The Wrath of Grimlock!

2017-12-03T11:07:30Z

Shroobot3000: Fixed the link to dinosaur comics.

{{comicstory|
|prev=The Wrath of Guardian!
|seriesissue=[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|''The Transformers'' (UK)]] #32
|next=DIS-Integrated Circuits!
|image=MarvelUK-032.jpg
|caption=Imagine if that [http://qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2 Utahraptor] slipped in the shower?
|title="The Wrath of Grimlock!"
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|coverdate=[[October 26|26th October]] [[1985]]
|script=[[Simon Furman]]
|art=[[Barry Kitson]], [[Mark Farmer]]
|colours=[[Steve Whitaker]]
|lettering=[[Mike Scott]]
|editor=[[Ian Rimmer]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]]}}

==Synopsis==
[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] is aiming his gun at [[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]]'s cerebral access port, taunting him before he pulls the trigger. Watching the scene on a viewscreen in another part of the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]] and [[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]] are dumbstruck—Guardian contains enough explosive to level the mountain, and they can't warn Grimlock—but [[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]] has an idea. The headless body of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] begins to move as Wheeljack operates a terminal, grabbing Grimlock's arm and forcing it up just as the gun fires. Ratchet identifies Wheeljack's life-saving strategy as an internal motor override—without a [[brain module]], Prime's body is just machinery and can be remote controlled. The other [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] taunt Grimlock, who is unable to prise his arm from Prime's grip. Seizing the distraction, Guardian charges through them and flees. However, Grimlock does not give the order to pursue—he is preoccupied with the loss of his hand in the commotion...

[[File:Grimlocktestsnewhand.jpg|thumb|left|upright=2]]
Later, Ratchet continues to apologise to Grimlock as he reattaches his hand. Invited to test it, Grimlock punches Ratchet in the face and reports: "It's just fine... ''thank you!''" before barging out of the room. Ratchet asks Prowl whether he has located Guardian, but the droid has retreated beyond sensor range. There are too few [[Autobot]]s to search for him, and they don't have a way of stopping him even if they do find him. Ratchet returns to the task of reactivating the other Autobots, and Prowl recommends that [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] should receive priority, since his magnetic powers managed to stop Guardian in [[Raiders of the Last Ark|a previous incident]]. But will it be enough?

From a hidden vantage point, Guardian surveys a large monitor screen as he undergoes a repair program. Now that fourteen Autobots are active, Guardian does not believe the odds are in his favour, so he activates a 'failsafe program'. This is a program installed by [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] and [[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]: if it appears that either the Autobots or [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] will gain the upper hand and seize control of the Ark, the thermo-nuclear bomb within Guardian will begin an irreversible countdown to detonation as the droid seeks out the greatest concentration of the enemy. The 100-second countdown begins, and Guardian sets out...

Ratchet is finally working to repair [[Swoop (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Swoop]], although his efforts are hampered by the looming presence of Grimlock. Suddenly, Wheeljack and Prowl detect the high-energy reading of the booby-trapped Guardian—just before Guardian breaks the doors down. Grimlock orders the Dinobots to transform and attack. As Ratchet asks Windcharger to use his powers on Guardian's data core, Swoop regains consciousness to see Guardian fighting his comrades. He prepares to shoot, but Ratchet spoils his aim and the shot blasts a hole in the outer hull of the Ark. Learning of the bomb inside Guardian, Swoop transforms to pteranodon mode and grabs the droid, flying him out through the hole and away from the mountain. He drops Guardian, but the countdown finally reaches zero and there is a colossal explosion.

Swoop's body is not recovered, and it is believed that he was liquefied by the heat of the explosion. The Autobots place a marker beacon and mark his death with a ceremony. The other Dinobots depart, heading north. Their reasons for leaving are not given, but they are thought not to include grief. However, Swoop's sacrifice enables Ratchet to revive all but one of the Autobots. Meanwhile in a private hospital, [[Circuit Breaker (G1)|Josie Beller]] has completed her own preparations...

