Skybound - Transformers #1

Writer, Artist: Daniel Warren Johnson

Colourist: Mike Spicer

Letterer: Rus Wooton

Editor: Sean Mackiewicz

Publication Design: Andres Juarez

Plot

Sparkplug is in a bar, drinking away his troubles, following the death of his son, Jimmy, during a rocket launch. His surviving son, Spike, wakes him up, but upsets him when his dad notices his last son with Jimmy's telescope. Sparkplug is picked up by his friend to take him to work, while Spike goes off stargazing with his girlfriend, Carly.

Spike and Carly hike up a mountain and start to set up, when an earthquake hits, and the two tumble into a new crevasse, landing inside a long lost Spacecraft, the Ark, filled with seemingly dead, giant robots.

Soon, another robot, Jetfire, flies in, and plants a cartridge into Teletraan-1, the ship's computer, which gives it information about Earth vehicles, and starts repairing the other robots...

The first to wake up is Starscream, who immediately shoots the nearby Bumblebee in the head, killing him, whilst thanking the shocked Jetfire. The latter tries to stop Starscream from continuing his slaughter, but is shot by his old friend in the torso.

Before he can finish off their saviour, Starscream is stopped by the newly revived Optimus Prime, who also soon notices his human voyeurs and works to protect them.

Ratchet is soon revived too, along with Skywarp, clueing Starscream to Teletraan reviving them at random, prompting him to start dragging the other Decepticons closer to the computer.

Optimus realises they will be outnumbered soon, so orders Ratchet to load as many of their fellow Autobots into his new trailer as he can, for them to escape.

Soundwave is revived next, attacking Optimus, who is distracted when he finds the body of Bumblebee, and mourns for his friend, bringing back memories for Spike...

Starscream ambushes Optimus when he is distracted, and Soundwave deploys Ravage to assist him, but the humans manage to push Optimus' Ion Blaster to him, allowing him to blast Ravage and avoid the other Decepticons. Knowing he'll be too outnumbered if he doesn't stop the revival process, Optimus shoots and badly damages Teletraan-1, before escaping with Ratchet, the downed Autobots and the humans.

Starscream and Skywarp give chase, but Skywarp is quickly depleted of his energy, forcing them to return to the Ark, but not before Jetfire tries to repent by defeating Starscream, only to be fatally injured by his old friend.

Spike directs the Autobots to an old quarry for them to hide out in, where Jetfire apologizes for his rash actions, and believes their planet, and species itself is doomed to death now...as he dies himself...

At the Ark, Soundwave reveals that Teletraan-1 is beyond their current repair capabilities, but if they have materials and Energon, they may be able to repair it, and revive the rest of the Decepticons. Starscream is pressured into doing a solo resource run, due to the others being energy-depleted, and him being their leader now

The Decepticon leader soon finds a power plant, where Sparkplug happens to be working, where he attacks the electrical pylons, he soon notices Sparkplug's scared friend, whom the Decepticon picks up, and crushes to death, laughing about how pathetic the life on this planet was...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Ratchet - Ambulance

Bumblebee Stasis Locked, Head blasted out by Starscream

Jazz Stasis Locked 

Cliffjumper Stasis Locked 

Prowl Stasis Locked 

Hound Stasis Locked 

Wheeljack Stasis Locked 

Windcharger Stasis Locked 

Other Autobots (Mentioned) Stasis Locked 

Decepticon

Starscream - Fighter Jet

Skywarp - Fighter Jet

Soundwave - Cassette Player

Ravage - Cassette Badly Injured by Optimus 

Thundercracker Stasis Locked

Reflector Stasis Locked 

Laserbeak - Cassette (Mentioned)

Megatron (Mentioned)

Other Decepticons (Mentioned) Stasis Locked 

Other Cybertronian

Jetfire - Cybertronian Jet Killed by Starscream

Teletraan-1 Destroyed by Optimus 

Human

Spike 

Carly

Sparkplug

Davey Killed by Starscream 

Danny

Jerry

Army Guy (Flashback) Likely Dead

Jimmy (Mentioned) Killed in Shuttle Explosion

Carly's Dad (Mentioned)

