[cover] TRANSFORMERS ENERGON #25

Cover Date: July 2004
Story: Simon Furman
Pencils: Joe Ng
Inks: Elaine To
Lettering: Ben Lee
Setting: Ocean City Command Hub. Yukon Wilderness.

Plot Summary: Fed up with the Omnicons causing unwarranted damage to Earth in their search for Energon, Optimus Prime orders Hot Shot to take them to the Yukon to whip them into shape. However, upon arriving, they proceed to accidentally destroy some important equipment. Pushed to the breaking point, Hot Shot orders the Omnicons to get lost…which they do, interpreting Hot Shot’s words as orders.

As Hot Shot and Kicker head out to find them, the Omnicons arrive at a deserted town, investigating mysterious energy readings. Suddenly, without warning, satellite dishes erupt from the ground and knock them unconscious. The source of the fire is soon revealed: the Decepticon Snow Cat! After reporting to Scorponok, Snow Cat explains the situation to the Omnicons. He tells them that he is using Spark Rewriters to reprogram them to serve the Decepticons.

Suddenly, the Omnicons find themselves transported to a black void, where they are contacted by Over-Run. He reminds them of all the times he has put them through the ropes, reminding them that even though they have special abilities, they aren’t as smart as they think they are.

As Snow Cat prepares to cover his tracks, the Omnicons break free. Before they can do anything, however, Snow Cat heads off. Signal Flare orders them to withhold their Energon weapons, and they proceed to follow him.But despite their best efforts, they cannot stop them. As Snow Cat comes in for the kill, Signal Flare announces that they are standing directly underneath a pocket of natural gas…which the Omnicons have been manipulating. The ground erupts, sending Snow Cat spinning into Skyblast, who drops him right onto Hot Shot.

A week later, Optimus tells Hot Shot that he is returning to Cybertron in the hopes of gaining permission from the Cybertron council for reinforcements. However, instead of emerging on Cybertron, he arrives at Unicron, where a holographic image of Megatron greets him…

Transformers/Humans Featured (in rough order of appearance): Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, Ironhide, Kicker, Skyblast, Arcee, Strongarm, Signal Flare, Snow Cat, Scorponok, Over-Run, Megatron.

Other Notes: The Autobot’s main base of operations in this issue, Ocean City, is one of the four main Autobot cities in the cartoon. According to Hot Shot, he has given the Omnicons sixteen orders, nineteen requests and four polite suggestions before finally obeying him with his “get lost” order. The Omnicons leave discharged Energon particles in their wake, which makes them easy to track by others. Snow Cat’s comment that “Megatron will be back” hints at his supposed connection to the Decepticon leader, as shown in the (non-canon) Summer Special Energon story. But since that story was tagged as being out of continuity with the Energon universe, we may never really know. A robot that happens to look a great deal like G1 Scourge is located near Optimus Prime when he appears onboard Unicron.

Review: Much like the last issue, I expected this issue to be little more than filler, as I knew that the main thrust of the Energon story would not be happening until at least the next issue. Fortunately, unlike the last issue, I was able to enjoy this issue. Unlike in the last issue, in which we were treated to a dark, mature story, we have a good natured, light hearted tale. Granted, both sorts of tales can be acceptable, but since we’ve been dealing with a darker storyline than most Transfans (especially those to which Energon is targeted) are used to up until this point, I kinda like the fact that we diverged into pure comedy, even if it was only of one issue. Of course, the final page means that not only are the dark times of Energon on their way back, but we are finally getting to the stuff that people have been waiting for ever since Energon began, which will no doubt please a great deal of fans.

This issue has also made me a big fans of the Omnicons. Instead of being treated like a workforce race like in the cartoon, the comic only has four of them, each of them having a personality akin of a malfunctioning computer. This twist on these characters was obvious from their first appearance in Energon #19, and was a source of many humorous moments throughout the comic up until this point, and that comedic talent is played to the hilt in this issue. My personal favorite scene is the one in which the Omnicons are talking to Over-Run, only to realize that they are talking to themselves as they come to.

I also have to say that DW has made a big mistake in not stating whether or not Snow Cat is Cyclonus for one hundred percent sureness. In the cartoon, Cyclonus was changed into Snow Cat by Megatron after being damaged in an attack. Although no such action has occured in the comic, it does not make the situation any more clear.

I wasn’t exactly keen on a two issue side story after the first Energon arc, especially since they last time Dreamwave has done this (in Armada #12 and #13), it was not exactly done in the best way. And while #24 was not that great, #25 managed to, at least in my opinion, make it worth it. Now, let’s get to the good stuff.

Review by Bombshell