Stormbringer issue 3
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 Comin' to wreck house in your neighborhood. | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | September 6, 2006 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | September 2006 | ||||||||||||
| Story by | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Don Figueroa | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Josh Burcham | ||||||||||||
| Color assist by | grungewerx | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Robbie Robbins | ||||||||||||
| Edits by | Chris Ryall & Dan Taylor | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | 2006-7 | ||||||||||||
Utter destruction...
Synopsis
Thunderwing, now firmly under the control of Bludgeon, has touched down on the once-peaceful planet of Nebulos, deploying a formidable arsenal of weaponry against its occupants to further Bludgeon's insane plan to scour the planet clean in the hopes of rejuvenating Cybertron. A pleased Bludgeon watches from Cybertron as his creation rampages through a Nebulan city, but other matters soon demand his attention; setting Thunderwing on auto-control, Bludgeon and his followers move on to the next phase of their plan: having continued Thunderwing's research on the polydermal grafting technology that ultimately drove him insane, the rogue Decepticons have improved on Thunderwing's findings and created the next generation of organic carapaces.
Up above, in the ruins of Nova Cronum, Nosecone and Afterburner struggle to overpower their Centurion attackers. It looks like the end for the duo... but luck's in their favor when Roadbuster and Topspin plough into the droids in the nick of time, gunning them down in a hail of fire! A few minutes later, Nosecone comes to amidst a group of Autobots; his rescuers were the vanguard for a larger detachment, one led by Optimus Prime himself and bringing the rest of the elite Wreckers with him. Optimus and Springer talk tactics while Topspin fills in the driller on their findings. Topspin tells him to stay topside: he's done enough, and now it's time for "the professionals" to take over. As Thunderwing runs amok on Nebulos, the local Decepticon infiltration unit weigh up their options in the face of certain doom. Squad leader Darkwing makes the final call to attack the creature, ordering Thrust to stay behind and erase all trace of their presence if they can't control it. As the crew rolls out, however, Darkwing makes a secret agreement with his teammate Dreadwind to flee the scene if things get too rough.
On Cybertron, the Wreckers swing into action: Twin Twist and Scoop first use their earthmoving alternate modes to burrow straight down into Bludgeon's bunker, and then Optimus Prime leads the charge. Bludgeon's loyalists aren't prepared for the Wreckers' onslaught and swiftly fall; Iguanus, slips away from the carnage and makes a break for the pressure vats to alert Bludgeon... only to find Bludgeon's already there, clad in a new suit of polydermal armor and wielding a glowing sword!
Back on Nebulos, the terrified Decepticons make their last stand against Thunderwing, to predictable results: Ruckus is pulped in one hand, Roadgrabber is swatted out of the air and crashes into a building, and Crankcase is crushed underfoot. Darkwing and Dreadwing make a half-hearted pass against the beast, but as the atmosphere begins to ionize the two, acting on their previous agreement, opt to grab Thrust, cut their losses, and run.
The Wreckers, meanwhile, have breached the pressure vat chamber and barge through, expecting a fight... only to find that Bludgeon has bisected Iguanus with his sword and suffered a system failure of his own, the flesh of his shell melting off his catatonic body. Optimus consoles the dying Iguanus as the Decepticon explains where Bludgeon went wrong: the exo-shell hadn't been properly aligned, and the resulting backlash has, in effect, trapped the mad Decepticon inside his own head. Roadbuster and Whirl successfully rescue Jetfire from one of Bludgeon's machines; he tells Optimus Prime to shut down Bludgeon's axis cradle, and Springer obliges by blowing the machine to bits.
Having escaped the ravaged Nebulos, Dreadwind and Darkwing send a message to Razorclaw, who in turn contacts the High Command. The message finds its way to Megatron, who has recently arrived on Earth; he authorizes Razorclaw to do whatever is necessary to stop Thunderwing... even if it means destroying Cybertron in the process.
And, on Cybertron, Jetfire gets to work decoding the data in Bludgeon's systems, discovering that Bludgeon has used a mysterious substance known as "Ultra-Energon" to awaken Thunderwing in the first place. Before he can get any further, however, an orbital perimeter alarm sounds — with Bludgeon's control system destroyed, Thunderwing is coming home...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | ||
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Suppose there's no point in asking you to stay up here, out of the firing line."
"No."
- —Springer and Optimus Prime.
"Damn! Damn! Damn! It's all gone to Hell!"
- —Iguanus is having a bad day.
Notes
Continuity notes
- Megatron's brief appearance in this issue links directly to the final panels of Infiltration #4.
- Although they were apparently killed by Thunderwing in this issue, both Crankcase and Skullcruncher would later be shown to have survived into the post-war era in James Roberts' More than Meets the Eye—Crankcase (missing a large chunk of his head) as part of the Scavengers and Skullcruncher as a successful stand-up comedian.
- First appearances: Razorclaw
Transformers references
- Optimus Prime's hand-held rifles are pretty obviously those from his Powermaster body. This in mind, his arm-mounted twin-cannons could be inspired by the same toy.
- Bludgeon's Pretender shell is heavily based on his Generation 1 original, but with elements of a tank alternate mode.
Real-life references
Errors
- Apparently Japanese is a Cybertronian language, as evidenced on the monitor in the last panel.
- In the recap, Thunderwing is called Bludgeon.
- Iguanus has a different design for his face during his "death" scene with Prime.
Other trivia
- The Decepticomments section had readers' mail answered by Chris Ryall.
Covers (3)
- Cover A: Wreckers wraparound cover by Don Figueroa and Josh Burcham. This cover can be combined with similar ones from the other three issues to form a giant battle scene.
- Cover B: Cybertron sketch wraparound cover by Don Figueroa; this was later colored for The Best of Simon Furman trade paperback and the Madman Entertainment-exclusive comic.
- Cover RI: Cover A uncolored.
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Who ya gonna call? The Wreckers! -
Cybertron is a spiky ball! -
Cover RI-A
Advertisements
- Optimus Prime Alternators toy
- Transformers: The Animated Movie series
- Infiltration TPB
- Generations series
- The Transformers: The Movie 20th Anniversary DVD
- Transformers posters
Reprints
- The Transformers: Stormbringer TPB (February 28, 2007) ISBN 160010018X / ISBN 978-1600100185
- The Transformers: Stormbringer Manga TPB (April 11, 2007) ISBN 1600100422 / ISBN 978-1600100420
- The Transformers: The Premiere Collection Volume 1 HC (December 5, 2007) ISBN 1600101186 / ISBN 978-1600101182
- The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Two HC (October 6, 2010) ISBN 1600107516 / ISBN 978-1600107511
