THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

Transformers: Sector 7

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Transformers Sector Seven #1: Original

September 2010 Written By: John Barber Art By: Joe Suitor Colours By: Chris Mowry Edits By: Andy Schmidt & Carlos Guzman

Synopsis:1898: Gentleman adventurers Walter Simmons and Joseph Wells encounter a bunch of inhuman monsters beneath the Sierra Nevada mountains. With a combination of Wells' trigger-happiness and Simmons' quick thinking, the pair are approached by United States Secret Service agent Billy North, who has been sent to draft the two men on orders of the president. Wells and Simmons are dispatched to study the case of captain Archibald Witwicky, who had returned from a voyage to the Arctic, raving about a giant mechanical man frozen beneath the ice. After questioning the now-insane Witwicky in Boston, Wells scoffs at the notion, causing Witwicky's first mate, Reginald Danco, to confront him.

Simmons stops them before they could fight, and they three federal agents learn that Danco also saw the metal man. They put together an expedition to go back to the Arctic, joined by three others. The seven discovers the frozen form of Megatron, and the excited Walter Simmons begin to speculate the true nature of the alien robot, theorizing that it is perhaps an alien itself. The seven's presence activates some sensor within Megatron, however. In Cuba, the USS Maine is caught as Jetfire, disguised as the warship, transforms and flies when he detects Megatron's energy signal. The crew doesn't understand what happened and assumed that it was the Spanish who sunk their ship..

Danco wants to destroy Megatron before he poses a danger. Simmons is shocked by Wells' incredulity, while Wells fears for Simmons' obsession on the Transformer. Jetfire interrupts all conversations, however, when Jetfire lands in the ice cave. He ignores the humans as he approaches the Decepticon leader. However, when seeing that the Decepticon isn't the one whom Jetfire seeks revenge upon, he punches Megatron's prone form. The Seven springs into action. Billy North, firing at Jetfire, is tossed to his death by the Transformer. Simmons, Wells and Arden distract Jetfire while Danco, Grant and Bowen hurriedly set up charges to blow up the ice. The resultant explosion sends Jetfire plunging into the freezing ocean, and immerses Megatron, knocking him off-line. Megatron speaks his name, but Simmons misinterprets it as 'Mega Man'. Simmons tells Wells that to be consumed by the mystery is inevitable, and as they mourn North's death, the rest of the group advocates to stay together...

Featured Transformers: Megatron, Jetfire
Notable Others: Theodore Joseph Wells, Walter Simmons, Agent Billy North (killed by Jetfire), Archibald Witwicky, Jack Arden, Phillipe Bowen, Theodore Grant

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Blackjack

Transformers Sector Seven #2: Irreplaceable

October 2010 Written By: John Barber Art By: Joe Suitor Letters By: Chris Mowry Edits By: Andy Schmidt & Carlos Guzman

Synopsis: 1913: Walter Simmons have been obsessed by the metal creature that they discovered in the Arctic. Wells looks after Simmons' family, but Clara Simmons, Walter's wife, has grown temperamental due to her husband's continual absence, while Wells is running out of excuses.

Meanwhile, Wells and Simmons' group have gained several new members. Metallurgist-geologist Lou Hoover, as well as her husband Herbert Hoover, have joined the group after rescuing Wells during the Boxer Rebellion in China, as has the young Roy Thompson. Wells arrives on the Colorado River basin, where Simmons is excavating the AllSpark Cube thanks to Hoover masterminding the diversion of the river. Wells tries to remind Simmons about his family, but Simmons is obsessed, and is more interested about the Cube, stating the similarity of the glyphs on the Cube to that on Megatron. When the Cube is finally lifted, Simmons and Wells recognize glowing materials from underneath the Cube from one of their earlier adventures before working for the government.

The group come across the corpses of the organic alien creatures that Simmons and Wells have encountered earlier. Wells again tries to confront Simmons about his obsession. However, they were confronted by the one who killed the beasts, namely Jetfire. After years of travelling through the tunnels, chasing the AllSpark Cube's power signature, Jetfire, deprived of energy, still recognizes Simmons and Wells as the ones who entombed him several years prior. Jetfire attacks. As the group goes on a mad scramble to the surface, Simmons orders for the Cube to be dropped over the cave, despite the fact that Wells is still inside. Fortunately for Wells, Jetfire proves a distraction when he recognizes and touches the AllSpark, triggering a surge of energy which brings a crane, a car, a radio and Thompson's shotgun to life. Jetfire's systems are overloaded, forcing him to teleport away. Roy destroys the radio mutation with a well-aimed kick, while Simmons is mesmerized by the Cube, which was still cold despite exerting energy.

