First Contact (IDW)

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Revision as of 02:47, 19 March 2015 by MissRatbat (talk | contribs) (Swindle is called in so many words a 'former Decepticon'.)
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This article is about the Combiner Wars prologue from IDW Publishing. For the first chapter of The Battle of the Star Gate manga, see First Contact (Star Gate).
« The Transformers vol. 2 #39 »
Combiner Wars
Opening Salvo 		»
"First Contact"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published March 18, 2015
Cover date March 2015
Story by Mairghread Scott and John Barber
Written by John Barber
Art by Livio Ramondelli
Letters by Tom B. Long
Editor Carlos Guzman
Continuity IDW continuity
Chronology Current era

Optimus Prime and Windblade make preparations to establish peaceful contact with Caminus, but Starscream has his own plans for the colony world... plans that involve the Enigma of Combination!

Synopsis

It's a hot night on Cybertron, as Scoop returns from Earth to deliver the Enigma of Combination into Starscream's waiting hands...

Making their way through the Decepticon ghetto on the outskirts of Metroplex, Optimus Prime and Windblade are attacked by a group of malcontents, including the Stunticons, who are unhappy to see Autobots on their territory. Swindle watches the fight from nearby, enjoying the show, until Chromia and Ironhide appear from the shadows behind him. A little show of force from Chromia ends the fight, and after Ironhide and Optimus reconnect, Windblade asks to speak to them all in private. Swindle watches them depart, only to then find himself surrounded by the Stunticons, who still hold a grudge over the time he forged them into a barely-functional combiner on Earth. Swindle brushes them off, and heads off to get a drink.

Windblade and the others take Prime to meet with Wheeljack in the bowels of Metroplex, where they explain that Metroplex's space bridge is now functional and poised to re-established contact with Caminus and the other lost colony worlds. Aware that Starscream has Wheeljack repairing Superion, and concerned that he may exploit the space bridge to create a new Cybertronian empire by having the combiner conquer the stricken colony worlds rather than aid them, Prime appoints Chromia and Ironhide to guard the space bridge while he and Windblade talk to Starscream directly. Starscream, meanwhile, is spending time picking out a new body for himself, much to Scoop's annoyance, but is happy to talk with his two Autobot guests when they reveal to him that the space bridge is operational. Starscream insists that Superion's repairs be completed before contacting Caminus, in the name of "security", and although Windblade and Prime claim it unnecessary, he refuses to negotiate otherwise, highlighting the fact that Prime already has a combiner working for him by showing them footage of Devastator rampaging on Earth. An angry Optimus starts to warn Starscream that he has no right to issue orders to a Prime, but Starscream retorts that he was elected by his people, and that the Prime title—and, indeed, the very fact that that title was all it took to make him leader—are representative of the problematic old ways of Cybertronian society they are trying to move beyond. Unable to actually disagree, Prime relents, but insists that a council of representatives from each world must be formed once contact is made, and a constitution established for Cybertron.

Some time later, Starscream and Scoop visit Wheeljack as he continues his work on Superion, and present him with the Enigma of Combination to speed his work to conclusion. Not long after that, Starscream tracks down Swindle and brings him into the fold with a simple offer to make him rich. Entrusted with the Enigma, Swindle is sent to the Stunticons' bolt-hole, arriving just as they are trying to explain how different things are nowadays to their new teammate Offroad. Motormaster is none too pleased to see the slimy Combaticon, but the sight of the Enigma changes things...

Optimus Prime contacts the Lost Light to invite Rodimus back to Cybertron for the momentous first contact with Caminus, but Rodimus is only annoyed by the prospect—after all, what sort of quest involves going home for a while and then starting up again?—and it is instead agreed that some representatives from the ship will return to their homeworld via shuttle. No sooner has the call ended, however, than Windblade detects a change in Metroplex's frequencies that alerts them to trouble: Ironhide and Chromia have been knocked unconcious, and someone has gone through the space bridge!

Across the galaxy, it's a hot night on Caminus... as Swindle emerges through the space bridge with the new and improved Menasor, and prepares to rob the planet blind!

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Others

Quotes

"They were like that when I found 'em! Optimus Prime and Windblade were talking down the street. A bunch o' Decepticons got in their faces. An' you know who wins in a fight like that? The viewer."

—Swindle


"I really thought you were going to beat Optimus Prime. I mean, I know literally millions of Decepticons have tried for literally millions of years, but I seriously thought tonight was the night, bud."

—Swindle gets sarcastic with Motormaster


"How can you waste time like this, Starscream?"
"Scoop, my friend, what am I?"
"You know."
"Say it."
"Grrr.'"
"Scoop...?"
 "The Chosen One."
"I am the Chosen One. A Titan said so, and the people of Cybertron agreed. You don't get chosen without making good decision, ergo, choosing a fresh new me is by definition a good idea. Hey, nobody ever said you have to like the one you believe in, right Scoopster?"

