Transformers (2023) issue 4: Difference between revisions
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===Real-world references=== | ===Real-world references=== | ||
* During Jazz's attack on the Decepticons, he shouts "Two! Five! One!", which is a reference to the {{w|ii–V–I progression|2-5-1 chord progression}}, appropriately common in jazz music. | |||
===Storytelling notes=== | ===Storytelling notes=== | ||
Revision as of 02:57, 11 January 2024
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| Publisher | Image Comics Skybound Entertainment | ||||||||||||
| First published | January 10, 2024 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | January 2024 | ||||||||||||
| 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 put everything on the line to fend off a Decepticon onslaught and save Spike.
Synopsis
With the smoke from the battle in Farmingham still fresh, Starscream arrives to confront the severely-damaged Skywarp about the whereabouts of the Autobots. Skywarp directs Starscream east, after which the Decepticon leader departs, promising to return for Skywarp.
At the quarry, Ratchet is working on Wheeljack when he receives a call for aid from Optimus Prime, who is driving Sparkplug and the mortally-wounded Spike through the woods with Starscream hot on his tail. A blast from Starscream damages Optimus and cuts off the transmission, and Ratchet bemoans that his buddy's gonna have to wait... the Autobots need firepower. Back with the chase, Starscream lands in front of Optimus, only for Carly and Cliffjumper to emerge from hiding and knock the Decepticon off his feet, allowing Optimus to run over Starscream and escape with Cliff. Enraged, Starscream calls Soundwave for backup.
Our heroes soon arrive at the Farmingham Hospital, only for Laserbeak to swoop in and barrage the group. Optimus and Cliff cover Sparkplug, Carly, and the medical staff as they rush Spike inside, but the Autobots are quickly caught off-guard by Rumble and Soundwave. The latter prepares to execute Optimus, only for the arriving Starscream to tell him to wait — he's just realized, to his amusement, that this place is where the "squishy ones" go to get fixed, and has decided to make Optimus' death even more painful by blasting his precious humans' only hope of survival to smithereens. Inside, the doctors barely get Spike intubated before Starscream's assault begins, knocking the power offline. As Starscream relishes in the destruction he's causing, Soundwave alerts him to the impending approach of Ratchet and the "firepower" he's managed to bring back online — Jazz! The Decepticons focus their firepower on the new arrival as he drifts into action, but Jazz proves too slippery for them, and he quickly takes them down. Now outnumbered, Starscream orders Soundwave and the cassettes to retreat. Carly returns as the battle concludes, and Optimus asks her about Spike...
The Autobots look on through a hole in the hospital as the doctors inform Sparkplug that although Spike has been stabilized, the hospital's backup generator was evidently a casualty of the battle, and without power, Spike — along with the hospital's other life support patients — are all but guaranteed to die. Just as Sparkplug begins to mourn the loss of another son, however, a bright blue glow begins emanating from Optimus' opened chest compartment. Ratchet attempts to dissuade Optimus, but he won't have any of it — he's determined to prevent more deaths at any cost, removing the Matrix of Leadership from his chest and opening it up, the energy within re-powering the hospital. Relieved and in awe, the doctors hurry to get Spike to the I.C.U..
Meanwhile, the Decepticons, including Skywarp, return to the Ark. Soundwave berates Starscream for another failure, criticizing his shortsightedness and lust for destruction, and Starscream swiftly snaps back, upset that Soundwave hasn't been able to repair Teletraan One so they can finally bring their brothers back online and facilitate repairs. Soundwave reiterates that they don't have the materials they need to do so, as they only exist in Cybertronian technology. As he says this, the two turn to Skywarp... and then, despite his protests, begin tearing him apart.
Back at the hospital, Sparkplug talks to the comatose Spike about his desire to restart the family's lives and protect Spike from a world that he's lost the ability to see the good in. His attention soon turns outside to Optimus, who's obliging a young patient's interest in his ability to transform. Sparkplug then talks with Optimus about the Matrix: it was a gift Optimus had recieved many years ago, and he had used every last bit of its energy to re-power the hospital, leaving Spike's fate in the hands of the Great Spark. Sparkplug is confused at the idea of Optimus having a "god", since Optimus seems to fit the bill himself, a notion that amuses Optimus — Sparkplug is underestimating his own might.
In the generator room, Optimus reunites with Jazz and Ratchet, who's finished fixing the hospital's generators. Ratchet berates his leader for his dangerous use of the Matrix, suggesting that he should've instead used it to fix himself — an idea Optimus finds abhorrent, given that the alternative would be letting the innocent humans die. Ratchet fires back that the humans aren't innocent; they're prone to anger and destruction... which, as Optimus muses, makes them just like Cybertronians. Just then, Jazz collapses — Ratchet had used up all the energon from the rest of their Autobot comrades' bodies to bring Jazz back online, but it was only just enough. Ratchet tells Optimus that they need to start thinking about themselves, as without a way to get more energon, the Autobots may as well be on death's door. However, Ratchet has something stashed in Optimus' trailer that might help the Autobots regain the initiative... which Optimus finds too disgusting to consider using. As Ratchet claims that they don't have much of a choice, Sparkplug interrupts them: he might have an idea regarding their energy problem...
