Transformers Comic issue 2.5
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 Welcome to Earth, Kitty Pryde... Hope you survive the experience! | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Titan Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | 8 October 2009 | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Steve White | ||||||||||||
| Deputy editor | Den Patrick | ||||||||||||
| Designer | Danny Preston | ||||||||||||
| Publishing manager | Darryl Curtis | ||||||||||||
| Price | £2.70 | ||||||||||||
It can! It is! Optimus Prime is BACK!
Contents |
Reversal of Fortune
- Script: Simon Furman
- Art: Jon Davis-Hunt
- Colours: Hi-Fi Design
- Letters: Andrew James
- Continuity: Revenge of the Fallen (prequel)
Have you been wondering where Optimus Prime has been, kids? It turns out he was in Australia's Northern Territory with Arcee on NEST business. That business has been put on hold for a new mission: vaulting over the road in pursuit of Sideways!
Later, back at Diego Garcia's NEST base, Sideswipe is being pestered by Skids and Mudflap; they've heard Optimus is coming back to base after his four issue long absence, and want to know if he's coming to see them, debrief them, has been told about their story... The answers are no, no, and no, before the annoyed soldier just says what he does know...
Arcee's bikes are trying to aim for Sideways' tyres, but when they get close he sideswipes 'em! Optimus knows the Decepticon may outdistance them if the battle isn't ended soon, but is blinded by a blast of exhaust smoke (ew) and smashes off-road. Arcee is ordered to stay on the enemy, but she/they see it's clear that his alt-mode is far better suited for road combat and hers/theirs aren't. Realising Arcee's right, Optimus decides they just need to alter the terrain, and by that he means turn his arm into a massive gun and blow the road up. Sideways is blasted onto the grass at the side, and forced to fight in robot mode. But as two human helicopters turn up to back up Arcee, the robo-wimp raises his hands in surrender.
The End! Sideswipe follows up this story by telling the twins that Prime's just dropping off his prisoner and refueling, so if they think they'll get to talk to... Then he notices they've driven off to the runway where Prime's plane is landing. Sighing, he heads off after them.
With the plane landed and the twins waiting, Mudflap squees about how they'll finally meet Prime and he'll be so impressed with him— er, them. An annoyed Skids accuses his brother of trying to steal credit and vice versa, and so Optimus first meets them as they're fighting and yelling at each other. He immediately bawls them out on their improper conduct (the twins each blame each other). Meanwhile, Arcee and NEST men escort Sideways to his cell... but Sideways knows something she doesn't...
That Scorponok has arrived to free him! Sideways knocks down Arcee while the bug fires on Optimus, who calls for the Autobots to fire on the intruder... only to accidentally be tripped over by Skids. As Scorponok frees his buddy, Mudflap responds fast, grabbing a piece of debris to use as a weapon—but Sideways snatches it off him and uses it to whack aside army jeeps as he flees!
Sideswipe saw all this from a distance, and to him it looks like Skids deliberately tripped up Prime and Mudflap handed over a weapon. When Optimus announces security must have been compromised for Scorponok to get this close, Sideswipe fingers the twins as turncoats: they freed Grindor (#3), assaulted him (#4), and today they distracted Optimus and then actively worked to keep him from taking charge and help the enemy escape! Optimus orders them taken into questioning, ignoring their cries that they've been set up because they know too much...
...while a mysterious figure, watching the whole thing, remarks that they are and this is only the beginning!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Quotes
"Is he... coming to see us?"
"No."
"To hear our story?"
"No."
"Debrief us?"
"No."
- —The twins and Sideswipe
"Just 'cause I'd always rather flee than fight, don't mean I can't!"
- —Sideways
"If this terrain works to Sideways' advantage... we must take it away!"
- —Optimus Prime, vandal
"He'll be so impressed with me!"
"Us. Impressed with us."
"What I said."
"No. You said "me"."
"Did I? A slip up. Forget it."
- —Mudflap and Skids
"This is not the behaviour I expect of an Autobot warrior. Any Autobot warrior! Here we are, refugees on an alien world, striving daily for credibility with the powers-that-be... and you two are behaving like un-housetrained scraplets."
"It was his fault!"
- —Optimus Prime nil, the twins one
Errors
- All three of the Arcee bikes are the same colour. And alas, the colour's pink and not red!
