Titan - Transformers Prime #17

Cover Date: Nov/Dec 2013

Cover Price: £3.99

Poster: Beast Hunters Bumblebee

Comic Title: Collider Scope

Script: Robin Etherington

Art: Horacio Domingues

Colours: Nestor Pereyra

Lettering: Comicraft

Plot

Earthquakes start occuring in Europe, an area not usually known for quakes. Fowler is contacted by the president about a situation in the area, where some American troops have gone missing. Fowler informs the Autobots and a team is sent out to investigate.

Before long, the Autobots make it inside the underground base and find Shockwave working with the Decepticons to use the particle accelerator to create a permanent space bridge to Cybertron. The Autobots attack the Decepticons, but Shockwave summons Predaking to the battle as well.

The Autobots fight the Predacon, and Optimus uses himself as bait for him to chase, in the process though he manages to reverse the polarity of the electro magnet powering the collider and causes it to explode, closing the space bridge, and resulting in the Decepticons running away.

In the Aftermath the Autobots look at the destroyed device and wonder if they'll ever go hom, but understand that they have a new home to protect instead.

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Ratchet - Ambulance

Arcee - Motorcycle

Bulkhead - SUV

Wheeljack - Race Car

Decepticon

Shockwave - Cybertronian Tank

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Vehicons - Cars

Predacon

Predaking - Dragon

More Predacons (Mentioned)

Other

Agent Fowler

Jack

Raf

Genevans Caught in Earthquake

Mini-Cons (Mentioned)

President of US (Mentioned)

American Team in Geneva (Mentioned)

Notes

• This annoys me, in the comic Optimus is shown in his pre-Beast Hunters body, but has flight capabilities, this wouldn't matter too much normally, as this comic often used wrong character models during the Movie comics, but the article on the Forge shows him in his new body!!
• This comic seems to be set before Predaking revealed his sentience to the Decepticons during the series, though the characters refer to him as "The Predaking"
• The top secret particle accelerator mentioned here is most likely the one at CERN....not exactly top secret since everyone knows it exists!
• Wheeljack actually appears here! Now where's Smokescreen and Magnus?
• Why do the Decepticons want another permanent Space Bridge? They already have one as shown at the end of season 2!
• Why is Bulkhead so eager to get back to Cybertron? He's JUST BEEN THERE, and right now the planet is DEAD!!
• Bulkhead mentions Mini-Cons here...this can only mean that Arms Mircons are in this continuity!!! (I can dream can't I?)
• Wheeljack mentions "Garbage-O's", something introduced in the Allspark Almanacs...the writers are aware of what the fans like!
• There's a mention of "survivors" implying that some of the humans died when the Decepticons attacked
• Starscream's insulting names for Bulkhead and Wheeljack (Flunk-Head and Flat-Tyre) are kind of...pathetic...
• It's not really made clear, but the earthquakes seem to be caused by the space bridge's creation

Other Features

Adverts

Competition

All about...Predaking! - Predaking profile

Soundwave's Stumpers! - PUZZLES!! YAY!

The Beast Hunt! More puzzles! Booo

Bulkhead's Word Search - Take a guess

The Trans-Files - Info on the Forge of Solus Prime

Hunter or Hunted? - Question based puzzle to find out who you are (I'm Bulkhead btw....)

Mega Mouth - Letters and pictures page hosted by Megatron and Arcee

Ballistic Brain Busters! - WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PUZZLES?!

Double Trouble! - MORE!!! (This one's a spot the difference btw)

Escape! - Maze Puzzle

Bumblebee's Beast Blaster! - Cut out, and ruin the comic to give your Bumblebee shaped blaster (free with this issue) some targets (either that or use Mini-Cons)

Titan - Prime Volume 4 #13

Title: Protecting the Lady

Script: Robin Etherington

Art: Jeremy Tiongson

Colours: Sam Palmer

Lettering: Comicraft

Price: £3.99

Cover Date: WINTER 2013

Plot

The Autobots have been alerted to a Decepticon message to the world about them destroying the Statue of Liberty, which they have prevented from being sent out through jammers, and they need to stop them.

