Jazz (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity

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This page contains spoilers.

Jazz. The cool cat since 1984.

Marvel The Transformers comics

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Before Optimus became leader, Jazz was part of the self-styled Magnificent Six, a team of Autobot warriors tasked with infiltrating Decepticon-held territories and sowing discord from within. Alongside Prowl, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, Inferno, and Stampede, he released the town of Yuss from enemy tyranny, and was hailed a hero by the resident neutralists. A retaliatory attack proved more difficult to repel, as the group faced off against Megadeath and his elite cadre. They found themselves entrenched for a week while the neutralists grew to resent their presence. The siege ended with the neutralists betraying Jazz's band to the enemy. The Magnificent Six were taken captive, tortured, and humiliated by the Decepticons.

Jazz nearly snapped during the ordeal, though Megadeath briefly paused his torture to ensure he didn't; the master tormentor wouldn't allow Jazz to be insulated from further pain by a broken psyche. In one of his later sadistic games, Megadeath gave five of the six Autobots blasters, and offered them a chance to win their freedom; they only needed to stop him from killing Stampede, the only unarmed member. Jazz and the others failed to even take up arms, so thoroughly had the Decepticon succeeded in psychologically brutalizing them by that point. Afterwards, Megadeath gave the Autobots two hours to find his neutralist prisoners before he detonated five Neutronic bombs and obliterated the entire region. Finding their mettle, the Autobots forewent any attempt to rescue either themselves or the civilians for the Decepticon's entertainment. They instead hid, then ambushed and crippled Megadeath when he came to investigate their lack of action. Megadeath refused to divulge where he had stashed the neutralists, so the Autobots left him behind to die to his own device. When questioned about what had transpired during their mission, the survivors lied and claimed not to remember any of it. The Magnificent Six!

Jazz was present at the battle of Jan-Ja where Optimus Prime rallied the troops in the defence of Iacon. Surrender!

Jazz was one of the Autobots aboard the Ark who crashed on Earth four million years ago, waking up in 1984. Jazz showed an affinity with human pop culture almost immediately, responding to Prowl's non sequitur assertion that his "logic center dictates the most advantageous course of action in any situation" with "Well, that is neat-o, Prowl." The Transformers

Jazz loves Earth... FRIED!

Jazz's first foray into action came when the Decepticons attacked him and his fellow Autobots at Witwicky Auto Repairs, resulting in the kidnapping of Sparkplug Witwicky. Power Play! Later, when Sparkplug was rescued and it was learned that the auto repairman had devised a way for the Decepticons to convert Earth fuel into a usable resource, the Autobots were enraged. Jazz shot a stream of fire to prevent Sparkplug's escape, causing the human to suffer a heart attack. The Last Stand These events were observed by the time travelling Dicet Alpha-zero. The Quest!

Code Adam! CODE ADAM!

It was discovered that after the Autobots crash-landed on Earth, a rescue ship was sent after them which was buried somewhere in England. The Man of Iron, one of its crew, had awakened a number of times in England's history and had become a local legend. Jazz, along with Trailbreaker, Mirage, and Bluestreak, was dispatched to England under Optimus Prime's supervision. Jazz befriended (and kidnapped) a young boy, Sammy Harker, whose dad worked at the castle where the Autobot rescue ship had been partially unearthed. After questioning the boy, it became apparent that the rescue ship had to be destroyed. At the climax of a battle with the Decepticons over the buried ship, Jazz fired his weaponry down into it, and it was pulverized. Man of Iron

Jazz and a handful of other Autobots were beginning repairs on their crashed spaceship when an electrical accident altered Brawn's personality in a very bad way. Brawn became violent and paranoid, and Jazz was unable to keep the tiny but mighty Autobot restrained. At the end of Brawn's subsequent adventure, Jazz was relieved to see that he had survived and was back to his old self. The Enemy Within!

