War Without End!

2013-02-25T04:49:10Z

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{{disambig3|War Without End}}
{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Transformers: Generation 2]]'' #1
|prev=Ghosts
|next=All or Nothing!
|title="War Without End!"
|image=MarvelUSG2-01.jpg
|caption=Foil covers suck for scanning.
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|date=September [[1993]]
|coverdate=November 1993
|script=[[Simon Furman]]
|art=[[Derek Yaniger]]
|inker=
|colors=[[Sarra Mossoff]]
|lettering=[[Richard Starkings]] with [[Gaushell]]
|editor=[[Rob Tokar]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]]
}}

'''They're baaaaaack...'''

==Synopsis==
In deep space, a group of [[Outpost B-67 exo-structuring party|construction workers]] are brutally slaughtered, without warning or quarter, by heavily armed brutes who enjoy their work... Yes, it's a team of [[Autobot]]s led by [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]], and they've just stopped some Decepticons from destroying the planet of [[Nexus Seven]]. When [[Blades (G1)|Blades]] and [[Hound (G1)|Hound]] begin arguing about each other's conduct, Grimlock tells them to remember that they're all Autobots: "good guys". Later, [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]], the leader of this group of [[Decepticon]]s, hears about the attack and decides to take matters into his own hands. Oddly, he has to explain to his aide [[Rook (G2)|Rook]] what the 'archaic' terms of Autobot and Decepticon mean...

[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] is called for a meeting on an uninhabited world with Grimlock. (Actually some of Jhiaxus' Decepticons are still there but Optimus, [[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] and [[Kup (G1)|Kup]] kill them all) He's troubled: the war is over and all their old enemies are gone, but many Autobots like Grimlock have gone off looking for ''new'' reasons to fight. He himself is having visions of a great and terrible apocalypse, and worries he's just looking for another reason to fight. This concern ends when Grimlock and his team reveal that this dead planet used to be inhabited and the Decepticon colonists "miscalculated", destroying the environment. Worse, they've found ''seventeen'' inhabited planets that have been violently eco-structured into replica Cybertrons! Optimus knows that even if [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] lied about giving up war, he'd never be able to do all this... which is when Jhiaxus catches up and captured them all!

Meanwhile, on [[Earth]], the [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] military unit send a message to Cybertron: [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] is back with a new body!

On Jhiaxus' flagship, Grimlock and Prime are taken before the Decepticon leader to be informed of the truth: the [[Cybertronian Empire]] is ''not'', in their mind, a group of Decepticons, but people who've put the war and the factions behind them. They realised Cybertron was a wreck four million years ago, while Prime was asleep on the [[Ark (G1)|''Ark'']], and left it behind, leaving behind all the uncool losers like [[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]]. The Autobots, the Decepticons, and the war are outdated ideas. When Optimus protests that the Empire, for all Jhiaxus' polite words, is still oppressing and killing worlds, Jhiaxus says that they simply don't ''care'' about other life forms: the genocides aren't about malice, the aliens just get in the way.

Optimus is left shaken by the discovery of this larger picture but Grimlock snaps him out of it, pointing out how the Cybertronians see ''too'' big a picture: the Autobots learnt on Earth how important the 'lesser' life forms were. He breaks them out and they spring their fellow Autobots, cripple the ship with an explosive, and escape on a stolen vessel. Jhiaxus is annoyed but lets them run... so he can pursue them to their base and destroy ''all'' of them!

The Autobots now know the war is still on and even greater than they new, but terrible as this threat is, Optimus Prime is still having visions: there's something even ''worse'' on the horizon...

