...The Harder They Die!

« The Transformers (UK) #98 »
Megatron: Homecoming Queen
"...The Harder They Die!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Cover date	31st January 1987
Script	Simon Furman
Art	Geoff Senior
Colour	Steve White
Letters	Annie Halfacree
Editor	Ian Rimmer
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity (Marvel UK)
Chronology	1987

Prime finds that Cybertron is not the home he once knew.

Synopsis

And it was all going so well...

Optimus Prime is on Cybertron. He wanders the desolate streets of Iacon, shocked at what has become of his beloved home planet. Finding a Decepticon holding an Autobot at gunpoint, he challenges the bully, only to find that his foe is powerful. Only a stroke of luck allows Prime to triumph. The Autobot, Outback, thanks Prime for the help; when Prime heads off alone, Outback follows discreetly.

Megatron is also on Cybertron, specifically the headquarters in Polyhex, and congratulates the current Decepticon leader—Lord Straxus, now reduced to a head in a jar—on having pushed the Autobots back and crushed their spirit. Straxus is furious at Megatron for bringing Optimus Prime to Cybertron. Megatron explains that he had little choice; the Predacons betrayed him, attacking him and leaving him vulnerable to a follow-up attack from a fighting-mad Optimus. Desperate to escape, Megatron summoned the space bridge, only to have Prime hurl them both through the portal before it was stable.

Megatron has already put out word through certain networks that the Decepticons have created a fake Optimus Prime and set him loose on Cybertron. Prime, meanwhile, despairs at the ruins of Iacon. He doesn't have long to lament, however; the misinformation campaign has done its job, and Prime soon finds himself under attack, imprisoned, and sentenced to execution by the Autobot band known as the Wreckers.

Featured characters

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

Autobots	Decepticons
Optimus Prime (1) Outback (3) Hoist (4) Bumblebee (5) Gears (6) Wheeljack (7) Ironhide (8) Ratchet (9) Blaster (17) Rack'n'Ruin (18) Guardian (19) Ultra Magnus (20) Sandstorm (21) Roadbuster (22) Twin Twist (23)	Well-armed Decepticon bully (2) Megatron (10) Straxus (11) Razorclaw (12) Rampage (13) Headstrong (14) Tantrum (15) Divebomb (16)

Quotes

"Provoke me and you will find I am still a formidable adversary!"
"Calm yourself, Straxus. You have nothing to fear from me!"
"And Prime does?"
"Oh yes! You see I have passed word, through your known informants within the Decepticon ranks, to the Autobot resistance, telling of a brazen Decepticon, trying to infiltrate their movement. A Decepticon, designed to resemble - in every detail - their missing hero, Optimus Prime! I won't need to kill my greatest enemy... the Autobots will do it for me!"

—Megatron tells Straxus his master plan

For long, pleasant moments his mind wanders once more through the glowing golden streets of Iacon. His world is at peace. He remembers a time when his thoughts turned only to life, never to death. But - as consciousness drags him screaming from his past - he realises, with dreadful certainty... that has all changed!
"Decepticon - the charges are spying and impersonating our greatest warrior."
"The verdict of this court is guilty!"
"The sentence is death!"
"And the Wreckers will be only too pleased to carry it out!"

—Optimus Prime awakes to find himself captured by the Wreckers

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

• Hoist's head is missing its colors on page 3.

Continuity errors

• Prime's plan was to get Wheeljack to build a duplicate of his body, have it appear to be blown up and discovered by the Autobots and hopefully teach them to function without him. Wheeljack was in on this plan. And although there were complications in how the plan was executed, the end result was the same: the facsimile construct was destroyed and the Autobots believed it to be the real thing. So why does Wheeljack (who, remember, was in on the plan) assume that the real one is dead? Granted, there was greater than expected destruction at the scene of the "crime", but to think "OMG PRIME MUST BE DEADED FOR REAL!" rather than "wow, Prime sure was thorough" is a bit odd. At the very least, you'd expect him to mention the plan to the other Autobots if he's unsure, or maybe check the remains of the recovered body? Or did he do such an amazing job that the duplicate is completely indistinguishable from the real thing?

Continuity notes

• Straxus's body was destroyed in "The Bridge to Nowhere!". The US comics left him for dead, but the UK series uses him as a major player for quite some time to come.

Back-up material

• Back-up strips: Spitfire and the Troubleshooters - "Counterattack" Part 4 and Robo-Capers

Covers (5)

• 
  Issue #98
• 
  Collected Comics #12
• 
  Transformers Comic-Magazin #8 - Ultra Magnus always brought a child with him.
• 
  Prey TPB
• 
  The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3

• Issue #98 cover: Megatron on Cybertron, by Phil Gascoine.
• Collected Comics #12 cover: The Predacons surround Optimus Prime, by Jeff Anderson.
• Transformers Comic-Magazin #8 cover: Optimus Prime, a miscolored Ultra Magnus and Guardian, and a random small child.
• Prey TPB cover: Optimus Prime staves off Razorclaw while Ultra Magnus broods, by Lee Sullivan.
• The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3 cover: Impactor, Megatron vs Guardian, Straxus's head, Xaaron, Galvatron riding Ultra Magnus and Outback, by Andrew Wildman.

Reprints

• 1989 — Transformers Collected Comics #12
• 1990 — Transformers Comic-Magazin #8
• 2004 — Transformers: Prey
• 2009 — The Transformers: Best of UK: Prey #2
• 2010 — The Transformers: Best of UK: Prey
• 2012 — The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3