Transformers '84 issue 0
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| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | August 21, 2019 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | June 2019 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Guido Guidi | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | John-Paul Bove | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Tom B. Long | ||||||||||||
| Editor | David Mariotte and Tom Waltz | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Privy to the terrible secret behind the doomed voyage of the Ark, an Autobot spy learns that war can tarnish even the most heroic figure....
Synopsis
Punch remembers...
Millions of years ago, war rages on Cybertron between the Autobots and Decepticons: torn loose from its orbit, the planet hurtles through interstellar space, on a course that will take it directly towards the dangerous region of the galaxy known as the Stellae Cimeterium. Regardless of the danger, Optimus Prime and his Autobots continue their work on the Ark. The Autobot leader maintains that the real threat to their war-torn world is Megatron, whose Decepticon armies continue to gain ground—but Councillor Traachon disagrees, arguing that their planet must be saved. Optimus points out that a sufficiently powerful detonation on Cybertron's surface will nudge the planet towards Ursa Minor as it passes that star, but his words fail to have the desired effect—Traachon demands to know why Optimus's forces are still pouring their resources into the construction of the Ark instead of saving their planet, but Prime says nothing...
As launch day draws near, Prime's handpicked crew of Autobots—his most elite and trusted warriors—prepare for departure on the Ark's first flight, to shoot down the oncoming field of meteors that threatens their world. Bumblebee is awestruck by the size of the ship, Sunstreaker and Jazz are excited at the prospect of a journey into the unknown, the impulsive Windcharger signed up at the first opportunity, Bluestreak wants a chance to get away from his homeworld, and Prowl is motivated by his sense of duty. Ultra Magnus will be staying behind, however, and Optimus informs the stalwart Autobot that, if something happens to him or his shipmates, then he trusts Magnus to assume control of the Autobots. Taken aback by Prime's apparent fatalism, Magnus wonders if the Autobot leader even intends to return... and, once again, Prime falls silent.
The Autobots are unaware that their plans have been intercepted by the Decepticon spy Ravage, who immediately reports his findings to the Decepticon headquarters. A jubilant Megatron congratulates his deep cover agent Counterpunch, whose report has just been corroborated by Ravage's spying. Megatron lays out his plan: once the Autobots have exhausted themselves clearing a safe path through the asteroid field, the Decepticons will strike!
His deception complete, Punch retreats to the wartorn Badlands , where he's met by Optimus Prime, and reports that Megatron has taken the bait. As the other Autobots board theArk for its inaugural flight, and wonder what's taking their leader so long, Prime tells his double-agent that he's done well... but he has one last deep-cover job for his faithful spy. Prime lays out the full, terrible scope of his plan for the confused Punch: the Ark is a distraction: a juicy target of opportunity designed to lure Megatron and his most powerful underlings offworld. When they're inevitably boarded, Prime will deliberately crash the ship on a distant world, stranding them all—but leaving their homeworld free from Megatron's evil. But this plan hinges on no-one finding them, wherever they are in the universe; Punch's job is to make sure that no-one ever does.
When the Ark launches not long afterwards, Megatron and his Decepticon cadre attack, just as predicted. Optimus Prime pulls off his master plan without a hitch... and Punch's long game begins.
In the year 1017, a smaller but no less ferocious war plays out on Earth: King Canute and the inhabitants of Stansham Castle are besieged by Godwin the Strongarm and his Viking hordes, intent on seizing the throne. Early one morning, their attention is drawn to a mysterious shooting star... a shooting star that's really the Autobot scout ship Mantlo, which makes an undignified crash-landing in the woods beyond. Occupants Cloudraker and Fastlane are unhurt, and, more importantly, undeterred from their mission: to find the Ark. The pair transform and race off... unaware that they're being watched by Punch; in his Decepticon persona, he's worked his way into a Decepticon cell that's been covertly following the two Autobots on their mission.
