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Onyx Interface Part Two: Vs.

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« The Transformers vol. 2 #36 »
Combiner Wars #12
TF36 regcvr.jpg
Transformers: Tokyo Drift
"Onyx Interface Part Two:
Vs."
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published December 10, 2014
Cover date December 2014
Written by John Barber
Art by Andrew Griffith (pgs 5-9, 12-19) & Brendan Cahill (pgs 1-4, 10-11, 20-22)
Colors by Josh Perez & Joana Lafuente
Letters by Tom B. Long
Editor Carlos Guzman
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology Current era (2014)

Prowl and the Constructicons make their move to capture Spike, but Galvatron and the Decepticons have had the same idea.

Contents

Synopsis

Somewhere on Earth, deep in a wooded region, Thundercracker reads an excerpt from his latest screenplay to Buster. Shortly, Soundwave arrives in response to an invitation from Thundercracker and, confused by the presence of the dog, offers to "silence" it for Thundercracker, which does not get their talk off to the best of starts. Soundwave explains the Decepticons' partnership with the Earth Defense Command and invites Thundercracker to join them on the Jupiter commune; realizing that he knows nothing of the EDC's Ramjet and Thrust clone army, Thundercracker promises to consider the offer, and gives Soundwave a copy of his script as a parting gift. Before each goes their own way, Soundwave warns Thundercracker that while their new home will be all-inclusive, anyone who allies with a Prime will be considered an enemy.

In the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, Spike Witwicky and Jimmy Pink meet with Maki, their inside source at the Onyx corporation. Spike rants about the Transformers' long history of interaction with Earth, and although Maki doesn't really buy into everything he says, it doesn't dissuade her from providing him with a key card to Onyx's Wanmu, China facility so that he can obtain a mysterious Cybertronian object within. As the two men head out, however, Spike immediately identifies the transformed Constructicons and Prowl staking them out, and opens fire. The two flee through a pachinko parlor, but Prowl is relentless in his pursuit, crashing through the building.

Six hours earlier, on the Ark-7, Prowl and the Constructicons gather aboard a reluctant Sky Lynx as they prepare to head down to Earth's surface. Prowl makes clear that although they all have history with Spike, that is not the reason they are going after him: rather, Prowl believes Spike knows something about the connection between Onyx and the Earth Defense Command, and the Enigma of Combination's presence on Earth, and has tracked his location via e-mails his father had been sending him. Sky Lynx takes off for Tokyo, but their departure is observed by Arcee and Sideswipe; Sideswipe tries to raise the subject of the pair's falling out after their exodus from Iacon, but Arcee merely demands that he hand over his jetpack so she can follow Prowl's team.

Prowl and the Constructicons continue their pursuit through the streets of Shinjuku, but just before he can grab Spike, Prowl is tackled by the airborne Arcee. Breaking her grip and resuming the hunt, Prowl entreats the female Autobot to trust him like she used to, but Arcee is having none of it and joins the chase herself. Spike and Jimmy, meanwhile, have found some transportation in the form of two idling motorbikes, but as they try to escape on the vehicles, the bikes take on a life of their own and drive the two humans to the top of a parking garage, where Galvatron and the Decepticons are waiting! The bikes are, in fact, Rumble and Frenzy, who transform and hold the humans so Galvatron can interrogate them regarding the Enigma. Neither has any idea what Galvatron is talking about, but the Decepticon leader doesn't believe them, and orders Spike taken to their ship and Jimmy killed. Before the Decepticons can make any moves, though, the Constructicons collapse the garage underneath them. Prowl snatches up Spike and flees the scene, leaving Arcee and Jimmy caught between the Decepticons and the Constructicons.

Aboard their aircraft as it departs Tokyo, Marissa Faireborn and EDC agent Jones argue over their non-intervention in the Transformer conflict breaking out in the city. Much to Jones's chagrin, Faireborn is focused on their current task—protecting Garrison Blackrock, also on board—and instead orders up some ground troops to respond to the situation. Blackrock drolly remarks on the situation, and an irate Faireborn warns him not to comment on matters he does not understand; Blackrock appears to go off on a tangent, talking about the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk, birthplace of human society, but soon reveals that he knows much more than he lets on, as he reveals that Uruk was built around the landing site of the Enigma of Combination... which is now held in the vault of his Wanmu facility!

Taking cover in a wood to evade police choppers, Prowl releases Spike, and informs him he has something very important to tell him... he forgives him!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans Others

Quotes

"In person, this sounds a lot more..."
"Urgent."
"No, a lot more like you should have a tin-foil hat."

—Maki and Spike


"Hey. I don't give my number to just any girl."
"You literally give your number to every girl."

—Spike and Jimmy


"Things used to go smoother when I just shot everybody."

—Arcee


"Hey—ahem—hey, there. I couldn't help but notice you're pink. Well, as it happens, my name is—"
"Shut it, human."

—Jimmy tries to make small talk with Arcee


"You know, Miss Faireborn, I expected you to send agents after Witwicky... I just didn't expect the agents to be ten meters tall and metal."
"Yes, very droll, Blackrock. You play with fire, and sometimes the fire changes into a robot."