Hoover opens the water floodgates, flooding the basin again and drowning the crane and shotgun robots. Wells confronts Simmons for his readiness to abandon him, but Simmons brushes him off, mesmerized by the Cube's power and the Transformers. Simmons decides to study the Cube permanently. Meanwhile, unseen by any of the humans, the car brought to life by the AllSpark drives away into the desert... Some time later, Wells arrives at Simmons' house, and tells Clara that Walter Simmons has irrevocably changed, and begs Clara to run away with him.

Featured Transformers: Jetfire, Crane Allspark Mutation (drowned), Radio Allspark Mutation (smashed by Roy), Car Allspark Mutation, Gun Allspark Mutation (presumably drowned)
Notable Others: Theodore Joseph Wells, Margaret Simmons, Clara Simmons, Lou Hoover, Herbert Hoover, Roy Thompson, Walter Simmons

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Blackjack

Transformers Sector Seven #3: Together

November 2010 Written By: John Barber Art By: Chee Yang Ong Colours By: Andrew Crossley Letters By: Chris Mowry Edits By: Andy Schmidt and Carlos Guzman

Synopsis: Sowers, Texas, 8 January 1934: infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde rob a bank, but while making their getaway, their driver W.D. Jones crash onto another car. Bonnie and Clyde escape to a car conveniently parked nearby, but were held at gunpoint by an officer. However, everyone is astounded when the car transforms into a giant robot. Three days later, Sector Seven veteran Roy Thompson and Walter Simmons' daughter Margaret (having been recently recruited into Sector Seven by her father after losing her husband in the mistaken belief that it would be danger-less). Roy thinks that the reported sighting would turn out to be nothing like every other report they have investigated, but notes that it may be the car mutation that got away from them twenty years ago. Roy was proven correct when they investigate the heavily bandaged cop, who describes a robot.

At their hideout, Clyde attempts to get the car to transform again by shouting random words, while Bonnie works on her poetry. Bonnie comments off-handedly that the car would look better with windows like a car next to him, and the Transformer disassembles the other car and incorporated it to itself to suit Bonnie's tastes. Convinced that the Transformer would help them, Bonnie and Clyde attempt to orchestra a jailbreak to free W.D. Jones. Roy warns the Texas rangers at Eastham Jail, and even brings a special ray gun made by Dr Oppenheimer created to disrupt robots. Bonnie, Clyde and their robot attack and free all the inmates. Margaret shoots Bonnie in the arm, and when the robot opens fire, Margaret recovers the ray gun to shoot the robot. Clyde and the ciminals escape. However, Margaret deduces that the robot has feelings, and, holding Bonnie at gunpoint, decides to implement a plan.

The freed inmates question Clyde, arguing that they would all be surely put on the death penalty... until the robot returns and crushes one particularly noisy inmate. The others all escape. The robot shows Clyde a map he discovers in the wood which shows Bonnie's location, an obvious trap set by the rangers. The robot insists that Bonnie can't be left behind, and both he and Clyde follows the map straight into the ambush. Clyde is killed in the resulting firefight, and the robot guns down Bonnie, preferring seeing her dead than behind bars. The robot, crippled, can only watches as Margaret walks up and shoots him in the head. Margaret tells the others to cover it up with Bonnie's poem — the death for Bonnie and Clyde.

Featured Transformers: Unnamed Car Mutation (killed)
Notable Others: Clyde Barrow (killed), Bonnie Parker (killed), W.D. Jones, Margaret Simmons, Roy Thompson, Texas Rangers (some presumably killed)

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Blackjack

Transformers Sector Seven #4: Weapon

December 2010 Written By: John Barber Art By: Lou Kang Colours By: Andrew Crossley & David Aravena Letters By: Chris Mowry Edits By: Andy Schmidt & Carlos Guzman

Synopsis: 3 April 1944: Walter Simmons summons his grandson, Private Billy Simmons, to the Sector Seven command post at the Hoover Dam, having arranged his transfer into Sector Seven from the military. Billy isn’t happy, wanting to face Nazis on the battlefield, but is mollified when Walter lays out his task on him: get behind enemy lines to destroy an N.B.E. that the Nazis have captured and are reverse-engineering to create weapons.

Together with six of the best Sector Seven field agents, Billy prepares for an air-drop into Nazi territory. Some members of the crew joke around, but the team’s plane is suddenly shot down by Nazi tanks using lasers. Billy survives, and meets up with three of his crew members, but Newcombe was crushed by one of the tanks soon afterwards. Billy’s team runs into a ditch, reasoning that the tank won’t be able to follow. However, the tank transforms into a robot. Sergeant Donavan opens fire with a bazooka, toppling the tank and mortally injuring himself in the process. Billy finds that a Nazi pilot is wired into the systems, and kills the Nazi. Left only with ‘The Kid’, Billy devises a plan. The two manage to lead the two tank-robots into a heavily wooded area. Through the battle, they manage to trick a tank-robot into falling down, and the Kid commandeers it to destroy the other. However, Billy’s hand is burnt off during the battle.

