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THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

Marvel Comics
(1984-1994)
Japanese
Manga
Other Books
and Titles
Titan Books
(2001-2010)
Club/Con
(2001-2016)
Dreamwave
(2002-2004)
Devil's Due
(2003-2007)
IDW Publishing
(2005-now)

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

Transformers Spotlight, second series of issues

| Soundwave | Kup | Galvatron | Optimus Prime | Ramjet | TPB | PREVIEWS | Optimus Prime 3D |

Spotlight: Soundwave

Released 21st March 2007.

Written by Simon Furman.

Art by Marcelo Matere.

Colours by Rob Ruffalo.

Letters by Neil Uyetake.

Edited by Chris Ryall and Dan Taylor.

$3.99 cover price, choice of covers.

Synopsis: Following Spotlight: Shockwave Bludgeon is investigating the missing Decepticon's projects, but a suspicious Megatron orders Soundwave to keep an optic on him as well. This turns out to be a wise move as Bludgeon keeps many of his findings to himself, including information on the Re-genesis project.

Time passes, and in 1984 Bludgeon and his fellow renegades have followed the trail to Earth and found a seam of super Energon in Texas. They have used facsimiles at a construction site to set up an explosion that will allow them to take the Ore easily and without being observed. But Soundwave has followed and seen everything in the guise of a tape recorder, and has used Ravage to trace Bludgeon to his base beneath Mount St. Helens in Oregon.

Rather than following Megatron's orders Soundwave tries to cut a deal in exchange for a "cut" of the Super Energon. However, when Bludgeon tells him they plan to use the new fuel to resurrect Thunderwing he realises they're insane and - somewhat against his better judgement - he makes a attempt to stop them. Iguanus uses a weapon developed by Shockwave to trap Soundwave in tape deck mode before they depart for Cybertron (with a cargo of ore) and blow up the base behind them.

1985: A Skywatch team lead by Joshua Red uncover the remains of Laserbeak, and are excited at the thought of the funding this will bring them.

2007: In Portland a teenage decides to go all retro and buy a small blue tape player from a second hand shop...

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Soundwave, Megatron [Flashback], Bludgeon, Iguanus, Bomb-Burst, Skullgrin, Finback [Flashback only], Ravage, Laserbeak, Joshua Red.

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Inflatable Dalek

Spotlight: Kup

Released 25th April 2007.

Written by Nick Roche.

Art by Nick Roche.

Colours by Andrew Elder.

Letters by Robbie Robbins.

Edited by Chris Ryall and Dan Taylor.

$3.99 cover price, choice of covers.

Synopsis: On an unnamed planet a lone mechanoid survives a spaceship crash. Seeing an Autobot approach he thinks salvation has found him, but he is killed by Kup before he can even finish explaining his predicament. Kup's in a bad way, during the day the planet isn't so bad, its energy-rich crystals sing him a wonderful song. But at night they come for him, and he doesn't know how much more he can take. Returning to the wreckage of his own ship, he muses on the crystals, and how potent they are. So potent that when they first arrived a transmitter he and fellow survivor Outback built powered by them exploded. Outback doesn't talk so much since then. In fact Outback doesn't do much of anything since then, but even as a corpse he's the only friend Kup's got. As night falls a ghastly green ghost appears and tells Kup They're coming to get him, as a hoard of decaying Zombies begin calling his name outside.

Come daybreak Kup goes outside to bathe in the energies of the crystals, and as he listens to the song he vows not the let the monsters separate him from them. But as the ghost appears that night Kup realises he's left the shutters open and the Zombies can get in. Rushing out he manages beats the Zombies off with a hand from Outback (literally) and manages to kill most of them when his Spark core starts to overload and nearly explodes. One escapes however, and calls for an Orbital Jump...

...and is transported up to Ark-17. The Zombie is in fact the Autobot Siren in a radiation suit, and he reports to Perceptor about their failure to rescue the addled old timer. They need to act quickly because if Kup's damaged spark does go it will take most of the planet with it due to the explosive nature of the crystals. Siren angrily demands to know when the specialist they were promised will get there.

Wrecker leader Springer — who authorised the mission — arrives and is dismayed by the lack of progress. He's been trying to contact Kup through Outback’s holo-transmitter but has no idea if it's worked or not. In a communicator conference with Prowl on Earth, Springer is berated for wasting so much time, energy (and lives) on rescuing just one Autobot. It's only the Wrecker pointing out that Optimus Prime would be leading the rescue mission personally if he knew about it that stops Prowl from making an official report to their leader to get it stopped. Springer later confides to Perceptor that no matter the cost they must get Kup back because they owe it him, as without his training none of them, even Prime, would be here today. He's then relieved to be told the specialist has arrived at last.