At some point, the Autobots met the Decepticons in battle at Sherman Dam. When the dam's structural integrity was compromised, Optimus Prime ordered Jazz and some others to get the neighboring humans to safety before imminent flooding destroyed the area. Jazz and Sideswipe raced each other as they carried some younger humans away from the nearby town. Decepticon Dam-Busters! Jazz and Sunstreaker were sent on a covert recon mission to scout out Fortress Sinister but the Autobot pretty-boy blew it by showing off, drawing the attention of Thundercracker and Skywarp. The Decepticons attacked, injuring Jazz, and, scared at the thought of being made "a mess" himself, Sunstreaker abandoned his comrade and deliberately drew the Decepticons near a US military encampment so the humans would drive them off. ...Perchance to Dream

When the Ark came under a full-frontal siege from the Decepticons, Jazz narrowly avoided getting blasted by Laserbeak, the first intruder to penetrate the base's defenses. He was next pitted against Laserbeak's master, Soundwave, who proved impervious to Jazz's flamethrower. The Decepticon then took Jazz out of the fight by blasting off one of his arms. The Decepticons were eventually repelled, but Jazz was left badly damaged, and needed extensive reconstruction before he could take up active duty once more. Raiders of the Last Ark

After Shockwave, upon his sudden return from being snared in a tar pit for the past 4 million years, destroyed the Autobots with one blast, the Decepticons moved into the Ark, and Jazz's lifeless body was hung with the other Autobots' from the ceiling. The New Order Ratchet, the only surviving Autobot, heard of the fate of his peers and snuck into the Ark to investigate. Sadly, Jazz and the others were still being kept in this sad state, Warrior School! and hung dormant still while Ratchet headed out to recruit the Dinobots, and Shockwave plotted the conquest of Earth. Repeat Performance! After Ratchet reclaimed the Ark from the Decepticons, Jazz and the other Autobots were rebuilt and repaired. Though some of the other Autobots had suffered damage too extensive to be put back in working order immediately, the wounds suffered by Jazz weren't very severe. The Wrath of Guardian!

Ratchet briefly worried about Jazz during a diagnostics run when the Autobot didn't transform like the others. Jazz explained that he stayed transformed because he was listening to a Madonna song, and it would be rude to interrupt it. After the Autobots returned home, it was Jazz who had a solution to their fuel problems: telling G.B. Blackrock that with the Decepticons around, owning an oil company was dangerous work, and it'd be a shame if something happened, when for just a bit of fuel, the Autobots could ensure he had "protection." Jazz was given authorization to present Blackrock with this deal, which he did after kidnapping the poor industrialist and driving off a cliff. Despite this rocky beginning, Blackrock knew a good deal when he saw one, and he agreed to Jazz's terms.

Seriously, Jazz, you've really got to stop kidnapping every single person you need to talk to.

Soon after, Jazz and Wheeljack hid behind the stage in their alternate modes while Blackrock unveiled his Anti-Robot Photonic Multi-Cannon to the press. Unfortunately, not only was the cannon sabotaged by the demented and powerful human villain Circuit Breaker, but Starscream and Frenzy were there as well to destroy it. The violent efforts of both Circuit Breaker and Starscream put Jazz out of the fight. DIS-Integrated Circuits! Christmas Breaker!

Blackrock was invited to tour the Ark and was disconcerted by the sight of the Jazz's arm being repaired and reattached while he was still conscious. Jazz assured him this was normal. The Next Best Thing to Being There! Meanwhile, the head of Optimus Prime had been held captive by the Decepticons all this time, and surveillance by Prowl revealed that the Decepticons were planning to dispose of it. Brainstorm! Prowl led Jazz and the other Autobots to the head's dumping ground, a swamp, to retrieve it. But upon reuniting it to its body, the Autobots encountered a slight problem: they quickly learned that this was an impostor head controlled by Shockwave. Jazz and the other Autobots were torn down by both the impostor Optimus Prime and a group of Decepticons led by Soundwave. Their lives were spared at the end of this battle once Prime's real head was retrieved. Prime Time! These events were also observed by the time travelling Dicet Alpha-zero. The Quest!

She's not a material girl.

As the Christmas season rolled around, Jazz questioned Buster Witwicky over what use a Christmas tree served. Buster explained to Jazz that it was a symbol for charity, but Jazz was left dumbfounded. Jazz helped his human friend deliver some Christmas presents, when he slid out of control due to the snowy road's slick condition. Buster was thrown out of his vehicle mode, but as Jazz tried to attend to him, he was again attacked by Circuit Breaker. However, Buster's pleas (and the spirit of Christmas) prevented her from killing him. Christmas Breaker! After this, Jazz took the side against building Autobot super-warriors in a heated debate, and fought off Ravage after discovering him within the Ark, spying on their discussion. Ravage escaped after being briefly captured, and Bumblebee left to pursue him. When Bumblebee's signal was detected returning to base, Jazz rushed out to meet him, only to find Laserbeak depositing the scout's severed arm, casting a gauntlet for Optimus Prime to come and retrieve the prisoner. Crisis of Command!

