Dispatches
Plot
Optimus and his team manage to defeat Megatron and keep the Matrix away from him by launching him out an airlock, causing him to burn up in orbit. Elsewhere the Auotbots and Decepticons all mourn their losses, and Isaac Sumdac finds Megatron's old head in a field.
At a later date, the Autobots have woken up, and save Detroit from a Nano-bot monster that was created by accident and become heroes and later become friends with the humans. Starscream picks up on footage of thise from his ship when Black Arachnia appears and they fight, leading to the Nemesis's crash on the Earth's moon. Black Arachnia however places a tracer on Starscream's back, so she can follow him to the Allspark's location (as he's found it).
The Autobots move into and old factory and during a ceremony, Starscream arrives and attacks them, leading to a fight between them for possession of the Allspark, which Optimus wins.
The activation of the Allspark alerts the Transformers elsewhere in the universe to the Allspark's location, and they start heading there.
Characters
Autobot
Optimus Prime - Fire Truck Cab (Former Cybertronian Truck Cab)
Bumblebee - Hatchback (Former Cybertronian Car)
Ratchet - Ambulance (Former Cybertronian Treaded Vehicle)
Prowl - Police Motorcycle (Former Cybertronian Motorcycle)
Bulkhead - SWAT Van (Former Cybertronian Bulldozer)
Ultra Magnus - Cybertronian Truck
Jazz - Cybertronian Car
Sentinel Prime - Cybertronian Plough
Longarm - Cybertronian Crane
Blurr - Cybertronian Race Car
Other Autobots
Decepticon
Megatron - Cybertronian Jet Reduced to a Head
Blitzwing
Lugnut
Black Arachnia - Spider
Starscream - Harrier Jet
Other Decepticons
Human
Sari Sumdac
Isaac Sumdac
Captain Fanzone
Mayor Edsel
Detroit Civilians
Other
Sparkplug
Notes
- This is set during the opening movie of Transformers Animated, showing the events from other perspectives
- Blurr is seen in this comic in various places, but usually from behind
- Sentinel and Longarm's insignia's were switched in this comic, Sentinel should have the Elite Guard one, and Longarm shouldn't have it
- Also it's implie din this comic that Sentinel fought in the great wars as well, even though he's too young, like Opitmus.
- The Nemesis crashes on Earth's moon because Starscream and Black Arachnia fought on it and caused it to crash, also Black Arachnia knows where Earth is because She placed a tracer on Starscream's back. It's shown how she reached the planet in a later issue.
- It seems that the Elite Guard picked up the Allspark's signal in this issue, but it takes them much longer to arrive on Earth than the Decepticons take.
Attention Surplus Disorder
Plot
Bumblebee and Prowl accidentally reveal that local super hero, The Wraith is a phony and uses holograms to fight crime, and he vows revenge on the Autobots. He tricks Bumblebee into ending up in a wheel clamp, and then uses his holograms to look like the Autobot and at.tack innocent people. Eventually Bumblebee gets free and exposes this, along with the other Autobots.
The Wraith ends up in a mental hospital.
Characters
Autobot
Optimus Prime - Fire Truck Cab
Bumblebee - Hatchback
Ratchet - Ambulance
Prowl - Police Motorcycle
Bulkhead - SWAT Van
Human
The Wraith
Angry Archer
Colossus Rhodes
Detroit Residents
Notes
- It seems that car wheel clamps can stop a Transformer from transforming...at least for a while...
Whatever Happened to Whatisname?
Plot
Starscream wakes up after the fight with Optimus in Detroit low on power when Professor Princess appears and helps to "fix" him by making him look more pretty. Starscream gets angry and Princess attacks him with her energy weapons, which repowers him, and he gets ready to kill her, when she shows him a recordng of him looking pretty, and says she'll send it to everyone (maybe even reaching th Decepticons). Starscream decides to leave, not knowing he still have some pretty pictures on his back.
