Transformers Comic issue 9

From MediaWiki
Revision as of 00:05, 11 September 2021 by Cyberlink420 (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search
« Titan Transformers Comic #9 »

Some day, there'll be an alternate reality where the Decepticons don't win and we'll all die of shock.
Publisher Titan Magazines
First published 28 February 2008
Cover date March 2008
Editor Steve White
Deputy editor Den Patrick
Designer Danny Preston
Publishing manager Darryl Curtis

Say goodbye to the universe, Maximals. The future has changed, YES! The Autobots lose—evil triumphs—and, you... You no longer exist!

Contents

Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1

Titan Movie comic »
Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1
Script Simon Furman
Art Simon Williams
Inks Lee Bradley
Colours Kris Carter
Lettering Jimmy Betancourt/Comicraft
Continuity Twilight's Last Gleaming

A happy ending, one where Sam's desperate gamble with the AllSpark had succeeded, and everyone lived... Bumblebee is sure in some universe, that ending happened. But not in this one. Here, Sam died that day, and the Decepticons have won!

Giant Effing Robots!

Bumblebee and Mikaela Banes drive through the conquered Denver. A Decepticon base looms over the city, drone soldiers walk the streets and patrol the skies, and Mikaela is unsure if they can get through without being detected. They have to - she knows "we have to find him," or it's all for nothing. When Bumblebee says he'd prefer it if she wasn't in danger, she angrily reminds him she's proved herself in combat and that "this is for Sam!"

At the Decepticon base, Megatron oversees the AllSpark's power gradually cyberforming Earth into a new Cybertron. A new era of Decepticon supremacy is upon them, ruined only by the remaining free nations of Earth threatening a nuclear strike on Decepticon-held territory. Megatron calls Dropkick and tells him to send Starscream and Dreadwing to deal with this threat.

Meanwhile, six Autobots have arrived on the Moon, under the command of Skyblast. They're waiting to hear from Ironhide and Bumblebee before they go in. All they have going for them, Skyblast says, is the element of surprise. So it's a pity that they're being monitored by the Decepticons and Starscream knows they're there...

Back in Denver, Bumblebee and Mikaela prepare to raid a Decepticon tunnel. While the Autobot takes on its guard, Swindle, Mikaela disables the tunnel entrance's automatic failsafe mechanism. Following that—and Bumblebee accidentally almost squishing her with a falling Swindle ("My bad")—they head down the tunnel to the former Sector 7 base and their objective: Optimus Prime! Unfortunately he's offline, possibly dead, and frozen like Megatron once was. And worse, Megatron knows they're there and is off to deal with it personally...

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans

Articles & features

  • Character Profile: Scorponok
  • How to Draw Starscream feature: unlike the previous How to Draws, this teaches kids how to do a comic page of Starscream action. The sequence is him transforming from jet mode and landing.
  • Top Gear: Promotion of and a chance to win Transformers Top Trumps, a Top Trumps pocket guide, and sweatbands. Yes, the same sweatbands that were free last issue.
  • Poster of the cover image.
  • Star Screams: Letters and art from readers, answered by Starscream.

Free Gift

  • "Free Transformers Playing Cards!" (regular cards with a TF back to them) and a plastic box for them.

Reprints

Reprinted stories are only a portion of their respective issues.

Quotes

Strip

"A happy ending. Somewhere, I'm sure, there is one. In some other reality... we lived happily ever after on our new home - Earth. Somewhere... but not here."

—Bumblebee sets the scene (abridged)


"Eh. The six of us versus a whole legion of Decepticons - how's that work again?"

—Longarm knows what happened to the cast of "Rhythms of Darkness!"


"Phew! That was too- *Swindle falls down right next to her* close!"
"Oops. My bad."

—Mikaela and Bumblebee

Star Screams

"Personally, I'm glad you haven't seen the Michael Bay Autobot propaganda machine."


"To answer your question, Joe, my favourite character is also Starscream - because the only person I can trust is myself, whilst all those around me are complete imbeciles. My idiot allies ask why I talk to myself, and I have to remind them that it's the only way I can guarantee intelligent conversation."


"The second 'movie' will be more of a documentary-style affair. It will chart how I, Starscream, brought a group of Decepticons to Earth and succeeded where Megatron failed."


"I would be overly grateful if you could have Jazz answering Mech Mail..." (Reader from Farlington)
"Jazz? JAZZ?! Did you not see the film: He was ripped in half! Besides, what would we call the letter column? Jazz Club? All That Jazz? Oh no, not on my watch, young Tom. Be grateful I don't fly down to Farlington and napalm the entire town for such a disgraceful suggestion."

Notes

Continuity notes

  • This is the first alternate universe fiction in Movie continuity. It bears several similarities to previous alternate-reality story "Rhythms of Darkness!" - a human/Autobot resistance, a deactivated Prime, and America conquered by the Decepticons with remaining nuclear powers planning a strike.
  • The Decepticon drones in Denver include a comic-original type of ground-troop drones.
  • As well as purple Dreadwing drones, this comic also shows a sentient, non-drone Dreadwing sporting his toy colours and on equal rank with Starscream. The Reign of Starscream would later have drone and a non-drone Dreadwings, coining the name Class Alpha drone units for the former.
  • The "remaining free nations" threatening Megatron with nukes are, according to the Next Issue page, members of NATO. Next issue will reveal Russia is now a sort-of member as well.

Alternate-reality notes

In this timeline:

  • Ironhide is involved in resisting the Decepticons and is in contact with Cybertron's Autobots.
  • Mikaela Banes has seen combat on multiple occasions by this point. She's experienced and seems old friends with Bumblebee.
  • Skyblast's reinforcements are Arcee, Elita-One, Armorhide, Longarm, and Strongarm.

Transformer references

Letters page notes

  • Starscream likes Transformers toys because they spread the Decepticon message. He's previously had an F-15 mode ala Generation 1 (take that continuity!) and he'd like to work again with the G1-toon Seekers.

Production notes

  • The original plan at Titan was that issues 7-12 "into the very tail end of the movie, exploiting the ‘unseen’ time between the end of the battle in L.A. [sic] and the sort of epilogue scenes", according to Furman in October 2007. This was to avoid contradicting the sequel and "more IDW movie-based stories"[1] (which in the end Titan didn't reprint). Whenever the plans changed, Furman first refered to an epic story coming on New Year's Day 2008[2] and (correctly!) hyped the coming story as "things haven’t been this epic since the days of Marvel UK" the month this issue came out.[3] It would be in May that Furman announced this story was continuing, indicating this was originally just a five-part story.[4]
  • The change from strips going #7-12 to #7-13 clearly was a last-minute change, as the reprints will have to find a way to stretch their pages out later on.
  • Megatron on the cover has been copied exactly from his stock photo from #2's profile.
  • Some of the kids writing in to Star Screams have really big Transformers toy collections!

Errors

  • The Beast Wars strip recap refers to the Megatron/Magmatron battle as being "epic". Well, "Megatron smacked him a few times so Mags cheated" wouldn't sound as impressive.

References

  1. ↑ Script (W)Rap UK, Furman's Wordpress
  2. ↑ In With The New!
  3. ↑ Script (W)Rap UK (Feb 08)
  4. ↑ [https://simonfurman.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/script-wrap-%e2%80%94-uk/ Script (W)Rap UK (May 2008)
Retrieved from "https://tfwiki.duckdns.org/index.php?title=Transformers_Comic_issue_9&oldid=1546367"