IDW - Bumblebee #3

Title: Energon Is Forever 

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Priscilla Tramontano

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: David Mariotte

Publisher: Greg Goldstein

Plot

Bumblebee is hit by a bunch of missiles, by whom turns out to be Blitzwing, the Decepticon who Bee sees as having corrupted Diabla, still not accepting that she was always a Decepticon. Bee manages to escape from the larger Decepticon by blowing a gas main up and gathers up his human allies to escape, but is quickly chased by the other Decepticons.

Bee drives into Tottenham Court Station to try and escape along the train line, but is forced to reverse when the train races in the opposite direction. Diabla tracks him down and pins him against the train, until Bee transforms and escapes, forcing Diabla to reverse to avoid being crushed by the train.

Bee and his agent friends escape the train line and go into hiding, whilst Reeve makes contact with another ally of his.

That night, the trio make it to Hyde Park, where Reeve has arranged to meet his friend, only to find him seemingly dead, before discovering his body to be just a dummy. The group are soon surrounded by some Decepticons, led by Astrotrain, but all the Cybertronians are blasted by an energy weapon, shot by Reeve's friend, Agent Heath Donovan of Sector Seven, who also knows Bee and has been tracking him due to recent incidents. The three humans leave with Bee.

On the way to their next location, Lux and Reeve are informed by Donovan that agents across the world are being killed by the Decepticons, but the deaths are being blamed on other nations to try and force a war. Bee reveals that during their fight, he placed a tracer on Diabla, so he knows where the Decepticons are based, allowing them to attack them.

Later, Bee and the PROGRAMME Agents are hanging onto the outside of Donovan's jet, Jetfire in disguise, and perform a HALO jump from the stratosphere onto the island the Decepticons are based on. Bee quickly knocks out the guard, Darksteel, and they sneak into the base, where they find a pool filled with Sharkticons and are soon surrounded by the Decepticons, who had already found the tracer, and their leader, Malignus, begins to monologue about how his plan to cause the humans to go to war and destroy themselves is coming along well....

Characters

Autobot

Bumblebee - Aston Martin

Jetfire - SR-71 Blackbird

Optimus Prime (Mentioned)

Decepticon

Malignus

Blitzwing - Tank/Fighter Jet

Diabla - Lamborghini Islero 

Dead End - Porsche 365

Runabout - Rolls Royce Limo

Darksteel - Corvette Stingray Knocked Out by Bumblebee

Astrotrain - Train/Shuttle

Sharkticons 

Human

Agent David Reeve

Agent Diana Lux

Agent Heath Donovan

Londoners 

Konrad Gotell (Flashback) Killed by Malignus

Zhou Zhen Fun (Footage) Killed by a Decepticon

Director Pelham (Mentioned) Dead

Agent Ian Byrde (Mentioned) Killed by Runabout

Agent Pierre Chavotet (Mentioned) Killed by Blitzwing

Queen Elizabeth II (Mentioned)

Sergeant Donovan (Mentioned)

Sector Seven (Mentioned)

P.R.O.G.R.A.M.M.E. (Mentioned)

E.I.D.O.L.O.N. (Mentioned)

S.D.E.C.E. (Mentioned)

The Soviets (Mentioned)

Italian Government (Mentioned)

Havana (Mentioned)

Notes

• This issue gives us our first proper look at Blitzwing, the character seen in the Bumblebee Movie trailer that everyone believed was Starscream when it was released. This issue also confirms that he is a triple changer...or at least in the comic he is anyway.
• The police box sign, with a reference to travelling with companions is a reference to Doctor Who
• Heath Donovan, as mentioned in dialogue, is the son of a member of Sector Seven from the war era, as seen in the Sector Seven comic series
• Jetfire is shown being in his Blackbird alternate mode from Revenge of the Fallen...but he shouldn't be in that form until the model is actually in use, not before it was fully developed, which was late 1964/early 1965.
• So she's seen the Decepticons murder many humans by this point...but Diana thinks that Bumblebee punching Darksteel (he doesn't even seem to kill him) is "brutal"
• So turns out the Decepticons' human ally was just a small Decepticon pretending to be one....I wonder if we'll see the origins of Pretenders next issue?