Transformers (2023) issue 17

« Transformers #17 »
Publisher	Image Comics Skybound Entertainment
First published	February 12, 2025
Cover date	February 2025
Written by	Daniel Warren Johnson
Art by	Jorge Corona
Colors by	Mike Spicer
Letters by	Rus Wooton
Editor	Ben Abernathy
Continuity	Energon Universe

As the chaos of the Decepticons' civil war spills out into a major human city, two teams of Autobots look to recruit some allies: one seeks out a friend in need, while the other aims to build a brand-new one.

Synopsis

Thundercracker makes his way to the Ark, where he reunites with Skywarp, still merged with Teletraan One. Thundercracker attempts to separate the two, but Skywarp tells him to stop, as removing him means death. Understanding Skywarp's situation, Thundercracker resolves to find a way to remove his brother from his "prison"...

In the middle of the San Juan Islands, Arcee's team manages to narrow down Ultra Magnus' trail, having found his tracks and gotten a stronger lock on his energon readings. Arcee thanks Beachcomber for helping her, and he replies that he's just happy to be useful in a way that doesn't involve violence; when Arcee asks what made him decide to abandon the fight in the first place, Beachcomber recalls the day the Decepticons attacked the Ark — in the midst of the battle, he got a glimpse of the vast wonders of space through a crack in the hull... a sight that made the war seem so meaningless by comparison. As Arcee questions if he really has a choice in the matter, Carly alerts the group to incoming fire, which sends the group tumbling into the water. The blasts are being fired by a rattled Ultra Magnus, who stops when he realizes he's shooting at Arcee — he couldn't recognize his friends through the dark of the woods, and had lost himself in the midst of building a massive fortress to keep himself safe...

On Cybertron, final preparations are underway for Elita One and Cliffjumper's assault on the Well of Sparks. The weary Elita envies the hope in Cliffjumper's eyes, having been stuck drudging through the never-ending back-and-forth of the war on Cybertron for centuries... which, Cliffjumper remarks, is why Optimus had to leave, intending to find a way forward elsewhere and then return home to save everyone. As Elita begins ranting again about how they're stuck on their own, Bluestreak cuts her short — in the brief moment Optimus returned to Cybertron, he managed to remove Shockwave from the picture, leaving the Decepticons on Cybertron effectively leaderless and giving the Autobots, who've all been suffering as much as she has, an opportunity to turn things around, especially now that they have the means to create reinforcements. Elita agrees, and the team sets off.

As Optimus' team overlook the aftermath of the broken dam, Wheeljack informs Optimus that Bruticus is moving into a large human population by the name of "Seattle". Despite Wheeljack's objections regarding his mysterious spurts of violence, Optimus rallies his team forward, intent on saving what human lives he can.

At the Hall of Sparks, Thrust is complaining to Ratbat about how he'd rather be battling in Autobot territory than be stuck guarding a place that hasn't seen action in years... right as Blurr whizzes by, and he, Bluestreak, and Warpath blow open a path for Elita and Cliffjumper to make their way inside. Elita incapacitates the two Decepticons and catches up with Cliff at the Well, which mysteriously activates on its own. At the Well's prompting, Cliff inserts his clan's spark canister, and after it confirms the contained sparks are enough to proceed, Cliff prepares to begin the creation event...

In Seattle, the battle between Starscream's team and Soundwave's team continues, leaving devastation in its wake. Steeling himself, Optimus orders the Autobots to save as many of the humans as they can. Back at the Well of Sparks, Elita informs Cliff that its program is asking for a secondary mode to model the new Autobot after. On cue, Cliff has Blades deposit Carly's wrecked van, which the Well scans. The new Autobot then emerges, the combination of his clan's sparks causing them to remember Cliff from ages past. When Cliff asks what his new friend calls themselves, they respond: their name is Shredhead!

Featured characters

Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"You think you have what it takes to defeat us, Soundwave?"
"Actually... yes."
"GET REAL. You always were, and always will be, a BI--!"

—Starscream talks smack to Soundwave and gets a fistful of Devastator for his trouble.

"Quickly, get in!"
"Who the heck are you?"
"The name is Optimus Prime. We are here to rescue you!"

—Optimus Prime introduces himself to a group of humans.

"Cliffjumper... we recognize... no... I recognize you from ages past."
"My... new friend. Tell me. What do the combined sparks of my clan... call themselves? What is your name?"
"My name... is Shredhead."

—Shredhead declares their name to Cliffjumper.

Notes

Continuity notes

• Skywarp's been stuck acting as a part of Teletraan One since the very end of issue #4, and Thundercracker's known about this since his revival in issue #5, though he didn't learn that it was Starscream and Soundwave's fault until just last issue.
• As revealed in issue #7, Ultra Magnus was defeated and taken captive by Shockwave, who stripped him down to the bone (bare metal?) and tortured him for what was implied to be centuries. He was rescued by Elita that same issue, but after being repaired with the intent of rejoining the fight, his trauma caused him to flee in fear upon re-encountering Shockwave in issue #11, and Arcee and co. have been busy searching for him for the past two issues.
• The spark canister Cliffjumper used to create Shredhead was recovered last issue from where his clan died. He told Carly about how Starscream bombed them in issue #4.
• Hey, it's Blades! No idea where the rest of the Protectobots are, though, and considering the combiner team Daniel Warren Johnson appears to be teasing in the letters pages of this issue, the answer to that question's likely a while off yet. Blades also mentions that he airlifted Motormaster at some point in the past, indirectly confirming that the Stunticons exist in the Energon Universe continuity.
• Warpath notably has a skeletal right arm and a rather bare-looking chest cannon, the result of Elita's team's attempt to repair him after his brush with death in issue #7.
• Thrust's position as a guard for the Hall of Sparks was actually teased last issue, as he can be seen flying around it in Elita's flashback.
• Carly's van was wrecked after she drove it into the middle of the Autobots and Decepticons' battle in issue #12. It wound up on Cybertron when Devastator kicked both it and Cliffjumper into the space bridge connecting the planet to Earth.

