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This says all really.
So, happy 40th anniversary to the amazing and fantastic Transformers franchise! To celebrate, I do have one I want to put out before this current month ends, so I scoured away until I founded... a prequel comic from the reboot films!
What's the Work?[]
Transformers: Bumblebee Movie Prequel is what you'd expect for a brief, few comic issues: written by John Barber with designs by Andrew Griffith, it tells past stories of Optimus Prime's loyal right-hand Autobot Bumblebee as he goes on an adventure with two dashing spies to uncover a heinous plot by a saboteur who had been aiming at agencies and organizations across the globe, all while the Cold War is raging on...
Who is Malignus and What Has He Done?[]
Malignus is a wise yet sociopathic Decepticon who seeks for humanity to die out of pretense nihilistic beliefs. Malignus for decades has been hiding out on Earth, gathering a army that he intends to use to wreak chaos across the globe, having many scientists inside the Secret E.I.O.O.L.O.N. command center agonizingly killed off as seen with the beginning of the first issue. Malignus has one of his high-ranked minions named Wildrider sent to off the chief Konrad Gotell by stabbing him in the chest with a sword, for Agent Omega Zero/David Reeve to find? Malignus then tries using Wildrider to incapacitate Bumblebee in the streets and kill Reeve, but the former is able to rescue Reeve in time and defeat Wildrider by crashing him into a wall. The two then meet up with Diana Lux, who reveals that Director Pelham is late and also that Wildrider is working with two other Decepticons: Runabout and Diabla. Diana also suspects that there is a saboteur within their midst as proven by information given by Sector Seven… the trio unaware that it is Malignus.
Malignus then stages a surprise attack and has Director Pelham murdered the same way that Gotell did, also blowing up his car for good measure. Malignus then has Diabla crash Bumblebee, causing Parson to perish in the process while Reeve and Diana barely escape. Runabout and Diabla then try finishing them and Bumblebee off, uncaring if any civilians get caught in the crossfire. The three however make a hasty retreat to Victoria Embankment to make a call to the leader of the Secret Intelligence Service and investigate further.
Malignus further strokes tensions against Diana and Reeve by making the former think the latter is a mole by having Runabout and Diabla strike again in the most convenient moment. Diana notices something fishy and decides to trust Reeve, who regrets being given an order to secretly assassinate Diana and Bumblebee. Unfortunately, Runabout pummels Bumblebee after Diana and Reeve get on a motorcycle. Turns out that Bumblebee manages to escape though and Diana reveals that the number one agent, Ian Bryde had been weeding out Russian traitors in America thanks to Pelham, who before he died schemed to have Bumblebee stop the Decepticons and expose the mastermind. Diana also informs that Gotell had aligned himself with agent Vladimir Vladek to give out key detail, resulting in the Decepticons assaulting Bumblebee and Reeve on Berlin as seen from the start of the first issue.
Reeve formulates to disguise himself as a photographer and Diana as a model to go undercover, breaking into a store to see if there are any Russians inside, only to one again encounter Diabla, who proceeds to pick up a nearby blue car and throw it at Bumblebee. But Bumblebee quickly devises and smooth-talks Diabla into a chat. Meanwhile, Reeve and Diana find a hidden bunker and pick at the lock to get in and confront Valdek. Both he and Diabla discuss about their "robot/human friends" respectively, only for the former to admit that Gotell, before he passed away noticed something fishy regarding the Decepticons: they had been stalking him and that Valdek's employers are theorizing the East had disposed of Gotell. Diana however recognizes that the Decepticons are actually manipulating both the East and West sides into needless conflict for their own ends.
Vladek thus decides to resolve it by taking it up with his superiors to avoid a massive war and he and his assistant go to their fancy red car… Bad mistake. The car shapeshifts into their robotic form, squishing Vladek and the assistant into red paste while Diabla shuts down Bumblebee. Blitzwing arrives to fire missiles at Bumblebee in a desperate effort to make him explode, criticizing Diabla for being a bit "too soft" after spending time with the Autobots, to which Diabla only demands Blitzwing to make Bumblebee's demise as fast and painless as possible. Dead End chases after Reeve and Diabla while almost crushing dozens of citizens in his path while Blitzwing promises to make Bumblebee suffer for hours, making a speech to try and break Bumblebee by mocking and taunting Optimus Prime's disappearance, only for Bumblebee to turn the tables on Blitzwing by shooting a gas main and grabbing Reeve and Diana on time. Blitzwing pursuits them all as Bumblebee, Reeve and Diana head underground. Diabla also gets underground and fires away at Bumblebee, but Diabla eventually retreats after Bumblebee hops tracks just before a train can impact them.
The trio arrive at Hyde Park to meet up with an acquaintance, only for it to be a trick. Three Decepticons hop out and warn Bumblebee in particular to stand down. Bumblebee asks them if they work for Blitzwing, but when they say no, they are suddenly electrocuted by Agent Heath Donovan from Sector Seven. Donovan accidentally electrocutes Bumblebee, but apologizes and introduces himself as Reeve's old time pal who cooperated at Prague. Donovan had been tracking down Bumblebee so that they can reveal the truth about the infiltrator who had hacked through the network. Donovan has Bumblebee drive and plays a disk: The flashback unveils a lot of detail, including past deaths of important figures like Pierre Chavotet of the SDECE, pinning the blame on the Soviet Union, then Zhou Zhen Fan of the CID in his own residence, making it look like the Italians did the deed, and Ian Bryde himself, planting false evidence around Havana. The murders of Gotell and Pelham were also carried out and they framed Reeve for both. The Sector Seven agents have been gathering footage of it and Donovan says that the mastermind is small and was was using his Decepticons as assassins. Now that things are heating up, world leaders are getting close to start launching nukes, which would lead to armageddon. Reeve then tells Donovan and Diana his location after recognizing that the gun that he carried during the tunnel sequence was a tracker. It was Diabla, feeling remorse for her crimes.
Bumblebee magnetizes to a plane while Reeve, Diana, and Donovan put on suits and when they spot the northwest perimeter, they jump out and crush a Decepticon before heading into the base. Unfortunately, they are lured into a shark pool designed to attract metal like Bumblebee. That’s when Malignus finally steps out of the shadows and describes that with his "guidance", he will destroy humanity, but not before shoving Bumblebee, Reeve, and Diana so that they can be devoured by the sharks. Malignus expresses disappointment in people, calling them ”flesh-covered parasites” who get in the way of the Decepticons and are working for the Autobots’ side. Malignus and the rest of the Decepticons will steal the Earth’s ancient Cybertronian treasures after the nuclear war begins. Suddenly, the tracking device which was placed on Diabla goes kaboom thanks to Diana transforming it into a makeshift bomb, all while a pissed off Malignus orders the Sharkticons to rip Reeve, Diana, and Bumblebee to pieces. As the Sharkticons give chase, Diabla fires at one while warning Bumblebee to lead. Malignus doesn’t care however, yelling at Blitzwing for his failure and simply dispatches Dead End to claim their lives once and for all. Diabla however says that she was actually working for the East and immobilizes Bumblebee, all while Malignus presses a button to reveal a nuke that will go off at Russia, so that nuclear war can begin. Diabla however listens to Bumblebee's words and assists him against Blitzwing and Dead End. Malignus is then cornered and held hostage by Diana, who orders him to disable the missile. Malignus turns his hands into sawblades, promising that humanity will be no more. Luckily, Diana has another tracker while Reeve does a surprise move and places a bomb on Malignus, who is promptly blown to pieces. Wait a minute… the nuke is going high in the sky! Blitzwing and Dead End still try to continue with Malignus' plan, but Diabla sacrifices herself to detonate the nuke near Blitzwing, preventing billions from dying.
Heinous Standards?[]
Despite the claims that it’s meant to take place before the film, it has several inconsistencies that makes me believe it should be considered as an alternate universe. For example, Bumblebee's backstory in both media are different, as the film depicts Bumblebee as just having visited Earth for the first time while the comic establishes that he had been working for humanity (primarily for the MI6) for a while now. So it’s safe to say that Shatter and Dropkick don’t affect Malignus’ qualifications.
Malignus himself is tiny (for Decepticon standards) so he can’t really do much except mainly deploy his henchmen out but holy shit, what he gets up to is quite vile for a standalone Transformers work. He has his minions carry out multiple assassinations of important figures and covering up their involvement while playing the West and East so that they can essentially kickstart World War III and eradicate humanity so that the Decepticons can loot and plunder the resources. Malignus also has no problem with putting dozens of innocents in danger as well as getting rid of scientists just to ensure his plan succeeds while he later on makes an effort to push Bumblebee, Reeve, and Diana into a pool of Sharkticons for them to be consumed. For this, I consider that he manages to just clear the bar for the franchise.
Mitigating Factors?[]
Malignus spouts his rhetoric that humanity has no hope and that they were already destined to doom themselves anyways, claiming that he’s doing them a favor. In the end? It's paper-thin and the real reason why he wants humans to be wiped out from the face of the Earth is because of them teaming up with the Autobots and thus opposing the Decepticons.
In addition, Malignus berates his own crew (such as with Blitzwing) for screwing up, calling him a incompetent fool and telling him to essentially "fuck off" when he tries to explain. Malignus is also fine with letting Blitzwing going after Diabla for her betrayal, proving that he doesn’t even care for his own race.
Final Verdict?[]
Slight yes.