The Enemy Within!

2011-01-02T19:23:11Z

99.130.198.9: /* Items of note */

{{disambig2|the Marvel UK story|the unproduced [[Dreamwave Productions|Dreamwave]] issue|The Enemy Within}}
{{comicstory|
|prev=Man of Iron!
|seriesissue=[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|''The Transformers'' (UK)]] #13–17
|next=Raiders of the Last Ark
|image=MarvelUK-013.jpg
|caption=What have you done with the real Sideswipe?
|title="The Enemy Within!"
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|coverdate=[[March 9|9th March]] - [[May 17|17th May]] 1985
|script=[[Simon Furman]]
|art=[[John Ridgway]] (13) & [[Mike Collins]] (14-17)
|colours=[[Gina Hart]]
|letters=[[Richard Starkings]]
|editor=[[Sheila Cranna]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]]
}}
'''Brawn and Starscream both fall foul of their friends.'''

==Synopsis==
After challenging Megatron’s authority and being savagely reprimanded, Starscream plots Megatron’s downfall. He plans to attack [[Human|humans]] indiscriminately until the [[Autobot|Autobots]] come to their defence. This will force the other [[Decepticon|Decepticons]] to come to his aid, and together they will destroy the Autobots, proving that Starscream’s methods are superior to Megatron’s. Unfortunately, Ravage overhears Starscream’s plotting and rushes to tell Megatron, but he is spotted, and Starscream attacks him and leaves him for dead.

[[Image:RavageEnemyWithinColour.jpg|left|180px|thumb|"Ravage's ALIVE!"]]

At the same time, in the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], the Autobots are moving a heavy piece of machinery when it slips, and a short-circuit causes Brawn to be electrocuted, knocking him unconscious. After his recovers, he begins to act strangely before eventually violently attacking Sideswipe and then abandoning the Ark.

Some time later, as Starscream attacks the [[United States Military|US Air Force Base: Oregon Four-Alpha]] the other Decepticons discover the badly damaged Ravage, who reveals Starscream’s treachery. Enraged, the Decepticons race off and capture Starscream during his attack. Starscream demands his right to trial by combat.

[[Image:TFUK14_Brawncar.jpg|right|180px|thumb|]]

Brawn, meanwhile, has gone on a rampage in a small town, believing their cars to be enslaved robots... and when the immobile vehicles just sit there, he throws a wobbly and smashes them. The Autobots try to subdue him but are overwhelmed, only winning due to an ambush by Red Alert. The Autobots, unwilling to harm him in battle, use a neuro-tranquilliser to keep him down and take him back to base. Megatron, unwilling to let Starscream off so easily, plans to take advantage of the situation and suggests to Optimus Prime that they allow Starscream and Brawn to fight each other. Desperate to redeem himself, the now repaired Brawn agrees.

The two battle, unaware that Megatron has stationed Ravage nearby with orders to blast Starscream if he wins the battle. The battle goes against Brawn, and it appears that he has been destroyed. Following his orders, Ravage blows Starscream out of the sky, gaining revenge on him. He then lets the other Decepticons believe that it was the Autobots who attacked Starscream, motivating them to get behind Megatron and attack the Autobots.

Unknown to the Decepticons, Brawn was not destroyed. Instead, Mirage projected a [[hologram]] showing his death while the real Brawn was taken to safety: the same electric shock that harmed Brawn boosted Mirage's hologram powers!

Back at the [[Fortress Sinister|Decepticon fortress]], Megatron is preparing to launch an all-out attack on the Autobots.

{{note|This story leads directly into "[[Raiders of the Last Ark]]".}}

==Featured Characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
* [[Jazz (G1)|Jazz]] (6)
* [[Bumblebee (G1)|Bumblebee]] (7)
* [[Mirage (G1)|Mirage]] (8)
* [[Brawn (G1)|Brawn]] (9)
* [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] (10)
* [[Huffer (G1)|Huffer]] (12)
* [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (13)
* [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] (17)
* [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] (18)
* [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]] (19)
|c2=
* [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] (1)
* [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (2)
* [[Rumble (G1)|Rumble]] (3)
* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] (4)
* [[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]] (5)
* [[Buzzsaw (G1)|Buzzsaw]] (14)
* [[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] (15)
* [[Soundwave (G1)|Soundwave]] (16)
* [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] (20)
* [[Tornado]] (21)
* [[Earthquake (G1)|Earthquake]] (22)
|c3=
* [[Major Gordon]] (11)
}}

==Errors==
* [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] is shown to be among the Autobots but is never seen again until he appears in further [[Marvel UK]] stories alongside [[Hot Rod (G1)|Rodimus Prime]] and the other [[The Transformers: The Movie|post-Movie]] characters, beginning with the [[Time Wars (issue)|Time Wars]] story arc.