Meanwhile, in a wrecked hospital room, Cliffjumper attempts to comfort the grief-stricken Carly, as he can relate to how she's feeling: long before the Autobots and Decepticons arrived on Earth, Starscream killed his entire clan (i.e. "family"), and he joined the war the very next day. Optimus then approaches, now equipped with a new arm that has a large cannon mounted on the side, and asks Cliff if he's interested in going on the offensive. At the Ark, Starscream's work of salvaging the still-living Skywarp for materials continues, as he triumphantly proclaims that he will forever be Decepticon leader... while in an Arctic region, an offline Megatron, badly damaged and conspicuously missing his right arm, remains partially embedded in ice.
Featured Characters
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
"Optimus: inferior."
- -Soundwave insults the Autobot leader as he kicks him in the face.
"This... this is where they... fix the squishy ones. Is that right? You're so pathetic I can't even believe it! You bring these ants to a place to get repaired?
- -Starscream has a sudden realization.
"You mean... gods? Don't you fall into that category?"
"Ha! Because of my size? I could say the same of you, human."
"What, me? I'm nothing like--come on, look at me, compared to you!"
"True. Small. But still mighty."
- -Sparky and Optimus Prime discuss the notion of humans vs Transformers.
Notes
Continuity notes
- Both Wheeljack and Jazz were revealed to be among the Autobots brought to Earth back in issue 1. Likewise, Reflector was nearly brought back online before Optimus destroyed Teletraan One in the same issue... and it seems that Starscream and Soundwave were able to finish what Teletraan started, if the end of this issue is any indication.
- Though we got a very brief look at him in cassette form in issue 2, we finally get to see Rumble's full robot mode in action this issue, equipped with cartoon-style piledrivers. He still only shows up briefly, continuing his trend of being a one-panel wonder.
- DWJ continues to place importance on Prime's trailer: it was left behind at the quarry when Optimus left to combat the Decepticons in issue 2, so Ratchet has to tow it to the hospital in this issue.
- After a couple teases in issues 1 and 2, Optimus uses the Matrix of Leadership for the first time this issue. Ratchet's berating of Optimus later on reiterates what we already know: that the Matrix is directly connected to Optimus' lifeforce, and that using it could risk him killing himself.
- Optimus mentions some sort of God-like entity referred to as the "Great Spark". It's possible he's talking about Primus, with "Great Spark" essentially being a title, but it's unclear at this point if Primus as either a concept or an actual, physical entity exists in the Energon Universe continuity or not.
- The theme of families pops up again this issue, as Cliffjumper equates his now-deceased "clan" to humans' concept of "family".
- Megatron's current status is finally revealed: he's offline somewhere in an Arctic-esque region, partially trapped in ice and missing his fusion cannon arm... because the Autobots have it and have grafted it to Optimus, replacing the one he tore off last issue. While we don't know how he got there, it's worth noting that the preview pages for Cobra Commander seem to indicate it takes place in an area with lots of snow. Hmm...
Transformers references
- Rumble's iconic piledrivers, shared with his brother Frenzy, first debuted in the premiere episode of the Generation 1 cartoon, "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1".
- Soundwave insults Optimus with the line "Optimus: inferior." He may not have said "Soundwave: superior," but we all know what he's quoting.
- Megatron being stuck offline and trapped in ice recalls the live-action movie version, who was similarly frozen in ice before the events of the first live-action movie.
Real-world references
- During Jazz's attack on the Decepticons, he shouts "Two! Five! One!", which is a reference to the 2-5-1 chord progression, appropriately common in jazz music.
Storytelling notes
Errors
Other trivia
- This issue contains the same four-page preview for Cobra Commander #1 that was printed last issue.
- At the end of the letters section, Daniel Warren Johnson officially plugs the "director's commentary" livestreams he's been doing on his YouTube channel.
Covers
- Cover A: Optimus, Cliffjumper, and Wheeljack stand ready for battle, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
- Cover B: Optimus leaps out of the frying pan and into the fire, by Jonboy Meyers.
- Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover by Orlando Arocena.
- Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Soundwave fires on a group of airborne Autobots, by Sanford Greene.
- Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): Megatron's damaged, deactivated body partially trapped in ice, by Andrea Milana and Annalisa Leoni.
Advertisements
- The Cobra threat begins in Cobra Commander #1!
Reprints
- Transformers Volume 1 (May 8, 2024) ISBN 1534398171 / ISBN 978-1534398177
- Collects issues #1–6.
- Trade paperback format.
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Volume 1 – cover art by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer
