You Won't Be Lost, Hurt, Tired Or Lonely, Something Beautiful Will Come Your Way.
Issue 332: End of the Road! Part 2. 4th January 1992.
Then, my brave warriors, finally we can go home!
Well, here we are then. At the end of just over seven years of adventures (or more than six for this project), we’ve reached the...well, end of the road. And it was very much intended to be the conclusion for not just the comic, but (as it had outlasted the cartoon by four years) Transformers as a whole. “It never ends” might be considered a Furman mantra, the one he closed out the final US letters page with, but here the repeated phrase is very much “It’s over, finished”, and it’s the characters who are not prepared to accept that who are very much in the wrong.
The pleasing thing to say about this conclusion is that the Neo Knights contribute almost nothing. Dynamo pointing out the Last Autobot is resurrecting dead Transformers is their sole role. Optimus saying they’ll have to take the humans home at the end feels almost like an afterthought. Which in many ways seems strange considering Furman was pushing them hard for their solo book at this point, the aforementioned US sign-off is as much excited about that as it is sad at the book ending.
But this is where we perhaps should be grateful for one last bit of toy advertising, as there was clearly a desire from somewhere to give Action Master Optimus Prime a grand showing. I’d not thought of it in quite those terms before as it comes so long after the Action Masters had gone out on shelves, but I really was wrong to say Grimlock’s change was the last such push as this is very similar.
And it’s glorious.
Then, my brave warriors, finally we can go home!
Well, here we are then. At the end of just over seven years of adventures (or more than six for this project), we’ve reached the...well, end of the road. And it was very much intended to be the conclusion for not just the comic, but (as it had outlasted the cartoon by four years) Transformers as a whole. “It never ends” might be considered a Furman mantra, the one he closed out the final US letters page with, but here the repeated phrase is very much “It’s over, finished”, and it’s the characters who are not prepared to accept that who are very much in the wrong.
The pleasing thing to say about this conclusion is that the Neo Knights contribute almost nothing. Dynamo pointing out the Last Autobot is resurrecting dead Transformers is their sole role. Optimus saying they’ll have to take the humans home at the end feels almost like an afterthought. Which in many ways seems strange considering Furman was pushing them hard for their solo book at this point, the aforementioned US sign-off is as much excited about that as it is sad at the book ending.
But this is where we perhaps should be grateful for one last bit of toy advertising, as there was clearly a desire from somewhere to give Action Master Optimus Prime a grand showing. I’d not thought of it in quite those terms before as it comes so long after the Action Masters had gone out on shelves, but I really was wrong to say Grimlock’s change was the last such push as this is very similar.
And it’s glorious.
Literally seconds away from being usurped. Again.
As much as it was spoilt by the use of the key image on last issues cover, the opening of Optimus Prime jumping out of a spaceship in front of the shocked Decepticons and boldly declaring that he’s back is striking.
He’s also got some pretty striking backup as the spaceship turns into the Last Autobot. It actually comes across as a shame that every continuation (including the one we dealt with last week) effectively ignores the character as it turns out he loves a good fourth wall breaking pun. So as he handily recaps to Bludgeon how they came to be here, he reveals that the HiQ/Optimus hybrid was a being that had more to him than met the eye. And then, when he recombined the two of them as Prime, it was an “Optimum” form. What a card.
It is though a shame that it turns out The Last Autobot was well aware that Cybertron was self-destructing and could easily sort it out with a wave of the hands, but hasn’t done so till now because he’s been waiting for the Chosen One to turn up. So it’s lucky that Primus was handy at prophecy after all.
There’s also some interesting stuff done with Bludgeon here right at the end, as he’s told The Last Autobot has many names, and is known to him at the Ultimate Warrior, the very deity the Decepticon has based his entire life around (“I am child of metalliko, the one true path!”), causing a psychological breakdown that facing an Autobot leader those same teachings are telling him can’t be alive isn’t helping.
This is very sudden of course, and I suspect something Furman would have seeded better if he’d been able to run the delay introducing AM Prime... I mean Last Autobot plot as long as he’d hoped. But it doe mean Bludgeon gets some fantastic rage.
