The Pri¢e of Life!

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« The Transformers (UK) #309–310 »

What if we don't feel like it?
"The Pri¢e of Life!"
Publisher Marvel Comics
First published July 1990
Cover date September 1990
Writer Simon Furman
Penciler Andrew Wildman
Inker Stephen Baskerville
Colorist Nel Yomtov
Letterer Rick Parker
Editor Rob Tokar
Continuity Marvel Comics continuity

The coming of... Ratchetron! Uh, Mega-Chet? Uh...

Synopsis

Shock. With the hideous fusion of Megatron and Ratchet having been retrieved from unspace and deposited before them, the only word which can describe the feelings of the assembled Autobots is shock. The unreality of the moment ends when Kup enters the room and, seeing the Megatron side of the creature, takes aim with his laser. His distraction gives Megatron an opening to belt Optimus Prime in the face, and Kup then fires on the Decepticon. Before any more damage can be done, though, Nightbeat disarms his fellow Autobot and forces him to take a second look—at Ratchet. As Nightbeat explains the situation, Kup has to question whether Ratchet would even WANT to go on living in his current condition. Before the discussion can heat up from there, "Megatron" rams through the Autobots, leaving them stunned.

As Kup gets up to pursue the creature, Optimus Prime picks up Nightbeat's side of the conversation and the two begin to debate the survival of Ratchet versus the danger of Megatron. As Ark security officer, Kup insists the creature is too much of a threat to everyone on board the longer it remains functional, and yet Optimus cannot choose to throw away his friend's life so wantonly after just getting him back, whatever his condition.

Meanwhile, on Hydrus Four, Grimlock begins his search for the well of Nucleon. With a local mechanoid as his guide and comic-relief sidekick, Grimlock is forced to endure another round of blatant exposition until, mercifully, the "dumb guide" is chased off by one of the Hydrusian mechanoids who has been driven mad by the Nucleon. The creature is rotting away, yet somehow still capable of animation, and gives Grimlock a meager fight before it is too damaged to continue struggling.

Back on the Ark, things have gotten worse. The fusion creature has damaged Sureshot and sealed itself in the engine room, creating serious wreckage out of critical systems just as the Ark is beginning to make planetfall to meet the Decepticons for the surrender. Kup lays this all on Optimus Prime's head and goes so far as to threaten to invoke the Crisis Act and relieve him of command; after this incident and Optimus's decision to surrender the Autobots to Scorponok, Kup is sure many of the crew would back him in that action. Turning to look the other Autobots in the eyes, Prime realizes his security officer isn't half wrong. Without another word, he takes the gun offered to him by Kup and bashes his way into the engine room.

The fight is short-lived; despite all its power, the Megatron fusion is in constant agony and totally off-balance. Optimus Prime quickly overwhelms the entity, but as he is staring down the barrel of the gun into its optics, Prime just can't go through with the deed. He's then shocked when the creature (clearly under Ratchet's control at this point) pulls the gun back into line with itself and begs Prime to end its life.

On Hydrus Four, Grimlock is forced to deal with the second guardian of the well the same way he did the first: brutally. Reaching the island where the well of Nucleon sits, he finds the last of the three guardians, who is far more coherent and far less violent than his friends. He tells Grimlock that Nucleon is not the prize he thinks; it revitalizes mechanoids, sure, and truly doesn't affect any two the same way, but it also causes wasting depletion and utter madness. In order to satisfy his doubts, Grimlock exposes himself to the Nucleon first before his fallen Dinobots. He emerges from the well feeling magnificent and prepares to load his comrades into the energy post-haste. The little dying robot can only say, "Time will tell..."

In the Ark's medi-bay, Optimus Prime receives a prognosis on the patient(s) from Fixit. The good news is, the doctor can save Ratchet's life. The bad news is, he cannot do so without also saving Megatron; the two robots have become so tightly entwined with one another that it would be impossible to do otherwise. Under the hard stares of his fellow Autobots, Optimus tells Fixit to preserve the life of both patients...

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Others

Quotes

"Dhhh Awabus!"
"Nuuuh -- nuuuh!"
"Yuuus!"

