The Legacy of Unicron!

2015-04-19T01:06:35Z

Reknrool: /* Continuity errors */

{{disambig2|the Marvel UK comic story|the Titan Books trade paperback|Transformers: Legacy of Unicron}}
{{comicstory|seriesissue=[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|''The Transformers'' (UK)]] #146–151
|prev=Stargazing
|next=Enemy Action!
|title="The Legacy of Unicron!"
|image=MarvelUK-150.jpg
|caption=Well, there goes the [[Cybertron (planet)|neighbourhood]].
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|coverdate=[[January 2|2nd January]] - [[February 6|6th February]] [[1988]]
|script=[[Simon Furman]]
|art=[[Geoff Senior]] (#146-147)<br/>[[Dan Reed]] (#148-149)<br/>[[Bryan Hitch]] (#151)
|pencils=[[Jeff Anderson]] (#150)
|inks=[[Stephen Baskerville]] (#150)<br/>Assists: Geoff Senior (#151)
|colours=[[Steve White]]
|letters=[[Annie Halfacree]] (#146-150)<br/>[[Richard Starkings]] (#151)
|chronology=[[Marvel Comics timeline#Original future|Original future (2008)]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]] ([[Earth-120185|Marvel UK]])
}}

'''Rodimus Prime and Death's Head battle Unicron on Junk and learn of the Transformers' origin.'''

==Synopsis==
On [[January 1]], [[2008]], "freelance peacekeeping agent" [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]] chases his latest bounties, the [[Decepticon]]s [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]], to the skies over [[Junkion (planet)|Junk]]. After a brief but intense battle, all three succumb to the thrall of [[Unicron]], whose head landed on Junk following events in [[The Transformers: The Movie|2005]]. After assassinating [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], the [[Decepticon leader]] in 2008, Cyclonus and Scourge send the Decepticon army on a suicide assault against the [[Autobot]]-controlled [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. Unicron hopes that both armies will devastate each other in battle, thereby granting his long-desired revenge against the [[Transformer]] race.

Unicron has also enslaved the [[Junkion (species)|Junkions]], and has forced them to attach his head to Junk to serve as his new body. He has also had them construct a [[time portal]], which will allow him to retrieve his errant creation, [[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] from his refuge in [[1988]].

[[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]], [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]], and [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] land on Junk shortly thereafter and are attacked by Death's Head and the Junkions, Unicron's unwilling pawns. Wreck-Gar is blasted and captured by Death's Head, but escapes when his captor is distracted by a command from Unicron. Inferno and Smokescreen escape to Cybertron in their [[Autobot shuttle|shuttle]], only to be shot down by Cyclonus and Scourge. Inferno dies in the resulting crash, after throwing Smokescreen from the ship. Smokescreen reports the situation on Junk to [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]]. After some hesitation, Rodimus agrees to go to Junk, and brings [[Scattershot (G1)|Scattershot]] and the [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] along as backup.

On Junk, Death's Head decides that he's through with being Unicron's slave, and opens fire on his master. Unicron, unimpressed, begins to mentally torture the non-bounty hunter. To escape the pain, Death's Head forces his psyche away from his body and into Unicron's mind, on the astral plane. There, after trading verbal jabs with the Chaos Bringer, Death's Head tricks Unicron into revealing his history and that of the Transformers.

Meanwhile, Rodimus Prime's team has arrived on Junk. Rodimus sends the Dinobots to distract the Unicron-influenced Junkions, resulting in many "innocent" Junkion casualties. Smokescreen and Scattershot stay on the Autobots' shuttle to distract Unicron with a series of strafing runs. The attack drives Unicron to expel Death's Head from his mind and recall Scourge and Cyclonus from Cybertron. With their new leaders fleeing the planet, the other Decepticons follow suit and retreat.

Death's Head runs into Rodimus, and the two devise a plan to defeat Unicron. Feigning obedience, Death's Head presents the seemingly inert body of Rodimus Prime—and the [[Matrix of Leadership|Creation Matrix]]—to his master. Rodimus then uses Death's Head's mental projection to insert himself into Unicron's mind. There he is savagely attacked by the Chaos Bringer.

Wreck-Gar, having escaped Death's Head and his Junkion brethren earlier, had tunneled beneath Unicron's head and set up a series of explosive charges. Death's Head discovers this and immediately pulls Rodimus from the mind link with Unicron.

