Transformers Comic issue 5.1

« Transformers: Age of Extinction #1 »
Publisher	Titan Comics
First published	July 2014
Editor	Rona Simpson
Senior editor	Natalie Clubb
Designer	Dan Bura
Price	£3.99

Drift remembers an old friend.

Adrift in Space and Time

• Script: Robin Etherington
• Pencils and inks: Horacio Domingues
• Colour: Nestor Pereyra
• Lettering: Comicraft
• Continuity: Transformers: Age of Extinction (prequel)

The Midlunar Murders.

The battle for Chicago has ended, and humanity has begun to clear up the pieces. Meanwhile, on the dark side of the Moon, Optimus Prime and former Decepticon Drift are sorting through the crashed Ark to ensure that no more potentially dangerous technology remains in the wreck. Drift is not pleased with what amounts to garbage pickup duty, but is surprised when he finds a recently deceased corpse in the wreckage, belonging to his old comrade, Knucklehead...

Five years ago, the three-man team of Drift, Lockdown and Knucklehead take cover outside a heavily-defended Autobot fortress. Lockdown takes issue with Drift's plan to storm the base in person, rather than just bomb it, but the Decepticon samurai reminds his teammate that Megatron would like something left behind to actually rule.

The trio sneak up to the base undetected, and with the element of surprise on their side, they are able to overrun the fortress's defenders without a single shot fired. Drift arrives at the base's main cannon, however, to find Lockdown preparing to execute the surrendering gun crew! The samurai tackles his subordinate, sending Lockdown's missile into the cannon, knocking it from its mounting. Lockdown accuses Drift of betraying the Decepticon cause, and attempts to pull a hidden pistol, but Knucklehead sides with his superior and knocks the weapon away. Enraged, Lockdown pins Drift to the wall with a spear and cable, and proceeds to beat on Knucklehead. Drift takes advantage of his foe's distraction to free himself and wind Lockdown's grappling cable around the dislodged cannon, which he then kicks over the edge. Lockdown is left dangling helplessly over the base's molten moat, screaming threats of revenge against his former comrades, whilst Drift allows the defeated Autobots to retreat with their wounded. Though he may want revenge, Drift knows that Lockdown won't go against Megatron and as long as the big man is in charge they'll be fine...

In the present day, Drift gives Knucklehead a proper burial, remarking from his old friend's injuries that Lockdown must have made good on his promise of revenge. Optimus reassures Drift that when Lockdown next reemerges, the Autobots will be ready to face him together.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I'm not about to throw lives away — ours or theirs."

—Drift

"Peek-a-boo."
"Oh, for the love of the Primes..."
"Clever tactic, 'Con. Fair enough, we surrender."
"Surrender? Whoever said anything about surrendering?

—Lockdown menaces some Autobot guards

"For what it's worth, 'Con, I think you'd have made a fine Autobot."
"Ha! That'll be the day! Drift's a Decepticon for life!"

—Autobots and Knucklehead

Notes

• Knucklehead mentions Breakdown, who apparently has the same paranoiac tendencies as his Generation 1 namesake.
• Autobots swear on the Dynasty of Primes.
• Lockdown likes collecting spare parts off his victims, a trait from his Animated counterpart.
• So what's Knucklehead doing on the moon? Prime's dialogue makes it clear he was one of the Decepticons hiding there, preparing to make the jump to Earth but he just never made it. Prime's a forgiving sort if he's sorry that Drift lost a friend that was going to commit genocide against us!
• Lockdown talks about Cybertron as the prize, implying that they're fighting on the planet and it's still a viable thing to conquer in 2006. It is still inhabitable in Titan's earlier comics, with the Twins there in Vol.2 and Stockade squatting there in the alternate universe.
• Intentionally or not, Titan Comics continuity synchs up quite well: Lockdown was on Earth in 2011, part of Bludgeon's militia in Vol.2, and fell back in with Megatron in "A Short, Sharp Lesson!". (He'd have to completely change his body and then change it back again, but this is Transformers.)
• Lockdown's drawn with blue highlights on his body, following the look of his toys rather than the film (which would look dull in print).

Errors

• Although the story occurs not long after Dark of the Moon, Optimus Prime sports the new body he acquires part-way through Age of Extinction.
• Lockdown says "Megatron would see you hang for this". It would be pretty difficult to hang a robot!
• It's implied that Lockdown whacked Knucklehead "recently" because Megatron has just died in the third film. This causes the following problems:
  • Megs died at the end of the battle in Chicago and all the Decepticons went to Earth, so unless Knucklehead was guarding the Ark remains then why's he still on the moon?
  • Come to think of it, if most of the story takes place in 2006 or 2007, how did the guy get onto a ship that crash-landed on the moon in 1961? Was he sent there from somewhere else?
  • What was Lockdown doing when Megatron died the first time in 2007? Was Knucklehead just hiding himself between the first two films? (Or is this why Lockdown ended up on Earth to be locked up at Bloemfontein?)
  • And the biggest problem of all: Megatron was frozen on Earth back then!
• Half of the above makes more sense if "Five Years Earlier" means 2009, five years earlier than this comic, but that clashes with when the third film takes place.

Contents

Articles and features

• The Lowdown on... Lockdown – Bio and facts on Lockdown.
• Ancient Terror – Bio and facts on Grimlock.
• Competition – Win Rise of the Dark Spark on PlayStation 4.
• Supercars – Facts and statistics for the cars appearing in Age of Extinction.
• Poster – Pull-out poster featuring Bumblebee, Optimus Prime and Crosshairs.
• Crosshairs' Conundrums – Solve puzzles to prove yourself to Crosshairs.
• Massive Movie Wordsearch – Find Age of Extinction character names.
• Competition – Win Transformers Topps trading card bundles.
• Competition – Win a limited edition copy of Transformers: Prime Season 2 Vol. 1, including a blind-packed Arms Micron and packet of trading cards.
• Lockdown's Letterbox – Lockdown and Crosshairs remark on readers' artwork.

Free Gift!

• Transformers figure! – Static Transformers: Prime figurine of either Optimus Prime or Breakdown, previously available with Colombian newspaper 'El Tiempo'.
• Topps trading cards!
• Awesome Topps game mat!

Notes

Errors

• The Rise of the Dark Spark competition question asks for the name of Age of Extinction's two-headed pterodactyl, but the correct answer given is Swoop rather than Strafe.
• Crosshairs mistakes fanart of Windrazor for a new Dinobot.

Trivia

• In the 'Supercars' feature, Lockdown's vehicle mode is depicted as the generic design seen on his Robots in Disguise toys, with its name given as "Classified information", rather than the Lamborghini Aventador seen on-screen and on his Deluxe Class toy.
• The comic refers to Lockdown as the new Big Bad (even Lockdown himself says so!), preserving the twist with Galvatron.
• There's a checklist of the upcoming FREE!! toys and which comics they're in. "COLLECT THEM ALL!", we're told, which will just happen to mean buying two issues a month.
• The bios give characters several traits of alternate versions of themselves: Lockdown is described as collecting upgrades from his victims, like his Animated counterpart, whilst Grimlock's T. rex mode is said to be the work of Shockwave, like the Aligned version of the character.

Quotes

"This is going to be very straightforward. You print what I say, humans. If not, I'll come over there and knit your pathetic tiny skeletons into a purse for that idiot Optimus Prime!"

—Lockdown

"I have to congratulate you humans. You seem very keen on the Decepticon cause... You soft-fleshed fools are OK by me."

—Lockdown on Darksteel fanart

"RYAN!!!!! You pathetic imbecile! You've ruined my page."

—Lockdown on Optimus fanart