Transformers Comic issue 3.1

« Transformers: Dark of the Moon #1 »
"Shopkeeper! That man has stolen the free toy from this cover! He's getting away!"
Publisher	Titan Comics
First published	23 June 2011
Editor	Rona Simpson
Designer	Dan Bura
Publishing manager	Darryl Tothill
Price	£3.99

Starscream VS Dark of the Moon spoilers!

Fight for Fiesole

• Script: Robin Etherington
• Art: Horacio Domingues
• Colours: Digikore
• Lettering: Andrew James and Rona Simpson
• Continuity: Dark of the Moon (prequel)

Fiesole, Italy: it's a place that knows about martyrs, holding the cathedral where Saint Romulus has been buried, but something is buried there with him, something that could potentially make a whole lot more martyrs, out of the good and the bad alike; something that NEST knows about, placing auto-guns inside the cathedral's belltower and having Italian soldiers standing guard. A sneaking Starscream knows within is a piece of the Ark, and it could lead the Autobots to something the 'Cons don't want found! Soundwave sends down an override virus to the guns from orbit, and at Starscream's command reprograms them to _target only humans. Now the Seeker is free to deal with the larger problem...

In the centre of the cathedral, Optimus, Bumblebee, and Sideswipe watch as a professor digs up an ancient alien relic. (He politely declines the offer of help, not wanting Bumblebee to destroy another shrine by accident...) He'd been translating a journal by a British priest who, while living in Fiesole in 1962, had seen an object fall from the sky and buried it next to Romulus for fear it had secret powers that would cause a religious backlash. The professor had dug it up, freaked out, buried the relic again, and then called in NEST to collect the relic after he dug it back up...

But Starscream is having none of that, sucker-punching Sideswipe into unconsciousness and blasting Bumblebee through the wall! Optimus orders the professor to continue digging in case more Decepticons arrive and engages the enemy in battle. The villain manages to land in two good blows only for Optimus to turn it back on him: he's too reliant on the sucker-punch, and in a straight fight he's stuffed! With Starscream down, Optimus checks on Bumblebee... but the Seeker, to their shock, gets back up despite leaking fuel from his chest. Optimus snarls he should have left when he had the chance, but Starscream quietly says that some things are worth dying for...

But he'd rather Optimus died instead, so he brings the whole belltower down on the Autobots! Congratulating himself on another well-performed sucker-punch, Starscream confiscates the relic from the professor and says that if it wouldn't drain his remaining energy, he'd kill the man... but unlike Optimus, he's no martyr for the cause.

After the Autobots are rescued (Sideswipe is pissed he missed everything), they discuss the situation. Optimus says they have to remain vigilant, because the Decepticons clearly have a secret up their sleeves...

Continued in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, in cinemas 29 June!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Only one of us is prone to making errors, and it is not the Decepticon happily floating in space 200,000 miles above you."

—Soundwave gets his diss on

"But perhaps some secrets are worth protecting with our lives... Perhaps some things are worth dying for, eh, Optimus? Would you agree with that?"
"I would lay down my life today to preserve the freedoms of anyone threatened by your tyranny."
"I'm so glad to hear you've made your peace..."

—Starscream and Optimus

"I won't lie to you, Bumblebee... this is going to hurt."

—Optimus as the belltower comes down...

Errors

• The professor says Bumblebee accidentally destroyed the Shrine of Saint Donatus, which doesn't exist in Fiesole Cathedral.
• Do archaeologists really bury relics if they get a bit weirded out by them?

Notes

• This is the first time where Simon Furman has not written the prequel for a movie. It also seemed to be the shortest run of prequels ever, only one eight-page story instead of a six- or eight-parter, but then the next few issues would do prequels as well.
• Sentinel Prime is named, but does not appear in the story. It's pretty clear the fragment is from the Ark, and that Starscream doesn't want either Sentinel or the ship found.
• Fiesole, its cathedral, and Saint Romulus are all real. (The Ark's fragment isn't, as far as we know)
• Starscream seems genuinely scared by the idea of the Autobots finding Sentinel Prime, and the text ominously warns us that the Ark fragment could lead to a lot of new martyrs being created: a covert setup for Sentinel's heel turn in the film. This raises a few questions: Megatron says in the film that Starscream knows nothing about his plan (that Sentinel's on their side) but Soundwave is in on it, so why are they trying to stop the Autobots learning about the Ark? It's possible the Decepticons aren't ready yet.
  • Soundwave and Starscream did spend eight issues of Vol.2 trying to find the Harvester in a way that cut the Fallen out of the loop, are they trying to banjax Megatron's plan? (We'll never know now!)
• After being walloped, a dazed Starscream starts singing ‘The Down and Out Blues’.

Contents

Articles and Features

• Soundwave has created a code and is sending secret messages to Decepticons in this issue! With the inside-cover codebreaker, help NEST Intelligence decode him!
• Sentinel Prime profile.
• Bumblebee's Guide: Apollo 11 Mission. A very brief and simple history of the mission and its context, with NASA photos in it. (Also, find three Sentinels hidden - badly - in the pages!)
• Break Out Of NEST!: maze puzzle.
• Shockwave Speaks!: Interview with Shockwave, utterly unemotional and TALKING. LIKE. THIS. He turns violent when asked about his childhood.
• How To Draw Shockwave.
• Starscream's Stumpers: Puzzles, hosted by a wonderfully rude and snarky Starscream (the spirit of Star Screams lives!)
• More puzzles!
• Competitions.
• A cut-out Megatron bookmark and Optimus mask.
• Mega-Mouth: letters page answered by Megatron and Sideswipe.

Free gift

There's two possibilities here:

• A toy gun
• A GODDAMN FREE LEGENDS CLASS TOY!! Evidently Hasbro had a lot of surplus 2009 Revenge of the Fallen toys!

Mega-Mouth

"I demand the meanest Decepticon pictures in the history of the universe. I DEMAND IT! ELSE YOU SHALL FEEL MY WRATH!"
" ... You need to work on your people skills, seriously."

—Megatron and Sideswipe

Editor: "Watch out, Megatron, here comes SYCLOCK!"
"Oooh, I'm really scared."

—Megatron on a fan-made Autobot

Young child: "Why does Starscream attack the navel (sic) base?"
"Because he's dumb?"

—Sideswipe

Young child: "My favourite Transformer is probably either Devastator (2009) or Trypticon (G1)."
"I'm going off you, Ryuto."

—Sideswipe

Young child: "My favourite Autobot is Jet-Powered Optimus Prime."
"NO! Why would you ruin what was the start of a beautiful friendship, Ryuto?"

—Megatron

"This one [fan character] looks like he's practised in the dark arts before! Well done, William and William's Dad, your faith is encouraging."

—Megatron

Errors

• The contents page calls the strip "The Fight For Fiesole", the comic just "Fight For Fiesole".
• The letters page once calls Syclock... Sycock. Huh huh huh huh huh.
• Ironhide's "fight the power" message remains even though he's departed the letters...

Notes

• Despite being a rebrand, the comic follows the format of the last dozen issues, right down to the feuding letter hosts: we even get a direct continuation of the Bumblebee's Guide feature and the interviews. In spirit, this is issue 2.22.