Scourge and Cyclonus arrive on Junk just before the explosives detonate. Death's Head, seeing an opportunity to claim his original quarry, tackles the duo through the now-activated time portal. Wreck-Gar's charges detonate, destroying both Unicron and the time portal. Rodimus Prime, after verifying that his friends are safe, comes to realize that Unicron has not been destroyed completely, but is now trapped within the Matrix.

Cyclonus and Scourge were sent back in time far enough to become soldiers in [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok's]] army, but Death's Head disappeared thereafter.

==Featured characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]] (7)
*[[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] (8)
*[[Kup (G1)|Kup]] (16)
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (17)
*[[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]] (18)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (19)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] (20)
*[[Slag (G1)|Slag]] (21)
*[[Snarl (G1)|Snarl]] (22)
*[[Blades (G1)|Blades]] (23)
*[[Hot Spot (G1)|Hot Spot]] (24)
*[[Springer (G1)|Springer]] (25)
*[[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] (26)
*[[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] (30)
*[[Scattershot (G1)|Scattershot]] (31)
*[[Sentinel Prime (G1)|Sentinel Prime]] (33)
*[[Swoop (G1)|Swoop]] (35)
*[[Sludge (G1)|Sludge]] (36)
|c2=
*[[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] (1)
*[[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] (2)
*[[Galvatron (G1)|Galvatron]] (9)
*[[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]] (11)
*[[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]] (12)
*[[Menasor (G1)|Menasor]] (13)
*[[Breakdown (G1)|Breakdown]] (14)
*[[Dead End (G1)|Dead End]] (15)
*[[Octane (G1)|Octane]] (27)
*[[Blitzwing (G1)|Blitzwing]] (28)
*[[Hun-Gurrr (G1)|Hun-Gurrr]] (34)
*[[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]] (37)
|h4=[[Junkion (species)|Junkions]]|c4=
*[[Junkyard (G1)|Junkyard]] (4)
*[[Wreck-Gar (G1)|Wreck-Gar]] (6)
*[[Scrapheap (G1)|Scrapheap]] (29)
|h5=Others|c5=
*[[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]] (3)
*[[Unicron]] (10)
*[[Primus]] (32)
}}

==Notes==
===Artwork and technical errors===
*Grapple can be seen in Part 3 gunning down one Decepticon at pointblank range ''without looking'' while also firing on Blitzwing. This is surprisingly awesome for the guy.
*This was the first Transformers story [[Bryan Hitch]] worked on, and [[Geoff Senior]] wouldn't draw another story for [[A Small War!|quite a while]]
*The giant battle in issue 148 is the only double page spread in all of the UK stories.

===Continuity errors===
*Unicron requires the Junkions to construct a time portal to retrieve Galvatron from 1988. However, in a later story also penned by Furman, the Unicron of the main [[Earth-91274|Marvel US continuity]] kidnaps a [[Galvatron II|Galvatron]] from an alternate future timeline without the use of a time portal. Perhaps the Chaos Bringer usually has a time portal housed somewhere in his body, and being little more than a head in this story left him with no option but to build an external one?
*The planet is called Junk. Presumably by now Simon Furman had seen the [[The Transformers: The Movie|movie]] where [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] refers to the "planet of junk", but was unaware that both the movie script and the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|cartoon series]] called it '''Junkion'''. This is not the first time [[Life Spark|this sort of thing]] happened in the UK comic...
*In [[Hunters|1987]] Soundwave was able to read Death Head's thoughts, so why can't he in 2008 to determine whether or not he's bluffing? Though it's possible Death's Head could have come up with a defense, or less likely that Soundwave lost this ability, neither is ever mentioned.

===Continuity notes===
*This is the first version of Furman's big origin story. Interestingly, Unicron only refers to wanting "total domination" of the universe rather than total annihilation. This, and the idea of Unicron and Primus as entities among larger pantheons, would get dropped later on.
*By going back in time to serve under Scorponok, Furman reconciled Cyclonus and Scourge's appearances in the United Kingdom story with their first appearance in the United States ''[[The Transformers: Headmasters|Headmasters]]'' limited series.
*Death's Head, although gone from the United Kingdom Transformers timeline, was far from dead. After [[wikia:tardis:The Crossroads of Time|an encounter]] with the [[Doctor]], he was then sent to the regular Marvel continuity, and subsequently starred in a series of short-lived titles.
*The future Autobots were last seen in "[[Headhunt]]". After this story, they appear next in "[[The Big Broadcast of 2006 (issue)|The Big Broadcast of 2006]]" and "[[Space Pirates!]]".
*Unicron claims that inside his mind, the Matrix actually makes him ''stronger''. His other claim, that he can absorb it and they will become one stronger entity, [[Shadow of Evil|turned out]] [[White Fire|to be true]]. However, the "make me stronger" bit doesn't work when it's Unicron inside the Matrix and not vice versa.
*The main villain of the piece has his half completed giant construction destroyed with explosives whilst he is distracted. Haven't we [[Target: 2006|seen]] this [[Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!|before]]?

