Revolutionaries 5

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Strange Visitors
Attribution Information
Writer(s) John Barber
Penciller(s) Guido Guidi & Fico Ossio
Inker(s) Guido Guidi & Fico Ossio
Colorist(s) Sebastain Cheng & Guido Guidi
Cover artist(s) Robert Atkins, Sebastian Cheng, Thomas Deer, Jed Dougherty, Pierre Droal, Simon Gough, Tone Rodriguez
Editor(s) David Hedgecock & David Mariotte
Publication Information
Publisher IDW Publishing
Publication Date June 14, 2017
Pages 5
General Information
Timeline 2017 AD
Series Revolutionaries
Issue Number 5
Preceded by The Iron Klaw
Followed by Power and Glory

Strange Visitors is the fifth issue of the IDW Publishing comic book series Revolutionaries. The issue, written by John Barber with art by Guido Guidi and Fico Ossio, was released on June 14, 2017.

Publisher's Summary[edit | edit source]

The Revolutionaries are after Cobra Commander, but he has some help from the past—the Hearts of Steel Transformers?!?

Plot Summary[edit | edit source]

In 18,017 BC, the starship Axalon , hailing from the Cybertronian colony world of Eukaris, nears Earth's orbit. The ship, lead by Domitius Major, has been sent on a mission by onyx Prime, but is forced to change course to restock their energon supplies. They suddenly receive a transmission sent by the Autobots—which is soon realized to be bounced to them by another vessel. The mysterious ship opens fire on the Axalon, shooting it down, and then following it to the surface, where the mysterious ship's only occupant, Shockwave, leaves his craft.

In 2017, Tomax Paoli arrives at I.R.O.N. Building while riding Centurion, telling him to stay outside. As he enters the building, his secretary Violet informs him of Garrison Kreiger's presence in Paoli's office; Paoli terminates her for disobedience, trying to protect her from violence. A holographic Kreiger tells Paoli about the attack in Kalistan by Action Man, Garrison Blackrock, Kup, and Mayday, warning him that these "revolutionaries" would be coming from Tomax next. With no choices left, Tomax Paoli once again becomes Cobra Commander again, a uniform given to him by Baron Ironblood.

As Shockwave enters the Axalon, the first of its crew, Centurion, awakens, but with amnesia; after seeing the Autobot transmission with Bumblebee as one of the messengers, the passing resemblance between Bumblebee and Centurion causes the Eukarian to believe he is the Autobot. This misconception gives Shockwave an idea for one of his experiments.

After donning the Cobra Commander helmet, Tomax sees Ian Noble hiding within the building. After confronting the Briton, he blasts the agent out of building with his concussion blaster, but Ian is caught by Kup who is waiting outside.

With all of the Eukarians in a state of amnesia, Shockwave decides to run some battle simulations by replacing their memories with those of combatants of the Great War. Therefore, Domitius Major becomes "Optimus Prime" and Centurion becomes "Bumblebee" in a ironic twist, with Shockwave even creating an analog of himself. These "Autobots" and "Decepticons" fight for one hundred years under Shockwave's vision, who watches their combat in place of his true mission, stabilizing the Ore-13 he sent to Earth millennia earlier. The Decepticon scientist also discovers the Talisman its abilty to create drones. Eventually, the proxy warriors are forced into stasis lock when their energon reserves are depleted, and Shockwave leaves to return to his objective, planning to return but the scientist never does.

Mayday begins to chase Paoli though the hallways, as Kup scales the walls of the building. Centurion, upon seeing another Cybertronian, pulls out his rotary cannon and fires on the Autobot, believing him to be last remaining Decepticon of the crash.

In World War II, Master Sergeant Robert Savage and his platoon, the Screaming Eagles, assist in the liberation of Paris and are astonished when an Iron Trooper falls in front of them. The platoon is even more suprised when they find "Shockwave" and "Bumblebee" engaged in their final battle.

The Cybertronians' battle spills into the humans' with them both being pushed into the structure itself, as Blackrock attempts to break into the I.R.O.N. security system.

During the late 1800s, the Eukarians awake and find Earth to be sufficiently different, continuing their war and fighting an Elder God. Decades later, the first World War with the Eukarians taking part. Not prepared for a true war, the Eukarians mostly perish, including Domitius. The survivors realized their true heritage, with "Shockwave" being the penultimate survivor, but dies at the hand of "Bumblebee" with Savage and Kreiger watching. The Eukarian then asks them to take him to the ruins of the Axalon to die in peace.

Action Man is not out of the fight yet, being thrown by Kup as he and Centurion brawl, while Blackrock makes a new discovery.

"Bumblebee", Kreiger, and Savage fight their way from France to Brasnya, the resting place of the Axalon. As Kreiger and Savage hold off the Troopers, "Bumblebee" uncovers the entrance to the cave and remembers his true name, Centurion. After defeating the troopers, the humans enter the ship and discover the Talisman missing, but a loud sound drives them outside again.

Action Man barrels into Tomax, but the ricochet from the force field knocks him back and Paoli down a stairwell. Meanwhile, Blackrock, turning into full Titan Master form, discovers the Centurion is a pawn of Onyx Prime just as he is, while the aforementioned Eukarian tells Kup that he considers all of Cybertronian kind is a scourge upon the galaxy.

Domitius' body stands at door serving as a suit of armor for hundreds of Iron Troopers. Centurion, enraged, attacks the effigy as Kreiger leaves the Axalon to get a better view of the brawl. Suddenly, Domitius's corpse glows as the Axalon vanishes with Sgt. Savage aboard.

The chase for Tomax Paoli continues throughout the building with Noble being hit with his concussion gun. It ends when Paoli is shot in one of the few vulnerable sections of his suit, his throat, by Mayday's twin pistols.