Optimus and Bumblebee are sent out as a stealth party to try and stop Megatron (who was hoping to cause panic and have the human media witness this attack). The Decepticons attack the two Autobots, whilst Megatron climbs the statue (why not fly up Megs?) to decapitate it, thuse dealing a symbolic blow to Earth's freedom.

Optimus and Megatron fight on the statue, but just as Megatron is about to decapitate the statue Bumblebee flings a dead Vehicon at him, knocking him off balance and allowing Optimus to send him flying into the waters nearby.

In the aftermath Fowler moans at the two Autobots for causing so much damage to the statue, and for letting themselves be seen (at least partially), but the Autobots promise to repair the statue to PRIME condition (oh ho ho, how whitty) 

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Bumblebee - Sports Car

Ratchet - Ambulance (Flashback Only)

Bulkhead - Off Road Vehicle (Flashback Only)

Decepticon

Megatron - Cybertronian Jet

Vehicons - Jets

Soundwave - UAV (Mentioned)

Human

Agent Fowler

Other

Statue of Liberty Damaged by Battle

A scared Seagull Scared off by Bumblebee

Notes

• Congrats to everyone's friend Sam Palmer for getting his first pro-Transformers gig here!
• This issue came with one of 6 Kre-O...Kre-O is fun!!!
• The jet Vehicons finally appear here, which makes sense since cars wouldn't be able to get to Liberty Island that easily!
• ...Did Optimus and Bumblebee just snap those two Vehicon's necks?!
• Megatron contacts Soundwave over a communicator to see where the human camera are...was he really expecting a reply?!
• HA! Megatron has a Vehicon thrown at him! (nice inversion of him throwing a Vehicon off the Nemesis in series 2)

Other Features

Competitions

Adverts

Primed for Action! - Season 2 sneak peaks

New Year Wordsearch - A wordsearch clearly meant for a month ago....

Soundwave's Stumpers! - A bunch of puzzles

Starscream's Star Signs! - YAY! Starscream insults us with horoscopes again!!

Kre-O Transformers themed puzzles

Taking Liberties! - Puzzles themed around today's comic

Are you an Autobot or Decepticon? - Guess what it tells ya!

Mega Mouth - Megatron and Arcee do their fan mail duties again

Cut Out Autobot or Decepticon Kre-O Battle Bunkers!! - It'll ruin the magazine though

Titan - Prime Volume 4 #10

Basic Information

Cover Characters: Ratchet

Cover Date: July 2012

Price: £2.75

Poster: Arcee/Bumblebee

Comic Title: Mad Dogs & Autobots

Script: Chris Cooper

Art: Dario Brizuela

Lettering: Comicraft

Plot

Mad Dog has just had his unit closed down by the government and he's quite obviously upset as his is the only group even capable of dealing with the likes of MECH. When his underling, Leech shows him some images of the Autobots, but both assume that they are just people in robotic battle suits, like what they were developing, and learn they are operating near Jasper, Nevada. Mad Dog decides to prove that his group is better by setting a trap for them.

At Omega One, Jack is showing the Autobots how to bob for apples (which Bulkhead mimics using an engine block) when Fowler calls in and reports some eco-terrorists having attacked a deep driller and that the President wants them to look into it. The team, bar Ratchet head out there via the Ground Bridge. The Autobots arrive at the rig, but find it deserted, except for some humans in battle suits, who intend to defeat the Autobots to show them up.

The Humans are winning the fight, against the "stolen designs battle suits" as they think they are. Optimus orders the Autobots to try and find non-lethal ways to defeat them, as they are still humans. Ratchet gives advice from Omega One saying that the battle suits are slow, which they can use to help defeat them (like getting them to shoot each other by accident or causing things to fall on them etc). Leech and Mad Dog refuse to give up though, so Jack suggests the Autobots surrender instead, and then tells them the whole plan.

