Prime Directive issue 1

	; You! Imagine I have a chair to sit on!
Publisher	Dreamwave Productions
First published	April 3, 2002
Cover date	April 2002
Writer	Chrislock
Penciler	Patimus Prime
Inker	Robonus
Backgrounds	Edwin Magnus
Colorist	TheRealT!
Letterer	Dreamer Design
Editor	Hot Rog
Graphic design	Paulceptor
Continuity	Dreamwave continuity
Chronology	Modern era

This article is about the Dreamwave issue. For the IDW issue, see Prime's Directive, Part One.

Lazarus has weapons for sale while Spike learns that he can't escape his past.

Synopsis

In a South American jungle, two rebels are on night patrol. Manny grouses at his friend for lighting a cigarette and possibly giving away their position, but his friend is more interested in relieving himself. The pair are both swiftly dispatched by a metal giant.

In Cleveland, Ohio, Spike Witwicky prepares for work and is being handed his hardhat by Daniel when General Hallo from the United States Army stops by. Hallo introduces himself as the head of a department concerned with developing war technology, and informs Spike that he's been granted a leave of absence from his job so that he can help the army. When Spike inquires as to what happens if he turns down the offer, Hallo simply says that it is not an offer.

Up in the wasteland of Canada's northern territories, Lazarus and a hooded "freedom fighter" named Bishop are carried across the snow in a jeep. Lazarus has a business proposition for Bishop, but they must continue on foot. As they do so, the "jeep" transforms to stand guard behind them. The party finally reaches Lazarus's bunker, and Bishop's hood is removed, allowing him to see the "goods".

Spike waits in the Pentagon, reading a news story commemorating the Ark II disaster. As he's about to go in to the meeting, Larry the janitor cautions him that nothing is as it seems in this place. General Hallo and Spike discuss the Ark II disaster which claimed the lives of Sparkplug Witwicky and the other humans who had volunteered to travel to Cybertron. However Hallo has news for Spike—although the Transformers were all believed to have been destroyed in the ship's explosion, the military has recent footage of Megatron razing a rebel encampment in South America.

Megatron himself, at that moment, is being viewed by Lazarus and Bishop. Lazarus explains that all of the Transformers have been fitted with a control mechanism which gives him complete control over them. Megatron responds to verbal commands, until Lazarus commands the Decepticon leader to kneel before him. Lazarus dismisses this as a minor bug, but after they leave, Megatron's eyes glow ominously.

Hallo and Spike travel to Area 24, where Hallo asks if Spike will help them with their own Transformer. As Spike realizes what this means, they enter a hangar which houses Optimus Prime.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Hound (10) Optimus Prime (12)	Megatron (1)	Manny (2) "The pisser" (3) Spike Witwicky (4) Daniel Witwicky (5) Robert Hallo (6) Lou (7) Lazarus (8) Bishop (9) Larry (11)

Quotes

"I have seen the future of warfare, Mister Bishop. I have seen its evolution. Imagine a soldier who himself is the perfect weapon. A soldier who need not hold a gun because he himself is the gun. Or better still, something so much more powerful. A soldier not hindered by his humanity, for he has none. A soldier with the ability to transform at will from warrior to weapon... from weapon to warrior in the blink of an eye. This is the evolution of warfare."

—Lazarus

Notes

Not counting the preview issue released the previous month, this issue was the first mass-released Transformers comic in nearly a decade. With 119,251 ordered copies for April 2002, it topped Diamond Comic Distributors' sales charts,^[1] an accomplishment repeated by several of the following issues. In addition, this issue saw a second and even a third printing run due to high demand.
The final page of the issue serves as a dramatic reveal of the Transformer that the U.S. forces have found. Since the collected volumes present this image on the opposite side of the preceding page, with no page-flipping required, this loses a lot of the dramatic impact.
Following the story is a 2-page fictional news article entitled "Reliving the '99 Ark II Tragedy—What Happened?" Though this may seem like just an extra it's actually very important as it reveals much of the backstory for the series and explains the Transformers' current conditions.
James Raiz, Alan Wang and Kenny Li created a large lithograph that contained over 600 characters from multiple Transformers continuities. Each issue of Prime Directive came in two cover variants, Autobot and Decepticon, and each variant of each issue had a 2-page center spread which was 1/12 of the lithograph. Split up, it was 4 issues wide by 3 issues high.
Optimus Prime's pose on this cover was parodied for one of the variant covers of issue 1 of Marvel Comics's (fortunately) short-lived "satire" series Marville. In fact, the aping of Pat Lee's art style may be one of the very few genuinely funny things about Marville.

Covers (6)

Regular Cover: Autobots wraparound by Pat Lee
Regular Cover: Decepticons wraparound by Pat Lee
2nd printing: Prime and Bumblebee by Pat Lee
3rd printing: Omega Supreme by Pat Lee
Foil Cover: Battle wraparound by James Raiz
Incentive Cover: Superion wraparound by Pat Lee (characters) and James Raiz (background), Rob Armstrong (character inks), Alan Wang (colors)