==Featured characters ==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.)<br>
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{collist|2|
*[[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]] (1)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] (2)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]] (3)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]] (4)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]] (5)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (6)
*[[Snarl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Snarl]] (7)
*[[Sludge (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Sludge]] (8)
*[[Slag (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Slag]] (9)
*[[Swoop (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Swoop]] (12)
*[[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] (13)
}}
|c2=
*''[[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]]'' (10)
*''[[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]'' (11)
|c3=
*[[Circuit Breaker (G1)|Josie Beller]] (14)
}}

==Quotes==

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
[[File:WrathofGrimlock cricuitbreaker cometh.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5]]
*Prowl recalls Windcharger's effectiveness against Guardian during "that [[Aunty|Auntie]] business," referring to the events of "[[Raiders of the Last Ark]]".
*It is revealed via flashback that Shockwave and Soundwave reprogrammed Guardian for his security duty following the events of [[The Worse of Two Evils!|US issue #6]].
*Despite having only been introduced into the US series in its most recent issue, the Dinobots do not reappear in its pages for another year. The UK series exploits their absence to send them off on a series of adventures of their own told through UK-original strips, hence their departure at the end of this story; we will catch up with them again in a few months' time beginning in [[The Icarus Theory|issue #45]].
*The epilogue notes that Ratchet is able to repair "all but one" of the defeated Autobots; the "one" is [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]], who was gravely damaged by Shockwave in [[The New Order|US issue #5]], and who Ratchet noted last issue that he had to give up working on.
*The final scene of the issue, with Josie Beller completing her cybernetic upgrades, is included to ensure the story leads directly into [[DIS-Integrated Circuits!|US issue #9]], as the UK series returns to reprinting US material next issue. The scene is a widescreen recreation of the penultimate panel of [[Repeat Performance!|US issue #8]] (right), which was cut from the UK printing of that story.

===Real-life references===
*As with last issue, this story takes its title from ''{{w|Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|The Wrath of Khan}}'', continuing writer Simon Furman's early predilection for taking his story names from movies.

===Continuity and plotting errors===
*Continuing an error from last issue, Optimus Prime's body is still depicted with both arms intact; he lost one in [[The Last Stand|US issue #4]].

===Artwork and technical errors===
*As in the previous issue, we're ''close'', but we're still not quite all the way there when it comes to the Transformers being drawn to match their character models. ''Most'' characters in this story are, but Prowl and Wheeljack continue to appear as they did last issue (the former with a squared-off head and missing most of his blue/black trim, the latter in an early colour scheme with red shoulder fins), while Windcharger is drawn in an odd in-between hybrid of character model, [[package art]], and toy.
[[File:WrathofGrimlock its just fine.jpg|right|thumb|upright=2|The old one-two!]]
*Optimus Prime's body is drawn to tower over the Dinobots, when they should be the ones much taller than it.
*Grimlock loses his left hand to Prime's body, but when he clocks Ratchet to "test" his replacement, the art shows him punching with his ''right'' hand. This was corrected for the ''[[Transformers Collected Comics|Collected Comics]]'' reprint by flipping the panel, adjusting the asymmetrical corners (causing the panel to overlap the corner of one further up the the page) and re-doing the sound effect lettering. This amended version (pictured at right) was used for all subsequent reprints.
*As in the previous issue, Snarl's dino-mode head continues to be coloured grey instead of gold. Slag's dino-mode head was colored in its finalized grey-purple for his robot mode appearances last issue, but it's back to being gold in this one.
*On page 10, Sludge and Snarl's bodies are uncoloured white.
*Oddly, the Autobots holding the memorial service for Swoop are all [[generic]]s who don't match the designs of any of the Ark crew.
{{--}}
===Other trivia===
*Swoop was the only Dinobot toy not released in the UK... could that be why he was chosen as the one to apparently die at the end of this story?

===Back-up material===
*'''[[Back-up strips]]:''' ''Machine Man'' ("If This be Sanctuary?!" Part 2), ''[[Robo-Capers]]'' and ''Matt and the Cat''
*'''[[Fact File|Fact File Interface]]:''' [[Inferno (G1)|Inferno]]

===Covers===
* '''Issue #32:''' Grimlock's roaring ''T. rex'' head, by [[Will Simpson]].
<gallery>
File:MarvelUK-032.jpg|
</gallery>

===Reprints===
<gallery>
File:Tfcolcom06.jpg|'''[[Transformers Collected Comics#6 – Summer Special 1987|''Transformers Collected Comics'' #6]]''' (Marvel UK, 1987)
File:Tfcolcom25.jpg|'''[[Transformers Collected Comics#Holiday Special 1994|''Transformers Holiday Special'' 1994]]''' (Marvel UK, 1994)
File:BestofGrimlock.jpg|'''''[[The Transformers: Best of Grimlock]]''''' (IDW Publishing, 2010)
File:Classicuk1.jpg|'''[[The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1|''The Transformers Classics UK'' Volume 1]]''' (IDW Publishing, 2011)
</gallery>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrath of Grimlock!}}
[[Category:Marvel UK issues]]

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The Wrath of Grimlock!