Transformers (2023) issue 1

« Transformers #1 »
Alright, let’s do this one more time.
Publisher	Image Comics Skybound Entertainment
First published	October 4, 2023
Cover date	October 2023
Written by	Daniel Warren Johnson
Art by	Daniel Warren Johnson
Colors by	Mike Spicer
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editor	Sean Mackiewicz
Continuity	Energon Universe

After centuries of slumber, the Autobots and Decepticons awaken on a strange new world.

Synopsis

Spike Witwicky finds his father, "Sparky" Witwicky, asleep in a bar. Spike asks his father how long he’s been there, to which Danny the bartender answers since noon. Sparky notices that Spike has his brother Jimmy's telescope with him. Spike tells him that he and Carly were planning to go up to Hanger's Rock to look at the full moon. He says it helps him remember Jimmy, to which Sparky grouses that it's better to just forget. Spike fires back at his father, telling him he won't end up like Jimmy. Meanwhile, another patron is drunkenly ranting about how he saw a giant boxy jet fly down from space. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Sparky's co-worker, Davey, here to pick him up for their shifts. Sparky tells Spike that he has to grow up eventually, to which Spike angrily asks if he means being like him. As the adults drive off, Carly arrives to pick Spike up in her van. Carly consoles a dejected Spike by suggesting they go "pretend they're on another planet."

At Hanger's Rock, the pair climb the mountain in search of a better view and discuss their future ambitions. Spike has recently been accepted to the University of California, Berkeley, where he wishes to follow in Jimmy's footsteps and become an astronaut, though he's reluctant to actually tell his father about it since Jimmy's death. Carly, meanwhile, has been looking at art schools, but she and her father are struggling to make it work financially. Carly takes Spike's hand in hers, telling him how sorry she is about what’s going on with his family. As the two teenagers lean in closer, an earthquake shakes the ground, causing the mountain to split open and sending the two plummeting into the depths below. Recovering, they find themselves inside a giant circular structure — the booster of a giant spacecraft. Spike ventures further inside the spacecraft and finds the main control room, littered with the mangled bodies of what appears to be some sort of giant robots.

Jetfire flies into the Ark and transforms, grateful to have found his fallen friends. He activates Teletraan One to repair and reconstruct his fellow Cybertronians, granting them new forms he found on Earth. The first to be reactivated is Starscream. Jetfire warmly greets his old friend, having not seen him in centuries. Starscream thanks Jetfire for waking him and says that he's glad he "picked the right side" before immediately turning to the nearby Bumblebee and blasting his head off. The stunned Jetfire, unaware that their people have been at war for the past hundred years, tries to stop him, but Starscream turns his weapons on his old friend for showing weakness. Starscream aims his weapon at Jazz next, but he is stopped by a reconstructed Optimus Prime!

As the Autobot leader and Decepticon warrior fight, Prime notices the humans and instinctively dives to protect them from Starscream’s fire. Starscream's attack is halted by the intervention of Ratchet, right as Teletraan One reconstructs Skywarp. Realizing the computer is reconstructing them randomly, Starscream tells Skywarp to bring their fellow Decepticons closer. Optimus realizes that the Decepticons will outnumber them and orders a retreat, telling Ratchet to load their fellow Autobots into his new form's trailer while he fends off their opponents. He reaches for his ion blaster but is intercepted by cannon fire from a revived Soundwave. As he recovers, he sees Bumblebee's remains, cradling him in despair before being beset by Starscream and Ravage. Seeing this, Spike and Carly run out and push Prime's blaster to him, allowing him to fight back.

Left with no choice, Optimus fires at Teletraan One, destroying the computer and preventing the remaining Decepticons from being reconstructed. As Teletraan explodes, Optimus grabs Carly and Spike. He and Ratchet transform and drive out of the Ark into the mountains below, Starscream and Skywarp in hot pursuit despite their low energon levels. Jetfire regains consciousness and follows after them, firing on Starscream much to his regret. Starscream volleys back, critically wounding Jetfire. Fortunately for the Autobots, Skywarp begins to run out of energy and the Seekers are forced to retreat.