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Sideswipe (G1)|Sideswipe]] (3)
*[[Hound (G1)|Hound]] (4)
*[[Broadside (G1)|Broadside]] (5)
*[[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (6)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] (7)
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (8)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (9)
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (10)
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (11)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (12)
*[[Kup (G1)|Kup]] (14)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)|Hot Rod]] (15)

|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] (17)
*[[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] (18)
*[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (19)
*[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] (20)
*[[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] (21)
*[[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]] (25)
*[[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] (27)

|c3=
*[[Mott]] (23)
*[[Hawk (G.I. Joe)|Hawk]] (22)
*[[Mainframe (G.I. Joe)|Mainframe]] (24)
*[[Buster Witwicky (G1)|Buster Witwicky]] (26)

|c4=
*[[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]] (13)
*[[Unicron]] (16)

|h5=[[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]]|c5=
*[[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] (1)
*[[Rook (G2)|Rook]] (2)
}}

==Notes==
* In the first draft of the fold-out cover's battle scene, Generation 1 [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] was used rather than the ''Generation 2'' tank model.{{fact|First draft? Published where?}}
* Grimlock and others revived with [[Nucleon]] can transform again, with no explanation. Since "[[Another Time & Place]]" doesn't fit into this continuity, we are to assume they found some other way of canceling Nucleon's effects. A later letters page briefly explained that upon retaking Cybertron the Autobots had found a proper energy source, restoring their transformation.
* The [[Last Autobot]] was activated at the end of the Generation 1 comic to watch over the [[Transformer|children of Primus]]. He appears to be no longer around.
* Optimus Prime for some reason describes the Cybertronian Empire as "sounding very wholesome" before stating it's just like the Decepticons is an odd moment for him since Jhiaxus admits openly that they conquer and exterminate worlds.
* Grimlock cites Earth as a place where the Autobots learnt the value of human life. That's a big step for him as aside from a few exceptions, ''he'' did not see the value of human life for most of the G1 run.
* Megatron and the Joes cameo is a tie-in to the prequel run in [[G.I. Joe (franchise)|''G.I. Joe'']]: Megatron has gained his new body in an alliance with [[Cobra]]. A version of the same scene appeared in "[[Goin' South]]", although Optimus was around to pick the phone up in that story and Megatron was in [[Milleville|a town]] and not the ''Ark''.

===Errors===
* Optimus Prime is depicted on the cover as having bullet casings lodged in his head, despite the fact that bullets are not fired in their entirety from the barrel of a weapon.
* Optimus Prime mentions [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] among the threats the Autobots have overcome. In the U.S. continuity, most of the people who actually encountered [[Galvatron II|one Galvatron]] ended up dead, and the [[Fortress Maximus (G1)|few]] that survived didn't learn his name. So how does Prime know it? (In the UK continuity, Optimus encountered Galvatron (or Galvatrons) on several occasions, but whether ''this'' issue has a place in UK continuity is debatable.)
* Jhiaxus description of the Autobots and Decepticons fighting an old conflict while the Cybertronian Empire is "one race" doesn't make much sense considering that the Cybertronian Empire is composed solely of former Decepticons.

===References===
* The cover tagline "This is not your father's Autobot!" is a play on the then-current advertising slogan for Oldsmobile cars.
* On page 16, Optimus Prime reflects on threats faced in the original Marvel comic series. Optimus later refers to Bludgeon's claim to be taking the Decepticons into voluntary exile from [[End of the Road! (US)|the final Generation 1 issue]].
* Pages 25–26 tie in to the [[G.I. Joe (team)|G.I. Joe]] comics tie-in from issues #138–142.
* Page 28 shows [[Straxus (G1)|Straxus]] in a flashback, describing him as a "small-minded tyrant".
* Page 31 depicts a flashback of [[Ratbat (G1)|Ratbat]] attacking [[Buster Witwicky (G1)|Buster Witwicky]], presumably from issue #37 of the U.S. series.

===Covers (2)===
* '''Cover A:''' Optimus Prime with bullets in his head by [[Derek Yaniger]]
* '''RI cover:''' foil version of cover A

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===Reprints===
*[[2002]] — ''[[Transformers: Dark Designs]]''

[[Category:Marvel Generation 2 issues]]

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War Without End!