Boy. Margaret needs the Spectramax 1000 to test the Hydrothermocline but is done in like 2 seconds. Some test.
Ah the foreshadowing set up. Ethan created such a great character and saved him on this floppy disk. It's cheesy, but I do appreciate Bob being wise enough to find some back door to be able to bring Prime back. Hasbro didn't believe they would ever need him again, and Sunbow learned the hard way.
"AfterDeath kinda gives you a second chance at life." A little on the nose.
Funny. Last issue Megatron wanted a show down with Prime to the death. This issue he's like, "huh? What? You?"
And now we have the Protectobots and Combaticons. Bob has completely given up on providing origins at this point.
More foreshadowing. Decepticons cheat.
So many new characters that Blades is drawn instead of Brawl.
Megatrons plan to end the losers life is too risky for Megatron. I dunno, maybe by now he's just losing it. (As we will see more of next issue). Prime agreeing is just silly as well. Oh well. Comic.
"Woo hoo! This is the best video game I've ever played!" That's because you aren't playing, Ethan! Earlier you couldn't even get your character through the Smurf-Like cloudland. Sheesh.
Hot Spot gives Onslaught a Hot Spot in a very uncomfortable place. Nooch.
No one hears Vortex tell Megatron about AfterDeath. Whatever.
Now here we see Prime pull a lever that topples Megatron a second time. When this happens the towns people of Metropipe fall to their deaths. I mean, he really didn't know they were there. But, plot needs it.
"My pleasure guys." Ethan is murderous.
Optimus stops Ethan from destroying Megatron and demands his own destruction. Prime and his decisions.
The splash page with "Game Over" drives it home. Prime is dead. Time to cry again, Kids!
Ethan is shocked that he killed Prime.
A robot he met an hour ago.
The protectobots leaving and not saying a word is appropriate. At this point in the fandom, this is how we all felt.

 

This issue is one of my favorite issues of the entire Marvel run. I have a cgc 9.6 copy of this. I like how this issue ties in to the Tf vs G.I. joe mini series with the hydrothermacline and bombshells cerebroshell. This issue is the first appearance of the combaticons and the protectobots too, I believe. I really liked how the protectobots heroism gained the favor of the NPCs and helped them defeat the Combaticons. However, reading this now, I wonder how Optimus was able to fight a war against a brutal army like the Decepticons for so long when his principles and honesty were such exploitable weaknesses. Anyway, this was a fun read for me. I should’ve participated in this thread a long time ago.

Here’s my quick opinion of all the previous issues:

Every one was awesome except #16. I didn’t like the art on that one.

 

Your theory in fact is shared by

Spoiler

James Roberts in "Eugenesis" (click the second spoiler for more

Spoiler

in which they discuss that the disk is simply a facsimile and not the real Prime, who is considered by all to have died permanently in AfterDeath.

 

I forgot about that, been a long time since I read Eugenesis.

 

Never read it. Pretty interesting theory.

 

He could have BEEN Autobase on Cybertron, and the story arc could have ended with the 'bots finding him enough power to come back online... maybe to lead some offensive, but once they get the message from Prime on Earth they decide to reconnect with the forces there instead.

 

Building Omega Supreme on Earth doesn’t bother me a bit. I’m happy we got to see him merc a squad of Decepticons and beat up Megatron.

 

# 24 Afterdeath


Some events happen both in the Marvel comics and in the cartoon. And although I vastly prefer the Marvel G1 story over the cartoon (while not ignoring elements or stories of the cartoon that I really like), I can’t help but make a comparison in such cases. I did so with the introduction of the Constructicons/Devastator (in favour of the cartoon), the introduction of the Aerialbots and the Stunticons (same, albeit I prefer the first Superion vs Menasor fight from the comics and the abrupt solution), and this is another case for comparison. The death of Optimus Prime. Of course, it’s an unfair comparison since the cartoon killed him in the movie (although you could split it in three episodes), while Marvel was just a normal issue. (More on that later, with issue 26)