Needing to recuperate, Spike leads the Autobots to an abandoned quarry. As he succumbs to his injuries, Jetfire apologizes to Optimus; so much has changed since he left Cybertron in hopes of saving it. Optimus tries to use the Matrix of Leadership to heal Jetfire, but Ratchet tells him that his injuries are too great. Optimus grips his old friend's hand as he passes, still lamenting his failure.

Back in the Ark, Soundwave reports to Starscream that he is unable to fix Teletraan One, as they lack both the energon and the raw materials necessary. Until it is repaired, they are the only Decepticons left. Soundwave has already sent Laserbeak to scout for possible energon sources, but the job of harvesting it falls to Starscream since he has the most energon reserved. Begrudgingly, Starscream accepts. After all, he is leader of the Decepticons now.

As Davey and Sparky end their shift at the nearby power plant, Davey tries to talk to Sparky about his recent troubles, but they are interrupted by the arrival of Starscream, irritated he has to be the one doing all the work. The pair try to escape, but Starscream notices them. Sparky hides inside the plant, while Davey is snatched up by the giant alien. Starscream smiles to himself as he crushes Davey in his hand, amused at how fragile, squishy, and pathetic the humans are.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Where are you going? Isn't that... Jimmy's?"
"Yeah. Carly and I were going to check out the full moon tonight, remember? On top of Hanger's Rock?"
"Looking at stars again, huh?"
"Doing this kind of thing... it reminds me of him."
"Why would you want to remember? It's best to forget all that."
"Is that how you're gonna live now? Just pretending he didn't exist?"

—Sparky and Spike touch on their trauma

"You must forgive me. I have been away for centuries. I did not know about the war. I did not know you were the new Prime..."
"I remember the day you left our home to find a way to save it."
"And you... were so young then."
"Much has changed since you left our planet. All for the worse."

—Jetfire and Optimus Prime rekindle their friendship

"Why are you all looking at me?"
"You have the most energon reserved. Thus the harvesting is up to you. It's what Meg---"
"Do not say his name. I am the leader of the Decepticons now."

—Starscream and Soundwave

Notes

Continuity notes

• Jetfire's arrival on Earth follows from his awakening in the first issue of Void Rivals. How long he was asleep exactly is a little unclear. In Void Rivals, he mentions being stranded for millions of years, but here he says he was away for merely centuries. Due to the syntax used, it could be that Jetfire was searching for centuries but asleep for millions of years. The following issue confirms the centuries time frame, making Void Rivals use of millions of years the outlier.
• Cybertron's energon shortage was hinted at by Shockwave in Void Rivals #4.
• After being attacked by Starscream, Jetfire is seen leaking yellow fluid. This would appear to confirm that the yellow fuel used by Darak and Solila to reactivate him was indeed energon.
• Soundwave and Starscream allude to the absence of the usual Decepticon leader, Megatron. Hmm... where could he be?
• Yes, Bumblebee's really dead, having been destroyed by Starscream. The other Transformers, including those like Thundercracker whose reassembly is interrupted, are just offline.^[1]

Transformers references

• Like with Void Rivals, this new series draws heavy influence from the Generation 1 cartoon:
  • The character designs all pull directly from Generation 1.
  • The Ark crashing into a mountain and the Autobots and Decepticons being repaired by Teletraan One is lifted from the premiere episode, "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1", right down to one of the Decepticons being reactivated first. The "error" of the Transformers having their Earth-inspired designs before they receive their Earth alternate modes is also carried over.
  • Spike, Sparkplug, and Carly were all major characters in the Generation 1 cartoon, though they have been heavily reimagined, especially Carly. Sparkplug's name is shortened to just "Sparky".
  • Starscream and Jetfire/Skyfire being old friends, Jetfire helping Starscream out of ignorance to the war, as well as Jetfire dying after dogfighting Starscream, brings to mind "Fire in the Sky."
• Optimus Prime gains the upper hand over Starscream with a fist and a resounding "never", similar to The Transformers: The Movie.