He’s also got some pretty striking backup as the spaceship turns into the Last Autobot. It actually comes across as a shame that every continuation (including the one we dealt with last week) effectively ignores the character as it turns out he loves a good fourth wall breaking pun. So as he handily recaps to Bludgeon how they came to be here, he reveals that the HiQ/Optimus hybrid was a being that had more to him than met the eye. And then, when he recombined the two of them as Prime, it was an “Optimum” form. What a card.
It is though a shame that it turns out The Last Autobot was well aware that Cybertron was self-destructing and could easily sort it out with a wave of the hands, but hasn’t done so till now because he’s been waiting for the Chosen One to turn up. So it’s lucky that Primus was handy at prophecy after all.
There’s also some interesting stuff done with Bludgeon here right at the end, as he’s told The Last Autobot has many names, and is known to him at the Ultimate Warrior, the very deity the Decepticon has based his entire life around (“I am child of metalliko, the one true path!”), causing a psychological breakdown that facing an Autobot leader those same teachings are telling him can’t be alive isn’t helping.
This is very sudden of course, and I suspect something Furman would have seeded better if he’d been able to run the delay introducing AM Prime... I mean Last Autobot plot as long as he’d hoped. But it doe mean Bludgeon gets some fantastic rage.
Tell no lie, not going to miss Wildman's hard to edit around layouts, however good they look.
I’ll also mention here that during all this, Grimlock kills Fangry with one punch (you can really see the difference between the comics that have to promote Action Masters and the Annual story that is allowed to opening deride the concept) and sees off the other Decepticons that were hunting him—indeed, Weirdwolf must have scarpered sooner as he’s back at the other battle before the surviving Autobots—declaring fighting to the death is what they do. The bigger failure of his second leadership over his first (he actually gets everyone killed this time and only SPACE Jesus jumping in saves things) and his conflict with Prowl is another thing that isn’t properly resolved. Indeed, he shouts “We won” at the end as if he contributed in a major way, suggesting no lessons have been learnt.
The heart here though is seeing Optimus Prime do his thing one last time. Furman is, again, well documented as saying he wouldn’t have brought the character back so soon in an ideal world, but there’s no impression of reluctance in the text. This isn’t the depressed, mopping individual of Another Time and Place, this is the no-nonsense take no crap John Wayne icon, delivering a hard sharp smack-down to Bludgeon and any other Decepticons that try it on with him. It’s great to bow out on this best remembered version of the character, the one that gives us a straight through line to the Bay films.
And yes, it is amusing to see him talking about “Peace and harmony” whilst kicking Bludgeon in the face, but it also feels exactly right. Especially as the last ten issues have been firmly devoted to showing any lasting Autobot/Decepticon peace is impossible, so sending them running (whilst still plotting, effectively the same end as the cartoon. I suspect in both cases Hasbro were keen for a not completely closed ending as they still had toys to sell) was really the only way it could conclude.
Grimlock and the boys do join in, and the Last Autobot does resurrect the fallen Autobots (if you assume he does this to everyone, both here and on Cybertron, regardless of team, the resurrections of Generation 2 can be lived with), but this is very much the last stand of Optimus Prime, and it’s quite amazing.
Perhaps surprising though is that Bludgeon gets away alive considering that, even if there was a desire to keep the Decepticons “Out there” for any follow up, his toy being over two years old means he was never going to be part of a next issue for very long and could easily have been topped here as the other ‘Cons fled. I guess Furman really did like the guy.
The heart here though is seeing Optimus Prime do his thing one last time. Furman is, again, well documented as saying he wouldn’t have brought the character back so soon in an ideal world, but there’s no impression of reluctance in the text. This isn’t the depressed, mopping individual of Another Time and Place, this is the no-nonsense take no crap John Wayne icon, delivering a hard sharp smack-down to Bludgeon and any other Decepticons that try it on with him. It’s great to bow out on this best remembered version of the character, the one that gives us a straight through line to the Bay films.
And yes, it is amusing to see him talking about “Peace and harmony” whilst kicking Bludgeon in the face, but it also feels exactly right. Especially as the last ten issues have been firmly devoted to showing any lasting Autobot/Decepticon peace is impossible, so sending them running (whilst still plotting, effectively the same end as the cartoon. I suspect in both cases Hasbro were keen for a not completely closed ending as they still had toys to sell) was really the only way it could conclude.
Grimlock and the boys do join in, and the Last Autobot does resurrect the fallen Autobots (if you assume he does this to everyone, both here and on Cybertron, regardless of team, the resurrections of Generation 2 can be lived with), but this is very much the last stand of Optimus Prime, and it’s quite amazing.
