“Yesterday’s” Comic> Transformers: The War Within – The Dark Ages #1

And I thought MY foreshortening was bad.

Transformers: The War Within – The Dark Ages #1

Dreamwave (October, 2003)

When Megatron builds a space bridge, Optimus pushes them both in. Designed for one, the bridge explodes, leaving both factions leaderless. Time passes and the Autobots and Decepticons break down into smaller factions, all vying for Energon. Unknown to all, something comes through the spot where the Space Bridge exploded, a black, burning robot, who grabs three Transformers–Bugly, Mindwipe, and Bludgeon–to be his disciples for something called “the Unbinding”, and he need for others for this…the first one being Grimlock.

While only named in the “next issue” blurb, this is The Fallen”, who is a bit different from the one in Bay’s movie. Once again, Furman is bringing arcane magic into what (I will admit this is my opinion) should be pure sci-fi. I don’t know how much of that was editorial mandate since events here point toward later events in the Dreamwave G1 comics not written by Furman. I do know that getting Optimus and Megatron out of the picture WAS an editorial mandate at the time for all of the comics, including Transformers Energon and Generation One. For some reason nobody said “let’s just follow one squad of Autobots and Decepticons on the same mission who meet each other and can’t contact their leaders”. Instead we see what Cybertron would be like without the faction leaders….except the same thing will happen once the Transformers crash on Earth, making this exploration pointless. Did they break down into factions again when Optimus and Megatron disappeared for a second time?

This might have been an interesting idea AFTER the Ark left Cybertron as we know (SPOILER) Shockwave will unite the Transformers (in a method worthy of both Shockwave and the name Decepticon) but at this stage it feels like a story that didn’t need to be told. It’s really not worth getting. So at least something out of Dreamwave is typical for Simon Furman. Too bad, because between the first The War Within and what I’m reading through on Armada he was doing so well.