Prime's Directive, Part One: Difference between revisions
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* Kirk namedrops the [[Eugenics Wars]] when discussing the age of the Transformers' alternate modes; this is a key event in ''Star Trek'' lore, usually established as having occured during the 1990s. | * Kirk namedrops the [[Eugenics Wars]] when discussing the age of the Transformers' alternate modes; this is a key event in ''Star Trek'' lore, usually established as having occured during the 1990s. | ||
* "I'm a doctor, not a mechanic," complains McCoy, dropping the character's most famous catchphrase. | * "I'm a doctor, not a mechanic," complains McCoy, dropping the character's most famous catchphrase. | ||
* | * All of the Klingons in this issue are preexisting ''Star Trek'' characters who appeared in the ''Animated Series'' episode "[[memoryalpha:The Time Trap (episode)|The Time Trap]]". With the exception of Kor, none of them would go on to appear in any other ''Star Trek'' media until this issue. | ||
===Errors=== | ===Errors=== | ||
Revision as of 02:17, 28 September 2018
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| "Prime's Directive, Part One" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | September 26, 2018 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | September 2018 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | John Barber and Mike Johnson | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Philip Murphy | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Priscilla Tramontano | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Christa Miesner | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Chase Marotz and David Mariotte | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Star Trek vs. Transformers | ||||||||||||
A distress call diverts the voyage of the Enterprise to a Federation colony under attack by 20th century Earth vehicles—but this threat is much more than meets the eye.
Synopsis
In the 23rd century, the starship Enterprise is called off-course from its five-year mission to investigate a distress signal emanating from the remote dilithium-mining colony of Cygnus Seven, located on the fringes of Klingon space. As they arrive over the planet, Lieutenant Spock reports that the ship's sensors have been scrambled by an unknown foe, leaving the crew with no other alternative than beaming down to investigate. Captain Kirk assembles an away team to do just that, but when they beam down to Cygnus Seven, they discover that the peaceful Federation mining colony is under attack... and, stranger still, under attack from antique 20th-century jets and helicopters!
When one of these jets doubles back to strafe Kirk's crew, Kirk catches a glimpse of its cockpit, and both he and Spock realize that something's not right: these supposedly outdated vehicles are somehow driving themselves. Another blast from the jet blows open a hole in a nearby mountain, and despite Lieutenant M'Ress's assurances that they'll be able to use the passageway to rescue the trapped miners, things take an even stranger turn when a red-and-blue truck comes hurtling out of the mountain, using its trailer to shield the Federation officers from the next barrage. Kirk suspects a Klingon trick, however, and uses his phaser to blast his impromptu rescuer in the cab; in doing so, however, the truck screams in pain, and transforms into a gigantic robot! Revealed as Optimus Prime, he manages to convince the crew of the Enterprise of his good intentions before his injuries force him offline, begging the captain to protect the humans that he's inadvertently dragged into their war.
Kirk shouts for their attackers to identify themselves, and they oblige by transforming into Decepticons! Megatron orders Soundwave to take out the humans with a sonic blast, but doesn't realize that this same attack is able to dissipate the interference jamming the Enterprise's communications, giving Kirk the opening he needs to contact Arex and order a photon torpedo strike on their location. The blast catches the Decepticons off-guard, wounding Soundwave, and a subsequent round of phaser fire convinces the Decepticons to retreat to a nearby moon, where Soundwave detects a Decepticon signal...
With the threat temporarily banished, Spock takes electrical readings to confirm that Optimus is still alive. Kirk contacts Scotty and Doctor McCoy to see what can be done, and the pair join the rest of the crew to investigate the wounded robot up close; though Kirk is unable to explain to the skeptical doctor that their patient seemed to be more than just a simple automaton, the conversation is cut short when Spock detects more electrical signals deeper into the mine. Leaving the two specialists with their new patient, Kirk takes M'Ress and Sulu to investigate.
Having beaten their retreat, the Decepticons regroup on the moon, where they discover—much to Starscream's surprise—Trypticon in his city mode, now occupied by a group of Klingons. Their leader, Kuri, explains to Megatron that the humans had no right to be mining in this sector of space, but when Megatron mentions the Enterprise, Kuri realizes he has a chance for revenge against his nemesis Kirk, and the two agree to join forces.
