All Hail Optimus – Part 1! Backed by an army of zealous followers, Optimus Prime declares Earth to be a part of Cybertron’s Council of Worlds—and the Decepticons and the people of Earth don’t won’t take it lying down! The story starts here, but the repercussions will last forever.
Click the jump for a review of the double-sized Transformers #50.
There’s a lot going on in this issue, so let’s make it ridiculously simple. Galvatron said “Ha ha, the Earth is mine!” and Optimus said “nuh UH” and the humans said (in a teeny tiny voice) “hey this is our planet!” and Jazz said “Missing an arm here? Little help?” and everybody was fighting everybody else. When the dust settled, here’s what we were left with:
Blackrock is indeed a Cybertronian, though he still swears he’s human, even while Galvatron and Mindwipe are lifting his face off his head.
Optimus has “annexed the Earth” into the Cybertronian Council of Worlds and he’s going to help the people of Earth “enter the cosmic community.” But he’s throwing around a lot of words about how the Earth could be improved, so “I bring freedom” sounds a lot like “I’m going to tell you what to do because I know better.”
(And I’m not saying he doesn’t, I’m just saying humans aren’t known for dealing with that attitude very well.)
A Camien was killed by the humans with their new, anti-Cybertronian weaponry, so you can bet the Mistress of Flame is going support Optimus in making the humans toe the line.
Spike is out of prison, reinstated in the military, and has lost the beard (thank God) because the US president is on the side of anybody who believes the only good Autobot is a dead Autobot. (That goes double for Decepticons, but hey, it always does.)
Marissa Faireborn is in the doghouse for helping the Autobots save the day, because she had a chance to kill them all and didn’t take it. That’s probably related to the fact that she told Thundercracker she didn’t want him to die, and she likes hearing his stupid stories. (And the ThunderFaire ship is born!) (I’m not kidding. I’m all for it. Don’t judge.)
Soundwave calls out Galvatron for his betrayal, and Galvatron laughs at him and tells him to enjoy his “animals and Autobots” (ticking off most of Soundwave’s tapes in the process.) And Cosmos would’ve gone with Soundwave when he left, but Soundwave’s sanctuary is for everyone, “save those who follow a Prime.” Cosmos is on the fence about Optimus, but most of his friends aren’t, so he left with Optimus. But it was a close call.
Thundercracker also left with the Autobots, but I don’t think he’s necessarily switched sides for good, he’s just done with fighting. I don’t know that he’ll get what he wants with the Autobots, though: I thought Prime was awfully relaxed in this issue, like a weight is off his shoulders. When push comes to shove, Prime is a soldier. I think leaving the Earth “for the good of the humans” a few years ago really took a chunk out of him.
Part two of “All Hail Optimus” is next month. Telling the Earth and the Decepticons that he’s back is going to make everybody but the most loyal Autobots angry, and I think he’s actually looking forward to the fight.
Description courtesy of IDW.