#9 - "Dawn of Destruction!"/"Counter-Strike!"

Information provided by Chris McFeely.

"Dawn of Destruction!"

Credits

Script - Simon Furman / Pencils - Andrew Wildman / Inks - Stephen Baskerville / Colors - Nigel Dobbyn / Lettering - Neil Porter

Story

After the events of last issue, Cyclonus crashes on the surface of the Moon, and is discovered by the Destruction Mini-Con Team. Megatron, meanwhile, is angered by the destruction of his base, but falls silent when Cyclonus arrives with his power readings off the scale!

Before anyone can react, Cyclonus opens fire on his fellow Decepticons! As he destroys the rest of the base, Cyclonus begs for Megatron's mercy -- he's being controlled by the Destruction Team! While Starscream sneaks off, Megatron and Demolishor Powerlink with their Mini-Cons to battle the empowered Cyclonus, but with no success. Starscream returns and attacks Cyclonus with an experimental sonic destabilizer, which severs all Mini-Con Powerlinx. Forced to disengage, the Destruction Team beat a hasty retreat...

Later, at their own hideout, the Destruction Team receives a message from someone who wants to team up with them -- Starscream!

"Tales of the Mini-Cons: Counter-Strike!"

Credits

Script - Simon Furman / Pencils - Simon Williams / Inks - Bambos Georgiou / Colors - Junior Tomlin / Lettering - Neil Porter

Story

In a flashback to Cybertron's past, Dualor of the Destruction Team addresses a Mini-Con summit, and announces his plan to permanently remove the threat of Megatron. He's leaked falsified information to the Decepticons that will lure them to an Autobot stronghold; once there, Dualor will detonate the hidden explosives planted therein, allowing the Mini-cons to take out both Autobots and Decepticons in one swoop! Sparkplug disagrees with the plan, but is overruled by the enthusiastic support of the others.

Soon, as the Autobots and Decepticons battle as planned, Sparkplug is unable to go through with the ambush. He warns Optimus Prime before Dualor can trigger the bombs -- this prompts the Autobots to retreat, and the explosions only manage to do partial damange to the pursuing Decepticons! Angry at the failure of his scheme, Dualor vows revenge on the one who betrayed him...

Notes and Comments

Despite the dangling plot lines, this was the last issue of Panini's Transformers: Armada comic.
Issue #9 includes a preview for the never-released issue #10, showing the Adventure Mini-Con Team and Sideways arranged in a pyramid, along with an announcement that the free gift would be an Optimus Prime or Megatron glow-in-the-dark model. It is widely reported that issue #10 was already written and drawn when the series was cancelled, but Panini decided against releasing it to avoid further losses.
This issue's extras consisted of:
- Marble shooters
- Profiles of Jetfire and Commetor
- A feature page: "Festive Fun Factory," with Christmas cards and gift tags.
- Cyber Space: This issue covers the latest airings of Transformers: Armada episodes, the release of Tidal Wave, a hint of an upcoming "Unicron Battles" comic storyline (which obviously never happened), and a preview of the Unicron toy, which misrepresents him as the largest Transformers toy ever made.
- A contest to win Powerlinx Red Alert and Predacon, two toys that would not be available in the UK for several months.
Yet another TF comic alumni returns to the fold with this issue -- Stephen Baskerville is once again inking Andrew Wildman's pencils for "Dawn of Destruction." With the addition of a new colorist, the art for this issue looks much better in general. Pity it was the last one, just when the comic was showing a bit of hope.
"Dawn of Destruction" is inspired by a similar story of the Destruction Team taking over Cyclonus's body from Dreamwave's Transformers: Armada comic, issues #12-13, also written by Simon Furman.
In "Counter-Strike," Dualor's list of tortures Megatron inflicted on the Mini-Cons include a reference to "the smelting pools," which originated in the Marvel Transformers comic book series.