Simmons and the Kid hijack the tank, and after a foiled infiltration attempt, attack Castle Neuschwanstein. The Nazis activate a larger robot, a ‘Panzer-Giganten’, which kills the Kid and destroys the tank-robot. Billy machine-guns his way through the Nazi soldiers, pursued by the Panzer-Giganten on the way. Billy throws a satchel of explosives at the Panzer-Giganten, which bats it away… only for it to explode and release Jetfire from his confinement. A disgusted Jetfire tears his fist through the Panzer-Giganten and tears out the human components inside. Jetfire confronts Billy, demanding to know why his kind does this to themselves, and then questions Billy about his willingness to sacrifice himself. Billy tells Jetfire that he values freedom more than his own life Jetfire flashes back to standing up against the Fallen, and he tells Billy that they are more alike than they realize. Jetfire massacres everyone in Castle Neuschwanstein and levels it, before flying Simmons to an Allied command post, and then proceeds to depart without leaving any tangible evidence of his existence. Billy suspects the Nazis of duplicating a map of a tunnel system gleaned from Jetfire, and then requests a permanent transfer to Sector Seven, continuing the legacy of his family.

Featured Transformers: Jetfire
Notable Others: Walter Simmons, William ‘Billy’ Simmons, Horwitz (killed), Corliss (killed), Sergeant Donavan (killed), Garcia (killed), Lupton ‘the Kid’ (killed), Newcombe (killed), Nazi Tank Robots (destroyed), Lots of Nazis (killed), Panzer-Giganten (killed)

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Blackjack

Transformers Sector Seven #5: Frozen

January 2011 Written By: John Barber Art By: Jon Davis-Hunt Letters By: Chris Mowry Edits By: Andy Schmidt

Synopsis: 9 February 1954: an act of sabotage has overheated the furnaces in Sector Seven's Arctic base, driving up the temperature of the base, threatening to defrost Megatron. This triggers a lockdown, trapping Billy Simmons, Anne Fischer, Philip Nolan, Danco junior and Fontaine inside, one of whom is the traitor. Walter Simmons, meanwhile, arrives and has no choice but to order a bombardment of the base with liquid nitrogen bombs. In the base, Nolan has gone a little crazy, believing that an NBE might be hiding among the crew. The others subdue Billy. They have around four hours before Megatron defrosts. Anne, Fontaine and Danco plan to link an air duct to restore the freezing Arctic air that will keep Mega-Man immobile. Fontaine has to climb up into the ducts to make the link.

Anne Fischer visits Nolan, who is locked up in a cell. Nolan denies the accusations of sabotage, and grudgingly admits that his flipping out was the results of jealousy against Billy for accusing the respected scientist Oppenheimer of being a communist. Apparently Anne and Billy are in a relationship as well. However, blood suddenly splashes on Nolan, and they are surprised to see Fontaine's corpse slump out of the ceiling in Nolan's cell. Billy arrives out of nowhere, but the three rush back to the Mega-Man chamber, where the control panel Danco is working on had exploded. This causes less time for them until Megatron thaws. Billy and Nolan then takes blood samples from the sick bay and compares them with fresh samples to confirm their humanity. All the tests show positive other than Anne — but that's only because she was pregnant. Apparently the duo had been married in secret the previous year. Nolan draws a gun on Billy, and demands to know where he was when Fontaine was killed. Billy tells them that he was investigating the network of underground caves that apparently stretches all over the world, trying to find an escape route. Danco junior then reveals himself as the traitor and Fontaine's murderer. Apparently he has defected to the Communists, and plans to escape to Russia with S-7's secrets.

However, before Danco can fire, Megatron, defrosted, crashes through the wall behind them and attempts to break through to the surface. Meanwhile, aboveground, Walter Simmons reflects on the tragedy on his family that his obsession has caused, and solemnly gives the command to drop the bombs. One of the planes reveals itself to be Jetfire, who transforms and shields Nolan and Anne from the freezing explosion which engulfs Megatron, Billy and Danco. Jetfire and Walter talk to each other, recognizing each other from past encounters. Jetfire tells Walter how Billy had assisted him against the Nazis, making him realize the contradictions within humanity and himself, causing him to try and atone for his sins. Jetfire tells Walter that he can also change. As Jetfire flies away, Walter begs Anne to keep his great-grandson Seymour away from Sector Seven. Later Walter notes in his journal that the Russians manages to construct a power plant, citing the possibility of Danco's survival, and if then, Billy's.

Featured Transformers: Megatron, Jetfire
Notable Others: Walter Simmons, Philip Nolan, Danco Junior (possibly killed), Anne Fischer, Billy Simmons (possibly killed), Fontaine (killed)

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Blackjack

 

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