First Strike issue 3

Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	September 13, 2017
Cover date	September 2017
Written by	Mairghread Scott and David A. Rodriguez
Art by	Max Dunbar
Colors by	Ander Zarate
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	David Hedgecock
Assistant editor	David Mariotte
Continuity	2005 IDW continuity
Chronology	Current era

Scarlett's team joins the fight on Cybertron.

Synopsis

In Castle Destro, two Iron Grenadiers go about their guard duty, talking with one another about the fighting on Cybertron; one would rather be there, while the other is only too happy to be out of the line of fire. Unfortunately for the latter Grenadier, circumstances change when the combined forces of Soundwave, Skyburst, and Stormclash, and Scarlett's G.I. Joe team blast their way into the castle, while Matt Trakker and Gloria Baker of M.A.S.K. keep the defenses outside busy. The team-up is made a little awkward by the differing sizes of the combatants—Doc is only saved from going squish under Stormclash's careless feet by her personal forcefield—but the heroes are able to fight their way through the Grenadiers to the chamber containing the M.A.S.S. Device. With frightening speed—and no shortage of sass—Skyburst and Stormclash hook the M.A.S.S. to the Spacebridge, opening the doorway to Cybertron. Scarlett orders Doc and Quick Kick to remain behind in case their plan fails, then she, Roadblock, Lady Jaye, Matt, Gloria, Soundwave, and the Torchbearer twins step through the bridge...

...and emerge on the blasted surface of Cybertron, right in the middle of the mayhem! Soundwave shields the humans as the Spacebridge portal explodes behind them, the dangerous jury-rig having reached its limit, then orders Skyburst and Stormclash to run reconnaissance in their helicopter modes. The twins quickly do so, reporting that the Council of Worlds is safely ensconced in the Spire, while Ironhide and Sunstreaker lead the Badgeless security force in the fighting on the ground. The Joes hijack a couple of Destro's unattended Razorback vehicles and barrel through the front lines of the enemy, who Soundwave then incapacitates with a targeted sonic attack. Scarlett charges right for Baron Ironblood... but when she pounces on him and rips his helmet off, she is greeted not by the face of Joe Colton, but that of Doctor Mindbender! The whole frontal assault on Cybertron, the Joes learn, is just a distraction so the real Colton and his cabal can execute their true plans—but our heroes remain in the dark as to what those plans are, as Mindbender has deliberately not been provided with any knowledge of them.

Underground, under watchful eye of the real Colton—the previously-unidentified figure in the face-obscuring mask—Storm Shadow, Shazraella, Mayhem, Kreiger, Destro, and their Red Shadows entourage install sound dampeners at key locations as they travel deeper into the planet, in order to mask their presence from Soundwave's preternatural hearing. Typically villainous grumbling and backbiting escalates as Kreiger makes a sly remark about Shazraella's "inevitable betrayal" that appears to turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy when the Microspacian rips a cable out of the wall, deliberately activating built-in defenses that open fire on the humans. Shazraella smashes the guns a moment later, her point clearly made: treat her with respect, she warns the humans, or it will be that easy for her to turn on them. As the villains descend further into the planet, rappelling down a shaft, Mayhem receives word from the surface that Mindbender has been exposed. He does not share Colton's concern that Scarlett is moving faster than anticipated; after all, Mayhem says, she's only one woman. An irritated Storm Shadow decides to show Mayhem just how dangerous one woman can be and severs his rappelling line, dropping him the rest of the short distance to the bottom of the shaft. Mayhem picks himself up and rages to Colton, but Colton just tells him to be quiet and stop annoying the rest of the team.

Tapping into the programming one of the fallen Trojan-bots the villains used to sneak onto Cybertron, Gloria discovers protocols that reveal Colton's intent to head for Cybertron's core. Still, the heroes are unclear what he could be planning to do, as the explosive force necessary to detonate the planet's core is well beyond human capability to deliver. Scarlett is downcast to realize that Colton is not being mind-controlled, and is still very much in control of his faculties; Soundwave sympathizes with her, knowing what it is like to lose faith in your leader. Together, the heroes press on into Iacon, heading for the vent that Colton's team have taken into the planet, but find their way barred by Strika, who sees the humans as enemies. Soundwave attempts to vouch for them, but Strika is no more familiar with him than she is with the humans, and attacks. Fortunately, Ironhide intervenes to stop the fighting, and proposes that they all go to the Spire, where the Council will sort everything out. The humans have little option but to agree...

