5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3

Posted by ScottyP Sep 1, 2020 at 11:41am CDT 26,647 views

View Discussion Sign in or Join to reply

Continuing with our three previews for Transformers comic books being released tomorrow, enjoy a look at the first five pages of Transformers '84: Secrets and Lies #3. Check out the synopsis, main cover and preview pages below for a taste of the next chapter of Counterpunch's wild ride, with some familiar faces from the classic Marvel G1 stories "The Smelting Pool!" and "The Bridge to Nowhere" making an appearance.

Look for this issue tomorrow at your local comic shop, on the Seibertron.com eBay store, or via digital release on Comixology, Apple Books and other authorized digital retailers. Speaking of the Seibertron.com eBay store, you can visit now to experience the aforementioned The Transformers #17 and The Transformers #18 for yourself, or possibly just to upgrade your current beaten up vintage copy.

(W) Simon Furman (A/CA) Guido Guidi
With Megatron, Shockwave, and the Decepticon brass gone, the power vacuum on Cybertron leads many Decepticon commanders to stake their claims on the world. And with the Decepticons divided, which Autobots will step up to take command? Meanwhile, on Earth, Grimlock wanders into the strangest battle yet!

Transformers News: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3

5 Page Preview for Transformers &#039;84: Secrets &amp; Lies #3

More Bots. More News. More Awesome.

Transformers #24, GI Joe ARAH #320, Sonic #81, Mega Man X and more at the Seibertron Store

Sep 8, 2025 33,765 views

New Transformers 2nd Printings, GI Joe ARAH #320, Void Rivals #22 and more at Seibertron Store

Sep 3, 2025 42,976 views

GI Joe #10, Transformers #23, Biker Mice From Mars, Spawn and more at the Seibertron Store plus many deals!

Aug 22, 2025 38,889 views

Transformers #23 Drops - Plus Massive Sales on Toys, Spawn & More at the Seibertron Store

Aug 12, 2025 16,862 views

Void Rivals #21, Spawn Universe, Batman, Feral #14, Facsimiles and more at the Seibertron Store

Jul 25, 2025 11,718 views

Transformers #22, GI Joe #9, Void Rivals, Spawn, Toxic Avenger + more in-stock at Seibertron Store

Jul 14, 2025 8,705 views

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade Sep 1, 2020

Welp, there goes "Cybertron: The Middle Years!" down the drain.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Rodimus Prime Sep 1, 2020

So if Magnus apparently knows where the Ark crashed, why not make an effort to recover them? Or does he know Prime wouldn't want that? Is he privy to the actual secret plan?

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade Sep 1, 2020

Rodimus Prime wrote:So if Magnus apparently knows where the Ark crashed, why not make an effort to recover them? Or does he know Prime wouldn't want that? Is he privy to the actual secret plan?

It's like Magnus says, they're stretched to the breaking point. They don't have the resources to do much of anything, let alone embark on another space voyage.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Optimutt Sep 1, 2020

This 5 page preview has mastered the tease.

"Go ahead, Fortress Maximus..." but no picture. Guess I'll have to get the book!

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by TulioDude Sep 1, 2020

Star Saber looks so cool,I hope they give him something awesome to do.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by partholon Sep 2, 2020

those five pages are just utter transformers porn

im REALLY enjoying straxus.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Rodimus Prime Sep 10, 2020

I just finished reading this and I must say I'm disappointed. Barely anything happened. Yeah, we got some fanwank with Star Saber and Deathsaurus, but were they necessary? I wish they had given their panels to Scorponok or Thunderwing, 2 characters much more relevant to the G1 comics. Hopefully issue 4 will make up for it. A Grimlock/Megatron fight should be good, even if it's not *really* Megatron.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Spirit of '86 Sep 19, 2020

How have I only just seen this?? :shock:

Gorgeous artwork on Screamer and Jetfire, thanks for sharing!

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Rodimus Prime Oct 7, 2020

I was looking forward to the ending of this, just to have it be pushed back 3 weeks... >:oP

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by partholon Oct 22, 2020

which now means i cant get it at all as my entire country has gone into lockdown for 6 weeks.

thanks alot IDW. if you'd published on time idve bought your product.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by william-james88 Oct 27, 2020

We have a new preview from IDW for the upcoming fourth issue of Transformers '84 Secrets and Lies. You can see it below. We also have the covers from Casey Coller and Nick Roche along with the line art.

(W) Simon Furman (A/CA) Guido Guidi
In Shops: Oct 28, 2020
SRP: $3.99

The epic conclusion to Secrets and Lies! On Earth, Grimlock stands alone against… Megatron?

Meanwhile, on Cybertron, The Wreckers take on their very first mission! The secret history of Earth and Cybertron is revealed!

