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{{disambig3|Swarm}} | {{disambig3|Swarm}} | ||
{{Comicstory| | {{Comicstory| | ||
|seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Transformers: Generation 2]]'' #9 | |seriesissue=''[[Transformers: Generation 2 (Marvel)|Transformers: Generation 2]]'' #9 | ||
|prev=Escalation! | |prev=Escalation! | ||
|next=Total War! | |next=Total War! | ||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
|caption="Excuse me, will you please stop watching our ''horrible deaths'', you sick freak?" | |caption="Excuse me, will you please stop watching our ''horrible deaths'', you sick freak?" | ||
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]] | |publisher=[[Marvel Comics]] | ||
|date=May 1994 | |date=May [[1994]] | ||
|coverdate=July 1994 | |coverdate=July 1994 | ||
|writer=[[Simon Furman]] | |writer=[[Simon Furman]] | ||
| Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
==Synopsis== | ==Synopsis== | ||
==="Swarm"=== | ==="Swarm"=== | ||
On [[J'asik]], fourth moon of [[Kol]], the [[Autobot]]-[[Decepticon]] alliance finds nothing but corpses and a world sucked dry. [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]]'s visions are now reality. Something is consuming worlds, and Prime fears it's related somehow to the [[Transformer]]s. He orders a complete science sweep. [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] thinks this is a waste of time, but is content simply to complain while he finishes healing. | On [[J'asik]], fourth moon of [[Kol]], the [[Autobot]]-[[Decepticon]] alliance finds nothing but corpses and a world sucked dry. [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]]'s visions are now reality. Something is consuming worlds, and Prime fears it's related somehow to the [[Transformer]]s. He orders a complete science sweep. [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] thinks this is a waste of time, but is content simply to complain while he finishes healing. | ||
[[ | [[File:Xal-G2.jpg|left|upright=1.1|thumb|The claw is your master!]] | ||
Elsewhere, on the planet [[Karn]], the furry purple locals are dealing with a threat no less lethal: the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]]. The troops, under the command of [[Mindset (G2)|Mindset]], go about exterminating the humanoids with emotionless efficiency. When they lose contact with their northwest perimeter watch, they investigate, and discover the consuming menace of the [[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]]. They fight back, briefly. As the Swarm consumes them, however, it recognizes something familiar in them. When Mindset transforms in front of it, the Swarm becomes certain that it has found what it is looking for. | Elsewhere, on the planet [[Karn]], the furry purple locals are dealing with a threat no less lethal: the [[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]]. The troops, under the command of [[Mindset (G2)|Mindset]], go about exterminating the humanoids with emotionless efficiency. When they lose contact with their northwest perimeter watch, they investigate, and discover the consuming menace of the [[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]]. They fight back, briefly. As the Swarm consumes them, however, it recognizes something familiar in them. When Mindset transforms in front of it, the Swarm becomes certain that it has found what it is looking for. | ||
Then it eats him. As Mindset dies, "billions" of light years away, the Decepticon [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] doubles over with pain. His fellow [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticon]], [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]], asks him what's wrong, but he just shrugs it off. Over the millennia, he has forgotten about [[budding]], and even if he remembered, he would be unaware that he can feel it when a descendant of his is killed. Optimus Prime also feels it, and can somehow identify the cause. | Then it eats him. As Mindset dies, "billions" of light years away, the Decepticon [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] doubles over with pain. His fellow [[Combaticon (G1)|Combaticon]], [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]], asks him what's wrong, but he just shrugs it off. Over the millennia, he has forgotten about [[Reproduction#Budding|budding]], and even if he remembered, he would be unaware that he can feel it when a descendant of his is killed. Optimus Prime also feels it, and can somehow identify the cause. | ||
On [[Ethos]], where the alliance recently defeated the [[Ethos raiding party|Imperials]], [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] surveys the results. A stranger approaches. It's [[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]], and he wants to make a deal... | On [[Ethos]], where the alliance recently defeated the [[Ethos raiding party|Imperials]], [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] surveys the results. A stranger approaches. It's [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]], and he wants to make a deal... | ||
==="Tales of Earth Part Six"=== | ==="Tales of Earth Part Six"=== | ||
