International Incident Part 2: "Ranks of Bronze"
| |||||||||||||
| File:Transformers 10A.jpg | |||||||||||||
| International Incident Part 2: "Ranks of Bronze" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | August 10, 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | August 2010 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Mike Costa | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Guido Guidi | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | J. Brown | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Neil Uyetake | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Andy Schmidt | ||||||||||||
| Assistant editor | Carlos Guzman | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era (2010) | ||||||||||||
The Autobots sneak into North Korea.
Synopsis
On a dock in Incheon, South Korea Campologno is hooking up a shipping container to a crane when he is confronted by a rather officious dockworker. The dockworker, quite reasonably, wants to know what sort of shipping company has the power to force a shipyard to unload a single ship at a time when there's alien attacks occurring within 10 miles. Unable to successfully bluff the operation even with Joe Henderson's help, Campologno incapacitates the dockworker with a sleeper hold and tosses him into the water. Henderson and Campologno argue about this course of action, bemoaning the limited time they've had to run the operation. Skywatch field commander Spike Witwicky silences his subordinates and gets their assistance in opening the seven shipping containers, revealing seven Autobots in their vehicular forms.
Once freed from his container, Optimus Prime asks if there's a problem. Spike complains about the lack of smarts that his unit has been displaying. Prime reminds him that a unit is a reflection of its commanding officer. After that, the Autobots and Skywatch personnel enter a hangar, allowing the Autobots to transform into their robot forms without being spotted by the watchful eyes of any orbiting reconnaissance satellites. Witwicky reminds them that the mission is strictly off the book now that Cybertronians have been classified as Weapons of Mass Destruction, so they'll have to engage the enemy without revealing their robotic nature. The Autobots will have to fight in their alternate modes. Spike reveals that Prime's trailer contains a lot of weaponry, and Wheeljack is tasked with attaching that weaponry to the Autobots' vehicular bodies.
Further inland, Onslaught, Brawl and Vortex are relaxing, and celebrating not having to deal with Swindle or Megatron bossing them around. At this point, Kim Jong Du storms out with his bodyguards to admonish the idling Decepticons and order them to deal with US/South Korean forces that are mustering. Brawl is less than happy to be ordered about by a human and makes his objections known to Onslaught. The Combaticon leader says they have to keep this up as long as Kim has Energon, but he has a plan. Vortex calls him on it, and Onslaught admits that he's formulating a plan. This causes Brawl to claim that he misses Swindle.
A short while later a US NCO is rallying his troops to face off against the 3 Combaticons. As he's declaring that the humans won't let machines just march in, an extremely up-gunned Smokescreen goes speeding past to engage the Decepticon foe. Smokescreen lays down a smokescreen as he blasts Vortex. This leads Onslaught to wonder if there are Autobots present. Onslaught's suspicions are confirmed when Optimus Prime emerges from the smoke at ramming speed and barrels into the luckless Decepticon. Vortex uses his rotors to redirect the smokescreen at Smokescreen, reasoning that the Autobot can't see through it either. Taking advantage of the distraction, Vortex takes to the skies and transforms to helicopter mode, bragging that the Autobot/Skywatch force is doomed without air support.
Spike obviously agrees with Vortex, as he orders the hitherto hidden Jetfire to engage the Combaticon helicopter. Meanwhile, the ground-based Decepticon forces are trying to figure out why the Autobots won't transform, preferring to remain as sitting ducks in their alternate modes. As Onslaught starts tearing into Prime's cab, Skywatch deploys their Beta Team of crash suits. The Autobots and the crash suits start herding the Combaticons towards the sea, where a waiting Broadside unleashes a debilitating volley of firepower at the Decepticon duo, effectively pinning them. Immediately after this, Vortex blasts Jetfire, damaging the Autobot's wing and causing him to plummet into a collision with Broadside. The huge explosion this causes distracts the Autobots long enough for the three Combaticons to flee the area.
A short time later, the Autobots are back in the hangar, with Ratchet working on repairing some of the damage to Broadside and Jetfire. Spike wants to know how come the other Skywatch personnel allowed Brawl to escape. Campologno and Henderson point out that the Combaticons are protected from Skywatch's suppressors and without that advantage, they can't stop a tank. Optimus notes that Jetfire, as a research scientist, really is no match for soldier of Vortex's caliber. Ratchet interrupts the debrief to give a prognosis on Jetfire: he'll be out of action for at least a week. Cliffjumper grouses that this will leave them without air support and the option of transforming, meaning that they'd have almost no chance of victory. Prime states that he's been in contact with the Autobot leader, Bumblebee, and that 'Bee has a plan.
Bumblebee is giving a speech to a potential new recruit, mentioning how times have changed, and how they're not really sure where things are now, citing Drift as an example. 'Bee talks about how the situation is much bigger than it used to be and that it threatens all Autobots and Decepticons. Bumblebee concludes by asking Thundercracker to join his force as the Seeker ponders...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
Onslaught: As long as he (Kim Jong Du) has the Energon, we have to keep this up. But don't worry, I have a plan.
Vortex: Oh, you have a plan? Are you learning to make Energon?
Onslaught: No.
Vortex: Are you figuring out how to capture the facility without blowing the whole thing sky high?
Onslaught: Well...no...look, I'm formulating a plan, okay? I will have one.
- -Onslaught, demonstrating his unparalleled mastery of strategy
Errors
- On page 8, Prime's licence plate is blank
- On page 11, when Vortex speaks to Kim Jong Du, the "<" is missing.
- On page 13, one of the military guys describes the Combaticons as "tough costumers" instead of "tough customers."
- On page 15, when Vortex attacks Cliffjumper, the latter is coloured like Smokescreen.
- On page 22, Bumblebee's wings are coloured to match the tv screens.
Items of note
- Once again the designs for the Transformer characters have changed, with artist Guido Guidi giving the Autobots character models that are closer to the style he used during All Hail Megatron but incorporating details from Don Figueroa's run in The Transformers ongoing series. The notable exception is Jetfire, who retains his (more or less) Floro Dery-designed character model. Meanwhile, the Combaticons have less detailed character models that more closely resemble their original toys than Dery-based models seen in the previous issue.
- Skywatch soldier Campologno has been providing the Autobots with his DVDs in an attempt at a cultural exchange. Evidently, among them are television series and movies starring Patton Oswalt.
- Broadside has the emblem that looks like the Cybertron Elite Guard logo, but it's actualy a LEGO 4005-1: Tug Boat homage.[1]
- Onslaught and Vortex are shown opening their mouthplates to reveal mouths underneath. Brawl can probably do this too.
- As Ratchet repairs Broadside and Jetfire, the rarely seen repair bay from his original toy sits next to him.
- Onslaught, the guy who's personality revolves around making plans, can't think up a plan without Swindle's help?
Covers (2)
- Cover A: Jetfire getting blasted out of the sky; art by Guido Guidi, colors by J. Brown
- Cover RI: The Autobots in the darkness; art by Charles Paul Wilson III
Advertisements
- TBD
