First Spider-Man, now Optimus Prime

“Autobots! Roll–OW!”

I’d say “say it ain’t so!” but then IDW says it is so. In December, the leader of the autobots, Optimus Prime, is going to die. At least that’s what can be inferred from the title, Transformers: The Death of Optimus Prime.

Written by John Barber and James Roberts with more than meets the art by Nick Roche, this single issue sets the stage for “an all new era in IDW’s Transformers comics.” There’s a word for that I’ve been hearing a lot lately, but I just can’t seem to put my finger on it. Something to do with DC Comics maybe? Who can say?

After this one-shot, two new Transformers ongoing series will launch in January, which is the traditional month of Robotadan, the Cybertronian festival of gears.

Comments

  1. Luckily, Hot Rod has both the Touch and the Power.

  2. Are we sure this art is from 2011? It looks retro in a very cool, authentic way,

  3. Optimus Prime does like to die, doesn’t he?

  4. “Robotadaon” = internet comedy gold.

  5. Psshaw. It’s been done (repeatedly.)

    Seriously though, the current Chaos arc is very, very good. I’m not in love with the art (though the last page of the most recent issue is genuinely exceptional), but the story is actually quite engaging. The two issue Chaos Prelude is easily the best Transformers story I’ve ever read (and I’ve read more than I’d like to admit.)

  6. Mother Fucking Rotimus Prime. Sweet!!!

  7. Prime’s died more often than Kenny from Southpark

  8. Isn’t that what indirectly caused Marvel to sell the Transformer comic rights years ago?

  9. Sometimes it seems that all Optimus Prime does is die.

  10. Optimus Prime died in the animated movie. It’s not like it wasn’t going to happen in the comic book series anyway.

  11. It’s the time of deaths and reboots.

  12. He won’t be dead, just marooned at the dawn of time. When he fights his way back we’ll get to see Pirate Optimus, Pilgrim Optimus, Dirty Hippy Optimus….

  13. I’m really geared up for this. Hope this fires on all cylinders. I really car about these robots. You’ll see, they’ll prove their metal.

  14. I don’t read Transformers, but that cover is freaking great.

  15. I was surprised as a little kid when Optimus Prime died in the old Marvel Transformers comic. Also, they were able to save his entire mind on one of those old big floppy discs from the early 80s. Considering those things could hold almost no information, Transformer minds were apparently not nearly as complex as we were led to believe.

  16. Groan. Dead again. He should team up with Wonder man and Aquaman in a one shot special where they all die together savin’ the universe!

  17. I am a major TF fan and was brought up on the US comics and cartoons, plus the UK comics and some of the Japanesse shows, but I really fell off the boat on the IDW stuff. I plan on picking up where I left off (IDW ongoing 14), but I just hate to get back to see Prime die. The IDW prime is a bit different than other G1ish Primes, but I was kinda hoping he would stick around for a little longer. I will say that I am glad that he did not take the path of the Bay movies Prime and mindlessly kill as he did throughout the series. That is not Prime! Anyways I am sure Prime will be back before we know it.

  18. As a Transformer fan . Optimus Prime dying is like Resurrection Man dying.

  19. Can a robot ever truly die anyway? So what if he gets wrecked, someone can always come along and fix him.