Transformers Comic issue 2.15

« Transformers #15 »
"You can't hide, Furman! We'll get you writing our comic again, oh yes..."
Publisher	Titan Comics
First published	15 July 2010
Editor	Steve White
Deputy editor	Den Patrick
Publishing manager	Darryl Curtis
Price	£2.50

The Bermuda Triangle sounds so friendly, I'm sure nothing will go wrong there...

Making Waves

• Script: Robin Etherington
• Art: Jon Davis-Hunt
• Colours: Hi-Fi Design
• Lettering: Den Patrick
• Continuity: Revenge of the Fallen (sequel)

Over the past three months, a UFO has sunk five merchant vessels in the North Atlantic, slowly making its way towards Florida. Now, NEST's William Lennox and Robert Epps have set up a fake vessel near Great Abaco, the Bahamas, to draw the Decepticon towards the guns of the USS Bainbridge. A bored and frustrated Epps is wondering how they can be sure the plan will work... when the UFO appears, revealing itself to be Soundwave! Soundwave takes the bait ("TO PIECES!"), at which point Lennox has the Bainbridge launch its missiles!

Soundwave is soon damaged and on the run, and Lennox wants Sea Hawks launched... but the Decepticon is flying into a heavy storm to escape them, making pursuit difficult. Luckily, the Bainbridge captain notes, he's flying towards the Bermuda Triangle, where a lot of weird stuff happens.... (dun dun DUNNNNN!)

Soundwave grumbles his way through the storm, noting Megatron had ordered him to personally hound the humans, and now he's ended up severely damaged and his shields are down to 20%. Luckily, he emerges from the storm to find a human ship that he can take his anger out on... only to find out his sonic cannons have been knocked offline. Then he scans the ship to find it's the USS Cyclops, which was lost at sea in 1918... and then the ship's captain declares Soundwave a German war machine and they start firing on him!

He flees it only to run into another ship, the USS Nerus that was lost at sea in December 1941; they assume he's a Japanese vessel and start blazing away too! Now with his shields down to 10%, Soundwave flies up through the clouds to escape, trying to tell himself the storm must have caused his sensors to malfunction... and then planes turn up, Grumman Avenger bombers of Flight 19, lost in the Triangle in 1945! Using standard tactics, they stay on his tail and successfully bring his shields down to nothing!

Soundwave gives up and flees to the moon. He doesn't know how he'll explain it to Megatron, but at least up here he can relax: radiation and space debris have nothing on Earth!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

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Quotes

"Still seems a long shot if you ask--"
"Bogey sighted, Major Lennox."
"Aw, damn. *to Lennox* Don't give me that look! You were right, okay?"

—Epps is undone by the Bainbridge captain

"Well, I think it's safe to say that that is a visitor from outer space."

—Epps sees Soundwave's alternate form

"I don't believe this! I'm getting pasted by a ghost ship!"

—Soundwave really is

"WHAT NOW!"

—Soundwave meets the Grummans

"?!?!"

—Soundwave isn't having a good day

Errors

• Five merchant vessels in three months as a way of hounding? You lazy bum, Soundwave!

• The Cyclops captain is a middle aged man, though Soundwave refers to the Cyclops crew as being young humans.

• While there has never been a USS Nerus in the United States Navy, USS Nereus was a ship of the same class as Cyclops, and lost on the same route in December 1941.

Notes

• Etherington returns for the first of several fill-ins, oddly soon after Furman had started an ongoing plotline with issue #13.

• The Cyclops and Flight 19 are real. As far as we know, they aren't really ghosts hanging around the Bermuda Triangle.

• This is the only issue so far to be free of any Autobots.

• It's bloody fun!

Contents

Articles and Features

• Bumblebee's Guide: The Solar System. Various facts about Earth by Bumblebee, and a wordsearch. Bumblebee informs us that the eruption of Eyjef Ejjafjally that volcano in Iceland prevented a number of Decepticons from flying.
• Soundwave's Synapse Strengtheners: Soundwave takes over the puzzles for Megatron, running comms-related puzzles.
• In Memoriam: Jazz. A feature of Jazz, Jazz, and Jazz.
• Total Devastation: colour in last issue's cover!
• Ratchet's Remedies: More puzzles.
• Competitions.
• Poster of the cover.

Free gifts

• "FREE! Fantastic Magnet Set!"

Law and Disorder

"Sorry I'm late, I was completing a level on TRANSFORMERS: War for Cybertron. So many missions! So much cool multiplayer action!"
"I wouldn't be seen dead playing that infantile combat simulation. What a dreadful waste of time."
"Heh, I think you're still smarting from being left out of the cast."

—Ironhide and Barricade

"Who knows what happened to Wheelie... I did ask Optimus if I could use him as a target marker for ranged weapons practice, but apparently 'we don't treat new Autobots that way'. Pity. I'm sure if you look for Mikaela Banes you'll find Wheelie close by, maybe even attached to one of her legs."

—Ironhide

Young child: "Where were Glen and Maggie [in ROTF]?"
Barricade: "Indeed, where were Glen and Maggie?"
Ironhide: "Who are Glen and Maggie? Admit it, you have no idea do you, 'Cade?"

"Maggie undoubtedly runs her own department [at Rand] and has a very nice apartment. Glenn [sic] still lives with his grandma, playing Dance Dance Revolution with his cousin and eating all the doughnuts. Oh dear."

—Ironhide makes an educated guess

Small children: "(twins - a bit like Mudflap and Skids)"
"Apparently these humans are a bit like Mudflap and Skids. I find this deeply worrying."
"I don't have a problem with Mudflap and Skids themselves, I just find it amusing Optimus insists on letting them out to play with live weapons. It'll end in tears one day. Lovely, lovely Autobot tears."

—Ironhide and Barricade

"Well Jake, seeing as Camshaft and Swindle have a lot of similarities I suspect they both enjoy having that massive cannon in their chests."

—Ironhide

Errors

• Glen's name is "corrected" to Glenn, which is wrong. But it's Glen, so it's not important.
• If Ironhide is playing War for Cybertron, shouldn't he see Barricade is one of the playable characters? Then again he is an Autobot - playing the Decepticon campaign would probably raise questions.

Notes

• Barricade was really excited about War for Cybertron last issue, so finding out he wasn't in the game must've really hurt.
• Barricade will murder the next person to ask him about Grindor and Blackout.
• When a letter is addressed to "Camshaft and Swindle", Ironhide wonders if there's a "velvet revolution" going on that he didn't notice. The Velvet Revolution was the non-violent removal of the Communist government of Czechoslovakia. Ironhide knows his Earth history!