Talk:The Wrath of Guardian!

2019-12-31T11:14:32Z

Zoomy:

Looking at the summaries for the US comics, I'm afraid I may have gone overboard with this one! These stories are easy enough to do, but what happens with multi-parters (the reason why I started here and not with Man of Iron, Enemy Within or Raiders of the Last Ark)? Does each issue have a separate entry or should one article cover them all?--[[User:Tribimat|Tribimat]] 19:33, 21 April 2006 (UTC)
:Basically, we've been doing all comics pages by story, rather than strictly by issue. On the [[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|The Transformers (Marvel Comics)]] page, the links appear as issue numbers, but I've tried to be consistent about having all comic links point to the story title, so for multi-part stories, say "Target: 2006," I've got all the links from UK 77-88 pointing to "Target 2006" (no semi-colon). More problematic has been the concern with how to deal with issues that have multiple TF-related stories in them. You'll see the way I'm dealing with that on that G1 comic page linked above.
:Someone else did mention the need to reference things like Profiles and back-up stories, much as you've done here. Perhaps this should be added to all relevant pages that have the primary story for an issue, but should explicitly say "Profile in issue #14" or something similar.--[[User:G.B. Blackrock|G.B. Blackrock]] 20:26, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Re Optimus Prime's thought bubble in the 'Artwork and technical errors' section. Obviously there's no better way to spend New Year's Eve than by browsing through Tfwiki.net and creating an account just to make a pedantic correction, but I thought this was interesting at least. I've got scans of the original #31 and the collected comics reprint, but can't create pages here with a new account to upload them. --[[User:Zoomy|Zoomy]] ([[User talk:Zoomy|talk]]) 06:14, 31 December 2019 (EST)

The Wrath of Guardian!

2019-12-31T11:11:00Z

Zoomy: /* Artwork and technical errors */

{{comicstory|
|prev=Decepticon Dam-Busters!
|seriesissue=[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|''The Transformers'' (UK)]] #31
|next=The Wrath of Grimlock!
|image=MarvelUK-031.jpg
|caption=No more obscure Jackie Chan movies?
|title="The Wrath of Guardian!"
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|date=[[October 12|12th October]], [[1985]]
|coverdate=[[October 19|19th October]] [[1985]]
|script=[[Simon Furman]]
|art=[[Barry Kitson]]
|colours=[[Gina Hart]]
|letters=[[Annie Halfacree]]
|editor=[[Ian Rimmer]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]]}}
'''Ratchet and the Dinobots return to the Ark to discover that Shockwave has left a nasty surprise for them...'''

==Synopsis==
[[File:Guardian swoop wrath of guardian.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4]]
Seeing [[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]] holding the battered body of [[Swoop (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Swoop]], the other [[Dinobot (G1)|Dinobots]] charge to avenge him, despite [[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]]'s warning. Their frontal assault is effortlessly beaten back, but Ratchet is able to overload Guardian's cranial systems by firing his [[laser scalpel]] into the battle droid's cerebral access port. Guardian flees into the depths of the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]]. [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] demands that Ratchet repair Swoop immediately, but Ratchet replies that he has an entire Arkload of [[Autobot]]s to repair, and that Swoop is not at the top of his list of priorities. Telling the Dinobots to keep Guardian occupied while he works, Ratchet storms off. Angry at having lost face and resentful of the dressing-down, Grimlock orders his amused troops into action.

On his way to find his deactivated comrades, Ratchet passes the headless body of [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]]. Ratchet assumes that, as long as Prime is of use to [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]], he'll have to keep him alive. At the [[Blackrock Aerospace Assembly Plant Number One|Blackrock Aerospace Plant]], Shockwave tells Prime that he exists only to serve the [[Decepticon]]s, and that despite his unwillingness, he has given life to six Decepticon [[brain module]]s. Prime is privately thankful that giving life to these six used up the last vestiges of [[Matrix of Leadership|Matrix]] power in his mind, and that the power now resides within [[Buster Witwicky (G1)|Buster Witwicky]]. Meanwhile, Buster is trying to fix a broken tape deck, to be overwhelmed by another terrible headache. As he recovers, he sees that the tape deck is now fixed...

In the Ark, Ratchet has succeeded in reactivating first [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]] and then [[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]]. Wheeljack is having difficulty concentrating on his task of tracking Guardian using the internal scanners, due to his recent reactivation, but shrugs off Prowl's offer of help. Prowl then returns to Ratchet for a status report. Ratchet observes that some Autobots are badly damaged, and that he had to give up on [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] completely, but that [[Jazz (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Jazz]] (his current patient) should soon be up and running. Wheeljack calls Prowl and Ratchet to see the unexpected readings he's picked up. They are suitably shocked...