At [[Autobase]] on [[Earth]], Optimus Prime, Megatron, and their science team examine the data regarding the destruction on [[J'asik]]. [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] reports that they found traces of matter that is unmistakably genetically related to the Transformers. Megatron accuses Prime of having known this was coming. Prime explains the visions he's been having, and tells Megatron about | At [[Autobase]] on [[Earth]], Optimus Prime, Megatron, and their science team examine the data regarding the destruction on [[J'asik]]. [[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] reports that they found traces of matter that is unmistakably genetically related to the Transformers. Megatron accuses Prime of having known this was coming. Prime explains the visions he's been having, and tells Megatron about budding. Just as they resolve to confront this offshoot of Transformer reproduction, however, the base shakes. Time's up: The Cybertronians are attacking in force. | ||
==Featured characters== | ==Featured characters== | ||
| Line 39: | Line 39: | ||
|c1= | |c1= | ||
*[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (1) | *[[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]] (1) | ||
*[[Grimlock (G1)|Grimlock]] (2) | *[[Grimlock (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Grimlock]] (2) | ||
*[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (4) | *[[First Aid (G1)|First Aid]] (4) | ||
*[[Kup (G1)|Kup]] (5) | *[[Kup (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Kup]] (5) | ||
*[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (6) | *[[Perceptor (G1)|Perceptor]] (6) | ||
*[[Wheeljack (G1)|Wheeljack]] (7) | *[[Wheeljack (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Wheeljack]] (7) | ||
*[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (16) | *[[Nightbeat (G1)|Nightbeat]] (16) | ||
|c2= | |c2= | ||
*[[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] (3) | *[[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] (3) | ||
*[[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (12) | *[[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] (12) | ||
*[[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (13) | *[[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]] (13) | ||
*[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] (15) | *[[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]] (15) | ||
|h4=[[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]]|c4= | |h4=[[Cybertronian (faction)|Cybertronians]]|c4= | ||
*[[Stormtrooper (Cybertronian)|Stormtroopers]] (9) | |||
*[[Mindset (G2)|Mindset]] (10) | *[[Mindset (G2)|Mindset]] (10) | ||
*[[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] (14) | *[[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] (14) | ||
|h5=Others|c5= | |h5=Others|c5= | ||
*[[ | *[[Man-animal]]s (8) | ||
*[[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]] (11) | *[[Swarm (G2)|Swarm]] (11) | ||
}} | }} | ||
==Quotes== | |||
"'''Ah!''' We will need '''all''' our energies, '''all''' our resources for the coming battle...a battle for our '''very existence!'''" | |||
:—'''Megatron''' gets dramatic. | |||
"Now, then. Are we '''finished''' making noises and waving sticks?" | |||
:—A '''Cybertronian soldier''' is less than impressed by the aliens of Karn. | |||
"Oh. '''Great Xal protect me!'''" | |||
:—'''Mindset''' as the Swarm bears down on him. | |||
"For a suitably '''eminent''' position in this new Decepticon hierarchy of yours, I'll hand you Optimus Prime and Megatron - '''on a plate!'''" | |||
:—'''Starscream''' doing what he does best. | |||
"I was a '''fool'''. I thought it was the very distillation of our race that was the threat, the subtraction from our descendants of any '''trace''' of morality. But '''no!''' There was something '''else'''...an offshoot, a by-product, call it what you will. Earlier, I '''felt''' it...it's out there, '''and it's coming for us!'''" | |||
:—'''Optimus Prime''' | |||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
* | ===Artwork and technical errors=== | ||
*Page 20: Prime's line "It's coming for us" is missing its punctuation. | |||
* Given what is understood about budding and the history of the Cybertronians, in order for Onslaught to be Mindset's ancestor, Onslaught would have to be millions of years old, and be from Cybertron. The origin of Onslaught and the Combaticons is not explicit in U.S. continuity, but it's strongly implied they were created on [[Earth]] in the mid-80s, in much the same manner as the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]]. (In the UK continuity, this is more explicitly the case.) This discrepancy is not explained. | |||
* In addition to the Mindset-Onslaught matter, the whole "feeling one's descendants' deaths" part of budding is not written into the story all that well. Besides Onslaught and the [[Liege Maximo]], no other Decepticon or Cybertronian ever shows pain at the gradual annihilation of the entire Cybertronian faction. | ===Continuity errors=== | ||
* ''Billions'' of light years? The Cybertronians must have seriously advanced space travel technology, when one considers that Cybertron was originally orbiting Alpha Centauri in the Marvel Comics continuity. | *Given what is understood about budding and the history of the Cybertronians, in order for Onslaught to be Mindset's ancestor, Onslaught would have to be millions of years old, and be from Cybertron. The origin of Onslaught and the Combaticons is not explicit in U.S. continuity, but it's strongly implied they were created on [[Earth]] in the mid-80s, in much the same manner as the [[Stunticon (G1)|Stunticons]]. (In the UK continuity, this is more explicitly the case.) This discrepancy is not explained. | ||
