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Pax Megatronus

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"Pax Megatronus"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published July 29,2015(print)
August 5,2015 (digital)
Cover date July 2015
Written by Tom ScioliandJohn Barber
Art by Tom Scioli
Colors by Tom Scioli
Letters by Tom Scioli
Editor Carlos Guzman
Production by Chris Mowry
Continuity Transformers vs. G.I. Joe

General Flagg awakens Omega Supreme and travels to a Cybertron in chaos as Optimus Prime and Megatron finally face off.

Contents

Synopsis

Billyhas escapedCybertronand returned toEarthwith a prize: the bloodied body ofSnake-Eyes,which he now lays before his very-much alive father,Cobra Commander!Though he is impressed by his son's accomplishment, the cybernetic limbs that are now a part of Billy raise the ire of the terribleKoh-Buru-Lah,and the Commander concedes that it is better that Billy die than live with the "stink of the machine" on him. His prostheses transform to try and fight back, but the eldritch horror tears the boy limb from limb.

InWashington, D.C.,Hawk,Lady Jaye,andFlasharrive at theWhite Houseto arrestGeneral Flagg,who has just overthrown thePresident.Flagg convinces them that he is the best man to lead the fight against the approaching Cybertron; after some arguing, Hawk's team agree, and together with Flagg, they set out to search for an Autobot sleeper agent who has been laying dormant on Earth for ages. While heading down Highway Omega, they come under attack fromStarscreamandViper,but are saved when the Autobot they are looking for turns out to actuallybethe very highway they are driving on—the titanicOmega Supreme,who awakens in time to dispatch their pursuers, then transforms into his rocket mode and carries them into space toward Cybertron. Omega is intercepted part-way by his old foe,Astrotrain,and the pair engage in battle, but before long, Omega triumphs, bringing himself, Astrotrain, and Flagg's team down to Cybertron with meteoric force.

The group finds a Cybertron in chaos. Word of the return ofOptimus Prime,and his taming ofScorponokand restoration ofBumblebee's body, has spread like wildfire around the planet, inciting the cowed Autobot populace to rebellion. While the Autobot masses, led byKupandWreck-Gar,follow Omega to Optimus, Flagg's team set out to search for the rest of the Joes on the planet, taking in the many strange sights: from the fully terraformed and now-overgrownIacon,to a trio of "Pretenders",robots created by the Decepticons to emulate human form.

Back on Earth, Cobra Commander prepares to unmask Snake-Eyes for his minions, in order to show off the damage he did to the ninja's face. Just before his mask is removed, however, Snake-Eyes springs to life, his near-death state an apparent ruse. He is immediately surrounded by the Commander's troops, including Koh-Buru-Lah's reptilian spawn, but quickly evades them and escapes outside.

Simultaneously, on Cybertron, Optimus Prime andMegatronface off as their assembled troops watch in awe. Though Prime appears to turn the fight in his favour when a blade-strike cleaves Megatron's chest open, what the wound reveals is more emotionally crippling to Optimus than any physical injury incurred in the combat: theMatrix of Leadership,stolen by Megatron so long ago, bonded to the Decepticon leader'sblack hole-heart to become the unholy tool with which he subjugated the will ofPrimushimself. Content that the most devastating blow possible has been stuck by this revelation, and concerned with far greater matters than a nostalgic bout with an old enemy, Megatron declares the duel over, and unperturbed by notions of "fairness," simply orders has his Decepticons to overrun the Autobots. Now, Megatron turns his attention toward his ultimate goal—for at last, the gap between Earth and Cybertron has closed, and the gigantic, horn-like mega-mountains that have grown from the metal world's surface now stab into Earth's crust with the force of uncountable atomic bombs! The Joes on Cybertron try to contact their homeworld, but there is no sign of response, and they can only watch as Optimus Prime is dragged to the edge of a pit and sent plunging to oblivion by a point-blankfusion cannonblast from Megatron, right through his chest!

Featured characters

Characters initalic textappear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons G.I. Joe Cobra Others

Quotes

"I told the president he could take a well-earned vacation. Told him Joe's got it from here."
"You've killed an entire special committee."
"I dunno. They were reptilian shapeshifters or robots in disguise or something."