Perhaps surprising though is that Bludgeon gets away alive considering that, even if there was a desire to keep the Decepticons “Out there” for any follow up, his toy being over two years old means he was never going to be part of a next issue for very long and could easily have been topped here as the other ‘Cons fled. I guess Furman really did like the guy.
Peace and ass.
Which brings us to The End, as Optimus quickly reassures everyone that Cybertron is now fine and they can, once Klo and the Neo Knights have been helped (let’s hope they sort out the Ark wreckage and bodies whilst taking the later back to Earth), go home. For a rushed wrap up, it’s surprisingly effective as we close on the same stock art of Cybertron that would have closed On the Edge of Extinction if that had been the end.
Speaking of which, yes, Edge is definitely the better finale, having actually been carefully planned out as such. But, if all that follows is viewed as the epilogue to the series, End of the Road! makes a fitting low key wrap up to the “What happened next” phase, with nice character moments and some good action beats from Wildman (who, like Staz was on the Annual story, is hot for Action Master Prime’s bum. It was the Batman’s dick of 1992).
Would maybe a couple of extra issues to let things breath have been nice, especially in a world where Lost Light was given 13 issues to wrap up after cancellation with issue 12? Yes, but considering the times, it’s lucky Furman was given a full issue’s notice and it does as well as it can.
It’s actually interesting to compare it to the final issue of G.I. Joe two years later. There Hama was balls deep in some quite involved and complicated plots (as was his want), but the final issue 155, A Letter From Snake-Eyes, completely ignores all of them for a character piece of the title ninja writing to the son of a friend. It reads very suspiciously as if it was written some time prior to be pressed into service as and when needed, but it does lend itself more to providing a “Special” ending that stands out on its own, whilst End of the Road could have easily changed Prime’s last speech to just be the next in a chain (and by making no attempt to wrap anything up, Hama actually had things to pick up on for his IDW continuation).
On the other hand though, this feels more right for Transformers, “It never ends” may indeed be the cliché, but this is a franchise that always feels as if there’s something new coming over the horizon to face the characters, a neat and tidy final issue (or, say, one where they killed everyone) would never be a good fit.
Now, I’ve suggested over the last few weeks that any plans for issue 333 never got beyond announcing them. And certainly Paul Neary is reported to have canned the idea as soon as he heard about it, considering the future of Marvel UK to be in “Proper” comics (though a few of the licensed titles that were perhaps more covering their costs would carry on). But there are indications here that a few last second changes have been made to this issue to deal with there being no “Next Month”.
Speaking of which, yes, Edge is definitely the better finale, having actually been carefully planned out as such. But, if all that follows is viewed as the epilogue to the series, End of the Road! makes a fitting low key wrap up to the “What happened next” phase, with nice character moments and some good action beats from Wildman (who, like Staz was on the Annual story, is hot for Action Master Prime’s bum. It was the Batman’s dick of 1992).
Would maybe a couple of extra issues to let things breath have been nice, especially in a world where Lost Light was given 13 issues to wrap up after cancellation with issue 12? Yes, but considering the times, it’s lucky Furman was given a full issue’s notice and it does as well as it can.
It’s actually interesting to compare it to the final issue of G.I. Joe two years later. There Hama was balls deep in some quite involved and complicated plots (as was his want), but the final issue 155, A Letter From Snake-Eyes, completely ignores all of them for a character piece of the title ninja writing to the son of a friend. It reads very suspiciously as if it was written some time prior to be pressed into service as and when needed, but it does lend itself more to providing a “Special” ending that stands out on its own, whilst End of the Road could have easily changed Prime’s last speech to just be the next in a chain (and by making no attempt to wrap anything up, Hama actually had things to pick up on for his IDW continuation).
On the other hand though, this feels more right for Transformers, “It never ends” may indeed be the cliché, but this is a franchise that always feels as if there’s something new coming over the horizon to face the characters, a neat and tidy final issue (or, say, one where they killed everyone) would never be a good fit.
Now, I’ve suggested over the last few weeks that any plans for issue 333 never got beyond announcing them. And certainly Paul Neary is reported to have canned the idea as soon as he heard about it, considering the future of Marvel UK to be in “Proper” comics (though a few of the licensed titles that were perhaps more covering their costs would carry on). But there are indications here that a few last second changes have been made to this issue to deal with there being no “Next Month”.