The Autobots surrender and Optimus asks Mad Dog to help him out of his battle suit, but when he tries he finds out that there is no human operator, and that Optimus is really a robot, which sort of unnerves him, to the extent where he's being taken away on a stretcher, shaking a little later on.

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Arcee - Motorcycle

Bulkhead - Off Road Vehicle

Bumblebee - Sports Car

Ratchet - Ambulance

Human

General Rufus "Mad Dog" Madison

Colonel Leech

Agent Fowler

Miko

Jack

Mad Dog's Troops

Capitol Building Guard

MECH (Mentioned)

President of US (Mentioned)

Notes

• The President is revealed to actually know what happened during Starscream's attack on her in a previous issue
• Mad Dog really is quite arrogant, believing that only his team could have designed robot bodies like what the Autobots have, and even thinking that the Autobots were inferior to him
• Why is Jack teaching the Autobots Apple Bobbing? It's not Halloween for months!
• Mad Dog mocks Bumblebee for being painted in a bumblebee style.
• It's not clear who Optimus is talking to in the last panel, I'd assume that it was Fowler, but it looks more like Leech, but that wouldn't make sense unless Leech was a double agent or something.

Other Features

Adverts

Competitions

The Trans Files - Information on the Energon Harvester

Deus Ex Machina - Episode Guide

Mega-Mouth - Arcee and Megatron read the mail

Starscream's Stumpers! - Starscream does puzzles and stuff

Greek Adventure! - Greece-based puzzles 

Titan - Prime Volume 4 #6

Basic Information

Cover Characters: Stock image of Starscream

Cover Date: APRIL 2012

Price: £3.25

Poster: Megatron and Starscream on a rocky terrain in front of Dark Energon/Bumblebee attacks you

Comic Title: All the President's 'Bots!

Script: Robin Etherington

Art: Dario Brizuela

Lettering: Comicraft

Comic Plot

On the Nemesis Megatron is angry that the Autobots are still alive and blames Starscream so he orders them to deal with them once and for all. So Starscream heads out with a team of Vehicons and attacks Air Force One, kidnapping the jet (knocking out everyone on board with gas) and holds the crew and President hostage.

Early the next morning Fowler arrives at Autobot HQ and tells them about the kidnapping (thanks to having the black box from the plane that Starscream delivered to them, saying he'll be at the Grand Canyon, in code). The Autobots head to the canyon where they find that Starscream has set up a batch of cannons to use to kill them.

All of Starscream plans however fail in the end as Optimus and the rest just ram through and kill the Vehicons, and even take control of the cannons. Starscream is confident that Optimus won't attack him however as he has the president in his hand, and she could be hurt if he does anything. However he is proven wrong as Optimus quickly attacks the Decepticon and slices off his arm, and catches the human.

Starscream, being injured now, flees. The Autobots leave before the humans wake up. The humans wake up later with the president having had weird dreams about robots.

Comic Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Arcee - Motorcycle

Bulkhead - Off Road Vehicle

Ratchet - Ambulance

Bumblebee - Sports Car

Decepticon

Megatron - Cybertronian Jet

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Vehicons - Sports Cars

Human

Agent Fowler

Madame President

Jerry (President's Husband - Mentioned)

Secret Service Guy

Air Force One Crew

Comic Notes

• Super sized cover this time...
• This issue comes with a toy gun on the front cover, and also has the text "The President must die!!!" on the front....whilst this is just a usual Titan free toy and the basic plot of the comic (Screamer threatens to kill the president) this can't be a good PR move....
• Starscream leads a team of Vehicons off the Nemesis and attacks Air Force One...now whilst it would make sense for him to lead a team of the jet-alternate mode Vehicons, he actually leads a bunch of car ones....yeah....
• The Autobots seem quite brutal against the Vehicons in this issue...
• Awww...the green Ratchet from last issue is no where to be seen :(
• Starscream loses his arm again (how many times is this? 2? 3?
• This story is clearly set before Screamer's exile from the Decepticons
• The kids aren't in this story as it's set during the night and early morning...guess they need their sleep huh?
• The Vehicons on the Nemesis are clearly seen shaking whilst Megatron is shouting...poor things
• Why the President is a white woman instead of based on Obama is anyone's guess
• Why does the President NOT know about the Transformers?
• The President husband, Jerry seems to be a good little househusband, cooking for his busy wife (though not enough to worry about her going missing for a whole night however....)

