Robots in Disguise comic issue 0

Robots in Disguise comic issue 0, or, by its full name ''"Fire, When Ready!" ''serves as a prequel to the Transformers: Robots in Disguise comic series.

Synopsis
Human firefighters contending with a forest fire close to the Fun-A-Rama amusement park receive some unseen—but not unheard—help from Grimlock, who stomps the blaze out while Strongarm searches the area for their primary objective: one of the Alchemor 's stasis cells. When they locate the cell and discover it to be empty, Grimlock sniffs out the escaped Decepticon's scent and they head off in pursuit, believing the fire to be connected to the convict.

Strongarm radios her findings back to the Autobots' base, and Fixit searches the prisoner manifest for arson suspects, identifying Flamefeather as the likely culprit. Bumblebee prepares to head out with Sideswipe, only to find that the young hotshot has missed the briefing because he has been busy driving doughnuts around the junkyard with Russell. 'Bee confines him to the base for goofing off, and rolls out with Denny instead; Fixit proposes they entertain themselves by helping him run a diagnostic on the base computers, but Russell has a better idea when he spots Fun-A-Rama on the monitors, and he and Sideswipe sneak off to check the park out.

A little later, Sideswipe and Russell are exploring the darkened park as Russell explains that a new ride, "Space Battle 7", will be opening in the morning. Suddenly, they are ambushed by Flamefeather, who insists that he is just trying to find a way off the planet; Sideswipe isn't sympathetic to his plight and tries to counterattack, but the twisted firestarter escapes into the shadows. Just as Sideswipe is realizing that bringing Russell might not have been the best idea, Bumblebee and the rest of the team arrive, having followed Flamefeather's footprints there. Together, the team searches the length and breadth of the park for the Decepticon, until Sideswipe finally realizes what Flamefeather wants there: he has mistaken the new "Space Battle 7" ride, shaped like a spaceship, for an actual ship he can use to leave Earth! Heading Flamefeather off at the ride, Sideswipe drives him into a rage by revealing that the ship is a phoney and lures him into the arms of the other Autobots. Strongarm and Bumblebee don't quite have the muscle to take Flamefeather down, but Grimlock is on hand to finish him off, jumping from the top of a nearby building and stomping the Decepticon into the ground. Flamefeather's defeat comes not a moment too soon, as the sun soon rises and the park gates open. The Autobots disguise themselves in vehicle mode and strap Flamefeather to Sideswipe's roof while Denny covers for them with park security, explaining that they are removing a "malfunctioning animatronic". The fire chief and his family walk past them as they depart, and the chief pauses to regard the "replacement" animatronic they have left behind... Grimlock!

Elsewhere, the entire sequence of events has been covertly observed by none other than Ultra Magnus, Arcee, and Bulkhead, who have come to Earth on a mission of their own...

Continuity notes

 * In the return nobody was expecting, Bulkhead, Ultra Magnus, and Arcee make surprise appearances, all still sporting their designs from the Prime cartoon. Magnus chronologically last appeared in the Predacons Rising movie, while Arcee and Bulkhead were last seen in issue #8 of IDW's Beast Hunters series in a scene set after the events of Predacons Rising.
 * Ultra Magnus has obtained a new hand, replacing the crude prosthesis he obtained during the events of the Prime cartoon.

Transformers references

 * Fun-A-Rama park is a reference to the similarly named Fun A Rama Park from the Generation 1 cartoon episode "Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1".
 * Bumblebee's attempt at a rallying cry, "rev and rule", is a variation on the Wreckers' usual "Wreck and Rule" cry.

Real-world references

 * Space Battle 7 is a reference to the seventh Star Wars film, a movie upcoming at the time this comic was published.
 * The team's pursuit of Flamefeather across the amusement park references the comic strip The Family Circus, and its famous use of dotted lines to chart the misadventures of its protagonists.

Errors

 * On the last page "comes" is misspelled as "come's".

Other notes

 * The story is followed by a letter to the readers from John Barber, which is itself prefaced with a four-panel gag strip of Fixit informing Bumblebee of Barber's incoming message. Fixit is annoyed, but Bumblebee tells him it could be worse, remembering "what happened the last time [Barber] wrote [him]"—referring to the death of the IDW Generation 1 continuity Bumblebee in Dark Cybertron Chapter 11!
 * This was a Free Comic Book Day Exclusive.