Afterwards, Jazz was part of the team who met an unidentified flying Transformer approaching the Ark, and found themselves tangling against a mind-controlled Swoop. They were unable to subdue him, but Optimus prompted Swoop to wrestle free of his mind-control by issuing the rebellious bot an order. The Icarus Theory Learning that all of the Dinobots were due to go berserk after having spent the past four million years in a tar pit, Jazz was part of a task force sent out to retrieve Slag in the Dinobot Hunt alongside Jetfire and Ironhide. As Jetfire held down the Dinobot, Jazz retrieved a human from Snarl's back, who had foolishly attempted to corral him on his own. He was unfortunately not quick enough on the draw afterwards, and before he could turn his flamethrower onto Slag, Jazz was brutally rammed aside. Jetfire thankfully managed to knock out Slag after Jazz's defeat. Dinobot Hunt! Subsequently Grimlock was left in a coma and dreamed that Megatron's Decepticons stood victorious over the Autobots, including Jazz. Victory!

Sans a leg, Jazz was once again in Ratchet's repair bay with several others. Because of these drastic losses to the Autobot ranks, Optimus Prime began building additional warriors. Rock and Roll-Out! When one of these additional warriors, Tracks, went missing in Greater Portland Optimus Prime sent Jazz to search for him, though he was unsuccessful in locating his comrade. Missing in Action

In a prophetic, Matrix-induced dream, Buster saw Jazz perish at the hands of Shockwave. Once Buster and Optimus joined minds however, the vision changed to another scenario altogether, wherein the Protectobots and Aerialbots defeated the Stunticons and Combaticons. Second Generation!

On a mission to build friendly relations with the people of Pinewoodsville, Jazz and several other Autobots were hit with a strange energy blast that reversed their personalities. The group rampaged through the town, ruining months of goodwill work. Tracking the source of the blast to England, the Autobots flew overseas to put an end to what they assumed was a Decepticon plot. But the Decepticons had also been affected by the blast, and were likewise tracking its origin. Jazz, Sideswipe, Prowl, and Mirage holed up inside Optimus's trailer to conserve energy, but were shaken out of their hiding spot by Starscream, just as another personality-reversing blast hit the group. Optimus was sent crashing into a tree off the road, and his troops began calling for a violent mutiny. Sideswipe thankfully returned to his senses just as Jazz was about to execute Optimus, and foiled the attempt. Nonetheless, Optimus was left too banged-up to carry on with the mission; he hid in a tunnel while his troops soldiered on. Jazz and Starscream found their way to a secret research facility as they raced towards the source of the blasts, the latest one leaving their personalities unaffected, but making their other systems go haywire. Parked in car mode while he checked his systems, Jazz was shanghaied by Zeke Heilmann, a spy with the device that was causing the Transformers so much trouble in hand: the "PARD." Mistaking Starscream, also parked in his vehicle mode to get his circuits in order, as an escape vehicle sent by his superiors, Heilmann ditched Jazz and hopped into the jet. Having regained his bearings, Jazz shot a heat-seeking missile at the fleeing Decepticon. Starscream tried to go into "hyperblast" to outpace the projectile, but his systems were still malfunctioning. He transformed, dumping Heilmann out of his cockpit, and sending the human into the missile's path. Both Heilmann and the PARD were obliterated in the explosion. Starscream turned to battle Jazz, but both Transformers fled the scene when several Red Arrow planes turned up to investigate the situation. Jazz lost the planes by hiding in a parking lot, then he and the other Autobots carried Optimus back to their UK Base, where Ratchet was waiting to fix him up. To a Power Unknown!

Jazz spent three weeks in a shipping container in order to get to Skagway, Alaska unnoticed by the Constructicons. Hoist, spying on the Constructicons' operation at the time, became stuck in an open mine shaft, and signaled Jazz to come rescue him. Upon his arrival, Jazz mistakenly believed Hoist had already been scrapped by the Constructicons, his corpse being left out as a warning, and so was unprepared when the half-buried Autobot sprung back to life before him. Jazz accidentally fired a shot, betraying both of their position to the Constructicons. Though Jazz managed to tug Hoist out of the mine shaft, a returning laser-blast struck him through the head, giving him brain damage. Jazz remained functional, but was totally oblivious to the dangers around him, forgetting who he, Hoist, or the Constructicons were. Hoist was forced to prod him along violently to prevent him from being first shot to pieces, then crushed underfoot after the Constructicons merged into Devastator. Hoist managed to gain ground on their pursuer despite the uncooperative and bewildered Jazz, until the two Autobots arrived before a hydro-electric dam. Jazz stared dumbly at the concrete structure while Hoist prepared their means of escape. Devastator was tricked into blasting the dam, and Hoist shut down Jazz so that he could strap him onto a makeshift raft. The Constructicons were swept away in a torrent of water while Hoist and the unconscious Jazz sailed to safety. Afterwards, Jazz was towed back to base, where Ratchet repaired the damage dealt to him during the adventure, returning his mental faculties to normal. The Mission

When Galvatron time-jumped to 1986, Jazz was sent to scout out Decepticon territory and was captured. He was then tortured and used as bait to draw the Autobots into an ambush and was told of Galvatron's origin before his brain was operated on to turn him into a murderous zombie-soldier. He was used against his fellow Autobots and needed severe repairs afterward. Target: 2006 Prey! By Christmas 1986, he was sufficiently recovered to accompany Jetfire in collecting a shipment of fuel from Blackrock's chemical plant near Portland, but after a surprise attack by Thrust Jazz was quickly rendered inactive when Bombshell shot him in the back. The Gift

Optimus Prime wasn't thrilled by how fragile the Autobots had proven themselves to be during one of his absences, and so faked his death so that his soldiers could better learn to operate without him. Jazz was among the many who attended his funeral, which was interrupted by Optimus himself, spontaneously reappearing on Earth, standing atop his headstone. Resurrection!

Shot in the crotch, and lore's to blame!

Jazz was among the dozens of Autobots who gathered on Earth's moon to watch Blaster and Grimlock battle for Autobot leadership, and subsequently came under Decepticon attack. Totaled! Once Optimus Prime returned and took the reins of leadership again, Jazz helped Blaster partake in a training exercise. Club Con!

When an Underbase-powered Starscream attacked New York City, Jazz was part of the team sent to ambush him. Although most of the team was easily defeated, Jazz managed to hit him with a photon blast from behind, and while Starscream retaliated with a fatal blow, Jazz's attack was still enough to throw him off the Brooklyn Bridge and into the jaws of the Seacons. Dark Star

Jazz likes humans so much, he wears one as his skin.

Later, exhausted from the workload of fixing all the Autobots Starscream damaged, Ratchet began having nightmares of being attacked by his deactivated comrades. The Decepticon Sports Car Patrol took advantage of this mental breakdown and took control of Jazz and others' circuits to "zombify" them and torment him. When this failed, the Sports Car Patrol passed themselves off as Autobots and convinced Ratchet to come with them to Cybertron to get medical supplies. Ratchet took Jazz, along with Goldbug and Grimlock, with him, only to find Megatron waiting for him! Back from the Dead While Ratchet was forced by Megatron to revive Starscream using Pretender technology, he had an idea of what to do with three discarded Pretender shells... The Resurrection Gambit! which turned out to be repairing Jazz, Grimlock and Goldbug Bumblebee! All the Familiar Faces!

While the others dealt with Megatron, Jazz had more than his hands full fighting off the Sports Car Patrol, who were definitely tougher than they appeared. Finding out from Ratchet that he could remotely control his shell, Jazz managed to turn the tide against his smaller opponents, only for Megatron to turn his attention towards him and bash Jazz's head against his shell's. Megatron then summarily pitched all three Autobot Pretenders outside, and ordered his minions to deal with them while he pursued Ratchet through his base's corridors. Jazz, Bumblebee, and Grimlock were able to defeat the Decepticon stooges just in time to witness Megatron's base go up in flames; Ratchet had teleported several explosives inside the base, in a bid to put an end to Megatron's evil once and for all. Skin Deep After the explosion, Jazz searched the detritus for both Megatron and Ratchet's bodies, but with no success. They were both assumed to have been atomized. Eye of the Storm

Along with Bumblebee and Grimlock, he remained on Cybertron for a while, and was sent to investigate a brutal group-killing. The Pretenders' inquiries were interrupted by Ruckus, Windsweeper, Sparkstalker, and Cindersaur, out for revenge on behalf of the Decepticons offed in said killing. Demons! Jazz was in the process of getting beaten up by Windsweeper when both groups were accosted by the true culprits behind the slaughter, the ferocious Demons. Jazz and Bumblebee began blasting the monstrous colossi, only for the Demons to absorb all of the energy thrown their way. Even the rest of the group joining in did little to slow them down. The day was saved when Emirate Xaaron, having consulted the only survivor of the Demons' previous attack, brought to the battlefield a reserve of pure energon, pumping the fiends full of the stuff and causing them to overload explosively. Dawn of Darkness

We knew Jazz was badass, but damn.