Characters
Autobot
Optimus Prime - Fire Truck Cab (Flashback)
Decepticon
Starscream - Harrier Jet
Human
Professor Princess
Other
Powdered Sugar
Notes
- HA! Starscream in his prety colours is funny!
- Powdered Sugar seems to be somewhat sentient, as when Screamer grabs it, it's eyes go very wide and frightened
Stilletto
Plot
One of the Sumdac labs is ranacked by Stiletto, who has stolen and metal that can basically cut through anything, and goes on the run.
The Autobots chase her but manage to stop her on a bridge before she can do too much damage.
It's revealed after the fact that Megatron hired Stiletto to test out the metal on the bridge for him to use for his new sword when he gets a body back.
Characters
Autobot
Optimus Prime - Fire Truck Cab
Bumblebee - Hatchback
Ratchet - Ambulance
Prowl - Police Motorcycle
Bulkhead - SWAT Van
Decepticon
Megatron (Head only)
Human
Isaac Sumdac
Captain Fanzone
Stiletto
Detroit Police
Notes
- Despite being the (mis-spelt) titular character, Stiletto doesn't actually talk
- Stiletto's heels are made of the same metal later used for Megatron's swords
- The bike Stiletto steals seems to be based on Movie Arcee
'Bots of Science
Plot
Ratchet is sent into a warzone where everyone is dead, thanks to an outbreak of Cosmic Rust. He finds a Decepticons survivor, Oil Slick, who helps him design an anti-dote, which saves Oil Slick's life, however Oil Slick thanks him by infecting him and well and drives away at full speed.
Rtachet manages to use his electromagnetic abilities to grab the antidote again and cures himself, and drives back home with it for future use.
Characters
Autobot
Ratchet - Cybertronian Treaded Vehicle
Ultra Magnus (Voice)
Decepticon
Oil Slick - Cybertronian Motorcycle
Other
Dead Guys Killed by Cosmic Rust
Notes
- This comic was later adapted into another book for an even younger audience, and featured many recognizable cameos
- This comic also introduces Cosmic Rust and Oil Slick into the Animated continuity, both would later appear in Transwarped. This comic also shows that there is a cure to Cosmic Rust, so fans of Rodimus should be happier about that appearance.
The Insincerest Form of Flattery
Plot
Porter C. Powell starts rebranding some vehicles based on Bulkhead's vehicle mode as "The bulkhead" and makes them very popular, much to Bulkhead's annoyance. Later when chasing Angry Archer and Professor Princess he discovers that the vehicles are really dangerous and explode with very little cause.
Powell sets up a contest where people customize theit vehicles, which Sari and Bulkhead enter in disguise, and kidnap Powell, forcing him to reveal the faults in the engines on live TV, forcing him to end this line of vehicles.
Characters
Autobot
Optimus Prime - Fire Truck Cab
Bumblebee - Hatchback
Ratchet - Ambulance
Prowl - Police Motorcycle
Bulkhead - SWAT Van
Human
Sari Sumdac
Porter C. Powell
Angry Archer
Professor Princess
Carly
Spike
Daniel
Civilians
Other
Powdered Sugar
Notes
- This comic shows a lot of possible repaints of Bulkhead
- A nice little added piece in this comic is that when Bulkhead transforms from his repainted vehicle mode, the paint is still on his robot mode (which is something that sometimes gets forgotten in comics.
- I wonder is his paint job was thanks to Electronic Paint, or just normal?
A Few Loose Strands
Plot
Lockdown arrives on the Moon at the Nemesis' wreckage and starts looking for more clues about where Optimus is (as he's been hired to find the one who destroyed Megatron) and he finds Black Arachnia, and the two fight it out, resulting in Black Arachnia winning.
Lockdown later wakes up and finds the fem-bot gone, but decies to ignore it and ehads to Earth, takes on an alternate mode and goes to hunt Optimus down. Black Arachnia leaves the ship and goes into the city herself as well, looking forward to seeing Opitmus once again.
