Escape from Primus
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|}{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}
We flashback to G.I. Joe boot camp as the family history of Duke and Falcon is revealed.
Synopsis
Far below the surface of Cybertron, sudden tremors shake the cavernous chamber of Primus, and the visiting Autobots and G.I. Joes realize they must make a quick escape before they are buried alive. During the escape run, Mirage is pinned beneath a boulder, and Duke refuses to leave him behind; the others, meanwhile, make it back to the waiting Metroplex above, and Rodimus sends Springer and a unit of Joes after their fallen comrades. Springer lifts Mirage to safety, but Duke's grappling hook "wirepoon" jams, and it looks like he is going to be trapped in the cave-in... until one Joe wearing a tether takes a flying leap from Springer, grabs Duke, and hauls him to safety. That Joe is Falcon—Duke's half-brother!
Some time beforehand, when the Earth had not yet been destroyed, Duke is training the newest team of Joe recruits to be the second wave of troops sent to Cybertron, on the heels of Scarlett's advance team. Falcon is among them, and Duke—never having had much love for his kid brother—is especially hard on him, tricking him to cutting his much-loved hair into a crew-cut. Falcon strives to show up his older brother by excelling, even looking set to beat Duke's obstacle course record—until he throws it away to disobey orders and "save" a "fallen comrade" who had got stuck in the course mud pit.
When Falcon and Quarrel shirk their guard duty to fool around, Duke dons a Cobra uniform and attacks his brother to show him the folly of his ways. Falcon tires of his brother's attitude towards him, and Duke is fed up of Faclon's smart mouth, so Falcon is led by the ear to the barracks' gym, where Duke proposes a bare-knuckle boxing match so they can settle their issues once and for all. Duke leads in the fight, and their family issues come out for all the watching Joes to hear: Duke's father took a bullet for Falcon's, who then married Duke's mother and raised Duke with a closed fist. But he wouldn't do the same to Falcon when he was born, so Duke has always seen his little brother as "soft"—especially since his mother made him promise to always take care of Falcon before she died. Duke has spent his entire military career secretly looking out for Falcon; even the Purple Heart his brother earned was down to Duke keeping him safe on the battlefield. But still, Duke refuses to kick Falcon out of the Joes: he will have to quit on his own, and that is one thing Falcon refuses to do, as it will prove everything Duke has said to be true.
In time, Falcon, now a fully-fledged Joe, ships out for Cybertron with the rest of his fellow graduates. Before they depart, Duke appears to see them off; he salutes Falcon, and tells his brother to prove that he is wrong about him.
Duke, Falcon, and Mirage are safely carried out of Cybertron's depths, but as they make it to the surface, the reason for the tremors becomes apparent. At the command of Megatron, Cybertron has transformed into the body of Primus, and as the clouds of debris left by the Earth part at last, the god-planet turns his attention to the Sun... and prepares to feed!
Featured characters
Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
{{#if: ||(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)}}
- Rodimus (5)
- Mirage (8)
- Metroplex (11)
- Goldbug? (12)
- Springer (13)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
- Brawn (3)
- Rodimus (5)
- Mirage (8)
- Metroplex (11)
- Goldbug? (12)
- Springer (13) }}{{#if:*Megatron (1)
- Insecticons (23)
- Scorponok (24)
- Trypticon (25)|
Autobots }}{{#if:*Megatron (1)
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Decepticons }}{{#if:*Cover Girl (4) | G.I. Joe }}{{#if:*Primus (2)
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Others }}{{#if:| | Misc }}{{#if:| | Misc }} |
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Notes
Continuity notes
- This issue's flashback must occur concurrently with issue #2 of the series; it takes place following the battle seen in issue #1, since the Joes have knowledge of Soundwave, Starscream, Ravage, and Laserbeak (they train using animatronics and cut-outs of them), but must end before issue #3, in which Duke goes undercover in Cobra.
- Further, Falcon had made it to Cybertron by issue #4, though there was no indication at the time that any kind of "second unit" was involved.
- Cutter must also have been part of that unit, as he appeared on Cybertron in issue #5, but is seen on Earth in this issue's flashback, cutting Falcon's hair (Cutter, y'geddit?).
- We previously got a hint toward Falcon and Duke's troubled home life in issue #5, in which the Quintessons plucked an image from Duke's mind of himself as a child mouthing off to his stepfather and dismissing his new baby sibling as "no brother of mine." The same issue had earlier identified Falcon as Duke's little brother on his file card.
Transformers references
- As Primus transforms, swarms of Insecticons are brought skittering out of the planet's depths by the tremors. The concept of an Insecticon swarm goes all the way back to the original Generation 1 cartoon and its Insecticon clones, but the beasties were first depicted as a naturally-occurring sub-race that lived in the depths of Cybertron in the Fall of Cybertron video game. They are, of course, all designed to look like innumerable duplicates of the classic G1 Insecticons Shrapnel, Kickback, and Bombshell, who previously appeared as individuals in this series in issue #2.
- Primus's robot mode design in this issue borrows from the original robot-mode Primus drawing created by Don Figueroa for Dreamwave Productions' The War Within, later published in Transformers: The Ultimate Guide. Specifically, it's got the double-barreled over-the-head cannon, and the same domed buildings/turrets on its shins.