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Rodimus Prime Oct 27, 2020

Hell. Yes. I've been waiting for this for a while now. Hopefully it doesn't get ruined with unnecessary fanwank like last issue did.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by ScottyP Oct 30, 2020

Our dog passed away on Monday so I didn't have it in me to do any reviews this week.

TF 84 4 was a pretty big let down though. Furman wrote himself into a corner with the Grimlock vs Auntie Megatron battle, took the cheapest way out possible and I was so disappointed. Great art and the Wreckers stuff was fun enough, but overall a lousy ending to what had been a pretty cool mini-series.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade Oct 30, 2020

What was even the point of the Coneheads being on Earth? Why did Furman put them on the Nemesis in the first place? They could have remained on Cybertron with Straxus with little to no consequences.

Honestly, the only important thing they do when on Earth is let Grimlock know about Megatron's antimatter. Is that why Furman put them there? To have someone there to tell Grimlock about it?

And what about the Autobots that AUNTIE reactivated last issue? They're still up and about outside of the Ark in this issue, but their fates are left unresolved.

(None of these are spoilers since they're all given in the 5-page preview)

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by D-Maximal_Primal Oct 30, 2020

If anything the biggest disappointment for me was the setup of Star Saber and Deathsaurus, but they did almost nothing

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by ScottyP Oct 30, 2020

Sabrblade wrote:Honestly, the only important thing they do when on Earth is let Grimlock know about Megatron's antimatter. Is that why Furman put them there? To have someone there to tell Grimlock about it?

In the commentary at the end he mentions how Megatron's connection to anti-matter isn't used enough in TF fiction. It was almost verbatim to what Roberts says in one of the TF UK commentaries, which came before he used it himself in MTMTE. My theory? He was just keeping up with the Joneses. Or Robertses.

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:If anything the biggest disappointment for me was the setup of Star Saber and Deathsaurus, but they did almost nothing

100% agreed. Cool to see them but I don't get it now

I worry that this is continuing/getting converted to an ongoing and that's why this ending felt incomplete and abrupt. I was fine with it as a mini-series!

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade Oct 30, 2020

ScottyP wrote:
Sabrblade wrote:Honestly, the only important thing they do when on Earth is let Grimlock know about Megatron's antimatter. Is that why Furman put them there? To have someone there to tell Grimlock about it?
In the commentary at the end he mentions how Megatron's connection to anti-matter isn't used enough in TF fiction. It was almost verbatim to what Roberts says in one of the TF UK commentaries, which came before he used it himself in MTMTE. My theory? He was just keeping up with the Joneses. Or Robertses.

But that still doesn't answer my question. Why did Furman put the Coneheads on the Nemesis (especially when they were never indicated to have ever boarded that ship in the first place back in the Marvel Comics) and bring them to Earth at all if they were only just going to get sent right back to Cybertron so quickly?

Furman might as well have just left the Coneheads on Cybertron, period.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Rodimus Prime Oct 31, 2020

My suggestion would be to promote the release of the ER 2-pack, but the timing is off for that, so the best guess I can take is a tie-in for the figures now in-hand. That, plus the fact that they didn't do a lot in the original run, so it gives them something to do.

As for Deathsaurus and Star Saber, I said it before and I'll say it again: they had no business in this comic whatsoever. They were never in the original US version, and it was just a waste of panel space to put them in. That space should have gone to Straxus or Thunderwing. Same with the Wreckers. They were a UK-only concept and should have been kept that way. This was my main gripe with Regeneration One as well, but in that story I at least got satisfaction by enjoying Springer's execution.

It's obvious Furman has lost a step or 2 as far as storytelling goes and his attempts to shoehorn characters and concepts that weren't in the original US Marvel comic is both annoying and kinda pathetic. Unfortunately I couldn't help myself in following this story and purchasing the issues because even with all its faults it's still better than the current ongoing, not to mention the gorgeous Guidi art that blows away anything else being produced. That's the best part. My opinion only, of course.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by Sabrblade Oct 31, 2020

Rodimus Prime wrote:My suggestion would be to promote the release of the ER 2-pack, but the timing is off for that, so the best guess I can take is a tie-in for the figures now in-hand. That, plus the fact that they didn't do a lot in the original run, so it gives them something to do.

But they still didn't do anything, except get their butts kicked by Shockwave and Grimlock.

Their role was completely pointless.

Re: 5 Page Preview for Transformers '84: Secrets & Lies #3 (view post)

Comment by D-Maximal_Primal Oct 31, 2020

I am probably one of the few, but I loved ReGen1. That was a fun comic. This felt like they were trying to capture that same feel and story in the early days of the war instead of after, but they didn't succeed in sticking the landing

Click here to view additional comments about this topic ...