—General Flaggis full of excuses thatHawkisn't buying


"How did it all start? I neededsomethingto slow it all down. The speeding, poundingthoughts.The torture of a hungry mind on this world of monolithic sameness. Only room for one mind: Megatron, the cosmicbore.No debate, only obeisance. I'm just old enough to remember the last days of the Iaconian salons. That was the world I was meant for--built too late. Dark Energon--Nucleon Nails--I've done 'em all. Never know which is gonna be the last one--the one that sends me to the slag heap. "
"Optimus is back! He's tamed the Scorponok. Trypticon is next. Spread the word."
"Optimus Prime. Optimusmolten-featheredPrime. Something new on this grey world. Something--someone--to ride for. "

—Wreck-Garthe drug addict is brought news byKupthat gives him the strength to break his habit


"Gather 'round, my children. Admire your leader's artistry. See how much I prettied him up. Take a look at the exquisite horror behind the mask of Snake Eyesss."

—Cobra Commander


"I'm not immune to the charms of nostalgia, but the old ways no longer apply. Scuffles are for lesser beings than I. My realm is the greater cosmos. Bear witness to the power of Megatron. Look up."

—Megatrondeclares his superiority, moments before Earth and Cybertron collide

Notes

Continuity notes

  • Surprising no-one, it turns out the "mystery villain" responsible for freeing Tomax and Xamot and raising Koh-Buru-Lah is Cobra Commander. Shock!
  • Billy has evidently escaped from his imprisonment within Scorponok following the events of last issue. Snake-Eyes was doing fine last we saw him, inMaccadam's Lubricariuminissue #6,but it looks like his bloodied, incapacitated state was a ruse.
  • Omega Supreme's absence was alluded to inissue #4.
  • The Pretenders are evidently the end result of the Decepticons' experiments with "making people", as we saw in issues #6 and#7.
  • Megatron is still wearing the slainGrimlock's head over his hand in emulation ofBeast WarsMegatron.
  • We learned that Megatron had somehow pervertedPrimusin issue #6; in this issue, we learn he used the captured and corrupted Matrix to do so.
  • A pile of dead Autobot heads passed by the Joes includes Cliffjumper, Warpath, and Bluestreak.

Transformers references

  • NewCombiner WarstoyVipergets to put in an appropriate cameo appearance, described on his "file card" as the "DeceptiCobra Alliance Incarnate". He transforms into a CobraRattler,see.
  • Wreck-Gar refers to having takenDark EnergonandNucleon Nailsas part of a drug metaphor (cos he's aJunkie-on, get it?).
  • Lots of genericSeekersgoing on this issue, but the one who tries to put down the Autobot uprising seems to take his color scheme cues fromGeneration 2Ramjet.
  • As Flagg's unit travel across Cybertron, one of the sights they see isWheeliebeing snatched up by aharvester unit,a more Kirby-fied version of the cruel devices seen inissue #17of theoriginal Marvel series.
  • Two other generic Pretenders appear in addition to Stranglehold; an all-blue one based on Starscream's Pretender shell, and some naked dude with a ponytail.
  • Megatron uses a version of hisenergon mace,which here extrudes from hisfusion cannon.
  • Megatron's "black hole heart" is a reference to his original Generation 1 profile, which noted he had the ability to trans-dimensionally link himself to a black hole that he could then draw on for power.
  • Megatron declares his and Prime's fight at an end by saying "It's over, Prime", one of his famous lines fromThe Transformers: The Movie.

G.I. Joe references

  • Though unnamed, the two prominent reptilians who stand alongside Cobra Commander and his team on the first page are green-skinned versions ofG.I. Joe: The Movievillains Pythona and Golobulus, further cementing the implied conceptual link between Koh-Buru-Lah andCobra-Lafrom past issues. Fellow Cobra-Lavian Nemesis Enforcer, also unnamed, appears later in the issue.
  • The exterior shot of Cobra Commander's base as Snake Eyes escaped reveals it to be theSilent Castle,Cobra's mountain hideaway from the MarvelG.I. Joecomic book.

Real-life references

  • Though the poses don't match, Cobra Commander and his retinue certainly seem to be evokingThe Last Supperwith their "dinner party" on the first page. On the wall behind them isBenjamin Franklin's political cartoon, "Join, or Die".
  • When Megatron and Optimus battle, their combat begins like a beat-'em-up video game, starting with a display of the two franchises' Japanese logos, then the Japanese characters for "Fight!".

Other trivia

  • Something a little weird went on with the release of this issue. Physical copies were released to comic book stores as normal, but no review copies or online previews were distributed, and it was not made digitally available until the following week.

Covers (3)

  • TFvsJoe8 regcvr.jpg
  • TFvsJoe8 subcvr.jpg
  • TFvsJoe8 cvrRI.jpg

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Reprints

  • (thumbnail)

    Volume 2;cover art byTom Scioli

  • (thumbnail)

    Quintessential Collection;cover art by Scioli

  • (thumbnail)

    Definitive G1 Collection: Vol. 74: Transformers vs. G.I. Joe, Pt. 2;cover art byDon Figueroaand Scioli

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