Transformers Comic issue 3.2

« Transformers: Dark of the Moon #2 »
You bought this because you thought Shockers was in the strip? THE DECEPTICONS WIN!
Publisher	Titan Comics
First published	21 July 2011
Editor	Rona Simpson
Designer	Dan Bura
Publishing manager	Darryl Tothill
Price	£2.50

Cash My Gold, the truth revealed!

Gold And Blood

• Script: Robin Etherington
• Art: Horacio Domingues
• Colours: Nestor Pereyra
• Lettering: Rona Simpson
• Continuity: Dark of the Moon (prequel)

The Laguna de Guatavita in Central Colombia..... A mysterious place.... home to.... a DIVING PROJECT!!! A team of divers, the mysterious Tanto Gang, are setting up an explosive charge underwater, with their boss Kubikiri talks with a mysterious partner called "Mr Wave". Who could that be?. As the charge is detonated, a city of gold is revealed: the legendary El Dorado. Mr Wave asks about a package he asked them to secure. They complain about its weight, which is revealed to be... Soundwave himself, bursting out of the container and ready to kill! (Well, exposit)

While Soundwave boasts that the Tanto Gang were just a means to an end and their contract is now "terminated", an undercover William Lennox informs his colleague "Silver Lining" that the intell Bumblebee had given him (somehow...) was correct, and Soundwave was there! As Soundwave blows up the oil rig and kills the divers, Lennox tries to kick Soundwave's ass but to no avail. The Tanto Gang are left scattered, with an angry Kubikiri ordering his men to fight back because he ain't sharing the gold with an alien!

Meanwhile, Ratchet and Optimus plunge from a NEST carrier plane down onto the ground, with Ratchet complaining about not getting parachutes. As Optimus kicks Soundwave's ass (and succeeds!), Lennox has commandeered a tank and is helped by Ratchet in removing the Tantos from the game, destroying their weapons still packed in crates. (See what happens when you leave things to the last moment) Optimus continues to duke it out with Soundwave but the battle is evenly matched, and Soundwave even manages to exposit through the pain: after locating El Dorado, he decided to get the humans to help him get it so he could flood the market with gold and crash every stock market with hyperinflation!

Optimus and Soundwave plunge into the lake and continue to kick ass. But Kubikiri asks about the second Zipa Warhead on the lake bottom, and activates it. Soundwave just happens to be on the wrong side of it and is blown right out the sky. Optimus lands on the coast and is informed the Tanto Gang have vanished. Ratchet complains about having "No Soundwave, no prisoners.... A priceless Earth artifact obliterated!" but Optimus reassures him that a little is worth a lot in gold!

Quotes

"If you have any final words, now's the time to share!"
"Actually... yes I do! Why does that device say 'activation complete'?"
"No one double-crosses the Tanto Gang."

—Optimus and Soundwave find themselves next to Kubikiri's up-yours gesture

Items of note

• For readers in 2011, Soundwave's plan to crash the global economy is far more sinister than all this guff about conquering planets and blowing stuff up...
• Colombia is misspelled Columbia (the district and various cities in the US are spelled that way, but not the country).
• The left wing of the airplane in the first panel is cut off where the mountain behind it ends.
• Lennox says that Bumblebee told him about Soundwave being in Central Colombia but we don't know how. We assume he just pointed to a map because the individual words "Soundwave is hiding out in The Laguna De Guatavita in Central Colombia" are pretty rare.
• This wasn't clear at the time if it was a prequel or not, but the next issue makes it clear we're still in prequel territory.

Contents

Articles and Features

• Soundwave has created a code and is sending secret messages to Decepticons in this issue! With the inside-cover codebreaker, help NEST Intelligence decode him!
• Shockwave profile—clearly just a slightly expanded version of his bio on Hasbro.com, as it refers to the "imprisonment under Chernobyl" that never happened.
• Sideswipe's Armoury: The V-22 Osprey: The real transformer.
• Crater Jump: Game.
• Starscream's Stumpers: Puzzles, hosted by a wonderfully rude and snarky Starscream (the spirit of Star Screams lives!)
• Ratchet's Joke Page
• More puzzles!
• Competitions.
• Mega-Mouth: letters page answered by Megatron and Sideswipe.

Free gift

Free Meteor Blaster!

Mega-Mouth

"We are clearly fighting! And I am clearly winning! We are NOT doing stupid dancing!"

—Megatron clarifies some fanart

Errors

The pullout DOTM poster shows the original UK release date of July 1st which is incorrect - it was brought forward to June 29th

Notes

• One writer writes in asking specific questions about the comic strips and their characters... with no real answer given for where Ransack is or what Dead End was up to in the films.