Real-world references

• Sparky's flashbacks on the first page of the issue features imagery of Sparky in a conflict much like the Vietnam War and the explosion of a space shuttle reminiscent of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster; based on the context, it seems likely that Jimmy was one of the victims in the latter. Whether these are meant to literally be those events (which would suggest the comic is actually supposed to be set in the 1980s) or merely stylistic renderings of purely fictional events remains to be seen.
• Appropriately, Sparky is drinking at a VFW bar.
• Carly's van art features several staples of van murals, such as a wizard inspired by Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, a barbarian resembling Conan, and a fantasy castle and dragon.
• Optimus Prime enters the scene by clotheslining Starscream—this being the signature move of "Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada, one of DWJ's favorite wrestlers.^[2][3]

Storytelling notes

As both writer and artist on this Transformers series, Daniel Warren Johnson has a rare level of creative freedom while composing the issue and using the art to tell the story. Some of these creative choices were covered in a "director's commentary" livestream on his YouTube channel; key insights are reproduced here alongside our own analysis of the issue.

• DWJ keeps a copy of Magic Square's "Light of Peace" figure close at hand, which influences his take on Optimus Prime.^[4] He notes that he specifically avoids having Prime's "boots" flare out at all; he tries to draw them perfectly straight.^[5]
• His primary Transformers comics influence comes from Marvel Comics and Dreamwave Productions.^[6] In the case of the latter, we'll note that their opening miniseries prominently featured the Ark II disaster which drew heavily from the real-world Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
• The first page of the story consists of five vertically-stacked cinematic landscape panels, with Sparky's flashbacks interspersed by a panel of the Ark crashing and of Prime's deactivated body. This gives us an idea of what's been going through Sparky's mind at the bar. In particular, the panel of Optimus Prime is bookended by Spike's offscreen dialogue getting his dad's attention; Prime is often positioned as something of a father figure in wider pop culture.
  • At Hasbro's request, DWJ avoided being too specific as to the conflict being shown.^[7]
  • DWJ wanted to streamline the Ark's design to have just three rear thrusters, but Hasbro insisted on it having five,^[7] necessitating the digital addition of two more to the later splash page of the ship's engines.^[8]
• The second page aims to bring the story into reality,^[9] with much more detailed panels of varying shapes and sizes, and a muted earthen color palette.
  • DWJ took reference from several different VFW bars to arrive at the location seen in the comic.^[9]
  • As Spike and Sparky exit, the cluttered interior gives way to the orange evening sky, with the generous negative space often physically separating Spike from his distant father.
  • DWJ notes that the final panel of this spread is technically wrong; based on the perspective of the scene, Spike should be sinking into the ground. This was necessary so as not to obscure Carly's van,^[10] which is the same model of vehicle that appears in DWJ's previous original comic series Murder Falcon.^[11] Mike Spicer has coloured the van using blue-pink tones, strongly contrasting with the orange otherwise dominating the spread. As we turn the page, these nighttime hues take over the story, marking the beginning of a transition towards the unreal.
• The mountain landscape was drawn to resemble that of an alien planet, to highlight the feeling of "otherworldliness".^[12]
• As the earthquake begins, we get the first instance of hand-lettered sound effects, drawn into the lineart by DWJ. These appear more prominently and frequently as we transition towards comic-book action.

Diagram illustrating DWJ's intended flow for the back-to-back splash pages.

