In the National Interest

	{{#if: You guys just have to destroy everything, don't you? \|; You guys just have to destroy everything, don't you?}}}}
	"In the National Interest" {{#if: \| {{#if: \|; (')}} {{#if:\|; ""}}}}
Publisher	Marvel Comics}}
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First published	Part 1: 9th August; Part 2: 16th August; Part 3: 23rd August; Part 4: 30th August, 1986; }}
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Cover date	Part 1: 16th August; Part 2: 23rd August; Part 3: 30th August; Part 4: 6th September, 1986}}
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Writer	Simon Furman}}
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Art	Will Simpson}}
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Art assist by	Andrew Leary (Part 3)}}
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Inks	Dave Hine (Part 2),; Tim Perkins (Part 3)}}
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Colours	John Burns (Parts 1-2),; Gina Hart (Part 3),; Tony Jozwiak (Part 4)}}
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Lettering	Annie Halfacree}}
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Editor	Ian Rimmer}}
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ist}}{{#if: \| by}}	}}
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{{#if: MarvelUK-074.jpg | {{#if: Marvel Comics | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: | {{#if: Part 1: 9th August
Part 2: 16th August
Part 3: 23rd August
Part 4: 30th August, 1986
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Part 3: 30th August
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{{#switch:{{#sub:xx|2|14}}|dark cybertron=}}

Joy Meadows and the Dinobots are going to blow the whole Robot-Master story wide open, but the Decepticons and Triple I don't want this to happen.

Synopsis

Part 1

When reporter Joy Meadows appears on TV news program Between the Lines and announces her intent to expose "Robot-Master" as a fraud, the mastermind behind the hoax, Triple-I head Forrest Forsythe, decides that she must be silenced. Forsythe is not the only viewer of the broadcast who is already aware of the hoax, however; G.B. Blackrock also sees it, and contacts Joy with the recommendation that she visit Mount St. Hilary to meet some "friends" of his who can help her...

At that very same mountain, aboard the Ark, the Dinobots—recently reactivated after a long period offline, but confined to the base thanks to their conspicuous alternate modes—are bored. Just as Grimlock decides they need to go find some action, Sludge rushes in, having seen Joy's appearance on television and recognized her from their previous encounter. The Dinobots are unimpressed by their comrade's infatuation with the human, but lacking a better alternative for something to do, decide to go with him as he sets out to find her and help her in her mission to expose Robot-Master. They don't have to go far before they cross paths with her: she has been ambushed on the road to Mount St. Hilary by Triple-I mercenaries and nearly run off a cliff. Sludge shields her from their bullets, but is unable to stop her car tipping over the edge; fortunately, Swoop catches her and carries her to safety.

Meanwhile, Swoop's old enemy Professor Morris is on the cusp of being acquitted for the murder of a security guard, but as his trial nears its end, Triple-I mercenaries invade the courtroom and kidnap him. Morris is brought to an armored Triple-I bunker beneath Portland, and learns they want to employ his experience in controlling robots to pilot their new man-made robot, Centurion.

Part 2: "Gauntlet!"

Withdrawing to the seclusion of Talon's Point beach, the Dinobots tell Joy the full story of the Transformers and their secret war, which leads her to conclude that Robot-Master is a government cover story concocted to hide the truth. Joy wants to interview one of the Dinobots for her exposé, and Swoop volunteers to pick up her film crew and fly them in so Triple-I cannot tail them.

Meanwhile, at their Wyoming base, Megatron and Soundwave await news from Ravage, who is on the trail of the missing Robot-Master. Having played a part in furthering the Robot-Master hoax, Megatron fears its exposure will be used by Shockwave as ammunition against Megatron's leadership, but the opportunity to prevent this arises when Soundwave picks up the signal of Joy's phone call to her crew...