Transformers references

• Unlike the more cartoon-based, animalistic Ravage and Laserbeak, Ratbat takes after his intelligent counterpart from Marvel's Transformers comic.

Other trivia

• We've got some more teases and notes from Daniel Warren Johnson in the letters pages this issue:
  • Headmasters, Targetmasters, and other established organic/Transformer hybrids won't be explored during Johnson's run, though he does note they are one of his favorite parts of the franchise. Similarly, the likes of Flamewar, Slipstream, and Airachnid won't be showing up, as Johnson doesn't know who they are (he says they sound cool, though!).
  • When asked if we'll be seeing an Autobot combiner at some point, Johnson provides a vintage photo of him as a kid with the captain of the Thunderbirds (likely referring to the 45th Infantry Combat Brigade Team) and leaves it at that. We're not saying we know for sure who this is meant to tease, but...
  • When asked if Shockwave was really dead following his battle with Optimus Prime in issue 12, Johnson replied "DEAD dead or MOSTLY dead?", seemingly teasing Shockwave assuming his usual emotionless persona.
  • The Seacons also get deconfirmed, but this time by way of DWJ remarking at how amazing they sound based on the description the reader's provided and heading to TFWiki to read up on them, confirming that he does research stuff here. ...Okay, technically we already knew Skybound were getting some of their information from here thanks to them basically copy-pasting our description of "mass conversion" twice, but at least this time we've actually been acknowledged by name.
• Welcome to the Energon Universe, Shredhead! On the letters page, editor Ben Abernathy states Shredhead had been in the pipeline for some time before their debut in this issue.
• Also in the letters page of this issue, both Ben and Daniel Warren Johnson refer to Shredhead with they/them pronouns, possibly making them nonbinary, or a plural being of multiple sparks in one body.

Covers (28)

• Cover A: Thundercracker bemoans Skywarp's fate, by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer.
• Cover B: Ultra Magnus panics in his wooden fortress, by Jorge Corona & Mike Spicer.
• Cover C (1:10 Copy Incentive): Connecting variant, by Karl Kerschl.
• Cover D (1:25 Copy Incentive): Ultra Magnus, Carly, and Spike charge into battle, by Jay Anacleto & Romulo Fajardo Jr.
• Cover E (1:50 Copy Incentive): Optimus, Cliffjumper, and Wheeljack amidst some rubble, by Homare.
• Second Printing Cover A: by Jason Howard.
• Second Printing Cover B: by Jason Howard.
• Skybound Shop Cover A: by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer.
• Skybound Shop Cover B: by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer.
• The 616 Comics Cover A: Optimus poses in front of a very synthwave-y background, by Raymond Gay.
• The 616 Comics Cover B: Foil virgin variant, by Raymond Gay.
• The 616 Comics Cover C: Connecting variant, by Tiago da Silva.
• The 616 Comics Cover D: The other half of the above connecting variant, by Tiago da Silva.
• Carnivore Comics Cover: Ultra Magnus in the middle of battle, by Björn Barends.
• TopShelfComic 2025 Convention Packs Cover A: by Jimbo Salgado & Alex Sinclair.
• TopShelfComic 2025 Convention Packs Cover B: by Livio Ramondelli.
• TopShelfComic 2025 Convention Packs Cover C: by Frédéric Pham Chuong.
• TopShelfComic 2025 Convention Packs Cover D: by Frédéric Pham Chuong.
• TopShelfComic MegaCon 2025 Cover: Black & White variant, by Jimbo Salgado.
• TopShelfComic Series 2 Mystery Packs Cover: Virgin variant, by Jimbo Salgado & Alex Sinclair.
• Harrison's Comics Cover: Starscream covered in Energon, by Jackie Mar.
• Big Time Collectibles Cover A: Magnus and Arcee, by Mike Choi.
• Big Time Collectibles Cover B: Ultra Magnus, by John Giang.
• One Stop Comic Shop Planet Comicon Kansas City 2025 Cover A: Optimus vs. Soundwave, by Jeffrey Edwards.
• One Stop Comic Shop Planet Comicon Kansas City 2025 Cover B: Optimus vs. Soundwave in a very 80s backdrop, by Jeffrey Edwards.
• Acme Superstore Cover: Ultra Magnus, by Ryan Miller.
• Unknown Comics Cover A: Optimus Prime, by Tyler Kirkham & Ifansyah Noor.
• Unknown Comics Cover B: Negative bleed virgin variant, by Tyler Kirkham & Ifansyah Noor.

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• Explore the Energon Universe in G.I. Joe #4, Void Rivals #17, and Transformers #18.
• Five-page preview for Universal Monsters: The Mummy

Reprints

• Transformers Volume 3: Combiner Chaos (May 14, 2025) ISBN 1534329897 / ISBN 978-1534329898
  • Collects Transformers issues #13–18 and the Transformers story from Energon Universe 2024 Special.
  • Trade paperback format.
  • Variant covers:
    • Direct Market Exclusive: by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer. ISBN 978-1534332683

• 

  Volume 3: Combiner Chaos – cover art by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer

• 

  Volume 3: Combiner Chaos Direct Market Exclusive – cover art by Daniel Warren Johnson & Mike Spicer

External links

References