TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE #96

"THE WAR TO END ALL WARS, PART 1"
Writer: Simon Furman | Penciler: Guido Guidi | Inker/Finisher: Stephen Baskerville
Colorist: John-Paul Bove | Letterer: Chris Mowry | Editor: John Barber
Editor-in-Chief: Chris Ryall

Cover by Andrew Wildman

The Plot: In the distant future, near the end of his life, Rodimus Prime reflects on the past. And in that past, the Autobots are cleaning up after Bludgeon's attack. Bludgeon himself is still alive, and Rodimus decides to spare him rather than give him the honorable death he expected.

On Earth and Nebulos, Optimus Prime and an Autobot team construct different ends of a space bridge to ferry the surviving human population off-planet. Prime takes a break to join a conference call with Cybertron, and appoints Rodimus the official leader of the Autobots. Rodimus then declares his intention to find and deal with the four loose ends Primus showed him: Jhiaxus, the Deathbringer Matrix energy, Galvatron, and Spike.

Ultra Magnus and some men find Galvatron, but he is taken underground by a cult of Uncron worshippers. Soon after, Jhiaxus arrives on Cybertron, declaring peaceful intentions. Starscream somehow senses his arrival just before it happens.

G1 Continuity: The Unicron cult appeared somewhere around TRANSFORMERS #75, in which they fought Optimus Prime and Scorponok.

Body Count: Gunrunner, an Autobot I'm unfamiliar with, is seemingly killed by Galvatron.

Variant "retro" cover by Guido Guidi

My Thoughts: One word: Bumblebee! It's about time! Rodimus Prime assigns him, along with another favorite, the Autobot detective Nightbeat, to investigate the four threats Primus warned him about. I don't know where the little guy's been for the past fifteen issues, but better late than never, I suppose.

During a brief scene on Nebulos, we learn that the one surviving Nebulan Headmaster, Stylor, has returned to Nebulan society and his partner, Chromedome, has regained his original head. Fortress Maximus is also slated to get his original head back, but it appears to have been corrupted by something; most likely the Deathbringer energy. I suspect that, given that both Spike and the Deathbringer were on Primus's list for Rodimus, and Spike was once Fortress Maximus's head, this will all turn out to be related somehow.

It's weird, but kind of cool, to see Optimus Prime and Rodimus Prime in operation at the same time. I'm still waiting for Optimus to die, though now I think it would be nice -- if somewhat anticlimactic -- if he simply retires to live out the rest of his life in peace.

But speaking of Rodimus, I'm curious about this issue's framing device, as an elderly version of the new Autobot leader reflects on his life, and very specifically on the chain of events we're about to read. Why does he specifically remember this occasion over all others in his twilight years? I suspect these issues will be about as epic as the Transformers have ever been. But then I guess I'd expect no less, given we're now into the final five issues of the series.

Final Opinion: It's kind of fun reading this, knowing the end is in sight. Everything has presumably led up to this final story arc, after all. I still worry there's not enough space left -- only four issues to go now! -- for Furman to cover everything he wants to get to, but like I said last time -- he's quite adept at the kind of intricate plotting this sort of thing requires, so I should probably just unclench and enjoy the ride.

Available as part of Transformers: Regeneration One Volume 4 from Amazon.com.