The Classics emboldened the Autobot resistance, leading eight successful raids on Decepticon fuel and ammunition depots before getting reassigned to Earth. However, the Mayhem Attack Squad attacked the Autobase and accelerated the dimensional interface, sending Jazz, Bumblebee, Grimlock and the Rescue Patrol to the heart of Cybertron and face to face with their creator, Primus! Yesterday's Heroes! Despite the objections of Grimlock, Jazz and the others prostrated themselves before their creator and listened to the Keeper's story of how Cybertron came to be. Interrupted by an assault from the Mayhem Attack Squad, Jazz quickly traded blows with Bludgeon but was overmatched. Thankfully, he was rescued by Bumblebee before Bludgeon could deliver the killing blow. After recovering, he cleverly introduced Stranglehold to a very hard wall. Unfortunately, a stray shot from Octopunch awakened Primus, just as the dimensional interface was repaired. Emirate Xaaron ordered Jazz and company sent to Earth. The Primal Scream

This incident led to Xaaron and Optimus Prime sending teams of Autobots out into the galaxy to search for the Creation Matrix during the Matrix Quest. Bird of Prey! Along with his Pretender mates, Jazz was part of the team sent to VsQs where, unfortunately, all they found was a creepy, abandoned science station with a closet full of dead scientists. Despite being "scared oil-less," Jazz implored his team to not give up on finding the Matrix, as the fate of their race hung in the balance. They weren't the only mechs looking for the Matrix, however, and Jazz and the others soon found themselves surrounded by Thunderwing and his Decepticons. Thunderwing proved too powerful even for all three Autobots put together, but thankfully(?), the battle was interrupted by the Matrixspawn, the frightening creature responsible for the death of the science team. The three Autobots escaped, and when Jazz fell through the floor, the Autobots luckily found the Matrix hidden under there, presumably where the Matrixspawn had stashed it. The fuel-challenged Autobots grabbed the Matrix and ran for it. Dark Creation

They were unable to reach their shuttle before Thunderwing overtook them however, and the trio were easily bested by the Decepticon. Thunderwing took the Matrix for himself, stole the Autobots' shuttlecraft, and left them behind on VsQs. All Fall Down After Thunderwing and the Matrix were defeated and shot into space, Optimus Prime sent the Powermasters back to VsQs to retrieve Jazz and the others. Jazz and Bumblebee were worse off than Grimlock by then, and had to be carried away on hoverbeds. Eye of the Storm

Eventually, Jazz fought in the battle against Unicron and was briefly rear-ended on his sky-sled by a speeding Siren. On the Edge of Extinction! Afterwards, he was one of the surviving Transformers that gathered around the still-living remains of Optimus Prime as he named Grimlock his successor before expiring. Still Life! Jazz attended a meeting of the new Autobot-Decepticon alliance where Blaster revealed that Cybertron was still doomed, despite Unicron's thwarting, and it was agreed that the Transformers should evacuate the planet. Exodus!

Transformers Annual 1985

Due to being published early in the franchise, these stories are out of continuity with the above.

Realizing that their mission on Earth would be infinitely more difficult without capable human allies, Optimus attempted to open a dialogue with the American government. He planned the meeting in utmost secrecy, with Jazz being one of the few privy to it taking place at all. Plague of the Insecticons!

Jazz got to go on all of the Autobots' cool and exciting missions, while Bumblebee kept on being relegated to mundane tasks, such as monitor duty. This really rubbed Bumblebee the wrong way. Hunted!

Robo-Capers

Jazz approached Grimlock with a plan to defeat the Decepticons once and for all, only for Grimlock to tell him that he was busy. Jazz asked Bumblebee if Grimlock was in need of any maintenance because of this bizarre change of attitude. Bumblebee explained that Grimlock simply hadn't been the same since he had become a movie star. Robo-Capers issue 91

Earthforce

These stories do not fit into the normal Marvel continuity. See Earthforce for details.

Earthforce Jazz likes to wear his pants high.

