Hearts of Steel issue 1

Written By: Chuck Dixon Pencils By: Guido Guidi Inks By: Aaron Leach Additional Art By: Antonio Vasquez, Luis Czerniawski, and Sulaco Studios Covers By: Guido Guidi Edits By: Chris Ryall, Dan Taylor Colors By: Jay Fotos Letters By: Robbie Robbins Additional Colors By: Josh Burcham Design By: Josh Burcham Collection Edits By: Justin Eisinger


 * Original release date: ???
 * Followed by: Hearts of Steel, Part 2
 * Major Characters (in order of appearance): Bumblebee, John Henry, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, Tobias Muldoon, Starscream, Ratchet, Prowl, Merriweather Stanford, Kitty Stanford, Shockwave.

Synopsis
The story opens on prehistoric Earth, in the opening years of an ice age. The Autobots and Decepticons fight their war here, using dinosaur and insect altmodes (most of them distinctively spiky). These "Ice Age Wars" draw to a close as the cold gets worse. Some of the Autobots retreat into a cave, and place themselves in stasis lock, to wait for external conditions to improve.

Millions of years pass.

Bumblebee is woken by the sound of hammering. He investigates, and spies on a crew of humans, including John Henry, laying track. The year is around 1867; the Autobots have slept for a long time.

Meanwhile, aboard the paddle-wheeled steamship Enterprise in San Francisco Bay, Mark Twain and Jules Verne prepare to witness a "marvelous exhibition." The S.S. Vicuna, a primitive submarine, rises from the waters, crewed by its inventor, Tobias Muldoon. He stands atop it, extolling its virtues, until it suddenly sinks under him. (Why it sinks is unclear.) It falls to the bottom of the bay, where we see Starscream, apparently just emerging from stasis lock, inside a glass-domed underwater base. (Possibly the impact of the Vicuna is what wakes Starscream.) Muldoon is financially ruined; Verne is inspired.

That night, as Henry and his crew eat dinner, he states his dislike of job-stealing machines, and swears to go to his grave a'hammering. Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Prowl observe this. Ratchet and Prowl believe they should go back to sleep, and wait a century before making contact with humans, but Bumblebee instead approaches the camp, to inspect one of the locomotives. Henry and his crewmate Cletus investigate, and find a mysterious little yellow locomotive on a siding. It has no driver's cab, and they conclude it's some new job from back East. Henry takes an immediate dislike to it.

That same night, Muldoon is forced to report his failure to one of his investors, Merriweather Stanford. Stanford is upset, and puts Muldoon to work in the kitchen of one of his hotels. We see that Muldoon has a (reciprocated) romantic interest in Stanford's daughter, Kitty Stanford. Later, he wanders the docks, musing out loud about how his prospects (both romantic and financial) look bleak. A bellowing voice asks him if he would truly give up so easily. Suddenly, the ironclad ship next to him transforms, and Shockwave tells Muldoon that he will assist him in reshaping the future of the Earth.

Quotes
"Stand aside, y'all. My hammer's fixin' to fall, and all God's Earth is my anvil."
 * -John Henry

"[Machines] driven by the contained pressure of heated water. Simple but effective."
 * -Prowl

"I am the end result of a science beyond your understanding. I am here to serve you in the exploration of all that is possible on your world.  I am a living machine.  I am an automated lifeform.  I am called Shockwave."
 * -Shockwave

Items of Note

 * This issue was available with three covers.
 * Cover A, montage of John Henry and Bumblebee.
 * Cover B, Bumblebee wraparound sketch.
 * Retailer incentive cover, Shockwave wraparound sketch.