Ride-Along

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« The Transformers: Spotlight #25
File:SpotlightProwl CoverA.jpg
You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!
"The Transformers Spotlight: Prowl"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published April 21, 2010
Cover date April 2010
Written by Mike Costa
Art by E. J. Su
Colors by Andrew Dalhouse
Letters by Chris Mowry
Editor Andy Schmidt
Assistant editor Carlos Guzman
Associate editor Denton J. Tipton
Continuity IDW continuity
Chronology Pre-Transformers #1

What happened to Prowl after All Hail Megatron.

Synopsis

Three LAPD Police cruisers are parked outside a liquor store that has just been robbed. Two cops are inside talking to the store clerk who apparently knows little English...minus the curse words, of which, according to Prowl, the clerk is well-versed in. The cops leave, failing to get any viable information about the robbery suspect from the store clerk.

Prowl's driver gets a call about a Gray Celica that was involved in a hit-and-run accident with a man riding his bicycle. The driver flips the switch and turns on Prowl's lights and sirens and peals down the suburban road.

Two years earlier, Optimus Prime and Prowl are walking through the city, surveying the aftermath that was caused by their clash with Megatron and his Decepticons. Prime wonders how they could have let such wanton destruction to happen, to which Prowl responds that it may have happened for a lot of reasons, none of them being their fault, but that the important thing is that they won in the end. Prime doesn't believe that, and is adamant in helping the humans rebuild. Prowl advises against this, saying that the humans have been attacked and subjugated by the Decepticons for over a year; and that they won't have a lot of trust for the Autobots because of that.

Prime agrees, and says that Prowl must do his best to watch over and protect the humans in disguise. During Prowl's eight-month period of undercover work, he observes the virtual lack of infrastructure since the occupation, and dubs it humanity at its lowest point. But during this eight-month period, he learned that their war with the Decepticons made sure that the humans were left with very little, if anything at all. He also learned that the less that people have, the more afraid they are to lose it.

Prowl's driver rendezvous with a few other cops, who say that there is a Decepticon still inside the abandoned building. They describe it as having red and black colors and looking like a jet. Prowl's driver tells the cops that the cleaning crew are sweeping grid 48 and that they are at least an hour away. One of the cops replies that they don't need the army, and orders the other two to start a structure fire in the hopes of collapsing the building on top of the Decepticon, while Prowl just sits and watches.

Back at headquarters, Prowl notices that a few new Autobots have made their way to Earth. Prime stresses that Earth is a centrally located world and that it happens to be a good place to reinforce. Prowl fails to see the logic in Prime's words. Prowl says that the repopulation of the city is in full swing and reclamation is near, meaning that the Autobots will most likely have to move again. Prime and Prowl argue back and forth about where they will be safe from the human forces. Prowl then says that the chain of command has been steadily falling apart ever since the war ended. Prime, on the other hand, says that a chain of command is for a military unit, and that they need to become more democratic in nature.

Prowl continues his undercover reconnaissance work by patrolling the city. Prowl's driver stops to do guard detail at another building that is being cleared of some wreckage from the occupation. The two construction workers wheel out a severed hand still clutching a large blaster. One of the workers asks his partner just how many pounds of pressure he thinks the gun will put out. His partner advises against it, but the foolish construction worker ssqueezes the trigger anyway, blowing the top off of a recently rebulit office complex, sending some rubble falling toward a little girl in the street.

Prowl, reacting out of instinct, breaks cover and pushes the girl out of the way of the falling debris, getting himself trapped underneath it instead. Prowl's cop driver is frightened, but tells the other people to stay back. Prowl asks his driver if the girl is okay, the drive says yes, which pleases Prowl. The driver is amazed that Prowl broke cover to save the girl, after spending eight months incognito. The Driver tells Prowl that the other people are ready to kill him. Prowl tells his cop driver that he just grew tired of worrying about what might happen, and that you sometimes have to do the right thing regardless of the consequences.

The cop understands, but tells Prowl that he still needs to report him to Skywatch. Prowl makes it out of the rubble in time before Skywatch arrived. Prowl spends another year in hiding, breaking cover once again, but this time paying the consequences for his action. Prowl states that breaking cover was worth it, because things changed. Prowl understood that sometimes it's necessary to act out of instinct, rather than formulate a logical strategy. Prowl states that there are 5 billion humans and only 10,000 Cybertronians, and that he would gladly risk his own life for any one of them.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans
  • Prowl's cop driver (3)

Quotes

  • TBA

Errors

  • The chronology established in narration and dialogue is questionable. The present-day bits are said to be "three years after a major cataclysm," but the Autobots are seen walking around the ruins of New York unmolested "two years ago," and at that point Prowl says the humans have "been attacked and subjugated by Decepticons for over a year." Given that these statements occur within two consecutive pages, it seems likely that they're purposeful and meant to fit together. This would make the events of All Hail Megatron span an entire year, which is true to its real-life publication but is much, much longer than its in-fiction timespan appears to be.

Items of note

  • This issue establishes the Transformer population of the IDWverse to be around 10,000.
  • It also explains why Autobots that were not seen during All Hail Megatron have since shown up in the ongoing on Earth.
  • The "to protect and to serve" seen on Prowl's door is the motto of the real-life Los Angeles Police Department, occasionally shortened to "to protect and serve."
  • A law enforcement member is seen drawing a chalk outline around a corpse, but this rarely if ever occurs in real life: It can be interpreted in court as contamination of the crime scene and render some evidence inadmissable.[1]
  • Includes some concept sketches of Prowl by E. J. Su.

Transformers references

  • TBA

Covers (3)

Advertisements

  • TBA

References

  1. ↑ The Straight Dope on crime-scene chalk outlines
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