Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4

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Your Mini-Con? This is bad comedy, Starscream!
"Worlds Collide, Part 1 of 4"
Publisher	Dreamwave Productions
First published	August 13, 2003
Cover date	August 2003
Written by	Simon Furman
Penciled by	Don Figueroa
Inks by	Elaine To
Colors by	David Cheung
Additional colors by	Espen Grundetjern, Stuart Ng, Rob Ruffolo
Letters by	Paul Villafuerte
Graphic design	Heli Bartman
Editor-in-chief	Roger Lee
Continuity	Dreamwave Armada continuity

With Optimus Prime missing, the Autobots must fend for themselves against a powerful new enemy.

Synopsis

On Cybertron, a dimensional portal opens up just outside the Decepticon Command Headquarters. From the portal steps Galvatron, along with four lieutenants: Thunderwing, Dirge, Bludgeon, and Scourge. Galvatron tells them to go about their tasks, and that soon, "This reality... will be consumed."

Meanwhile, on Earth, Hot Shot steps through a space bridge portal into Autobase: Earth, asking why they opened one, as it is only to be used in emergencies. Smokescreen tells him that the situation qualifies, as they've found Optimus Prime. However, it is not their Optimus Prime, merely an Optimus Prime, and an almost-dead one at that. Apparently, he was just lying there when Smokescreen and Scavenger got back from Death Valley. Astroscope speculates that it might possibly be an alternate Optimus Prime, from a parallel dimension. They had tried tinkering with dimensional travel back on Cybertron, but had never gotten it to work. Suddenly, the Optimus Prime on the table wakes up. He utters a cryptic warning about the walls crumbling and chaos coming, and dies.

At Silver Ridge, the Decepticons are having trouble activating their own space bridge portal. Leader-1 tells him that there is some outside interference that's stressing the network. Megatron, suspecting an Autobot attack, orders Starscream and Demolishor to monitor all satellites and transmission frequencies to find out what the Autobots are doing.

Hot Shot, meanwhile, is contacting Jetfire about the situation, but Jetfire doesn't know what to do either. He says he'll keep monitoring the Decepticons and ends the transmission. Sparkplug tells him that they've done a scan and picked up a residual energy trace in California. Hot Shot says that it's better than nothing, and announces that they're heading to check it out.

In San Francisco, Over-Run is frantically sending out a signal pulse, trying to get the attention of the Autobots. The Autobots find the probe he arrived in and Astroscope identifies it as a trans-dimensional vessel, then picks up the signal that Over-Run has been sending out. As the Autobots arrive to rescue him, they are shot down by Starscream. He reaches down to claim Over-Run, and the Mini-Con screams in terror. Starscream says he likes the terror in his eyes, but is shortly dispatched by Galvatron, who has sneaked up behind him. As Galvatron is about to destroy Over-Run, Hot Shot tells him to stop, and gets blasted himself for his troubles. Galvatron demands that Over-Run give him the Matrix. Just then, Thrust flies down and fires at Galvatron, but is harmlessly swatted aside. When Galvatron turns around, though, he sees that Over-Run has gone, then tears open a portal and steps through, the rift closing behind him.

Turns out that Mirage has thrown up an invisibility shield over himself and Over-Run. He tells him that it's safe now, but Over-Run is inconsolable: if Galvatron has arrived, it means that the end of everything has begun.

On Cybertron—a Cybertron, anyway—Optimus Prime picks through the wreckage, wondering how such devastation could have happened. He stumbles upon Spinister, who babbles insanely about how whatever did this said it would come back and devour Cybertron...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"So much harm, so much pain. And it's not over. No, no, no. It said, it did...it said it would come back...and eat our world!"

—Spinister has lost it

Notes

Continuity notes

• This issue marks a very abrupt change in story direction for the book, as the Mini-Con plots which have mostly driven the story are abruptly dropped in favor of a Unicron-centric storyline, designed to promote the upcoming massive new Unicron toy. Similar promotion happened in the cartoon and the toyline, though not quite as rushed.
• Cyclonus is seen to be on the mend and the Destruction Team are said to be in the "Punishment Cube" after last issue's throw-down in Alaska.

