Infiltration



A fresh take on the Transformers concept.

=IDW Transformers issues #0-6=

Script: Simon Furman Art: EJ Su Lettering: Tom B. Long (#2-4) with Robbie Robbins (#0-1) Colors: John Rauch (#0, #2-4) with Josh Burcham (#1) Editor: Chris Ryall (#0) with Dan Taylor (#1-4)


 * Major characters (in order of appearance): Verity Carlo, Hunter O'Nion, Ratchet, Jimmy Pink, Bumblebee
 * Originally published: October, 2005 (#0); January, 2006 (#1); February, 2006 (#2); March, 2006 (#3); March, 2006 (#4)

Synopsis
Transformers: Infiltration is an alternate look at the Generation One Autobbots and Decepticons, bringing the invasion fo Earth into the modern mid-2000s day and placing the "Robots in Disguise" concept firmly in the forefront of its narrative. The story is told through the eyes of four main characters: Verity Carlo, a young drifter; Hunter O'Nion, a conspiracy theorist; Jimmy Pink, mechanic and Verity's net-friend; and Ratchet, a medic who puts his conscience over his mission.

The details of this new war are revealed slowly, with each issue introducing only a few new characters. The reader is given a good look at a Transformer in primary mode for the first time at the end of Issue 1 (the Decepticon Battlechargers Runamuck and Runabout), and Autobots other than Ratchet are only introduced near the end of Issue 2. The leaders of the opposing forces are held in the wings; Megatron only appears in the final panel of Issue 4 and Optimus Prime, mentioned in Issue 3, has yet to appear as of issue 5.

The lead humans in the story stumble across the Transformers' secret war largely by accident. Verity Carlo happens on (well, steals) a handheld computer containing evidence of the Decepticons' activities and then thumbs Hunter down by chance (although Hunter happens by because he's heard rumours of giant robot activity in the area); after Ratchet saves their lives from the attacking Thundercracker, Verity asks Jimmy, who owns a garage, for a place to hide.

Throughout the story, the under-cover nature of the activities of both sides is emphasised: Thundercracker and the Battelchargers attack the humans and Ratchet to retrieve the data on the PDA; Ratchet is arrested by Prowl for breaking cover to rescue the humans; both Autobot and Decepticon operations are small cells instead of full-fledged armies. We also discover that there is a third faction at work: A secret human organisation known only as the Machination appears to be aware of the robots' presence on Earth and has its own plans, as yet unknown, for the Transformers. Finally, it becomes evident to the Autobots that the Decepticon operation is up to something unusual, and their new human allies may have a part in unravelling the mystery.

The series has taken an interesting and rather unique approach to the standard Transformers story: the slow introduction of characters allows each issue to focus on a small selection of leads (Ratchet, the humans and later Bumblebee) without overwhelming them and gives each issue space to explore their characters.

Errors
TBA

Items of Note
As of issue 5, most of the Transformers seen thus far (with the exception of Bumblebee and the possible exceptions of Wheeljack, Blitzwing and Astrotrain) feature alternate forms updated to the modern day:


 * Ratchet: Ambulance (modernised)
 * Runamuck: Sports Car
 * Runabout: Sports Car
 * Thundercracker: F-22 Raptor
 * Prowl: Van (modernised)
 * Sunstreaker: Lamborghini Diablo
 * Ironhide: Van (modernised)
 * Skywarp: F-22 Raptor
 * Starscream: F-22 Raptor

Based on his appearance, Megatron's alternate form is obviously not a pistol or any other form of sidearm; the presence of at least two, possibly four track bogies on hsi primary form suggests some sort of self-propelled cannon.