Escalation issue 2

« The Transformers: Escalation #2 »
That's Wheeljack and his crazy inventions.
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	December 20, 2006
Cover date	December 2006
Written by	Simon Furman
Art by	E. J. Su
Colors by	Zac Atkinson
Letters by	Neil Uyetake
Edits by	Chris Ryall & Dan Taylor
Continuity	IDW continuity
Chronology	Escalation

Having lost one of their own, the Autobots seek to recover him. But they find something they did not expect.

Synopsis

Nine months ago, a senator of the United States government discusses stability in the Gulf with a US Army general during a stroll in Washington, D.C.—both are unaware that they are being observed by a black sports car.

Now, Optimus Prime, Jazz, and Wheeljack speed along the I-57 as Ironhide briefs them about the ambush that claimed Sunstreaker and Hunter O'Nion. Although the attack isn't out of pattern for the Decepticons, Prime refuses to assume the Autobots' enemies are behind it. Prime declines Ironhide's demand to attack the Decepticons and orders him to take Verity Carlo and Jimmy Pink back to Ark-19 while he, Jazz, and Wheeljack leave to retrieve Sunstreaker's remains.

Thundercracker and Skywarp are flying over the desert and, at Megatron's command, destroy the El Jira Power Plant. With this action, Megatron intends to destabilize relations between human governments and cause chaos on Earth. He's also looking for a place to exercise his new exo-structure.

Heading back to the ship, Ironhide explains to Jimmy and Verity how Decepticon facsimile constructs work and what happens during Siege Mode, Phase Two.

Jazz and Wheeljack arrive at the impound lot in Springfield, only to find Drake's Machination team has beaten them to it, and burst in while the humans are loading Sunstreaker's remains onto a truck. Prepared for Autobot interference, the humans use their scramblers to distract the two Autobots while escaping. Jazz and Wheeljack manage to disable the devices and leave the impound building, just before it explodes. The escaping truck takes off with Sunstreaker's remains, but doesn't get far because Optimus Prime intercepts the truck (by stepping in front of it).

Back on Ark-19, Ratchet looks over what's left of Sunstreaker and concludes that the material isn't the yellow Autobot; it's just a car. The Autobots reflect on who might be behind Sunstreaker and Hunter's kidnapping, and Optimus Prime expresses concern that the Autobots are too exposed to humanity.

Ironhide immediately notifies Verity and Jimmy that both Sunstreaker and Hunter may be alive, interrupting a news broadcast about Senator Alexander Holt, the senator under Transformer surveillance nine months before. That senator is now in play for the Presidency, and arguing for US military intervention in the Gulf.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Facsimilies
Optimus Prime (4) Jazz (5) Wheeljack (6) Ironhide (7) Ratchet (20) Prowl (21)	Runabout (3) Megatron (10) Runamuck (11) Skywarp (12) Thundercracker (13)	Alexander Holt (1) Jimmy Pink (8) Verity Carlo (9) Drake (14) Kamen (15) Weiss (16) Goss (17) Creel (18) Schmidt (19) Arcee Arthur (22)	Deacon (2)

Notes

• Jimmy's description of himself as being "pretty freaking far from okay" is a near-verbatim quote from the movie Pulp Fiction.
• The female anchor of the T-SPAN news program seen in the final panels of page 22 is identified as Arcee Arthur.
• In "Man and Machine, Part Four", the Decepticons had to initiate an emergency warp-out, which Megatron claimed would drain the Decepticons energy reserves for many stellar cycles. This may have been a ruse on his part since Decepticons don't appear to be low on energy afterwards.
• The "Decepticomments" page has readers' mail answered by Dan Taylor and an ad for Escalation #3.

Errors

• Ironhide refers to the replacement of Sunstreaker with fake wreckage as an "intricate slight of hand". He means "sleight" This error was corrected when the issue was published in trade paperback.
• Runabout is drawn with an Autobot symbol on his chest on page six.
• The list of covers on the interior back page misidentifies the issue as #1, rather than #2.
• When Verity flashes back to the human remains she discovered in Infiltration #4, the corpse is wearing an Army uniform. In Infiltration he was wearing a Navy uniform. This is apparently so it now matches the uniform of General Deacon, who is influencing Senator Holt.
• Wheeljack's eyes switch from red to blue throughout the issue.

Covers (4)

• Cover A: Wheeljack attacked by the Machination; art by E. J. Su.
• Cover B: Ratchet examines Sunstreaker's remains; art by Klaus Scherwinski.
• Cover RI-A: cover A uncolored
• Cover RI-B: cover B uncolored

• 
  IIIIIII HAAAAVE THE POOOWEEEERRRRR!!!
• 
  Was Humpty Dumpty a yellow Lamborghini?
• 
  Cover RI-A
• 
  Cover RI-B

Advertisements

• Infiltration TPB
• The Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD
• Spotlight (first 5 issues)
• Transformers posters
• TPBs of Infiltration, Stormbringer, The Gathering, Transformers: Generation 1 vol. 1: Prime Directive, Transformers: Generation 1 vol. 2: War and Peace, and Generations
• Generations series
• Manga editions of Stormbringer and The Gathering
• 24: Nightfall comic
• G.I. Joe with Kung Fu Grip (back cover)

Reprints

• The Transformers: Escalation TPB (May 23, 2007) ISBN 1600100848 / ISBN 978-1600100840
• The Transformers: The Premiere Collection Volume 1 HC (December 5, 2007) ISBN 1600101186 / ISBN 978-1600101182
• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Two HC (October 6, 2010) ISBN 1600107516 / ISBN 978-1600107511
• The Transformers: Phase One Omnibus (September 17, 2014) ISBN 1631401130 / ISBN 978-1631401138