Notes

• This series follows on from Jetfire's departure in Void Rivals #1, with him making his way to Earth to wake up the Transformers (though I'm sure we'll learn how he found them and why he didn't go to Cybertron as he planned later)
• Of the characters on the Autobot cover of this issue, only Optimus and Ratchet are actually shown active this issue
• The Transformer character designs are based on the original designs of the characters from the 80s, unlike previous series where some level of toy synergy has been noted in recent years.
• Along with this, the series appears to be set around the 80s as well, with imagery of the Vietnam war and the (potential) Challenger explosion.
• Sparkplug is shown to be an ex-army guy, who lost a friend in war. I wonder if he'll be connected to GI Joe in this continuity?
• Spike is revealed to have had a brother named Jimmy, who died in a spacecraft explosion (who wants to bet that it'll be revealed to have been caused by a Cybertronian somehow?)
• The Cybertronians in this issue appear to be speaking in English, since the human characters don't need any translations.
• So...how do we think Bumblebee's going to be revived? GI Joe? Junkions? Something else?
• In the Marvel comics Teletraan believed that vehicles were the dominate form of life on Earth, here Jetfire knew the humans were, most likely due to his knowledge of other species (like the Aggorians and Zertonians)
• Optimus is shown to hold the Matrix in his chest at the moment, and reveals it has the power to heal, but not (seemingly) to revive the dead.
• Megatron is partially mentioned, but Starscream interrupts pointing out that HE is the leader now...what did you do to him Starscream?
• Sparkplug's friend is squished in front of him by Starscream...I think this version of the character will be anti-Cybertronian, like his Marvel counterpart.
• Jetfire knows Optimus' name, but didn't know he was the Prime yet, implying this version of the character was never known by an earlier name (like Orion Pax or Optronix)

IDW - Transformers #35

Title: Onyx Interface Part One: Signals, Calls, and Marches

Written by: John Barber

Art by: Andrew Griffith

Colours by: Josh Perez

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Editor: Carlos Guzman

Plot

Garrison Blackrock is unveiling his new "Onyx Interface" in Japan, whilst Spike Witwicky and Jimmy Pink track down and disable a Mini-Constructicon, and hack into the presentation, trying to reveal that Blackrock and the EDC are involved with Cybertronians on Earth again, leading to Blackrock to call for Faireborn's help.

Elsewhere, Cosmos is observing the EDC's situation at Bikini Atoll, but is now under attack by the EDC's missiles (his stealth paint has failed for him). He is saved fairly quickly though by Sky Lynx and Sideswipe. Cosmos receives a message from Prowl, saying he's had a "Google alert" (regarding Spike), and the Autobots head off back to the Moon.

Inside the EDC base, Sanjay reports the incident with Cosmos to Marrissa, who is heading out to Japan with Jones to deal with Blackrock, and is a bit anxious to deal with Spike as well

Optimus speaks with Alpha Trion on Ark-7, before heading out to Cybertron to look for more clues about the Enigma of Combination (and for his anniversary of becoming Prime). Optimus leaves Prowl in charge, but tells him not to do anything too rash, despite his recent actions.

As he leaves on the Skyroller, Optimus calls Arcee and asks her to keep an eye on Prowl. Meanwhile, Prowl is having a table-flipping tantrum and suffers from another one of his strange "nose-bleeds" until the Constructicons interrupt him. Prowl then informs them that Spike has resurfaced, and they're going to go after him (as he's the one Human they all hate)

In Japan, Spike and Jimmy change out of their military clothes and into civilian outfits to blend in with the tourists, and Spike gets a text saying someone will see him later....

The EDC team arrive at the Onyx Interface presentation, where Blackrock has claimed that Spike's video was just leaked footage from a new game he's releasing. Blackrock then threatens that if Spike isn't dealt with, and if his company is harmed by this, then he's taking the EDC down with him.

