Transformers (2023) issue 15

Publisher	Image Comics; Skybound Entertainment
First published	December 11, 2024
Cover date	December 2024
Written by	Daniel Warren Johnson
Art by	Jorge Corona
Colors by	Sarah Stern
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editor	Ben Abernathy
Continuity	Energon Universe

Soundwave's Decepticons prepare an ambush for the Autobots, who are dealing with the aftermath of their battle. Meanwhile, Cliffjumper discovers just how bad things have gotten back home...

Synopsis

With the Decepticons once again on the back foot, Soundwave leads his men in razing the city of Tacoma, Washington. Though Thundercracker voices his displeasure and suggests returning to the chunk of Cybertron that fell into the ocean, Soundwave insists that their battle is here, where resources are far more plentiful and the Autobots' precious humans are ripe for the slaughter. He plans on taking his troops city-by-city, creating a path of mayhem and destruction that can draw their enemy out for an ambush. Spotting a group of humans hiding in a damaged building, Thundercracker quietly whispers for them to run before taking the building down.

Cliffjumper reawakens on Cybertron, having been thrown away from Optimus by the detonation of Shockwave's energy reserves. Cliff's found by three of his fellow Autobots: Bluestreak, a heavily-damaged Warpath, and a panicked Blurr, who informs them of incoming Decepticons. As the group leaves, Warpath asks about the others, only for Bluestreak to sadly inform him that they're gone...

At the Ark, Arcee and Optimus discuss the battle at the Nemesis. Arcee feels guilty over letting her anger almost get the better of her, and plans to track down her old mentor Ultra Magnus to make amends and help him the same way he helped her. Joining her are Carly, Spike, and Beachcomber, who politely refuses Optimus' offer to join him in the fight due to his oath of non-violence, but tells him to do what he has to before the group departs. As Optimus sees them off, Wheeljack informs him of radio chatter regarding the Decepticons' attack, and they, along with Jazz, head off to investigate. En route, Wheeljack informs Optimus that he'd done scans of his mind, but was unable to find anything regarding his mysterious visions. Optimus theorizes that they might be coming from the Matrix, which should be empty, since Optimus used all of its energy on self-repairs after Sparky's sacrifice, but since it's never interfaced with an organic being before, Wheeljack thinks that the merging of the mechanical and the organic might be causing errors in his neural net. Before they can theorize further, however, the Autobots arrive at the burning wreckage of Tacoma and begin rescue operations. However, the surviving humans and the newly-arrived military forces don't take kindly to their presence, and after another disturbing vision, this time of a human child in claws being infested by wiring, Optimus is overcome with rage at the humans for causing things harm and attacks their tank. Jazz quickly snaps him out of it before serious harm can be done, and the Autobots leave before more of the military arrive.

Watching these events unfold from a distance are Soundwave, Laserbeak, and Scrapper, who insists they push the attack now. Soundwave tells him to be patient— with the Autobots so few in number, the Decepticons will simply follow them to wherever they regroup at and ambush them there. After lamenting that Ravage's repairs will once again have to be held off, Soundwave sends Laserbeak off on a mission of great import— something he should've done as soon as he had been woken up, and a task that Laserbeak must finish before he returns to his master...

Back on Cybertron, Bluestreak and co. find Ramjet in their path. After Blurr confirms that there's no way around him, Bluestreak pulls out a knife and rushes the Conehead, stabbing him through the back. Bluestreak, Blurr, and Warpath rush to gather up as much of Ramjet's energon as they can, which disturbs Cliffjumper. Bluestreak remarks that being with Optimus has softened Cliff's edges, but as Cliff retorts that Optimus has taught him a better way, Elita One arrives, asking Cliff when the last time his leader had to truly survive was.

Optimus' team arrive at the dam, Wheeljack asking Optimus what had happened. Optimus remarks that he doesn't know, but he's feeling like his younger, more angry and vengeful self; Wheeljack says he'll do more scans when they return to the Ark, but first they need reinforcements to make up for Arcee and Beachcomber's absence. However, before they can bring Trailbreaker back online, Optimus and co. are attacked by Astrotrain, who lands and unloads his cargo: Starscream and the Combaticons. Starscream rolls up to Optimus... and then passes him by to talk to his true _targets, as Soundwave's Decepticons have also arrived. Onslaught then orders his team to merge, and Bruticus rises up!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Cliffjumper (9) Warpath (10) Bluestreak (11) Blurr (12) Kup (13) Arcee (14) Optimus Prime (15) Beachcomber (16) Wheeljack (18) Jazz (19) Elita One (24) Trailbreaker (25)	Thundercracker (1) Soundwave (2) Long Haul (3) Hook (5) Mixmaster (6) Bonecrusher (7) Scavenger (8) Scrapper (21) Laserbeak (22) Ramjet (23) Astrotrain (26) Onslaught (27) Brawl (28) Starscream (29) Blast Off (30) Swindle (31) Vortex (32) Bruticus (33)	Tacoma citizens (4) Carly (16) Spike Witwicky (17) United States military (20)

Quotes

"This place is a treasure trove of energy and raw materials, unlike our old husk of a planet. The battle is here. We must hold our ground against the constant usurping Autobots. And our enemies have one massive weakness. They care for the small. The weak. The innocent. So we will act as agents of death. City by city, human by human. This will draw the Autobots out to the open, allowing for ambush. For now, let us get this unpleasant work over with."

—Soundwave tells a conflicted Thundercracker of his plans.