The Last Autobot on meeting the Neo Knights.
The first, and most obvious is that the text on the Transformation page is far shorter and more sparse than usual, taking in a bigger font to fill the space. This has to rather starkly break the news that this is the end, beneath a picture of the Last Autobot where his speech bubble has been changed to “BOO HOO HOO!” I remember the gut punch of reading this, to the point the promotion for the still on sale Annual and its follow up completely passed me by and I never really became aware of that story till many years later.
There is an attempt to cheer us up with the winners of the Overlord competition in the sidebar, but even this ends with a thanks to all the readers.
The other sign of a last second change comes on the letter page, where you can see the splodgy outline of the box that has been placed over the Darn’N’Blast logo to have it changed to “Waves goodbye!” and alter the tense to the past in the “All readers who have had...” text on the toy prize.
There’s no great exit for the final letters host sadly. The main letter (and drawing of T-Rex mode Grimlock, those Action Masters sure took off) comes from David Spooner of Australia, who wants Blaster to prove his brother wrong that a London comic won’t publish an antipodean letter, and asks for a kangaroo Transformer. To which Blaster assures him that the outback is full of Kangabots, and he should keep an eye out for them. Which is a nice thing to do for a small kid.
The final letter feels like another last second addition as it doesn’t really make sense. Komal Ariffin bin Mohamed of Malaysia specifically asks how issue 332 could kill all the Transformers. Presumably he meant 322 (though if you want to be cynical, maybe the UK team changed it to make a better exit), which gets former hardened resistance fighter Blaster crying as he leaves the room. It’s fair to say he’s never been on the same level as Grimlock or Soundwave, and even Dreadwind’s rudeness was more fun.
There is an attempt to cheer us up with the winners of the Overlord competition in the sidebar, but even this ends with a thanks to all the readers.
The other sign of a last second change comes on the letter page, where you can see the splodgy outline of the box that has been placed over the Darn’N’Blast logo to have it changed to “Waves goodbye!” and alter the tense to the past in the “All readers who have had...” text on the toy prize.
There’s no great exit for the final letters host sadly. The main letter (and drawing of T-Rex mode Grimlock, those Action Masters sure took off) comes from David Spooner of Australia, who wants Blaster to prove his brother wrong that a London comic won’t publish an antipodean letter, and asks for a kangaroo Transformer. To which Blaster assures him that the outback is full of Kangabots, and he should keep an eye out for them. Which is a nice thing to do for a small kid.
The final letter feels like another last second addition as it doesn’t really make sense. Komal Ariffin bin Mohamed of Malaysia specifically asks how issue 332 could kill all the Transformers. Presumably he meant 322 (though if you want to be cynical, maybe the UK team changed it to make a better exit), which gets former hardened resistance fighter Blaster crying as he leaves the room. It’s fair to say he’s never been on the same level as Grimlock or Soundwave, and even Dreadwind’s rudeness was more fun.
The most exciting thing to ever be reported in Solihull turns out to be false.
Fun is the word for the final Combat Colin, which does reference the monthly (but would have had a longer lead-in time. The fact Colin wasn’t going to be a part of it makes it feel doomed from the start), as the Solihull News of the 11th January 1991 has it on the front cover and is used by Colin to prove that it’s not really still 1989.
In a wonderful twisty finale, Megabrain reveals that, yes, some of what he said was a lie, but equally a lot of the last six weeks was indeed an illusion, but he’ll never reveal what. We then get one last glorious contrived gag as he’s going to use his time travel belt to prevent the invention of the weaving loom... or as Colin puts it “The very fabric of our society will cease to exist!”
Fantastic.
Colin and Megabrain’s final fight seems to be happening in Portmerion (so is everything since the Prisoner spoof fake?!), and ends with Colin, who has already said he won’t kill Megabrain, shooting the time belt so he’s scattered across a million time zones like Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth. Which makes our two heroes (Steve only appearing in the second half of the final page in another double instalment) to take it easy with a nice holiday. But as they empty their pockets Colin unfortunately chucks out a nuke... that kills them?
Thankfully not, as Lew Stringer would be handed the rights back to these characters despite being technically Marvel (everyone loves Lew Stringer), and he would go on to periodically revive them in new adventures right up to the present day. And with good reason, Colin has always been a highlight of the book, and even occasionally the best thing in an issue.