Extra Features

Adverts

Competitions

Profile - Starscream

Episode Guide - Masters and Students

Starscream's Stumpers - Puzzles with Starscream

Mega-Mouth - Arcee and Megatron read the fan mail

Ratchet and the Vehicons - A Grid puzzle to solve

Road to the White House - Maze Puzzle

Awesome Prime Wordsearch! - It's not actually that awesome

Back Page Cut-Outs - Cut out a Bookmark, Build a cardboard Optimus Prime

Titan - Prime Volume 4 #3

Basic Information

Cover Characters: Stock images of Bumblebee and Arcee attacking you

Cover Date: January 2012

Price: £2.99

Poster: Optimus and Vehicle mode Bumblebee and Megatron. Optimus and Bumblebee

Comic Title: Ice Breaker

Script: Robin Etherington

Art: Jeremy Tiongson

Lettering: Comicraft

Comic Plot

The NS Yamal (an ice breaker ship) is carving it's way to a US research center in Russia when the Decepticons appear and commandeer the ship. Meanwhile at Omega One (Autobot base) the Autobots are decorating the base for Christmas time when Fowler comes in and tells them about the Decepticon attack. Optimus, Bumblebee and Ratchet use the Ground Bridge to get to the ice breaker and leaves Arcee and Bulkhead to look after the kids.

The Kids try to get Bulkhead and Arcee to bond, when they realise that they have nothing in common. The other Autobots arrive at the Yamal and find the crew and passengers knocked out, suddenly Starscream attacks with his Static Lance and knocks out Ratchet. Bumblebee attacks the Decepticon and manages to knock him out as well, and takes his weapon from him. Back at Omega One Miko asks the two Autobots to both agree on one thing they like about winter and they'll recreate it for them inside the base.

Back at the Yamal Optimus goes head to head against Megatron and Megatron says that he plans to use the nuclear weapons on the ship, and overload them with the Static Lance causing a reaction that will unearth all the underwater Energon deposits and cause the downfall of Mankind. Bumblebee throws the lance to Optimus, who attacks Megatron with it, and causes it to overload itself, and burns out.

Later the Yamal arrives at the Research Center wondering what happened, but also grateful that they're safe. The Autobots return to Omega One where Ratchet needs some rest, but immediately slips up on the ice that has been poured onto the ground so the kids and other Autobots can skate on, with that having been what Arcee and Bulkhead agreed on before.

Comic Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Ratchet - Ambulance

Bumblebee - Muscle Car

Bulkhead - Off Road Vehicle

Arcee - Motorcycle

Decepticon

Megatron - Cybertronian Jet

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Soundwave - ATV (Mentioned)

Human

Jack

Raf

Miko

Agent Fowler

Fowler's Wife (Mentioned)

Fowler's Butcher (Mentioned)

Captain Krill (Yamal Captain)

Pavel (Yamal crewman)

NS Yamal Crew

NS Yamal Passengers

Comic Notes

• Arcee really doesn't like Bulkhead at the start of this comic, she even calls him an embarrassment to their species (then again this was when he had issues with putting a fairy on the tree)
• Arcee and Bulkhead love skating (guess she got over the near-death by ice incident then)
• Arcee and Bulkhead bond over their skating
• Bulkhead's "Cybertron sized" mince pies are most likely meant to be "Cybertronian sized" and not the size of the planet
• Raf has to pull out the Jenga to salvage the day...been there, done that!
• Either Bumblebee channels Optimus through himself or there was an editing error in this comic
• Bulkhead cannot reach the top of their Christmas tree....must be a huge one!
• I don't even want to think about the havoc the ice rink will cause when it defrosts, especially with all those electrical devices in Omega One!
• The extra large covers have returned.....