...but upon arrival, they find themselves immediately ordered put to death by Elita One!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	G.I. Joe	M.A.S.K.	The Iron Ring	Other Cybertronians
Stormclash (3) Skyburst (7) Optimus Prime (13) Windblade (14) Ironhide (17) Sunstreaker (18)	Soundwave (11)	Roadblock (2) Doc (4) Lady Jaye (8) Quick Kick (9) Scarlett (10)	Matt Trakker (5) Gloria Baker (6)	Iron Grenadiers (1) Red Shadows (12) Baron Ironblood/Doctor Mindbender (20) Buzzer (21) Ripper (22) Storm Shadow II (23) Shazraella (24) Destro (25) Joe Colton (26) Garrison Kreiger (27) Miles Mayhem (28)	Starscream (15) Elita One (16) Assorted Badgeless (19) Strika (29)

Quotes

"So, you've got super-hearing? Must be nice."
"I prefer to think of everyone else as profoundly deaf."

—Scarlett and Soundwave

"All right, rule number one. None of the tiny invaders so much as touches me. I'm still red carpet shiny and they look... grubby."
"What's rule number two, sir?"
"Shut up and shoot."

—Sunstreaker and a Badgeless

"Wait, how do we know if these cars are alive?"
"Turn on the ignition and see if it shouts."

—Matt Trakker and Gloria Baker hijack a Razorback

"Oh, please, Joseph, You give [Scarlett] far too much credit. She's just one woman. How dangerous can she actually be?"
"That's too stupid to even warrant a response."

—Miles Mayhem and Destro

"It is important to remember a dream is greater than any one being who lays claims to it."

—Soundwave empathizes with Scarlett

"We're all going to the Spire. Let [the council] sort this out."
"Your planet is under assault now! We don't have time to 'sort this out.' We have to act!"
"Welcome to politics."

—Ironhide and Scarlett

Notes

In addition to this 20-page main story, First Strike #3 also includes the four-page third chapter of an ongoing back-up strip, "The Origins of Evil," detailing how Ironblood assembled his evil allies.

Continuity notes

After years of playing a supporting role in the pages of multiple IDW G.I. Joe series, Doctor Mindbender has most recently been seen in the pages of the M.A.S.K. comic book, in which he worked with Miles Mayhem to psychologically profile the members of M.A.S.K. and V.E.N.O.M.. His involvement with Colton's cabal was hinted at by an appearance on two of last issue's covers.
Sunstreaker holding a position of authority among the Badgeless (who call him "sir") is new. It's not clear if he's actually formally joined the Cybertronian Security Force; if so, he did it quickly, between his return to Cybertron in Optimus Prime #10 and First Strike. Then again, he might just be getting respect because he's one of Optimus's elite '84 guys.
Soundwave sympathizes with Scarlett by noting that "a dream is greater than any one being who lays claims to it," in reference to the fact that he has and continues to pursue the "true" Decepticon goal of equality for all, despite Megatron switching sides to the Autobots (in Dark Cybertron: Finale, which also showed Soundwave's horrified reaction), and the attempted co-opting of the dream by Galvatron following that, only to betray Soundwave's trust in The Transformers #49.

Errors

The "Story so far" recap page included at the start of digital copies of this issue is obviously the one that's supposed to be in next issue... because it recaps this issue!! Print copies contain the correct page.
One of the Iron Grenadier guards refers to "Lord Destro"; IDW Destro is in fact a laird, a Scottish title with a distinct meaning ("owner of a large estate"). This is corrected in the trade paperback.
On page 16, "quintillion" is misspelled "quintilian.". This is also corrected in the trade.

Covers (8)

Cover A: Optimus Prime, Pyra Magna, Windblade, Acroyear, Matt Trakker, and G.I. Joe, by Freddie E. Williams II and Jeremy Colwell
Cover B: Storm Shadow, Shazraella, and Colton on their mission, and Matt Trakker riding in Soundwave's chest compartment, under the watchful eyes of Optimus Prime, by Max Dunbar and Ander Zarate
Cover C: G.I. Joe and Soundwave give one of the Red Shadows what-for, by Alex Ronald; the sole Red Shadow continues to appear with the original paramilitary Action Force design, rather than the IDW ninja look.
Cover D: The Ironblood alliance, by Rob Duenas

Our heroes bring the good fight.
Matt Trakker is a really weird cassette.
That guy's gonna need help - a LOT of it!
Check out the "guns" on Destro!

Retailer incentive cover A: Scarlett unmasks Baron Ironblood, but the face beneath the helmet isn't who she expects, by Jay Fosgitt
Retailer incentive cover B: G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., and Soundwave storm Castle Destro, by Davidé Fabbri and Monica Kubina
Retailer incentive cover C: A fightin' mad Optimus Prime, by Leonardo Manco
Retailer incentive cover D: Optimus Prime versus Shazraella amid a much larger fight, by Whilce Portacio and Thomas Deer; connects to Cover RID from issue #1 and issue #5 to form a larger image