On the planet night has again fallen and an increasing deranged Kup once more fights his zombie foes. As his spark approaches meltdown point he suddenly runs into Trailbreaker (the specialist), who uses his force field to contain the explosion. Kup is taken up to the ship where he's given a placeholder powercore to maintain his spark. But his reluctance to upgrade over the years means most of his parts aren't compatible with current technology, and his mind may well never heal. As Springer looks at him in the life support unit he wonders if it was worth all they lost to rescue Kup...

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Kup, Outback [Deceased], Siren, Perceptor, Springer, Prowl [Hologram], Sizzle, Trailbreaker. Just about anyone could be in the other radiation suits, it's actually quite fun to think that, say, Silverbolt could die horribly here without even getting his face on a page...

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Inflatable Dalek

Spotlight: Galvatron

Released 4th June 2007.

Written by Simon Furman.

Art by Guido Guidi.

Colours by Eric Burns.

Cover art by Guido Guidi and Alex Milne.

Letters by Chris Moway.

Edits by Dan Taylor.

Synopsis: Millions of years ago: The first Ark was launched from Cybertron on a mission to the Benzuli Expanse - under the pretense of exploration and the opening of new trade routes - that the then Prime had authorised after the Matrix that he carried had sensed something like "a door opening" within the expanse. Upon their arrival to the Benzuli Expanse, they discovered a yawning darkness within the region, which defied the crew’s efforts to study it. On board the Ark, Galvatron, who was one of the Ark’s crew members, refused to admit to that their venture had ended in failure. Believing that his destiny laid within it the dark abyss, Galvatron, who hadn’t revealed his plans to his fellow crewmen, drove the Ark into the void.

Present time: As the anomaly within the Benzuli Expanse continued to spread, a group of explorers, launched from Helo-Q, investigate the void as it nears their home world; their forecast is bleak. As the onlookers foretell their doom, Galvatron, now a herald and emissary for the forces that lie within the dark universe emerged from its depths, and destroyed them before embarking on his new mission. Though he accomplishes this appointed task unwaveringly, Galvatron, having no desire to remain a puppet for the forces that command him, harbours plans of his own.

On Cybertron, a team lead by Hound had been assigned to guard over Thunderwing’s laboratory and his body (see Stormbringer). Sideswipe conversely, having grown increasingly frustrated from this monotonous assignment, longs to be on Earth where the action is so he can help find Sunstreaker, who had recently gone MIA (see Escalation). His estimation of the mission is soon proven erroneous however, when Galvatron arrives, killing Leadfoot and disabling the others before making off with his prize! Returning to the portal on Gorlam Prime (see Spotlight: Nightbeat), Galvatron presents to his Master the object that he was assigned to retrieve: Thunderwing’s body.

Characters Featured: Galvatron, Sideswipe, Leadfoot [killed by Galvatron], Ratchet, Hound, Jimmy, Verity, Warpath, Road Rocket, Skram, Thunderwing’s body. As Galvatron presents Thunderwing, five beings begin to emerge from the pool, but are covered in silvery goo as they are they could be anybody.

Reviews & Commentary: Review by Inflatable Dalek

Spotlight: Optimus Prime

Released 29th August 2007.

Written by Simon Furman.

Art by Don Figueroa.

Colours by Josh Burcham.

Cover Art by Don Figueroa and Gabriel Roderrigues.

Letters by Chris Moway.

Edits by Dan Taylor.

Synopsis: following the events of Escalation a repaired Optimus Prime is feeling both dejected at his near defeat by Megatron and confused by the vision he had of a previous Autobot leader -- Nova Prime -- whilst his mind was in limbo. Seeking answers he leaves Earth and goes to a remote asteroid where he meets with Omega Supreme, an Autobot who knew Nova Prime.

Omega explains that Nova and he disagreed about the future of the Transformers race, with the Prime firmly taking the view they should expand and explore the universe whilst he cautioned a more measured and slow approach. The launch of the original Ark was part of Nova's expansionist agenda. Omega concedes that despite the ship being lost with all hands- including Nova- the former Prime may well be still alive.