G.I. Joe references
- In addition to the military movies mentioned below (see "Real-life references"), Scioli notes in this issue's commentary that the boot camp scenes were inspired by issues #4 and #82 of the Marvel G.I. Joe comic. The former featured a brutal paramilitary training camp, while the latter put Duke in the role of no-nonsense drill sergeant training new Joes. Elements of Duke's dialogue ("Don't look down! Don't look back! Don't stop to help your buddy if he slips and falls.") are taken straight from issue #4.
- Falcon was Duke's half-brother in G.I. Joe: The Movie, but not in the Marvel comic. Falcon notes that he's going to be a Green Beret, like this father—factoids plucked from the character's original file card.
- And speaking of G.I. Joe: The Movie, it was also responsible for the introduction of Big Lob, part of the same unit as Falcon in both the film and this issue. Big Lob is quite famous for being to Joe what Arcee was to Transformers; a major movie character who never had an action figure in the original toyline.
- Continuing with the Joe movie references, the scene of Falcon and Quarrel ignoring their guard duty to fool around is an homage to a similar scene in the film in which Falcon abandons his post to flirt with Jinx.
- Never heard of Quarrel? That's 'cause she was actually an early original creation for Action Force, the European version of the G.I. Joe toyline, who was only officially 'ported into the American version of the brand in 2013. Her file card humorously reads "Swiss Army Knife Expert"; she's not an expert in Swiss army knives, but rather a knife expert from the Swiss army, a reference to her original Action Force profile, which noted she was the daughter of a Swiss diplomat and an expert with Cantonese butterfly knives.
- The disguised Duke is able to get the drop on Falcon because he has removed the firing pins from his and Quarrel's weapons. Larry Hama, writer of the Marvel Joe comic, liked using this trick from time to time; it was originally pulled off by Inuit mercenary Kwinn in the second issue of the series.
Real-life references
- This whole issue is a tribute to military cinema, and specifically "boot camp" movies, include such staple scenes of the genre as the haircut, the obstacle course, the brawl between rivals, and the superior officer saluting the young hotshot when they make good.
- Duke gives a speech while in front of a huge American flag, homaging [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Patton|{{#if:||Patton}}]]. In the issue's commentary, John Barber recalls how he did the same thing with Ironhide in Robots in Disguise #8.
- Falcon asks Duke if he is afraid he's "gonna have to salute" him, stealing a line from Richard Gere to Robert Loggia in [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}An Officer and a Gentleman|{{#if:||An Officer and a Gentleman}}]].
- After his luscious locks are shorn into a crew cut, Falcon is horrified to discover he wasn't required to get one because G.I. Joe has no dress code or hair length regulation, a scene Scioli describes as being inspired by scenes in [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Heartbreak Ridge|{{#if:||Heartbreak Ridge}}]] and [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Stripes|{{#if:||Stripes}}]].
- In addition to these movies, Scioli also cites [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Private Benjamin|{{#if:||Private Benjamin}}]] as an influence.
- When Falcon grabs Duke and gets him to safety, their firm arm-lock is an homage to that shared between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers in [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Predator (film)|{{#if:Predator|Predator|Predator (film)}}]].
- The issue's commentary identifies the Joe recruit who Falcon gives up the record to save from the obstacle course mud pit as "Private Pyle," named after the luckless private from [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Full Metal Jacket|{{#if:||Full Metal Jacket}}]], who was in turned named for [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Gomer Pyle|{{#if:||Gomer Pyle}}]]. Though, as that movie is such a classic of boot camp cinema, the term has evolved into slang for a screw-up in the military, so it might be a euphemistic use by Scioli and not literally his name.
- When Duke invites Falcon into the boxing ring with him, he calls him "Little Mac," after [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Little Mac (Punch-Out!!)|{{#if:the player character|the player character|Little Mac (Punch-Out!!)}}]] from the [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Punch-Out!!|{{#if:||Punch-Out!!}}]] video game series.
- As the cloud of radio-disrupting Earth debris finally parts and communications are restored, an unseen Joe is heard exclaiming "Good morning Cybertron!", after another military movie, [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Good Morning, Vietnam|{{#if:||Good Morning, Vietnam}}]].
- The final page (featuring Primus approaching the Sun) is captioned "There Goes the Sun", evoking the name of the song "[[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Here Comes the Sun|{{#if:||Here Comes the Sun}}]]" by [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}The Beatles|{{#if:||The Beatles}}]].
Other trivia
- Scioli's first draft of this issue's cover featured Duke holding a smoking cigar, but this was changed to a snake for the published version. We'd gamble that Hasbro said no to the stogie.
- Even the inside-front cover is part of the story in this issue, featuring a drawing of Megatron ordering Cybertron to transform, transmitted via the Matrix.
Covers (2)
- Standard cover: Duke, by Tom Scioli
- Subscription cover: Wreck Gar rides with the Dreadnoks, as Unicron's head floats in the sky, by Tom Neely and Marc Palm
Advertisements
- Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #12
- Preview for IDW's Wynona Earp comic book
Reprints
- Transformers vs. G.I. Joe Quintessential Collection Hardcover
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 74: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Part 2
-
Quintessential Collection; cover art by Scioli -
Definitive G1 Collection: Vol. 74: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Pt. 2; cover art by Don Figueroa and Scioli