• The reveal of the Ark is paired across the two-page spread with another splash page of the deactivated Autobots. DWJ hoped to create a seamless transition, with the reader's gaze travelling down towards the inset panels at the bottom left, then following Spike and Carly across to the right, before travelling up into the scene.^[13] Mike Spicer's coloring (exaggerated in the diagram on the right) again reinforces this intent, with the blue shade of the rocks at the bottom of the right-hand page carrying over from the left-hand page.
  • Meanwhile, all of the lines of perspective inside the room point outside, where a tiny Jetfire can be seen approaching.
• Jetfire is one of Robert Kirkman's favorite Transformers, and his role in this series came entirely from Robert Kirkman's broad-strokes outline.^[14]
• The shock death of Bumblebee was a deliberate choice, as DWJ felt like audiences would be getting a little tired of seeing Bumblebee everywhere. Surprisingly, Hasbro felt the same way, and themselves asked if there was a way to write Bumblebee out of the series! DWJ also apparently doesn't enjoy drawing Bumblebee, which informed the decision,^[15] which perhaps doesn't bode too well for Cliffjumper!
• When Starscream turns on Jetfire, DWJ struggled to get the composition exactly right, as he was limited by the need to make it explicitly clear that Jetfire was gravely wounded.^[16]
• Prime uses several wrestling moves on Starscream; DWJ had previously created the original comic series Do A Powerbomb!, which had a central theme of loss—a motif which recurs throughout this first Transformers issue.
• As Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker look identical in black-and-white, DWJ labels them in his lineart so colorist Mike Spicer can easily distinguish.^[17]
• Prime instinctively knowing about his trailer, and its sudden appearance in the story, is a riff on classic media where Prime's trailer would often appear and disappear out of nowhere per the needs of the story.^[18]
• As Prime's face is uniquely inexpressive, DWJ had to get creative to show his emotions to the reader, relying a lot on the character's eyes. Additionally, he tries to channel Prime's feelings through Spike.^[19] When Spike sees Prime kneeling over Bumblebee's body, it seems that he recognises the grief this alien robot is experiencing.
• Amongst the many creative sound effects in this sequence, we have highlights like "GRAPPLE" and "ROLL" accompanying the action. Clicks and buzzes fill the air together with the floating components as the Transformers are reassembled.
• DWJ contrived the situation where Spike and Carly need to push Prime's gun into his reach as a way of giving the human characters agency during the action sequence.^[20] The "SKRKK" sound effect of the gun scraping along the floor is drawn to follow the lines of action.
• When Prime gives the order to "Transform and roll out!", the entire comic shifts to a landscape orientation, requiring you to physically turn the comic in your hands. This is awesome.
• Ratchet's updated alternate mode came simply from a dissatisfaction with his classic Nissan look.^[21]
• DWJ was keen to develop the Decepticons beyond their classic cartoonishly-evil characterisation, with a key example in this issue being Soundwave's clear concern for the injured Ravage.^[22]
• For Davey's gruesome death at the hand of Starscream, Hasbro requested it occur off-panel. The beat was intended to clearly set the stakes of the comic without being egregiously gory,^[23] and seems to mark a major turning point for Sparky.

Errors

• Bumblebee's body is seen near Optimus Prime’s trailer, despite him being across the ship near Teletraan One when Starscream blew his head open.
• When Starscream is forced to break off his pursuit of the Autobots, his speech balloon is pointing to Skywarp.

Other trivia

• Prior to its official release, an ashcan copy of this issue was available exclusively at San Diego Comic-Con 2023. The ashcan had certain pages taken out to prevent spoilers, as well as featuring concept art and designs for various characters.
• In early solicitations for this issue, the cover had an original logo with blue text broken over two lines;^[24] the final cover uses the standard modern logo, leaving some unsightly negative space above Prime's head. This was changed at the request of Hasbro.
• This issue sold out at the distributor level before it was even officially released, prompting Skybound to announce a second printing the day before it hit retailer shelves.
• Transformers #1 was the best-selling comic issue of 2023, according to ICv2 industry sales estimates.^[25]

Covers

With over 50 to choose from, Transformers #1 features more variant covers than any other single Transformers comic issue by a long shot.

This article needs to grow up a little bit. This comic series, compliation/TPB, feature or continuity article is a stub and is missing information. You can help Transformers Wiki by expanding it. Note: For single issues or individual stories, use {{issuestub}} What's needed: 50/91 covers documented

