Transformers (2023) issue 1

	; Alright, let’s do this one more time.
Publisher	Image Comics; Skybound Entertainment
First published	October 4, 2023
Cover date	October 2023
Written by	Daniel Warren Johnson
Art by	Daniel Warren Johnson
Colors by	Mike Spicer
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editor	Sean Mackiewicz
Continuity	Energon Universe

After centuries of slumber, the Autobots and Decepticons awaken on a strange new world.

Synopsis

Spike Witwicky finds his father, Sparkplug, asleep in a bar. Spike asks his father how long he’s been there, to which Danny the bartender answers since noon. Sparkplug notices that Spike has his brother Jimmy's telescope with him. Spike tells him that he and Carly were planning to go up to Hanger's Rock to look at the full moon. He says it helps him remember Jimmy, to which Sparkplug grouses that it's better to just forget. Spike fires back at his father, telling him he won't end up like Jimmy. Meanwhile, another patron is drunkenly ranting about how he saw a giant boxy jet fly down from space. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Sparkplug's co-worker, Davey, here to pick him up for their shifts. Sparkplug tells Spike that he has to grow up eventually, to which Spike angrily asks if he means being like him. As the adults drive off, Carly arrives to pick Spike up in her van. Carly consoles a dejected Spike by suggesting they go "pretend they're on another planet."

At Hanger's Rock, the pair climb the mountain in search of a better view and discuss their future ambitions. Spike has recently been accepted to the University of California, Berkeley, where he wishes to follow in Jimmy's footsteps and become an astronaut, though he's reluctant to actually tell his father about it since Jimmy's death. Carly, meanwhile, has been looking at art schools, but she and her father are struggling to make it work financially. Carly takes Spike's hand in hers, telling him how sorry she is about what’s going on with his family. As the two teenagers lean in closer, an earthquake shakes the ground, causing the mountain to split open and sending the two plummeting into the depths below. Recovering, they find themselves inside a giant circular structure — the booster of a giant spacecraft. Spike ventures further inside the spacecraft and finds the main control room, littered with the mangled bodies of what appears to be some sort of giant robots.

Jetfire flies into the Ark and transforms, grateful to have found his fallen friends. He activates Teletraan One to repair and reconstruct his fellow Cybertronians, granting them new forms he found on Earth. The first to be reactivated is Starscream. Jetfire warmly greets his old friend, having not seen him in centuries. Starscream thanks Jetfire for waking him and says that he's glad he "picked the right side" before immediately turning to the nearby Bumblebee and blasting his head off. The stunned Jetfire, unaware that their people have been at war for the past hundred years, tries to stop him, but Starscream turns his weapons on his old friend for showing weakness. Starscream aims his weapon at Jazz next, but he is stopped by a reconstructed Optimus Prime!

As the Autobot leader and Decepticon warrior fight, Prime notices the humans and instinctively dives to protect them from Starscream’s fire. Starscream's attack is halted by the intervention of Ratchet, right as Teletraan One reconstructs Skywarp. Realizing the computer is reconstructing them randomly, Starscream tells Skywarp to bring their fellow Decepticons closer. Optimus realizes that the Decepticons will outnumber them and orders a retreat, telling Ratchet to load their fellow Autobots into his new form's trailer while he fends off their opponents. He reaches for his ion blaster but is intercepted by cannon fire from a revived Soundwave. As he recovers, he sees Bumblebee's remains, cradling him in despair before being beset by Starscream and Ravage. Seeing this, Spike and Carly run out and push Prime's blaster to him, allowing him to fight back.

Left with no choice, Optimus fires at Teletraan One, destroying the computer and preventing the remaining Decepticons from being reconstructed. As Teletraan explodes, Optimus grabs Carly and Spike. He and Ratchet transform and drive out of the Ark into the mountains below, Starscream and Skywarp in hot pursuit despite their low energon levels. Jetfire regains consciousness and follows after them, firing on Starscream much to his regret. Starscream volleys back, critically wounding Jetfire. Fortunately for the Autobots, Skywarp begins to run out of energy and the Seekers are forced to retreat.

Needing to recuperate, Spike leads the Autobots to an abandoned quarry. As he succumbs to his injuries, Jetfire apologizes to Optimus; so much has changed since he left Cybertron in hopes of saving it. Optimus tries to use the Matrix of Leadership to heal Jetfire, but Ratchet tells him that his injuries are too great. Optimus grips his old friend's hand as he passes, still lamenting his failure. Back in the Ark, Soundwave reports to Starscream that he is unable to fix Teletraan One, as they lack both the energon and the raw materials necessary. Until it is repaired, they are the only Decepticons left. Soundwave has already sent Laserbeak to scout for possible energon sources, but the job of harvesting it falls to Starscream since he has the most energon reserved. Begrudgingly, Starscream accepts. After all, he is leader of the Decepticons now.

As Davey and Sparkplug end their shift at the nearby power plant, Davey tries to talk to Sparkplug about his recent troubles, but they are interrupted by the arrival of Starscream, irritated he has to be the one doing all the work. The pair try to escape, but Starscream notices them. Sparkplug hides inside the plant, while Davey is snatched up by the giant alien. Starscream smiles to himself as he crushes Davey in his hand, amused at how fragile, squishy, and pathetic the humans are.

