod, and Thunderwing sent Spinister, who was beginning to have doubts about the sanity of his leader, and Needlenose to deal with the Autobot Pretenders at the planet while their leader mentally connected with the Klud to discern the Matrix's location. Once he did, he recalled his troops and left. Deadly Obsession The Matrix was located on the moon VsQs, where Thunderwing led his forces in battle against the Autobots. He abandoned Windsweeper to his fate when the Matrixspawn creature attacked, being more focused on his prize than a fellow Decepticon. When their leader ran off chasing the creature, Spinister held back his fellow Mayhems, telling them it was their duty to look after the injured Windsweeper, and let Thunderwing deal with his own business. Dark Creation

After Thunderwing captured the Matrix and arranged for his team to infiltrate the Ark aboard a stolen shuttle, he quickly found the Matrix's own corrupted persona waxing control over his own mind. Spinister tried to warn him of the madness taking over, only to have Thunderwing fire on his own troop. The shock of having shot one of his loyal soldiers drove home the point for Thunderwing, but it was too late, and the Matrix completely overtook his thoughts. After the Autobots managed to drive Thunderwing out of the ship and into the vacuum of space, Spinister and the Mayhems gave up without a fight, wanting no more violence that day. All Fall Down

Trigger-Happy!
Spinister, Needlenose, and Windsweeper accompanied Crankcase and Ruckus in delivering battle plans to Megatron, the former three acting as the group's rear guard. The Autobots learned of the delivery and planned to ambush them, but their mission was botched by Backstreet, who gave away his faction's presence prematurely. Spinister and the other Decepticons were provoked into starting a firefight that endangered the inhabitants of nearby Rivers' Town. Panicked over his mistake, Backstreet wound up going on the run from his fellow Autobots. Learning of the situation, Megatron had his troops track down the fugitive in the hopes of recruiting him to their faction. Spinister found the runaway squatting in an abandoned amusement park, and reported so to his leader. But though Megatron ordered him not to engage Backstreet, Spinister found the temptation of roughing up the isolated Autobot too strong to resist. He and Scoop, the first Decepticon to converge on his position, attacked Backstreet together. On his arrival, Megatron was enraged by his soldiers' "show of initiative," and violently saw them off before they could do any lasting damage. Ultimately, Megatron's plan failed, and Backstreet returned to the Autobots. Trigger-Happy!

Earthforc
While Carnivac was still seeking revenge for Catilla's murder, Spinister and the others set up an island base on Earth while preparing for their next strike. The cowardly Needlenose got on everyone's nerves, though, when the waiting weighed on his circuits enough to compel him to stage a mock emergency drill and test the Mayhems' response time, just in case Carnivac came looking for him. Spinister gave Needlenose a stern rebuke after that, warning him that the next incident would cost him his life. As it turned out, Carnivac HAD infiltrated the base during the commotion, and Needlenose's next round of genuine emergency calls were left unheeded. Cry Wolf! The wolf's next strike on Bludgeon did not go as quietly, and he drew the attention of the rest of the base. Instead of risking himself in close-quarters combat, Carnivac's forte, Spinister wisely chose to blast the traitor from a distance, apparently destroying him. Wolf in the Fold! The Mayhems were then forced to defend themselves against the combined might of the Survivors and Earthforce, who had come to rescue Carnivac from his insane mission of vengeance. While Bludgeon and the others charged head first into battle, Spinister saw no gain in a warrior's suicide, and attempted to slip away. Unfortunately for him, only Carnivac's shell had been destroyed earlier, and the robot within had survived to take his vengeance on the Mayhems, shooting Spinister, crushing Snarler and then assisting the Earthforce in capturing the remaining Decepticons. Where Wolf?

 

Guess you missed the exchange I had with Skyguy, who answered my question in a far more succinct and helpful way.

"A" for your effort, tho.

Like, a LOT of effort.

Like, almost overcompensating-level of effort.

 

 
What does that even mean?

 

In the fan poll Spinister was referred to as a saboteur. That combined with his alt mode certainly implies that Hasbro was really only referencing his G1 incarnation.

 

where is the Rotorstorm digibash?
carry on...