Interlude (Movie Prequel)
| This article is about the 2007 Movie Prequel mini-comic. For the BotCon 2013 mini-comic, see Interlude.... |
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| "Interlude" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | June 2, 2007 (online); July 3, 2007 (in theaters) | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Simon Furman & Chris Ryall | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Andrew Wildman | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Josh Burcham | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Robbie Robbins | ||||||||||||
| Edits by | Ted Adams | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Movie continuity | ||||||||||||
Bumblebee scours planet Earth for clues to the AllSpark's location.
Synopsis
The year is 2003, and Bumblebee drives the streets of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, looking back on the events that have brought him there. To keep it from the tyrannical Megatron, the Autobots ejected the life-giving AllSpark from their planet of Cybertron, only for the Decepticon leader to successfully locate the artifact's new resting place, Earth. Now Bumblebee has followed, desperately chasing down leads on the AllSpark's location in the hopes that it can be recovered before Megatron obtains it.
The Autobot's investigations have led him to Captain Archibald Witwicky, an explorer who had an otherworldly encounter in 1897 and whose descendants may now hold the key to locating the AllSpark. Driven insane by the experience, Archibald was treated in a Baton Rouge asylum, and it is the digital records of that facility that Bumblebee now scans, looking for details on the man's family. The effort is successful, and Bumblebee sets out for Springfield, Missouri, once the home of Witwicky's son Clarence. However, the Autobot's investigation has not gone unnoticed: Sector Seven detected "N.B.E.-2" when he scanned the asylum and have mobilized field units to intercept him in vehicle mode on Route 19. After being shunted off the main road, Bumblebee is hit with a grappling claw fired by one of Sector Seven's unmarked vans. However, the Autobot manages to turn the tables, using the cable to send the van careening into another Sector Seven vehicle, breaking him free in the process.
Having made a speedy getaway, Bumblebee reaches Springfield, but finds the former Witwicky home empty. Luckily, scanning the laptop computer of a nearby real estate agent reveals that the property passed into the hands of Clarence's son, Herbert Witwicky, before eventually being sold, the profits split between Herbert's six children. Bumblebee decides to work his way through the siblings in order of age, taking him first to Denver, Colorado, which yields no further leads. The Autobot begins his journey to the next location, Tucson, Arizona, but suddenly finds himself confronted by a Sector Seven attack helicopter!
The helicopter fires on Bumblebee with a cryo-freeze cannon, but the Autobot is able to dodge and retaliates by repurposing his solar receptors into emitters, creating an intense burst of light that blinds his attackers. Bumblebee makes a break for it into the open country, transforming into robot mode, but finds himself pursued by a police car... which proceeds to also transform, revealing itself as the Decepticon Barricade! Bumblebee knows that his assailant is more than a match for him in combat, but drawing inspiration from the past words of Optimus Prime, the Autobot resolves to fight and prevail!
Featured characters
(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
- Mentioned characters: Clarence Witwicky, Agent Simmons, Herbert Witwicky, Ben Witwicky
Errors
- If the movie is set contemporaneously with its 2007 release, Bumblebee spent a long time tracking down the remaining four descendants.
- Why exactly would anyone bother to store records of a patient that (presumably) died some time prior to World War II, after spending the last years of his life in a hospital that was apparently abandoned decades ago, in digitized form that can be accessed via the Internet?
- Barricade's attack sure doesn't seem to serve much purpose. Neither does Bumblebee transforming before he's even aware of Barricade's presence.
Items of note
- This was one of two free prequel comics released by IDW in cooperation with Target (both books were originally titled "Transformers Movie Prequel"... as was IDW's full-length prequel mini-series). It was first made available online on Target's website. In printed form, it was given out as a freebie to attendees at BotCon 2007 and to people going to see the movie in theaters. The story was later reprinted by IDW as part of the Transformers Movie Prequel Special (together with the second Target-sponsored prequel comic), where it was titled "Interlude".
- Chronologically, this book's events happen in the middle of the fourth issue of the regular prequel mini-series, where Bumblebee first scanned files relating to Archibald Witwicky, leading him to Baton Rouge. The book ends with Barricade attacking Bumblebee in Colorado, presumably explaining why he's suddenly damaged and smoking when he stops by the Colorado roadside in Movie Prequel #4.
- The book includes various computer readouts as seen through Bumblebee's "Robo-Vision", rendered as light blue lettering hidden among a field of random red and white. Using the same principle as the tech specs of Generation 1 toyline, a clear red plastic Robo-Vision Decoder, when placed over these fields, reveals such secret words as "SECTOR 7" and "SENTIENT". Most of them are pretty random, actually ("ACTIVISION", "ENERGON".) These words were codes that unlocked content on Target's Transformers website as part of the Robo-Vision promotion. All these effects are missing in the IDW Movie Prequel Special reprint of this story.
- A badly photoshopped Target logo appears on the side of a passing truck on the highway. In the IDW Movie Prequel Special reprint of this story, it gets replaced by an ad for All Hail Megatron.
- A screenshot of the IDW discussion forums appears as a readout on Bumblebee's dashboard.
- Generation 1 Optimus Prime can be seen driving into Denver as Bumblebee is leaving.
- Some of this issue's plot points parallel the Infiltration and Escalation comic series, which Furman had recently completed at the time. Examples include Sector Seven tracking and attacking Bumblebee on the highway, and Bumblebee rocketing off across the desert at high speed to escape.
- This comic establishes Sam's granddad was called Herbert and that Ron Witwicky is one of six children, with an older brother called Ben Witwicky. (This was later used to retcon Major Sparkplug into being Sam's uncle by "Ask Vector Prime")
Cover (1)
- Optimus Prime and Bumblebee in Robo-Vision, by Don Figueroa and Josh Burcham
Advertisements
- Coupon for $3 off Transformers The Game
- Various movie toys and merchandise for sale at Target
- Giftcards in Disguise, from Target