Beneath Portland, Professor Morris is strapped into Triple-I's recreation of his old neural relay link. He tries to object, telling technician Grady about the death he caused the last time he used the machine, but Grady explains that Triple-I know all about that, and planted evidence to ensure Morris's guilty plea would be thrown out. They had intended to recruit him after his trial was over, but Joy Meadows forced their timeline to be accelerated. A moment later, a console beeps, as Triple-I also detects Joy's call...

A little later, Joy's two-man crew Ricky and Tony arrive at the assigned location in Portland to await "pickup," but are intercepted by Megatron before Swoop can reach them. Swoop is quickly defeated when he attempts to engage the Decepticon leader, but the battle is then joined by the Morris-controlled Centurion, who takes on Megatron one-on-one!

Part 3: "Holocaust"

Centurion gives a good account of himself, but after a brief exchange of blows, Megatron is able to get the upper hand and punches the man-made robot through a nearby building. Fortunately, the fight gives Swoop time to recover, and he manages to escape with Rick and Tony—but, unbeknownst to the Dinobot, he is tagged with a tracer by a Triple-I agent as he flees. This is scarcely a victory for Triple-I, however; having recognized Swoop, Morris becomes determined to make amends for his past misdeeds by helping the Dinobots, and he proceeds to go rogue, sealing the armoured vault to keep Triple-I from interfering.

Back at Talon's Point, the Dinobots discover the presence of the tracer when it briefly jams Swoop's transformation, much to his teammates' amusement. Slag destroys the tracer, but it's too late—Megatron, Soundwave, and the Constructicons have followed its signal, and emerge out of the sea, demanding the Dinobots hand Joy over. When Grimlock refuses, the Decepticons attack!

Part 4: "The Dinobots' Last Stand?"

Outnumbered by the Decepticons, the Dinobots find themselves on the losing end of the battle. Grimlock matches his might against Megatron; Sludge struggles to defend Joy against Bonecrusher and Long Haul; Snarl manages to dispatch Scrapper, but is then blindsided by Laserbeak; while Slag falls to the other Constructicons, who then gang up on Swoop. In the midst of the chaos, Centurion arrives to join the fight and the distraction he provides allows the Dinobots to rally. Observing the tide of battle turning, Soundwave changes tactics: he forces Joy and her crew to hand over all their recordings, and then calls for everyone's attention as he very publicly has Laserbeak incinerate the tapes. Content that the destruction of the evidence means the Robot-Master cover story is secure for now, Megatron calls off the battle, and the Decepticons withdraw with a warning to the humans not to pursue the matter further. Badly beaten and with no cause left to fight for, the Dinobots let them go.

But the defeat of the Decepticons does not sway Professor Morris from his mission: he will use Centurion to put a stop to all of Triple-I's nefarious actions. From outside the sealed vault, Forsythe warns Morris that Triple-I have erased all evidence connecting them to him, and that the authorities will be waiting for him when he exits the bunker. But the bunker contains enough supplies to last Morris a year—more than enough time to see his mission through!

Featured characters

{{#if:*Grimlock (10)

Slag (11)
Snarl (12)
Swoop (13)
Sludge (14)|

{{#if:*Grimlock (10)

Slag (11)
Snarl (12)
Swoop (13)
Sludge (14)|| style="background:#ffdddd;" valign="top" |
Grimlock (10)
Slag (11)
Snarl (12)
Swoop (13)
Sludge (14) }}{{#if:*Megatron (4)
Shockwave (5)
Soundwave (17)
Mixmaster (20)
Scavenger (21)
Hook (22)
Bonecrusher (23)
Long Haul (24)
Scrapper (25)
Laserbeak (26)|

