The Gift

« The Transformers (UK) #93 »
Come with me if you want to BWAH.
"The Gift"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Cover date	27th December 1986
Writer	James Hill
Pencils	Martin Griffiths
Inks	Tim Perkins
Colours	Steve White
Lettering	Robin Riggs
Editor	Ian Rimmer
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

On Christmas Eve, Jetfire struggles with his place amongst his peers.

Synopsis

Jetfire the red-nosed airplane

Buster Witwicky is spending the Christmas holidays studying for a test on the American War of Independence when he is disturbed first by a news report on recent Transformer activity at a Blackrock facility in Portland and then by the appearance of Jetfire at his window.

Jetfire wants to discuss his recent contrasting behaviour. The Autobots learned that the Decepticons had taken over a NASA facility and Jetfire was assigned as back-up to Prowl and Trailbreaker. He arrived to find them locked in combat with Dirge and Kickback while Soundwave transmitted a message to the Decepticons on Cybertron. Ignoring Prowl's orders to stop Soundwave, he instead tried to help his comrades but the Decepticons easily evaded his attack and fled, possibly having completed the transmission.

Jetfire explains that he was also present at the incident in Portland—he and Jazz were supervising a shipment of Transformer fuel when they were ambushed by Thrust and Bombshell. The Autobots were quickly overcome and Blackrock realised that a fire started during the battle was in danger of starting a chain reaction and filling the atmosphere with toxic chemicals that would kill thousands. Hearing this, Jetfire easily defeated the Decepticons and put out the fire with the contents of a water tank.

Jetfire feels that he reacts better when humans are in danger than when fellow Autobots are, because he was created on Earth, and thinks he would betray his comrades to help them. Buster tells him that Optimus Prime values his outlook on life and he should be proud of it, saying the words are his Christmas gift to him.

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Jetfire (2) Optimus Prime (3) Prowl (4) Trailbreaker (5) Wheeljack (6) Jazz (10)	Dirge (7) Kickback (8) Soundwave (9) Thrust (12) Bombshell (13)	Buster Witwicky (1) G.B. Blackrock (11)

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

• In the first panel featuring him, Jazz appears to be missing the Autobot symbol from his chest.

Continuity errors

• Buster says that Jetfire is the first of a generation of Terran Transformers, when in fact the Constructicons were activated before him.
• Fire safety basics! Putting water on a chemical fire will not put it out. Instead it'll probably cause a large explosion and make things much worse.

Continuity notes

• The media still believe Robot-Master is responsible for the Transformers.
• There are many references to past stories including:
  • Buster's part in Jetfire's creation ("Brainstorm!")
  • The Autobots' deal with Blackrock ("DIS-Integrated Circuits!")
  • The creation of the Stunticons ("Heavy Traffic!")
  • Jetfire and Jazz's recent experiences with Galvatron ("Target: 2006")
• Prowl also makes an oblique reference to Trailbreaker being injured in "Target: 2006", noting he is now up and about.

Real-life references

• TBD

Other trivia

• Although Galvatron appears on the cover, he plays no part in the story. (Although he would keep his promise to return eight issues later in "Fallen Angel".)
• For this special Christmas issue, the title of the Transformation page is (adorably) made up of Christmas puddings, flanked by gift-wrapped Autobot and Decepticon insignia.

Back-up material

• Back-up strips: Spitfire and the Troubleshooters - "Behemoth" and Robo-Capers
• AtoZ: Beachcomber and Blades
• Continuing the issue's festive theme, Robo-Capers features two children unwrapping their presents on Christmas morning to find that they have received Ultra Magnus and Galvatron toys. After five hours of non-stop battle the kids are called to dinner, at which point the toys come alive and complain about the rough treatment they've suffered. Interestingly, it is one of the few fictional appearances of Galvatron's gun mode.
• As Beachcomber already had a Fact File printed in issue #45, a note on the Transformation page explains that the A-Z[sic] entries are intended to supplant the earlier format.
• There was also a competition to win one of twenty sets of "Arrival from Cybertron", "Megatron's Master Plan" and "Desertion of the Dinobots" on VHS from Video Gems. To enter, readers were shown three speech bubbles (from "Dinobot Hunt!", "Devastation Derby!" and "Target: 2006") and had to identify which Transformer spoke them.

Covers

• Issue #93 cover: Galvatron spreading some holiday cheer, by Robin Smith.

• 
  Issue #93 - The Treebots were a massive failure on the battlefield.

Reprints

• Transformers Collected Comics #11 cover: Starscream decorating a Christmas tree, by Robin Smith.
• Second Generation cover: Defensor fights Bruticus, by Lee Sullivan.
• The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3 cover: Impactor fights Decepticons, Megatron fights Centurion while Action Force look on, Galvatron fights Ultra Magnus, Straxus's head floats in a jar, Outback floats above the surface of Cybertron and Emirate Xaaron broods, by Andrew Wildman.

• 
  Collected Comics #11 (Marvel Comics, 1988)
• 
  Second Generation - Outta the way, kid! (Titan Books, 2004)
• 
  The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3 (IDW Publishing, 2012)