Counterpoint
From Transformers Wiki
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| "Counterpoint" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | IDW Publishing | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 5,2012 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | May 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Penciler | Andrew Wildman | ||||||||||||
| Inker | Stephen Baskerville | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | John-Paul Bove | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Chris Mowry | ||||||||||||
| Editor | John Barber | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Everything old is new again!
Contents |
Synopsis
From the realm ofZero Space,at the end of existence where all of time and space has collapsed into a perfect singularity, the history of theTransformersis examined, from the battle betweenPrimusandUnicron,to the birth of the first Cybertronians and the outbreak of theAutobot/Decepticoncivil war... from the arrival of their war onEarth,through the rise ofShockwave,the fall ofMegatron,and the creation ofcombinersandHeadmasters,to the devastation of theUnderbase Saga... fromThunderwingand the tainting of theCreation Matrixthrough the return of Unicron and his heraldGalvatron,to the death ofOptimus Prime... and to Prime's resurrection at the hands of theLast Autobot,who then restoresCybertronto glory once again!
Twenty-one years have passed since Cybertron's restoration. The world is at peace, populated by Autobots and Decepticons alike, and is presided over by the Last Autobot, perpetually standing sentinel atop a tower inIacon.But history has a habit of repeating itself, and once again, malcontents rally under the mantra of "Peace through tyranny", asSoundwavegathers several Decepticons atFort Scykand inspires them to retake for themselves the destiny Megatron had always envisioned.
Catching wind of this dissident activity,KupandUltra Magnustravel toNova Point,where a broodingOptimus Primehas sequestered himself to mentorHot Rod,and petition their leader for permission to send theWreckersin to stop the uprising before it begins. Believing that such an action would only galvanize support for the Decepticons, Prime forbids it, brusquely dismissing both Kup and Magnus, and their concerns that the threat is real.
Unfortunately, Prime could not be more wrong. Soundwave leads a Decepticon strike team toKalisin a raid on theBaird Beaming Transmitter,killing the Autobots manning the facility and hijacking control of one of Cybertron's orbital defense satellites. Normally used to destroy asteroids, Soundwave redirects the satellite to face the planet, and fires upon Iacon and the Last Autobot!
Featured characters
(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"No kidding! 'It's over--finished!' He reallysaidthat? "
- —A passing Cybertronian is introduced to the concept of theFurmanism
"Oh yeah! We got 'em! Got 'emrealgood. That was just so... mmmm-messy."
"Ruckus, you blowhard - be quiet!"
- —Ruckusgets told off bySpinister
"Witness! The beginning... ofthe end!"
- —Furmanised Narration
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
- On page one, Dreadwind and Darkwing flying overGardens of Eternal Peace and Harmony Macrobiotic RestaurantonNebulosare colored to instead beSkydiveandSlingshotflying over thespace bridgepipe-drill seen in "Aerialbots over America!".This was corrected in the trade paperback.
- Galvatron IIdoes not have a Decepticoninsigniaon his chest. This was corrected in the trade paperback.
- As Optimus Prime dismisses Ultra Magnus and Kup's concerns, "assault" is misspelled "assualt". This was corrected in the trade paperback.
- The flashback panel depicting the initial discovery of the Last Autobot shows him with a completely different face design, including a "normal" mouth.
- Rumble is far too tall in the flashbacks to the Ark.
Continuity errors
- Fort Scyk, which originally appeared in "The Magnificent Six!",is said to be inPolyhex,when that story placed it inStanix.This issue does present it as an isolated location, consistent with the original tale, and we're sure that its use as a meeting place for the neo-Decepticons is not coincidental, given the original story's description of it as a dumping ground for undesirables. Although thenext issuekeeps Fort Scyk in Polyhex,futureissueswill place it in theBadlands.Simon Furman's notes (links below) state that the name is "re-used here to denote any far-flung/isolated Decepticon outpost"
Continuity notes
- Twenty-one years have passed both in the real world and in-story between the publication of this issue andissue #80of the original series.
- The Cybertronian who delivers the line quoted above is carrying on a conversation via acommunicube.
- This issue marks the first fictional appearance of theMicromasterBattle Squad,though they are not Micromasters in this continuity. In the panel in which they are introduced there is a Decepticon who is obscured by Soundwave standing in front of him, but by a process of elimination, it's probablyPower Punch.
- This is the first appearance of Ultra Magnus and the first mention of theWreckersin the US continuity (having all previously been in the UK continuity).
- One of the DecepticonClonesappears with Soundwave's troops at Fort Scyk. Although they are usually depicted as being identical,issue #89will reveal some visual differences between them, allowing us to chalk this up as an appearance by Wingspan.
Real-life references
Other trivia
- While the sections of the story set in the present day draw and colour characters with their more "standard" recognizable designs, flashbacks do their best to accurately represent the characters as they appeared in the Marvel Comics series by replicating the color layouts and limited palette of the comic at the time. The most prominent example is Soundwave, who is coloured purple in the flashbacks, as he was in the comics, but appears in his more familiar blue in present-day scenes. Flashbacks depict Megatron with a black helmet, and use various shades of blue to represent black, while in the present day, Kup is actually teal, instead of the various blues the original comics required him to be. By contrast, though, Hot Rod is still using his Marvel color layout even in the present day, though he's a much lighter magenta, as opposed to his Marvel purple.
- In his first flashback appearance, Megatron is even drawn to the specifications of hisearly character model,with a different head design and a hand-heldfusion cannon,which was how he appeared in the first few issues of the Marvel series.
- This issue was released as part ofFree Comic Book Day2012.
- The inside front cover contains an introduction from author Simon Furman, explaining the premise of the series for new readers.
- The indicia calls the issue "The Transformers: Regeneration #80.5", rather than "Regeneration One".
Transformers references
- Optimus Prime sequestering himself at Nova Point and brooding about the future was also how theoriginalcontinuation of issue #80, the UK-exclusive story "Another Time & Place",began.
- TheCovenant of Primusis taken fromBeast WarsandJhiaxusis fromGeneration 2.
- Kalis(originally featured in UK story "City of Fear!"when it was inhabited by zombies) as foreshadowing for events in upcoming issues.
Furminated
- A half dozen generics
- TheLast Autobot
Covers (1)
Cover A
- Cover A:Optimus Prime atop a fractured field of images from the original Marvel series, by Andrew Wildman, Stephen Baskerville and Jason Cardy.
Advertisements
- The Transformers Classics
- The Transformers Classics UK
- The Transformers: The IDW Collection
- IDWTransformerscomics in general
- The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye
- The Transformers: Robots in Disguise
- The Transformers: Autocracy(including three-page preview)
- G.I. Joe:Retaliationprequel
- IDWG.I. Joecomics
External links
- Commentary from Simon Furman:
