Transformers (2023) issue 2: Difference between revisions
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* While mentioned but not seen last issue, this issue gives us our first appearance of Laserbeak, still out scouting for new sources of energy. | * While mentioned but not seen last issue, this issue gives us our first appearance of Laserbeak, still out scouting for new sources of energy. | ||
*This issue confirms what Jetfire alluded to last issue, that unlike most incarnations of the ''G1'' story, the war has only been raging for two centuries instead of the more traditional four million years. | *This issue confirms what Jetfire alluded to last issue, that unlike most incarnations of the ''G1'' story, the war has only been raging for two centuries instead of the more traditional four million years. | ||
*Ratchet refers to deactivated brothers ''and sisters''. While [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] has previously been seen on the cover of the last issue (which confirms [[Female Transformer|female transformers]] exist in this continuity), this issue implies she's not the only female Autobot aboard the Ark... though exactly who these other female | *Ratchet refers to deactivated brothers ''and sisters''. While [[Arcee (G1)|Arcee]] has previously been seen on the cover of the last issue (which confirms [[Female Transformer|female transformers]] exist in this continuity), this issue implies she's not the only female Autobot aboard the Ark... though exactly who these other female Autobots are is currently unknown. | ||
===Transformers references=== | ===Transformers references=== | ||
* Cliffjumper compares Spike to a [[turborat]], a form of Cybertronian wildlife that first appeared in [[Form Follows Function|the fourth issue]] of [[Tom Scioli]] and [[John Barber]]'s ''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]''. | * Cliffjumper compares Spike to a [[turborat]], a form of Cybertronian wildlife that first appeared in [[Form Follows Function|the fourth issue]] of [[Tom Scioli]] and [[John Barber]]'s ''[[Transformers vs. G.I. Joe]]''. | ||
Revision as of 21:14, 24 November 2023
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 Once you pop, you can’t stop. | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Image Comics Skybound Entertainment | ||||||||||||
| First published | November 7, 2023 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | November 2023 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Daniel Warren Johnson | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Daniel Warren Johnson | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Mike Spicer | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Rus Wooton | ||||||||||||
| Editors | Sean Mackiewicz & Jonathan Manning | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Energon Universe | ||||||||||||
The Autobots must learn to adapt to Earth with scant resources, while the Decepticons gather more energon to rebuild their army.
Synopsis
Optimus Prime walks through a wood, marveling at the natural beauty of Earth. The plants, the animals, the scenery; he finds it all breathtaking. However, his serenity is interrupted upon hearing a crunch underneath his foot: he's stepped on a small deer, killing it. Optimus leans down, cradling the creature with remorse. Spike emerges from the woods and reassures Optimus that it was an accident. Optimus tells Spike that this world is so fragile compared to his own. Seeing the Autobot leader's despair, Spike decides to change the subject of the conversation and asks Optimus about his name. Optimus tells him that the Prime title denotes him as leader of the Autobots and was passed to him by the previous leader of their kind. Optimus in turn inquires about Spike's name, who reveals that his mom used to call him "Spikey" before she passed away due to his hair always sticking up as a child. Optimus is confused; he’s never heard the terms "mom" or "dad" before, though he does know the concept of "family." Spike then asks Optimus about where he comes from, prompting Optimus to tell him about Cybertron and the war between the Autobots and Decepticons that has raged for the past two centuries. The Autobots' forces eventually dwindled from the Decepticons' relentless onslaught to the point where they were forced to flee the planet aboard the Ark. However, their escape was attacked by Megatron and the Decepticons. The last thing Optimus saw before they crashed into the mountain was Earth. Optimus thanks Spike for assisting him during the battle, saying that he's not sure they would have escaped without him. Spike in turn offers condolences for Bumblebee.
Their somber heart-to-heart is soon interrupted by the newly reactivated Cliffjumper, whom Ratchet was able to successfully repair. Optimus warmly greets his old friend, but Cliffjumper is not nearly as taken with Earth as his commander, freaking out upon seeing Spike and Carly and bumping into the trees. Carly tells him to calm down. After all, if anyone should be freaking out about the giant robots from space, it's her. This gets Cliffjumper to calm down and the two shake hands. Inside the quarry, Ratchet has set about trying to revive the other Autobots, but has used up the last of their energon reserves fixing Cliffjumper. Optimus considers using the Matrix of Leadership to replenish their energon, but Ratchet says they can't. The Matrix is connected to Prime's own life force and if they lose him, they lose everything. Cliffjumper remarks that if they're running out of energon, the Decepticons will hopefully have the same problem.