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Optimus Prime (2) Prowl (11) Ratchet (12) Bumblebee (13) Cliffjumper (14) Wheeljack (15) Windcharger (16) Jazz (17) Hound’s arm (19)	Starscream (8) Soundwave (9) Skywarp (10) Ravage (20) Reflector (21) Thundercracker (22)	Sparkplug Witwicky (1) Spike Witwicky (3) Danny (4) Jerry (5) Davey (6) Carly (7)	Jetfire (17)

Quotes

"Where are you going? Isn't that... Jimmy's?"
"Yeah. Carly and I were going to check out the full moon tonight, remember? On top of Hanger's Rock?"
"Looking at stars again, huh?"
"Doing this kind of thing... it reminds me of him."
"Why would you want to remember? It's best to forget all that."
"Is that how you're gonna live now? Just pretending he didn't exist?"

—Sparkplug and Spike touch on their trauma

"You must forgive me. I have been away for centuries. I did not know about the war. I did not know you were the new Prime..."
"I remember the day you left our home to find a way to save it."
"And you... were so young then."
"Much has changed since you left our planet. All for the worse."

—Jetfire and Optimus Prime rekindle their friendship

"Why are you all looking at me?"
"You have the most energon reserved. Thus the harvesting is up to you. It's what Meg---"
"Do not say his name. I am the leader of the Decepticons now."

—Starscream and Soundwave

Notes

Continuity notes

Jetfire's arrival on Earth follows from his awakening in the first issue of Void Rivals. How long he was asleep exactly is a little unclear. In Void Rivals, he mentions being stranded for millions of years, but here he says he was away for merely centuries. Due to the syntax used, it could be that Jetfire was searching for centuries but asleep for millions of years.
Cybertron's energon shortage was hinted at by Shockwave in Void Rivals #4.
Soundwave and Starscream allude to the absence of the usual Decepticon leader, Megatron. Hmm... where could he be?

Transformers references

Like with Void Rivals, this new series draws heavy influence from the Generation 1 cartoon:
- The character designs all pull directly from Generation 1.
- The Ark crashing into a mountain and the Autobots and Decepticons being repaired by Teletraan One is lifted from the premiere episode, "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1", right down to one of the Decepticons being reactivated first. The "error" of the Transformers having their Earth-inspired designs before they receive their Earth alternate modes is also carried over.
- Spike, Sparkplug, and Carly all originate from the Generation 1 cartoon, though they been heavily reimagined, especially Carly.
Optimus Prime gains the upper hand over Starscream with a fist and a resounding "never", similar to The Transformers: The Movie.
This isn't the first time a new Transformers series launched with Starscream in command in lieu of Megatron.

Real-world references

Sparkplug's flashbacks on the first page of the issue features imagery of Sparkplug in the Vietnam War and the explosion of a space shuttle reminiscent of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster; based on the context, it seems likely that Jimmy was one of the victims in the latter. Whether these are meant to literally be those events (which would suggest the comic is actually supposed to be set in the 1980s) or merely stylistic renderings of purely fictional events remains to be seen.
Carly's van art features several staples of van murals, such as a wizard inspired by Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, a barbarian resembling Conan, and a fantasy castle and dragon.
Spike's outfit, with a red vest and blue jeans, seems to be pretty heavily based on Marty McFly's classic outifit from Back to the Future.

Errors

Bumblebee's body is seen near Optimus Prime’s trailer, despite him being across the ship near Teletraan One when Starscream blew his head open.
When Starscream is forced to break off his pursuit of the Autobots, his speech bubble is pointing to Skywarp.

Other trivia

Prior to its official release, an ashcan copy of this issue was available exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. The ashcan had certain pages taken out to prevent spoilers, as well as featuring concept art and designs for various characters.
In early solicitations for this issue, the cover had an original logo with blue text broken over two lines;^[1] the final cover uses the standard modern logo, leaving some unsightly negative space above Prime's head.
This issue sold out at the distributor level before it was even officially released, prompting Skybound to announce a second printing the day before it hit retailer shelves.

Covers

Cover A: Optimus Prime emerges from an explosion, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
Cover B: The Autobots, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
Cover C: The Decepticons, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
Cover D: Optimus Prime destroys Starscream, by Ryan Ottley.
Cover E (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover, by Orlando Arocena.
Cover F (1:25 Copy Incentive): Optimus leaps on Starscream to save Carly's van as Laserbeak and Ravage attack, by Cliff Chiang.
Cover G (1:50 Copy Incentive): Optimus Prime, by Francis Manapul.
Cover H (1:100 Copy Incentive): Starscream holds Bumblebee’s head, by Ian Bertram.
Cover I: Blank sketch cover.
Second printing cover A:
Second printing cover B:
Second printing cover C:
Second printing cover D:
FelixComicArt exclusive cover:
San Diego Comic-Con ashcan cover: