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The Question

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« The Transformers Spotlight: Bumblebee »
Dark Prelude
Spotlight Bumblebee cvrA.jpg
"The Question"
Publisher IDW Publishing
First published March 6, 2013
Cover date March 2013
Written by John Barber
Art by David Daza
Colors by Zac Atkinson
Letters by Shawn Lee
Editor Carlos Guzman
Assistant editor Thomas Boeing
Continuity 2005 IDW continuity
Chronology "Ongoing" era, circa "Police Action"

His leadership questioned at every turn, Bumblebee sets out on a solo mission to stop the Decepticons returning to Cybertron.

Contents

Synopsis

With Optimus Prime and the majority of the Autobot forces on their way back to Cybertron, Bumblebee and the small contingent under his command remain on Earth, searching for the Decepticons that remain in hiding on the planet. Unfortunately, the search is not going well, and Bumblebee finds himself doubting his own leadership abilities, constantly asking himself what Optimus would do in his place. Returning to Omega Supreme following another failure to turn up any hiding 'cons alongside Hot Spot and Groove, Bumblebee argues with Prowl over the significance of the potential Decepticon threat. The police-bot insists that as a known quantity, the Decepticons come second to the unknown quantity of the possible threat posed by corruption among their human allies that he is currently investigating. Prowl requisitions Groove to aid him, annoying Bumblebee enough that the little bot insists that Prowl respect his authority. Prowl snorts, declaring it a matter of who is right, not who is in charge, and leaves with Groove and Streetwise. Hot Spot tries to cheer Bumblebee up, but all he does is remind him of his current injuries.

Left to his own devices, Bumblebee pays a call on Thundercracker, who is the process of packing up his belongings and moving out of his hideaway. Uninterested in helping, Thundercracker tells Bumblebee that he's not cut out for leadership, but the little 'bot insists that both Earth and Cybertron must be protected. The mention of Cybertron causes Thundercracker to remark that getting back there would be no easy task for the Decepticons, following the destruction of their space bridge... which in turn reminds both 'bots that Megatron can now open space bridges with his new body. They realize that Megatron allowed himself to be taken prisoner to take advantage of this fact, prompting Thundercracker to relent and provide Bumblebee with records of the space bridge radiation signature he obtained in their past meeting with Metroplex.

Bumblebee takes Thundercracker's records to his human friend Sanjay Bharwaney, who uses the equipment at Darkmatter Logic to scan the planet for the signature, locating it in the vicinity of an ancient Native American settlement. Heading there as night falls, Bumblebee discovers the Decepticon army gathered around a space bridge terminal, awaiting its opening. Opting for stealth, 'Bee attempts to sneak in and sabotage the bridge before it activates, but no sooner has he reached the terminal than it flares to life, illuminating him for all the Decepticons to see. Starscream orders the Stunticons to take care of Bumblebee while the other Decepticons go through the bridge; the fight is, unsurprisingly, a brutal and one-sided one, until Bumblebee has a brainwave and jams his cane into one of the bridge's power conduits, disrupting its power flow and causing explosive feedback that destroys the bridge and knocks all five Stunticons out.

Bumblebee hauls his prisoners back to Omega Supreme by dawn—much to the shock of all the other Autobots—and takes charge, explaining the threat that Prime's forces now face, and the need to wrap up their mission on Earth. With orders handed out, 'Bee enters Omega, calling for Prowl to follow him for a meeting, and Prowl smiles: Bumblebee is finally doing what Optimus would.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans

Quotes

"The little guy's got more spark than I gave him credit for these last couple million years. Taking down five bad guys on his own—and blaming himself for not stopping a hundred more? And then coming home and taking control? That's what Prime would do."

