Transformers UK #7
The Facts
Dated: 15th December - 21st December 1984
Cover: Unknown Artist
Story: "The Last Stand" (12 pages; part 1)
This reprints the first 12 pages of US #4 with most of the pages in black and white rather than full colour.
Credits: Jim Salicrup (writer); Frank Springer (penciller); Akin (co-inker); Garvey (co-inker); John Workman (letterer); Nelson Yomtov (colourer); Bob Budiansky (editor); Jim Shooter (editor in chief)
Reprints: Reprinted in full colour in Collected Comics 2, in hardcover format in The Complete Works Volume 2, and currently available in the Titan graphic novel Beginnings.
Features: The cover boasts a double spread of readers' drawings - in colour!.
Back-Up Strips: Machine Man
Funnies: Matt and the Cat
In Brief
Which one is this?
Sparkplug has a heart attack whilst O's dad wears an Optimus Prime costume.
Firsts and Lasts
- First UK appearance of Wheeljack, albeit only in the background
- First and only appearance of "O"'s father
- First appearance of Shockwave and the Dinobots
- First appearance of the Savage Land from the Marvel Universe
Memorable Moments / Dialogue Triumphs
Nothing really.
Miserable Moments / Dialogue Disasters
Ratchet directly quotes from his tech specs. Couldn't they at least have tried to paraphrase?
A news report says "obviously there's more than meets the eye". Obviously he's been watching too many Transformers toy ads.
The Characters
Autobots
Autobots (in flashback)
Decepticons
The mysterious robots tending the wounded may be Reflector.
Decepticons (in flashback)
Humans
Humans (in flashback)
The Story
Synopsis
Following Sparkplug's revelation about providing the Decepticons with fuel, the Autobots argue what to do with him. Seeing them fighting amongst themselves, Sparkplug grabs Buster and runs. When the Autobots cease arguing, they see the humans making a run for it, and Jazz uses his flamethrower to block their path. This causes Sparkplug to have a heart attack. Ratchet drives Buster and Sparkplug to hospital, whilst Sparkplug dreams of his time as a Prisoner of War in the Korean War. Meanwhile in Oregon, "O" watches the news reports about the battle at the Decepticon fortress, whilst his father tells him how it's good for business, the Roland family leave town, and Jessie can't stop wondering if she'll ever see Buster again.
At the Decepticon base, Megatron steps outside, subjecting himself to a fifteen minute barrage of human artillery fire which proves useless, before returning to the fortress. He then assess the casualties and orders Ravage to go spy on the Autobots. Meanwhile on the Ark, Huffer shows Prime records that shortly after the Ark crashed on Earth, it sent out a probe to investigate a Cybertronic life form in a part of Antarctica known to Marvel readers as the Savage Land. It detected the Decepticon Shockwave and, with the last of its power, rebuilt five Autobots into the shape of the dinosaurs which lived there. The probe was destroyed just before the battle between the two forces. Ratchet has already dispatched a new probe to try to find out what happened. Prime resolves to find a way to stand against the Decepticons with no fuel, and Ravage - who has been lurking in the Ark - reports this to Megatron, who decides to launch an attack.
Goofs
- Huffer says that Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Brawn, and Gears were all knocked out defending the humans. We saw Bumblebee and Gears, and we will see Brawn in an upcoming UK story, but when did Sideswipe get knocked out?
- I don't normally comment on the artwork, but on page 2 there's an Autobot in the background who looks a lot like Swoop.
- How did "O"'s father get such a perfect Optimus Prime suit?
- Just why does Megatron subject himself to 15 minutes of human artillery fire?
- If the Ark could reconstruct the Dinobots in response to Shockwave, why couldn't it reconstruct other Autobots immediately after the crash?
Analysis
'I get it.' This issue ties up things from the end of the last issue, sets up a few things for the next, and pauses to remind us what's happening to the humans. The artwork continues to show signs of improvement, and the dialogue has is now average rather than dire. The plot is actually quite good. However, the real strength to this half of the story is that it shows us a wide range of realistic human reactions to the Transformers war.
Copyright
Transformers and most of the characters that appeared in Transformers stories are both copyrighted and trademarked by Hasbro. A few are copyrighted and trademarked by Marvel Comics. No infringement of copyright or trademarks is intended. All material on this site is my own work unless stated otherwise. The drop-down menus were created from templates on CSS Play.