...The Harder They Die!

<table class="infobox" style="width: 20em;">

<tr style="background-color:#e7d492;text-align:center;font-size:12px;"> <td colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center"> <table width="100%" style="background-color:transparent">

<tr style="font-size:14px;"> <td class="tti_buttonlink">« </td><td align="center">The Transformers (UK) #98 </td><td align="right" class="tti_buttonlink">» </td></tr> <tr class="tt1_secondarynav"> <td class="tti_buttonlink"> </td><td align="center"> </td><td align="right" class="tti_buttonlink"> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="font-size: 12px; background-color:#ffffff;" align="center"> <img alt="" src="/w2/images2/thumb/0/07/Marvel_UK_098.JPG/230px-Marvel_UK_098.JPG" width="230" height="302" border="0" /><br />Megatron: Homecoming Queen </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="font-size: 14px; background-color:#e7d492; color:black;font-weight:bold;" align="center"> "...The Harder They Die! </td></tr> <tr> <td>Publisher </td><td> Marvel Comics </td></tr>

<tr> <td>Cover date </td><td> 31st January 1987 </td></tr>

<tr> <td>Script </td><td> Simon Furman </td></tr>

<tr> <td>Art </td><td> Geoff Senior </td></tr>

<tr> <td>Colour </td><td> Steve White </td></tr>

<tr> <td>Letters </td><td> Annie Halfacree </td></tr>

<tr> <td>Editor </td><td> Ian Rimmer </td></tr>

<tr> <td>Continuity </td><td> Marvel Comics continuity </td></tr>

</table> Prime finds that Cybertron is not the home he once knew.

Synopsis

Optimus Prime is on Cybertron. He wanders the desolate streets, 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.

And it was all going so well...

Megatron is also on Cybertron, 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 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

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

<table border="5" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" align="center" style="border:#800000"> <tr> <th style="background:#FFEEEE"> Autobots</th><th style="background:#EEEEFE"> Decepticons</th><th style="background:#FFEEB8"> Others </th></tr> <tr> <td style="background:#FFEEEE" valign="top">

• Optimus Prime (1)
• Outback (3)
• Hoist (4)
• Bumblebee (5)
• Gears (6)
• Wheeljack (7)
• Ironhide (8)
• Ratchet (9)
• Blaster (17)
• Rack'n'Ruin (18)
• Ultra Magnus (20)
• Sandstorm (21)
• Roadbuster (22)
• Twin Twist (23)

</td><td style="background:#EEEEFE" valign="top">

• Green Guy Who Beat Up Outback (2)<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-0" title="">[1]</a></sup>
• Megatron (10)
• Straxus (11)
• Razorclaw (12)
• Rampage (13)
• Headstrong (14)
• Tantrum (15)
• Divebomb (16)

</td><td style="background:#FFEEB8" valign="top">

• Guardian (19)

</td></tr></table>

Errors

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

Items of note

• 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 Stories

• Spitfire and the Troubleshooters - "Counterattack" Part 4
• Robo-Capers

Reprints

• The story was reprinted in Collected Comics 12.
• It was reprinted again by Titan Books in the trade paperback "Prey".

Covers (3)

<table class="gallery" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td><div class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px;"> <div class="thumb" style="padding: 13px 0; width: 150px;"><div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 120px;"><img alt="" src="/w2/images2/thumb/0/07/Marvel_UK_098.JPG/91px-Marvel_UK_098.JPG" width="91" height="119" border="0" /></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> 98 cover

</div> </div></td> <td><div class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px;"> <div class="thumb" style="padding: 13px 0; width: 150px;"><div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 120px;"><img alt="" src="/w2/images2/thumb/5/5b/Tfcolcom12.jpg/91px-Tfcolcom12.jpg" width="91" height="120" border="0" /></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> Collected Comics 12 cover

</div> </div></td> <td><div class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px;"> <div class="thumb" style="padding: 13px 0; width: 150px;"><div style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 120px;"><img alt="" src="/w2/images2/thumb/0/0c/TitanPrey.jpg/88px-TitanPrey.jpg" width="88" height="120" border="0" /></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> Prey TPB cover

</div> </div></td> </tr> </table>

• UK issue 98 cover: Megatron on Cybertron, by Phil Gascoine
• Collected Comics 12 cover: The Predacons surround Optimus Prime, by Jeff Anderson
• Prey TPB cover: Optimus Prime staves off Razorclaw while Ultra Magnus broods, by Lee Sullivan

References

<ol class="references"><li id="cite_note-0"><a href="#cite_ref-0" title="">↑</a> Name shamelessly stolen from <a href="http://obscuretf.com/jhiaxus/" class="external free" title="http://obscuretf.com/jhiaxus/" rel="nofollow">http://obscuretf.com/jhiaxus/</a></ol>