IDW - Transformers '84 #0

Writer: Simon Furman

Artist: Guido Guidi

Colourist: John-Paul Bove

Letterer: Tom B. Long

Production Assistance by: Amauri Osorio

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

Cybertron is hurtling through the cosmos, but despite that, the war between the Autobots and Decepticons still wages on it's surface. The planet is heading directly for an asteroid field though...

Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots has a plan however, and has his forces construct a giant spaceship for them to leave the planet on, on a mission to clear the asteroids, but as the Autobot Council point out, they also have a plan to detonate explosives off the side of Cybertron to re-direct their course away from the field, so why is Optimus committing so much to this needless plot?

After a while, the Ark's crew is compiled, and optimus names his friend and compatriate, Ultra Magnus as the defender of Cybertron in his absence.

A Decepticon spy amongst the Autobots, Counterpunch, informs Megatron about the imminent launch of the Ark, giving Megatron the idea to follow them, and attack them after the crew is exhausted from clearing the asteroids, so they can finally defeat them!

Later, Counterpunch meets with Optimus Prime in the Badlands, reverting to his true form of Punch, a loyal Autobot, and tells him that Megatron has taken the bait and will attack the Ark as planned.

Optimus explains that he intends to have Megatron board the Ark, after which Optimus will crash the ship on a planet, trapping everyone within it, to save Cybertron from his evil, hopefully forever.

He tasks Punch with going undercover again, and ensuring that NO ONE ever finds the Ark or revives them.

Optimus apolgozies for asking his friend to do this, as it will be messy, but he is also going to suffer for his actions as well....

In the year 1017, on Earth, a hoard of Vikings attack Stansham Castle in England, which is fended off by their own soldiers.

Mostly unnoticed by the waring sides, an Autobot shuttle crash lands nearby, with it's crew, Fastlane and Cloudraker exiting and exploring the area, looking for the long lost Ark. The two however have been followed by a Decepticon team, made up of Counterpunch, Wingspan, Battletrap and Flywheels, who have been following the duo to find the Ark and their lost leaders too.

The Decepticons ignore the humans, seeing them as just mindless animals, and leave them to their petty feuds, but the Autobots decide to help out the underdogs, the Englishmen, in chasing off the Vikings.

Wingspan stays behind at the Decepticon's ship, and manages to locate the crash site of the Ark in America, however, before he can alert the others, he is shot in the back of the head by someone...

The other Decepticons find Wingspan, headless, and his computer console destroyed, and they immediately assume it was one of the two Autobots.

The go on a rampage and attack the two Autobots, who were completely unprepared and unaware of the Decepticons being here. They manage to fight them off, but Cloudraker is badly injured and placed into a CR Chamber on their shuttle. Fastlane tries to get them away, but Counterpunch shoots the ship down, crashing it into Stansham Castle, burying it underground and under rubble....

Characters

Autobot

Punch/Counterpunch - Hover Car

Fastlane - Car Trapped under Stansham Castle by Punch

Cloudraker - Jet Badly Injured by Flywheels, Trapped under Stansham castle by Punch

Optimus Prime - Battle Platform Trapped in the Ark

Prowl Trapped in the Ark

Jazz Trapped in the Ark

Ratchet Trapped in the Ark

Ironhide Trapped in the Ark

Windcharger Trapped in the Ark

Wheeljack Trapped in the Ark

Sunstreaker Trapped in the Ark

Sideswipe Trapped in the Ark

Bumblebee Trapped in the Ark

Cliffjumper Trapped in the Ark

Mirage Trapped in the Ark

Bluestreak Trapped in the Ark

Gears Trapped in the Ark

Hound Trapped in the Ark

Brawn Trapped in the Ark

Huffer Trapped in the Ark

Ultra Magnus

Crumble

Erector

Perceptor

Quickmix

Councillor Traachon

Autobot Council

Unnamed Ark Crew Members Trapped in the Ark

Other Autobot Soldiers

Decepticon

Battletrap - Van and Helicopter

Flywheels - Tank and Jet

Wingspan Killed by Punch

Megatron Trapped in the Ark

Starscream Trapped in the Ark

Soundwave Trapped in the Ark

Rumble Trapped in the Ark

Ravage Trapped in the Ark

Laserbeak Trapped in the Ark

Buzzsaw Trapped in the Ark

Reflector Trapped in the Ark

Shockwave - Ray Gun

Astrotrain 

Acid Storm

Ark Invasion Force Trapped in the Ark

Other Decepticon Soldiers

Other Cybertronian

The Titans (Mentioned)

Neutrals (Mentioned)

Human

King Canute

Knight Hakon

English Knights

Viking Invaders

Notes

• This one-off story marks the second official 35th anniversary special comic for the franchise, with the first being the Ghostbusters vs Transformers mini. Though this one IS the first solo franchise anniversary!
• The "84" in the title refers to 1984, the year the Marvel comics began in, as such, this story acts as a prequel to that part of the franchise
• Like with the prior series "Regeneration One" this series adds to the original continuity, and even features a large amount of the crew that worked on Regen.
• Punch's narration implies that he is speaking from the relative present, as he says that 1017 was about 900 years ago.
• This story is actually told in a non-linear style, so I reorganized it to make more coherent sense in the plot section.
• Since this story is set "pre-Earth" I have no idea what most of the characters turn into, since that was never really shown in Marvel, so unless they are shown or it is previously known information, I wont bring it up in the character section.
• This series marks the first major role for Punch/Counterpunch in a mainstream comic...EVER! The last time he appeared was in the afore mentioned Regeneration One, but only for one issue, and in a very unfulfilling role. (Before you mention it, the TFCC fiction doesn't count)
• Due to this being "in continuity" with the Marvel comics, it features some design nods etc to that series, such as Megatron having a dark grey bucket-head, or the Ark being white. However it also has some continuity errors in that case, such as the Micromasters, Erector and Crumble being amongst the Ark construction crew, despite them not existing until much later (these could be just tiny Autobots rather than Micromasters, but it seems like a stretch)
• Megatron appears to be aware of Counterpunch having an Autobot counterpart, but Punch appears to be the dominant persona, sue to him still being loyal to Optimus' orders millions of years later.
• The scenes set on Earth feature mostly characters not seen in the modern day of the Marvel continuities (US or UK) so they could be taken out without messing up the timeline too much.
• Despite Flywheels and Battletrap having pretty much their normal alternate modes, Punch/Counterpunch is shown to have a Cybertronian mode redesign (ie a hover-car). This seems a bit needless considering the other characters not being altered too.
• Amongst the Autobots in the Ark are five rather detailed generics. Are these just five random guys who die in the Ark crash, or are they the future Dinobots who were mentioned to be rebuilt just to face Shockwave during the rest of their sleep.
• It's finally revealed that the reason why Optimus brought his best warriors with him on an asteroid clearing mission, and wound up crashing the advanced ship on a random planet, was because this was an elaborate plot by him to imprison the Decepticons, who would go after Optimus and his best warriors, in a crashed ship, locking them into stasis lock in the process.
• Fastlane and Cloudraker are revealed to be the true identities of "The Man of Iron" and "Navigator" from the story "Man of Iron", who crashed into the castle when trying to leave Earth by Counterpunch. Their different appearances in that story are explained with Cloudraker's paint starting to chip away after he is shot by Flywheels.
• The Ship they piloted is named the "Mantlo" named after the writer for the first two issues of the G1 comics.
• It isn't outright stated, but it's very likely that Punch was also responsible for taking out Slamdance when he came to Earth with information about the Underbase