Their talk is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a giant Transformer who swears vengeance on Omega before attacking him. Despite being one of the most powerful Autobots Omega is no match for his assailant, and he and Prime are quickly blown into space. With a quick respite Omega quickly explains that the Transformer- Monstructor- is actually a gestalt made up of six different Transformers. They ere a experiment carried out by Nova's assistant Jhiaxus, but any advantages of their combined form were countered by their devolved intelligence. Once the Ark vanished Omega sealed them in a Dimensionally Placed Prison, but now they've escaped and have come to get payback.

Prime is shocked at Omega's actions and now considers him no better than Nova and the others. He attempts to reach out to Monstructor and offer him help, but fails to get through and is forced to disable him by shooting at his one vulnerable spot. Summoning a group of Autobots lead by Jetfire to take the six Decepticons to where they can get help in a secure environment Prime is left with more questions than he began with, and the sense that the title he holds is not as pure and sacred as he thought.

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Optimus Prime, Wheelie [On screen], Ultra Magnus [On Screen], Hound [On Screen], Springer [On Screen], Prowl, Megatron [Flashback], Sentinel Prime [Flashback], Nova Prime [Flashback], Omega Supreme, Bristleback, Icepick, Wildfly, Scowl, Birdbrain, Slog, Monstructor, Jetfire, Dogfight, Backstreet, Override, Pointblank, Sureshot, Crosshairs, Scattershot, Strafe, Lightspeed.

Reviews & Commentary: Review by Inflatable Dalek

Spotlight: Ramjet

Released 7th November 2007.

Written by Stuart Moore.

Art by Robby Musso.

Colours by Josh Burcham.

Letters by Chris Mowry.

Edited by Chris Ryall and Andrew Stephen Harris.

Synopsis: Newly arrived on Earth, Ramjet summons Skywarp to a clandestine meeting where he offers his fellow Decepticon the chance to join him in overthrowing Megatron. Skywarp is unimpressed by talk of “non-linear” plans and destiny, but gives Ramjet an Earth solar cycle to come up with something truly impressive to change his mind.

Ramjet then puts his plans into play, which include:

- Having his "Mini-Constructicons build a Universal Cybertronic Tracker that will allow him to locate every Transformer in the Universe.
- Placing a facsimile construct within the Pentagon, and through him acquiring the missile activation codes that will allow him to launch America's nuclear arsenal and destroy the country.
- Placing electronic bugs within fliers, which are then taken into an EU energy research base that will allow him to know the second they develop a fuel source that can substitute for Energon, and thus give him full independence from Megatron.

The ultimate goal of this plan is that the new fuel source will bring the other Decepticons under his control, the missiles will destroy America throwing the planet into chaos, his brand new "Micro Constructicons" will allow him to control the remaining humans, and finally, the new space bridge technology that he has been developing will give him dominion over the Universe.

Before all that though, Ramjet decides to test his tracker device, first by locating Megatron. It works wonderfully by telling him the Decepticon leader is right behind him. Megatron easily beats Ramjet in a fight, scattering his body parts over the places he's visited and keeping his head as a trophy. Ramjet was ultimately betrayed by Skywarp, who knows to always bet on the leader...

Characters Featured [in rough order of appearance]: Ramjet [Killed by Megatron], Skywarp, Megatron, Blitzwing, Koska, Optimus Prime, Runabout [Ramjet's fantasy sequence], Runamuck [Fantasy], Soundwave [Fantasy]. The same page spread also includes Hunter, Verity, and Jimmy as controlled zombies.

Reviews & Commentary: Review by Inflatable Dalek

Spotlights Volume 2 TPB

Amazon estimate February 2008.

$19.99 list price.

Reprints the second series of Spotlight issues.

Publisher solicitation: IDW's one-shots focusing on the most celebrated Transformers characters continue in this second collection of Spotlights. This time around, see how and why Soundwave, KUP, Galvatron, Optimus Prime, and Ramjet fit into the Transformers ever-expanding IDW-verse.

Browse at Amazon.com | Browse at Amazon.co.uk

Spotlight: Optimus Prime 3-D Edition

Due November 2008.

Publisher solicitation: Re-presenting Spotlight OPTIMUS PRIME in glorious full-color 3-D! Get ready to see Prime in a way you never have before! To those under his command, he is an island, forever stood apart, aloof. In times of dire personal crisis he has no one to turn to… save one. Guest-starring OMEGA SUPREME!

$5.99 cover price.

 

| Escalation | IDW Comics Guide | Megatron Origin |

 
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