TRANSFORMERS ARMADA #12
Cover Date: June 2003
Story: Simon Furman
Pencils: Guido Guidi
Inks: Elaine To
Lettering: Paul Villafuerte
Setting: Earth -Northern Alaska, 93 miles due West of Barrow. Death Valley, California. Lincoln, Nebraska, Autobase: Earth. Silver Ridge, Nebraska, Decepticon Base.

Plot Summary:
One of the Mini-Con escape pods (from Issue #11) crash lands in Alaska, knocking out the Mini-Cons onboard (Commetor, Inferno, and the Street Speed Team). Meanwhile, Scavenger and Smokescreen (last seen in issue #5) inform Optimus of activity in Death Valley. Thinking they are going to rescue the Mini-Cons, Sparkplug and Astroscope are elated, until they hear that's not the plan. Sparkplug tells Prime that it's not a good idea to give the Mini-Cons they rescued any reason to walk. Meanwhile, Megatron attempts to use the Destruction team to power himself, but they resist, only offering their power in exchange for having some power. Megatron reluctantly aggress, and offers Cyclonus as their volunteer. Back at the Autobot base, Rook attempts to rally the Mini-Cons into leaving, when Sparkplug and Prime appear, and offer their assistance in helping to free the trapped Mini-Cons. Meanwhile, the Adventure Team are on their way to rescue them when they run into Thrust and get into a firefight, one that is violently ended by the arrival of Cyclonus, who has the Destruction Team attached to him. As Thrust tries to get the Mini-Cons out, Cyclonus suddenly attacks him. At Death Valley, Laserbeak arrives and tells Scavenger and Smokescreen to use whatever means necessary to stop the rocket.news that arrives too late, as it has launched, carrying Megatron.and a secret weapon that he intends to use to destroy the trapped escape pod!

Transformers/Humans Featured (in rough order of appearance):
Backtrack, Oval, Spiral, Comettor, Inferno, Smokescreen, Scavenger, Skywarp, Sideways, Wheeljack, Red Alert, Optimus Prime, Sparkplug, Astroscope, Megatron, Cyclonus, Starscream, Buzzsaw, Drillbit, Dualor, Dune Runner, Iceberg, Ransack, Thrust, Rook, Sky Blast, Incinerator, Laserbeak.

Other Notes:
Smokescreen and Scavenger have been in Death Valley, investigating Decepticon activity since issue #6. This issue marks the first appearance of Skywarp, Sideways and Wheeljack (only the latter two having appeared in toy form, and in the cartoon as well, at the time the issue was released). Does Rook's attempt to gather the Mini-Cons to his side indicate a hidden agenda, possibly involving a certain Chaos Bringer? Laserbeak was last seen in issue #9.

Review: FINALLY! We learn just where the hell Smokescreen and Scavenger have been for the past half dozen issues. Unfortunately, it comes off as being too convenient. The news continues to get bad when one realizes that this is the first thing in a long list of things that ends up being wrong with this issue. For starters, the issue just SCREAMS of "filler", and I've never been a great fan of "exposition" issues, No matter how good they are. They finally reveal the whereabouts of two characters missing for six issues, and introduce another three, and yet, they leave a good dozen Mini-Cons out in the cold. (Something I sure found surprising, considering that the Autobots have apparently rescued all the non-Decepticon allied Mini-Cons by this point in time.) This leads to yet ANOTHER point, as a potential plot point (a race between the two camp to rescue the Mini-Cons) ends up going out the window in favor of a "Super Weapon Of The Week" story so common to the G1 cartoon. And unfortunately, the bad news doesn't stop there...

Review by Bombshell