Back on Cygnus Seven, Scotty is impressed by Prime's incredibly advanced circuitry. His enthusiasm for the wounded alien wins over the crusty doctor, who points out that, despite his advanced technology, they still don't know how to wake him up. Kirk and his team, meanwhile, have continued to investigate the deepest reaches of the dilithium mine; led onward by Sulu's readings, the group stumble across a massive metal wall emblazoned with an unknown insignia. Kirk formulates a plan to cut through the metal with their phasers... but before he can do so, the wall is blown apart by an explosion. The crew finds themselves face-to-face with more Autobots, and Jazz demands to know what they've done with Optimus Prime!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Federation | Klingons |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Quotes
"Spare this one. He's cute. I'll keep him as a pet."
"Flattered, but you're not my type."
- — Airachnid and Kirk
"Retreat is undignified."
"Really, Starscream? But you're so good at it!"
- — Starscream and Airachnid
"This isn't any simple machine, Bones. It spoke to me."
"So what? Lots of computers talk. In fact, sometimes I wish they'd shut up."
- — Kirk and Dr. McCoy
Notes
Continuity notes
- Star Trek vs. Transformers is set in the universe of Star Trek; specifically, during the time period of Star Trek: The Animated Series, from which it draws its cast and aesthetic. While it wouldn't be considered canon, the series is presumably not going to be written to conflict with Star Trek plot elements; that franchise has never made much use of micro-continuities.
- The Transformers elements of the issue, meanwhile, draw the vast majority of their influence from the original cartoon. It's not yet clear whether these incarnations of the characters hail from the Star Trek world, or whether they came through from a separate universe...
- The captain's log at the start of the issue gives the stardate as 5892.7. Though stardates in the Star Trek universe are notoriously inconsistent both within and between individual series, this date is greater than most of those in season 1 of Star Trek: The Animated Series and lower than the majority of those in season 2; thus, assuming a general upwards progression, this would presumably place Star Trek vs. Transformers between the two seasons of the animated show.[1]
Transformers references
- While the majority of the Transformers character designs are pulled straight from the original cartoon's character models, they are supplemented by retro versions of later characters Windblade and Airachnid. Both characters sport new and simplified designs in an effort to match the Sunbow aesthetic, but Airachnid gets a much more dramatic makeover, now sporting a V-shaped head crest with multiple extra eyes on it. Trypticon, on the other hand, only appears in his city mode, but it's drawn to closely match his 2016 Titans Return toy.
- Spock mentions that there may be "more to this situation than meets the eye," because, well, of course.
- Kremzeek appears on Starscream's heads-up display.
Star Trek references
- The name of the story is a reference to Star Trek's famous Prime Directive. (What, you thought it was only referring to Optimus Prime?)
- As mentioned, the art style and Star Trek elements here are adapted from Star Trek: The Animated Series; the non-human Enterprise crew M'Ress and Arex originated in that series, and the comic even adapts some of the series' goofier visual quirks; page 5 has an awkwardly close-up shot of Spock's face, while page 11 features the crew doing the cartoon's overly stiff stock run animation!
- The comic begins with the Enterprise passing by a cratered green planet, akin to the planet that appeared in the title card of every Animated Series episode.
- On seeing the Decepticons, Sulu whispers "oh my"—a memetic catchphrase that Sulu's actor George Takei has adopted in recent years.
- An Andorian appears among the inhabitants of Cygnus Seven.
- Kirk namedrops the Eugenics Wars when discussing the age of the Transformers' alternate modes; this is a key event in Star Trek lore, usually established as having occured during the 1990s.
- "I'm a doctor, not a mechanic," complains McCoy, dropping the character's most famous catchphrase.
- All of the Klingons in this issue are preexisting Star Trek characters who appeared in the Animated Series episode "The Time Trap". With the exception of Kor, none of them would go on to appear in any other Star Trek media until this issue.
Errors
- When Scotty says he's glad Kirk is still alive, Kirk responds with "That's makes two of us," with an extraneous apostrophe and s.
Other notes
- A planet named Cygnus has appeared in both Star Trek and Transformers media (which might explain its role here as the main setting); on the Transformers side of things, Cygnus Seven appeared in the Transformers episode "The Big Broadcast of 2006", while numerous planets in the Cygnus system have cropped up over the years in both canon and non-canon Star Trek media.
- Backmatter for this issue includes a tribute to Harlan Ellison by IDW Publishing's Scott Tipton.
Covers (5)
- Cover A: The Autobots and the Enterprise crew, by Philip Murphy; combines with cover B to make a larger image
- Cover B: The Decepticons and the Klingons, by Philip Murphy; combines with cover A to make a larger image
- Retailer incentive cover A: M'Ress vs Ravage, by Paulina Ganucheau
- Retailer incentive cover B: Our heroes doing an awkward and stiff stock run, by Derek Charm
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