—Blackrock and Marissa Faireborn

Notes

Continuity notes

  • While listing off Cybertronian involvement in Earth's history, Spike references several points of continuity, including:
    • an alteration of Earth's geology that took place 10,000 years ago; this refers to Shockwave's implantation of global dampers into the planet's crust, as seen in Spotlight: Shockwave, which allowed Ore-13 to form there.
    • six Transformers being entombed by a volcanic eruption—Shockwave and the Dinobots, as seen in, again, Spotlight: Shockwave.
    • Excessive Cybertronian activity in the 1980s; this was the decade during which Bludgeon's team came to Earth to mine Ore-13, and were pursued by Soundwave and his cassettes, detailed in Spotlight: Soundwave.
  • Additionally, Spike describes a Cybertronian arrival on Earth 6,000 years ago; the implications behind this one were never explicitly laid out, but given later revelations concerning Garrison Blackrock's heritage, it's possible that this is when Sovereign first arrived on Earth.
  • Spike's womanizing ways were seen during the 2009-2011 ongoing series; he hooked up with random women in issues #2 and #25.
  • Arcee and Sideswipe's falling out took place back in issue #18.
  • Prowl calls Long Haul "Scrapper"; this is the second time he's called another Constructicon by their deceased leader's name, having done the same to Scavenger in issue #32.
  • Frenzy recalls Rumble's injuries at the hands of humans from All Hail Megatron #9.

Transformers references

Real-life references

  • Jimmy describes himself as Spike's "Andy Richter", referring to the comedian's status as perennial sidekick to Conan O'Brien.
  • Uruk (see errors, below) is a real city; it was one of the first cities in recorded human history, and lends its name to the period of history that denotes the emergence of urban civilization.
  • Like the last, this issue is also named after a Mission of Burma album.
  • Cygnus Alpha is also likely a reference to the prison world from the classic British sci-fi series Blake's 7.

Errors

  • On the "previously" recap page, the Earth Defense Command is misnamed the Earth Defense Corps.
  • Uruk is misspelled as "Urik". Further, Blackrock notes that it was founded 4,000 years ago; rather, it was founded around 4,000 BC, making it 6,000 years old, and perhaps implying a connection to the Cybertronian event from the same timeframe mentioned by Spike. In the trade, the spelling error is corrected, but the date is still wrong.
  • The EDC are in contact with one President Jinping of China. Since #49 confirms that this is the same individual as real-life president Xi Jinping, they ought to show some respect and refer to him as President Xi, Jinping being his given name.

Edits

Similar to the pack-in versions of various other existing IDW comics, the version of this issue available with the Generations Combiner Wars Deluxe Class First Aid toy was also subject to some changes:

  • On page 3 (not counting the "Previously" page that's missing in the trade paperback collection and the pack-in version), Thundercracker's second speech bubble in panel 5 is changed from "Too much killing." to "Too much destruction.", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly.
  • On page 4, Thundercracker's first speech bubble in panel 1 has "the slaughterer of the ancient Headmasters" changed to "the destroyer of the ancient Headmasters".
  • On page 10, Prowl's third speech bubble in panel 3 is changed from "He killed your leader, Scrapper, in cold blood." to "He destroyed your leader, Scrapper, in cold blood."
  • Two edits on page 12: Scavenger's speech bubble in panel 1 is changed from "You killed Scrapper and you're gonna die for it!" to "You blasted Scrapper and I'll get you for it!", and Prowl's first speech bubble in panel 5 is changed from "What the hell, Arcee?" to "What was that, Arcee?"
  • On page 14, Prowl's speech bubble in panel 6 (panel 8 for the entire double page spread on page 14/15) is changed from "Damn!" to "Bolts!"
  • On page 16, Galvatron's fourth speech bubble is changed from "We have things to discuss before I kill you." to "We have things to discuss before I destroy you."
  • Three edits on page 17: Frenzy's first speech bubble in panel 2 has "Humans zapped him one time." changed to "Humans blasted him one time."; Galvatron's last speech bubble in panel 5 is changed from "—oh, and kill the one dressed in flowers." to "—oh, and get rid of the one dressed in flowers.", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly; and Arcee's speech bubble in panel 6 is changed from "Things used to go smoother when I just shot everybody." to "Things used to go smoother when I just blasted everybody."
  • On page 18, Spike's second speech bubble in panel 4 is changed from "You got something to say, or you just gonna murder me?" to "You got something to say, or you just gonna blast me?", with the speech bubble itself resized accordingly.

Foreign Localization

Swedish

  • Title: "Onyx Del två: Versus" ("Onyx Part 2: Versus")

Covers (4)

  • (thumbnail)

    Why, Jimmy, WHY?

  • (thumbnail)

    "Do I really want to get this mess on my foot?"

  • (thumbnail)

    This is MADNESS!

  • (thumbnail)

    Hasbro exclusive comic available with First Aid toy.

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Reprints

  • Transformers: Optimus Prime - Tillbaka till jorden (February 15, 2023)
    • Collects Robots in Disguise issues #28–32 & #34–38, and Punishment issues #1–5.
    • Swedish reprint. Hardcover format.

External links

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