Night of the Combaticons

Bruticus is unleashes on Earth by Starscream, while on Cybertron, something far deadlier awakens. Template:Comicnav

Transformers: Generation 1 (ongoing) #1

Writer: Brad Mick
Pencils: Don Figueroa
Inks: Elaine To
Colors: Espen Grundetjern & Rob Ruffolo
Letters: Ben Lee

• Original release date: Febuary 4th, 2004
  
• Cover date: January 2004
• Major characters (in order of appearance): Starscream, Wheeljack, Sideswipe, Windcharger, Jazz, Bruticus, Brawn, Ratchet, Sunstreaker, Runabout, Runamuck, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Soundwave Rumble, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Bumper, Seaspray, Powerglide, Cosmos, Onslaught, Brawl, Blast Off, Swindle, Vortex, ????
• Chronology: Modern era

Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot details follow. Please give an expiry date ({{spoiler|(story)|DATE}}) - either the date of the next episode/issue in the series or 30 days after release, whichever is sooner

In Oregon, Starscream basks in victory, lamenting how Megatron is unavailable to witness Starscream's defeat of the Autobots. Jazz interrupts Starscream's celebration, but Bruticus squeezes Jazz into silence. Counting the bodies of his defeated foes, Starscream notices the absence of Ratchet and Brawn.

The two remaining Autobots, damaged after the fight, race back to the Ark. But due to a malfunction, the two have to dance around shots fired from the Ark's haywire defense systems. A quick drive-by from Brawn allows Ratchet to stumble inside, but leaves Brawn starring directly into one of the canons.

On Cybertron, Runabout and Runamuck have fun burning Mini-spies as they raid one of Shockwave's laboratories. Stumbling into a room full of containers full of inactive Transformer bodies, Runamuck's interest is drawn to one chamber glowing very brightly. While Runamuck peers inside the chamber, a hand suddenly reaches out and grabs his neck. Outside, Runabout suddenly feels fatigued, and falls in the presence of the same glowing hand. Praying to the Oracle for inspiration, the unleashed, radiant figure congeals a large orb of energy around himself and bursts out of the lab, into space.

Inside the Ark, Brawn wipes off the frothy white coolant that Ratchet sprayed in his face to mask Brawn from the malfunctioning auto-guns. Joking with Ratchet about the close call, the two notice the defeated Decepticons who were earlier stashed in one of the Ark's prisons. Passing the captives, the two radio for assistance as Bruticus proceeds to tear into the Ark's defenses, ripping right into the cells where the Decepticons were being held.

Bumblebee receives Brawn's distress call while en route to Earth with a small crew in the Autobot ship, Orion. Brawn recaps how each faction on Earth had captured most of the other faction. When the signal is cut, Bumblebee orders hyperthrusters engaged.

The transmission was halted by a large piece of metal paneling wedged into the computer by Bruticus. Brawn throws the panel back into Bruticus' face as Ratchet activates the Ark's self-destruct sequence. The two are blown out of the Ark, astonished that Bruticus survived the destruction. Starscream blasts the two Autobots out of commission and berates the Combaticons for the destruction of the Ark.

Just outside of Earth, the Orion pulls itself out of orbit, to find themselves attacked by the radiant figure who escaped Shockwave's lab: The glorious Sunstorm.

Quotes

Quotes needed.

Items of note

• Much happened between this issue and the previous series. Portions of the gap are described eventually—most of the attack on the Autobots is recapped by Brawn, and the return of the Decepticons to Earth is expanded on in the next issue.
• Starscream's imagined attire which he sees in his reflection and portions of his dialog are lifted from The Transformers: The Movie.
• Language on Starscream's HUD reads sideways (and mirrored), "the eye," "Cliffjumper," and "Red Alert." However, Shockwave, Red Alert, and Cliffjumper are not on the same planet as Starscream at the time so it may be an error.
• Brawn has fuzzy dice in his cabin.

File:Magnificus.jpg

MISB

• Shockwave's laboratory contains a clone of Ultra Magnus's body—but in the colors of Diaclone Powered Convoy/Movie Preview Magnus. The other tanks contain clones of Blaster (Twincast), Soundwave (Soundblaster), Perceptor (in Microman colors, which would later be labeled Magnificus) and Jazz (Ricochet).
• The back door that Brawn and Ratchet run out of after activating the Ark's self-destruct sequence is reminiscent of the doors installed by the Maximals when they took up residence in the Ark during third season of the Beast Wars. It even has half of a Maximal symbol on it.
• Bruticus' HUD reads "Megatron, I reserv (?) Vector Sigma."
• The Autobot Supply Vessel Orion is identical to Galaxy Shuttle.
• Brawn attaches a protective faceplate, which makes him closer resemble his original toy.

• The "Wavelengths" page has an article from the desk of Rob Ruffolo.
• Reader mail was answered in the "Prime Transmissions" section by ... and also included a piece of fan-art from ...

Covers (6)

• "Heavy Metal War" double-page cover
• Regular cover with Bruticus grabbing Jazz, art by Don Figueroa
• Dealer incentive variant featuring Sunstorm; Retailers could purchase one version of this cover for every 25 regular covers ordered
• Transformerscon exclusive cover, featuring the Dinobots raining from the sky
• Dynamic Forces exclusive cover, limited to 2500 copies
• Silver Snail exclusive with art by Pat Lee, limited to 1000 copies

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  From Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki, a Wikia wiki.