Transformers 50

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All Hail Optimus Part 1:
Once Upon a Time on Earth
Attribution Information
Writer(s) John Barber
Penciller(s) Casey W. Coller
Andrew Griffith
Inker(s) Andrew Griffith
Jamie Snell
Letterer(s) Tom B. Long
Chris Mowry
Colorist(s) John-Paul Bove
Josh Burcham
Joana Lafuente
Josh Perez
Cover artist(s) John-Paul Bove
Mike Choi
Casey W. Coller
Thomas Deer
Andrew Griffith
Jonathan Hickman
Alex Milne
Josh Perez
Livio Ramondelli
Editor(s) Carlos Guzman
Publication Information
Publisher IDW Publishing
Publication Date February 24, 2016
Pages 40
General Information
Timeline 2016
Series Transformers
Issue Number 50
Preceded by Conquerors Part 4: Perihelion
Followed by All Hail Optimus Part 2: Edge of the Earth

All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth is the fiftieth issue of the IDW Publishing comic book series Transformers and the first of six issues in the series' final story arc. This issue, written by John Barber with art by Andrew Griffith, was released on February 24, 2016. The comic also contains a back-up strip, New Worlds Order, with pencils by Casey Coller.

Publisher's summary[edit | edit source]

ALL HAIL OPTIMUS—PART 1! Backed by an army of zealous followers, OPTIMUS PRIME declares Earth to be a part of CYBERTRON’S Council of Worlds—and the DECEPTICONS and the people of Earth don’t won’t take it laying down! The story starts here, but the repercussions will last forever.

Plot summary[edit | edit source]

All Hail Optimus Part 1: Once Upon a Time on Earth[edit | edit source]

Across Earth, Optimus Prime has broadcast himself on every communications device in every language. The Prime claims to bring freedom from the Decepticons and its governments by entering humankind into the cosmic community.

Yesterday, in Shanghai, Galvatron rebukes Optimus' order to surrender, instead of ordering his troops into battle. Meanwhile, at Earth Defense Command Headquarters in the Bikini Atoll, Thundercracker implores Marissa Faireborn to allow him to join the fight, but with no avail, as the director does not wish to see the former Decepticon killed, instead ordering the deployment of a full-spectrum mindbomb. At Sanctuary Station, Soundwave rebukes Galvatron's plea for help, but the Decepticon commander forces Garrison Blackrock to show the Onyx source code to a Decepticon Outlier, a telepath by the name of Mindwipe, who uses it to protect himself, his commander, and five others. However, Wheeljack has built a device that successfully shields all of the Autobots from the mindbomb's effects, forcing Skywarp to teleport the functional Decepticons and Blackrock to the Nemesis.

Suddenly, the Autobots are attacked by People's Liberation Army Mecha Force from the Chinese military, a unit led by Zliong Qian equipped with fighter craft capable of transforming into exosuits. Aileron is horrified by the murder of numerous Decepticon, a feeling which grows when her Amica Endura Sterling and others are destroyed by satellites equipped with lasers. At the command of Prime, Aileron destroys the satellites, passing the Peace Without Tyranny, which contains Slugslinger, Cosmos, and Soundwave who are on a mission to collect any Cybertronian who wishes to join them in the orbit of Io. Many Decepticons take his offer, but Soundwave refuses to bring any followers of a Prime onboard, forcing Cosmos to stay behind to aid in the brawl.

Aileron returns from orbit as spacebridge is reactivated to transport all of the wounded to Cybertron. As Victorion defends the bridge, Alieron decides to go through the bridge to find a solution but is met with even more chaos on the other side: Brawl and the evacuated Decepticons are rioting with Devastator being sent in to keep the peace, to no avail. The Camien zooms past to her objective: Optimus' personal starship, the Skyroller. On the other side of the bridge, Optimus, Sunstreaker, and Cosmos save the survivors of the Ark-7, Alpha Trion, Arcee, and Sideswipe. Aileron pilots the ship to the other side of the spacebridge, where she picks up all of the other Autobots and attacks the spacebridge to the hull. Once onboard, Prime sets the Ark-7 to self-destruct as they escape.

