IDW - Optimus Prime #7

Title: The Next Day and the Next

Written by: John Barber

Art and Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Publisher: Ted Adams

Plot

Four Million Years ago, Jetfire starts working with the police force, and is tasked by Prowl with delivering a gun that they took from the Decepticon's shipment (the one Jetfire used to kill a Decepticon) to the lab for analysis.

Jetfire arrives at the lab, where he meets Nosecone, however the scientist is unimpressed by Jetfire, who sees him as just a Decepticon flier, and not a real scientist.

Later, Jetfire is wandering the streets, when he comes across his friend Deluge, he tries to get him to join him in the bar, but Deluge reveals that he's not alone, and a small group of Decepticons attack the "traitor". They stop when Bumblebee appears and scares them off with his headlights, making them think the police are coming, however Jetfire dismisses Bumblebee's help and leaves, unappreciative.

Later again, Jetfire returns to the lab, where Nosecone berates him for being injured, and assumes that he's been rough-housing with his Decepticon friends (technically true!) but does reveal that the gun has nothing of note about it, and that Prowl appears to have sent him on a wild-goose chase, and asks him if he still wants to continue down this path....

In the present day, the President arrives at Autobot City, which is currently flying towards Bikini Atoll. The President tells Optimus about her father, who was a civil rights activist, who believed in non-violent measures, and she tells him that sometimes taking a path that has an easier outcome is a better option that the perfect solution, especially if it saves lives in the long term.

Aileron visits Arcee in the medibay, where she is standing vigilant at Sideswipe's side, they discuss how the Junkions have promised to see if they have any other technology on their ship to help Sideswipe, but he does appear to be getting worse.

Outside, Optimus and the President are still talking, and the subject shifts to Jazz, and his upcoming appearance on TV, the president is worried that he'll become the face of the Transformers, which would be bad due to his past controversy in killing a Human on live TV, however Optimus is unwilling to silence his friend, since their entire war has been about their freedoms.

Metrotitan arrives at Bikini Atoll, where the Junkions and others are constructing the refugee camp, Flint is watching  over them, and is upset that they have surrendered a part of their world to an alien species, but his daughter, the new supervisor of the camp, Marissa says that she welcomes them, since the Junkions are letting the  humans use any technology from their ship that they can use, which could include anything from better building materials to cures for cancer, and this is a fair price for that.

Pyra starts shouting at Thundercracker for not helping with the construction, and only playing with his puppy Buster, when Marissa intervenes and explains that Thundercracker is a part of HER team, and is supervising. Pyra asks Marissa to come and talk with her elsewhere...

Nearby, Oiler has been buried, and the Colonist Autobots are at the memorial for support for Slide, the group start to discuss our the dead are dealt with on their home worlds. Slide starts on again about never forgiving the Junkions for one of them killing Oiler, but snaps at the other Colonists when they ask her to try and made peace, as per Optimus' orders, and storms off.

Pyra takes Marissa around the island, and shows her that the Junkions are refusing the Autobot's help, with them trying to build their own structures, and failing due to them not understanding the substances used. She makes a point of showing Marissa that she is having the other Torchbearers help them and teach them how to build things properly, and proposes an alliance of sorts between them so they can "overcome" Optimus and seems to imply she wants to reshape Earth herself....

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Arcee - Sports Car

Aileron - Space Shuttle

Metrotitan - Autobot City

Pyra Magna - Fire Truck

Rust Dust - Motorcycle

Dust Up - Sports Car

Jumpstream - Sports Car

Skyburst - Helicopter

Storm Clash - Helicopter

Slide - Part of Oil Tanker (Unable to Transform)

Gimlet - Lobster

Bump - Armadillo

Roulette - Muscle Car

Midnight Express - Bullet Train

Sideswipe - Sports Car Near Death, on Life Support

Jetfire - Fighter Jet (Flashback)

Prowl - Police Vehicle (Flashback)

Nosecone - Boring Machine (Flashback)

Sentinel Prime - Truck (Mentioned)

Jazz - Sports Car (Mentioned)

Oiler - Part of Oil Tanker (Mentioned) Dead

Decepticon

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Deluge - Sports Car (Flashback)

Needlenose - Fighter Jet (Flashback)

Horri-Bull - Bull (Flashback)

Hefter - Forklift Truck (Pictures only) Dead

Megatron - Gun (Mentioned)

Galvatron - Tank (Mentioned) Dead

Junkion

Rum-Maj

Wreck-Gar (Head Only)

Various Junkions

Other Cybertronian/Colonist

Thundercracker - Fighter Jet

D.O.C.

Bumblebee - Car (Flashback Only)

Sterling - Car (Mentioned) Dead

Sharkticons - Sharks (Mentioned)

Solus Prime (Mentioned)

Nova Major - Truck (Mentioned)

Human

Madam President

Marissa Faireborn

Flint

Secret Service Guy

GI Joe Personnel

President's Father (Picture)

Officer John Powell (Mentioned) Dead, Killed by Jazz

Elizabeth Taylor (Mentioned)

Brad Emory (Mentioned)

Other

Buster the Dog

Notes

• Hey! The flashback storyline is continuing! I really want this time period to get an official spin-off
• Orion Pax doesn't appear in this issue, though Optimus does :)
• Aileron is positively identified as an Autobot in this issue...she still doesn't have an insignia yet though....
• What is it with this series and making us hate the dead Autobots?! The previous storyline turned Outback into a corrupt cop, and this story is turning Nosecone into a racist jerk!
• Jazz's past of having killed John Powell (the cop in the Costa ongoing) is shown to still be a factor now! Who wants to bet that his widow or something will appear in the audience of the TV interview when he appears there?
• This issue reveals that the Bikini Atoll colony is actually only really a refugee camp for the Junkions, and is named "Little Cybertron", also Marissa is the supervisor of the island
• One of the (presumed) Junkions seems to be based on Dead End from Transformers: Prime's toyline.
• Buster has a stuffed version of D.O.C. that he likes to play with...n'awww
• Pyra apparently sounds like  Elizabeth Taylor now after learning more English
• We're starting to learn more about Divisiens now, if one of the bonded pair dies, then the other cannot transform, but apparently can still survive, meaning this is likely not a shared spark scenario.
• Also fun fact! I just learned that Slide is supposed to be female in this series! Would have been nice to know that from the comic itself and not an external source! (ie, someone using a female pronoun about her or something!)
• It's shown that Jetfire and Deluge were friends in the past, likely due to their scientific pursuits.
• We FINALLY see Horri-Bull's alternate mode here, and it is a bull...on ancient Cybertron....OKAY!
• Bumblebee in this issue is likely from just before the events of the Annual comic, since he and Jetfire don't appear to know each other yet.
• Yeah...Pyra isn't even TRYING to hide that she is planning a coup against Optimus is she? (Also she only appears to be trying to get the female Transformers and Humans to join her side, is this just a coincidence?)