Characters
Autobot
Optimus Prime (On Screen)
Bumblebee (On Screen)
Ratchet (On Screen)
Bulkhead (On Screen)
Decepticon
Black Arachnia - Spider
Blitzwing (Flashback)
Lugnut (Flashback)
Oilslick - Cybertronian Motorcycle (Flashback)
Megatron (Mentioned)
Starscream (Mentioned)
Other
Lockdown - Muscle Car
Notes
- This issue shows Lockdown and Black Arachnia arriving on Earth, in time for their appearances in the series.
- The Nemesis computer shows the Ark's crew as missing Prowl, this is appropriate because he joined the crew AFTER the mission began and was just a tag-along.
- Black Arachnia absorbs a load of Lockdown's upgrades, and it hurts her
Survival Skills
Plot
Optimus is in a simulated environment on a test and fights Megatron, the Decepticon in the end wins, but Ultra Magnus congratulates the cadet on his good work.
Characters
Autobot
Ultra Magnus - Cybertronian Truck
Optimus - Cybertronian Truck Cab
Elita - Cybertronian Car
Sentinel - Cybertronian Plough
Decepticon
Megatron - Cybertronian Jet (Virtual)
Notes
- Most of this issue is set in a virtual reality setting
Everything Must Go
Plot
Blitzwing is contacted by Lockdown, who has captured Opitmus Prime, and Lugnut gets angry that his partner hired a bounty hunter, despite their lack of honour. The two of them keep having all out battles, with Swindle arriving and outfitting both of them with over-the-top weapons to keep fighting. In the end the two realize that Swindle is just escalating their fighting for a profit, so they turn on him, and leave him in a crumpled mess on the floor.
Characters
Autobot
Optimus Prime - Fire Truck Cab (On Screen)
Decepticon
Blitzwing
Lugnut
Swindle
Megatron (Mentioned)
Other
Lockdown - Muscle Car (On Screen)
Notes
- This issue introduces Swindle long before he'd appear in the TV series (continuity wise)
- Swindle has many, many weapons that he sells to the two Decepticons, many seem to be based on previous weapons in the franchise
- This issue shows the other side of the conversation seen in Thrill of the Hunt between Blitzwing and Lockdown over the communicator
First (and Second) in Flight
Plot
The Autobot Elite Guard have captured Starscream and take scans, however Starscream escapes shortly. The guard then begin a new prject to create Auotbots with flight capabilities. They take in the almost dead bodies of two twins, who are refitted with the flight capabilities they scanned from Starscream.
The twins are taken through traing, where they quickly become arrogant, but with due reason to be.They run out of training exercizes, so Perceptor designs a virtual exercize using Starscream's data to create a virtual enemy for them, however the program starts to take over the program, which begins to overload.
In the "game" the twins learn how to use their elemental abilities and even how to combine into Safeguard as well, and defeat the programs, freeing themselves.
After they finish they are promoted into the Elite Guard and sent with Sentinel and Jazz to Earth to hunt down the fugitive Wasp.
Characters
Autobot
Jetfire - Jet
Jetstorm - Jet
Safeguard - Gestalt Jet
Ultra Magnus - Rocket Truck
Jazz - Sports Car
Sentinel Prime - Snow Plough
Perceptor - Cybertronian Mobile Lab
Wheeljack - Cybertronian Race Car
Red Alert - Cybertronian Race Car
Horsepower - Cybertronian Motorcycle
Sparkride - Cybertronian Motorcycle
Pre-Jet Twins - Cars Rebuilt as Jetfire and Jetstorm
Other Autobots
Decepticon
Starscream - Harrier Jet
Starscream Program - Harrier Jet Destroyed by Jet Twins
Other
Wasp - Cybertronian Car
Notes
- This story shows how the Elite Guard used Starscream's data to create Jetfire and Jetstorm from two "dead" Autobots, and also shows their whole accelerated training, and their mission of hunting Wasp down begins
- This was originally sold only with the Safeguard toy set, but was included in this comic TPB
- Sentinel wanted to call both the twins "Jetfire" originally, but this mistake was pointed out to him by Jetfire himself.