• Cover A: Optimus Prime emerges from an explosion, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
• Cover B: The Autobots, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
• Cover C: The Decepticons, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
• Cover D: Optimus Prime destroys Starscream, by Ryan Ottley and Annalisa Leoni.
• Cover E (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting cover, by Orlando Arocena.
• Cover F (1:25 Copy Incentive): Optimus leaps on Starscream to save Carly's van as Laserbeak and Ravage attack, by Cliff Chiang.
• Cover G (1:50 Copy Incentive): Optimus Prime, by Francis Manapul.
• Cover H (1:100 Copy Incentive Foil): Starscream holds Bumblebee’s head, by Ian Bertram and Gus Storms.
• Cover I: Blank sketch cover.
• San Diego Comic-Con Ashcan cover A: Spike atop Optimus Prime, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
• San Diego Comic-Con Ashcan cover B: Black-and-white version, only available at Skybound's Energon Universe convention panel.
• Big Clutch/eBay exclusive: Foil variant of main cover A. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Felix Comic Art exclusive A: Wraparound variant of Optimus Prime playing basketball against the Decepticons, by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer. Limited to 500 copies.
• Felix Comic Art exclusive B: Black-and-white virgin variant. Limited to 500 copies.
• Stadium Comics exclusive: by Santa Fung. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Comic Grail Vault exclusive A: by Von Randal and Alex Guimarães. Limited to 800 copies.
• Comic Grail Vault exclusive B: Foil variant.
• Alan Quah exclusive: by Alan Quah. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Hector Trunnec New York Comic Con exclusive: by Hector Trunnec. Limited to 400 copies.
• East Side Comics exclusive: by DarlsDraws. Limited to 300 copies.
• Whatnot exclusive A: by Siya Oum.
• Whatnot exclusive B: Foil variant.
• TransMissions Podcast exclusive: by E. J. Su.
• MFKiG exclusive: by Ainsworth Lin. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Forbidden Planet exclusive A: by Flaviano. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Forbidden Planet exclusive B: Virgin variant. Limited to 500 copies.
• Memory Lane Comics exclusive: by Hayden Sherman. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Rod Reis New York Comic Con exclusive: by Rod Reis. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Carnivore Comics exclusive A: by Rafael Grassetti. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Carnivore Comics exclusive B: Virgin variant. Limited to 500 copies.
• Carnivore Comics exclusive C: Foil variant. Limited to 1,000 copies, exclusively at New York Comic Con 2023.
• Matthew Roberts exclusive: by Matthew Roberts.
• Mike Bowden New York Comic Con exclusive: by Mike Bowden and Pez Fred. Limited to 500 copies.
• Big Time Collectibles exclusive A: by John Giang. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Big Time Collectibles exclusive B: Foil variant. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Wanted Comix / Rupps Comics / JJ's Comics & Art / Big Clutch exclusive A: by Maria Wolf & Mike Spicer. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Wanted Comix / Rupps Comics / JJ's Comics & Art / Big Clutch exclusive B: Virgin variant. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Wanted Comix / Rupps Comics / JJ's Comics & Art / Big Clutch exclusive C: Foil variant. Limited to 500 copies.
• Juni Ba exclusive A: by Juni Ba. Limited to 500 copies.
• Juni Ba exclusive B: Foil variant. Limited to 500 copies.
• Seibertron.com exclusive: by Marco Ferrari.
• The 616 Comics exclusive: by Vincenzo Federici. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Francesco Tomaselli New York Comic Con exclusive: by Francesco Tomaselli. Limited to 900 copies.
• Condemned Comics exclusive: by Christopher Mitten. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Skottie Young exclusive: by Skottie Young. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Skottie Young exclusive second printing: Virgin foil variant. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Ryan Barry exclusive A: by Ryan Barry. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Ryan Barry exclusive B: Foil variant. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Things From Another World exclusive: by Frédéric Pham Chuong. Limited to 1,000 copies.
• Second Printing Variant Cover A: Optimus Prime, by Jason Howard.
• Second Printing Variant Cover B: Starscream, by Jason Howard.
• Second Printing Variant Cover C: The 'Bots, by Lewis LaRosa and Rico Renzi.
• Second Printing Variant Cover D: The 'Cons, by Lewis LaRosa and Rico Renzi.
• Second Printing Variant Cover E: Bumblebee's fate, by Greg Tocchini.
• Third Printing Variant Cover: by Gerald Parel.
• Fourth Printing Variant Cover: by Clayton Henry.

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Reprints

• Transformers Volume 1: Robots in Disguise (May 8, 2024) ISBN 1534398171 / ISBN 978-1534398177
  • Collects issues #1–6.
  • Trade paperback format.

• Transformers Volume 1: Robots in Disguise Direct Market Exclusive (May 8, 2024)
  • Variant cover version of the above trade paperback, exclusively sold through the comic book direct market.

• 

  Volume 1: Robots in Disguise – cover art by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer

• 

  Volume 1: Robots in Disguise Direct Market Exclusive – cover art by Jonboy Meyers

External links

• Director's commentary by Daniel Warren Johnson

References