Editing Yesterday's Heroes!

{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)|''The Transformers'' (US)]] #60
|prev=Skin Deep
|next=The Primal Scream
|seriesissue2=[[The Transformers (Marvel comic)#Marvel UK|''The Transformers'' (UK)]] #252–254
|prev2=The Void! (UK)
|next2=Edge of Impact
|title="Yesterday's Heroes!"
|image=MarvelUS-60.jpg
|caption=HASSAN CHOP!
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|date=
|coverdate=December [[1989]]
|script=[[Simon Furman]]
|pencils=[[José Delbo]]
|inks=[[Dave Hunt]]
|colors=[[Nelson Yomtov]]
|lettering=[[Jim Massara]]
|editor=[[Don Daley]]
|continuity=[[Marvel Comics continuity]]
}}
'''Optimus Prime deals with Ratchet's death.'''

==Synopsis==
Aboard the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]], [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] listens to the [[Aunty|computer]] recite the names of deactivated [[Autobot]]s, finally breaking down when it reaches the recently lost [[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]]. While Prime laments the loss of another friend and the apparently increasing futility of their struggle, the logical mind of the computer can only point out the mathematically sound principle that Ratchet traded his life for the return of [[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]], [[Jazz (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Jazz]], and [[Bumblebee (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Bumblebee]]. A sullen Prime asks the computer to calculate the most logical course of action to avoid further loss of life in the war. Its response: to stop fighting. This causes concern for the other Autobots, who worry that in his present state, Prime may just do that.

[[File:Bludgeonstrangleholdoctopunchmodelsheet.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Character model]]s, ho!]]
Meanwhile, back on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]], the [[Classic Pretender]]s lead the [[Micromaster]] [[Rescue Patrol (G1)|Rescue Patrol]] and the [[Targetmaster (technology)|Double Targetmasters]] on another successful [[Decepticon fuel store|fuel raid]]. They've been doing this for around eight days now and their rebirth has given a much-needed boost to the Autobot resistance on Cybertron, but the [[Decepticon]] threat to Earth and its more abundant resources means they will be soon heading back there. Meanwhile, in the [[Decepticon royal palace]], [[Decepticon leader]] [[Thunderwing (G1)|Lord Thunderwing]] is increasingly displeased with the Autobots' growing success and orders [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]], [[Octopunch (G1)|Octopunch]], and [[Stranglehold]]—the [[Mayhem Attack Squad]]—to find and kill the Autobot Pretenders.

On the orders of Optimus Prime, the Ark lands on the [[Moon (moon)|Moon]], and he goes out to brood alone, perhaps forever. As the others discuss options, [[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Hot Rod]] has already come up with a plan to use a remote-controlled Mark V [[Guardian (Marvel)|Guardian]] drone and pretend it's run amok to convince Optimus to come to rescue them all and snap out of his funk. Unfortunately, fact and fiction blur when the Mark V's flaw of unpredictability manifests, and it really does run amok and attack the Autobots.

Searching through the ruins of [[Iacon (polity)|Iacon]], the Mayhems track the signal from the specially irradiated fuel that Autobots stole to the old [[Celestial Spires|Council Chambers]], just as the Classic Pretenders and Rescue Patrol prepare to travel via the [[trans-time dimensional portal]] to [[Earth]]. As [[Emirate]] [[Xaaron]] wishes Bumblebee well, making the first mention the Pretender has heard of their god [[Primus]] in years, the Mayhem Attack Squad burst in and Bludgeon reprograms the controls with his sword, transporting both the attacking Decepticons and Autobots bound for Earth to parts unknown.

On the Moon, Hot Rod's misguided plan actually works as Optimus Prime lays into the Guardian drone, physically tearing it apart, as he realizes that simply giving up dishonors the memories of every fallen Autobot. He vows to continue fighting with all his might.  

Elsewhere, the messed-up trans-time dimensional portal deposits the traveling Autobots and their Decepticon attackers in bizarre yet strangely familiar tunnels. Walking towards the light, the Autobots discover themselves face to face with their living god, Primus.

==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks or on video screens.)<br>
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
{{{!}}border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:transparent"
{{!}}-
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*''[[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]]'' (1)
*''[[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]]'' (2)
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (3)
*''[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]]'' (5)
*''[[Fortress Maximus (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Fortress Maximus]]'' (7)
*[[Jazz (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Jazz]] (8)
*''[[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]]'' (9)
*[[Kup (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Kup]] (10)
*[[Hot Rod (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Hot Rod]] (11)
*[[Scoop (G1)|Scoop]] (12)
*[[Quickmix (G1)|Quickmix]] (13)
*[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] (14)
{{!}}style="background:transparent;border:0px" valign="top"{{!}}
*[[Bumblebee (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Bumblebee]] (15)
*[[Seawatch]] (16)
*[[Stakeout (G1)|Stakeout]] (17)
*[[Landfill (G1)|Landfill]] (18)
*[[Red Hot]] (19)
*[[Cloudburst]] (24)
*[[Highbrow (G1)|Highbrow]] (25)
*[[Brainstorm (G1)|Brainstorm]] (27)
*[[Xaaron]] (28)
*[[Blurr (G1)|Blurr]] (29)
*[[Fixit (G1)|Fixit]] (30)
{{!}}}
|c2=
*''[[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]]'' (6)
*[[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] (20)
*[[Octopunch (G1)|Octopunch]] (21)
*[[Stranglehold]] (22)
*[[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] (23)
|c4=
*[[Aunty|Computer]] (4)
*[[Guardian (Marvel)|Mark V Guardian drone]] (26)
*[[Primus]] (31)
}}

==Quotes==
"Spare me your appraisal, computer. I've viewed the reports, heard the accounts. Ratchet made the logical decision, the right decision. I'm '''sick''' of hearing that! My friend is '''dead.''' You understand that, computer?"
:—'''Optimus Prime''' despairs


"'''Mathematics!''' One life for many... how I tire of '''that''' equation!"
:—'''Optimus Prime'''


"I'd forgotten we had a '''god!''' With all that's happened I sometimes think our "god" has forgotten about '''us!''''"<br>
"'''Huh!''' Maybe he just sleeping! Need '''waking up!'''"
:—'''Bumblebee''' and '''Grimlock''' give us some rather ham-handed exposition and foreshadowing


"Of course, I'd been fooling myself! Giving up isn't the answer! Giving up is '''never''' the answer! When it came to the crunch, did Ratchet just give up, shirk his responsibilities? No -- he fought on, even though it cost him his '''life!''' And how do I honor his selfless sacrifice? I '''give up''', I crawl away to wallow in self-centered misery! Well, '''no more!''' I will honor Ratchet's sacrifice -- no, I will honor '''every Autobot''' who has fallen by fighting on -- with all the strength and wisdom I possess! And I will not falter -- until the tyrrany of the Decepticons is an at '''end!'''"
:—'''Optimus Prime''''s latest speech is so good, it motivates both himself and a computer!

==Notes==
===Artwork and technical errors===
[[File:Landfill yesterdays heroes.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7]]
*The Autobot Double Targetmasters carry weapons that resemble their Nebulan partners — Scoop and Quickmix carry theirs singly, one in each hand, while Landfill's are combined into "double weapon" mode — though they are not seen to transform, nor are they mentioned as being Nebulans in the story's dialogue. Between the creation of the Targetmasters in "[[Brothers in Armor!!]]" and the comic's present day there doesn't seem to be much opportunity for the Cybertron-based Autobots to have visited Nebulos but it is ''just'' about possible that it all happened "off-panel". Their ''Transformers Universe'' profiles, included at the end of [[The Primal Scream|next issue]], explicitly reference their Nebulan partners and their former lives on Nebulos.
[[File:YesterdaysHeroes-ScoopQuickmix.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Yes, that's Red Hot in the background. The Micromaster.]]
*The [[Rescue Patrol (G1)|Rescue Patrol]]'s [[alternate mode]]s are drawn massively out of scale during the initial battle.
*In his first appearance, only Stranglehold's face is flesh-colored; the remaining bare-skinned portions of his Pretender shell are white.

===Continuity errors===
*TBD

===Continuity notes===
*While not seen destroyed "on-screen" by the [[Underbase]]-powered Starscream in "[[Dark Star]]", [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] and [[Powerglide (G1)|Powerglide]] are listed in this issue among the deceased, lending weight to the belief that effectively all earlier members of the Autobot forces without organic enhancement were eliminated.
*It has to be said that the foreshadowing on page 14 (repeated mentions of Primus, needing to wake him and meeting their maker) is laid on pretty thick.
*The story introduces a [[units of time|unit of time]] called an orn, which is defined as "one Cybertronian lunar day".
*With this issue, Simon Furman begins to bring across an increasing number of Marvel UK-exclusive concepts, such as the updated version of the Mayhem Attack Squad and the Guardian droids, plus characters like Emirate Xaaron and Primus. 
*That said, Furman ''also'' brought over the entire first act of the UK story "[[Resurrection!]]" to start "Yesterday's Heroes!" with. Or forgot he had used that setup before. We got ourselves Autobot heroes from Earth (Optimus Prime vs. the Autobot Classic Pretenders) that boost the Autobot rebels' morale on Cybertron and lead them on raids on Decepticon fuel stores. In both cases, the Autobot heroes acknowledge the good they do on Cybertron, but consider themselves more needed on Earth. Meanwhile, the Decepticon leader (Straxus vs. Thunderwing) notes that the Autobots were almost crushed, preceded by a near identical line about the Autobots having raided X (five vs. eight) fuel stores in as many days.
*Optimus Prime carries on a conversation with the [[Ark (G1)|Ark]]'s computer, which he calls simply "computer". The Ark's computer was called [[Aunty]] in issue [[The Transformers (issue)|#1]]. In the UK, Auntie was damaged in "[[Raiders of the Last Ark]]". So, this computer may or may not be Aunty.

===Real-life references===
*As the teleported Autobots wonder where they are, Jazz paraphrases ''The Wizard of Oz'': "Grimlock, ol' buddy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!"

===Bot Roster===
*Autobots: 23 active; 8 rogue Micromasters; 1 in storage, 31 offline (Prowl, Perceptor and Powerglide confirmed), 25 presumed offline. (88 total)
*Decepticons: 20 active, 4 rogue Micromasters; 26 offline, 25 presumed offline, 4 offline/missing. (79 total)

===UK printing===
'''Issue #252:'''
*'''Additional ''Transformers'' story:''' "[[Edge of Impact]]"
*'''Other strips:''' ''[[Action Force (comic)|G.I. Joe the Action Force]]'' - "The Lower Depths" and ''[[Combat Colin]]''
*'''[[Transformers AtoZ|AtoZ]]:''' [[Sandstorm (G1)|Sandstorm]] and [[Scavenger (G1)|Scavenger]]
'''Issue #253:'''
*'''Additional ''Transformers'' story:''' "[[Shadow of Evil]]"
*'''Other strips:''' ''G.I. Joe the Action Force'' - "The Lower Depths" and ''Combat Colin''
*'''AtoZ:''' [[Scrapper (G1)|Scrapper]] and [[Seaspray (G1)|Seaspray]]
'''Issue #254:'''
*'''Additional ''Transformers'' story:''' "[[White Fire]]"
*'''Other strips:''' ''G.I. Joe the Action Force'' - "Transit" and ''Combat Colin''

===Changes in the IDW Classic Transformers reprint===
[[File:YesterdaysHeroes-pantyhosebodysuit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.67|FIX'D]]
*Hot Rod's magenta is now orange in all of his appearances in this issue except in the second panel of page 12. 
*Page 5: An Autobot symbol is pasted on Scoop's chest. 
*Page 6: In the second panel, the nose of Jazz's Autobot symbol is uncolored. In the fourth panel, the outsides of Bumblebee's feet are left uncolored.
*Page 8: Stranglehold's body was originally colored white instead of fleshtone (see above). This reprint attempts to correct that, but colors Stranglehold's body a different fleshtone than his face.
*Page 14: In panel two, Jazz and Grimlock's Pretender shell faces are now uncolored.
{{-}}

===Other trivia===
*''[[The Transformers Universe|Transformers Universe]]'' profiles for [[Misfire (G1)|Misfire]], [[Pointblank]], [[Slugslinger (G1)|Slugslinger]], and [[Sureshot (G1)|Sureshot]] are found after the main story.