His death and resurrection left Jazz a more mature individual, more inclined to take his time and less willing to rush in. Despite that, he still preferred to leave his Pretender shell in storage (outside of heavy combat) and battle on his own. 1990 Jazz profile

When Optimus Prime took the Ark out into space and named Grimlock as Autobot Commander of Earth, Jazz chose to remain on Earth under his Dino-buddy's leadership as part of Earthforce. Break-Away! Although Grimlock had promised Prime that he would show restraint, at the first meeting of the Earthforce Jazz and the others listened and watched as the Dinobot commander literally threw the rule book out of the window. Once upon a Time... Jazz's first mission was to recover the poison gas Megatron had planned to seed in Earth's atmosphere by rocket. He and Sunstreaker raced to the site where Prowl had forced the rocket to crash, hoping to beat the two Decepticon factions to it before they could recover the poison. They failed, as both the Battlechargers and the Stunticons got there ahead of them. Jazz was ready to risk fighting through the 'Cons, but Prowl showed up and pulled him aside. It seemed Prowl had already had plenty of time to render the rocket harmless, and now the Decepticons were fighting over a useless contraption! Life in the Slow Lane Later, Jazz stood guard as Prowl travelled back in time through a Flashback Doorway in order to thwart Megatron's plans. Prowl succeeded, but when Megatron was forced back to the present, he managed to escape despite Jazz standing vigil. Flashback!

It's party time! It's party time! Hey, everybody, it's party time!

On another occasion, Jazz joined Sunstreaker, Ironhide and Bumblebee in infiltrating the Decepticon Enclave. They arranged a fake assassination attempt against Megatron and framed Shockwave's men for it. The feuding that followed carried the Decepticons out of the cave where they were holding their détente, and so Jazz and the others took the opportunity to listen to their music and eat their munchies. Partee! The Bad Guy's Ball! Later, he also joined Earthforce and the Survivors in bringing down the Mayhem Attack Squad. He scored an impressive hit against Bludgeon, paying him back for past indignities that probably did not or would not happen in this timeline. Where Wolf?

Jazz and the rest of the Earthforce were forced to respond when a "concerned citizen" alerted them to Megatron and Shockwave's battle at Memphis Airport, though they suspected that they were being played. Internal Affairs! When Wheeljack unveiled his new defense system for the Autobot Earthbase, he forgot to keep track of the little details, like how it wasn't a good idea to bring everyone outside for a demonstration when the defense grid could only be turned off from inside the base. As Prowl ran the gauntlet to reach the shutdown control center, Jazz and Bumblebee ran interference for him, drawing the fire from some of the defensive cannons to clear his path. The House that Wheeljack Built! Soon after, Jazz helped repel a Decepticon attack on the Earthbase, while their defenses were still down from the earlier incident. Divide and Conquer!

I saw this on TV

As time passed, one Decepticon named Octane began making even more trouble among the humans than his fellow soldiers. A bully by nature, Octane enjoyed "playing" with humans, scaring them on the highways before ultimately driving them off the roads. Fed up with the Decepticon's antics, Jazz posed as a human vehicle and presented himself as bait. By eluding Octane's attempts to run him down, Jazz enraged the Decepticon to the point where he chased his "prey" without paying attention to where they were going, and so Octane ended up stranded in the middle of a military testing ground, chock-full of inflammable fuel and running the risk of exploding at any second. As Jazz watched from a nearby hilltop, the icing on the cake came when Octane radioed his fellow Triple Changers for help, and instead they abandoned him after hearing how he got himself into the mess. Manoeuvres!

After training in the Combat Room with Ironhide, Front Line! Jazz was called into action when the Stunticons kidnapped the Autobots' reporter friend, Irwin Spoon, and he joined his fellow cars in chasing down Motormaster. Jazz managed to get close enough to transform and shoot out the Stunticon leader's rear tires, but this gave Breakdown a chance to ram Jazz's legs out from under him as well. Still, Bumblebee and Tracks managed to catch up to the slowed Motormaster and recover Spoon. End of the Road!

In 1990, Optimus unwittingly reunited the surviving members of the Magnificent Six for a mission to the Acid Wastes. He suspected the Underbase's ruins still held a connection to Cybertron's core, which they could tap into to defeat Unicron. Despite the mission's urgency, Jazz and the others made excuses to be excluded from it. Optimus was bewildered by this apparent display of cowardice, and sent them forth anyways, with Silverbolt along to round out the team.

