TRANSFORMERS: WAR AND PEACE #6

"REVELATION"
Writer: Brad Mick* | Pencils: Pat Lee | Inks: Rob Armstrong
Backgrounds: Edwin Garcia | Layout Assists: Ferd Poblete | Letters: Ben Lee
Colors: Espen Grundetjern, Alan Wang, Rob Ruffolo, Ramil Sunga & Pat Lee

The Plot: In the Vector Sigma chamber, Shockwave explains to Optimus Prime that 7.9 million years ago, after the Autobots and Decepticons led by Prime and Megatron departed Cybertron, the entire planet and all Transformers on it went into hibernation. Then, three thousand years ago, Shockwave awakened and set about reactivating the others and taking control of the planet. Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus slowly makes his way toward the chamber.

Outside, the Autobots and Decepticons fight while the ruling Autobot council debates whether to join the action. Meanwhile, Starscream, Soundwave, Rumble, Frenzy, Skywarp, and Thundercracker haul a quintet of deactivated Decepticons to the Autobot shuttle Sky Linx and attempt to leave the planet, but Sky Lynx has plans of his own.

Shockwave continues his story, claiming responsibility for the destruction of Ark II as a way to delay the Transformers' return to Cybertron, thus buying him more time to prepare his forces to invade Earth. Outside, the battle rages on as Grimlock joins the fray, followed in short order by the Autobot council.

Meanwhile, Shockwave declares that some secret knowledge about the history of the Transformer race lies buried on Earth and he intends to find it. But Ultra Magnus, sans his exterior armor, shows up and together he and Prime defeat Shockwave, sending him plummeting into a seemingly bottomless pit. Grimlock saves the pair and they exit Shockwave's citadel.

In deep space, Megatron's drifting body is found by a strange robot in a starship.

Continuity Notes: When Shockwave flashes back to the Transformers' deactivation, the characters are all in their Cybetronian modes, established in Dreamwave's WAR WITHIN mini-series by Simon Furman and Don Figueroa.

Shockwave's claim that he destroyed Ark II is a ret-con, as it was stated in "Prime Directive" that the deed was done by General Hallo. But I suppose it's possible Shockwave somehow controlled Hallo. He explains here that he has been well aware of Earth and its connection with the Transformers for some time, and we will learn in the ongoing series that he has agents on Earth with the ability to mind-control humans.

Shockwave also reveals that Cybertron is actually a massive starship, and he's managed to get some of its engines working again, explaining Perceptor's findings that it recently left its orbit. He also divulges that his research has uncovered the Transformers' original purpose: the Decepticons are conquerors, meant to go out into the galaxy and colonize it, while the Autobots are defenders, mean to remain behind on those colonies and safeguard them. He also implies that the Transformers' long-held belief they were programmed by a god named Primus may not be entirely true, and that the answer to this riddle lies on Earth.

The strange mustachioed robot who discovers Megatron drifting through space is Wreck-Gar, leader of the Junkions.

Body Count: Shockwave apparently perishes at the story's climax.

G1 References: Starscream refers to his five stolen Decepticons as "...my own personal brigade if you will." This is a reference to the original series episode "Starscream's Brigade", which introduced the Combaticons.

During the big fight, Blitzwing says to Hot Rod, "Nice move, Autobrat! But what comes up... Must come dow[n.]", mirroring his classic line in TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE, "Come on down, Autobrat!" -- also spoken to Hot Rod.

When Ultra Magnus dramatically appears to rescue Optimus Prime, he's lost all his armor and is now a white version of Prime. This is a callback to the Ultra Magnus toy, which featured a repaint of Optimus Prime that plugged into a much larger shell to form a big robot. This issue is the first time the resemblance was acknowledged in any continuity. Previously, Magnus's "inner robot" was never seen and he was usually shown to transform without such a component existing.

BEAST WARS References: The five Transformers stolen by Starscream are referred to as "protoforms", a term originating in the BEAST WARS TV series.

My Thoughts: There is a lot going on in this issue. Most of Shockwave's scenes are just big walls of text as he explains his plans. It's a bit much to wade through, and it would've been nice to have this stuff dropped in throughout the series rather than dumped all at once in the final issue, but putting that aside, I like a lot of what Mick is doing here. He's engaging in some admirable world-building with his version of the Transformers, and it's great to see. Most intriguing is the mystery of just how Earth and Cybertron are linked, and what secret of the Transformer race is hidden here on our little blue orb.

I also really like that at some point Mick ditched the conceit that this was a limited series. This is still the final issue, 6 of 6, but think about all the apparently dropped plots: Scourge. Jazz's group on Earth. Starscream's escape from Cybertron. At some point Mick must have become aware that an ongoing series would start soon, so rather than wrap up all his plot threads, he's essentially just treated these six issues as the first six installments of the ongoing. I like it.

What I don't like, however, is the artwork. I'm surprised how quickly it went wrong. Just a couple issues back I was praising Pat Lee for not having lost his touch yet. But suddenly all the bad I remember about his stuff is on display. His Transformers have become big and bulbous, and the storytelling -- somewhat questionable all along -- has become downright unintelligible. Though that last part might also be related to the coloring, which has become so dark that you can barely tell what's happening.

But this is Lee's last issue. Next, we'll move along to the ongoing series. Mick stays on board as writer, but is joined by the stellar Don Figueroa on pencils. It won't last long, but it'll be a fun ride.

---

* Due to working in Dreamwave's editorial department, writer James McDonough scripted his first several TRANSFORMERS comics under the pseudonym "Brad Mick". My reviews will use the Brad Mick name until the point where McDonough is officially credited by his real name.