Well Here’s Another Goodbye to Another Good Friend.
Issue 189: Dry Run! 22nd October 1988.
You idiot! Do you realise the enormity of what you’ve let slip?
Happy Christmas! Yes, like the police, ambulance service and that old man drinking meths in the park I am out there 365 days a year bringing you what you need.
Back in 1988 though it’s nearly Halloween and Dan Abnett decides to celebrate by giving us one of the most violent and terrifying images the comic ever produced.
I mentioned last week that this second issue of Furman “Plotting” more obviously shows his hand than Firebug! did, whilst that was throwaway stock fluff this is a tense action piece that feeds on and lays pipe for the ongoing Galvatron story. It would be unfair (especially with no firm details of the behind the scenes situation) to suggest Abnett brought nothing to the table himself, but at the very least the basic structure and the continuity came from the regular writer.
The opening scene (and cover) certainly shows an odd trick Furman will play more than once during the rest of the book’s life: taking a Transformer with an instantly recognisable distinctive silhouette (usually Megatron or Galvatron, but occasionally Shockwave) and presenting them as a mystery figure just in silhouette with a surprise reveal that completely fails because at no point is the reader wondering “Who is this Transformer with a massive fusion cannon on his arm?”
It’s an especially silly gimmick here as we already know Shockwave has captured and brainwashed Megatron in order to have him kill Galvatron, so you know straight away that it’s Megatron we’re seeing train to kill Galvatron.
You idiot! Do you realise the enormity of what you’ve let slip?
Happy Christmas! Yes, like the police, ambulance service and that old man drinking meths in the park I am out there 365 days a year bringing you what you need.
Back in 1988 though it’s nearly Halloween and Dan Abnett decides to celebrate by giving us one of the most violent and terrifying images the comic ever produced.
I mentioned last week that this second issue of Furman “Plotting” more obviously shows his hand than Firebug! did, whilst that was throwaway stock fluff this is a tense action piece that feeds on and lays pipe for the ongoing Galvatron story. It would be unfair (especially with no firm details of the behind the scenes situation) to suggest Abnett brought nothing to the table himself, but at the very least the basic structure and the continuity came from the regular writer.
The opening scene (and cover) certainly shows an odd trick Furman will play more than once during the rest of the book’s life: taking a Transformer with an instantly recognisable distinctive silhouette (usually Megatron or Galvatron, but occasionally Shockwave) and presenting them as a mystery figure just in silhouette with a surprise reveal that completely fails because at no point is the reader wondering “Who is this Transformer with a massive fusion cannon on his arm?”
It’s an especially silly gimmick here as we already know Shockwave has captured and brainwashed Megatron in order to have him kill Galvatron, so you know straight away that it’s Megatron we’re seeing train to kill Galvatron.
Who is that masked man?
Despite the forced nature of Megatron’s shadow (rather like Zarak in the Headmasters cartoon he seems to be able to perfectly stay in darkness regardless of the actual lighting), the opening fight of Mr. Mystery beating the hell out of Galvatron—complete with logical commentary on the time elapsed and the damage done from Shockwave—is a fantastically realised sequence from Jeff Anderson that instantly grabs the attention of the reader. It’s certainly the first issue since that very first one with 182 I can actually distinctly remember from when I was a kid (where I also had the advantage of not having read Salvage!, making Megatron only 98.9999999% obvious), and for long term readers it has the shock of seeing Galvatron more vulnerable than he’s been under even the most vicious of Magnus beatings.
This is also where knowing this is Megatron actually helps, with anyone else the fight would lose its impact the second it’s revealed none of this is real and Galvatron is just a facsimile construct; you’d just assume the replica just isn’t at the same power level (and indeed, it will turn out he wasn’t). But Megatron isn’t just the one character who could conceivably beat his future self in a fight, he’s one of two—the other having the initials “OP”—the readers having been wanting to see take on Galvatron since his introduction. Therefore this makes an effective teaser—or “Dry Run” if you will—for the main event the end of the issue is going to promise.
But before we get there there’s a slightly awkward middle section to get through. This starts with Shockwave explaining his previous deal with Cyclonus and Scourge from Wrecking Havoc!, which is very much in the style of the flawed exposition pieces from Space Pirates! as he’s speaking to himself at length about things he already knows. The main saving grace here is a lovely transition on Jeff Anderson’s part where we cut from Cyclonus and Scourge on Shockwave’s big CCTV (Shockwave has a better security system than the villains in the new Star Wars film) to them arguing in his anteroom.
This is also where knowing this is Megatron actually helps, with anyone else the fight would lose its impact the second it’s revealed none of this is real and Galvatron is just a facsimile construct; you’d just assume the replica just isn’t at the same power level (and indeed, it will turn out he wasn’t). But Megatron isn’t just the one character who could conceivably beat his future self in a fight, he’s one of two—the other having the initials “OP”—the readers having been wanting to see take on Galvatron since his introduction. Therefore this makes an effective teaser—or “Dry Run” if you will—for the main event the end of the issue is going to promise.
But before we get there there’s a slightly awkward middle section to get through. This starts with Shockwave explaining his previous deal with Cyclonus and Scourge from Wrecking Havoc!, which is very much in the style of the flawed exposition pieces from Space Pirates! as he’s speaking to himself at length about things he already knows. The main saving grace here is a lovely transition on Jeff Anderson’s part where we cut from Cyclonus and Scourge on Shockwave’s big CCTV (Shockwave has a better security system than the villains in the new Star Wars film) to them arguing in his anteroom.
These days he tries to slip his "Enormity" to Tailgate.
Here at least the exposition is handled more naturally as Fracas and Nightstick didn’t team up with Cyclonus and Scourge until after they’d been sent back in time, meaning they do need to have explained to them why their partners are so annoyed at having to come begging to Shockwave for sanctuary. Their reluctance to tell the entire story about how they killed future Shockwave (“We, er, had help last time”) is actually quite funny and almost feels like a send up of how tortuous keeping new readers up to speed on the back-story has become. This is likely why we’re now heading towards the climax of the Galvatron plot before things get completely impenetrable.
It also helps to emphasise just how pissed off and not thinking straight Cyclonus and Scourge are after coming from their humiliating attempt to best Galvatron. This is important because what Cyclonus does next is the single silliest thing he could have done. Shockwave comes in and starts lording it over his new “Servants”, making Horny snap and tell him that in the future they kill him.
Because of their already tense mood—and the fact we’ve seen how impulsive Cyclonus can be before—this actually just about works, even allowing for the fact they’ve obviously been terribly careful about causality up to this point. They’ve been in a position to offer whichever Decepticon leader they want to team up with any future knowledge they have but seem to have actively avoided it, presumably because Scourge seems to be aware of the butterfly effect.
What follows is one of the greatest, most brutal fight scenes of the entire run. The reveal of Megatron works despite it being Very Obvious because of the sheer power given to it; going from Cyclonus smugly declaring they’ll just kill whoever is with Shockwave to being terrified of what their facing after taking a shoulder shot via a glorious half page first appearance of Megatron that screams with a fury you rarely see from Anderson.
It’s worth remembering just how long it has been since we last saw Megatron properly unleashed when he took on the Predacons for the second time. In the 18 months since then we have never had him at his best due to still bearing his Predacon induced injuries or having to fight a dream. Here he’s healed (albeit brainwashed) and fighting two worthy foes at full strength. And he wipes the floor with them without breaking a sweat.
There are two well realised parts of this fight, one character based and one very visual. The first sees Scourge in a position to take out Megatron with a shot in the back from Fracas...before realising that if Megatron never becomes Galvatron he will never have existed. So, despite the desire for revenge and a seemingly genuine concern for Cyclonus he makes the tough choice to leave. It’s a well done sequence—especially how Scourge goes from enraged to resigned across two panels—and only really suffers from the fact that having fallen out with both Galvatron and Megatron in successive appearances he will next been seen working for them both in Time Wars without explanation.
It also helps to emphasise just how pissed off and not thinking straight Cyclonus and Scourge are after coming from their humiliating attempt to best Galvatron. This is important because what Cyclonus does next is the single silliest thing he could have done. Shockwave comes in and starts lording it over his new “Servants”, making Horny snap and tell him that in the future they kill him.
Because of their already tense mood—and the fact we’ve seen how impulsive Cyclonus can be before—this actually just about works, even allowing for the fact they’ve obviously been terribly careful about causality up to this point. They’ve been in a position to offer whichever Decepticon leader they want to team up with any future knowledge they have but seem to have actively avoided it, presumably because Scourge seems to be aware of the butterfly effect.
What follows is one of the greatest, most brutal fight scenes of the entire run. The reveal of Megatron works despite it being Very Obvious because of the sheer power given to it; going from Cyclonus smugly declaring they’ll just kill whoever is with Shockwave to being terrified of what their facing after taking a shoulder shot via a glorious half page first appearance of Megatron that screams with a fury you rarely see from Anderson.
It’s worth remembering just how long it has been since we last saw Megatron properly unleashed when he took on the Predacons for the second time. In the 18 months since then we have never had him at his best due to still bearing his Predacon induced injuries or having to fight a dream. Here he’s healed (albeit brainwashed) and fighting two worthy foes at full strength. And he wipes the floor with them without breaking a sweat.
There are two well realised parts of this fight, one character based and one very visual. The first sees Scourge in a position to take out Megatron with a shot in the back from Fracas...before realising that if Megatron never becomes Galvatron he will never have existed. So, despite the desire for revenge and a seemingly genuine concern for Cyclonus he makes the tough choice to leave. It’s a well done sequence—especially how Scourge goes from enraged to resigned across two panels—and only really suffers from the fact that having fallen out with both Galvatron and Megatron in successive appearances he will next been seen working for them both in Time Wars without explanation.
Yeah, it's THE image from this issue, but sometimes you have to go with the obvious.
What really stands out though is what is happening to Cyclonus and Nightstick. Megatron crushing the targetmaster gun could be seen as Furman sharing his thoughts on the gimmick and it certainly feels like it was part of the synopsis he gave Abnett. But it’s easy to forget Nightstick isn’t a robot but—to all intents and purposes—a human. We’ve had implied fleshling death off-panel before, as recently as last week. But here Nightstick is crushed in Megatron’s hand on-page with a grizzly “KRIKT” sound effect. It’s the nastiest carbon based death any Transformers comic has ever given us, and presumably was only possible because everyone involved politely agreed to “Forget” it wasn’t a little Transformer being killed.
And then we have a moment that has been seared onto my mind for 27 years. We`ve had heroic Transformer deaths before, and we’ve had casual ones. But this is unique to the series to date as Cyclonus pitiably begs Scourge for help before Megatron—putting one of those horns to good use—rips off his head.
It’s a staggeringly powerful sequence, made even more so by the tease of a one panel return of the space-time rip from Space Pirates! and the promise that whilst Cyclonus may not have had chance to scream, twenty years later the “heavens scream in his stead”. Considering he will later go on to be known for his “Cosmic” comics I suspect this evocative phrase is all Abnett despite it being the most key to the overall plot.
This just leaves the set up for Annual, as Shockwave decides Megatron is ready and sets him towards the “Imposter” claiming descent from him. It’s a simple scene, but Anderson again gives it a power that would make any child reading go beg their parents for the hardback.
On this reread I was surprised to find the section between the fight scenes sag more than I remembered, but overall the qualities of this story outshine the weaknesses thanks to some really striking imagery. I’ve praised Anderson several times here and he really does rise to the occasion. The first appearance of the future Decepticons in Target: 2006 is probably his signature Transformers moment, but this is by far his best work on the franchise. It’s certainly hard to believe he also drew last week’s lacklustre effort.
It’s also a story with a longer shadow than you might think, though it wound up less terminal the tragic repeated shooting of Cyclonus in More Than Meets the Eye 47 was at the very least written by James Roberts with this issue at the back of his mind (there’s also a failed attack on Megatron and talk of brainwashing him).
And then we have a moment that has been seared onto my mind for 27 years. We`ve had heroic Transformer deaths before, and we’ve had casual ones. But this is unique to the series to date as Cyclonus pitiably begs Scourge for help before Megatron—putting one of those horns to good use—rips off his head.
It’s a staggeringly powerful sequence, made even more so by the tease of a one panel return of the space-time rip from Space Pirates! and the promise that whilst Cyclonus may not have had chance to scream, twenty years later the “heavens scream in his stead”. Considering he will later go on to be known for his “Cosmic” comics I suspect this evocative phrase is all Abnett despite it being the most key to the overall plot.
This just leaves the set up for Annual, as Shockwave decides Megatron is ready and sets him towards the “Imposter” claiming descent from him. It’s a simple scene, but Anderson again gives it a power that would make any child reading go beg their parents for the hardback.
On this reread I was surprised to find the section between the fight scenes sag more than I remembered, but overall the qualities of this story outshine the weaknesses thanks to some really striking imagery. I’ve praised Anderson several times here and he really does rise to the occasion. The first appearance of the future Decepticons in Target: 2006 is probably his signature Transformers moment, but this is by far his best work on the franchise. It’s certainly hard to believe he also drew last week’s lacklustre effort.
It’s also a story with a longer shadow than you might think, though it wound up less terminal the tragic repeated shooting of Cyclonus in More Than Meets the Eye 47 was at the very least written by James Roberts with this issue at the back of his mind (there’s also a failed attack on Megatron and talk of brainwashing him).
Get Ready For Action.
Transformation is almost entirely given over to the build up to issue 200, emphasising how this week is all just part of a puzzle that is about to payoff big time. What is telling though is that when promoting the future of the book the other epic the other writer is also about to give us doesn’t warrant a single mention. The Underbase Saga is about to get very short strife.
There’s also promotion for the new Collected Comics Winter Special, which makes the sensible choice of bringing together the three previous Christmas stories, though I wonder how well a Christmas themed collection released at the end of October would have sold for the first month and a half?
For all the kids who want to be wired for sound, Ready Brek (has Furman switched breakfast allegiance from Ricicles?) has teamed up with the comic to offer a Panasonic clock radio as a competition prize. All you have to do is spot which two of six pictures of Ready Eddie are identical.
I’m not sure.
Dreadwind is still getting letters for Grimlock—come on Royal Mail, get a move on!—and notably prints a letter from Alun Griffiths of Brigend that simply describes the entire plot of The Return of Optimus Prime. Dreadwind bemoans him for ruining the story, but it’s really his fault for printing the letter in the first place. Speaking as someone who accidentally ruined The Force Awakens for a blameless friend I know exactly the sort of wrath this can induce from those who have yet to see the video.
This week’s Visionaries is the instalment I actually remember best from the time, thanks to a sequence where Virulina uses her powers of disease to make Cindarr ill so as to bring him under her control. The result is a wonderfully nasty image of him covered in warts and boils and begging for mercy that has stuck with me longer than anything else in this story.
Including on this reread, whatever else happened this week has gone from my mind already.
Combat Colin returns to form this week with two jokes. The first sees the Combat Sub pulled over by the underwater police for speeding, resulting in a ticket that I suspect is Stringer venting at something that happened to him in real life. The second sees a reverse Stockholm Syndrome set in on Aunty Artic as she becomes desperately annoyed as Semi-Automatic Steve’s constant moaning at every little thing about being a hostage in the Artic.
Happy Christmas once again, don’t forget the QUIZ (for those who’ve mentioned it’s unfair to have questions on aspects of the comic not included in the trades, I should say everything you need to know that can’t be found from the lead strip is here on the blog. It’s an award for attentive readers, my favourite kind) and join me next Friday as we kick of 2016 with a shooting star as Skullgrin goes Hollywood.
But first, as a special treat, is my now traditional Christmas video:
There’s also promotion for the new Collected Comics Winter Special, which makes the sensible choice of bringing together the three previous Christmas stories, though I wonder how well a Christmas themed collection released at the end of October would have sold for the first month and a half?
For all the kids who want to be wired for sound, Ready Brek (has Furman switched breakfast allegiance from Ricicles?) has teamed up with the comic to offer a Panasonic clock radio as a competition prize. All you have to do is spot which two of six pictures of Ready Eddie are identical.
I’m not sure.
Dreadwind is still getting letters for Grimlock—come on Royal Mail, get a move on!—and notably prints a letter from Alun Griffiths of Brigend that simply describes the entire plot of The Return of Optimus Prime. Dreadwind bemoans him for ruining the story, but it’s really his fault for printing the letter in the first place. Speaking as someone who accidentally ruined The Force Awakens for a blameless friend I know exactly the sort of wrath this can induce from those who have yet to see the video.
This week’s Visionaries is the instalment I actually remember best from the time, thanks to a sequence where Virulina uses her powers of disease to make Cindarr ill so as to bring him under her control. The result is a wonderfully nasty image of him covered in warts and boils and begging for mercy that has stuck with me longer than anything else in this story.
Including on this reread, whatever else happened this week has gone from my mind already.
Combat Colin returns to form this week with two jokes. The first sees the Combat Sub pulled over by the underwater police for speeding, resulting in a ticket that I suspect is Stringer venting at something that happened to him in real life. The second sees a reverse Stockholm Syndrome set in on Aunty Artic as she becomes desperately annoyed as Semi-Automatic Steve’s constant moaning at every little thing about being a hostage in the Artic.
Happy Christmas once again, don’t forget the QUIZ (for those who’ve mentioned it’s unfair to have questions on aspects of the comic not included in the trades, I should say everything you need to know that can’t be found from the lead strip is here on the blog. It’s an award for attentive readers, my favourite kind) and join me next Friday as we kick of 2016 with a shooting star as Skullgrin goes Hollywood.
But first, as a special treat, is my now traditional Christmas video:
