Dreamwave Armada issue 3

« Transformers: Armada #3 »
Pathetic mudball!
Publisher	Dreamwave Productions
First published	October 16, 2002
Script	Chris Sarracini
Pencils	James Raiz
Inks	Rob Armstrong, Erik Sander
Colors	Alan Wang, Ramil Sunga
Lettering	Dreamer Design
Editor	Roger Lee
Continuity	Dreamwave Armada continuity

Millions of years after the Great War started, a trio of Earth kids finds a group of deactivated Mini-Cons.

Synopsis

The war on Cybertron wages on for millions of years, with the Decepticons quickly becoming the dominant force on the planet. The escaped Mini-Cons, meanwhile, experience some engine trouble. Their ship crashes into the Moon, with half of it breaking off and falling to Earth.

Millions of years later, Rad, Carlos, and Alexis unveil Project Supernova: a cardboard plane supported by balloons and with a dummy as a rider. Though they get it to fly, a pair of bullies pops the balloons. As Rad climbs down to look for the dummy's helmet, he falls into a crevice, finds the crashed Mini-Con ship, and accidentally activates a homing beacon that alerts both the Decepticons and the Autobots to their presence on Earth, prompting both groups to open space bridge portals (the Decepticons to claim the Mini-Cons, and the Autobots to stop them). He also wakes up Sparkplug and the Street Action Team, whom he hides in his garage despite Alexis's reservations.

The next morning, they find that not only have the Mini-Cons repaired themselves with the tools they found, but they're created a real, working version of Project Supernova. As they fly off, Sparkplug remarks that the fun has just begun, not realizing that Megatron is looming right behind them.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Mini-Cons	Humans
Red Alert (5) Optimus Prime (6) Hot Shot (20)	Cyclonus (1) Starscream (2) Megatron (3) Demolishor (4)	Longarm (7) Jolt (8) Sparkplug (9) Rollbar (10) Incinerator (11) High Wire (12) Grindor (13) Sureshock (14)	Alexis (15) Rad (16) Carlos (17) Seth (18) Sid (19)

Quotes

"Where's Carlos?"
"You mean Agent Sidekick?"
"Let me guess. You picked that one, didn't you?"

—Alexis and Rad

Notes

Continuity notes

Enjoy it kids, you stop existing after this panel.

• Sid and Seth are basically Billy and Fred. Why they've got different names is unknown. They're also a lot meaner than Billy and Fred would turn out to be, with Sid trying to hurt (possibly kill) a squirrel for the hell of it. What makes them more puzzling is that Billy and Fred later turned up, but only for one issue and in a scene that could probably have been done with Sid and Seth.

Other trivia

• Thanks to the few Autobot/Decepticon toys out at the time, and because no generics are drawn in, it seems that Megatron conquered Cybertron with just three guys and the Autobots only number five.
• James Raiz originally drew the human characters in his normal style but Hasbro felt they weren't on-model. As Raiz says, "so I tried drawing it in a quasi-anime style (not a very good one) and sent it to them. Unfortunately for me – they loved it…".

Covers (2)

• Regular cover: Starscream and the other Decepticons above the Earth by James Raiz
• Alternate cover: Mini-Cons in field stare in terror by James Raiz

• 
  Really pathetic and really muddy.
• 
  Aliens! Oh wait...

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Reprints

• Transformers Armada: Volume 1: First Contact (April 2, 2003) ISBN 0973278617 / ISBN 978-0973278613

• Collects the Armada Preview and issues #1–5.
• Bonus material includes the Preview issue, a cover gallery and the Armada mini-comic #1

• Transformers Armada Vol. 1 (Japan ed.) (November, 2003) ISBN 4902314061 / ISBN 978-4902314069

• Same content as Dreamwave's volume 1, translated to Japanese.

• Transformers Armada Vol. 1 (Spain ed.) (January, 2007) ISBN 978-8498147407

• Reprints issues 1–3, translated to Spanish.
• Includes cover gallery.

• Transformers Armada: Volume 1 (IDW reprint) (October 29, 2008) ISBN 1600102670 / ISBN 978-1600102677

• Straight reprint of the Dreamwave trade with same contents.

• Transformers Armada: Omnibus (August 18, 2010) ISBN 160010715X / ISBN 978-1600107153

• Contains issues 1–18.
• Bonus material includes the Preview issue.
• Reissued in 2016 with a new cover.

• 
  Transformers Armada:
  Volume 1: First Contact
• 
  Transformers Armada:
  Volume 1 (Japan ed.)
• 
  Transformers Armada:
  Volume 1 (Spain ed.)
• 
  Transformers Armada:
  Volume 1 (IDW reprint)
• 
  Transformers Armada: Omnibus
• 
  Transformers Armada: Omnibus (reissue)