Interlude

Bumblebee scours planet Earth for clues to the All Spark's location.

Synopsis
2003, Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Bumblebee has arrived on Earth, and scanned a disguise form with his Robovision. He has one tenuous lead on the All Spark, sent into space eons before to keep it from the clutches of Megatron. From just outside an insane asylum, he scans the records of one Archibald Witwicky, a man who found something in the planet's polar ice in 1897 which drove him insane. Two mysterious agents detect the scan, however, and realize that it must be N.B.E.-2. They alert Agent Simmons, who mobilizes vans and helicopters.

The Sector 7 team tracks Bumblebee as he heads toward Springfield, Missouri, where Archibald's son Clarence lived. The vans attack him en route, attempting to run him off the road and snare him with a grappling hook. With some regret, Bumblebee runs them off the road and rolls on, his mission too important to be delayed.

In Springfield, Bumblebee finds Clarence's house empty. But by scanning a real estate agent's portable computer, he finds a record of Clarence's son Herbert. The house sold in 1979, with the proceeds divided between Clarence's six children. Bumblebee heads off to track them down, starting with the oldest, Ben. A stop in Denver proves fruitless; en route to Tuscon, Bumblebee comes under attack from another Sector 7 chopper. He blinds them with a flash of light and escapes. But his bad luck continues; in the desert, he comes under attack from Barricade. But as the words Optimus Prime ring in his head, he vows to prevail...

Credits
Written by: Simon Furman and Chris Ryall Art by: Andrew Wildman Colors by: Josh Burcham Edits by: Ted Adams Cover art by: Don Figueroa and Josh Burcham
 * Release date: xx, 2007

Featured characters
(''Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Errors

 * If the movie is set contemporaneously with its 2007 release, Bumblebee spent a long time tracking down the remaining four descendants.
 * Barricade's attack sure doesn't seem to serve much purpose. Neither does Bumblebee transforming before he's even aware of Barricade's presence.

Items of note

 * This was one of two free prequel comics released by IDW through Target. It was also one of the freebies given to attendees at BotCon 2007.
 * The book includes various computer readouts as seen through Bumblebee's "Robovision", rendered as light blue lettering hidden among a field of random red and white. Using the same principle as the tech specs of Generation 1, a clear red plastic Robo-Vision Decoder, when placed over these fields, reveals such secret words as "SECTOR 7" and "SENTIENT".  Most of them are pretty random, actually ("ACTIVISION", "ENERGON".)
 * A badly Photoshopped Target logo appears on the side of a passing truck on the highway.
 * A screenshot of the IDW discussion forums appears as a readout on Bumblebee's dashboard.
 * Generation 1 Optimus Prime can be seen driving into Denver as Bumblebee is leaving.
 * Some of this issue's plot points parallel the Infiltration and Escalation comic series, which Furman had recently completed at the time. Examples include Sector 7 tracking and attacking Bumblebee on the highway, and Bumblebee rocketing off across the desert at high speed to escape.

Advertisements

 * Coupon for $3 off Transformers: The Game.
 * Various movie toys and merchandise for sale at Target
 * Giftcards in Disguise, from Target.