The Transformers: Devastation

The Transformers: Devastation is a six-issue comic book miniseries, published by IDW Publishing, based on the Transformers and following on from The Transformers: Escalation. Issue 1 of Devastation was released on October 3, 2007, with issue 2 following on the 24th of October ^[1] and was published monthly until February 2008. A follow-up entitled The Transformers: Revelation then followed.^[2] The series is available in The Transformers: Volume 3.

Plot

The story begins with Nightbeat puzzling out the Machination events of both The Transformers: Infiltration and The Transformers: Escalation to Optimus Prime and Prowl. Prime attempts to get proactive by moving the Ark-19 to the Gulf of Mexico. Megatron has called Sixshot to Earth, and his blatant disregard for protocol forces the other Decepticons to awaken Starscream. Sixshot nevertheless shoots down the Ark as it leaves Lake Michigan. Narrowly missing Knoxville it crashes in the sea, but not before jettisoning an escape pod with Ratchet, Verity and Jimmy. After a long cross-country chase, the three are saved from Sixshot by the arrival of the rest of the Ark's crew emerging from the water. The subsequent battle exposes the Transformers to the world at large thanks to news footage. The Autobots pull out due to a human carpet bombing strike, but the humans are killed in the process by the teleport used. Ratchet manages to revive the humans, but Prime makes the decision to pull out of Earth due to the events of Spotlight: Arcee.

Elsewhere Hot Rod (after talking with Dealer) and Wheeljack have been sent to recover Ironhide, but are ambushed by a group of Sunstreaker clones. Despite outwitting them and escaping several, they are confronted by more - who reveal themselves as Headmasters, though the two use Wheeljack's gadgets to escape. At the Machination compound, a surgically altered Hunter escapes captivity, and finds the decapitated head of the real Sunstreaker, who begs Hunter to kill him, revealing his mind is being used as the hub of the Machination army. A defiant Hunter decides to fight back by learning how to be a Headmaster. Elsewhere the Reapers arrive and attack the Decepticon base, forcing Megatron to recall Sixshot, while in the Dead Universe Nova Prime (now known as Nemesis Prime) dispatches Galvatron to Earth.

The reappearance of the Reapers allows Sixshot to defect to their side, but he is taken out by Starscream, who uses an "off" code learned during his time as Megatron's bodyguard. A full scale battle ensues, with the other Decepticons (including Megatron) coming to Starscream's aid. They eventually win, with aid from Galvatron who disappears with Sixshot's body, while the Decepticons' location is exposed to the US military. In the Machination compound Hunter escapes and locates a Sunstreaker copy body. He is attacked by Scorponok (the "head" of the Machination seen in Escalation, now bonded with a human), but successfully bonds with the body and the real Sunstreaker's personality and escapes. The Headmasters catch up to Hot Rod and Wheeljack, immobilizing the latter. Hot Rod is saved by Hardhead, but vows to stay on Earth to find out what's happened to Sunstreaker. Skywatch, having lost control of Ravage and Laserbeak due to interference from Soundwave, reactivate Grimlock to use against the increasing Transformer activity as the Ark leaves orbit, with Nightbeat beginning to suspect someone has tampered with his memory. The final page has Galvatron, Nemesis Prime and Jhiaxus promising that the endgame is about to begin.

Notes

As with Escalation, Devastation picks up on several other plot threads introduced in other IDW G1 stories.

In relation to The Transformers: Spotlight

• Scorponok, here revealed as the "Head" of the Machination, was introduced in Spotlight: Ultra Magnus. Likewise, the concept of "transformable men" was also introduced in that story, which here evolves into the Headmaster process.
• Soundwave was trapped in his alt-mode by Bludgeon in Spotlight: Soundwave. This is his first in-continuity appearance since.
• The story of Sixshot and the Reapers was first explored in Spotlight: Sixshot.
• The Dead Universe storyline has been referred to Spotlight one-shots focusing on Nightbeat, Galvatron, Optimus Prime, and Arcee. Nightbeat had his memory tampered with in his own Spotlight and was asked to investigate Leadfoot's death in Galvatron. Nova/Nemesis Prime's background was detailed in Optimus Prime, as was that of Jhiaxus.
• Dealer/Doubledealer was introduced in Spotlight: Hot Rod as a Decepticon spy tasked to retrieve a powerful object called the Magnificence from Hot Rod.
• The events that cause Prime to pull out of Earth are detailed in Spotlight: Arcee, where the Decepticons take the Monstructor components from Garrus-9.

In relation to The Transformers: Escalation

• The Dinobots and Shockwave were taken by Skywatch in issue 5 of Escalation, and are still being excavated as Grimlock is reactivated here.
• Sunstreaker and Hunter were abducted by the Machination in issue 1 of Escalation, but their overall fate was not expanded on until Devastation.

In relation to The Transformers: Infiltration

• In issue 1, Nightbeat explains the events of the first three issues of Infiltration as a plot by the Machination to acquire a Transformer, locating them via a homing device in the computer from that story.
• Starscream's return here marks his first appearances since issue 6 of Infiltration, where he was blown almost in half after a failed power play against Megatron.

See also

• The Transformers

References