—Prowl, on Bumblebee

Notes

Continuity notes

  • As the note on the inside front cover says, this story takes place during the events of "Police Action", the story which ran in issues #25, #27, and #29 of the ongoing series. Its precise placement is not detailed, but specifically, it would appear to take place concurrently with #25, with Groove's absence in that part of the story explained here by having Prowl send him off on a mission off-panel. However, #27 had Wheeljack conferring with Prowl via holo-projection while he was still aboard Omega Supreme's rocket, implying that the Autobots hadn't reached Cybertron yet, which would make the timing of the Decepticons space bridge departure problematic, as they didn't arrive on Cybertron until after the Autobots.
  • By that same token, the story also occurs concurrently with the events of "Chaos", which ran in the issues of the ongoing that alternated with the "Police Action" chapters. The Decepticons would emerge through the space bridge they are shown entering here in the third chapter of that story, in issue #28. The bridge terminal is of the same claw-like curved-pylon design as that seen in All Hail Megatron #7.
  • The original encounter between Bumblebee, Thundercracker, and Metroplex was detailed in Spotlight: Thundercracker. More recently, chronology-wise, Bumblebee petitioned Thundercracker for aid in ongoing #10; further unsolicited visits to Thundercracker's "man cave" occurred in #15 and #16, leading him to pack it up and move, as seen here.
  • Bumblebee met Sanjay Bharwaney in his self-titled mini-series.
  • The ongoing series was painfully vague on why Megatron allowed himself to be captured by the Autobots. This issue finally has someone give the out-and-out explanation in dialogue: Megatron needed a ride back to Cybertron so that his body's Space Bridge tech could open a portal home for the Decepticon army.
  • Breakdown comments that he "owes the Autobots a little somethin'," evidently a reference to the scrap with Prowl and Streetwise he has in ongoing #25, which timeline-wise he has probably only just returned from, and is still showing visible signs of damage from.
  • After his stunt channelling the space bridge power flow through his cane, Bumblebee quips that he must get Wheeljack to "make him one of these." He would have a zappy-cane in Robots in Disguise #2.
  • With the revelation that the Stunticons were left behind on Earth, the Decepticons' decision to rely on a physically crippled Devastator during the battle over in "Chaos", rather than a functional Menasor, makes a bit more sense.
  • The particularly humiliating nature of this defeat would later result in Wildrider leaving the Stunticons altogether, leaving both his place in the ranks and position as Menasor's leg to be filled by new member Offroad.

Edits

Two strange minor edits in the version of the issue packed in with Bumblebee's Generations Thrilling 30 toy:

  • On page 2: Bumblebee's speech bubble in panel 4 has an "only" added to "so I guess there's one way to find out", with the speech bubble slightly resized to accommodate the extra word.
  • On page 10: Bumblebee's speech bubble in panel 3 is changed from "It's not funny." to "That's not funny.", with the speech bubble itself resized to fit three instead of just two lines of words.

Errors

(thumbnail)
Okay, so some fans on the internet can't spell their beloved characters' names right, but when did these people start working for IDW?
  • Early promotional images of the covers for this issue misspelled the name of the title character as "Bubmblebee". For the finished edition, the extra "B" has been removed.
  • Doctor Bharwaney's name is misspelled "Bharmaney".
  • Starscream has his War for Cybertron body way before he gets it in Robots in Disguise.


Covers (7)

  • Cover A: The shadows of the Stunticons fall over a battered Bumblebee, armed with his cane, by David Daza and Esther Sanz
  • Cover B: Bumblebee with a new arm-gun, by Livio Ramondelli
  • Cover RI: Bumblebee, by Clayton Crain
  • Convention Exclusive: Mirror-flipped, cropped-in version of cover RI with "convention exclusive" branding, available only at WonderCon 2013
  • Retailer Exclusive: Bumblebee and Thundercracker fight atop Burj Al Arab by Agustin Padilla, available only at Middle East Film & Comic Con 2013.
  • Hasbro exclusive cover: Cropped-in version of cover RI, exclusively available with Generations Deluxe Class Bumblebee
  • Micro-Comic Fun Pack cover: Bumblebee dual-wielding two pistols, by Livio Ramondelli
  • (thumbnail)

    Poke poke.

  • (thumbnail)

    I am a badass, I swear I am!

  • (thumbnail)

    Do you tumble for Bumble?

  • (thumbnail)

    Well, do ya?

  • (thumbnail)

    You already has a Spotlight. It's MY turn!

  • (thumbnail)

    You need another Bumblebee toy!

  • (thumbnail)

    This body again? Dammit!

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