International Incident Part 1: "The Land Ironclads"

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« The Transformers #9 »
File:Transformers 9A.jpg
Bumble in the rubble
International Incident Part 1: "The Land Ironclads"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published July 14, 2010
Cover date July 2010
Written by Mike Costa
Art by Guido Guidi
Editor Carlos Guzman
Associate editor Andy Schmidt
Continuity IDW continuity
Chronology Current era (2010)

Strange things are afoot in North Korea

Synopsis

A television news anchor reports that spy satellites show that North Korea is manufacturing energon. Their intent is unknown, although it has left the United States uneasy, as prior to the Cybertronian conflict on Earth, North Korea had been moving towards attaining nuclear weapons.

In the Korean de-militarised zone, Onslaught drives through the fence separating the North and the South and starts to attack South Korean soldiers. He is struck by a shell from a tank, but the tank is vaporised by another tank—who transforms, revealing himself to be Brawl. Jet fighters scrambled to attack the invaders are cut down in the air by Vortex, who transforms and joins the others on the ground. Onslaught radios his boss, Kim Jong Du, and reports that the battle is over. Kim, at the head of a large North Korean military force, is pleased, claiming that Seoul will be theirs in hours at this rate.

At Skywatch headquarters, Spike reflects that it was inevitable that North Korea collaborate with the Decepticons eventually. He consults Henderson about the specifics of the situation, but Henderson is unable to reveal anything beyond that there is one further Combaticon in play that has not been sighted yet, and that the North Koreans have seventeen energon production facilities.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the base, Ratchet is explaining to a Skywatch engineer the internal workings of the Cybertronians, using a relaxed Cliffjumper as an example. Jetfire expresses his hesitancy to Bumblebee about giving their knowledge to the humans, but Bumblebee replies that not only have the humans given them similar access to human information, they've also supplied the Autobots with all the energon they need. Spike enters the room, asking to speak to the leader of the Autobots and deciding that Optimus Prime is a better option after Jetfire, Ratchet and Cliffjumper all gesture to Bumblebee.

Spike finds Optimus Prime sitting in the now-open cell where he was previously detained, which he claims helps him to think. He requests for Prime's help in dealing with the Combaticons, who are more organized and powerful than any Decepticon they've had to bring in before. Bumblebee accepts his request, but before he can assemble a team, Campognolo bursts in to tell them that the President is making a live address.

The President says that there has been an act of aggression from North Korea towards the South, and that Cybertronians were involved on the side of the aggressors. He then declares that any nation collaborating with Cybertronians or using their technology will be considered to be in possession of weapons of mass destruction. Spike is aware of the problems this causes for him and the Autobots, and as the address ends, Spike orders that everyone act as if the base was under communications blackout and no one had heard the address. He then continues preparing for the mission.

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans

Quotes

  • TBD

Errors

  • TBD

Items of note

  • Onslaught's license plate reads "D-64", the Japanese ID number of his original toy.
  • The North Korean leader in this issue, Kim Jong Du, while being said to be the son of Kim Jong Il, is clearly based off Il's likeness. The American President, however, looks nothing like Barack Obama.
  • Henderson reveals that the North Koreans have been producing enough energon for five Cybertronians to consume. This might suggest that the Combaticons are together for the first time (while he'd been referred to as a Combaticon previously, Swindle had never been seen with them up to this point). However, in the next issue, it is revealed that Swindle is still not with them, and Blast Off is still absent.
  • Almost all of the Transformers have changed bodies again between issues. For the first time in a very, very long time, they are drawn to the specifications of their original Generation 1 character models, with only slight variations for necessity (Ratchet, for instance, sports electrocardiogram graphics on his shoulders instead of his traditional Red Cross symbols). Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are the exceptions, with the former in a Dery-ized version of his recent Don Figueroa design, and the latter in a cross between his Dodge Challenger body Don Figueroa used in issue 6 and Chee Yang Ong's simplified take of it seen at the conclusion of his mini-series. This was after an artistic error depicted him in his traditional Volkswagen body in his last appearance.
  • Just like with issue #8, Guido shared a little info on IDW boards about drawing this issue. He said: "Actually at first I was using Don's designs, then I was asked to do my own thing. Because of that and other reasons almost half of #9 pages have been re-drawn from scratch of heavily patched with changes. This didn't happen with #10-12, you'll see."[1]

Covers (3)

  • Cover A: Bumblebee taking cover behind debris under fire from the Combaticons; art by Don Figueroa and colors by .
  • Cover B: The Combaticons; art by Guido Guidi and colors by .
  • Cover RI: Concept art of Optimus Prime; art by Don Figueroa.

Advertisements

  • TBD

References

  1. ↑ Guido post in which he says that IDW asked him to not bother with Dons designs, and to redraw half of the issue he already made using his own preference in design.
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