Command Performances!

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Asses: handed to Decepticons.
"Command Performances!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	April 1986
Cover date	August 1986
Writer	Bob Budiansky
Penciler	Don Perlin
Inkers	Ian Akin and Brian Garvey
Colorist	Nel Yomtov
Letterer	Janice Chiang
Editor	Michael Carlin
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

Omega Supreme defends the Ark while the Autobots invade the Decepticons' base.

Synopsis

Megatron's carefully laid plans come to fruition.

Outside the Ark, Optimus Prime presents to the Autobots their newest member, the titanic Omega Supreme. With his completion, the Autobots are free to mount a raid on the Decepticon base in order to steal the technology required to create combining robots. While nearly the entire Autobot force goes on the mission, Omega Supreme is left behind to guard the Ark.

Still bickering with his temporary co-leader Shockwave, Megatron takes most of his original crew to greet the Decepticons of Cybertron, who are anticipated to be arriving shortly via the space bridge.

During their journey to the Decepticon base, Skids runs afoul of a human driving an expensive Lamborghini, but Prime orders him to continue on. The Autobots arrive at the Decepticons' base and attack.

Megatron, meanwhile, finds that a group of Autobots has crossed the bridge instead of Decepticons; but before he can lead an attack, Shockwave radios him about the Autobot attack at their base. Megatron tries to take advantage of the situation by attacking the Ark, but his squad is soundly defeated by Omega Supreme, with only Megatron and Laserbeak escaping.

At the Decepticon base, Donny Finkleberg takes advantage of the battle to attempt an escape. When Shockwave sends Devastator against the Autobots, they gain the information they were looking for, and retreat. As the Autobots leave, the Lamborghini driver cuts Skids off, allowing Ravage to blast Skids with one of his missiles.

The battered Megatron returns, and though Shockwave accuses him of gross incompetence, Megatron reasons that Shockwave sat and did nothing while a trap—an attack that surely had an ulterior motive—sprang up around him. Shockwave cedes command in the face of Megatron's sound argument.

The Autobots are enthusiastic at their victory, but Optimus Prime cannot celebrate, as Skids is presumed dead. But back in Wyoming, music is still streaming from his wrecked form...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Omega Supreme (1) Bumblebee (2) Optimus Prime (3) Grapple (4) Ratchet (5) Skids (6) Wheeljack (7) Grimlock (8) Slag (9) Swoop (10) Sludge (11) Snarl (12) Smokescreen (13) Tracks (14) Jetfire (15) Hoist (16) Blaster (34) Cosmos (35) Perceptor (36) Powerglide (37) Warpath (38) Beachcomber (39) Seaspray (40)	Bonecrusher (17) Scavenger (18) Hook (19) Scrapper (20) Ravage (21) Megatron (22) Shockwave (24) Starscream (25) Skywarp (26) Thundercracker (27) Rumble (28) Frenzy (29) Laserbeak (30) Buzzsaw (31) Soundwave (41) Mixmaster (42) Devastator (43) Long Haul (44)	Donny Finkleberg (23) Jake Dalrymple (32) Frannie (33)

Quotes

"Should I try again to persuade him?"
"No. Megatron is our commander. He has mad his decision and must live by it... or, perhaps, die by it."

—Soundwave and Shockwave

"Prepare to meet your manufacturer, Decepticons!"
"Wh-who are you?!"
"I am the guardian of the gates... the junction of your destruction... the laser lighting the way to your doom... the planner of your obsolescence... the furnace that fires your demise... I am the number you cannot compute, Decepticon."

—Omega Supreme introduces himself to Megatron

"I will now allow you a few moments to beg for your life before I execute you for gross incompetence."
"Beg? It is you who should beg me, Shockwave -- for my forgiveness! If I am to be faulted for running into a trap, consider this -- you sat here and watched as a trap sprang up around you!"

—Shockwave vs. Megatron in a war of words

"As for the Decepticons lost today, they mean nothing! They can be replaced!"

—Megatron sure knows how to inspire loyalty

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

• Skywarp has blue trim instead of purple on the cover.
• Page 6: The Autobots are shown driving six abreast down the streets of a Wyoming town.
• Page 7: Jake's car is drawn as a Lamborghini Countach (also popular with many Transformers), but the doors are hinged like normal car doors. On a real Countach they should open vertically, scissor-style.
• Page 10: In Blaster's lone panel appearance, he's colored like Optimus Prime.
• Page 17:
  • Starscream and Thundercracker are both colored in blue-highlighted blacks when they are destroyed by Omega Supreme.
  • Laserbeak is colored as Buzzsaw when Omega Supreme wings him.
• Page 21: Laserbeak is incredibly fat as he perches on Shockwave's arm.

Continuity errors

• The army guard still has his gun on Jake when Skids shows up and Jake flags him down. In all likelihood, Jake would have been shot.