- The "Previously" section claims Soundwave has been working to discredit the twins, both to keep their intelligence from reaching Optimus and to use them as bait in a wider scheme. However, that isn't what previously happened (though he clearly was starting the plan after #4) and sort of blows the ending of this part.
Notes
- The "Previously" section does, however, confirm and clarify a slightly obscured idea from the past two issues: Ironhide and Sideswipe have been keeping the twins away from Optimus because they just don't trust them.
- Skids and Mudflap are now trying to tell people about "this dude they call the F-", instead of staying mum. No one's listening though! It's not clear whether they have told people and got ignored, or are just trying now... only to get ignored. Either way, Sideswipe's going to feel really stupid when the film comes round!
- You see Sideways' little line there? In 2011, Hasbro used that as his official quote for his online "Vector Sigma" bio!
- Optimus refers to Arcee as a single person, Arcee refers to herself as a group. As with the Revenge of the Fallen adaptation (also by Furman), Arcee's dialogue is split mid-sentence between her three bikes. In a later issue, there'll just be the one Arcee!
- The Autobots have been having difficulties with Earth's political leaders before the battle at Shanghai.
- How the heck did Scorponok get across the Indian Ocean?!
- The mysterious figure at the end goes unnamed and unshown, but based on the Previously and last two issues it's almost certainly Soundwave.
Contents
Articles & features
- More Than Meets The Eye: puzzles. There are other puzzle pages as well.
- Competitions for toys and books.
- Sideswipe's Armoury: feature on various United States Air Force planes which help the Autobots in the films.
- Character Profile: Devastator
- Way Past Cool: Video game plugs and a competition.
- Law and Disorder: Letters, art and photos from readers, answered by Barricade and Ironhide.
- Starscream's Stars: Comedy horrorscope.
- Posters of the cover and All Hail Megatron issue 4's Guido Guidi cover.
Free Gift
- "FREE PDA!" — a notebook (comes with pencil), which is disguised to look like a PDA and has a lenticular "transforming" photo of Optimus. It's quite clever, actually! Strangely, the printed keyboard design uses the German layout, complete with ß and Ä Ö Ü.
- A nummy lolly.
Reprints
- All Hail Megatron: Rock Bottom (13 pages)
Law and Disorder
"Why do these films never show how hard it is being a Decepticon—the long hours, the lousy food? Do you know how much admin is required in enslaving a planet?"
"I actually think Michael Bay is the most dangerous man on the planet. Things just seem to combust when they get near him."
- —Barricade and Ironhide discuss the films
"You can be the bad cop, I'll be the bad cop pretending to be the good cop, and we're both on break."
- —Female fan mail to Barricade
"I'm not sure Starscream has much time for 'Neutral', aside from target practice of course."
- —Barricade
"[Reader] Max recently had to have his Sparkcore upgraded in hospital, and was apparently braver than Bumblebee. Good work, Max!"
Starscream's Stars
"CANCER (22 Jun — 22 Jul): Having lost your way, take a look at the map of life you drew. That's right: you were holding it upside down, you idiot."
"LEO (23 Jul — 23 Aug): It's time to follow your dreams—just not that one about you being attacked by a giant shark and being covered in gross, oozing boils."
"SAGITTARIUS (22 Nov — 21 Dec): A glitch in the All Spark meant you used to have a split personality. But you're much better now. And so are you."
"ARIES (21 Mar — 19 Apr): The return of a long lost friend will have you laughing. Then there'll be screaming and running. Then the silence of a world sterilised by a massive attack from deep space."
Errors
- Bumblebee and "Welcome to Earth!!!" would fit #2, but doesn't quite work here. (But the image is cool at least!)
- Devastator's bio says only five of the Constructicons combine, with Overload and Scavenger left out.
- Law and Disorder still promises you can win Starscream's Star Letter prize, even though he's not the host anymore.
Notes
- Scorponok's section of the cover is covered by the free gift, so if you read the comic before taking it off you got a genuine surprise!
- Law and Disorder has a photo of the two winners of #3's "Win a Ride in Bumblebee!" competition. Their faces show pure joy.
- An older fan has sent in fan art of a Transformers Animated fan character called Hotwire. And wrote the letter in character as Hotwire. And flirts with Barricade. This is why comics need to keep the letter page.
- Barricade's up for it, by the way.
