After all the build-up, the Combiner Wars are finally here.
The Combiners War arc will run through the ongoing “Transformers” series and
the new “Transformers: Windblade” mini-series (we’ll refer to it as “Windblade
(2015)” for clarity. The other ongoing, “Transformers: More Than Meets The
Eye,” will run completely apart from Combiner Wars.
“Transformers”
# 39 is technically the prelude to the Combiner Wars itself: The cover bills
the issue as “Combiner Wars: Opening Salvo,” but a cursory evaluation of the
issue’s contents reveals it to be the actual first shot to be fired in this
war.
After
the end of the seemingly never-ending Onyx Interface story arc, the Enigma of
Combination (which allows for the creation of non-insane gestalts) has been
stolen by Scoop to be brought back to Cybertron and into the hands of the
chosen ruler of the planet, the ever-devious Starscream. It becomes clear that
this is the only real development of importance from the Onyx Interface story
arc, leading credence to the observation that those issues were merely spinning
their wheels in preparation for Combiner Wars.
In
fact, “Transformers” # 39 is actually the continuation of the events in the
one-shot “Transformers: Punishment.” Optimus Prime is back on Cybertron to
celebrate the anniversary of receiving the Matrix of Leadership. This issue is
also a spiritual continuation of the first “Transformers: Windblade” mini, as
the Autobots from Caminus, Windblade and Chromia, are heavily involved—as is
Caminus itself.
The
issue begins with Optimus Prime and his Autobots still fighting off the
Decepticon rabble in Decepticon territory as shown in “Punishment.” A closer
look reveals that the ‘bots Prime and company beats down promise to play a
bigger role: Swindle and Motor Master.
