Man and Machine, Part One

New Avengers/ Transformers #1 »
Take point, fearless earthling.
"Man and Machine, Part One"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	July 4, 2007
Cover date	September 2007
Writer	Stuart Moore
Penciller	Tyler Kirkham
Inker	Sal Regla
Colorist	Annette Kwok
Letterer	Todd Klein
Editor	Bill Rosemann
Assistant editor	Alejandro Arbona
Editor-in-chief	Joe Quesada
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Infiltration

Can the Autobots prevent the humans from killing each other?

Synopsis

In Latveria, Captain America leads a team of Avengers sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. to investigate the countryside and see why Latveria's ruler, Doctor Doom, is uncharacteristically attacking the neighboring country of Symkaria with strange jets of indeterminate design. But all the team finds is a metal dome of equally indeterminate design surrounded by the ruined bodies of Doom's robot underlings. The team breaks their way inside of the dome, but Luke Cage and Wolverine's taking of the initiative on the assault angers Captain America.

Inside, the tension between Captain America and Wolverine grows. In a hall of digital mirrors, the team members dodge lasers fired by an unknown audience member who scans their unique physical attributes. While Wolverine disables the dangerous room, Spider-Man is kidnapped by his old nemesis... a car! The three remaining Avengers try to escape, but discover themselves locked inside an energy field. Captain America calls for reinforcements in the jerkiest manner he can.

Inside the poorly lit Autobot base, the Autobots conclude that Megatron is using an aggression wave to make all humans in the area irritable jerkfaces, they move out to assist before the humans can kill each other.

Inside of the dome-not-made-by-Doom, Megatron prepares to dissect the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Captain America, Wolverine, and Luke Cage greet their reinforcements—Falcon and Ms. Marvel. The Autobots also arrive, to tell the five Avengers to leave and let the experts handle the situation, but as soon as the giant robots finish explaining themselves, Captain America orders his forces to attack.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

Continuity notes

• Chronologically, this series does not take place when it was published. In the case of Transformers, it was published between Escalation and Devastation, but actually takes place during the latter part of Escalation #1. The time gap is more pronounced for the Avengers; in their case, the story takes place between the first two story arcs of their comic, which were published two years prior to this series.
• The Falcon wasn't active with the Avengers for most of the team's activities; however, the Avengers didn't have a rigidly defined roster.
• Optimus Prime's trailer makes its first chronological appearance in the 2005 IDW continuity. Prime rolls into battle with it, but when he transforms, the trailer manages to stay out of sight for the rest of the story. Just like the old days.

Transformers references

• A similar aggression-wave was used by Shockwave in War and Peace.

Real-world references

• Spider-Man says "ruh-roh" when meeting Megatron, a clear nod to Scooby-Doo.

Errors

Ever feel like you've been labeled with the wrong name?

• After Spider-Man is captured, it appears the energy barrier was keeping the Avengers trapped inside with the dome. But they meet up with Falcon fine, so either they were able to break through the dome or the art should have depicted the energy barrier keeping the Avengers locked out of the dome soon as they exited.
• In some copies of the issue, after the Autobots transform, Ratchet and Prowl were given each other's name. This error made it into the trade.
• Thundercracker and Skywarp are described as being some kind of exotic aircraft not recognized by Captain America or S.H.I.E.L.D. But at this point in the IDW continuity the seekers have taken on American F-22 Raptor alternate modes.

Covers (1)

• Captain America and Optimus Prime by Jim Cheung; art by Mark Morales and Justin Ponsor.

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Reprints

Other than collections of the full series:

• N/A