So how does it stack up? Spoiler, I agree with the negatives posted by @dj_convoy II but also can agree on some level with @misfire19d  


The core of the story and the start, is a computer game played by Ethan Zachary on some super computer in some isolated complex. Ethan’s game is interrupted by a female co-worker (who I think makes some moves on him, but is rejected when he prefers his game), while Vortex above spies on them. The intel he’s seeking is about the super project, but the more important information for the story is a way to cheat death in this game. (Budiansky sure loved a chekov’s gun.) Meanwhile Wheeljack has removed the Cerebro shell from Bombshell (continuity) and they use it to learn about the Decepticons' plans. And thus, when Megatron and his Combaticons (wherever they came from, could be from Cybertron) arrive at the computer plant, they find Optimus Prime and his Protectobots (who definitely did not come from Cybertron, so I guess the parts deprived Autobots build another combiner team?) [Note. In the UK comics it’s made clear that both teams were built on Earth after Buster had a matrix vision of them.] Optimus tries to reason to avoid the fight, but Megatron is willing to have a go at it, even at the cost at whatever prize awaits inside. However, EZ suggest they fight inside his computer game.

I have no real issue with the TF’s inserting their minds inside the computer. After all, they’re very advanced, walking computers in a way, in the Marvel universe so it makes sense to me. After a series of events (displaying the individual Protectobots and Combaticons) Optimus and Defensor face against Megatron, where Defensor is willing to give up his virtual life to kill Megatron and make Optimus the victor. However, Megatron uses the cheat code, hurts OP, but is still killed when the latter destroy the towers. Although this would mean Megtron would also be killed in the real world, Optimus instead declares himself the loser because he broke his own codes of endangering/killing bystanders to win. And thus he’s destroyed and Megatron walks away with the price. But EZ (another Chekov’s gun) has stored a copy of OP’s mind on a floppy.


Okay, postives. The art by Perlin remains good for it’s time. I also really like how outside elements are used to build the story (the information Vortex learned about the cheat codes, the use of the Cerebro shell to spy on the Decepticons), and the Protectobots definitely get more exposure in this single issue than they ever did in the cartoon. I also like the in-character approach in the beginning from Optimus (reasoning: if we fight, whoever wins, everything here will be destroyed so you won’t get what you want, so not fighting is better) and Megatron (I don’t care if it means your death – again, Megatron knows how strong he is and the previous two times they fought in the series, it was or would be a victory for Megatron)

Negatives. Considering how extremely small the storage capacity of those floppy disks was and how much space a sophisitcated program uses (and the Marvel comics have made clear that what makes a TF alive is very advanced programming), this is beyond stupid. Also, V
ortex speaking the cheat code out loud and it going unnoticed by everyone else, is dumb. Likewise is Megatron using it when he first falls to his death, but somehow unable to do so again? And why did none of the Combaticons do anything when EZ was about to destroy Megatron and the Protectobots champioining this? Most importantly, Optimus his death is dumb. He dies, the Autobots lose their leader (and they did so well the previous time and now there’s no logical successor since Prowl’s still in operational) and Megatron walks away with his price.

That said, while the grand fight death in the movie was…well, grand. There is a lot to be said about such a small and pointless death. It is the reality of war that deaths are pointless and anything but heroic final stand.s And it remains in-character for Optimus who indeed would lay down his life before sacrificing his ideals, the consequences be damned. And as such, I still really like this issue.


[Of course, as posted above, Optimus would return from this disk – smart move by Budiansky to have a way to get him back. I also liked James Roberts describing the resurrected Optimus Prime as nothing more than a copy, with all the Autobots considering Optimus having died in this computer game. And anyone who hasn’t read it, Eugenesis is a highly recommended read.]

 

TransFormers Marvel US #25 is live to discuss!
"Gone but not forgotten!"
Roll out!

 

This for me is where the book starts to slip and never gets quite as good ever again.