Elsewhere in the Ark, [[Snarl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Snarl]] and Grimlock are being followed by a decidedly unstealthy Guardian. A sudden and well-executed attack from all four Dinobots inflicts heavy damage, and the Dinobots prepare to finish the job. At the same time, Prowl confirms that there can be no mistake—"there's a high density thermo-nuclear bomb in one of the Ark's corridors. And it's mobile!" Wheeljack gets a visual of the corridor, to reveal the wounded Guardian prostrate at Optimus Prime's body, as the Dinobots advance. Grimlock aims his gun at the cranial access port, and Wheeljack confirms—Guardian IS the bomb, booby-trapped by Shockwave. If Grimlock pulls the trigger, the others conclude, he'll not only destroy Guardian, but them, the Ark, and the entire [[Mount St. Hilary|mountain]]!

==Featured Characters==
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{collist|2|
*[[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]] (1)
*[[Swoop (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Swoop]] (2)
*[[Sludge (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Sludge]] (3)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] (4)
*[[Snarl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Snarl]] (5)
*[[Slag (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Slag]] (6)
*[[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]] (7)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (8)
*[[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]] (11)
*[[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]] (12)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Jazz]] (13)
}}
|c2=
*[[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] (9)
|c3=
*[[Buster Witwicky (G1)|Buster Witwicky]] (10)
}}

==Quotes==

==Notes==
===Continuity notes===
[[File:WrathofGuardian brainmodules.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.75|The brain modules in this issue are drawn to match how they will later be shown to look in their first US appearance.]]
*"The Wrath of Guardian!" follows on directly from the cliffhanger ending of last issue's "[[Decepticon Dam-Busters!]]".
*Ratchet uses his laser scalpel as an offensive weapon, with far more effect than when he last attempted to do so in [[Warrior School!|US issue #8]]. The other mentioned weakness of Guardian, vulnerability to a strong magnetic field, was exploited by [[Windcharger (G1)|Windcharger]] to defeat him in "[[Raiders of the Last Ark]]".
*Just as "Dam-Busters" did, this story makes what will ultimately be recognised as a rare move for a UK-original strip by checking in on and advancing two sub-plots from the US material already in motion.
**Shockwave relocated Optimus Prime's head to the captured [[Blackrock Aerospace Assembly Plant Number One]] in [[Repeat Performance!|US issue #8]], whereupon he revealed his plans to use the Creation Matrix within Prime to create new Decepticons, and unveiled the "protective casks" containing these six new burgeoning lives. Following on from this, we see the [[brain module]]s of these new Decepticons for the first time, which have evidently been drawn by the artist with advance knowledge of how they look in their impending US debut in [[The Next Best Thing to Being There!|US issue #10]] (right). Their green coloration doesn't match, though, but was evidently taken from how the (different-looking) modules were colored in [[DIS-Integrated Circuits!|US issue #9]].
**We learn for the first time that the "electric shock" Optimus Prime subjected Buster to in [[The Worse of Two Evils!|US issue #6]] was him transferring the Creation Matrix from his mind to the human's to keep it from Shockwave's clutches. Buster has been suffering "headaches" like the one he has in this story since [[Warrior School!|US issue #7]]; his Matrix-born ability to manipulate metal was first implied in that issue, but it will not be until US issue #9 that the US material will show him to be capable of complex feats like the repairing of the tape deck he performs in this issue.
**However, see "continuity errors," below for a note on how the UK material misinterpreted the timeline at play here.
*Ratchet notes he has had to "give up altogether" on repairing Sunstreaker. The already-offline Sunstreaker was blasted point-blank by Shockwave as a graphic demonstration of his power to Megatron in [[The New Order|US issue #5]]; this line of dialogue has obviously been written with foreknowledge of US issue #10, in which Sunstreaker will be singled out as the one Autobot Ratchet is unable to repair thanks to this excessive damage.

===Transformers references===
*Prowl swears "by Iacon's Great Dome!"—the first instance of what will become a relatively common oath used by the Transformers in the comic, which refers to the huge [[Great Dome|golden dome]] of the city-state of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], the Autobot capital on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. The dome was designed for the [[The Transformers (cartoon)|Generation 1 cartoon]] and debut in its [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1|pilot episode]], but had not actually appeared in the regular comic. However, the cartoon designs were reproduced in the Marvel UK story "[[And There Shall Come...a Leader!]]", ensuring that the swear makes sense "in-universe."