Autobots }}{{#if:*Megatron (4) Shockwave (5) Soundwave (17) Mixmaster (20) Scavenger (21) Hook (22) Bonecrusher (23) Long Haul (24) Scrapper (25) Laserbeak (26)\|	Decepticons }}{{#if:*Joy Meadows (1) Bob (2) Donny Finkleberg (3) Forrest Forsythe (6) Walter Barnett (7) Attorney (8) Peter Anthony Morris (9) Grady (16) Rick (18) Tony (19)\|	Humans }}{{#if:*Centurion (15)\|	Others }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}{{#if:\|	Misc }}
Megatron (4) Shockwave (5) Soundwave (17) Mixmaster (20) Scavenger (21) Hook (22) Bonecrusher (23) Long Haul (24) Scrapper (25) Laserbeak (26) }}{{#if:*Joy Meadows (1) Bob (2) Donny Finkleberg (3) Forrest Forsythe (6) Walter Barnett (7) Attorney (8) Peter Anthony Morris (9) Grady (16) Rick (18) Tony (19)\|	Joy Meadows (1) Bob (2) Donny Finkleberg (3) Forrest Forsythe (6) Walter Barnett (7) Attorney (8) Peter Anthony Morris (9) Grady (16) Rick (18) Tony (19) }}{{#if:*Centurion (15)\|	Centurion (15) }}{{#if:\|	}}{{#if:\|	}}

Quotes

Joy: Wha-? Wha'happen? Am I dead?
Sludge: No... No. You're safe with me now. I'll face death itself to defend you, I'll...
Grimlock: Sickening, really sickening.
Swoop: I almost wish I'd let her drop!

—Sludge being too mushy for Grimlock and Swoop, who just saved Joy from falling.

Joy: "Er, Grimlock...is he, er, alright?"
Grimlock: "'Fraid not. Defective circuitry."
Swoop: "A sad case. Nothing to be done for him, really."

—Grimlock and Swoop tease the smitten Sludge

"OOH, 'ECK! DECEPTICONS!"

—Slag shows off his broad Yorkshire accent. In Oregon.

Notes

Continuity notes

To catch readers up to speed, there's a Fact File on the Dinobots in #74. One detail this adds is that the Dinobots were all renamed when they took their dino-forms and other than Swoop, they'd all prefer to forget their old names and forms.
Joy Meadows and her crew previously appeared in issue #49, in which Sludge first encountered her, leading to his being smitten with her in this story (right). She has been tipped off to the truth behind Robot-Master by G.B. Blackrock, who earlier butted heads with Triple-I over the hoax in US issue #15.
The clips shown from Robot-Master's broadcasts during Joy's interview include footage of Megatron and Shockwave fighting, as seen in issue #65.
Triple-I, Forrest Forsythe, and Walter Barnett were all introduced in US issue #14. "In the National Interest" is their only appearance in a UK-original story.
Professor Morris was previously introduced in issues #45-46, in which the murder for which he is on trial took place. Morris actually confessed to the murder and surrendered to the authorities in that story, so it seems a little odd to see his lawyer arguing that he is innocent in Part 1, but Triple-I tech Grady notes in Part 2 that the organization planted falsified evidence that would lead to Morris's confession being thrown out. Perhaps the lawyer is also on their payroll?
Slag refers to the "weeks" the Dinobots spent "strung up in Ratchet's butcher shop," between the events of issue #50 and issue #65. The Transformers Annual 1986 story "Victory!" goes into a little more detail on this period, but it was not released until shortly after "In the National Interest" concluded.
Robot-Master escaped the Decepticons in US issue #19. Soundwave notes that Ravage, who is tracking their escapee, has still not reported in; that's because he was sent offline by a fall down a mineshaft in US issue #20.

Real-life references

The plot of this story is inspired by a pair of political thrillers, 1974's [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}The Parallax View|{{#if:||The Parallax View}}]], about a female reporter uncovering a conspiracy, and 1975's [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Three Days of the Condor|{{#if:||Three Days of the Condor}}]], about a murderous governmental conspiracy.

Continuity and plotting errors

The Dinobots complain that they're confined to the Ark by the other Autobots because their dino modes make them look conspicuous. This was the explanation given for the Dinobots' absence from US stories given in US issue #19... but the UK reprint removed that dialogue, because it was unnecessary due to the team having seen plenty of action in various UK-exclusive stories. So basically, this issue of the UK comic adopts a plot point from the US comic that the UK comic previously chose to ignore.

