Counterpoint

2012-06-23T10:43:17Z

86.171.187.30:

{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=''[[The Transformers: Regeneration One]]'' #80.5
|prev=End of the Road! (US)
|next=
|title="Counterpoint"
|image=RG1 80pt5 cvr.jpg
|caption=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|date=[[May 5]], [[2012]]
|coverdate=May 2012
|writer=[[Simon Furman]]
|penciler=[[Andrew Wildman]]
|inker=[[Stephen Baskerville]]
|colorist=[[Jean-Paul Bove]]
|letterer=[[Chris Mowry]]
|editor=[[John Barber]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]]
}}

'''Everything old is new again!'''

==Synopsis==

From the realm of [[Zero Space]], at the end of existence where all of time and space has collapsed into a perfect singularity, the history of the [[Transformer]]s is examined, from the battle between [[Primus]] and [[Unicron]], to the birth of the first Cybertronians and the outbreak of the [[Autobot]]/[[Decepticon]] civil war... from the arrival of their war on [[Earth]], through the rise of [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], the fall of [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]], and the creation of [[combiner]]s and [[Headmaster (technology)|Headmasters]], to the devastation of the [[Underbase Saga]]... from [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] and the tainting of the [[Matrix of Leadership|Creation Matrix]] through the return of Unicron and his herald [[Galvatron II|Galvatron]], to the death of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]... and to Prime's resurrection at the hands of the [[Last Autobot]], who then restores [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] to glory once again!

Twenty-one years have passed since Cybertron's restoration. The world is at peace, populated by Autobots and Decepticons alike, and is presided over by the Last Autobot, perpetually standing sentinel atop a tower in [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]]. But history has a habit of repeating itself, and once again, malcontents rally under the mantra of "Peace through tyranny", as [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] gathers several Decepticons at [[Fort Scyk]] and inspires them to retake for themselves the destiny Megatron had always envisioned.

Catching wind of this dissident activity, [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] and [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] travel to [[Nova Point]], where a brooding [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] has sequestered himself to mentor [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]], and petition their leader for permission to send the [[Wrecker]]s in to stop the uprising before it begins. Believing that such an action would only galvanize support for the Decepticons, Prime forbids it, brusquely dismissing both Kup and Magnus, and their concerns that the threat is real.

Unfortunately, Prime could not be more wrong. Soundwave leads a Decepticon strike team to [[Kalis]] in a raid on the [[Baird Beaming Transmitter]], killing the Autobots manning the facility and hijacking control of one of Cybertron's orbital defense satellites. Normally used to destroy asteroids, Soundwave redirects the satellite to face the planet, and fires upon Iacon and the Last Autobot!

==Featured characters==
''(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)''<br>
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*''[[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (6)''
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] (8)
*''[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (11)''
*''[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (16)''
*[[Last Autobot]] (17)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] (35)
*[[Kup (G1)|Kup]] (36)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] (37)
*''[[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (38)''
*''[[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (39)''
*''[[Prowl (G1)|Prowl]] (40)''
*''[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (42)''
*''[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (43)''
*''[[Defensor (G1)|Defensor]] (44)''
*''[[Fortress Maximus (G1)|Fortress Maximus]] (47)''
*''[[Cliffjumper (G1)|Cliffjumper]] (48)''
*''[[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]] (49)''
*''[[Bluestreak (G1)|Bluestreak]] (50)''
*''[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (54)''

