Movie Adaptation Issue Number Two

	"Transformers: Movie Adaptation Issue Number Two"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
Date published	June 13, 2007
Cover date	June 2007
Story by	Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman and John Rogers
Adaptation by	Kris Oprisko
Art by	Alex Milne
Colors by	Josh Perez
Color assist by	Lisa Moore
Edits by	Chris Ryall
Continuity	Movie continuity

Scorponok battles the military in Qatar; Barricade and Frenzy attack Bumblebee and the humans; friends from home pay a visit.

Featured Characters:

Sam Witwicky
Autobots
- Optimus Prime
- Jazz
- Ratchet
- Bumblebee
- Ironhide

Supporting Characters:

Mikaela Banes
Robert Epps
William Lennox

Villains:

Decepticons
- Frenzy
- Barricade
- Scorponok

Synopsis[]

In Qatar, Scorponok battles with the military team and is eventually defeated by aircraft with 6000 degree Sabot rounds. He escapes under the sand with a bit of his tail broken off left behind.

In Tranquility, U.S.A., Sam flees from Bumblebee while he unbeknownst is pursued by Barricade and Frenzy. Barricade corners him in a parking lot and transforms, asking him about the auction of his great grandfather's artifacts. Mikaela follows Sam and the two are rescued by Bumblebee. Barricade deploys Frenzy to attack the humans while he battles Bumblebee. Mikaela cuts off Frenzy's head with a power saw while Barricade and Bumblebee fall off a cliff. The Autobot climbs back up and speaks to the humans through his radio while Frenzy's head scans Mikaela's cell phone and transforms into an exact copy. The humans travel with Bumblebee and give him the suggestion to transform into something nicer; he instantly converts into a 2009 Camaro. Bumblebee leads them to the site of a meteor crash. The meteor is actually Optimus Prime, who scans and converts into a semi truck. He then transforms and assures the humans not to fear as the other Autobots approach. He lets the humans know his name and that they are from Cybertron.

Errors[]

Before his fight with Barricade, Bumblebee drops Sam and Mikaela at an industrial site (like in the movie). Mikaela finds a chainsaw on a stash of tools (like in the movie) and uses it to decapitate Frenzy. Then, after Sam has kicked Frenzy's head away, he and Mikaela witness the end of the fight between Bumblebee and Barricade... who both fall into a deep canyon in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by woods. After Bumblebee has emerged from the canyon again, Frenzy's severed head is seen in the foreground, so it's not like they've gone anywhere... but the industrial site is nowhere to be seen on the following pages.
After Optimus Prime has landed in front of Sam and Mikaela's eyes, a caption on page 24 states that "Elsewhere in and around the city, four more meteors crash into the Earth..." Ratchet, Jazz and Ironhide makes three, not four.

Items of note[]

When Barricade passes a Tranquility road sign on page 6, the city's logo features what looks like Mount St. Hilary and the Ark.
While Barricade is on route to Sam on pages 6 and 7, several G1 homage vehicles are seen: Ratchet, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Trailbreaker and Wheeljack. A Scion xB (the alternate mode of Alternators Skids) can also be seen, but the lighting effects make it impossible to make out the intended color.
There's also an "IDW Comics" store sign on page 7.
On page 9, one of the cars in the background sports a license plate with the letters "ALXMLN", a self-homage to artist Alex Milne.
"Bonus material 2.0": Pull-out poster of the Autobots, minus Ironhide, Decepticon logo pin-up, Barricade pin-up, interview with adaptation writer Kris Oprisko and movie toy gallery.

Differences with movie[]

During the battle with Scorponok in Qatar, Lennox himself is calling the air strike rather than Epps. (There's also no Indian phone operator getting in the way of his call.)
Barricade states Sam's "online auction" username as "Hotstud217" rather than "LadiesMan217".

During the chase with Bumblebee, Barricade deploys drill-like missiles. The props were constructed and fitted to the Barricade prop vehicles during production, but the scene was ultimate dropped from the final cut of the movie.
After decapitating Frenzy, Sam and Mikaela witness the end of the fight between Bumblebee and Barricade. In the movie, neither they nor the viewer actually get to see how Bumblebee ultimately defeats Barricade. (They both fall into a deep canyon in the middle of nowhere—see "errors" for more on this.)
Frenzy's head scans and transforms into some sort of PDA rather than a mobile phone.
Bumblebee upgrades from 1977 Camaro to 2009 Camaro before Sam and Mikaela actually get inside. Mikaela specifically addresses Bumblebee in second person with her complaints about his disguise, and Bumblebee downloads images of other cars from the internet, rather than scanning an actual physical vehicle. He then changes his vehicle form right in front of their eyes.
After landing on Earth, Optimus Prime scans a truck and transforms into a replica of it and back into robot mode right in front of Sam and Mikaela's eyes. In the movie, Prime runs away after having emerged from his traveling pod state, scans the truck, and then meets Sam, Mikaela, Bumblebee and the other Autobots in an alley.

Covers (2)[]

Regular Cover: Wraparound cover of most major movie characters by Alex Milne and Kieran Oats
Cover RI: Barricade, Sam and Mikaela, by Alex Milne and Kieran Oats

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