Invasion (issue)

« Transformers Timelines #7 » « Shattered Glass/Classics »
Prepare for mood whiplash.
"Invasion"
Publisher	Fun Publications
First published	April 26, 2012 (BotCon 2012) October 10, 2012 (retail ed.)
Writer	Benson Yee and Pete Sinclair
Pencils	Dan Khanna
Inks	Jake Isenberg
Colors	Josh Perez, Jesse Wittenrich, and Thomas Deer
Letters	Jesse Wittenrich
Editor	Pete Sinclair
Continuity	Shattered Glass/Classics
Chronology	SG Current era (2012)/Classics end of universe

An evil Ultra Magnus and his army invade an unwitting alternate universe, threatening all existence.

Synopsis

Eight hours ago in the "Shatteredverse," on the prison planet of Paradron, Ultra Magnus escapes from his cell with his forces, slaughters most of the prison staff, and opens up comms to his brother, Optimus Prime, gloating that his time as a petty little tyrant is up. Ironhide, loyal to the end, crawls towards Magnus to try and stop him, but Magnus simply blasts him apart. Wheeljack opens up the stellar spanner portal, and Magnus leaves, telling Prime that he was always their father's favorite. Enraged but unable to follow, Prime activates Paradron's distress beacon, knowing that one Decepticon can do his work for him...

Now, on the "Classicsverse" Earth, the Autobots get to work repairing the Ironworks base in Oregon after the recent attack by Gigatron and his Decepticons. Rad and Metalhawk are inside reporting on the attack to other Autobot bases throughout the world, when alarm klaxons begin to go out. Kick-Off reports that something's in the sky, and the Autobots watch as what appears to be a space bridge portal opens. Rad tells Metalhawk to wait inside, as he prepares for whatever comes through.

Outside, three strange worm creatures come through the portal and bite down on Sandstorm, Broadside, and Slapdash, spreading a virus that turns them into Junkions. The Junkions proceed to attack their former friends, as Magnus and his forces exit through the portal. Magnus orders Wheeljack to find the Rarefied Energon and set up their equipment, as he and the others deal with the rest of the heroic Autobots of this world. Soon, the Junkions claim Mainframe, Outback, and Rollout as well, leaving only Kick-Off and Rad. The two rush to get inside, but before they can, Rad is knocked down by a Junkion. Reacting before they can transform them as well, Rad blasts the door controls, locking it closed and saving Kick-Off. Kick-Off contacts Metalhawk, warning him of the danger outside, and heads to the armory to get some more firepower...

Carving his way into the base, Magnus concurs with Tracks that the Autobots of this world are weak and pathetic. Metalhawk arrives with a group of Autobots to confront him, but Magnus rushes forward, cutting down Tracks, Jazz, Wheeljack, and Warpath. Magnus stands ready to cut down Metalhawk and Scoop as well, but another portal opens, disgorging Straxus, Octopunch, Soundwave, and Magnus' nemesis Treadshot. Treadshot confronts Magnus as the others take down the rest of the evil Autobots, but Magnus uses the stolen Terminus Blade to produce a blinding light, allowing him and the others to escape. Metalhawk demands for an explanation from the newcomers; Soundwave explains that they are from a mirror universe where the Autobots are good and the Decepticons are evil, and that they learned of this universe when Cliffjumper was accidentally transported to theirs. Treadshot explains that Magnus was once the most trusted general of his world's Optimus Prime, only to be mutilated and imprisoned when he attempted a coup. Allying with the rogue Rodimus Prime, Magnus obtained a new body, and opened a portal to this world. The Decepticons soon discovered this portal, and with Soundwave's abilities and some background information from Cliffjumper, they were able to track Magnus down. Treadshot and Metalhawk agree to team up, splitting up their forces; Octopunch and Scoop head off to find Wheeljack; Straxus, Soundwave, Metalhawk, and Kick-Off fight the Junkion horde; and Treadshot goes to track down Magnus. All the while, these newcomers are observed by Spinister, and soon reports back to Gigatron. Seeing an opportunity, Gigatron sends Skullgrin and Octopunch to steal the Rarefied Energon while the Autobots are distracted...

In the Rarefied Energon vaults, Wheeljack begins funneling up its energy to the surface, setting up a force field to prevent anyone from tampering with his work. After Wheeljack teleports back to Magnus, Skullgrin and the evil Octopunch rise out of the murky depths. Unfortunately for them, Scoop and the good Octopunch have also entered the vaults, and the four duke it out. Octopunch fights his evil counterpart, not realizing who he is, while Skullgrin attempts to take on Scoop, who disables both him and his Pretender shell. While Octopunch continues his fight, Scoop has Holepunch and Tracer transform to help disable the machines, much to the Nebulans chagrin.

