Transformers Comic issue 21

« Transformers (Titan) #21 »
"Hey, kids! Buy my toy or I'll kill you!" (He means it!)
Publisher	Titan Magazines
First published	29 January 2009
Editor	Steve White
Deputy editor	Den Patrick
Designer	Danny Preston
Publishing manager	Darryl Curtis

Jazz—Bounty hunter Freelance peacekeeper!

Contents

Hard Target

The mysteriously undestroyed Straxus has arrived back at the Autobot base—only to come under fire! The Decepticons have taken over, and the Autobots are outgunned, forcing Optimus to declare a retreat to Washington, D.C.—which means leaving a brainwashed Mikaela Banes in Starscream's hands...

The Autobots land at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, to face a chilly welcome and a request by President Allen to meet Optimus Prime...alone. He heads out, escorted to the rendezvous point by the incredibly bald General Seward, unknowingly trailed by Jazz. When the rendezvous turns out to be a derelict building, both Optimus and Seward realise something's wrong (making Seward much smarter than the competition), but too late to escape before Jazz makes his attack!

Optimus comes under fire, clearly the target of his old, corrupted comrade, who's quite happy to boast about being a gun-for-hire. Optimus can only lament Jazz as a lost cause and flee to draw him away from the humans. Jazz merrily chases after while Optimus finds all frequencies are jammed and he's on his own. He decides to make a stand (here, now)...

...when another enemy attacks, a flying killer robot named Kullt! Jazz is outraged at the realisation his employer hired two mercenaries, not trusting him to kill his old commander, and so blows Kullt to pieces. Optimus gets up and, in Jazz's gunsights, tells him he's not a lost cause after all: He could have let Prime die and then killed Kullt. Jazz is rattled by this and, noticing Seward leading reinforcements, decides to leave, declaring Prime's wrong.

Later on, President Allen denies arranging a meeting with Optimus, and Seward believes they were all set up. Neither Optimus or Ironhide do, though, realising the Decepticons may be controlling the President!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Articles & features

• 10 Reasons Why I Like Being A: Saleen S281, by Barricade.
• Character Profile: Arcee. As well as giving a character background, it mentions she used to have a hover car form on Cybertron...
• Bumblebee's Way Past Cool Reviews: Video game reviews.
• Top Gear: non-Transformers competition and product placement.
• Competition to win an Acid Storm toy.
• Artobots: Fan-art section. Someone's drawn the Megatron Origin Megatron!
• Star Screams: Letters, art and photos from readers, answered by Starscream.
• Poster of the cover.

Free Gift

• "Free! Trans-Dimensional Sticker Set!" - stickers and a pencil. It's not trans-dimensional.

Reprints

Reprinted stories are only a portion of their respective issues.

• Megatron Origin, part 3a (7 pages)
• Beast Wars: The Ascending part 3a (6 pages)

Errors

• The Arcee profile shows an image of G1 Arcee, when she's never looked like that, as reprints in #1 to #2 show. Worse still, it uses an image of Elita-One. Still, it could have been worse...
• Coller's name is misspelt "Collier".

Quotes

Strip

"I wonder, is there still some small part of you that remembers and yearns for rescue? Inside, behind the blank eyes, are you screaming, "Come back!"?"

—Starscream taunts the brainwashed Mikaela

"Y'know what...I've had warmer welcomes."
"Stay frosty, Skyblast, and keep it buttoned. When they needed us, we weren't around—remember that."

—Skyblast and Ironhide

"Jazz is the name. Wetwork's the game."

—Jazz (duh)

"I was wrong. Perhaps you're not quite a lost cause."
"Oh?" [Raises guns] "How you figure?"
"You could have just let Kullt finish me, then dealt with him. Instead... you saved me. Inside you, still, is Autobot Jazz."
"I—you're wrong, Prime. And when next we meet...I'll show you how wrong."

—Optimus Prime and Jazz

Star Screams

On a 6-year-old Decepticon cosplayer: "Just the sort of reinforcements I need.... It is moments like these when I briefly forget about paving over this planet (after napalming it, naturally)."

"Seven Starscreams?! I'm glad you are just talking about toys—I'm not sure there is a universe big enough to contain that much ambition—we'd be looking not so much at sibling rivalry as sibling genocide. Still, I'm glad to hear you are worshipping idols cast in my image."

Fan: "When you come to England, can I join you?"
"Of course you may join me. I'll need some human lackeys to polish my paintwork after I have achieved domination of the United Kingdom. I understand the throne of your queen is quite comfortable."

"It would seem your optics units are malfunctioning, Andrew. I suggest you replace them with cybernetic phase-lens infra-optronics. Or just buy some glasses. Now watch the film again and pay attention this time!"

Notes

Continuity notes

• The plot of the Earth being destroyed is not touched on, except in the recap which informs us "using Nucleon saved Earth". Would've been nice to see this resolution of a plot arc that's been going on since #14, guys...
• Jazz is almost certainly working for Starscream, though he never states it. He's fully embraced his corruption, begun in Dark Spark.
• Kullt appears to be a Decepticon, but this is never stated. He's a boring git, too.
• The United States Military is on view again, as opposed to NATO. Not explicitly stated but as Starscream controls the President, he likely arranged for foreign forces to not be around.
• Arcee's profile, which gives her an extensive backstory, refers to a Movie-verse Kup.

Transformers references

• "Autobot Jazz" is almost certainly a reference to the official name of the toy.

Letters page notes

• Starscream tells a five-year-old he has no use for such a young minion, as he'd have nothing of value. He's still more polite than that other Starscream though..

Production notes

• The cover preview in #20 showed a more sickly neon acid, was a larger image (Jazz appears to have been given more focus), had a different logo and ad for the Sticker Set!!... and also had G1 Jazz in the corner box.
• There's a new, "glowing" logo on this issue rather than the usual metal design.
• The recap for "Megatron Origin" adds in something that wasn't in the comic: "with corrupt senators controlling Energon supplies, many Transformers have been forced to join illegal fight clubs in the hope of winning fame and fuel." This may be due to Sludge saying in a scene reprinted next month that his "tank is rust dry" and he needs a win.

Errors

• The editor's page claims Unicron has followed the Autobots home to eat Earth...which was last issue. Similarly, the "Previously" recap for Hard Target says Starscream has conquered Earth when he hasn't. Oh, and the editor's page claims this is Part 6 of the four-part "Return to Cybertron".
• The Straxus is amazingly intact considering Unicron blew it to scrap.
• The Autobots left Camshaft's Evac's team behind in #21 but the team apparently didn't warn them about the Decepticon takeover!