Shockwave, victorious, explains what Prime missed in the millennia off-planet, and the goals of Shockwave's long running plan.
Dreamwave Volume 2 #6
Writer: Brad Mick
Pencils: Pat Lee
Inks: Rob Armstrong
Backgrounds: Edwin Garcia
Layout assists: Ferd Poblete
Colors: Espen Grundetjern, Alan Wang, Ramil Sunga & Pat Lee
Letters: Paul Villafuerte
- Originally published: August 27st 2003
- Preceded by: Countdown to Extinction (comic issue)
- Followed by: Generation 1, Issue Zero
- Characters (in order of appearance):
Shockwave, Optimus Prime, Kup, Ultra Magnus, Grapple, Hoist, Inferno, Red Alert, Skids, Cliffjumper, Dirge, Mirage, Soundwave, Starscream, Rumble, Frenzy, Sky Lynx Skywarp Thundercracker, Hot Rod, Arcee, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Grimlock, Defensor, Twin Twist, Gears Thrust, Bluestreak, Ironhide, Wreck-Gar, Megatron
Synopsis
With Prime down, Shockwave recounts everything from the beginning.
When Megatron, Prime, and their respective groups of soldiers left Cybertron, the war continued until at least half of the planet was a wasteland. Eventually, the entire planet and all it's inhabitants seemed to deactivate in a Great Shutdown. For reasons unknown, 300 years ago, the first Transformer to reactivate was Shockwave. Alone, Shockwave studied the planet and it's nature and found out that the planet's shut down was part of a planetary techno-biological hibernation stage of a planet-wide evolution.
Eventually, Shockwave reactivate other Autobots to help him reconstruct society, placing into power a High Council of Autobots to assist him. Eventually the High Council however found itself desperate for direction and ceded almost absolute authority to Shockwave.
As Shockwave expositions, Ultra Magnus manages to regain mobility and slowly followed to assist Prime.
Skids, evaluates the positions of the Autobots from Earth and the manner they fight for their cause. He and Inferno communicate with Perceptor as they plan a large wave of reinforcements to back-up the Autobots in their war on Shockwave.
Starscream awakens Thundercracker and Skywarp, leading his clique into the same shuttle that Ultra Magnus used to bring the Autobots to Cybertron. After loading some Protoforms heisted from the Detention Banks in Quadrant Epilson, the group attempts to take off for Earth again, but are distraught to find their transport is more than meets the eye.
But even this betrayal is part of Shockwave's grand plan. Continuing his explanation, Shockwave expresses a major interest in Earth. Almost casually mentioning that he was responsible for the destruction of the Ark II and the subliminal wave that caused the Transformers to converge in Alaska. This was all to retrieve The Matrix as a way to unlock Vector Sigma and gain a complete understanding of Cybertron's forgotten history.
Grimlock, back at the scene of conflict, assists Hot Rod by taking out Astrotrain, and Blitzwing (with whom Grimlock has developed quite a rivalry). When Grimlock seems outmatched by a Guardian Robot, the High Council arrives to assist - along with Defensor. Also Twintwist.
Shockwave, having uploaded Vector Sigma to his laboraty for study and analysis. Right before he intends to execute Prime, Shockwave declares that Cybertron itself is mobile, traveling towards Earth, where Shockwave intends to discover who it was who was able to construct a species so perfectly designed to conquer.
Stay Puft's packing heat.
But before he can deliver the killing blow to Optimus, Ultra Magnus (finally) arrives (sans battle suit) and blasts at Shockwave with Optimus' discarded gun. Although the sight of Optimus distracts Magnus long enough for Shockwave to blast away Magnus's right arm. As the two struggle, Shockwave mentions how the Energy transfer modules installed on all reformatted Cybertronians give him a major advantage, but Prime distracts Shockwave long enough for Ultra Magnus to throw Shockwave into the deep glowing pit beneath Vector Sigma.
Although Shockwave was defeated, Ultra Magnus was left hanging into the pit holding on for life with his fingers. The severely damaged Optimus tries to heft out Ultra Magnus, but instead Magnus is saved by the timely arrivate of Grimlock. Grimlock hands the Matrix back to Prime, and helps his allies limp out of the citadel as it crumbles.
With Shockwave's rule of Cybertron overthrown, the day is saved. However Optimus still has to ponder if Shockwave's belief that there was a higher power who designs the transformers for war might not just be paranoia.
While in the cold of space. Wreck Gar stumbles upon a familiar looking piece of debris.
Quotes
"Our world had been Transformed."
"In it's place stood something new... Something darker. A cold world of death… A world of corrosion…"
"…A world…"
"Of limitless potential."
-Shockwave.
"Optimus Prime, you have no concept of what I am capable of."
-Shockwave.
Items of note
- As usual, this comic was availible with two covers that can connect to form a single image.
- Left cover, with Shockwave lighting the darkest hour.
- Right cover, with a deactivated Optimus.
- A Dealer-incentive third cover was also produced featuring a two-page spread of Magnus literally bursting out of his armor. However due to a mishap this cover is extremely rare.
- Narration in the last issue listed time in the Cybertronian unit Breems. This issue gives time in the earth-unit years. Make up your mind, narration.
- During Shockwave's exposition/flashback, Ultra Magnus (and others) can be seen in a War Within form. However in The War Within: Age of Wrath and Micromasters he appears identical to his modern form. This can be explained with his tendency to wear additional armor.
- Shockwave shows his loyalty to the ideals of the High Council by throwing down his Decepticon logo. Characters in this continuity have a strange tendency to do that as Grimlock did it in the earlier volumn, and Prime did it while surrendering to Ultra Magnus in issue 2.
- Cliffjumper and Mirage assisting each other is a nod to the schism that grew between the two when Mirage surrendered the recon group to Security Team Dion in the first issue.
- Starscream hijacked the protoforms in issue 3 when he ambushed Rumble and Frenzy after they carried out Shockwave's order to unleash the Stunticons.
- Shockwave being responsible for the destruction of the Ark 2 - makes almost no sense. Since according to documents from a reliable source, it was Lazarus and Robert Hallo. Don't think about it.
- Shockwave's conversion of Cybertron into a planet-sized warship is the same master plan Megatron had when he started the war in The War Within. But it didn't work the due to Starscream's meddling and Optimus Prime giving Megatron a lobotomy.
- Shockwave isn't dead. I mean come on, has anybody in comics -ever- died when they fall into the distance?
- The final pages has Wreck Gar quote from a Monty Python scene, a tribute to his voice actor, Python Alumnus Eric Idle.