Transformation 297: The Quest is the Quest.

18/1/2018

This week, it's the end of a long journey that has taken up most of 1990 as the Matrix Quest concludes with some serious heartburn for Thunderwing and Nightbeat in very small pants.

plus, Megabrain is treated nicely and Dreadwind is treated badly.

All in my look at ISSUE 297!

11 Comments

Ryan F

19/1/2018 11:17:02 pm

The ‘atmosphere for Nebulans’ thing is something I’ve pondered myself in the past. There’s a UK annual story, Dreadwing Down, where the Nebulans go scuba diving, and it turns out their suits have a limited air supply.

However, in Dark Star, Hi-Q is aboard the Steelhaven when it gets blown up and ends up floating in space for a good while, apparently none the worse for wear.

I can only assume that Dreadwing Down was set pre-Dark Star, and the events of the former story prompted the Autobots to make the Nebulans’ armour better-equipped for oxygen-free environments, hence Hi-Q’s survival in Dark Star.

We later find out that Blackrock and the Neo-Knights can walk about on Cybertron with no ill-effects, which pretty much confirms that Cybertron itself has an oxygen atmosphere, Earth-normal pressure and so on.

So while Transformers technically don’t NEED air or pressure or gravity, maybe they’ve simply become accustomed to (or function better in) the Earth-like conditions back home on Cybertron.

Stuart

20/1/2018 01:50:29 am

HiQ would hs5ve been plugged into Prime when they were blown into space, maybe the joined ones can survive for longer under those circumstances?

Hmm, maybe that's why we only ever see one Targetmaster gun again after that (in Surrender, indeed that's the only Nebulon other that Lord Z or HiQ to show up in Furman's US run IIRC. And HiQ only directly appears close to two years after he last showed up as a trucker)... they all died!

JeremiahEcks

5/3/2025 03:13:31 pm

Dreadwing Down has to be set before Dark Star because it includes the Aerialbots and Seacons, both of whom die during Underbase.

I know people say it can't be in continuity because Dreadwing is never seen on Earth in the main strip, and nor is Quake... Quake is tricky to align but Dreadwing is literally looking *for Scorponok* on Nebulos during Power Play. And where is Scorponok? On Earth. The Con Powermaster's story arc literally takes them by Earth as started in that story.

How they end up on Megatron's payroll or with the Mechannibals? That's where their arc goes wonky.

Tetsuryu

20/1/2018 02:07:37 pm

I feel like there's some kind of a story behind that Amstrad ad.

To me, the only thing I can really take home from it is that obvious illustration of Superman wearing Batman's cowl.

Tetsuryu

23/1/2018 09:39:38 pm

Well, I hit google, and waddaya know, wikipedia's photo of the damn thing made all sorts of gray matter dealing with memory come to life. I remember that thing from a Larry Bundy Jr (aka Guru-Larry) episode dealing with self-destructing videogame consoles, and is also briefly mentioned in his video about the worst selling console games in history.

The more you know!

Tim Roll-Pickering link

23/1/2018 10:40:40 pm

There's actually something a bit disappointing about the end of Matrix Quest. The Autobots have gone through all the effort to find the Matrix, only to lose it even more. Later issues may build on the events in the saga but for now it feels very much a going through the motions affair with the status quo basically the same at the end - a few deaths of characters who'd otherwise be background extras and one character who in the US stories has basically only really appeared in this arc. It could very easily have been truncated down to just one or two (US) issues addressing the Matrix before moving directly on to Prime's search for an alternative solution.

Still the end of the battle itself is pretty impressive.

One mess that I suspect may have come out of the editorial changeover (if things were planned far enough in advance) is the G.I. Joe story. This issue would have been the natural "downer" ending for the strip; #293 would have been the best upbeat closed ending and either way reprints from Special Missions could have then marked time if there were contractual obligations. Instead we're going to get another eight issues that end midway through a key saga that Marvel UK never completed.

Ryan F

23/1/2018 10:44:54 pm

Hi Tim!

I seem to recall at the time of GI Joe’s cancellation in Transformers, an edition of Transformation that promised to tie up the Cobra Civil War stuff in a future special or annual. I take it that never happened?

Tim Roll-Pickering link

23/1/2018 10:59:00 pm

It did and didn't...

There was a holiday special released in 1991 (at the same time as TF Collected Comics 18, sharing an in-house advert) that reprinted the third of the four civil war issues. However it didn't include the fourth. Marvel UK released an annual later in 1991 and two further specials in 1992 (all now using just "G.I. Joe" as the title) with other stories in them.

I suspect the plan was to have a second special in 1991 that would have reprinted the end of the civil war, but it didn't happen. It's possible this also hit the TF collected comics as well, hence only two issues that year when three were needed for Time Wars.

Simon Hall

28/1/2018 12:08:52 pm

The above changes to the Collected Comics reprints and G.I.Joe probably co-incided with a change of management / editiorial at Marvel UK - the Transformers specials go onto to be released, but loose the CC numbering and are just marketed as seasonal specials and don't follow up on the CC reprints. It's possible that's due to the original artwork being unavailable at the time or an editorial change to try and keep the specials as self contained as possible.

Time Wars being a 7 part story doesn't really lend itself to the settled CC format of 3 x 11 page stories, which probably explains why 'Cold Comfort' was tacked onto CC19, instead of part 6 of Time Wars - where would part 7 go?

If they had got around to CC 20 reprinting parts 6 & 7 of Time Wars, I wonder what they'd fill the rest of the issue with.. 'Victory' again...?

Tim Roll-Pickering link

28/1/2018 12:58:11 pm

There was certainly a change but I thought that was a bit later in the year. The later specials weren't above doing longer stories, and actually completing them for a change.

Had they done a CC20 in early 1992, the natural third part would surely be the Fall & Rise of the Decepticon Empire? It's thematically linked to the end of Time Wars and was available in colour.

Alternatively, depending on when they came out, a hypothetical better arrangement for completing Times Wars would be:

circa August - CC19 with parts 4 to 6 (and also a second G.I. Joe special to finish the civil war)

circa December CC20 with part 7, Cold Comfort & Joy and the Fall & Rise of the Decepticon Empire

Felicity link

23/12/2019 11:03:40 am

Thankfully the black box does eventually make its way back into GI Joe hands. The Strato-Viper returns to Cobra Island with the box only to find the celebration and ceremony in his honour interrupted by the Cobra civil war. Dr. Mindbender thinks quickly enough to grab it and is later able to trade it with GI Joe in exchange for their help. A lot of fighting, death, effort, and resources spent just to get back to where they started (having the box), but they manage it.

Transformation 297: The Quest is the Quest.

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