—Scoop and Starscream


"'Saving the Aerialbots is a worthy goal. Do your best.' Thanks, Prime. I'm glad to see me alive and kicking, too."

—Wheeljack, muttering to himself


"Seriously? We, like, just left. We came home, we saved the universe, you made Megatron an Autobot—remember that? That was probably a lot easier a thing to live with if you don't have to actually live with it because he's on a space ship half a galaxy away—and we resumed our quest. You get what a quest is, right? You don't start a quest, take a few days off and go home, then restart a quest. If you do that, the quest never ends."
"The quest never starts."
"The quest never starts! Thank you, Magnus."

—Rodimus and Ultra Magnus

Notes

Continuity notes

  • This issue occurs directly after Punishment; Windblade and Optimus are returning from their visit to the site of Optimus's transformation from Pax to Prime.
  • Ironhide reminisces about his time spent teaching Optimus, detailed back in All Hail Megatron #13.
  • A minor point, but it's finally revealed that Optimus still has both halves of the Matrix container. He was only ever shown giving away the crystal core halves in The Death of Optimus Prime, and one half of the container abruptly reappeared in issue #29.
  • The Stunticons are still mad at Swindle over how badly their first combination into Menasor went, back in issues #5-6 of the 2009-2011 ongoing series.
  • The activation of Metroplex's space bridge, the discovery of the colonies, and Chromia's "rash actions" all took place in issue #4 of the first Windblade mini-series.
  • It is revealed that there were thirteen Metrotitan colony ships, which logically connects them to the Thirteen Primes, who were established in issue #34 to have vanished from Cybertron. This is perhaps not wholly surprising, as fans have already connected Caminus to Solus Prime, since "caminus" means "forge". The numbers don't quite line up yet, though, as Alpha Trion didn't leave Cybertron at that point, and Nexus Prime died before he could.
  • Dead End refers to an incident when the Stunticons were all defeated by "one Autobot"—no surprise he doesn't mention which Autobot, since it was Bumblebee, in Spotlight: Bumblebee!

Transformers references

  • Having already stolen Armada Starscream's look, Starscream's list of potential new bodies (pictured, right) consists of all the other major alternate Starscreams: Beast Wars II Starscream (which is the one he seems to be referring to when he mentions a body having "bestial power", wink wink), Animated Starscream, Prime Starscream, and juuust poking in on the left-hand side, live-action movie Starscream. The design in the centre, which is the one we know he'll end up going with, is Starscream's own upcoming Leader-class Generations figure—revealed through solicitations for future issues, but not actually officially confirmed by Hasbro as existing at the time of this issue's publication.
  • Menasor and the Stunticons all now appear with their new Generations Combiner Wars toy designs. While the Enigma could be blamed for Menasor's new form, no explanation is offered for how the Stunticons have changed their bodies—though that wouldn't have been an issue with IDW comics a few years ago, body changes are usually addressed in-story these days, and it's especially odd for a bunch of guys living in a ghetto to have been able to accomplish it.
  • Among the crowd of Camiens at the end of this issue are a new Generation 1 incarnation of Animated Lightbright, and Hot Rod, the Generation 1 counterpart of Armada Hot Shot (who will hopefully get named "Hot Shot" during this story so we can move that article and stop having to do this explanatory dance every time he pops up). Hot Rod has appeared in IDW Generation 1 continuity before, dying in Drift #2 in an artist's easter-egg cameo we can certainly write off at this point, and in the alternate timeline seen in More than Meets the Eye #35.

Other notes

  • Drag Strip is not in evidence at any point during the story, only appearing as Menasor's arm on the final page. It seems sort of like new member Blackjack has (accidentally?) been drawn in his place, given that he talks as if he was a regular member of the team around in the "old days", which he certainly wasn't. And speaking of Blackjack...
  • Soooo... obviously, Blackjack's appearance in this story is a toy-mandated thing and unavoidable, but the character has previously appeared in IDW continuity in his original Micromaster form, as one of the Gorlamites upgraded by Jhiaxus. This happened before when Tailwind appeared in More than Meets the Eye #12, leading us here at TFWiki to reclassify the Gorlamite as Windrim.

Covers (9)

  • Midtown Comics exclusive cover: Superion and the Midtown Comics store; art by Sengaus, colors by Burcham
  • Midtown Comics exclusive cover: Superion and the 4 Color Fantasies Comics store; Superion art by Sengaus, store art and colors by Burcham
  • St. Mark's Comics exclusive cover: Superion and the St. Mark's Comics store; art by Sengaus, colors by Burcham
  • G & B Comics exclusive cover: Superion and the G & B Comics store; Superion art by Sengaus, store art and colors by Burcham

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