==Items of note==

{{bigquote|If someone had told me back in 1985 that I'd still be writing TF in 2002, I'd have laughed.|Simon Furman, [http://www.alteredstatesmag.com/features/qanda/sfurman_2.php Altered States Q&A]... and he's still doing it in 2011!}}

* This was the first Transformers to be written by [[Simon Furman]]. He has gone on record as saying that he does not think much of this early work and does not wish to see it reprinted, which may explain the story’s absence from the [[Titan Books]] reprints.
* Brawn runs someone off the road and they have a fiery crash. No one ever says that he's been pulled out alive...
* Like "[[Man of Iron!]]" and "Raiders of the Last Ark", it is unclear where this story fits in the Marvel UK continuity. It was originally printed between "[[The Last Stand]]" and "[[The New Order]]", when the Autobots and Decepticons were deactivated after [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave’s]] arrival. It is generally assumed to take place somewhere in US issue [[Prisoner of War!|#3]] or [[The Last Stand|#4]], as the Decepticons' encounter with [[Spider-Man]] is mentioned.

==Back-Up Stories==
'''Issue #13:'''
* Machine Man - "Kill Me or Cure Me" Part 4
* Matt and the Cat
* Chromobots

'''Issue #14:'''
* Machine Man - "Kill Me or Cure Me" Part 5
* Matt and the Cat
* Chromobots

'''Issue #15:'''
* Machine Man - "Arms and the Robot" Part 1
* Matt and the Cat
* Chromobots
* [[Robo-Capers]]
* Tales from the Fact Files - "Trapped Beneath the Waves!"

'''Issue #16:'''
* Machine Man - "Arms and the Robot" Part 2
* Matt and the Cat
* Chromobots
* Robo-Capers
* Planet Terry

'''Issue #17:'''
* Machine Man - "Arms and the Robot" Part 3
* Matt and the Cat
* Chromobots
* Robo-Capers
* Planet Terry
* Tales from the Fact Files - "The Truth about Alcatraz"

==Reprints==
* This story was reprinted in the ''Transformers Special 1986 ([[Collected Comics (Marvel)|Collected Comics]]'' #4). The story was now printed in full colour and was given a new cover.
*The story was reprinted again in full colour in issues #308-309 & #313-317 of the regular comic. The reprint was interrupted when the plan to give the comic a permanent extra four pages was dropped and there was no room to carry both the reprint and the back-up strip ''Machine Man'' in the same issues.
*It was reprinted for the first time in nearly two decades in [[The Best of Starscream]], once again in full colour.

==Covers (13)==
<gallery>
Image:MarvelUK-013.jpg|'''Issue #13''' - Let's get rrready to Frrrenzy!
Image:MarvelUK-014 COVER.JPG|'''Issue #14''' - "With a mind like yours, I'd try the land crab."
Image:MarvelUK-015 COVER.JPG|'''Issue #15''' - Either Starscream has shrunk, or Brawn has grown.
Image:MarvelUK-016.jpg|'''Issue #16''' - Geronimoooo!
Image:MarvelUK-017.jpg|'''Issue #17''' - Is it just me, or is Megatron going bald?
Image:CollectedComics4Cover.jpg|'''Collected Comics #4'''
Image:MarvelUK-308.jpg|'''Issue #308'''
Image:MarvelUK-309.jpg|'''Issue #309'''
Image:MarvelUK-313.jpg|'''Issue #313'''
Image:MarvelUK-314.jpg|'''Issue #314'''
Image:MarvelUK-315.jpg|'''Issue #315'''
Image:MarvelUK-316.jpg|'''Issue #316''' - Colour your own Transformers!
Image:MarvelUK-317.jpg|'''Issue #317''' - [[Emirate Xaaron]] impersonates [[Sunstorm (G1)|Sunstorm]].
</gallery>
* '''Issue #13 cover:''' Brawn giving Sideswipe a suplex, by [[John Ridgway]].
* '''Issue #14 cover:''' Brawn & Optimus Prime, by [[Mike Collins]].
* '''Issue #15 cover:''' Starscream vs. Brawn, by Mike Collins.
* '''Issue #16 cover:''' Brawn vs. Starscream, by Mike Collins.
* '''Issue #17 cover:''' Laughing Megatron, by Mike Collins.
* '''Collected Comics #4 cover:''' Starscream vs the Decepticons & Brawn vs the Autobots, by [[Will Simpson]].
* '''Issue #308 cover:''' [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] chokes [[Mindwipe (G1)|Mindwipe]], by [[Stephen Baskerville]], [[Lesley Dalton]] and [[Robin Bouttell]].
* ''' Issue #309 cover:''' Ratchet/Megatron fusion, by [[Frances Farmer]].
* ''' Issue #313 cover:''' Shockwave's troops, by [[Staz|Stewart Johnson]] and Robin Bouttell.
* ''' Issue #314 cover:''' [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] vs Shockwave, by [[Andrew Wildman]] and Robin Bouttell.
* ''' Issue #315 cover:''' [[Circuit Breaker]] vs Scorponok, by Andrew Wildman and Robin Bouttell.
* ''' Issue #316 cover:''' Scorponok, Shockwave and Prime are transported to [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]] while the [[Neo-Knights]] watch, by Andrew Wildman.
* ''' Issue #317 cover:''' [[Emirate Xaaron]] as servant of [[Primus]], by Andrew Wildman and Robin Bouttell.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Enemy Within!}}
[[Category:Marvel UK issues]]

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The Enemy Within!