Extra Features

Adverts

Competitions

Bulkhead Profile

Photo Mash Up game

Episode Guide: Volume 1 - Darkness Rising Part 3 + Micro Quiz

Kre-O Transformers Mini-Comic

Starscream's Stumpers! - Lots of games

Mega-Mouth - Megatron and Arcee read the fan mail

Raf's Codebreaker - A map puzzle with a decryption guide

Miko's Christmas Wordsearch

Prime Puzzle! - Match up the missing parts of Prime's face to the letters

Merry Megatron Mask! - Deface your comic to make a cheap Megatron mask, and some cut out decorations as well.

Titan - Prime Volume 4 #1

Basic Information

Cover Characters: Optimus Prime

Cover Date: November 2011

Price: £3.99

Poster: DOTM Shockwave in Chicago

Comic Title: The Safe and the Failsafe

Script: Robin Etherington

Art: Jeremy Tiongson

Lettering: Rona Simpson

Comic Plot

Ratchet has completed work on the "Safe" in Autobot Outpost Omega One and the Autobots test it out, although Bulkhead goes a bit too far and actually smashes open the floor, much to Ratchet's annoyance.

Arcee looks into the whole and sees a Nuclear bomb with a timer ticking down, and then are told by Jack and Miko that there are Decepticons approaching the base, having been attracted by the radiation from the exposed warhead.

Optimus, Arcee and Bumblebee head outside to deal with the Vehicons, whilst Bulkhead, Ratchet and the humans stay behind to deal with the warhead. Outside, the Vehicons are dealt with very easily.

Inside the base Raf works out a way to deal with the warhead, since literally disarming it would be too dangerous he decides to trick it's triggering device by making the numbers ascend instead of descend, meaning that it'll never reach 00:00 and blow up.

After the warhead is sorted with Agent Fowler and a team of scientists arrive and explain that they were informed when the bomb was exposed due to a tracking device inside it, and that some higher ups decided to leave the bomb there as a failsafe, just in case the Autobots turned out to be evil. They remove the bomb, and later Ratchet decides to fix up the Safe with Raf's help this time.

Comic Characters

Autobots

Optimus Prime - Truck Cab

Bumblebee - Muscle Car

Bulkhead - Off Road Car

Arcee - Motorcycle

Ratchet - Ambulance

Decepticons

Vehicons - Sports Cars

Humans

Miko

Raf

Jack

Agent Fowler

Comic Notes

• The DOTM based poster, and the DOTM pull-out including several puzzles implies that these pieces were intended for a 5th issue of DOTM, but it was decided to switch the series to Prime rather last minute (though not as last minute as the decision to drop TFA was!)
• Miko is constantly mis-spelled as Mika
• Raf's glasses are drawn like they were blue lensed shades, unlike how they appear in the series
• The "Safe" isn't an acronym, it's just a safe room to train in
• With the pop up guns and other threats, the Safe is likely a reference to the Danger Room from the X-Men franchise
• This appears to be the first piece of fiction to use the term "Vehicons" for the Decepticon soldiers
• The Autobot's base was fitted with a nuclear bomb in case the Autobots went rogue.....EXTREME MUCH??!?!
• There are at least 87 levels at Omega-One
• The sign on the Safe reads "No one beyond this point who cannot be rebuilt using cogs and gears"...despite the kids having been invited inside......
• Raf suggests having pop-up targets in Megatron's image, similar to those seen in the G1 episode "The Rebirth Part 1"
• Raf hasn't met Megatron by this point as he calls him "that guy Megtaron!" meaning that this must be set before episode 23 of Season One.

Extra Features

Adverts

Competitions

Meet the Autobot Team! - Introduces the main Prime Autobots

The Missing Link! - Solve the puzzle

Megatron's Favourite Words...SEARCH! - A word Search

Episode Guide - Prime - Darkness Rising Part 1

Dark of the Moon Pullout - Including Poster, Puzzles, Megatron & Optimus vs Sentinel feature

Mega-Mouth - Megatron and Arcee take on the letters page