As the sun rises, Canute's men, led by Hakon, ride out to investigate the mysterious celestial omen. They're not the only ones interested, however: the two Autobots have been trailed by a Decepticon unit led by Wingspan, just as intent on locating the lost starship. While the lunkheaded Duocons race off to scout out the terrain around their reconnaissance post, Counterpunch takes the opportunity to fade into the background. As he does so, Wingspan crunches data and discovers the truth: the Ark exists here, buried on another continent... but before he can share the truth with his teammates, he finds Counterpunch pointing his rifle against the back of his head, and the Clone is swiftly executed.
Cloudraker and Fastlane watch as the two human armies clash outside of their ship, and despite their initial decision not to interfere, the sight of Hakon's grievously outnumbered forces up against the savage Vikings compels the two Autobots into action, and their intervention quickly turns the tide of the fight.
Back at their makeshift base, the Decepticons gather around Wingspan's dead body, and the two Duocons immediately suspect the two Autobots. The Autobot Clones are, of course, completely unaware of all this... which is why they're shocked when, after helping to trounce the primitive Vikings, they're taken by complete surprise by the Decepticon attack! Though Cloudraker is able to crush Battletrap with his gravity-rod rifle, he's badly wounded by a fusillade from Flywheel's jet half. Fastlane's sonic boom rifle temporarily takes out both Flywheels and Counterpunch, and Fastlane drags his wounded brother back to their vessel and loads him into the shipboard CR chamber. Neither of them realize that Counterpunch has found his feet... and, hating himself, he blasts their ship, sending the crippled vessel and its occupants hurtling into Stansham Castle.
From Cybertron to Earth, Punch remembers it all: his own betrayals and Prime's own guilt at having abused the trust of his men in the service of the greater good. The business of war is a dirty one, he admits... a business that ensures that even the most heroic 'bots of all have dark secrets to hide.
Featured characters
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | ||
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Quotes
"Wow! It's really something. There's never been a ship this big since... well, the era of the Titans!"
"Everything's big to you, Bumblebee."
- —Bumblebee and Prowl
"Counterpunch, Flywheels... let's get medieval on their afts!"
- —Battletrap goes Pulp Fiction
"Abominations?"
"Ehh, been called far worse."
- —Cloudraker and Fastlane
Notes
Continuity notes
- Released to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the original Transformers comic that started it all, Transformers '84 marks a return to the Marvel Comics continuity, the first comic to do since 2014's Regeneration One. While that series served as a straight sequel to the original 80-issue comic, this issue is an ostensible prequel... though some minor continuity niggles mean that it can't be a literal, direct prequel to either the Marvel US or UK continuities.
- As a retraux homage to the Marvel continuity, the comic features a few deliberate colour choices that might seem strange to younger readers: Megatron is depicted with the black helmet he wore throughout the comic, the Ark is silver rather than its usual gold, and Soundwave is purple rather than blue.
- Perhaps explaining their absence from the rest of the Marvel comics, the Earth-based portions of the comic are centred around characters that had never shown up in the Marvel comic: Punch, the Duocons, Autobot Clones Fastlane and Cloudraker, and Decepticon Clone Wingspan... a storytelling conceit that allows most of them to be safely killed off at the end of the story without any major narrative repercussions.
- This issue is also an adaptation of the famous "Man of Iron" story; this was the first original story produced for the UK comics, and was subsequently adapted back into the US continuity. Set in the same year (1017) as this issue, and centered around Stansham Castle, this comic implies that the two Autobot Clones will go on to become the figures in the myth; the wounded Cloudraker will, presumably, become the "Navigator", buried underground in hibernation, while his still-healthy sibling Fastlane will be remembered in local folklore as the eponymous "Man of Iron," who scared away the Viking armies of Godwin the Strongarm during his first appearance. This version of the story, however, omits Aethelric the priest, who was said to be among the first humans to encounter the Man of Iron.