— the fusion-slurred rantings of Megatron and Ratchet


"Thought Earth was the pits, but this place ot it beat! Me dirty, corroded, tired -- and very ticked-off! @$*#&!! Where dumb guide go now? Paid enough for him -- expect good service!"
"Ah. There you are. For the delay, much sorry. But I... erm... got lost."
"Must be mad! Remind me someone, please -- tell why I bother!"
"Oh, that is easy. You are here because up ahead is the island of Farooth, the Medi-Center and the nucleon!"
"Nnn. Give me strength..."

— Grimlock calls on all his strength to deal with the guide robot


"Defend the well!"

—First Nucleon guardian. Note the double meaning in that phrase.


"*zzsk* Defend the well *zzsk* None must *zzsk* none must *zzsk* none must"
"Must what?! Me think your needle stuck!"
"Feed *zzsk* none must feed *zzsk* Defend!"
"Enough! You go defend somewhere else!"

—Nucleon guardian vs. Grimlock


"No. Be strong. Be resolute! Be merciless!
...I -- cannot! It is not my way, not the Autobot way! Matrix for give me, but I ca-- Wha--?"

— Optimus Prime tries to coach himself into killing the Megatron-Ratchet fusion... only to find the creature begging to be killed.

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

  • In the previous issue, Grimlock took Swoop and Snarl with him. This issue shows Snarl and Slag instead. However in "...All This and Civil War 2" Grimlock will be seen with all four Dinobots. Obviously some were just off panel this issue and the last.

Continuity errors

  • So why didn't anyone use the Crisis Act on Grimlock back when he was being a rubbish leader?

Continuity notes

  • Kup states there are around thirty active Autobots on the Ark, along with sixty deactivated and in stasis - almost exactly in line with the current count (see Bot Roster, below.) Since less than sixty have been confirmed as killed on-panel in events like "Dark Star", then this would seem to confirm that characters who've vanished (like the Monsterbots) should be assumed to be offline.
  • Despite the central focus of the last few issues, Ratchet and Megatron would not be addressed again until "The Void!".
  • Nightbeat outlines his theory from last issue again, explaining the events from the end of "Skin Deep".
  • Prime's announcement that he plans to surrender to the Decepticons also happened last issue.

Real-life references

Bot Roster

  • Autobots: 30 active, plus 1 fused with Megatron; 8 rogue Micromasters; 1 in storage, 31 offline, 24 presumed offline. (95 total)
  • Decepticons: 21 active, 5 gone rogue; 25 offline, 25 presumed offline, 2 offline/missing. (78 total)

UK printing

Issue #309:

  • Reprint Transformers Story: "The Enemy Within"
  • Other strips: Machine Man - "He Lives Again" and Combat Colin
  • AtoZ: Thundercracker and Thrust - a full colour reprint of the AtoZ from issue #283
  • Free Gift: A Megatron/Ratchet hybrid bookmark.
  • The UK #309 cover tagline is derived from "21st Century Schizoid Man", the opening song of King Crimson's 1969 prog rock opus In the Court of the Crimson King.
  • With this issue the UK comic changed from a weekly to fortnightly schedule. The remaining 24 UK issues would return to the old format used on most of the UK run (from issue #27 until issue #213) of a single Transformers story and a backup strip. The remaining 24 UK issues would each contain half a US issue.
  • The Machine Man story was previously printed, starting way back in Issue #27

Issue #310:

  • Reprint Transformers Story: "The Enemy Within"
  • Other strips: Machine Man - "He Lives Again" and Combat Colin
  • AtoZ: Optimus Prime (updated)
  • Free Gift: An A2 poster by Jeff Anderson, featuring a group of Autobots and Decepticons facing up

Other trivia

Covers (10)

  • US issue #70 - Ouch.
    US issue #70 - Ouch.
  • UK issue #309 - AND he won't stop dribbling!
    UK issue #309 - AND he won't stop dribbling!
  • UK issue #310 - Tough love from Grimlock.
    UK issue #310 - Tough love from Grimlock.
  • All Fall Down TPB
    All Fall Down TPB
  • All Fall Down HC standard cover
    All Fall Down HC standard cover
  • All Fall Down HC Botcon exclusive cover
    All Fall Down HC Botcon exclusive cover
  • The Best of Simon Furman
    The Best of Simon Furman
  • Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm
    Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm
  • Classic Transformers Volume 5
    Classic Transformers Volume 5
  • The Transformers Classics, Vol. 6
    The Transformers Classics, Vol. 6

Advertisements

  • None yet identified.

Reprints

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