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IDW Publishing’s latest Transformers series flips the script on the world of the Robots in Disguise by turning the Autobots into the villains.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Transformers: Shattered Glass #1 available now from IDW.
The story of Transformers is a classic one: led by Optimus Prime, the heroic Autobots battle against Megatron, the leader of the evil Decepticons. With their home planet of Cybertron behind them, the Autobots and the Decepticons wage war on Earth as the Decepticons aim to conquer their new home. But what if the Autobots weren’t the heroes of the stories? What if the Decepticons were actually noble rebels fighting against an evil empire? Transformers: Shattered Glass #1 by Danny Lore, Guido Guidi, John Wycough, and John-Paul Bove depicts what the world would be like in a universe turned upside down.
In this comic’s universe, the War for Cybertron is over. The Autobots and the Decepticons battled for countless cycles and a victor was finally revealed. Chaotic peace has been replaced by strict order and control. Those that continued to fight for independence were labeled enemies of the state and became prime targets for any bodyscrapper with an itchy trigger finger in need of some cash. The Decepticons that survived the war have banded together in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Autobots. Operating from the shadows, those that still fight do so knowing that their untimely end is only a microcycle away.
The Autobot known as Blur is one of the best bodyscrappers around. As the fastest Autobot alive, nothing and no one escapes him. The only problem with being one of the best is that most of the bounties worth fighting have already been dealt with. This is the case until Blur receives information leading him to one of the biggest bounties of his life: his next target is one of the last remaining legendary Decepticons: Starscream.
Blur finds Starscream fighting both Chromedome and Hardhead, two Autobot bodyscrappers. Being the fiendish and wily bounty hunter that he is, Blur teams up with Starscream and helps him drive off Chromedome and Hardhead. Starscream is skeptical of Blur’s help, but Blur manages to convince him to accept his help. Starscream leads Blur deep into Chrome Ridge, an incredibly dangerous region of the Static Zone, a hostile stretch of land where nothing can live amongst active volcanoes. As Blur begins to congratulate himself on successfully fooling Starscream, the Decepticon attacks Blur. A quick battle ensues and Starscream is put on his back foot as Blur overwhelms him. But while Starscream knew he couldn’t outfight Blur, he knew he could outsmart him. A roiling flow of lava surges across Blur, the Autobot so caught up in his fight that he became oblivious to the volcanoes around him. Starscream stays by the defeated Autobot to ensure his total incapacitation. The issue ends with Starscream thanking Blur for bringing him one step closer to meeting with Megatron.
The radically different world that Transformers: Shattered Glass presents is terrifying in its inversion of the classic cast of characters fans are familiar with, though it isn’t the first to present such a warped alternate reality. DC Comics is famous for its multi-verse, an infinite number of parallel universes existing alongside their original one. One of DC’s parallel universes is Earth-3, a universe where the Justice League of America doesn’t exist. but is instead inhabited by the organization known as the Crime Syndicate, an evil reflection of Earth-1’s heroes. Superman is replaced with the evil Ultraman; Wonder Woman is replaced by Superwoman; The Flash is replaced by Johnny Quick, and so on. The Crime Syndicate has crossed over into Earth-1 from time to time with devastating results.
With the ultimate fate of the Autobots and the Decepticons a mystery in this ruined parallel universe, Transformers: Shattered Glass is set to present even more questions before it divulges any of its answers. What does Starscream plan to do with Megatron? How was the powerful leader of the Decepticons defeated so thoroughly? And will the rebel Decepticons be able to liberate themselves from the corrupt Optimus Prime? Only time will tell.
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