It begins again.
"Secrets... and lies, my friend. War is dirty business and no one but no one... comes out clean."
—Punch/Counterpunch
Transformers '84 is an IDW comic series released in 2019 written by Simon Furman and art by Guido Guidi. Originally just a one-shot, a four issue miniseries under the name Secrets & Lies later followed by the same creative team.
Released to celebrate the 35th anniversary of The Transformers franchise, the series is a Prequel comic set mostly before the events of the original Marvel Comics Transformers comic from the 80s.
Told from the perspective of Punch (one of the only G1 Transformers never used in the original comic), an Autobot with a second 'bot mode that allows him to infiltrate the Decepticons as "Counterpunch", this story gave a new angle to the backstory for why Optimus really launched the Ark on its fabled journey.
This series provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: Optimus' plan to take out Megatron and take the war off Cybertron proved entirely pointless, since new Decepticon warlords just arose in his absence and continued the war.
- Awesome, but Impractical: While under the control of AUNTIE as a drone, Megatron's rarely used ability to tap into a Black Hole and utilize anti-matter energy gets a prominent usage here. And we're promptly shown why he rarely uses it as once-unleashed it's incredibly hard to seal back up and could easily destroy him along with his opponent.
- The Caligula: Megatron, as expected. Hinting towards his development in the Marvel comic and Regeneration One, he's stated to have begun losing focus on his original goal of turning Cybertron into a mobile battle station and just wants to kill Optimus Prime.
- Call-Forward: Many given the nature of being a prequel.
- Issue 0 has Fastlane and Cloudraker crash on Earth and becoming the Man of Iron and companion from the story of the same name. Punch follows behind and sabotages their ship, it's revealed, on behalf of Optimus Prime trying to prevent the Decepticons from returning to Cybertron. Handily explaining a way an Out-of-Character Moment from the original story where Prime orders them killed rather than adding them to the ranks.
- Issue 1 introduces Skyfire, a seeming Identical Stranger Decepticon to the Jetfire Shockwave later constructs on Earth (even down to being named for his cartoon counterpart), but then he perishes, with Shockwave recovering his brain with the intent to revive him one day, hinting that Jetfire was the result.
- On being shown around Darkmount in issue 2, Straxus fantasises about installing a smelting pool, his preferred method of execution when he takes control of the fortress.
- Fortress Maximus is shown to be antsy about fighting the war, setting up his decision to abandon it and leave for new pastures in the Headmasters miniseries.
- When the Coneheads locate the Ark, AUNTIE creates mindless drone bodies in the form of Grapple, Hoist, Tracks, Inferno, Red Alert and Skids, Autobots who the Marvel series would reveal to have had their minds recorded and stored onboard in case extra soldiers were needed for the mission (and would be placed into new bodies in the present).
- Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet are offered the position they were introduced in as Straxus's lieutenants if they vow to remain silent about the events of the miniseries.
- Grimlock damages the Ark's computer Auntie such that she can't distinguish between friend and foe, leading to her restoring the Decepticons alongside the Autobots 4 million years later.
- Canon Immigrant:
- Punch was an original G1 Transformer but never appeared in the U.S. or U.K. version of the comic. Here he functions as the narrator and one of the main characters.
- Star Saber, the protagonist of Transformers Victory, makes an appearance as part of the shared leadership of the Autobots with Ultra Magnus and Fortress Maximus following Optimus Prime's departure.
- With Star Saber also comes Deathsaurus, his archenemy from Transformers Victory.
- Canon Welding:
- Though this miniseries takes place in the original Marvel comics continuity, elements from the Marvel UK stories (such as the Ark's AI, AUNTIE) are added in.
- In the first issue, Bumblebee offhandedly mentions the era of the Titans. The term "Titan" (used to describe city-sized Transformers) was coined over two decades after the original comics series ended.
- Continuity Snarl: The comic contradicts elements from both US and U.K. stories such as having both Pounce and Wingspan die at the end but they show up in Regeneration One (where Wingspan is killed) and claiming that the Autobot clones were the Man of Iron and the Navigator from that story but both are killed by that implication in the Man of Iron story but Cloudraker shows up in Regeneration One for a cameo, meaning he couldn't have been the Navigator.
- Double Agent: Punch/Counterpunch. This story is actually one of the only major uses of the character and his double agent characterization in whole TF franchise. Though it drops the implication in his original bio that "Counterpunch" is a separate personality.
- Homage Shot: The page image of the original cover is a homage reverse shot of issue #3 of the original Marvel Transformers comic.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Punch had to destroy Cloudraker and Fastlane's ship (with them on it) in order to keep the Ark's location a secret. He's not happy about it, but he acknowledges that it was his duty.
- Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: As Counterpunch, Punch is willing to kill any Autobot or Decepticon who could risk revealing the Ark's location.
- Mythology Gag: Swoop is referred to as "Divebomb" by a few characters, a preliminary name for his toy before Hasbro decided on "Swoop". An issue of the U.K. comic established it was his name before the Predacon Divebomb stole it from him.
- Narrator: Punch/Counterpunch is this for both the one-shot and miniseries, his position as a double agent in the Decepticon Army and a trusted confidant of Optimus giving him insight into the many machinations of the series.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Optimus' hope that by taking out Megatron on a suicide mission aboard the Ark was that it would lead a quicker end to the war with its most blood-thirsty combatant (Megs) removed from the equation. Instead it led to the rise of tyrants such as Straxus and Scorponok who would prove just as worthy tyrants as Megatron, with the war continuing on for the four million years Prime was in hibernation on Earth. Not to mention inadvertently dragging Earth into the war as well.
- Prequel: One to both the American and U.K. versions of The Transformers (Marvel) comic. More specifically setting up much of the early status quo of the U.S. comic and also the "Man of Iron" comic, the first U.K. original Transformers comic.
- Saved by Canon: The series ends with Grimlock, believing the other Dinobots died in the battle with Shockwave, committing suicide by deactivating himself. Though we know they'll eventually be re-discovered and re-activated by Ratchet in the Marvel comic.
- Suicide Mission: Optimus' reasons for launching the Ark are revealed to be this. He hopes to lure Megatron into a trap by placing all the Autobot's greatest warriors on one ship that would prove too enticing to pass up. Once aboard, Prime planned on crashing the ship on to the nearest planet and thus taking them all out.
- Taking You with Me: Optimus's true plan was to lure Megatron and his forces away from Cybertron, then crash the Ark into the nearest (seemingly) uninhabited planet, removing both Autobot and Decepticons groups from the war.
- Title by Year: Released as Transformers '84, the year the franchise rolled out, but amusingly none of the events of the one-shot or later miniseries are set in 1984.
- Villainous Friendship: Shockwave has a genuine respect for Skyfire. After the Dinobots kill Skyfire, Shockwave recovers his brain module, and pledges to restore him one day.
- Writing Around Trademarks: The Dinobots Dinosaur-themed alt-modes are explained as coming from fossils rather than still living Dinosaurs, with Punch saying that there’s some apocrypha about real dinosaurs being around 60 million years after their extinction. This is writing around that in the original Marvel comic, the Dinobots got their alt-modes from Marvel's The Savage Land with its living Dinosaur inhabitants, which couldn't be used in an IDW-produced comic for obvious reasons.