The back up strip, and therefore the last thing in the last issue, is The Greatest Gift of All!, from issue 250. Unlike the last two weeks its just in black and white and no mention is made of it in editorial, suggesting perhaps a last second selection as well (keeping the Christmas story in reserve for December in the monthly would make more sense), clearly someone thought it’s more upbeat message of hope was a good exit line. I wouldn’t rule out the original plan, if there had been a 333, being to reprint a part one of a story here (Aspects of Evil! maybe?) to provide a continuity into the new format.
In a wonderful twisty finale, Megabrain reveals that, yes, some of what he said was a lie, but equally a lot of the last six weeks was indeed an illusion, but he’ll never reveal what. We then get one last glorious contrived gag as he’s going to use his time travel belt to prevent the invention of the weaving loom... or as Colin puts it “The very fabric of our society will cease to exist!”
Fantastic.
Colin and Megabrain’s final fight seems to be happening in Portmerion (so is everything since the Prisoner spoof fake?!), and ends with Colin, who has already said he won’t kill Megabrain, shooting the time belt so he’s scattered across a million time zones like Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth. Which makes our two heroes (Steve only appearing in the second half of the final page in another double instalment) to take it easy with a nice holiday. But as they empty their pockets Colin unfortunately chucks out a nuke... that kills them?
Thankfully not, as Lew Stringer would be handed the rights back to these characters despite being technically Marvel (everyone loves Lew Stringer), and he would go on to periodically revive them in new adventures right up to the present day. And with good reason, Colin has always been a highlight of the book, and even occasionally the best thing in an issue.
The back up strip, and therefore the last thing in the last issue, is The Greatest Gift of All!, from issue 250. Unlike the last two weeks its just in black and white and no mention is made of it in editorial, suggesting perhaps a last second selection as well (keeping the Christmas story in reserve for December in the monthly would make more sense), clearly someone thought it’s more upbeat message of hope was a good exit line. I wouldn’t rule out the original plan, if there had been a 333, being to reprint a part one of a story here (Aspects of Evil! maybe?) to provide a continuity into the new format.
Oddly similar in character to the Last Autobot is Blaster.
Which brings us to the end. Well, not quite the end. Clicking on the promise of a COLLECTED EPIC below will take you to a discussion of the final specials (and the corresponding collapse of Marvel UK) and discussion of what will be coming in the following weeks. But in terms of what I set out to do when I started writing about issue 1 that May in 2012 is now concluded. It’s been a journey that has changed my views on several stories and their context, made me new friends and, even though keeping the pace up consistently has sometimes been a struggle (including fighting food poisoning this week), but it has never been less than a pleasure.
And it’s worth remembering why this comic still gets so much attention, even in this age of more sophisticated and modern takes on the franchise. Between then, Budiansky and Furman really did create something for a generation of readers that, occasional flaws and all, still means so much to them. Maybe more than they’ll ever know. I know from comments over the years I’m not the only one to have specific memories of family, childhood and friends tied to issues that come back vividly when looking at them. It’s not just the storytelling and the art (which, at their peak, are up to the standards of any comic Paul Neary would respect), there really was a collective experience for everyone. And that is the legacy of not just the two main writers, but every single artist, letterer, editor and char lady to have worked on the series.
Which means that, in the hearts of those who were there in January of 1992, it really does never end.
Wait... Krok didn’t even appear in this issue!
1991 COLLECTED COMICS
1991-1994
COMMENT
KO-FI
And it’s worth remembering why this comic still gets so much attention, even in this age of more sophisticated and modern takes on the franchise. Between then, Budiansky and Furman really did create something for a generation of readers that, occasional flaws and all, still means so much to them. Maybe more than they’ll ever know. I know from comments over the years I’m not the only one to have specific memories of family, childhood and friends tied to issues that come back vividly when looking at them. It’s not just the storytelling and the art (which, at their peak, are up to the standards of any comic Paul Neary would respect), there really was a collective experience for everyone. And that is the legacy of not just the two main writers, but every single artist, letterer, editor and char lady to have worked on the series.
Which means that, in the hearts of those who were there in January of 1992, it really does never end.
Wait... Krok didn’t even appear in this issue!
1991 COLLECTED COMICS
1991-1994
COMMENT
KO-FI