Centurion tears apart the Domitius effigy, in anger that the last connection to his past has vanished. Kreiger offers to help the Eukarian in hopes of taking the Talisman for himself.

Blackrock convinces Centurion to stop just as the amnesiac Cybertronian almost kills Kup by telling him that there are others just like him on many planets. Relieved at not being alone, Centurion surrenders, asking to see the true Optimus Prime. As they leave, Tomax surrenders but with no useful information. Fortunately, after dropping off Centurion, Garrison Blackrock has discovered the location of the Axalon and the location of Project: Ice Man: Brasnya.

Meanwhile, in Brasnya, Doctor X prepares to teleport the Baron and Krieger into the Project: Ice Man facility where Domitius' corpse is now. Gale does not wish to stay in the facility herself, as she wants to be gone by the time the "revolutionaries" arrive and see their prisoner, the Atmoic Man!

Cover Gallery[edit | edit source]

Appearances[edit | edit source]

Characters[edit | edit source]

Drone models[edit | edit source]

Events[edit | edit source]

Locations[edit | edit source]

Organizations & titles[edit | edit source]

Sentient species[edit | edit source]

Vehicles & vessels[edit | edit source]

Weapons & technology[edit | edit source]

Miscellanea[edit | edit source]

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

Continuity notes[edit | edit source]

  • This issue establishes that events of Hearts of Steel and Infestation 2 occured in this universe, with all of the Cybertronians being Eukarians experimented upon by Shockwave for battle simulations. John Barber explained that the X-Files story set in the Hearts of Steel original universe didn't happen in this continuity, with the story being set in a self-cancelling time loop.
  • The rank of "Major" being held by a Cybertronian from before the time of the war is fitting, as the only other use of this rank was by Nova Major at the end of the First Cybertronian Civil War as was seen in Robots in Disguise issue #34.
  • The message from Optimus Prime and Bumblebee to Prowl bounced from Shockwave's ship to the Axalon. The Ark-19 was under Prowl's command and served as the base of Autobot counter-infiltration unit as seen in Infiltration and its sequels; however, this story is set years before it would arrive on Earth.
  • Shockwave has arrived to study the ore he sent to Earth, as stated in his own Spotlight issue
  • The Eukarian Ironhide is green even after experimentation, being the only one of the crew of the Axalon seen on panel to keep their original coloration, with Ironhide being one of the characters given new colors in Hearts of Steel issue #1
  • Savage and Kreiger remember their encounter with the Iron Troopers in Kalistan from the flashback from Revolutionaries issue #3.
  • Tomax inquires sarcastically about Flint and Chameleon; he worked with them when we was exiled from Cobra in the second volume of Cobra, before betraying them in The Cobra Files.
  • The Axalon crashes what would become Brasnya, a break-away Russian state first seen in Escalation.
  • In the third issue of Revolutionaries, Atomic Man is believed to have died at Kreiger's hands, but the final page reveals otherwise.

Franchise references[edit | edit source]

  • Hearts of Steel began with the "Autobots" and "Decepticons" fighting on a prehistoric Earth, a callback to Beast Wars. This issue establishes more similarities to the two continuities, with the Eukarians arriving on Earth in the Axalon, being shot Shockwave's ship, which is identical to the Predacon starship from the Beast Wars cartoon.
  • Tomax Paoli's "Cobra Commander" suit is the original outfit based on the action figure.
  • The idea of Sergeant Savage disappearing with the Axalon is a take on his original backstory, where the sergeant disappeared during World War II, only to reappear in modern times by way of cryogenic preservation.
  • Mayday refuses to remove Tomax's helmet for him, having heard of its explosive capabilities. This idea comes from issue #24 of the original Marvel G.I. Joe comic book series, when it was lined with plastic explosives.

Real life references[edit | edit source]

Errors[edit | edit source]

  • Centurion is drawn in his early-twentieth century body during a flashback to the mid-nineteenth century.
  • According to Maximum Dinobots #5 and this issue, Shockwave arrived on Earth in 8389 BC, but on the fifth panel on page 13, a caption states that Centurion is stepping on the Axalon for the first time in 20,000 years, with a difference of about 9,565 years. This mostly likely indicates that this universe's last glaciation period took place at a different time period.

Other trivia[edit | edit source]

  • Early in the development of this universe, John Barber pitched a comic about a Cybertronian left behind from an earlier time. Editor David Hedgecock suggested that Barber do something with the Hearts of Steel universe. Barber originally rejected this pitch, but decided to use it to connect that universe to this universe through Onyx Prime[1].
  • Originally supposed to be released in April, this issue arrives two months late. The solicitation for this comic described issue #6's story, by way of Barber originally meaning to change the order of events [2], but some of this issue's covers, specifically Subscription covers A and B, seem to be intended for the next issue as well. Both issues were supposed to be released before the first issue of the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook, leading to various spoilers.
  • The Hearts of Steel comic included the Insecticons but All Hail Megatron established they should not exist for Shockwave to replicate. A flashback in Robots in Disguise issue 21 established there was a different Bombshell that was used as the template for the current one; therefore, there were most likely prototypes for the other Insecticons. The first issue of the Hasbro Heroes Sourcebook establishes that the Insecticons were a subspecies that was experimented on, giving more credibility to that idea.
  • Similarly, Scourge was a pseudo-Decepticon involved in the war on 19th century Earth. His Cybertronian counterpart had vanished from Cybertron's history for millions of years, indicating Shockwave remembered him from his earliest memories.

Advertisements[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. John Barber Q&A at TFCon 2017
  2. John Barber on Twitter


Revolutionaries
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