Shadow of Evil

« The Transformers (UK) #253 »
You're MY WIFE now!
"Shadow of Evil"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	14th January 1990
Cover date	20th January 1990
Writer	Simon Furman
Art	Cam S
Letterer	Annie Halfacree
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity (Marvel UK)
Chronology	Post-Time Wars future (2010)

Unicron has possessed Rodimus—everyone's buggered...

Synopsis

The Unicron-possessed Rodimus Prime is slaughtering the Autobots by the dozen, and, as they are reluctant to kill him, their weapons are set to stun. Kup has called for help from Autobot City, but until it arrives, he feels they owe it to Rodimus to let him have a chance fighting against the real enemy...

Rodimus Prime flees through a nightmare world, pursued by Unicron, now in the form of a walking shadow. Rodimus is running scared when he should be fighting, and he is lost.

The possessed Rodimus Prime pauses due to this psychic battle, so as reinforcements arrive, Arcee makes Kup realise they have to take this chance and shoot to kill...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Others
Getaway (1) Quickmix (2) Rodimus Prime (3) Siren (5) Red Alert (6) Kup (7) Arcee (8) Doubleheader (9) Hosehead (10) Longtooth (11) Afterburner (12) Perceptor (13) Blaster (14) Strafe (15)	Unicron (4)

Quotes

"Ah, the taste of revenge is sweet indeed! It is somewhat fitting that your executioner is your own leader, Rodimus Prime! What is this, Autobots? Do I detect a certain reluctance? Blasters set to stun? Do you think you can save your pathetic leader? Let me set your minds at rest. You can no more save him... than you can save yourselves!"

—Unicron having possessed Rodimus Prime, while killing various Autobots.

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

• Transformations calls the story "Shadow of a Greater Evil."

Continuity errors

• TBD

Continuity notes

• Unicron's name is not mentioned either here or in "White Fire".
• Rodimus/Unicron appears to take out a fair number of Autobots in this issue. As well as the deactivated Getaway and Quickmix, we see him blasting Siren, Doubleheader, Hosehead and Longtooth (along with some poor sod in silhouette who is pretty much disintegrated). It would be the last time we would see these characters in the future timeline, leaving their fates uncertain.
• The Autobots really are in trouble; the "heavy artillery" ordered in by Kup consists of Blaster, Perceptor, Afterburner and Strafe. We could be charitable and assume the other Technobots are just off-panel, but they're still not more heavily armed than, say, any other group of random Autobots.

Real-life references

• TBD

Other trivia

• TBD

Back-up material

• Additional Transformers story: "Yesterday's Heroes!"
• Other strips: G.I. Joe the Action Force - "The Lower Depths" and Combat Colin
• AtoZ: Scrapper and Seaspray

Cover

• Issue #253 cover: Rodimus Prime and Unicron fight, by Stephen Baskerville.

• 
  Issue #253

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Reprints

• Transformers: Aspects of Evil: Rodimus Prime and Unicron fight, by Stephen Baskerville. Cropped version of issue #254's cover.
• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Vol 19: Perchance to Dream: Megatron (from early IDW promo art), by Guido Guidi above a retro scene of the Battlechargers (from Marvel UK #255 cover), by Stephen Baskerville.

• 
  Aspects of Evil TPB
  (Titan Books, 2005)
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection Vol. 19
  (IDW Publishing, 2017)