* A | *In addition to the Mindset-Onslaught matter, the whole "feeling one's descendants' deaths" part of budding is not written into the story all that well. Besides Onslaught and the [[Liege Maximo]], no other Decepticon or Cybertronian ever shows pain at the gradual annihilation of the entire Cybertronian faction. | ||
* Transformers have genes, apparently. Don't ask how. | *''Billions'' of light years? The Cybertronians must have seriously advanced space travel technology, when one considers that Cybertron was originally orbiting Alpha Centauri in the Marvel Comics continuity. | ||
*The Decepticons and Autobots are hanging out on Earth, so soon after the Decepticons killed tens of thousands in a global terror campaign?! | |||
===Continuity notes=== | |||
*A caption refers to the Combaticons as "fusilateral-quintrocombiners", one of the more complicated [[canon]]ical terms for "[[combiner]]". | |||
*Transformers have genes, apparently. Don't ask how. | |||
===Real-life references=== | |||
[[File:CrowtrobotG2ish9.jpg|right|upright=0.85|thumb|"To be dead... to be nothing... to watch 'Neptune Men' no more..."]] | |||
*{{w|Crow T. Robot}} and {{w|Tom Servo}} of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' are among the wrecked robotic beings on page 3. | |||
=== | ===Other trivia=== | ||
* The Swarm | |||
===Furminated=== | |||
*The inhabitants of J'asik are already dead as the issue opens, sucked dry of life by the Swarm. | |||
*Several of the man-apes of Karn are incinerated on-panel by Jhiaxus's troops. | |||
*Mindset and his Cybertronian troopers are consumed by the Swarm. | |||
===Cover=== | |||
<gallery> | |||
File:MarvelUSG2-09.jpg|The Swarm attacks Jhiaxus' troops, by [[Derek Yaniger]]. | |||
</gallery> | |||
===Advertisements=== | ===Advertisements=== | ||
* None yet identified. | *None yet identified. | ||
===Reprints=== | ===Reprints=== | ||
* | *'''''[[Transformers: Rage in Heaven]]'' TPB:''' [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]], [[Skydive (G1 Aerialbot)|Skydive]], [[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]] and half of the [[Liege Maximo]], by [[Andrew Wildman|Andy Wildman]]. | ||
*'''''Transformers: Rage in Heaven'' HC:''' [[Blast Off (G1)|Blast Off]], [[Onslaught (G1)|Onslaught]] and [[Ramjet (G1)|Ramjet]], by [[Phil Jimenez]], [[Andy Lanning]], and [[Chris Blythe]]. | |||
* '''''[[Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection]]: Volume 91: Generation 2 Part 2'':''' [[Silverbolt (G1)|Silverbolt]], by [[Dreamwave Productions]] and [[Jhiaxus (G2)|Jhiaxus]] smashing [[Optimus Prime (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Optimus Prime]], by [[Geoff Senior]]. | |||
<gallery> | |||
File:Rage in heaven tpb cover.jpg|'''''Rage in Heaven'' TPB'''<br>(Titan Books, 2002) | |||
File:Rage in heaven hardcover.jpg|'''''Rage in Heaven'' HC'''<br>(Titan Books, 2003) | |||
File:DefinitiveG1Collection v91.jpg|'''''The Definitive G1 Collection Vol. 91: Generation 2 Part 2'''''<br>(Hachette Partworks, 2020) | |||
</gallery> | |||
[[Category:Marvel Generation 2 issues]] | [[Category:Marvel Generation 2 issues]] | ||
Latest revision as of 06:15, 16 February 2024
| The name or term "Swarm" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Swarm (disambiguation). |
| |||||||||||||
 "Excuse me, will you please stop watching our horrible deaths, you sick freak?" | |||||||||||||
| "Swarm" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 1994 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | July 1994 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Penciler | Manny Galan | ||||||||||||
| Inker | Jim Amash | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | Sarra Mossoff | ||||||||||||
| Letterers | Richard Starkings with Comicraft | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Rob Tokar | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
The Autobot-Decepticon Alliance discovers the secret of the Swarm... just in time to be attacked by the Cybertronians.
Synopsis
[edit]"Swarm"
[edit]On J'asik, fourth moon of Kol, the Autobot-Decepticon alliance finds nothing but corpses and a world sucked dry. Optimus Prime's visions are now reality. Something is consuming worlds, and Prime fears it's related somehow to the Transformers. He orders a complete science sweep. Megatron thinks this is a waste of time, but is content simply to complain while he finishes healing.
Elsewhere, on the planet Karn, the furry purple locals are dealing with a threat no less lethal: the Cybertronians. The troops, under the command of Mindset, go about exterminating the humanoids with emotionless efficiency. When they lose contact with their northwest perimeter watch, they investigate, and discover the consuming menace of the Swarm. They fight back, briefly. As the Swarm consumes them, however, it recognizes something familiar in them. When Mindset transforms in front of it, the Swarm becomes certain that it has found what it is looking for.
