City of Steel (issue)
| This article is about the IDW issue. For the Generation 1 episode, see City of Steel (episode). |
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| "City of Steel" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | June 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Story by | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Art by | Livio Ramondelli | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Tom B. Long | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | IDW continuity | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Current era (2014) | ||||||||||||
| Price | Free (Windows 8 Madefire app, initial) ??? (Other digital platforms) | ||||||||||||
Optimus Prime's arrival on Cybertron coincides with the aftermath of a Decepticon triple homicide.
Synopsis
At a secluded location on Cybertron, Brisko, Treadshot, and Wilder meet and plot to steal Starscream's hoarded "junk" using a map of his quarters in Metroplex to stake out a better life on another planet. They are interrupted when a mysterious robot arrives and kills all three Decepticons.
Five hours later, the massacre site is visited by Starscream, Barricade, Sludge, and Slug. Slug is dismissive of the murders, believing the Decepticons were up to no good and deserved it, while Barricade argues to Starscream that all Cybertronians deserve equal consideration. When Sludge sniffs out the map, Starscream dismisses the entire thing as hijinks gone wrong, but allows Barricade to investigate if he really wants to.
Optimus Prime arrives from Earth on a personal errand and is welcomed by Starscream, Windblade, and Sludge. While walking through Metroplex, Sludge mentions the murders, garnering Optimus's interest. The welcoming committee also talk to Optimus about the living conditions of Cybertron, including the fact that the Decepticons are consigned to a ghetto outside Metroplex in the ruins of Iacon, being unable to find jobs or be accepted into the greater society. Slug considers it just treatment for their acts throughout the war, but Optimus is unconvinced and takes a walk through the ghetto to see for himself.
Optimus's walk attracts some aggressive Decepticons, including Sparkstalker, who angrily asks why the Autobot is in Decepticon territory. Optimus can only plead as all of the Decepticons gang up on him. His savior comes in the form of Starscream, who notes one just can't reason with the "rabble" as he lifts Optimus from their grasp.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Treadshot: "C'mon. What could possibly go wrong?"
Brisko: "That's it. I'm out."
Treadshot: "What?"
Brisko: "That's the kiss of death! Who would even say that?"
Treadshot: "I don't get it."
Wilder: "You don't say nothing's going to go wrong, Treadshot. It's the kiss of death."
"It looks like a triple homicide, Starscream."
"Really? Well, thank you, Barricade. I thought maybe the Cybertronian book club had a reading accident."
- —Barricade and Starscream
"Some 'Cons got themselves killed—and that means they were doing something to deserve it."
- —Slug
Notes
Continuity notes
- Optimus Prime returns to Cybertron after leaving Earth in The Transformers #35, though that issue wouldn't be published until five months after Punishment's original digital release.
- Similarly, the Decepticon ghetto introduced here would be chronologically seen for the "first" time in Robots in Disguise #33.
- Hey, it's Skram! This guy hasn't been seen in IDW continuity since Simon Furman's tenure, during which he occasionally appeared as a member of a unit led by Hound. He last appeared in Spotlight: Sideswipe.
- Onslaught is among the crowd of Decepticons that attacks Optimus Prime, but he appears in his classic Generation 1 form, rather than than the Fall of Cybertron design he was sporting when he last appeared in Robots in Disguise #12. Given the tendency of Punishment to swap out recognizable characters for their lesser-known Japanese counterparts (see "Transformers references" below, and subsequent issues), perhaps this is Great Cannon?
Transformers references
- This issue is named after the Generation 1 cartoon episode, "City of Steel".
- The killer's first three victims are a curious little collection of continuity quirks.
- Treadshot is the 2003 Universe incarnation of the character, who had never been provided a continuity of origin until now. He's a G1 guy now, baby!
- Brisko is traditionally a Nebulan, headmaster partner to Fangry, but here he appears as a full-size Transformer.
- Despite the appearance of Brisko, it's not Fangry who shares the scene with him, but Wilder, Fangry's identical Japanese counterpart from Super-God Masterforce. Wilder's normally a human controlling a Transtector, but has also been depicted as a wholly robotic individual before, so it's not so odd to see him appear as such here.
- Barricade is visually based on the War for Cybertron character, with the function of police officer in homage to the live-action movie Barricade.
- Though not named until later in the mini-series, new Autobot character Fireball is based on Vroom, a 'bot who has put in one previous appearance in IDW continuity, in Spotlight: Arcee, which he might not have survived.
Errors
- After Wilder clarifies Brisko's "kiss of death" remark, the next piece of dialogue ("Exactly. That's literally exactly what I said.") is supposed to come from Brisko, but the dialogue balloon points to Wilder (who's the only 'bot in the panel anyway).
Covers (2)
- Digital cover: Optimus Prime and the Dinobots, by Livio Ramondelli
- Print cover: Expanded version of the same image