As the surviving members of the Magnificent Six delved deeper into the wastes, they found their traumatic memories plaguing them with ever-increasing intensity. Though Silverbolt prodded them along best he could, the group became completely paralyzed upon reaching the remnants of Yuss. They were thus incapable of fighting back when they were accosted by a swarm of mutated mechs, survivors of the Neutronic holocaust that they had failed to prevent millions of years ago. But another ghost from their past held even greater sway over them: Megadeath had survived as well, and took the group captive once more! Having realized in the interim that his teammates were plagued by past trauma, Silverbolt sought to stir Jazz and the others out of their stupor through ridicule, calling the five "the Autobots' resident losers." This riled them enough for the truth of what had transpired in Yuss to finally come out. Silverbolt convinced his comrades that they were stronger than they thought, and the group's confidence slowly returned. With hate and cold fury driving them, Jazz, Prowl, Sunstreaker, Wheeljack, and Inferno confronted Megadeath while Silverbolt saw to the mutated neutralists being freed from his control. Jazz's group battered down their former torturer, only stopping short of the killing blow. But Megadeath would rather kill himself, while taking the Autobots with him, than admit defeat; he breached his own nuclear core, beginning a destructive chain reaction. The Autobots fled to once more avoid annihilation.

Having found closure, the Autobots continued on with their mission, and reached the former site of the Underbase with the neutralists in tow. Prowl turned to Jazz and suggested that, with Silverbolt along to replace Stampede, it was almost as though they were the Magnificent Six once more. But Jazz replied that they couldn't go back to the way things were; they had grown too much, and seen for themselves the ugliest side of war. The Magnificent Six!

Marvel UK future timelines

The movie adaptation, originally published by Marvel US, is in italics

Jazz was present in 1995 at the California football stadium where Optimus Prime unveiled Arcee to a group of human feminists as the "first female Autobot". Observing Prime's misguided efforts to placate the interest group, Jazz tried to explain to Hot Rod the difference between human men and women, but only ended up offending one of the women while describing her "upper chassis". At that point, a group of Decepticons led by Shockwave attacked, and Jazz was double-teamed by Fangry and Squeezeplay. Thankfully, Arcee was able to rise to the challenge when her compatriots faltered, and the Decepticons were sent packing. Prime's Rib!

In one future timeline, Jazz served alongside Cliffjumper on one of Cybertron's moons. Suddenly, a "gi-normous, weird-lookin' planet" showed up and consumed the moon, along with Jazz and Cliffjumper's escape craft. Judgment Day! Once the new Autobot leader Rodimus Prime had defeated Unicron, Jazz escaped alongside him. The Final Battle!

In 2007, the Autobots were trying hard to defend their territory from Shockwave's Decepticons. Jazz worked with Ultra Magnus, ambushing a team of Decepticon flyers when they made an assassination attempt on Rodimus Prime. Wanted: Galvatron — Dead or Alive!

Rhythms of Darkness!

Jazz is a Furmanism machine!

In an alternate future of 2009, Jazz was one of the last seven Autobots left alive in the universe. After the destruction of Cybertron and the death of Rodimus Prime, North America was left completely under the control of Galvatron and the Decepticons. With the rest of the world united as a European Crisis Coalition, Jazz and the human leader, Spike Witwicky, were left with a 24-hour deadline to show the world America was still fighting. If they didn't, the remaining human governments were going to unleash nuclear armageddon in a last-ditch effort to eliminate the Decepticons. With little time to spare, the few Autobots left staged an assault on the Decepticon powerbase. Getaway, Chainclaw and Guzzle made a suicidal play to keep the most powerful Decepticons, Scourge and Cyclonus, occupied, while Crossblades sacrificed his life to let Jazz and the others in through the base's force field. Forced to fight Galvatron himself single-handedly, Jazz held out long enough for Spike to scale the base's tower and unfurl an American flag, showing the world outside that there was still fight left in the U.S. of A. As if to punctuate that point further, the heralds of Unicron known as Hook, Line, and Sinker suddenly arrived from cross- and down-time, disabling Galvatron in moments and then vanishing with him in a flash of light. Shocked by his sudden good fortune, Jazz led his two remaining comrades, Prowl and Inferno, in a renewed effort to save the human race. Rhythms of Darkness!

Later on in Primax 490.0 Gamma, the reformed Cybertronian Empire dispatched Jhiaxus to Earth to enlist the aid of the Trio in the fight against Unicron. Together, Autobot, Decepticon, and Cybertronian stood as one and vanquished the Chaos-Bringer. Ask Vector Prime

Transformers Comic-Magazin

The Autobot Classic Pretenders were part of Crossblades's squad of Pretenders who helped to rescue an oil tanker captured by the Decepticons. Transformers in the Battle for Peace: A Big Day for Powermaster Optimus Prime

When the Decepticons stole three nuclear missiles from the United State Federation to hold the world to ransom, Optimus Prime ordered that Jazz, Bumblebee and Grimlock be given the power and abilities of Pretenders and sent to defeat the Decepticons. They arrived outside the Decepticon base, but were attacked by Pretender Starscream! Jazz didn't do too well, and needed his electronic self-preservation system in his shell to reactivate him. He then battled Dreadwind and Darkwing inside the Decepticon base, leaving Bumblebee to take on Megatron. Transformers in Action: Megatron's Ultimatum