Topside, Wheeljack finishes the final steps on his device. Treadshot confronts Magnus, but he's to late to stop him, as Magnus pushes the Terminus Blade into the machine. The reaction between the sword's power and the rarefied energon unleashes a massive rift in space time, causing havoc around the world. Autobots stationed in Japan and Canada help with rescue and evacuation attempts, while in South America, Fortress Maximus gathers everyone he can on board. Underground, Octopunch knocks out his counterpart after finally realizing who it is, and attempts to help Scoop disable the shield. Unable to penetrate it, the two head back up, where Magnus fights both Treadshot and Kick-Off. The latter assumes that Magnus wants to bring more of his kind here with the rift, but Magnus proclaims he is doing quite the opposite; he's bring this world over into his universe! Hearing this, Soundwave rushes to the chamber where Wheeljack works. Before he can reach it, the Junkions surround him, bring him to his knees. Fortunately for him, an unlikely rescuer blasts them back; Gigatron and his Decepticons! Unwilling to let invaders from a dimension conquer a world that should belong to him, Gigatron defends Soundwave, allowing him to reach the chamber. Reading the energy output charts, Soundwave realizes there's no way to shut the portal down without harming the planet more. Wheeljack sneaks up on Soundwave as he's distracted, but Octopunch arrives just in time to save his friend, and when he mentions Wheeljack's force field, Soundwave gets an idea, relaying it to Treadshot. Unfortunately, Magnus realizes that he's stalling, and pushes forth to Soundwave's position. Luckily, Gigatron and Metalhawk's firepower combined manages to stop Magnus, allowing Soundwave to finish putting up a global forcefield. Magnus, however, laughs; it was never his intention to destroy Earth, at least not fully. He and his Autobots retreat, and the remaining Cybertronians gather. As they leave their universe behind, they watch as the Rarefied Energon's power destroyed their home dimension, leaving the Earth a relic of a dead universe. As they begin to orbit the native Cybertron, the Autobots and Decepticons fear that this is only the beginning. Straxus, however, encourages them with his eloquent words, proclaiming that as long as they shall live, the battle against the darkness will never end.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"Every one of them will pay for how they laughed at our plans! Or how they would have laughed had they known. Either way... BOOM!"

— SG Wheeljack

"Oh, dear Treadshot, you delightful Decepticon scum! I can't tell you how much I missed you trying to kill me."

— Ultra Magnus has a special relationship with Treadshot

"Magnus! You coward! Like a small, herbivorous shrew, you are nothing! I will hunt you to the ends of time! I will burn your empire to the ground I... I... I fraggin' hate that guy."

— Treadshot has a special relationship with Ultra Magnus

Notes

• Characters mentioned but not seen include: Prime and Magnus' father, Starscream, Rodimus, Unicron, and Ravage.

