Pandora's Gift
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| "Pandora's Gift" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #71 | ||||||||||||
| Writers | Jesse Wittenrich & Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Pencils | Dan Khanna | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Jake Isenberg | ||||||||||||
| Colors | Evan Gauntt | ||||||||||||
| Letters | Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Managing editor | Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Of Masters and Mayhem | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | 2020 | ||||||||||||
Secrets are revealed as the Pretenders take on Thunder Mayhem, with new arrivals coming in to level the playing field...
Synopsis
Spike and the family rescued by "Garry the Gorilla" stand in awe, as "Garry" reveals he's much more than meets the eye when he speaks! "Garry" jumps with all three out of the gorilla exhibit, and explains that, when he saw Spike and Elizabeth risk their lives to save the others on the bus, he has felt something he lost long ago. Spike and Lisa find the "gorilla" strangely familiar, as "Garry" turns his attention towards Thunder Mayhem...
The Autobot Pretenders try to attack the Decepticon in vain, none of their attacks even fazing Thunder Mayhem, who declares himself to be an unstoppable force of nature. Crossblades is taken out of the fight when his helicopter rotors are destroyed, and Metalhawk orders a reluctant Vroom to get Crossblades to safety. As his soldiers retreat, Metalhawk is joined by "Garry"...who reveals that he, too, is an Autobot Pretender! Having fought Thunder Mayhem before, the Pretender proves able to cause the combiner some momentary pain. Unable to figure out who the new Autobot is, Thunder Mayhem demands to know he is, and "Garry" is all too happy to oblige: he is the most legendary Autobot of them all, Optimus Prime. However, Thunder Mayhem is pleased at this revelation, hoping to break the Autobot commander again. Prime reveals how, when Thunder Mayhem attacked Cybertron, he was imprisoned by the combiner on his ship, and was forced to watch as Autobots and Decepticons alike were slaughtered. The cruel combiner then let Optimus go, leaving him with the burden of all those he could not save, as Optimus came to Earth to live out his last days among the planet's creatures. But when the humans arrived, Prime finally felt something he never expected to feel again: hope! Thunder Mayhem is unmoved by this "foolish" feeling, and grabs Optimus, slowly crushing him in his grip.
Elsewhere, the two police detectives encountered by the Autobots earlier help the evacuation efforts, leading civilians to transportation away from the battle. With little options left and the cell towers, one of the detectives persuades the other to call down the latter's brother, a former member of R.A.A.T., to help deal. The two are then joined by Elizabeth, who advises them to tell the RAAT team to hold back, as this is no ordinary robot. The two protest, unwilling to see the city destroyed even further, but Elizabeth tells them she won't let that happen; she just needs to make a call of her own first...
Meanwhile, Megatron observes the battle, shocked that Optimus Prime was here the whole time. Megatron hopes that Prime and his new Autobots can defeat Thunder Mayhem...but he cannot, and begins to flee. However, he is quickly confronted by Ramjet, who mocks the Decepticon. Ramjet, having long missed the feeling of killing another, prepares to strike...but is grabbed by the newly arrived Toxitron, the former Decepticon's acidic touch burning Ramjet's face. Toxitron's commander, Wrecker leader Impactor, tells him to back off, as they have a more important target. But as the Wreckers prepare to face Thunder Mayhem, Ramjet regenerative powers prepare him for the fight once more...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Wreckers | Others |
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Quotes
"Optimus Prime, you were here... this whole time. Our sparks always were drawn together. Two specks of light dancing in the dark. While Cybertron is dead — burned by flames inevitable as those two sparks danced and caught fire — perhaps you can save a world yet. You and these new Autobots. Your new Autobots. I... cannot. Although I always have your spark, I am alone. The last. And that weight... Optimus, you know that weight —"
- —Megatron writes love poetry
Notes
- Characters mentioned include: the Mayhem Attack Squad.
Continuity notes
- The detective's brother who was a former member of R.A.A.T. was mentioned back in "Insight".
- The Wreckers arrived above Earth in the prose story "Lively Pursuit", published roughly around the same time as this comic.
Transformers references
- Crossblades is taken out of the fight the same way his counterpart in a post-apocalyptic future seen in issue #67 of the Marvel The Transformers comic was: by having his rotors destroyed. Here, however, it proves to be far less fatal, and Crossblades himself claims he's crashed worse by himself.
Real-world references
- This chapter's title comes from the Greek myth of Pandora's box.
Other trivia
- When Optimus Prime leaves his Pretender shell, it's shown to split down the middle like "classic" Pretender shells, rather than opening its "backpack" like the actual Pretender Optimus Prime toy does.
- Spanish in this chapter includes:
- "Calle 100" and "Avenue Juan Pablo," meaning "Street 100" and "Juan Pablo Avenue".
- "¡Todos salgan!", meaning "Everybody get out!"
- "Su hermano," meaning "your brother."