At the Nemesis, Galvatron is thinking out loud about how Spike may know something about the Enigma of Combination, he's interrupted by Scoop, who says Soundwave wants to speak to him. Soundwave tells him that he's going on a personal errand, which Galvatron doesn't care about, and allows him to go.

Once he is out of the way however, he approaches the other Decepticons about joining him on a hunt for Spike, which they agree to...

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Prowl - Police Car

Arcee - Sports Car

Sideswipe - Sports Car

Kup - Pick Up Truck

Cosmos - Orbiter

Sky Lynx - Space Shuttle

Jetfire - Jet

Alpha Trion Being Repaired

Decepticon

Galvatron - Tank

Soundwave - Personnel Carrier

Laserbeak - Cassette

Buzzsaw - Cassette

Rumble - Cassette

Frenzy - Cassette

Blitzwing - Tank/Jet

Mini-Constructicon Killed by Spike

Skywarp - Cybertronian Jet Hooked up to Nemesis

Scrapper - Front End Loader (Mentioned) Dead

Cybertronian

Scoop - Front End Loader

Hook - Crane

Bonecrusher - Bulldozer

Long Haul - Dump Truck

Mixmaster - Mixing Truck

Scavenger - Excavator

D.O.C.

Starscream (Mentioned)

Alchemist Prime (Mentioned)

Sharkticons (Mentioned)

Human

Marissa Fairborne

Garrison B. Blackrock

Jones

Sanjay Bharwanay

Spike Witwicky

Jimmy Pink

Yasawy Maki

EDC Troops

Onyx Interface Party Attendees

Daniel Witwicky (Mentioned) Dead

Hunter O'Nion (Mentioned) Dead

Other

Onyx Interface Droid

EDC Transformer Army (Mentioned)

Notes

• This is the Robots in Disguise comic with the new simplified "Transformers" title. Most likely due to the upcoming Robots in Disguise TV series.
• G.B. Blackrock is finally given a first name!
• The Mini-Constructicon was last seen in Spotlight: Ramjet...looks like he's been kept on Earth and studied since then!
• Jimmy Pink has returned! Looks like he's not happy with being forgotten about by everyone either.
• Speaking of Jimmy, he's certainly changed his appearance a fair bit since we last saw him briefly in Maximum Dinobots, hasn't he?
• Sideswipe now has a jet pack built into his new robot mode (apparently it's new)
• Optimus' trip to Cybertron is shown in the Punishment comic.
• WHY ARE YOU GIVING PROWL COMMAND OF THE AUTOBOTS PRIME?!?!
• Oh OK, Arcee's gunna watch him? Yeah she'll just murder him if he gets out of hand!
• Galvatron seems to think that Spike knows something about the Enigma of Combination...why?
• Scoop was revealed to be on Earth earlier from Starscream's point of view, as a spy for him.
• Soundwave claims to be heading to Jupiter to check up on the Human's progress on the Decepticon's new home...wonder if he'll turn up in MTMTE with Ravage instead some point soon?
• So Spike is being chased now by Prowl and his Constructicons, Galvatron and his Decepticons, and Marissa and her EDC troops? Wonder how long he'll survive?
• Blackrock is revealed to have built the army of Thrusts and Ramjets in the EDC basement.
• Prowl's unprompted comment of "get out of my head" when a Constructicon knocks on his door implies that he's having issues with their Gestalt form still.
• The Decepticon warship is named as the Nemesis here, after the Decepticon's original ship in the G1 cartoon.
• Galvatron implies that Alchemist Prime was drunk when he made up the prophecy of the Chosen One, showcased in Dark Cybertron.
• Optimus hasn't told his crew about the Enigma of Combination or Alpha Trion's other revelations, despite him hinting that he would last issue.
• Scoop not knowing who Alchemist Prime is, despite having studied his prophecy so intently is a bit worrying huh?