Continuity notes

• Events for this story were set up in the bio cards of two of last year's BotCon 2011 toys; Galvatron's bio made mention of returning stellar spanner activities, while Thundercracker's made mention of a jailbreak on Paradron.
• Ultra Magnus was first mentioned in "Dungeons & Dinobots", and would be mentioned several times in the profiles of the 2009 Club magazine issues. He was specifically noted to be Prime's brother in "Eye in the Sky", and was said to be imprisoned on Paradron in Cyclonus' profile in issue #29 of the Club magazine. This issue, however, is the first indication that Alpha Trion was Prime and Magnus' father. The Terminus Blade, meanwhile, was originally mentioned in "Dungeons & Dragons", which implicated that it was the Shattered Glass version of the Key to Vector Sigma. Treadshot mentions it was stolen from the Vaults of the Unknown, which was originally mentioned in Scourge's online profile.
• When last seen chronologically, Wheeljack was seen hopping dimensions in "Generation 2: Redux", serving under Rodimus, leader of the rogue Autobot faction on Earth. Rodimus is specifically noted to have made an alliance with Magnus in this issue, allowing for Wheeljack to put his dimensional knowledge to use.
• Prime's new body (of which only his head is seen) gets no explanation here, but his toy bio establishes he got it after nearly being destroyed during a major offensive.
• Ironhide was last seen in "Reunification: Part 3", working on the creation of Omega Doom; Prime promised him a star system of his own to rule if Omega Doom was successful, and it looks like Ironhide received Paradron as a reward, despite Omega Doom ultimately being a failure. Sunstreaker, meanwhile, makes his first appearance in the modern day after showing up in several flashback sequences in the original "Shattered Glass" comic.
• The stellar spanner was originally depicted as being similar to the space bridge from The Transformers cartoon; Wheeljack has evidently upgraded into a small device capable of generating a portal. The Decepticons, who destroyed their Stellar Spanner system to prevent more incidents after Alpha Trion's defeat, use Soundwave to duplicate the portal's frequency.
• Slapdash was last seen as one of the Autobot casualties on Klo in the final issue of the original Marvel The Transformers comic, while Broadside, Sandstorm, and Outback were all last seen having rather randomly appeared among the Autobot's Earth forces nearly the middle of the comic. Rollout, meanwhile, made a brief cameo in issue #77. Kick-Off and Jackpot (whose fate is unseen) make their first appearances in the "Classicsverse" here.
• Of the Autobots appearing around the world:
  • Vroom, Crossblades, and Skyhammer are based out in Japan inside Skyhammer's Ultra Pretender vehicle shell. All of them make their first appearances here, though an alternate universe Crossblades showed up in the apocalyptic future seen in #67.
  • In Canada, stationed on board the Ark II (replacing the original Ark, which was destroyed in "At Fight's End" after the Decepticons abandoned it) are Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Ratchet, Perceptor, Blaster, and Buster Witwicky. The former three were last seen in "At Fight's End"; Blaster was last seen with the Autobots stationed on Cybertron in the final issues of original comic; Perceptor was one of the many offlined by Starscream (in his case, off-panel) in issue #50; and Buster was last seen in issue #51, having returned to his normal life.
  • In South America, Fortress Maximus and Spike Witwicky. The two were last seen in issue #79, the last remaining Autobot(s) on Earth.
• Metalhawk's security team includes Jazz and Wheeljack, last seen as part of Autobot forces on Cybertron; Warpath and Tracks, both last seen in issue #50; and Scoop, last seen as part of the Autobot Resistance in issue #60. His partners, Holepunch and Tracer, did not show up with him, but that par for the course for all of the -Masters introduced after the Powermasters.
• When last seen in "Transhuman", Soundwave was among the Decepticon Earthforce; evidently, he returned to Cybertron in the period between that story and "Reunification". Straxus, meanwhile, was offhandedly mentioned in the original "Shattered Glass" comic as a poet, consistent with his characterization here.
• Cliffjumper was transported to the "Shatteredverse" in the original "Shattered Glass" comic.
• Spinister was last seen among Thunderwing's crew, surrendering to the Autobots in issue #66. His profile notes that he went missing in the intervening 20 years, before joining up with Octopunch and Stranglehold. Weirdwolf and Dreadwind, meanwhile, were last seen with Bug Bite in "Withered Hope".
• Cosmos makes a one panel cameo as one of the satellites orbiting Earth; he was last seen in issue #50, and was likely one of the many offlined by Starscream.
• Spider-Man last appeared in issue #3 of the original comic; by now he's ditched his symbiote suit for his original red and blue costume. Invisible Woman makes her first appearance in-continuity in this issue, although Spider-Man mentioned her team, the Fantastic Four, in issue #3. Robot-Master, meanwhile, was last seen retiring to his life as Donny Finkleberg; evidently, in the years since, he's become a full-fledged superhero.
• Octopunch proclaims he survived the Unicron War, as seen in issue #75... which he did by cowering away. He also conveniently leaves out the fact that it was his fault Unicron awoke in the first place, as seen in issue #61.
• Highlighted planets destroyed in the backlash include Cybertron, Nebulos, Klo (final battleground of the original comic), and Hydrus Four, origin of nucleon.

