Spotlight: Shockwave

2008-02-23T11:07:01Z

207.81.68.85: /* Errors */

[[Image:Spotlight_Shockwave_a.jpg|thumb|right|165px|I've been [[black repaint|repainted black]]... not logical!]]
{{comicnav | Spotlight (comics)| 1 | seriesname=''The Transformers: Spotlight''| prev= | next=Spotlight: Nightbeat }}
'''Shockwave discovers that logic is not always efficient...'''

==Synopsis==
Six hundred thousand "[[Units of time|Meta-Cycles]]" [sic] ago, while the [[Great War]] on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] raged, the [[Decepticon]] Shockwave foresaw that the incessant fighting between Autobots and Decepticons would cause an Energon crisis which would have a devastating effect on the planet itself. Acting alone, Shockwave commenced a project he called 'Regenesis', distilling raw [[Energon]] and loading it aboard missiles which he sent to various planets, one of which was pre-Ice Age [[Earth]].

"Much later", after the last Ice Age was done and [[wikipedia:mammoth|mammoth]]s were dying off as a result, Shockwave traveled to Earth to regulate the planet's wild Energon reaction. Unbeknownst to the Decepticon, the [[Dinobots|Dynobots]] had tracked him to the planet. During the war, the Dynobots had lost face to Shockwave after he had foiled a vital Energon-gathering mission, and all five Transformers were hungry for revenge.

The Energon reaction on Earth's surface was causing energy fluctuations dangerous to unshielded Transformers. Shockwave was prepared, but the Dynobots had no protection. Slag's novel solution involved using their ship's [[CR chambers]] to re-design the Dynobots' secondary modes to resemble native animals; the alt-modes' synthetic flesh would act buffer the Energon radiation. When Grimlock rejected Earth's Ice Age mammalian lifeforms, Slag discovered fossilized remains of dinosaurs, which Grimlock immediately took to.

The Dynobots located Shockwave on the surface and attacked him. Shockwave, confused by the assault which had no basis in logic, seemed easy prey for Grimlock's squad. Then something happened; with his core logic failing him, Shockwave abandoned calculation and for the first time experienced rage. His brutal retaliation battered the Dynobots, quickly stripping them of their protective synthetic flesh and thus forcing them into [[stasis lock]]. Shockwave prepared to steal their vessel, but before he could do so, the Dynobots' ship acted on a command pre-programmed by Grimlock and fired upon a nearby volcano. The blast cracked the earth open, spilling Shockwave and the Dynobots into a pit of molten lava.

We skip ahead a few thousand years to Nevada, 2006, where a team of archaeologists have unearthed a massive, metal, purple hand...

==Credits==
'''Script:''' [[Simon Furman]]<br>
'''Art:''' [[Nick Roche]]<br>
'''Lettering:''' Sulaco Studios<br>
'''Colors:''' [[Josh Burcham]]<br>
'''Editor:''' [[Dan Taylor]]<br>
* ''Originally published:'' September 13, 2006
* ''Continuity:'' [[IDW continuity]]

===Major characters===
(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
{|border=5 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=5 align=center style="border:#800000"
! style="background:#FFEEEE" | [[Autobots]]
! style="background:#EEEEFE" | [[Decepticons]]
! style="background:#FFEEB8" | Others
|-
| style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top" |
* [[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (2)
* [[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (3)
* [[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (4)
* [[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (5)
* [[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (6)

| style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top" |
* [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (1)

| style="background:#FFEEB8" valign="top" |
|}

== Errors ==
* The warhead that Shockwave launches to seed the Earth with Energon seems to come down somewhere in North America, a continent that did not technically exist at the time.

== Items of note ==
* Simon Furman continues his trend of approaching the original G1 continuity with an adult sensibility, and although this issue is certainly Shockwave's, the "Dynobots" are a definite item of interest. The million-year hibernation in the ''[[Ark]]'' and [[Spike Witwicky|Spike]]'s interest in dinosaurs have been removed from continuity, and Furman's G1 plot has taken a Cold War approach to the interstellar struggle between Autobot and Decepticon; a group of transforming chrome dinosaurs on Earth would seem to have no place in the IDW story arcs. Slag's creative solution to the Energon radiation problem (which also ties into ''[[Beast Wars]]'') is also Furman's solution to the Dinobot problem, a solution completed by Shockwave's stripping the synth-flesh from the Dynobots; it's not hard to imagine the obstinate Grimlock refusing to abandon his intimidating secondary mode just to hide himself from a race of tiny fleshbags.
* This issue is also noteworthy for tying into established story points. There is a direct link with the ''[[Stormbringer (comics)|Stormbringer]]'' arc, as in the final panels, [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] orders [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] to find out what the missing Shockwave was working on. In addition, there's a link to what seemed a throw-away line in the [[Mechatopia.com]] website, which mentions a find in Nevada and "dinosaur-variant mechanoids".
* In addition to the ''Beast Wars'' homage, this issue also borrows from the [[Marvel Comics]] series (Shockwave defeats the Dinobots and they all end up buried for millions of years) as well as Dreamwave's take (the term 'Dynobots' and their original alternate modes).

===Covers (5)===
[[Image:Spotlight_Shockwave_b.jpg|thumb|right|165px|It's snowing and I'm purple... is this the future Minneapolis?]]
* '''Cover A''': Shockwave at console by [[James Raiz]] and [[Josh Burcham]] (colors)
* '''Cover B''': Shockwave in snow by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Josh Burcham]] (colors)
* '''Cover RI-A''': cover A, uncolored
* '''Cover RI-B''': cover B, uncolored
* '''Retailer Summit''': Shockwave gold foil-stamped wraparound by [[Nick Roche]] and [[Rob Ruffolo]] (colors)

===Advertisements===
* Optimus Prime [[Alternators (toyline)|Alternators]] toy
* ''[[Transformers: The Animated Movie|Transformers: The Animated Movie #1]]''
* ''[[Infiltration]]'' trade paperback
* [[Generations (comic reprints)|''Generations'' #5]], including a 3-page preview
* ''Generations'' series
* ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]'' 20th Anniversary DVD
* Transformers posters
* [[Stormbringer (comics)|Stormbringer #1]] (back cover)

[[Category:Spotlight issues|Shockwave]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>

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Spotlight: Shockwave