Dreamwave Armada issue 8

	; Something seems really familiar about this...
Publisher	Dreamwave Productions
First published	February 26, 2003
Script	Simon Furman
Pencils	Guido Guidi
Inks	Elaine To
Colors	Shaun Curtis, Alan Wang
Lettering	Dreamer Design
Editor	Roger Lee
Continuity	Dreamwave Armada continuity

Strange lights in the sky and crop circles coincide with a mass exodus of the Earthbound Mini-Cons.

Synopsis

A stone monolith comes crashing to Earth in a Tranquility, Kansas, field. It launches a number of probes and begins to send out a radio signal.

In Lincoln, South Dakota, Sparkplug is angry with Optimus Prime. Despite how supportive and welcoming the Autobots have been, it's clear that they are the ones calling the shots, and not the Mini-Cons. As on Cybertron, he feels that they're only being used as a means to an end.

At Lincoln Middle School, Rad starts to get in a fight with Billy and Fred, but is saved by the intervention of the Street Action Team. But as they ride away, the Mini-Cons suddenly stop responding and begin moving themselves through the street against the flow of traffic.

At the Decepticon base at Silver Ridge, Cyclonus goes to lock the Mini-Cons back up after their time spent training, but finds that they've all mysteriously vanished, and the defense systems have been rewired to attack him instead. Starscream alerts Megatron to the situation. The Decepticon leader is confused, as the Mini-Cons know they've been tagged with homing beacons and would be unable to hide.

At the Autobot base, too, Optimus Prime receives word that their Mini-Cons have left. Red Alert feels they may just need some time to cool off, but Optimus Prime is worried: after the situation with the Air Defense Team, he's unsure of what they might do next.

At the stone monolith, all the Earthbound Mini-Cons have gathered, the kids among them. All of them are standing completely still, staring at it intently. Just then the Decepticons arrive, happy about the Mini-Con bounty that has fallen into their laps. As they try to take them, though, lasers fire out of the monolith at them. Rad sneaks over to Sparkplug, activates his communicator, and contacts Optimus Prime, who arrives shortly thereafter with Red Alert and Hot Shot in tow.

As the Autobots and Decepticons fight amongst themselves, the kids see that a door has opened in the monolith and all the Mini-Cons are walking in. As the Transformers are otherwise preoccupied, Rad runs in behind them. The door shuts and the monolith rockets off into space, leaving Alexis standing in a giant Mini-Con symbol that has been burned into the ground...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Mini-Cons	Humans
Optimus Prime (27) Red Alert (28) Hot Shot (29)	Cyclonus (13) Megatron (14) Demolishor (15) Starscream (16)	Sparkplug (1) Longarm (2) Jolt (3) High Wire (9) Sureshock (10) Grindor (11) Wreckage (17) Bonecrusher (18) Knock Out (19) Sonar (20) Runway (21) Jetstorm (22) Blackout (23) Leader-1 (24) Crumplezone (25) Swindle (26)	Rad (4) Alexis (5) Carlos (6) Billy (7) Fred (8) Kelly (12)

Quotes

"Lights in the sky, crop circles, alien abductions...I live each day as if it were my last on Earth."
"Rad...those all-night "Outer Limits" marathons on cable. Avoid!"
"But what about the probes?!"

—Rad and Alexis

"Whatever that thing is, it's collecting Mini-Cons like they were, I dunno. Action figures!"

—Carlos, being ridiculous

Notes

Transformers references

A number of G1 Autobot vehicle modes are seen on the street that the kids are riding through: Trailbreaker, Optimus Prime, Bluestreak (with a Japanese license plate reading "Streak") and Ratchet. Also seen is RID Ironhide.
In the same scene, the kids almost run down Kelly from the Robots in Disguise cartoon.

Real-world references

On page 3, Sparkplug breaks a statue of what looks to be G1 Metroplex holding Cybertron on his back, a reference to the mythological Atlas.
Rad watches Outer Limits.
Billy calls Rad "Astro-Boy".

Errors

Smokescreen and Scavenger having vanished from the plot will eventually be explained, but their Mini-Con partners Liftor and Rollbar should also still be on Earth and are curiously absent from the proceedings. Shouldn't they have been unwillingly compelled to respond to the signal as well?
There are various minor coloring errors in the Autobot/Decepticon dust-up on page 20, including Red Alert's gun-hand being mis-colored blue instead of red, and Hot Shot's feet being mis-colored yellow instead of black.

Reprints

Transformers Armada: Volume 2: Fortress (September 17, 2003) ISBN 0973278641 / ISBN 978-0973278644

Collects issues #6–11.
Bonus material includes a cover gallery and the Armada mini-comic #2

Transformers Armada Vol. 2 (Japan ed.) (January, 2004) ISBN 4902314215 / ISBN 978-4902314212

Same content as Dreamwave's volume 2, translated to Japanese.

Transformers Armada Vol. 4 (Spain ed.) (April, 2007) ISBN 978-8498147438

Reprints issues 8–10, translated to Spanish.

Transformers Armada: Volume 2 (IDW reprint) (January 14, 2009) ISBN 160010357X / ISBN 978-1600103575

Straight reprint of the Dreamwave trade with same contents.

Transformers Armada: Omnibus (August 18, 2010) ISBN 160010715X / ISBN 978-1600107153

Contains issues 1–18.
Bonus material includes the Armada Preview issue.
Reissued in 2016 with a new cover.

Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 27: Worlds Collide Part 1 (November 13, 2019)

Collects issues #8–13 and select material from Dreamwave's Transformers: More than Meets the Eye: Armada
Includes a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.