Megatron going crazy without Prime - very cool idea, tells you a lot about his character. Removing Prime and Megatron from the story? Also an interesting angle. But Megatron spent so much of the story up to this point deactivated or not in command that he never really got a chance to shine. And when he shows up again after this, it's just an excuse for him to be even more batshit crazy and not a real character.

Autobot symbols on the Predacons are stupid, shouldn't Megatron know about all the Decepticons already?

It might have radically changed how they returned to the story but IMO I would have much rather had a single issue (or a two-parter) where OP and Meg go out the same way, some accident during a glorious battle or something.

 

This was another fun read for me. Megaton is obviously obsessed with Optimus. That or Megatron is having trouble adjusting to not having a worthy opponent anymore.

Crushing Brawl’s head was a dick move.

Predacons are awesome.

Megatron’s fusion cannon is useful against combiners.

 

#25 Gone but not Forgotten

Considering that both issue 50 and 75 were extra-long anniversary issues, you’d expect something similar for issue 25. That’s not the case, although the events still are big.

The base story is about Megatron dealing with Optimus’ death, and how it affects hm. Simply put, he’s going batcrazy. He’s tormented about not having killed Optimus himself, and thus he doesn’t believe Optimus is truly dead. This is fuelled by comments made by Shockwave who, rightly so, concludes that Megatron in this deranged state is no longer capable of command. While Megatron leads the Decepticon army (by road mostly) away from their base, Shockwave contacts Cybertron and makes plans. The plan is for Megatron to be attacked and destroyed by special forces from Cybertron, the Predacons, under the guise of an Autobot attack. In the end what destroys Megatron is his own insanity (although, since what he concludes is correct) resulting in him blowing up the spacebridge with himself on it. And Shockwave is in command again.


Although it’s a good issue that showcases again how incredibly powerful Marvel Megatron is (crushing Brawl’s head, fighting and defeating the Predacons in their combined form) and why Shockwave with his reasoning power is the best suited to lead, a big problem is that we never really saw this rivalry between Megatron and Optimus in the Marvel comics: they’ve only fought twice in the series, and that was way back in issue 2 and 4, plus Megatron made a comment about OP being his long time enemy in issue 5. Thus Megatron going crazy now that Optimus has died, is a bit hard to swallow.

Another issue that I have only now, years later, is that it removes Megatron from the Marvel series. (Back then I was happy to see Shockwave take command again.) For being the nominal leader of the Decepticons – albeit removed in many issues, and locally even more due to issues being skipped – his role in the series was minimal. His portrayal was one of an incredibly powerful Decepticon, feared by all who had to fight him and who only met his match in Omega Supreme, but also someone who was so convinced of his physical might that his plans were often simplicity itself: fight and win. As such he was a poor leader for the Decepticons, accomplishing little to nothing. Great on a battlefield, but outside of it he was pretty useless. I guess I would’ve preferred a continuation (and amped up version) of there being two Decepticon forces: one lead by Megatron and one lead by Shockwave, with Soundwave playing both of them.


Still, I thought this was a good issue. The art is good for its time with a tight story. And although it’s a bit too obvious what Shockwave is hinting at (it only works because of Megatron’s mental state) and it’s based on a rivalry we never truly saw, it gave Megatron one last moment to shine. Just wish he had played a more active role in the past and/or be less of a failure as leader, but then that's part of his charm.

 

Megatron's slide into madness (not a long trip, I suppose) is pretty entertaining, as is Shockwave finally "beating" him with mere words. I must confess I never really quite got the gimmick of having the Predacons pose as Autobots or whatever; obviously Decepticon history was rife with coups and takeovers; just go for it without subterfuge!

Max brings up a great point; this robs us of Megatron for almost two and a half years, which is a bummer.

