The Autobots and Decepticons battle it out while Sam takes charge of the All Spark.
Synopsis
As Sam identifies Megatron, Agent Simmons informs the group that reverse engineering on Megatron is the source of all modern machines. Sam states the Transformers are on Earth because of the All Spark and the group heads to the area where it is kept. Simmons informs the group that the All Spark was discovered in 1913 and that Hoover Dam was built around it to hide its energy. He also demonstrates that the All Spark can give life to any mechanical device.
The Decepticons arrive and attack the dam—the blasts complete the awakening of Megatron. He kills the scientist near him and transforms into his jet mode. Sam convinces Simmons to free Bumblebee to help protect them. Bumblebee shrinks the All Spark into a tiny cube and leaves with Sam and Mikaela. Megatron meets up with Starscream and the Decepticons and give chase to the Autobots, knowing they have the All Spark. Bonecrusher and Barricade attack Optimus Prime, who kills them both.
Simmons stops to call in an air strike and a jet soon arrives. Unfortunately, it's actually Starscream, who injures Bumblebee and causes him to drop the All Spark. Brawl attacks, unphased by the military but is attacked by Jazz. Jazz, in turn is killed by Megatron, infuriating Optimus Prime, who begins to battle his brother. Sam takes the All Spark along with Ironhide, who is blasted by Starscream. Megatron knocks out Prime and goes after Sam and the All Spark. Mikaela, meanwhile hooks Bumblebee up to a tow truck to get him to safety. Brawl pursues them, But is blasted to death by Bumblebee.
A soldier on a motorcycle, along with an air strike kill Blackout while Sam faces off with Megatron. Megatron blasts the ledge, causing Sam to fall, but he's caught by Optimus Prime. Before Prime can destroy the All Spark, Megatron attacks again. Sam throws the All Spark into Megatron's spark, destroying him. In celebration, Mikaela kisses Sam but the Autobots gather around Jazz's body.
Later, Sector Seven is terminated and the Decepticons are dropped into the Laurentian Abyss and a nuclear blast buries them. While Sam and Mikaela enjoy life, Optimus states that the Autobots will live on Earth, hiding in their vehicle modes to protect the humans. He sends a message into space welcoming any surviving to join their brothers on Earth.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Errors
- Okay, we know what happened to Barricade (unlike in the movie)...but whatever became of Frenzy? The last time we saw him was when he called the other Decepticons in the previous issue and asked Barricade to bring his body. Yet he's mysteriously absent from this issue.
- In the movie itself, Optimus Prime's absence from the first minutes of the final battle in Mission City is explained by his battle with Bonecrusher. In this issue, he kills Bonecrusher and then Barricade, throwing the latter against a bridge column as the other Autobots are just passing under that bridge. So what's keeping him from joining them again right away? (It should be worth noting that the scenes in Mission City following Barricade's death only take up four pages until Optimus Prime shows up again, though. He arrives just in time to witness Jazz's death at the hands of Megatron.)
Items of note
- "Bonus material 4.0": Pull-out poster of Megatron, Blackout, Barricade and Frenzy, Barricade vs Bumblebee pin-up, All Spark pin-up, interview with Hasbro's Michael Verrecchia, including toy gallery.
Differences with movie
- In the movie, Glen (more or less willingly) donates a cell phone for a presentation of the All Spark's abilities. Since Glen is missing entirely from the comic adaptation, Simmons simply takes Maggie's cell phone out of her bag, adding to his really rude portrayal as seen in the previous issue.
- In the movie, Frenzy deactivates the cryo-pumps and frees Megatron. Starscream is the only other Decepticon actually to arrive at Hoover Dam, destroying several power stations and thereby accelerating Megatron's release. In the comic version, Starscream arrives at Hoover Dam together with Blackout, Barricade, Bonecrusher and Brawl (thus ignoring any speed differences between their vehicle modes). They all shoot the dam together, and Megatron is apparently freed from his cryo-stasis from the concussions of the blasts alone. Furthermore, Megatron is also shown to be a lot more talkative with the insects.
- In addition, Megatron breaks free before Bumblebee takes the All Spark out. Which begs the question...where does Megatron go in the meantime?
- Instead of stabbing Bonecrusher in the head with his spiffy blade and thereby decapitating him, Optimus Prime shoots him in the chest with his ion blaster.
- After killing Bonecrusher, Optimus also defeats (and decapitates) Barricade. This was included in an early draft of the script, as it's also told that way in Alan Dean Foster's novelization of the movie. In the movie itself, however, Barricade simply disappears with no explanation after Bonecrusher transforms. (Furthermore, The Reign of Starscream issue 1 also explicitly contradicts this. There, Ironhide causes Barricade to crash into a bridge column, and Starscream later returns there to find Barricade damaged, but alive.)
- As Megatron kills Jazz, he says "Your Spark will be mine!" In older drafts of the script, Megatron was supposed to "eat" the Sparks of defeated Autobots. This is also told in detail in Foster's novelization, but again, the movie itself doesn't make this clear—there, Megatron simply rips Jazz in two (whereas at the end of this issue, Jazz is dead, but still in one piece).
- Also, Optimus Prime is present when Megatron kills Jazz.
- Optimus Prime tells Sam to use the All Spark cube to defeat Megatron, instead of offering to sacrifice himself.
- Instead of pushing the All Spark into Megatron's chest, Sam simply throws it at him.
Covers (2)
Phantom Zone
- Regular Cover: Wraparound cover of most major movie characters by Alex Milne
- Cover RI: Photo of Ironhide
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