- Micromasters Erector and Crumble appear as workers on the Ark; as per original Marvel continuity, however, the Micromasters wouldn't come to exist until long after Prime's departure from Cybertron, as per issue #54 of the US comic and UK issues issues #232-233.
- The Council of Autobot Elders appear, led by the Marvel-original character Traachon. The block-colored generic councillors don't really match up to any of their prior appearances, however, so it's not clear if Xaaron or Tomaandi are among them.
- Ultra Magnus makes his appearance here as a compatriot of Optimus Prime. Prime describes him as "Cybertron's greatest warrior," an appellation frequently used in the UK series. Prime further informs him that, if he fails to return, then he trusts Magnus to continue the fight. This would come to pass in the UK series, which saw him leading the Autobot resistance on Cybertron alongside Emirate Xaaron, for a spell...though in that comic, Magnus was a recently built Autobot, brought online only a few years before 1986.
- Who exactly occupied Stansham Castle at the time of Godwin's siege was not elaborated in the original Marvel story; this issue reveals that the ruler was named Canute (though see "Real world references" for more on this).
- The countdown to the Ark's launch is measured in "breems," a semi-regular unit of timekeeping in the Marvel comics.
- Shot down by Counterpunch, Fastlane and Cloudraker's damaged ship winds up crashing into Stansham Castle, destroying one of the walls... evidently, the castle was abandoned shortly thereafter, as its contemporary appearance in the Marvel comic depicted it with the same collapsed wall.
Transformers references
- Bumblebee namedrops a prior "age of the Titans" as he gazes upon the Ark, a name that's come into vogue recently as Hasbro's preferred nomenclature for city-sized Transformers. Note, however, that traditional big Transformers Scorponok and Fortress Maximus aren't Titans in this continuity!
- Counterpunch meets with Prime in the ruined wasteland known as the Badlands; this geographical feature didn't appear in the original Marvel run, though Furman did use it as a setting in his Regeneration One comics.
- CR chambers are another non-Marvel invention, first appearing in the Beast Wars cartoon and going on to appear in a wide variety of other Transformers media.
- As the Autobots wait for Prime to board the Ark, Hound reminds Bumblebee that "[he's got] a lot of golden disks spinning," referencing the MacGuffin that appeared numerous times throughout the franchise, first appearing in the Beast Wars cartoon and going on to feature in many other cartoons and comics, including Regeneration One.
Real-world references
- King Canute, described in the narration as a Viking who currently occupies the English throne, is based on the real-world historical figure, Cnut the Great, a Dane who similarly seized the English throne in the year 1016. His Anglicized name is used here, presumably, for reasons of...well...er...I mean, one typo, and you'll get into big trouble...
- Fastlane's assessment that "the natives definitely fall into the restless category" paraphrases the famous line that originated in 1933's Island of Lost Souls and has been used in many, many, other works: "the natives are restless."
- An irate Battletrap threatens to "get medieval" on Wingspan's killer, a threat that originated in 1994's Pulp Fiction.
- The starship Mantlo is named after Transformers writer Bill Mantlo, who penned the first and second issues of the original Marvel series.
- Punch's grim assessment of Prime's plan: "the needs of the many..." is, of course, a reference to Spock's famous line from The Wrath of Khan, though it was also spoken by Sentinel Prime, voiced by Leonard Nimoy, in Dark of the Moon.
Other trivia
- It's not a Marvel comic without a good old-fashioned introdump, and we get an abridged one on page 8, where all of the members of the Ark crew stand around and talk about why they decided to join the mission.
- Not an error, per se, but for a comic that namechecks pretty much all of the other original members of the Ark from issue #1 of the Marvel comic and then some, Ratchet and Trailbreaker are conspicuous in their absences, while Ironhide—although he makes a cameo during the battle on page 1—is similarly omitted from the Ark's passenger manifest.
- Originally solicited for early August, this issue arrives two weeks late, arriving on August 21st.
Covers (1)
- Cover A: Optimus and Megatron have it out, by Guido Guidi
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