Irreplaceable
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| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | October 27, 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | October 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Art | Joe Suitor | ||||||||||||
| Cover | Brian Rood Joe Suitor | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Live-action film series | ||||||||||||
1913: Walter Simmons discovers the AllSpark where the Hoover Dam will be built, and Jetfire wants it for himself...
Synopsis
In the fifteen years that have passed since Walter Simmons, Theodore Wells and their group discovered the frozen "Mega-Man" in the Arctic, Simmons has become consumed by the mysterious metal creature, as well as a giant cube uncovered in the Colorado River in 1902, which he believes to be connected to the robot. Simmons's wife Clara and their daughter Margaret, living in the middle of the Nevada desert, have not seen Walter in eight months, their needs looked after by Wells… but Clara's patience is wearing thin, and Wells is running out of excuses…
Wells and Simmons's group of seven has gained and lost members over the last few years; metallurgist and geologist Lou Hoover and her mining expert husband Herbert have joined the group after meeting Wells when they were all caught up in the middle of the Boxer Rebellion in Tianjin, China at the turn of the century, as has the enthusiastic young Roy Thompson. Wells returns from his latest visit to Clara and Margaret just as the Hoovers are telling Roy how they met Wells, and they all head down into the Colorado River basin to join Simmons for the excavation of the cube, finally made possible after nearly a decade thanks to Herbert masterminding the diversion of the river around the mysterious object. Wells attempts to remind Simmons of his family, but Simmons is more concerned with the glyphs on the cube's surface, which match those on the Mega-Man, definitively proving the two relics to be related. As the cube is hoisted from its crater, revealing a cave system below, Wells and Simmons are shocked to see traces of the same mysterious glowing material that they found in the caves in Sierra Nevada fifteen years ago, and the team heads underground to investigate.
Once under the Earth, the team realizes that the caves must form a huge network that connects to the ones Wells and Simmons previously explored. Puzzling over the glowing substance, they happen upon the corpses of many of the creatures Wells and Simmons had encountered on their last adventure, and are promptly confronted by the beasts' slayer: Jetfire still lives! Even after spending years questing through the tunnels after sensing the cube's power signature, the energy-deprived Jetfire recognises Simmons and Wells and attacks. The team scrambles for the surface, and Simmons calls for the cube to be dropped on Jetfire, despite the fact that Wells has not yet emerged. Thankfully, Wells is able to escape, but before the cube can be dropped, the shocked Jetfire recognizes the AllSpark and reaches out for it. He triggers a surge of energon from the cube which brings the crane hoisting it, a nearby car, and Thompson's shotgun to life, and overloads his own systems, forcing him to teleport away. Wells has to physically drag the mesmerized Simmons away from the cube as the Hoovers break open the water bypass floodgates diverting the river, flooding the basin once more and "drowning" the crane robot. Dismissing his willingness to abandon Wells, Simmons decides to move to Colorado to study the cube permanently, leaving the Mega-Man under the watch of the other group members in the Arctic. But everyone has forgotten the car robot brought to life by the AllSpark, as it silently drives away into the desert…
Later, a knock comes at the door of the Simmons residence, and Clara answers, thinking Walter is home at last. But it is Wells at the door… and having seen how much his old friend has irrevocably changed, he begs Clara to forget about Walter… and run away with him!
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Quotes
Errors
- The name troubles seen in the first issue continue to plague one of our heroes. In issue #1, Wells was referred to as "Joseph" in the story, but "Theodore" in the continuity notes at the end of the issue. Throughout this issue, however, he's referred to as Theodore... until the last page of the story, when he's suddenly Joseph again! We're going to need to know which of these is correct before we make an article for this guy!
Items of note
- Real-life events and individuals form a big part of this issues; the Hoovers were real people, with the professions shown in this issue, and were indeed trapped in China during the real-life Boxer Rebellion.
- This issue smooths over a continuity issue between IDW's Movie Prequel and the live-action movie itself; where the latter had stated that the AllSpark was uncovered in 1913, the former had it being found in 1902. Per this issue, it was found in 1902, but not excavated until 1913.
- Lou Hoover actively replaces metallurgist Jack Arden in the central group of seven.
- Walter has a daughter, but there's no signs pointing to the existence of Walter Simmons II. So why does his great-grandson Seymour share his last name with him?
Covers (2)
- Cover A: Art by Brian Rood depicting Simmons, Megatron, an antique car and Cybertron as depicted in Transformers: War for Cybertron.
- Cover B: By Joe Suitor.