Transformers references

• Paradron was a planet of peace introduced in The Transformers episode "Fight or Flee". Here, it's a prison planet.
• The satellites surrounding Paradron have design elements and colors based on Revenge of the Fallen Soundwave and Energon Shockblast, both of whom have satellite alt-modes.
• Ironhide's death mirrors his positive universe counterpart's death at the hands of Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie; Ultra Magnus' quips "Such pitiful nonsense!" as he shoots him, mirroring Megatron's "Such heroic nonsense".
• On a related note, Ironhide has gained a bit of red to his color scheme since his last appearance, furthering the homage to the Diaclone colors of the original Ironhide toy.
• Magnus and Prime's status as brothers, along with Alpha Trion being their father, serve in homage to their Robots in Disguise counterparts.
• Several characters are drawn and colored based on their Marvel Comics appearances, which had a more limited color palette than modern comics. These include:
  • Broadside, who is drawn based on his original character model, based on a prototype of his toy.
  • Slapdash, who is drawn with the head of his character model seen in The Transformers Universe, which depicted him with a mouth as opposed to his toy's faceplate.
  • Perceptor, who has his blue and red colors.
  • Blaster, who has his alternate head seen throughout most of the Marvel run.
  • Wheeljack, who has his simpler blue and red color scheme.
  • Octopunch, who has his yellow torso.
• Ratchet's body is based on his Universe toy, in those colors rather than the Henkei ones he has in "At Fights End".
• The scenes where the Junkions reformat the Autobots is based on the way Unicron reformatted the Decepticons in The Transformers: The Movie (a wireframe model followed by horizontal lines covering the body and reshaping it).
• A few Furmanisms (lines often used by writer Simon Furman in his work) show up this issue:
  • Metalhawk plays it straight, telling Ultra Magnus that his assault "cannot-will not-succeed."
  • Wheeljack tells Magnus to "sow the eddy!", reversing the standard "reap the whirlwind!"
  • Magnus proclaims that his time is about to "start! Begin!" reversing the usual "over! Finished!"
  • Treadshot shouts that Ultra Magnus is "like a small, herbivorous shrew", flipping the usual "like a large, predatory bird."
  • Straxus plays it straight as well, proclaiming that as long as he lives, the battle against evil "never ends".
• As Ultra Magnus cuts most of the security team down, he proclaims that he "can deal with" any of the Autobots, paralleling his positive-universe counterpart's famous line from The Transformers: The Movie, "I can't deal with that now!"
• Treadshot and Magnus' rivalry mirrors that of their counterparts from the Universe "Battle in a Box" two-pack. Magnus's body in the flashback is even repurposed from his counterpart's toy.
• Accompanying Prime in the flashback sequence is Jetfire (repurposed from the Henkei Dark Skyfire toy, and what is apparently an early appearance of Stepper, who, like Ricochet before him, is negative-universe version of Headmasters Ricochet/Stepper. Here he's depicted with the body of Reveal the Shield Jazz, and in BotCon 2015, that toy would be redecoed in Stepper for the boxset, albeit with different colors.
• Cosmos has been upgraded to his Universe Legends Class body.
• The van Vroom helps excavate in Japan is colored after the "Quantum Operative" Skids toy, sold with Screech as part of a two-pack mail away exclusive with Transformers Generations 2009 Volume 3.
• Other cameos in Canada include: 1-2-3 Transformers firetruck Rescue Roy; Classics versions of Animated Isaac and Sari Sumdac; and Robots in Disguise Kelly, in her racing girl outfit from the Binaltech Asterisk toyline; she standing underneath Sunstreaker, whom she was sold with.
• As Ultra Magnus prepares to ram Soundwave, the Decepticon's reflection is visible in his vehicle mode grill, in reference to the shot from The Transformers: The Movie where Soundwave's positive-universe counterpart was reflected in Optimus Prime's grill.
• The framing of Straxus in the final panel homages Optimus Prime on the final panel of issue #66 of the Marvel The Transformers comic

Real-world references

• The Junkions are obvious pastiches of the Borg of Star Trek fame. Ultra Magnus and Tracks quip that the Autobot's resistance is "clearly futile", continuing the Borg references, this time to their signature "catchphrase".
• Rollout uses the swear "smeg", originating from British sci-fi comedy television series Red Dwarf.
• Spider-Man and Invisible Woman make tiny, legal-trouble avoiding cameos as part of the evacuation team in Canada. Also visible is Simon Furman, standing in a damaged building holding what is presumably a script.
• As storms threaten Earth's existence, modern-day Central/South Americans (see "Errors" below) worry their ancestors were right about 2012, in reference to the supposed "2012 apocalypse".
• Soundwave claims he cranked the forcefield's power "up to eleven thousand percent", in reference to the line from the 1984 mockumentrary This Is Spinal Tap.

Errors

• Lotsa missing commas and some comma splices. Example: "I am one of Gigatron's personal guards, you have no hope of defeating Octopunch!"
• Wheeljack is commanded to "hone in on the rarified energon.", which, despite somewhat common usage in this context, is non-standard. It should be "home in", like a homing missile does.
• On page 13, SG Octopunch has purple Decepticon symbols.
• Fortress Maximus is said to be stationed in South America, but the civilians he rescues speak in Yucatec Maya, which is a language spoken on the Yucatán Peninsula and in Belize, which are in North/Central America.

Other trivia

• The convention edition cover came about because Matthew Karpowich linked the organizers to a ComicsAlliance article about Dave Perillo's work via Twitter.^[1]

Covers

• BotCon Edition: Way-out pop art cover depicting the four alignments featured in the issue; art by Dave Perillo.
• Retail Edition: Optimus Prime stares at his enemies through a shattered glass; art by Dan Khanna, colors by Thomas Deer.

References