Continuity notes

• Grapple began work on Omega Supreme in US issue #14.
• Mirage and Bluestreak are curiously absent. Optimus Prime's dialog seems to indicate that all the available Autobots would be participating in the attack; Ratchet, meanwhile, says he has over a dozen Autobots in the repair bay - previously, he had only the dozen that participated in the disastrous battle back in #12.
• Megatron finally retakes command of the Decepticons from Shockwave after losing it back in US issue #5.
• Skids sees a human washing his car and notes that "that looks like a pleasant way to pass the day" - foreshadowing next issue's events.
• Likewise, the Autobots stealing the secrets of combination sets up the creation of the Aerialbots, who will debut in #21.
• Laserbeak changes his perch from Shockwave to Megatron, signifying who's the leader!
• Omega's size and power will never again equal his awesome display of badassery in this issue.
• Most of the 1984 Decepticons are taken out of the picture, and will not be seen online again until issue #47 (in the US, anyway). This marks Rumble and Frenzy's last on-panel appearance altogether.

Real-life references

• The usual settings: the Ark is in rural Oregon; the Decepticon base is in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

UK printing

Once again, US Grimlock has clearly demonstrated how unfit he is to lead the Dinobots.

• Dialogue in the UK version has been altered from the US version:
  • In the US version, Grimlock says, "Bah! You are a coward, Optimus Prime. You do not fight!" and then "Dinobots understand we are warriors—but because you say we would stand out among humans we never go to war! Now you tell us to go to war but not to fight! Commander who attacks to run away cannot command Dinobots!" In the UK version, this is replaced with "Enough talk. When do we get to hit something?" and then "Oh, we understand, all right. Once again, you've clearly demonstrated how unfit you are to lead the Dinobots. We'll have no part in this fool's errand. Back to the Ark, Dinobots. We've got some talking to do..." The US dialogue appears to be an explanation for why the Dinobots haven't been around for a while. Apparently, the UK comic staff thought this explanation would be somewhat out of continuity with the UK comic, since the Dinobots had been featured heavily in several UK-exclusive stories, where they spent their time fighting Guardian, going nuts and falling into comas (among other things).
  • Additionally, as far as the US was concerned, this was the issue in which the Dinobots chose to secede from the Autobots, going off on their own and not reappearing until seven issues later. In the UK, however, they did not leave yet, choosing only to do so in the next UK-exclusive story, and this change in dialogue also reflects that.
  • In the US version of the dialogue, Grimlock talks like cartoon Grimlock, whereas in the UK version of the dialogue, he does not (consistent with how he talks in the previous UK-exclusive Dinobot stories).

Issue #70:

• Back-up strips: Hercules - "What Fools These Immortals Be!" and Robo-Capers
• Fact File Interface: Omega Supreme
• This was the first appearance of the Hercules strip.

Issue #71:

• Back-up strips: Hercules - "What Fools These Immortals Be!" and Robo-Capers
• Fact File Interface: Thrust

Bot Roster

• Autobots: 10 confirmed active after Omega Supreme comes online, Bluestreak and Mirage disappear, and Skids is lost in battle; 5 rogue Dinobots, 7 wayward arrivals from Cybertron, 14(?) in repair bay, and Skids left abandoned. (37 total)
• Decepticons: 11 active; 6 trashed by Omega and held captive in the Ark. (17 total)

Changes in the IDW Transformers Classics reprint

• On page 1, Optimus Prime's facemask is now miscoloured yellow.
• Again on page 1, the printing (or color separations) error that made Grapple's gun hand green instead of blue (a mixing of the blue and orange) has been corrected by just making his gun hand orange.
• On page 3, panel 3 Swoop's white hi-lights are removed, giving him grey eyes and teeth.
• On page 3, panel 5 the purple under Skids' neck is missing, giving him the impression of being a head floating behind Optimus Prime.
• On page 10, panel 3 Blaster's colors are corrected from an Optimus Prime look to his appropriate colors.
• On page 14, panel 4 Ravage loses his eyes to a new colouring error.

Covers (8)

• 
  US issue #19 - The Decepticons look on in horror as Omega Supreme shoots Some Guy.
• 
  UK issue #70 - The cover lets you know that in this issue, Autobots fight Decepticons.
• 
  UK issue #71 - Oh yes. Ha ha. I see what you did there...
• 
  The Transformers Comics Magazine #10

• US cover: Omega Supreme kicking Decepti-ass, by Herb Trimpe.
• UK issue #70 cover: Autobots attacking, by John Stokes.
• UK issue #71 cover: reuse of art from US cover.
• The Transformers Comics Magazine #10 cover: reuse of art from US cover.

• 
  Showdown TPB
• 
  Showdown hardback
• 
  Classic Transformers Volume 2
• 
  The Transformers Classics, Vol. 2

• Showdown TPB cover: Soundwave, Rumble, Cosmos, Warpath, Powerglide and the other half of the space bridge, by Andrew Wildman.
• Showdown hardback cover: Optimus Prime's head by Alan Davis, Mark Farmer, & Chris Blythe.
• Classic Transformers Volume 2 cover: panels from US issues #20 and #25.
• The Transformers Classics, Vol. 2 cover: Megatron, by Guido Guidi.

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US

• M&M's (inside cover)
• Free headphone radio from Nabisco Confections
• Bonkers! chewy candy
• Marvel Comics' The New Universe
• Thundercats on VHS
• Marvel Super Mart — a list of comic stores stocking Marvel comics
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• MASK
• Yamaha DX100 Synthesizer (back cover)

UK

• None yet identified.

Reprints

• 1988 — The Transformers Comics Magazine #10
• 2003 — Transformers: Showdown
• 2008 — Classic Transformers Volume 2
• 2012 — The Transformers Classics, Vol. 2