===Real-life references===
*The way Shockwave was killed has haunted [[Nick Roche]] since childhood.<ref>[http://moonbase2.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=601856 Moonbase 2 interview], 50:26 to 51:08</ref>

===Junkionisms===
Most of Wreck-Gar's pop-culture references in this story are generic TV, film and sports references that don't refer to any shows in particular, unlike past and future issues that include a lot of references to British television programmes. There are still a few that can be singled out, though:
*"Tonight on Question Time, we ask..."—A reference to the topical debate TV show of the [[wikipedia:Question Time (TV series)|same name]];.
*"Four faults!"—In showjumping, "faults" are penalties received for mistakes. "Four faults" is a common number, and Wreck-Gar subjects himself to this amount after being forced to kill a Junkion in Part 2. The equine theme continues in Part 5, when he sets off a bomb timer with a cry of "And they're off!"
*Wreck-Gar's opening monologue from Part 5 is done in the style of the famous mission briefings from ''[[wikipedia:Mission: Impossible|Mission: Impossible]]'', using many of the famous quotes from that show ("Your mission, should you choose to accept it..." "...disavow any knowledge..." "...will self-destruct in five seconds!"). In the midst of it, he sneaks in a reference to the shampoo, [[wikipedia:Head & Shoulders|Head & Shoulders]].
*"Analysis, [[Spock|Mister Spock]]!"—If you don't know, we can't help you.
*"It's time to countdown to today's prize."—''[[wikipedia:Countdown (game show)|Countdown]]'' is a long-running British TV quiz show.
*"So it's goodnight from me... and goodnight from him!"—This two-man farewell was uttered by [[wikipedia:Ronnie Barker|Ronnie Barker]] and [[wikipedia:Ronnie Corbett|Ronnie Corbett]] at the conclusion of each episode of their television series, ''[[wikipedia:The Two Ronnies|The Two Ronnies]]''.
*"Th-th-that's all, folks!"—Again, if you don't recognise this, there's nothing that can be done for you.

===Back-up Material===
'''Issue #146'''
*'''Backup strips:''' ''[[Iron Man]] — Stratosfire'' and ''[[Robo-Capers]]''
*'''[[Transformers AtoZ|AtoZ]]:''' [[Gears (G1)|Gears]] and [[Grapple (G1)|Grapple]]

'''Issue #147'''
*'''Backup strips:''' ''Iron Man — Stratosfire'' and ''Robo-Capers''

'''Issue #148'''
*'''Backup strips:''' ''Iron Man — Stratosfire'' and ''Robo-Capers''
*'''[[Transformers AtoZ|AtoZ]]:''' [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] and [[Groove (G1)|Groove]]

'''Issue #149'''
*'''Backup strips:''' ''Iron Man — Stratosfire'' and ''Robo-Capers''

'''Issue #150'''
*'''Backup strips:''' ''Iron Man — Stratosfire'' and ''Robo-Capers''
*'''[[Transformers AtoZ|AtoZ]]:''' [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]]

'''Issue #151'''
*'''Backup strips:''' ''Iron Man — Stratosfire'' and ''Robo-Capers''
*'''[[Transformers AtoZ|AtoZ]]:''' [[Headstrong (G1)|Headstrong]] and [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]]

