Natural Selection, Part One

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« The Transformers: Regeneration One #86 »
Natural Selection, Part 1
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published December 5, 2012
Cover date December 2012
Writer Simon Furman
Penciler Andrew Wildman
Inker Stephen Baskerville
Colorist John-Paul Bove
Letterer Chris Mowry
Editor John Barber
Continuity Marvel Comics continuity

Struggling with the weight of his hasty actions, Grimlock is faced with a choice: join Scorponok, or let his Dinobots perish!

Synopsis

Five years ago, on Cybertron, the Dinobots meet in the "Nursery", a holding facility for those Transformers who have succumbed to the myriad torturous effects of Nucleon, including one of their own: Slag. The other Dinobots blame Grimlock for the primeval madness that has gripped their team-mate, and for the uncertain future they all face as unwilling recipients of Nucleon, and Grimlock vows that whatever it takes, he will find a cure.

In the present day, on the planet Nebulos, Grimlock is held captive by Scorponok, who studies the effects the Nucleon had upon his system. When Grimlock inquires about Scorponok's new scientific bent, the once and former Headmaster explains that he derived his new skills through his binary bond with Lord Zarak, and that it was a ghost protocol left in Zarak's systems that reawakened his detached head when Nebulan scientists attempted to decrypt their ex-lord's computer database. Taking control of the scientist's minds, Scorponok oversaw the construction of a new body for himself: a kindness he offers Grimlock as a cure for Nucleon's effects, in exchange for his servitude.

On Cybertron, Hot Rod and Grapple debate whether or not to destroy the Hall of Silence in order to prevent Soundwave, who has broken in, from capturing the remains of Thunderwing and the Matrix energy they contain. Hot Rod wrestles with what he thinks Optimus Prime would do, and while Grapple appreciates his reluctance, he convinces him that destroying the hall is the right thing to do. Unfortunately, Soundwave has counted on this, and simply teleports out with Thunderwing's corpse, knowing that the absolute destruction of the hall will leave the Autobots unaware he has escaped.

On Earth, the Autobots gather the bodies of Megatron's fallen zombie army—Autobots and Decepticons alike—and hurl them into a pit so they can be incinerated from orbit. Optimus Prime sadly watches their efforts, turning down First Aid's offer of treatment, preferring to wear his scars in memory of the fallen. Prime apologise to Kup, but the elderly Autobot is not quick to forgive, and nor is Circuit Smasher, who arrives to inform Prime that he and his human allies have unanimously voted for the Autobots leave Earth immediately. As the Autobots prepare to depart, Wheeljack radios Ultra Magnus to vaporize the bodies... but just before the beam hits, the still-living Starscream reawakens and climbs out of the pit!

Back on Nebulos, left unattended, Grimlock is finally able to break out of his chains and attempts to escape the facility. Rather than Scorponok, however, he finds the exit guarded by Slag, who attacks with his fire breath. Thinking Slag has been brainwashed by Scorponok, Grimlock counterattacks, only for the other Dinobots to appear and join the assault against their leader. Declaring he is no longer one of them and better off dead, Sludge crushes Grimlock beneath his feet...

...at which point, Grimlock wakes up, still in chains, victim of a mental hallucination courtesy of Scorponok. Shaken by the experience, Grimlock agrees to serve Scorponok in exchange for new bodies for his Dinobots, and asks what the villain's plan is. Scorponok reveals that he has used the genetically-mutative abilities of Nucleon, cloned from Grimlock's system, to develop the Gene Key, a program that can manipulate Transformer genetics, including the "warrior gene", the strand of CNA that distinguishes Autobot from Decepticon. Using it, he intends to transform all of Cybertron into Decepticons!

At the wreck of the Ark, on Earth, Sunstreaker and Roadbuster complete a circuit of the perimeter, lamenting that their lack of manpower could easily result in someone sneaking by. And before long, Starscream arrives to do just that... followed by Galvatron!

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

Autobots Decepticons Humans Nebulans

Quotes

Notes

  • The idea that Nucleon affects different mechanoids in different ways was one of Furman's original lingering story ideas that the cancellation of the original Marvel series left him unable to explore. Slag succumbing to mindless rage was always one of his planned ideas—as Slag never had an Action Master toy, and so would not be required by the story to become one—but the benefit of twenty-one years and no requirement to sell toys has obviously left him able to take the idea further, with characters who did have Action Master toys, like Blaster and Inferno, suffering from effects that appear to go well beyond not being able to transform.
  • Blaster and Silverbolt were shown to be among those who Grimlock revived with Nucleon in Marvel's issue #75. While Inferno's presence in this issue is obviously derived from the fact he had an Action Master toy, he was never even part of the US Marvel Comics storyline when the mass injuries that necessitated the Nucleon revivals took place, only appearing some time after everyone had been resuscitated (probably precisely because he had a new toy that need a-pushin'). Likewise Huffer was never shown to suffer injuries or to be revived by Nucleon before now, but hey, at least he was actually in the comics.
  • Further to last issue's implication, we learn in this issue that the Matrix energy lingering in Thunderwing's body is the last remnant of the Transformers' sacred lifeforce. The fate of the Creation Matrix was never detailed in the Marvel series; it vanished from the stories after being used to destroy Unicron in issue #75. It reappeared without in-story explanation in Generation 2 #6, after which the letters page of issue #8 explained that the Matrix had been reconstructed by the Last Autobot when he recreated Optimus Prime in issue #80. For Regeneration One, Furman is evidently discarding that notion, and working on the premise that the Matrix was destroyed, or at least lost, in issue #75.
  • Grotusque is among the fallen zombies. He was among the Transformers explicitly shown to fall during the Underbase Saga, but he did disappear from the series around that time.
  • CNA, the Transformer-equivalent of DNA, gets a mention. The term was coined by Furman over in the IDW continuity, in Spotlight: Arcee; the idea of Transformers having "genetic material" goes back to Generation 2 #9.
  • Scorponok identifies the difference between Autobot and Decepticon as a genetic one, an idea that was previously put forward by Grimlock himself in issue #76; the Generation 2 comic would ultimately reveal that the genetic difference led all the way back to the Liege Maximo.

Errors

Covers (3)

  • Cover A: Scorponok directs the Dinobots into action, by Andrew Wildman and Jason Cardy.
  • Cover B: Optimus Prime haunted the memories of the dead, by Guido Guidi.
  • Cover RI: Slag fire-blasts Grimlock, by Geoff Senior and Josh Burcham.

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