City of Steel (issue)

The Transformers: Punishment #1 »
"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	2005 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.)

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.
• Starscream pretends not to remember Earth's name, upon which Optimus Prime promptly reminds him that he does know it—Starscream has spent quite an amount of time there, beginning all the way back in Infiltration up until the end of All Hail Megatron.
• 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!
  • However in the following year, a post of the Facebook version of Ask Vector Prime identified the original toy's bio as depicting a Unicron Trilogy setting. So he's both Generation 1 and Unicron Trilogy!
  • Brisko is traditionally a Nebulan, the small 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 is 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.
• Although a Gorlamite Micromaster based off the original Barricade toy appeared in Spotlight: Hardhead, this new version here is a full-sized Cybertronian 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).

Foreign Localization

Swedish

• Title: "En stad av stål" ("A City of Steel")

Covers (2)

• Digital cover: Optimus Prime and the Dinobots, by Livio Ramondelli
• Print cover: Expanded version of the same image

Reprints

• The Transformers: Punishment (January 21, 2015)
  • Collects Punishment issues #1–5.
  • One-shot format.

• The Transformers: Redemption of the Dinobots (March 14, 2018) ISBN 1684051835 / ISBN 978-1684051830
  • Collects Punishment issues #1–5, Redemption, and Salvation.
  • Bonus material includes a cover gallery.
  • Trade paperback format.

• The Transformers: The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 8 (December 5, 2018) ISBN 1684053722 / ISBN 978-1684053728
  • Collects More than Meets the Eye issues #35–38 & #39–40, The Transformers (2012) issues #35–38, Punishment issues #1–5, and Drift - Empire of Stone issues #1–4.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 70: Punishment (October 30, 2019)
  • Collects Punishment issues #1–5, Redemption, and Salvation.
  • Bonus material includes an article about the Motion Book Tool app used for the digital version of Punishment, a "Brief History of the (IDW) Dinobots", and a Livio Ramondelli sketchbook, a cover gallery and an introduction by Simon Furman.
  • Hardcover format.

• Transformers: Optimus Prime - Tillbaka till jorden (February 15, 2023)
  • Collects Robots in Disguise issues #28–32 & #34–38, and Punishment issues #1–5.
  • Swedish reprint. Hardcover format.

• 

  Punishment – cover art by Livio Ramondelli

• 

  Redemption of the Dinobots – cover art by Livio Ramondelli

• 

  The IDW Collection Phase Two: Volume 8 – cover art by Marcelo Matere

• 

  The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 70: Punishment – cover art by Don Figueroa (Snarl) and Livio Ramondelli

• 

  Optimus Prime - Tillbaka till jorden – cover art by Casey Coller and Joana Lafuente

External links

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