Transformers references

• As if it isn't obvious, the five shadowy visitors who arrive via dimensional portal on Cybertron are each prominent Decepticons from the Generation 1 era of the franchise. Of all of them, Dirge is the most curious member of the group, never having been much more than a foot soldier in previous appearances, as opposed to the historically-greater threats the other four present. Simon Furman would later mention that he included Dirge out of an admiration for his "doom-laden" name and a desire to use the character. Ask Vector Prime would later retroactively fill-in the back-stories of each member of this group and which realities they originally hailed from.
• The Galvatron and Optimus Prime who appear in this issue are not exactly like their classic Generation 1 counterparts. Don tweaked the designs a bit to make them look more like alternate reality versions of themselves. Galvatron's crown, for instance, strongly resembles Armada Megatron's horns, and Optimus Prime is a fusion between his Generation 1 and The War Within modes—he was actually previously designed as the character "Maraudimus Prime" for Don's Macromasters unofficial comic series.
• When Megatron shouts for him, Leader-1 responds "You bellowed?" Blackarachnia had the same response to another Megatron voiced by David Kaye in an episode of Beast Wars.
• Over-Run complains about Earth's spotty radio-transmitting capabilities, comparing the situation to the "Dark Ages". Being from Cybertron, Over-Run is perhaps referring to a different Dark Ages than the historical Earth equivalent...or more specifically, a similar version of that period that occurred in the past of his home reality.
• When Galvatron teleports into San Francisco, a car license plate is "1984", the year the Transformers toyline began.
• Astroscope notes that the null-reality pod runs on an impacted Nucleon power cell.
• When Mirage drops his cloak, the "invisible box" effect around him and Over-Run is a direct homage to the visual of his G1 namesake's identical ability as originally portrayed in the Sunbow cartoon.
• The raving mad-bot and apparent sole survivor of the ravaged Cybertron that "our" Optimus Prime is stranded on is Spinister. He's usually (but not always) portrayed as something of a level-headed guy, so clearly whatever happened to this Cybertron was intensely traumatic.

Other trivia

• In a moment of breathtaking immaturity, Starscream gives Megatron the finger.
• The Wavelengths page advertises Megaman and contains an article from the desk of Don Figueroa.
• On the new DW Letters page, readers' mail is answered by Matt Moylan and includes fan art.

Advertisements

• Megaman #2
• Shidima TPB
• Canadian National Comic Book Expo 2003
• The War Within: The Dark Ages
• King of Bandit Jing DVD
• Armada #15
• Necrowar #2
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #3
• War and Peace #5
• Transformers/G.I. Joe #1
• Transformers/G.I. Joe #3
• More Than Meets The Eye #7 (back cover)

Reprints

• Transformers Armada: Volume 3: Worlds Collide (April 28, 2004) ISBN 0973381744 / ISBN 978-0973381740

• Collects issues #12–18.
• Bonus material includes a cover gallery and a preview of the Energon comic.

• Transformers Armada Vol. 3 (Japan ed.) (December, 2004) ISBN 4861760631 / ISBN 978-4861760631

• Same content as Dreamwave's volume 3, translated to Japanese.

• Transformers Armada Vol. 6 (Spain ed.) (August, 2007) ISBN 978-8498149685

• Reprints issues 13–15, translated to Spanish.

• Transformers Armada: Volume 3 (IDW reprint) (April 15, 2009) ISBN 1600104029 / ISBN 978-1600104022

• Straight reprint of the Dreamwave trade with same contents.

• Transformers Armada: Omnibus (August 18, 2010) ISBN 160010715X / ISBN 978-1600107153

• Contains issues 1–18.
• Bonus material includes the Armada Preview issue.
• Reissued in 2016 with a new cover.

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 28: Worlds Collide Part 2 (October 3, 2018)

• Collects issues #14–18 and Dreamwave's Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #8
• Includes a brief overview of Dreamwave's Energon comic, a bonus glossary section dedicated entirely to background material from the Dreamwave G1-verse, a cover gallery and an intro by Simon Furman.

• 

  Transformers Armada:
  Volume 3: Worlds Collide

• 

  Transformers Armada:
  Volume 3 (Japan ed.)

• 

  Transformers Armada:
  Volume 6 (Spain ed.)

• 

  Transformers Armada:
  Volume 3 (IDW reprint)

• 

  Transformers Armada: Omnibus

• 

  Transformers Armada: Omnibus (reissue)

• 

  Definitive G1 Collection Vol. 28: Worlds Collide Part 2