Artwork and technical errors

For the majority of this story, Snarl and Swoop continue to be colored in their "early" Marvel UK color schemes; Swoop is largely blue instead of grey like his teammates, and Slag's dino-mode head is golden-yellow instead of greyish-purple. See below for deviations.
The Constructicons are likewise off-colour in a variety of ways when they appear in Parts 3 and 4, not unlike how they appeared in issues #61-62. Their heads are all colored purple instead of the correct blue-black (right); other weirdness is noted below.
Part 1, page 4: Slag and Snarl's heads are both colored red instead of black.
Throughout part 3, Swoop's dino-mode "legs" (his robot mode arms) are colored grey instead of the blue used on his early color scheme, except for in a one-panel flashback to part 2.
Part 3, page 8-10: While he's in robot mode, Slag's dino-mode head is colored grey, which is technically correct, but it's not clear if it's been done deliberately, as the panel between it and his robot head is incorrectly colored golden yellow.
Part 3, page 10, panel 1: Long Haul has a purple abdomen instead of green. Scrapper is almost entirely purple; both the decals on his pectorals are red, when only the right one should be.
Part 3, page 11, panel 3: Scrapper continues to be mostly purple, and the red of his chest decals has spread up over his shoulders (right).
Throughout part 4, Bonecrusher's thighs are coloured purple instead of green, while dino-mode Swoop is now in his "finished" Marvel color scheme (grey body, white wings and head, with a red lower jaw). However, his dino-legs (robo-arms) are consistently miscolored red instead of the grey they should be to match his finished colors.
Part 4, page 3, panel 4: Snarl's limbs and back are all colored mostly red instead of grey.
Part 4, page 4, panel 3: Long Haul is colored entirely purple from the waist down.
Part 4, page 5, panel 1: Scrapper's thighs are green and his boots purple; the boots should be green, the thighs white.
Part 4, page 8, panel 2: Mixmaster's helmet assembly (that... big ol' block that goes around and over his head) is purple instead of green.
Part 4, page 9, panel 6: Snarl's head is red instead of black.
Part 4, page 10, panel 3-4: Sludge's shoulder-wings are gold instead of grey.

Back-up material

Issue #74:

Back-up strips: Hercules ("For the Love of Gods," Part 1) and Robo-Capers
Fact File: Hercules
No new half-page "funny" is added to the comic to replace Matt and the Cat following its conclusion last issue; instead the comic undergoes another change in format this issue, with a redesigned contents page that relocates Robo-Capers (which previously ran across the bottom of the page) to elsewhere in the comic. There is no letters page this issue, replaced with a special full-page Robo-Capers strip (right) that introduces Grimlock as the page's new host replacing Soundwave.

Issue #75:

Back-up strips: Hercules ("For the Love of Gods," Part 2); Robo-Capers sits this issue out.
Grimlock's "Grim Grams" letters page begins properly this issue, and will run until issue #182.

Issue #76:

Back-up strips: Hercules ("For the Love of Gods," Part 3) and Robo-Capers
Fact File: "And Now... The Dinobots!", recapping the characters' history up to this point.
Other features: Full-page spotlight on the Transformers Annual 1986.

Issue #77:

Back-up strips: Robo-Capers and Hercules ("For the Love of Gods," Part 4)
Other features: Competition to win How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way; the inclusion of this contest means there's no room for the traditional half-page "Next Issue" preview, which is compressed to a small caption box on the letters page.

Covers (4)

Issue #74: Grimlock, Sludge and Slag burst through the cover, by Alister Pearson.
Issue #75: while Megatron is about to destroy Swoop, Guardian looms up behind him, by John Stokes.
Issue #76: Swoop carries off the LCTV van, by David Hine.
Issue #77: composite of the story's major players, by Phil Gascoine.