The Bridge to Nowhere!

"I just want to axe you a question!"

While the Cybertronian Decepticons build a device that will allow travel between Cybertron and Earth, the Autobots make a desperate attempt to stop them.

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Marvel US issue #18

(Story also appears in: Marvel UK issues #68-69, IDW Transformers: Generations #6)

Script: Bob Budiansky
Pencils: Don Perlin
Inks: Keith Williams & Vince Colletta
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Colors: Nelson Yomtov
Editor: Michael Carlin

• Major characters (in order of appearance): Straxus, Shrapnel, Bombshell, Kickback, Blaster, Powerglide, Perceptor, Cosmos, Seaspray, Warpath, Beachcomber, Soundwave, Megatron, Donny Finkleberg, Shockwave, Spanner
• Originally published: July, 1986

Synopsis

The Decepticons construct a space bridge to enable travel to Earth, but it is still not perfected. The Autobots attempt to sabotage the bridge, but Blaster hesitates to set all the necessary explosives when he discovers that the neutral scientist Spanner, who had been kidnapped by the Decepticons, has actually been reconfigured into the space bridge itself. The Decepticons discover Blaster, and stop his sabotage efforts. In the process, the bridge is activated, and Straxus' body is destroyed while battling Blaster. Blaster and his Autobot teammates travel to the other side of the space bridge to arrive on Earth, but the bridge disappears behind them, and they are trapped on a strange new world.

In a "meanwhile on Earth" subplot, Megatron, Soundwave, and Donny Finkleberg (all last seen in "I, Robot-Master!") are hanging around a coal mine. Finkleberg is still making broadcasts in his "Robot-Master" role, trying to convince humans that the Autobots are hostile. He complains about his working conditions (e.g., all Ravage brings him for food is a snack machine full of candy). Megatron is barely tolerant of this. Then, Shockwave shows up with Laserbeak and Buzzsaw. He and Megatron argue about who leads the Decepticons, until they receive a message from Straxus, declaring that he is about to open the space bridge. Given this development, the two leaders agree to a truce. Finkleberg decides he needs to find a way to warn the Autobots.

Errors

• Straxus' colors change extensively by comparison to the previous issue.

Items of note

• When Shockwave shows up to confront Megatron with Laserbeak and Buzzsaw, Megatron comments that he had sent the two bird-mode mini-cassettes to retrieve Starscream and the other Seekers, not Shockwave. This raises questions about Laserbeak and Buzzsaw's loyalties. Along with Soundwave and Ravage, they rescue Megatron from his immobility in "I, Robot-Master!" (#15 of the US series). Presumably Megatron sends them to collect the Seekers shortly after the end of that issue. In #16, "Plight of the Bumblebee!", the two bird-cassettes are working for Shockwave, and go along with him on his mission to capture Bumblebee. They do not appear in #17, then show up in this issue with Shockwave in tow, clearly to Megatron's dismay. On the face of it, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw are only loyal to whatever leader is closest at the time. The real-world explanation is likely that "Plight" was written by Len Kaminski, not Budiansky, and thus this is a continuity error. On the third hand, a whacked-out fanon explanation could hinge on the fact that Laserbeak's name is misspelled "Lazerbeak" in "Plight" (and Buzzsaw is not explictly named), and thus might not actually be the same character . . .
• References to other Transformers continuities/issues: Donny Finkleberg was captured by the Decepticons in I, Robot-Master!.
• The full title of the previous issue was given as Return to Cybertron Part 1: The Smelting Pool!. Ostensibly, this would make The Bridge To Nowhere! Return to Cybertron Part 2, although it is not explicitly named as such.
• This issue introduces the concept of the Space Bridge, and it is radically different to how it appears in the cartoon.
• This issue was reprinted as issue 6 of IDW Publishing's Generations series.
• The Letters to the Editors section of the Marvel US publication of this issue includes the first mention of Shingo.
  
  
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