|c2=
*''[[Dreadwind (G1)|Dreadwind]] (1)''
*''[[Darkwing]] (2)''
*''[[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] (3)''
*''[[Galvatron II]] (4)''
*''[[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] (7)''
*''[[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (12)''
*[[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (15)
*[[Battletrap]] (18)
*[[Ruckus (G1)|Ruckus]] (19)
*[[Crankcase (G1)|Crankcase]] (20)
*[[Cindersaur]] (21)
*[[Spinister (G1)|Spinister]] (22)
*[[Needlenose]] (23)
*A generic (24)
*[[Pounce]] or [[Wingspan]] (25)
*[[Vanquish (G1)|Vanquish]] (26)
*[[Half-Track (G1)|Half-Track]] (27)
*[[Direct-Hit (G1)|Direct-Hit]] (28)
*[[Meltdown (G1)|Meltdown]] (29)
*[[Fireshot (G1)|Fireshot]] (30)
*''[[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (31)''
*''[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (32)''
*''[[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] or [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (33)''
*''[[Buzzsaw (G1)|Buzzsaw]] (34)''
*''[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (41)''
*''[[Bruticus (G1)|Bruticus]] (45)''
*''[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] (46)''
*[[Flywheels]] (51)
*[[Sparkstalker]] (52)
*''[[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] (53)''
*''[[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] (58)''
|c3=
*''[[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Circuit Smasher]] (5)''
*''[[Buster Witwicky (G1)|Buster Witwicky]] (10)''
*''[[Thunderpunch]] (55)''
*''[[Rapture]] (56)''
*''[[G.B. Blackrock]] (57)''
|c4=
*''[[Demon]] (9)''
*''[[Primus]] (13)''
*''[[Unicron]] (14)''
}}

==Quotes==
"No kidding! 'It's over--finished!' He really '''said''' that?"

:—A passing Cybertronian is introduced to the concept of the [[Furmanism]]

==Notes==
*This issue was released as part of [[Free Comic Book Day]] 2012.
*The inside front cover contains an introduction from author Simon Furman, explaining the premise of the series for new readers.
*While the sections of the story set in the present day draw and colour characters with their more "standard" recognizable designs, flashbacks do their best to accurately represent the characters as they appeared in the Marvel Comics series by replicating the color layouts and limited palette of the comic at the time. The most prominent example is Soundwave, who is coloured purple in the flashbacks, as he was in the comics, but appears in his more familiar blue in present day scenes. Flashbacks depict Megatron with a black helmet, and use various shades of blue to represent black, while in the present day, Kup is actually teal, instead of the various blues the original comics required him to be. By contrast, though, Hot Rod is still using his Marvel color layout even in the present day, though he's a much lighter magenta, as opposed to his Marvel purple.
*In his first flashback appearance, Megatron is even drawn to the specifications of his [[:Image:Earlymegatron.jpg|early character model]], with a different head design and a hand-held [[fusion cannon]], which was how he appeared in the first few issues of the Marvel series.
*Twenty-one years have passed both in the real world and in-story between the publication of this issue and [[End of the Road! (US)|issue #80]] of the original series.
*The Cybertronian who delivers the lined quoted above is carrying on a conversation via a [[communicube]].
*Optimus Prime sequestering himself at Nova Point and brooding about the future was also how the ''original'' continuation of issue #80, the UK-exclusive story "[[Another Time & Place]]", began.

===Errors===
*On page one, Dreadwind and Darkwing flying over [[Gardens of Eternal Peace and Harmony Macrobiotic Restaurant]] on [[Nebulos]] are colored to instead be [[Skydive (G1)|Skydive]] and [[Slingshot]] flying over the [[space bridge]] pipe-drill seen in "[[Aerialbots over America!]]".
*[[Galvatron II]] does not have a Decepticon [[insignia]] on his chest.
*Fort Scyk, which originally appeared in "[[The Magnificent Six!]]", is said to be in [[Polyhex]], when that story placed it in [[Stanix]]. This issue does present it as an isolated location, consistent with the original tale, and we're sure that its use as a meeting place for the neo-Decepticons is not coincidental, given the original story's description of it as a dumping ground for undesirables.
*Sparkstalker should be dead.
*So should Crankcase.
*As Optimus Prime dismisses Ultra Magnus and Kup's concerns, "assault" is misspelled "assualt".
*The flashback panel depicting the initial discovery of the Last Autobot shows him with a completely different face design, including a "normal" mouth.

===Cover===
* '''Cover A:''' Optimus Prime atop a fractured field of images from the original Marvel series, by Andrew Wildman, Stephen Baskerville and Jason Cardy.

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Image:RG1 80pt5 cvr.jpg|
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[[Category:Regeneration One issues]]

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Counterpoint