"Beachcomber. I will not force you... but we could use you here. In the fight."
"I made an oath to myself, Optimus. No violence. Ever again."
"I understand your feelings, but there must be a force to stop the Decepticons."
"Optimus, I think deep down you know I'm right. The best thing you could do for this planet... is leave."
"But we know the Decepticons would not follow me. They have proven they will only take what we've learned to love. We must protect this place."
"Do what you have to. And I will do what I must, as well."

—Optimus and Beachcomber talk about their differing philosophies.

"Decepticons! We have hunted the Autobots, but have instead found a most troublesome insect."

—Soundwave upon discovering Starscream's survival

"Leader Starscream! You have united us! You have healed our brother instead of healing yourself!!! We shall follow you to the end! Combaticons! Merge into-- BRUTICUS!!!!"

—Onslaught

Notes

Continuity notes

Thundercracker's been conflicted about the Decepticons' brutality since issue #8.
Cliffjumper's fate after Optimus detonated Shockwave's energy reserves in issue #12 was ambiguous, but now we know that he was left behind on Cybertron. He's specifically wound up outside of where Shockwave's lab used to be, with Kup's body still lying on the ground, as seen during Elita's team assault in issue #7.
Bluestreak only has one of his signature shoulder-mounted cannons, but if you look closely enough, you can see a little nub where the other one should be, indicating that it was destroyed in a previous battle.
Hey, Warpath's alive! He was seemingly killed alongside Kup and Huffer in issue #7, but Daniel Warren Johnson has since expressed regrets over killing them off so early and so suddenly, and this is more-than-likely him walking back that decision.
Arcee's guilt is the result of her anger at Shockwave distracting her when she, Optimus, and Elita invaded the Nemesis in issue #11. That same issue introduced Beachcomber's vow of non-violence and saw Ultra Magnus flee in terror upon encountering Shockwave again, with it being confirmed this issue that he vanished to parts unknown.
Spike is still recovering from being shot in issue #3, but he's clearly doing better now, since he's up and walking again (albeit with the aid of crutches). He was previously stuck in a wheelchair, as first seen in issue #7.
Wheeljack remarks that the radio chatter regarding the Decepticons' attack on Tacoma was coming from their south, indicating that Farmingham and most of the places the comic's taken us are located somewhere in the northern half of Washington.
Optimus has been having weird visions ever since Sparky's sacrifice to the Matrix in issue #6. His vision this issue is a continuation of the one from issue #12, with the baby seemingly having grown into a child.
Ravage was shot back in issue #1 and Soundwave's been trying to get him repaired ever since.
Laserbeak's mission isn't directly spelled out to us, but considering that it's Soundwave giving the order, it's something he says he should've done right after waking up, and the level of importance he's placed on it, we can hazard a guess as to what it entails.
We've known that Cybertron's been incredibly low on energy ever since Void Rivals issue #4, but Bluestreak and co. killing Ramjet for his energon really illustrates just how dire things have gotten.
Poor Trailbreaker can't catch a break— this is the second time he's been brought to the dam to be reactivated, the first time being in issue #5.
Astrotrain was indeed trapped in chains by Beachcomber sometime between issues 9 and 10. He was freed when Starscream and the M.A.R.S. salvage team happened upon him last issue.
In case you're confused about why Starscream is half a body sitting atop a H.I.S.S. tank, that was explained to be the result of the aforementioned M.A.R.S. salvage team last issue. That issue also saw him recruit the Combaticons to his side, setting up Bruticus' long-awaited appearance after the group's failed merging in issue #9.
As noted by Onslaught, Brawl has finally been repaired after being bisected by the deactivating space bridge in issue #9.

Transformers references

We're finally seeing Thundercracker's doubts regarding the Decepticon cause begin to solidify, a detail taken from his original toy's bio.
Blurr's fast-talking and afterimages come directly from his debut in The Transformers: The Movie. His anxious, somewhat-neurotic characterization most directly recalls his depiction in the subsequent third season of The Transformers cartoon.

Other trivia

In his response to one of the letters, Daniel Warren Johnson teases the introduction of a third combiner team sometime before he departs with issue #24. In response to another letter, he also confirms that most of the more "obscure" G1 characters (the letter he's responding to specifically mentions Star Saber, Deathsaurus, Rack'n'Ruin, and Jhiaxus) won't be appearing in his run, naturally owing to him not being familiar with them.

Covers

Cover A: Bruticus looms over a fallen Optimus, by Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer.
Cover B: Trailbreaker's forcefield fends off a barrage of missiles, by Jorge Corona and Mike Spicer.
Cover C: Connecting cover by Karl Kerschl.
Cover D: Starscream and some schematics of him, by E. J. Su.
Cover E: Cliffjumper, Bluestreak, and Blurr on Cybertron, by Oliver Ono.
Cover F: A red-eyed Optimus Prime sits atop a throne of rubble, by Dustin Nguyen. Foil variant.
Cover G: Blank sketch variant.
616 Comics Cover A: Connecting cover by Tiago Da Silva.
616 Comics Cover B: The other half of the above connecting cover, by Tiago Da Silva.
Carnivore Comics Cover: Soundwave sends Rumble and Laserbeak into battle, by Ryan G. Browne.
TopShelfComic Cover A: Optimus Prime stands ready in front of a futuristic skyline that resembles Megatron's head, by Livio Ramondelli.
TopShelfComic Cover B: Optimus slumped atop some ruined steps, by Jimbo Salgado.