Optimus Prime (comic)
| The name or term "Optimus Prime" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Optimus Prime (disambiguation). |
Optimus Prime is an ongoing comic series from IDW Publishing. It is a sequel to and rebranded version of The Transformers: Robots in Disguise. Beginning in December 2016, it runs alongside sister titles Lost Light and Till All Are One. "One Shall Stand! One Shall Fall!"
-Optimus Prime (TFTM)
| « | Optimus Prime issues | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Overview
Optimus Prime picks up where its predecessor leaves off: though Galvatron, Sentinel Prime, and Baron Karza have all been defeated, Optimus Prime is still dealing with the fallout of his controversial choice to annex Earth into the Council of Worlds. His recent adventures have proved inspirational enough to recruit a slew of next-generation Autobots from across the Titan colonies; their blind devotion to their leader, combined with the religious fanaticism of Pyra Magna and her Torchbearers, causes friction with the old guard from the days of the Great War – including Prime's former enemy Soundwave, now reluctantly working alongside the Autobots from within their living base Metrotitan.
The uneasy status quo on Earth is thrown into chaos by the arrival of the Junkions: ramshackle refugees seeking to repair their destroyed homeworld using supplies of Ore-13. A newly international G.I. Joe taskforce cordons off the landing site; attempting to mediate between Joe commander Talon, Cybertronian ruler and Council leader Starscream and Junkion leaders Wreck-Gar and Rum-Maj, Optimus enacts a dangerous diplomatic gamble in an attempt to force Earth to join the Council in the hopes of helping humans and Junkions alike.
Though events briefly escalate into a massive showdown between the Autobots, the Junkions, and their Sharkticon slaves, Optimus — remembering the series of events that led him down a road of violence in the past — ultimately salvages the situation, convincing the Junkions to stay on Earth and begin construction of "Little Cybertron," a new city and embassy for mechanical life-forms on Earth. As Pyra Magna's faith in her leader wanes, she finds unlikely allies of her own starting with the young colonist Slide, left embittered by the death of her brother during the Junkion crisis.
The President of the United States, pushed to find a representative for the Council of Worlds, ultimately chooses Marissa Faireborn, left rudderless by the dissolution of the old Earth Defense Command, whose former supplies of salvaged, reverse-engineered technology now run rampant across global black markets while threatening to breach the Tyrest Accord. Optimus leads Pyra Magna to Cybertron and the two share stories about the nature of belief in an attempt to bury the hatchet: Prime tells Pyra about how Bumblebee joined the Autobots, while Pyra reveals details from her past on Caminus, including a near-fatal encounter with the legendary Onyx Prime. As Earth gears up to formally join the Council, Alpha Trion tells Prime and his allies the tale of the first time Cybertron unified under the Thirteen — and how Onyx Prime came to blur the details between "stories" and "lies."
On the day of the ceremony commemorating Earth's induction into the Council, Baron Ironblood launches a genocidal, retaliatory attack on Cybertron, leaving the Earthbound Transformers cut off from their homeworlds. With the situation deteriorating, Aileron takes command, but must contend with Slide's mounting frustration as they search for Jazz, missing in action since a disastrous television interview.
Creative team
John Barber returns as the writer, joined by Kei Zama as main artist[1] and returning colourist Josh Burcham. Zama employs heavy use of blacks and shadows in her artwork, while Burcham's usual warm palette and bright colours are turned up to eleven to create an eye-searing spectacle reminiscient of Generation 2.
Notes
- The book is the rare Transformers-related thing not to have the Transformers brand appear on its front cover. In trade format however, it is Transformers: Optimus Prime, Volume 1.
- Optimus has been redesigned again, eliminating the gap between his window boobs and making him more like a stylized version of his original toy.
Collections
- Contains issues #1 to #6.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers.
- Optimus Prime Vol. 2 TPB (January 24, 2018) ISBN 1684051312 / ISBN 978-1684051311
- Contains issues #7 to #10 and the 2017 Transformers Annual.
- Bonus material includes art from most covers.
-
Volume one cover by Kei Zama and David Garcia Cruz -
Volume two cover by Priscilla Tramontano