===Covers (23)===
<gallery>
File:MarvelUK-146.jpg|'''Issue #146'''
File:MarvelUK-147.jpg|'''Issue #147'''
File:MarvelUK-148.jpg|'''Issue #148'''
File:MarvelUK-149.jpg|'''Issue #149'''
</gallery>
*'''Issue #146 cover:''' Death's Head strangling Cyclonus, by [[Lee Sullivan]].
*'''Issue #147 cover:''' a Unicron-guided Death's Head takes on Shockwave, by [[Jeff Anderson]], [[Stephen Baskerville]] and [[John Burns]].
*'''Issue #148 cover:''' Blurr, Kup & Rodimus Prme take on Decepticons, by [[Dan Reed]] and John Burns.
*'''Issue #149 cover:''' Smokescreen through the windscreen, by [[Barry Kitson]] & [[Robin Bouttell]].
<gallery>
File:MarvelUK-150.jpg|'''Issue #150'''
File:MarvelUK-151.jpg|'''Issue #151'''
File:MarvelUK-290.jpg|'''Issue #290'''
File:MarvelUK-291.jpg|'''Issue #291'''
</gallery>
*'''Issue #150 cover:''' Rodimus Prime & Unicron wraparound cover, by [[Jerry Paris]] & John Burns.
*'''Issue #151 cover:''' Death's Head & Rodimus Prime team up to fight Unicron, by Lee Sullivan.
*'''Issue #290 cover:''' [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]]'s corpse, by [[Staz|Stewart Johnson]].
*'''Issue #291 cover:''' [[Bumblebee (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Bumblebee]] about to be attacked by the alien, by Stewart Johnson.
<gallery>
File:MarvelUK-292.jpg|'''Issue #292'''
File:MarvelUK-293.jpg|'''Issue #293'''
File:MarvelUK-294.jpg|'''Issue #294'''
File:MarvelUK-295.jpg|'''Issue #295'''
</gallery>
*'''Issue #292 cover:''' [[Windsweeper]] attacked by the alien, by Stewart Johnson.
*'''Issue #293 cover:''' [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] with the Matrix, by Stewart Johnson.
*'''Issue #294 cover:''' Dead [[Landmine (G1)|Landmine]], by Stewart Johnson.
*'''Issue #295 cover:''' Thunderwing's ugly mug, by Stewart Johnson.
<gallery>
File:MarvelUK-296.jpg|'''Issue #296'''
File:MarvelUK-297.jpg|'''Issue #297'''
File:MarvelUK-298.jpg|'''Issue #298'''
File:MarvelUK-299.jpg|'''Issue #299'''
</gallery>
*'''Issue #296 cover:''' Kup vs the evil Matrix, by Stephen Baskerville.
*'''Issue #297 cover:''' Thunderwing speared, by Stephen Baskerville.
*'''Issue #298 cover:''' [[Galvatron II]] emerging in the New York harbor, by Stewart Johnson.
*'''Issue #299 cover:''' Galvatron II before a dead [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Rodimus Prime]], by [[John Marshall]] and Stewart Johnson.
<gallery>
File:MarvelUK-300.jpg|'''Issue #300'''
File:MarvelUK-301.jpg|'''Issue #301'''
File:Tf commag 16.JPG|'''Transformers Comic-Magazin issue #16'''
File:Tf commag 17.JPG|'''Transformers Comic-Magazin issue #17'''
</gallery>
*'''Issue #300 cover:''' Autobots attack, by John Marshall and Stewart Johnson.
*'''Issue #301 cover:''' Autobots victorious, by John Marshall, Stewart Johnson and Robin Bouttell.
*'''[[Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 16|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue #16]] cover:''' A multicolored Predaking.
*'''[[Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 17|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue #17]] cover:''' Pass
<gallery>
File:Tf commag 18.JPG|'''Transformers Comic-Magazin issue #18'''
File:TitanLoU.jpg|'''''Transformers: Legacy of Unicron'' TPB'''
File:Classicuk5.jpg|'''''The Transformers Classics UK Volume 5'''''
</gallery>
*'''[[Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 18|Transformers Comic-Magazin issue #18]] cover:''' An actual image of Unicron.
*'''''Transformers: Legacy of Unicron'' TPB cover:''' Unicron's head vs Rodimus Prime, Wreck-Gar & Death's Head, by [[Geoff Senior]] and [[Oliver Harud]].
*'''''The Transformers Classics UK Volume 5'' cover:''' The head of [[Unicron]] watches over [[Triton]] swapping his badge, [[Zombie]] [[Impactor (G1)|Impactor]] attacking [[Springer (G1)|Springer]], a fleeing [[Cyclonus (G1)|Cyclonus]] and [[Scourge (G1)|Scourge]] and an angry [[Flame (Marvel)|Flame]], by [[Andrew Wildman]]

===Reprints===
*[[1990]] — ''[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|The Transformers]]'' #290–301
*[[1991]] — [[Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 16|''Transformers Comic-Magazin'' #16]]–[[Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 18|18]]
*[[2003]] — ''[[Transformers: Legacy of Unicron]]''
*[[2014]] — ''[[The Transformers Classics UK Volume 5]]''

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legacy of Unicron!}}
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The Legacy of Unicron!