And There Shall Come...a Leader!

« Transformers Annual 1986 »
"And There Shall Come...a Leader!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics in association with Grandreams
First published	December 1985
Cover date	1986
Writer	Simon Furman
Art	John Stokes
Colours	Gina Hart
Lettering	Starkings
Editor	Sheila Cranna
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity (Marvel UK)
Chronology	"Five million years ago"

The greatest son of Iacon steps forth from the ashes of war.

Synopsis

Roget's Rules of Warfare

Five million years ago, the Decepticons are attacking Iacon, Cybertron's capital city-state. Inside the Celestial Temple, progressive council member Emirate Xaaron finally manages to convince his fellow councillors to cede leadership to a battlefield commander, instead of trying to run the war while hidden away in their protective bunkers. He entreats High Councillor Traachon to give the burden of responsibility to (dramatic pause)...Optimus Prime.

On the battle grounds, Optimus Prime is coordinating several strike squads at once, while waiting for word of his couriers, Bluestreak and Fusion.

On their way back to Optimus Prime with a cache of shatter bombs, Bluestreak is carrying the precious cargo while Fusion runs interference for him. The Decepticons attempt to blow out the bridge they're driving on. Bluestreak makes the jump with inches to spare, but Fusion is not so lucky and is destroyed by Decepticon laser fire.

At Optimus Prime's command post, he receives the good news from Xaaron that command of the armed forces is now totally under his control. This means Optimus can go ahead with the plan he was planning to put forth anyway, even without council approval. (How can you not love this guy?)

As Megatron personally leads his troops in advancing on the Autobots of Iacon, Optimus places himself in Megatron's path. As the battle commences on the last bridge to Iacon, Gears is placing the shatter bombs on the support posts beneath the bridge at Prime's command. At Gears' signal, Optimus actively keeps Megatron occupied on the bridge while his fellow Autobots flee the imminent blast zone. When all the Autobots except Prime are safely away, Gears activates the shatter bombs and destroys the bridge.

Thanks to a pre-arranged escape plan, Optimus Prime is magnetically drawn to safety by Windcharger's power, while Megatron and the Decepticons are smashed under the falling debris of the bridge's collapse. Thus Iacon is saved and Megatron is dealt a crushing defeat in only a few cycles after Optimus Prime is named to command.

'Til all are one!

Chronologically, the events of this issue occur during the early events of The Transformers.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons
Traachon (1) Xaaron (2) Optimus Prime (3) Hound (4) Pulsar (5) Tempest (6) Tomaandi (8) Fusion (9) Bluestreak (10) Prowl (13) Brawn (14) Gears (15) Windcharger (16)	Skywarp (7) Megatron (11) Soundwave (12)

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

• A very, very large number of characters are traced from generics that appear in the first issue of Marvel's The Transformers comic, most notably Big Red in yellow as Pulsar.
• Gears' appearance here is based not on his standard character model, but instead on his depiction in the famous roll-call scene in the first issue of the US comic, a scene which was also reproduced in this very same annual. This odd character model was also used to depict Sideswipe in the first instalment of The Enemy Within!
• Ironhide is coloured shades of blue and white.
• It looks like Mirage, but it sounds like Soundwave. Weeeeird.

Continuity errors

• Though Optimus Prime introducing himself to Megatron isn't an error at the moment, it would later be retconned by State Games and several other sources that the two knew each other in the gladiatorial Games before the war.

Continuity notes

• The depiction of Iacon is based on the imagery of Cybertron as seen in the cartoon episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1". Several buildings and structures are clearly taken from the cartoon, and the most precious comparison has to be the tunnel entrance used by Fusion and Bluestreak to get shatter bombs to the Great Dome, which is exactly the same one Wheeljack and Bumblebee used to get energy conductors to the cartoon's dome-shaped Autobot headquarters. The only difference is that the next piece of road for Fusion and Bluestreak is the same road Wheeljack and Bumblebee drove over before entering the tunnel.
• Emirate Xaaron and his fellow council members make their first appearances.
• Optimus Prime is officially named leader of the Autobots.
• Ratchet is mentioned as being off-panel.

Other trivia

• This story is prefaced with the title "Tales of Cybertron".
• In the Plague of the Insecticons! special reprint, the first and second pages were printed the wrong way round. This was corrected for the 1994 Holiday Special reprint.

Covers (4)

• 
  The Transformers Annual
• 
  Plague of the Insecticons!
• 
  1994 Holiday Special
• 
  Best of Optimus Prime

Reprints

• 1986 — The Transformers: Plague of the Insecticons!
• 1994 — Transformers Holiday Special
• 2010 — The Transformers: Best of Optimus Prime
• 2011 — The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1