If nothing else, you have to love Megatron shooting Optimus Prime-style trucks on the highway. Therapeutic.  :

 

Yep this one is actually quite something. Megatrons slide into madness, the haunting images of him getting torn apart. When he screams "My Face!" Jesus.
Also, I noticed that he takes quite a bit in the same hip that Prime does in the movie.
All in all, I think it could of been done better if 24 and 25 were a 2 parter, with a double sized issue 25 showing the death of both Prime and Megs. Megatron could of taken Prime with him on his Space Bridge Suicide.
Oh well.

 

Transformers Marvel US #26 is live to discuss. "Funeral for a Friend".
Roll out!

 

One of the worst issues in the run, IMO.

I love most of the humans in this book, and it's a shame so few of them have been brought forward into other parts of the franchise. But the Mechanic can stay right where he is for all I care. There is nothing compelling about him at all and no real payoff when he shows up again. His presence just undermines what might have been an otherwise compelling story about Prime's funeral.

 

Let's start with the cover:
Blaster looking like he wants Jack to draw him like one of his French girls.
I always thought there was a combaticon mixed in with these Autobots but now I realize that must be First Aid. A little color would do this cover wonders. Another bot looks like Springer, but it must be Perceptor?
Splash page: not a single '84 bot over looking this scene. Granted they show up in the subsequent pages, but for a page 1 scene such as this I think the originals should of been on display here. And how traumatic for the Cybertron 7. They just found out Prime has been alive for the past 4,000,000 years, they show up to Earth and Blam! He dead.
Question: the Matrix at this point is so well known and openly used to create new life, why didn't someone think "there has to be a way to use that for Prime?" I guess they all truly just thought it went with him. This puts Uncle Bob in a bind. He should of passed the matrix on because that was the easiest way to describe new character appearances. Hell, he even destroys the space bridge. Maybe Bob was saying "Enough!" After all, he doesn't bother to use the 86 characters at all....
And you know what? I'm wrong. They go through the Autobots watching and not a single one is from 84. Where are these guys?
As the Autobots take Primes body away, who is the truck hauling him?
I'm kind of flossing over the mechanic story. Meh.
Ratchet constantly mentioning how Prowl is alive. Take that, Movie!
We end the issue with Ratchet can never fix anyone (but can build an army), can't fix Prime, but now he will have all of these Bots fixed in 2 days. Aight.
Overall, it's sad to see Prime go. As much as Hasbro admits they thought he was just a toy off of the shelves, the creators at Marvel and Sunbow knew he was so much more. His death in both worlds are treated as THE death.
Next issue: Maximum Dinobots!

 

I never understood why the power booster rod had to be attached to the security on/off switch so it could receive a radio signal.

 

So true. And that thing only serves to help a human plot-wise. Omega Supreme did not need that to push that lever up or down.

 

My take on it's rather retcon-based, but roughly this- the storage capacity of a floppy disk is only 5.25mb- but that's using it as a storage medium in the intended way. It's a magnetic storage system, as such, containing particles of metal. The Creation Matrix, as we've seen, can manipulate metal objects to an astonishing degree, presumably as part of its life-giving abilities.

Logically, I would assume that the rationale for this is that the Primal Program has this utility in order to manipulate the molecular structure of a positronic brain, in order to lay in the thought pathways for sentience, reason, emotion etc- the 'giving' of life.

Zachary probably doesn't appreciate the complexity of the personality he's trying to save, in the first instance- saving game characters to disk seems to be something he does as a matter of course, and by game's end he clearly doesn't think "Hang on, Protectobots, don't leave yet, I've got Op's backup saved right here!" So, a logical assumption is, I think, that he didn't think it would have worked, perhaps precisely because he'd just been watching Optimus and the rest in action and realised that they weren't actually just one-dimensional robots, but had fully formed personalities and aeons of memory that couldn't possibly be saved.

In his reappearance, he notes that 'gaining access' to levels of Optimus' memory has taken a lot of time. So, speculation, but perhaps it was the Matrix which detected the crude 'save' functionality and wrote a copy of Prime's mind and memory to the molecular architecture of the disk itself, with the surface level just about machine-readable by an Earth computer, enough to, in time, allow Optimus' personality to be accessed.