Meanwhile, at the power plant Sparkplug and Davey work at, a police officer is surveying the damage caused by Starscream's attack and taking statements, not believing the plant manager's story about a giant robot. The officer says they'll get some detectives out here to investigate, but a panicked Sparkplug insists they need to call in the Army. As the officer tries to reassure Sparkplug, Skywarp drops from the sky, destroying his patrol car. Behind him descend Starscream and Soundwave carrying an energy transfer module stolen from the Ark, which will allow them to more efficiently convert energon from the plant. The police officer tries to shoot at Starscream, much to Sparkplug's protests, only for Starscream to step on him. As the Decepticons begin to drain the plant of its energy, Soundwave intercepts a transmission from the U.S. military asking a nearby pilot under the callsign "Frosting" to intercept their attack. Amused at the idea of the "squishies" trying to fight them, Starscream goes to intercept the fighter. He dogfights with them for a bit before transforming and smacking the jet down. The pilot and his ride-along eject, but Starscream catches up to Frosting and squashes him between his hands. The other soldier activates a button on his parachute, converting it into a winged jetpack. As Starscream advances, he pulls out his gun and fires at the Decepticon, getting a lucky shot at his eye before retreating. Starscream opts to give up on the minor annoyance and Duke flies away to fight another day.
Back at the plant, Sparkplug takes one of the patrol cars as he is chased down by Skywarp. Before he can catch the human, however, Frosting's F-18 comes crashing down on top of him and Soundwave, allowing Sparkplug to slip away. The resulting explosion is seen by the Autobots and Carly and Spike realize that the plant is under attack. Feeling responsible for bringing their war to this planet, Optimus opts to face the Decepticons, despite Ratchet's protest about their need to find their own energy sources. Optimus assigns Cliffjumper to stay with Ratchet and protect their sleeping comrades. Spike decides to come along to help his dad, which Optimus reluctantly allows. Carly tries to stop him, saying they need to get back home to their parents, but Spike inists. She decides to leave for home alone. As she drives back towards town, she is spotted by Laserbeak, who identifies the image of Optimus Prime Carly drew on her van earlier that day. She arrives home to find Sparkplug already there, dressed in his old Army fatigues and carrying several guns. Carly asks where her dad is, and Sparkplug answers that "they" killed him; Davey is dead.
Featured characters
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
Spike: "Um... Hi... Nice to meet y--"
Cliffjumper: "Ah, we're not there yet, my man. Yeeesh... You're like a turborat-- creepy, little--"
Carly: "Oh, please."
Cliffjumper: Yeow! How many of you are there?"
Notes
Continuity notes
- Having been merely hinted at in the last issue, the flashback to the war on Cybertron gives us our first look at Megatron, though his whereabouts are still unknown. (#WhereIsMegatron)
- While mentioned but not seen last issue, this issue gives us our first appearance of Laserbeak, still out scouting for new sources of energy.
- This issue confirms what Jetfire alluded to last issue, that unlike most incarnations of the G1 story, the war has only been raging for two centuries instead of the more traditional four million years.
- Ratchet refers to deactivated brothers and sisters. While Arcee has previously been seen on the cover of the last issue (which confirms female transformers exist in this continuity), this issue implies she's not the only female Autobot aboard the Ark... though exactly who these other female Autobots are is currently unknown.
Transformers references
- Cliffjumper compares Spike to a turborat, a form of Cybertronian wildlife that first appeared in the fourth issue of Tom Scioli and John Barber's Transformers vs. G.I. Joe.
- The police cars of the FPD are quite clearly based on Prowl, retaining his Japanese police car color layout, twin red siren lights (as opposed to red and blue) and the “highway patrol” markings on the back (none of which really make sense on an American city patrol car, but we'll let that slide.)
G.I. Joe references
- First Sergeant Conrad S. Hauser, codename DUKE, makes his debut in the Energon Universe in this issue ahead of his own title debuting next month.
- While G.I. Joe doesn’t exist yet in this continuity, it seems the U.S. military has been developing some hi-tech tools, such as the jetpack Duke uses. This could be a new take on Jet Mobile Propulsion Unit (J.U.M.P.) jetpack from the G.I. Joe toyline, which Duke famously used in the opening sequence of G.I. Joe: The Movie.
Real-world references
- Frosting’s name is painted on the side of his jet’s cockpit, a real practice common on United States fighter aircraft. It’s worth noting, however, that the formatting is slightly off. His rank and full name should be on one line, with his callsign printed below. Instead, it lists simply his rank, first name, and callsign on the same line.
Errors
- On page 4, 'millennia' is mis-spelled as 'millenia'.
- Amongst the deactivated Autobots in the quarry is Sideswipe who appears to be miscolored as Mirage, and a bot who appears to be either Inferno or Grapple (with their wheels on the side of their legs rather than their foot) in the colors of Prowl.
Other trivia
Covers
- Cover A: Starscream attacks Frosting, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
- Cover B: Optimus Prime transforms as he drives off a cliff, by Afu Chan.
- Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover by Orlando Aroecena.
- Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons, by Bryan Hitch and Alex Sinclair.
- Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): Duke uses his jetpack against Starscream, by Tom Reilly.
- Second Printing Variant Cover A: Duke, by Jason Howard.
- Second Printing Variant Cover B: Soundwave, by Jason Howard.
- Second Printing Variant Cover C: Cliffjumper, by Jason Howard.
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- Codename: G.I. Joe starts in Duke #1.
- A new era for G.I. Joe starts in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #301.
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