===Real-life references===
*The title continues Simon Furman's early predilection for movie titles, this one coming from ''{{w|Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|The Wrath of Khan}}''.
*The song that plays from Buster's tape deck is {{w|Bruce Spingsteen}}'s "{{w|Glory Days (Bruce Springsteen song)|Glory Days}}."

===Continuity and plotting errors===
*Optimus Prime's right arm was blasted off at the elbow by a shot from [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]'s [[fusion cannon]] in [[The Last Stand|US issue #4]], but here appears intact. It seems unlikely that the Decepticons would have fixed it, and Ratchet hasn't had the chance yet.
*During its one-page digression to Optimus Prime and Shockwave, the story seemingly thinks it's correcting a continuity error in the US material, namely: if Prime already transferred the Matrix to Buster in US issue #6, how was Shockwave able to use it to create new Decepticon life in US issue #8? The answer this issue provides is that the new Decepticons were created with the "last vestiges" of the Matrix remaining in Prime's head, left behind after he transferred the "main creation power" to Buster. But in actuality, there's no error present, because Shockwave ''didn't'' create the new lives in US issue #8—he began the process some time between [[The Last Stand|US issue 4]] and #5, with Prime only transferring the Matrix to Buster afterward. We didn't realize what we were seeing at the time, but we even saw this in action on the final page of US issue #5, as energy was channelled from Prime's head into a glowing cube in the background.

===Artwork and technical errors===
*We're almost there! Virtually every Transformer in this story is drawn to the specifications of their finalized [[character model]] for the first time in a UK-original strip, but Prowl still has an off-model, square-off head that seems based more on his toy or its [[package art]].
*Several of the Dinobots, meanwhile, have early colour schemes that will persist through most of their appearances in the first 100 issues of the UK series:
**Snarl's dinosaur head is coloured gray instead of yellow.
**Slag's dino-head continues to be coloured golden-yellow, following the lead of his [[Repeat Performance!|previous appearance in US material]], but only in dino-mode itself; when in robot mode, it can be seen sitting behind his head in the greyish-purple of his finalized colour scheme. His dino-mode neck-frill is also coloured gold, but that's just flat-out wrong.
**Swoop has a blue ''Pteranodon'' head, boots, and arms, and white thighs; on his finalized colours, his boots and arms are grey, his thighs are red, and his dino-head is orange while he is in robot mode, and silver-white while in dino mode.
*Following the lead of the previous two US issues, Optimus Prime's disembodied head is drawn missing its ear-antennae.
*Page 5, panel 4: Sludge's shoulder-wings are coloured golden instead of grey.
*Page 6, panel 3: Grimlock is missing his shoulder-wings.
*Optimus Prime ends page 7 by thinking: "The main creation power lies safely within the mind of Buster Witwicky..." Then, page 8 begins with a narrative caption continuing and concluding Prime's dialogue... which just says "Buster Witwicky" again. Evidently, page 7 ''should'' have ended with "...safely within the mind of..." then page 8 would continue and finish the sentence with "...Buster Witwicky."
**The original printing of Transformers #31 actually reads "...safely within the mind of someone else..."; the reprint in Collected Comics 6 changes it to "...safely within the mind of Buster Witwicky...*" and adds a caption reading "*Transformers #24", which wasn't in the original. "Someone else" in the original DOES look like a correction - it's a little smaller than the words before it - so possibly the Collected Comics reprint was using the original uncorrected speech bubble...
*Wheeljack is missing the red on his torso and his shoulder-fins are coloured red instead of silver-white, both apparently artifacts of an earlier colour model which will be seen in a few other stories before his finalized colours settle in.

===Back-up material===
*'''[[Back-up strips]]:''' ''Machine Man'' ("If This be Sanctuary?!" Part 1), ''[[Robo-Capers]]'' and ''Matt and the Cat''
*'''[[Fact File|Fact File Interface]]:''' [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]]

===Cover===
* '''Issue #31:''' The Dinobots charging down a corridor, by [[Will Simpson]].
<gallery>
File:MarvelUK-031.jpg|
</gallery>

===Reprints===
With the exception of the 2011 ''Classics UK'' trade paperback, all reprints omit the page featuring Buster.
<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)
File:DefinitiveG1Collection v2.jpg|'''''[[Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection]], Vol. 2: New Order''''' (Hachette Partworks Ltd, 2018)</gallery>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wrath of Guardian!}}
[[Category:Marvel UK issues]]

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The Wrath of Guardian!