Then it eats him. As Mindset dies, "billions" of light years away, the Decepticon Onslaught doubles over with pain. His fellow Combaticon, Blast Off, asks him what's wrong, but he just shrugs it off. Over the millennia, he has forgotten about budding, and even if he remembered, he would be unaware that he can feel it when a descendant of his is killed. Optimus Prime also feels it, and can somehow identify the cause.
On Ethos, where the alliance recently defeated the Imperials, Jhiaxus surveys the results. A stranger approaches. It's Starscream, and he wants to make a deal...
"Tales of Earth Part Six"
[edit]At Autobase on Earth, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and their science team examine the data regarding the destruction on J'asik. Perceptor reports that they found traces of matter that is unmistakably genetically related to the Transformers. Megatron accuses Prime of having known this was coming. Prime explains the visions he's been having, and tells Megatron about budding. Just as they resolve to confront this offshoot of Transformer reproduction, however, the base shakes. Time's up: The Cybertronians are attacking in force.
Featured characters
[edit](Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Cybertronians | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Quotes
[edit]"Ah! We will need all our energies, all our resources for the coming battle...a battle for our very existence!"
- —Megatron gets dramatic.
"Now, then. Are we finished making noises and waving sticks?"
- —A Cybertronian soldier is less than impressed by the aliens of Karn.
"Oh. Great Xal protect me!"
- —Mindset as the Swarm bears down on him.
"For a suitably eminent position in this new Decepticon hierarchy of yours, I'll hand you Optimus Prime and Megatron - on a plate!"
- —Starscream doing what he does best.
"I was a fool. I thought it was the very distillation of our race that was the threat, the subtraction from our descendants of any trace of morality. But no! There was something else...an offshoot, a by-product, call it what you will. Earlier, I felt it...it's out there, and it's coming for us!"
- —Optimus Prime
Notes
[edit]Artwork and technical errors
[edit]- Page 20: Prime's line "It's coming for us" is missing its punctuation.
Continuity errors
[edit]- Given what is understood about budding and the history of the Cybertronians, in order for Onslaught to be Mindset's ancestor, Onslaught would have to be millions of years old, and be from Cybertron. The origin of Onslaught and the Combaticons is not explicit in U.S. continuity, but it's strongly implied they were created on Earth in the mid-80s, in much the same manner as the Stunticons. (In the UK continuity, this is more explicitly the case.) This discrepancy is not explained.
- In addition to the Mindset-Onslaught matter, the whole "feeling one's descendants' deaths" part of budding is not written into the story all that well. Besides Onslaught and the Liege Maximo, no other Decepticon or Cybertronian ever shows pain at the gradual annihilation of the entire Cybertronian faction.
- Billions of light years? The Cybertronians must have seriously advanced space travel technology, when one considers that Cybertron was originally orbiting Alpha Centauri in the Marvel Comics continuity.
- The Decepticons and Autobots are hanging out on Earth, so soon after the Decepticons killed tens of thousands in a global terror campaign?!
Continuity notes
[edit]- A caption refers to the Combaticons as "fusilateral-quintrocombiners", one of the more complicated canonical terms for "combiner".
- Transformers have genes, apparently. Don't ask how.
Real-life references
[edit]
- Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo of Mystery Science Theater 3000 are among the wrecked robotic beings on page 3.
Other trivia
[edit]Furminated
[edit]- The inhabitants of J'asik are already dead as the issue opens, sucked dry of life by the Swarm.
- Several of the man-apes of Karn are incinerated on-panel by Jhiaxus's troops.
- Mindset and his Cybertronian troopers are consumed by the Swarm.
Cover
[edit]-
The Swarm attacks Jhiaxus' troops, by Derek Yaniger.
Advertisements
[edit]- None yet identified.
Reprints
[edit]- Transformers: Rage in Heaven TPB: Optimus Prime, Skydive, Starscream and half of the Liege Maximo, by Andy Wildman.
- Transformers: Rage in Heaven HC: Blast Off, Onslaught and Ramjet, by Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, and Chris Blythe.
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 91: Generation 2 Part 2: Silverbolt, by Dreamwave Productions and Jhiaxus smashing Optimus Prime, by Geoff Senior.
-
Rage in Heaven TPB
(Titan Books, 2002) -
Rage in Heaven HC
(Titan Books, 2003) -
The Definitive G1 Collection Vol. 91: Generation 2 Part 2
(Hachette Partworks, 2020)