Marvel Generation 2 comic

Before the Autobots broke off into micro-units after Klo, they had another encounter with Bludgeon's Decepticons on a long abandoned world. Jazz was part of that unit alongside Prime and the others. Both sides were driven away by a monstrous entity. Ghosts

He separated from the rest of the Autobots for a time but, when Optimus Prime and Grimlock discovered the threat of the Cybertronians, they called in Autobots scattered across the galaxy, including Jazz. He was first seen as part of the rescue squad Grimlock assembled to pull Prime out of Decepticon clutches on Earth. The Gathering Darkness Optimus recuperated from his injuries for a few days afterwards, only for Megatron to burst into the medical bay following a brief off-world absence. Jazz rushed to Optimus's aid, only to find that Megatron had come to forge an alliance. Optimus accepted, but the Autobots were soon called to the planet Ethos to repel invaders, a conflict Megatron refused to involve himself in. Tales of Earth Part Five The Autobots found the culprit behind the invasion once more to be Jhiaxus's army, and Jazz aided best he could in staving off an impeding genocide. The Autobots found themselves outmatched, but managed a victory when Megatron decided to have the Decepticons join the fray after all. Escalation! Jazz remained involved in the conflicts with the Cybertronians as they attacked the alliance's base on Earth, positioning turrets to blast enemy units out of the sky. Total War! When Autobots and Decepticons alike joined forces to defend against the coming Swarm, Jazz worked with Rotor Force member Powerdive to assemble the shield generators that would protect their position. A Rage in Heaven!

Fleetway Generation 2 comic

Jazz leads the Heroics, a secret special operations group. #2's Jazz profile

When Bludgeon began his assault on Earth, Optimus Prime was summoned back to the planet by Grimlock and brought Jazz, Skram, and Sideswipe with him. While Prime confronted Bludgeon directly, Jazz and his operatives engaged another detachment of Decepticons. Despite their small numbers, Jazz's team defeated their more plentiful opponents thanks to the fact that the 'Cons were operating on reduced power levels. Too much prolonged death and destruction takes its toll. War Without End They then joined up with Optimus and the Dinobots to drive off the returning Megatron as well. War Zone

Classics

Classics continues from the Marvel US series, and does not include the UK stories or any subsequently published stories.

Jazz was stationed at the Iron Works when it was invaded by Ultra Magnus and the evil Autobots of the negative polarity universe. Jazz tried to defend the Autobot station from attack, but he was cut down by Magnus's Terminus Blade. Invasion

After the heroic Autobots' Earth passed through into the negative universe, however, Jazz was eventually rebuilt with a new body. Solar Requiem

Regeneration One

Regeneration One continues from the Marvel US series, and does not include the UK stories or any subsequently published stories.

During the attack of Bludgeon's Warworld upon Cybertron, Jazz oversaw the re-arming of Highbrow, Brainstorm, and Hardhead who had previously been under the influence of Scorponok's Gene Key. Destiny, Part Four He later held the line alongside Ultra Magnus, Blurr, Crosshairs and Prowl against the advancing Decepticons and Blitz Engines. Destiny, Part Five

During Rodimus Prime's assault on Jhiaxus's Hub Network, Jazz served on board the Lancer Two alongside Beachcomber, Sky High and Skids under Getaway. Though their part of the mission was carried out successfully, Jhiaxus had anticipated the Autobots' strategy and they were quickly overwhelmed by his reinforcements and forced to crash land on a nearby planet. The War to End All Wars, Part 3

Upon their return to Cybertron, Jazz was amongst the Autobots that secured the Star Chamber against the Dark Matrix creature's shadow-leeches. He travelled to Earth via the space bridge network as part of Prowl's unit where they came under attack by Linda Chang's human resistance forces in the Glass Mountains. After Roadbuster negotiated a ceasefire, the two groups united and journeyed to Nebulos where they took down the Matrix-corrupted Fortress Maximus and rescued Spike Witwicky. The War to End All Wars, Part 5

Notes

• Jazz's speech pattern varies from appearance to appearance. Most of the time, he talks without using slang. Sometimes though, he talks street.
• Jazz's profile in The Transformers Universe issue 2 includes art of his "Cybertron mode" as seen in the cartoon episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". He is never seen to actually use this mode in the comics continuity.