...All This and Civil War 2
| |||||||||||||
 You think you're smarter than me, don't 'cha? Think you're so smart NOW? | |||||||||||||
| "...All This and Civil War 2" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | September 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | November 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Penciler | Andrew Wildman | ||||||||||||
| Inker | Stephen Baskerville | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | Nel Yomtov | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Rick Parker | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Rob Tokar | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Can't we all just get along...?
Synopsis
Surveying the burnt out wreckage of the former Decepticon base, Starscream and company are very pleased with themselves. Well, most of them—Mighty Mindwipe and the Terrible Triggerhappy still look like they're about to lubricate themselves, even in victory. As Starscream tries to provoke his troops into action, he leaps into the debris and begins digging through for survivors. Unfortunately, he finds one: Scorponok is not happy.
Underground, Optimus Prime is just beginning to come to after the blast destroyed the bunker. As he watches the Decepticons gird themselves for battle with a new enemy, Prime quickly realizes that his alliance with Scorponok may prove useless if the Decepticons get caught up with another war. He readies Kup and Hot Rod to search out the other Autobots in the mess, and prepare them to salvage the situation as best they can.
Back on the surface, Scorponok quickly casts aside Starscream and all the flunkies under Shockwave's command. Their battle quickly carries them into the river, and all the way across to Manhattan. Shockwave, as always, beats his chest in the name of logic, claiming his leadership is for the greater good of all Decepticons. Scorponok, meanwhile, is more interested in tearing his opponent to shreds than debating politics.
Deep in the bowels of Cybertron, Emirate Xaaron is on the run from Galvatron and the heralds of Unicron who ransacked Autobase on the surface. Galvatron literally crashes through a wall to capture Xaaron. What follows, however, is a surprise (to Xaaron, at least); Galvatron claims to owe Unicron no loyalty, and is just as interested in stopping him as Xaaron and the Autobots are, if only for his own selfish reasons. After Galvatron informs him that the Matrix is lost as a tool, Xaaron mentions a second legend, the notion that all of Primus's children united in opposition could do the trick as well.
On Hydrus Four, the Dinobots have all been successfully revived by the Nucleon, and so Grimlock has ordered them to stockpile the substance with specially-designed energy siphons, to bring enough of the Nucleon back to the Ark to fully revitalize their ranks (and rub Optimus Prime's nose in the brown stuff). As the loading continues, though, Grimlock suddenly finds his leg frozen up, paralyzed. He flashes back to the little robot's words: "Time will tell..."
As Optimus Prime and the few Autobots he could gather emerge from the Decepticon bunker, they are confronted with the worst of possibilities. The war is over, and the war has begun—it is now Decepticon against Decepticon, and Prime's surrender has done nothing to end the in-fighting among the children of Primus. He takes Nightbeat with him to Manhattan in hopes of stopping the loss of innocent lives, and possibly talking down Scorponok so that the alliance can continue.
In the meantime, Scorponok has gained the upper hand against Shockwave, his passion and fire for combat apparently enough to bring down the "computer on legs", at least momentarily. Their battle is interrupted when Optimus Prime drives in between the two combatants, and begs for a cease fire. Instead, Scorponok states his terms: Shockwave must die at his hand, or else the alliance is finished. While Optimus consults his moral compass, the decision is taken out of his hands when G.B. Blackrock arrives with his new team of superhumans: The Neo-Knights!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Nebulans |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
"Hypothesis: A Decepticon of Scorponok's might and endurance may well have survived being buried by approximately four hundred and sixty-two point seven tons of assorted wreckage. Conclusion: your celebration is premature!"
- —Shockwave rains on Starscream's parade
"C'mon, you wimps -- start digging! Any Decepticons found alive are to be given a straight choice -- join us or die. If there are any Autobots down there... they don't get the first option!"
- —Starscream is quite brave when he thinks his enemies are all dead.
"Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am, we don't think it's the Russians. Yes, ma'am, it is disgusting no one's done anything, but -- Yes, ma'am. But I assure you my parentage can be proved!"
- — the Decepticon civil war causes problems for a desk cop
"You know what your trouble is, Shockwave? You have no soul, no passion! You're just a computer on legs! You observe, you analyze, you assess. You see everything.... and you see nothing! You couldn't lead the Decepticons! The job needs fire, spirit! Do you see? Am I getting through to you?"
- — in both words and fisticuffs, Scorponok gains the upper hand over Shockwave
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
- Page 2: Mindwipe's second sentence has no punctuation (should be a question mark.)
- Runamuck is orange on page 3.
- One of Ravage's fangs is colored blue on page 8.
- Galvatron's Decepticon insignia is colored red throughout page 11.
- Part of Nightbeat's hood is colored yellow on page 19.
Continuity errors
Continuity notes
Real-life references
- New York citizens variously wonder if the fighting is related to the Iraqis or the Russians.
- The President of the United States is obviously drawn to resemble and use phrases of George H. W. Bush.
- Settings include the New Jersey swamps and lower Manhattan, including a fairly accurate depiction of the skyline behind Battery Park.
UK printing
Issue #313:
- Reprint Transformers Story: "The Enemy Within!"
- Other strips: Combat Colin
- AtoZ: Slapdash
- After a few issues gap, "The Enemy Within" continues on from issue #309
Issue #314:
- Reprint Transformers Story: "The Enemy Within!"
- Other strips: Combat Colin
- AtoZ: Punch and Counterpunch
Other trivia
- Transformers Universe profiles for Landmine and Skullgrin are found after the main story.
Bot Roster
- Autobots: 34 active as the Dinobots are restored; 8 rogue Micromasters; 1 in storage, 28 offline, 24 presumed offline. (95 total)
- Decepticons: 21 active, 7 gone rogue; 25 offline, 25 presumed offline. (78 total)
Covers (9)
-
US issue #72 - Not the fac - oh. -
UK issue #313 - Now how CUTE does Mindwipe look? -
UK issue #314 - How many times have they used that tagline?
- US issue #72 cover: Scorponok vs Shockwave, by Andrew Wildman.
- UK issue #313 cover: Shockwave's troops, by Stewart Johnson and Robin Bouttell.
- UK issue #314 cover: US cover recolored, by Robin Bouttell.
-
All Fall Down TPB -
All Fall Down hardback standard cover -
All Fall Down hardback Botcon exclusive cover
- All Fall Down TPB cover: Powermaster Optimus Prime, Megatron/Ratchet, Starscream, Shockwave and half of Unicron, by Andrew Wildman.
- All Fall Down hardback cover: Bludgeon, by Howard Chaykin & Chris Blythe.
- All Fall Down BotCon exclusive cover: Powermaster Optimus Prime and Unicron, by Geoff Senior & Oliver Harud.
-
Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm -
Classic Transformers Volume 5 -
The Transformers Classics, Vol. 6
- Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm cover: Optimus Prime, Ravage and Skywarp, by Andrew Wildman.
- Classic Transformers Volume 5 cover: panels from this issue, "Eye of the Storm", "Deadly Obsession" and "All Fall Down".
- The Transformers Classics, Vol. 6 cover: Blitzwing, by Guido Guidi.
Advertisements
- None yet identified.