Aileron plots a course to the Bikini Atoll, as Spike encourages a move to execute the Autobots within their custody, but is shut down by Marissa who has realized that Optimus has just saved the planet. Thundercracker manages to defuse a tense situation by backing up Marissa by saying it was Blackrock's fault that Jazz, Jetfire, Kup, and Sky Lynx were captured. Thundercracker wants to live a life away from the E.D.C, and Optimus accepts the former Seeker into his ranks as an ally, not an Autobot.

At Thundercracker's hideout, the Autobots use whatever technology is left to recharge and repair the spacebridge. As Optimus recharges he sees various visions: A Worldburner that has crashed into the White House; Arcee and Galvatron fighting on the same side; Victorion standing over a defeated Superion; a Titan emerging from Monument Valley; Sanctuary Station crashing into Io; Windblade and Chromia kneeling before Optimus; Aileron wearing the Mistress of Flame's regalia, and the Prime himself with Galvatron's head on pike in one hand and Earth in his other, with the prophcey of Dark Cybertron being said in the background. Awakening with a start, the Iaconian broadcasts a message to Earth and Cybertron with mixed reactions: Marissa realizes her error, Arcee reminiscences, Qian and Spike are outraged, Soundwave is unsurprised, Galvatron is ecstatic, Starscream is concerned, and Prowl immediately is skeptical!

New Worlds Order[edit | edit source]

Marrisa and Ayana are on their way to Washington to meet the President. Faireborn is worried, but Jones calms her down, but their confidence is shattered when they see to Seeker clones on the lawn.

Onboard the Peace Without Tyranny, Swift is horrified about the fact that she aided a known psychopath and helped to combat a Prime, to Needenose's nonchalance. When they arrive, Needlenose explains that Optimus is actually an oppressor, a sentiment that Soundwave agrees with, although the new Decepticon leader is more angered by Galvatron's betrayal.

At the Spire, the Council of Worlds has called a session to discuss the situation currently unfolding on Earth. Starscream denies Optimus a spot on the Council, a sentiment shared by all; however, Windblade asks that the Prime be given a chance to explain himself. After the meeting, Starscream talks with his apparition of Bumblebee, saying that everyone gives the benefit of the doubt to the Prime, instead of the official ruler of Cybertron. The former Decepticon truly believes that Optimus has made a decision that will lead him down the same path Megatron took.

Beneath the ocean onboard the Nemesis, Mindwipe performs vivisection upon Blackrock to discover that he is a true Cybertronian, with his bodily functions being a fraud. Garrison is incredulous, but Galvatron insists that he accept his heritage as a proud descendant of Primus himself. The Decepticon leader then thanks the Onyx CEO for giving him the Onyx Interface and all of its capabilities.

At the White House, the President berates Faireborn for her inadequacy and pardons Witwicky and reinstates his military status, him now serving as a liaison along with Zilong. Watching through a camera, Galvatron scoffs at their confidence, saying the age of man has ended it, with the Autobots being its destruction.

Appearances[edit | edit source]

Characters[edit | edit source]

Creatures[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]

