The Chain Gang!
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| "The Chain Gang!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | 1st August 1989 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Dan Abnett | ||||||||||||
| Art | Dan Reed | ||||||||||||
| Colours | Euan Peters | ||||||||||||
| Lettering | Glib | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Battle on an oil rig! Because we've never done that before!
Synopsis
[edit]
Three of the Decepticon Pretenders have taken the Keeler Oil Terminal in the Gulf of Mexico hostage. They plan on using a transmuter to convert the oil into a more refined form of energon for them to partake of. As Skullgrin completes the device, though, three Autobot Pretenders emerge from the water, having been following the Decepticons for some time. A battle ensues between the two forces, as the human workers run for cover. As Skullgrin and Landmine engage in explosive combat with their weapons, a stray shot clips a passing spotter plane, sending it crashing down towards the refinery.
Cloudburst breaks off the fight with his sparring partner Bomb-Burst, and convinces him to help save the plane and the humans on-board. After all, the plane will crash into the oil terminal and blow them to smithereens if they don't. Cloudburst and Bomb-Burst shed their shells and convert into flight modes, each catching one of the plane's wings and guiding it to a safe landing. Upon transforming, Cloudburst quickly gets his gun on Bomb-Burst, as the other Decepticons have been successfully disabled while they did their good deed. The Autobots then force their Decepticon prisoners to disable their device before taking them back to Cybertron to face trial.
Featured characters
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons |
|---|---|
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Quotes
[edit]"This a private party, Decepticons, or can anyone join in? I'm Cloudburst. The guys behind me are Landmine and Splashdown. We cordially invite you to surrender!"
- —Cloudburst worries that no-one remembers who the Autobot Pretenders are. Especially Splashdown.
"That plane's gonna hit the terminal! We have to stop it and save the humans!"
"Are you mad? Why should I care about the humans?"
"Well, for one thing, when the plane hits, it's gonna ignite the fuel and blow us all to kingdom come!"
"I'LL HELP!"
- —Cloudburst finds a way to motivate Bomb-Burst.
"I noticed that my colleagues had subdued Skullgrin and Iguanus. That just leaves you!"
"What?"
- —Cloudburst informs Bomb-Burst that the Decepticons have lost off-panel.
Notes
[edit]- No time table is given for this story. It could conceivably take place at just about any point after the Pretenders' debut, but at no point did those three Decepticons explicitly disappear from the main storyline, indicating that if this story is in continuity with the main comics, they escaped at some point.
Courtesy of my...
[edit]- Landmine namechecks his laser sabre as he takes care of a rig anchor with it.
- He also notes that Skullgrin is armed with a shrapnel cannon in tank mode.
Cover
[edit]- Transformers Annual 1990 cover: Powermaster Optimus Prime fights Megatron, by Lee Sullivan.
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Transformers Annual 1990
Reprints
[edit]- Transformers: Prey cover: Optimus Prime fends off Predacons while Ultra Magnus sulks, by Lee Sullivan.
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 17: Matrix Quest cover: Nightbeat (by Dreamwave) over Optimus Prime's corpse by Geoff Senior.
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Prey (Titan Books, 2004) -
The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 17: Matrix Quest (Hachette Partworks Ltd., 2018)