===Generics===
Most stories set on Cybertron feature some [[generic]]s whose only purpose is to die on panel and this issue is no exception.
<gallery>
File:Generic decepticon yesterdays heroes.jpg|Bumblebee's raiding party slaughters loads of generic Decepticons. They all look like this.
File:Generic autobot yesterdays heroes.jpg|This Autobot...scientist? is operating the trans-time dimensional portal. He's beheaded by Bludgeon in the next panel.
</gallery>

===Covers (4)===
*'''US cover:''' Bludgeon attacks the Classic Pretenders, by [[José Delbo]] and [[Danny Bulanadi]].
*'''UK issue #252 cover:''' Kup accusing [[Longtooth]] of murder, by [[Gary Erskine]].
*'''UK issue #253 cover:''' a demonic snake attacks Hot Rod, by [[Stephen Baskerville]].
*'''UK issue #254 cover:''' [[Unicron]] attacks Rodimus Prime, by Stephen Baskerville.
<gallery>
File:MarvelUS-60.jpg|'''US issue #60''' - He flies through the air with the greatest of ease.
File:MarvelUK-252.jpg|'''UK issue #252''' - Kup, being [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|a prick]]
File:MarvelUK-253.jpg|'''UK issue #253''' - Not Starscream's ghost.
File:MarvelUK-254.jpg|'''UK issue #254'''
</gallery>

===Advertisements===
====US====
*Trix cereal - inside front cover
*''[[Star Trek]] V: The Final Frontier'' figures - between pages 4 & 5
*[[Nestlé]] Quick merchandise - between pages 5 & 6
*NBC Saturday Morning Lineup: ''Kissyfur'', ''Camp Candy'', ''Captain N: The Game Master'', ''The Karate Kid'', ''Smurfs'', ''The Chipmunks'', ''Saved by the Bell'', ''Alf Tales'', ''Alf'' - between pages 7 & 8 (2 pages)
*''Airwolf'' engine powered model helicopter - between pages 16 & 17
*Mister Bubble - between pages 17 & 18
*Star Signals and Checklist - between Misfire and Pointblank profiles
*''Duck Tales Magazine'' - between Pointblank and Slugslinger profiles
*[[Letters page|Transmissions]]
*Marvel subscription service
*Chips Ahoy! cookies - inside back cover
*Lucky Charms cereal (back cover)

====UK====
????

===Reprints===
*'''''[[Transformers: Primal Scream]]'' TPB cover:''' Grimlock, Goldbug, Pretender Starscream, and half of [[Primus]], by Andrew Wildman.
*'''''Primal Scream'' hardback cover:''' Grimlock victorious over the [[Sports Car Patrol]], by [[Dave Gibbons]].
*'''[[Classic Transformers Volume 4|''Classic Transformers'' Volume 4]]cover:''' panels from US issues [[Skin Deep|#59]] and [[Yesterday's Heroes!|#60]], pencils by José Delbo, inks by Dave Hunt and colours by Nel Yomtov.
*'''[[The Transformers Classics, Vol. 5|''The Transformers Classics,'' Vol. 5]] cover:''' [[Prowl (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Prowl]], by [[Guido Guidi]].
*'''[[Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection|''Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection:Volume 16: The Primal Scream'']]''': Optimus Prime by Guido Guidi above an interior scene of the Megatron vs Grimlock.
<gallery>
File:Titan-PrimalScreamSC.jpg|'''''Transformers: Primal Scream'' TPB''' (Titan Books, 2002)
File:Titan-PrimalScreamHC.jpg|'''''Transformers: Primal Scream'' hardback'''<br>(Titan Books, 2002)
File:Classic Transformers Vol4.jpg|'''''Classic Transformers'' Volume 4''' (IDW Publishing, 2009)
File:TFClassicsVol5.jpg|'''''The Transformers Classics,'' Vol. 5'''<br>(IDW Publishing, 2012)
File:DefinitiveG1Collection v16.jpg|'''''The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 16: The Primal Scream'''''<br>(Hachette Partworks, 2017)
</gallery>

[[Category:Marvel US issues]]
[[Category:Marvel UK issues]]