  • On the final panel of the first page, Optimus' face has a grittier appearance than the rest. Page 29 establishes that this is the monitor Prowl is watching, meaning the coloring is deliberate to establish that Prowl is "out of the loop".
  • This issue is the first appearance for Squawktalk and Beastbox; with only their combined form being seen. With combining robot forms being extremely rare in this universe, the three are most likely separate individuals.
  • The Predacons are part of Galvatron's army in Shanghai, having been seen to work with China in the International Incident story arc from the 2009-2011 ongoing.
  • Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are stated to be brothers. Sideswipe's Spotlight issue established the duo to be close, with any familial relationship absent.
  • Starscream says that Devastator's antics have led to fugitives escaping, allowing Brawl and Onslaught to appear in the first arc of Till All Are One
  • Optimus used the Skyroller during his stint as "Orion Pax", with him last using it in issue #35.
  • The words in the Prime's vision are almost exactly the same from the Covenant of Primes of the Dark Cybertron crossover.
  • A Worldsweeper is seen in Optimus' vision, a model of the ship often seen in More Than Meets the Eye
  • Swift says that Galvatron attempted to use Cybertron to destroy the universe twice, as was seen in Chaos and Dark Cybertron.
  • Frenzy states that he and Rumble were "born to be mining equipment", referring to their status in Megatron Origin.
  • Swift brings up the death of Barricade from Redemption.
  • Starscream brings up how Sentinel Prime was the last Prime to lay claim to a populated world. This is either referring to the fact that he was the last Prime before the Uprising or it could be another planet entirely.
  • Issue #30 establishes a male US president, making the new president either newly elected or a minor error.
  • Mindwipe declares the Blackrock is neither a holomatter avatar, nor a facsimile construct, two concepts from Simon Furman's IDW comics.

Franchise references[edit | edit source]

  • This story arc's title is a callback to All Hail Megatron.
  • One of the Decepticons aboard Sanctuary Station has Tomahawk's coloration, an Autobot from the 2010 Transformers toyline, but with an empurata-style head.
  • The Skyroller's override code is "Zeta Nova Nemesis Kaon Prowl".

Real-life references[edit | edit source]

  • The title of this issue is a take on the movie Once Upon a Time in the West, with a parallel to its villain, Henry Fonda, and the Prime.
  • As the Skyroller prepares to launch, Aileron states "Atomic turbines to power—and we're ready to leave!"—a take on the Batmobile activation procedure from the Batman television show from the 1960s.
  • When Marissa talks to the President about Witwicky, she accuses him of being a "loose cannon", the President calls her Dean Wormer from the book National Lampoon's Animal House.

Errors[edit | edit source]

  • In issue #49, Victorion has Dustup and Jumpstream as her arms, with Skyburst and Stormclash as the legs. The second page of this issue establishes the twins to the arms.
  • On the fourth panel of the first page, Optimus states it has been five years since the Decepticons conquered Earth, but in issue #30, it is said to have eight years since the events of All Hail Megatron. This timeline fits with issue #29 establishes that this universe's Occupy Wall Street movement was happening during the invasion, but is at odds with the rest of timeline.
  • Tantrum is given a green and gray body instead of his usual red and orange, as is evidenced in the first panel of the fourth page.
  • Sanjay Bharwaney says the plural of "neocortex" as "neocortexes", instead of the proper "neocortices", as seen on page 6, panel 3.
  • On page 9, panel 1, Headstrong is given a red and gray color scheme.
  • Red Wing is given a red left hand, when it should be colored black, on page 12, panel 4.
  • Sideswipe is drawn without severe cranial damage and missing limbs, as was shown in issue #49.
  • On page 36 and 37, Mindwipe is erroneously colored in Ratbat's color scheme.
  • On page 36, the word "simulacrum" is misspelled as "simulcrum".

Other trivia[edit | edit source]

  • Victorion is shown to have a retractable mouth plate, with Bob having a moveable one.
  • Qian tells his squadron to "activate countermeasure jiguang". "Jīguāng" is "laser" in Mandarin Chinese.
  • Pyra Magna is shown with an Autobot insignia on her chest, establishing her team of Torchbearers have joined the Autobots.
  • While Xi Jinping is the President of China in this universe, this story establishes the President of the United States in 2015 to be a fictitious woman, not Barack Obama.

Cover gallery[edit | edit source]

Notes and references[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]


Transformers
Main issues:
Season One:

Dark Cybertron:

Season Two:
Trade paperbacks:
Hardcover collections