In the National Interest
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 You guys just have to destroy everything, don't you? | |||||||||||||
| "In the National Interest" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 16th August – 6th September 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Art | Will Simpson | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Dave Hine (#75), Tim Perkins (#76) | ||||||||||||
| Colours | John Burns (#74–76), Tony Jozwiak (#77) | ||||||||||||
| Lettering | Annie Halfacree | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Ian Rimmer | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Joy Meadows and the Dinobots are going to blow the whole Robot-Master story wide open, but the Decepticons and Triple I don't want this to happen.
Synopsis
Joy Meadows is on Between the Lines announcing that she will expose the claims of Robot-Master that he leads the Transformers for the sham that is. Meanwhile, Triple-I are watching and decide that she must be silenced. At the same time, Professor Morris is standing trial for murder on a security guard, when the courtroom is invaded by four armed men who kidnap Morris.
At the Ark, the Dinobots are bored, as they are confined to the Autobot base because their forms make them too conspicuous. Grimlock decides they need to go find some action, when Sludge rushes in and states that he's seen Joy on TV. The Dinobots go out to find Joy and are just in time to save her from an ambush laid by Triple-I. Morris then finds out he has been captured by Triple-I to control their new mechanism, Centurion, in order to stop Joy wrecking their Robot-Master scenario.
Gauntlet!
Grimlock tells Joy about the fights between the Autobots and Decepticons and works out that Robot-Master is a puppet of the government. Joy sets up an interview with one of the Dinobots, and Swoop sets off to pick up her film crew. The Decepticons (who are searching for Robot-Master) pick up the signal, and Swoop gets involved in a fight with Megatron while picking up the film crew. Swoop is saved by the arrival of Centurion (controlled by Morris, who is disobeying Triple-I's orders and has sealed himself in the control room).
Holocaust
Swoop manages to escape with the film crew, but as he flies off he is hit by a homing beacon fired by a Triple-I employee. Back at Talon's Point, the Dinobots laugh at Swoop stuck in mid-transformation and manage to find and destroy the homing beacon. But it's too late - the Decepticons appear out of the sea and attack the Dinobots.
The Dinobots' Last Stand?
Centurion arrives as the Dinobots are getting defeated and attacks the Decepticons, bringing the battle back into the balance. Soundwave takes the recordings from the film crew and destroys them, threatening the humans with an unpleasant fate if they ever try to compile further evidence. The Decepticons leave, and the Dinobots lick their wounds.
Meanwhile, Morris decides that he is going to bury Triple-I once and for all. Locked in the vault, he has enough food and water to last a year. He concludes it won't take him that long.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"OOH, 'ECK! DECEPTICONS!"
- -Slag has the campest warning ever.
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
Continuity errors
- The Dinobots complain that they're confined to the Ark by the other Autobots because their dino modes make them look conspicuous. This appears to reference the US version of the dialogue in "Command Performances!", where the Dinobots' absence in recent stories is explained the same way. However, the UK version of "Command Performances" actually has altered dialogue that purposefully ignores that explanation, since the Dinobots had previously been focused on in several UK stories, and thus, no explanation of an absence was needed. So basically, this issue of the UK comic adopts a plot point from the US comic that the UK comic previously chose to ignore.
- Morris confessed to the murder and gave himself up in his first appearance, so why is his lawyer arguing he's innocent? Why is he on the verge of being acquitted?
Continuity notes
- Walter Barnett, usually the nice guy in Triple-I, isn't bothered about murdering Joy to maintain the Robot-Master story.
- The Centurion project was not known about by the President of the United States and after the robot wrecks part of Portland, Forsythe is scared that they'd all be facing prison sentences if the President knew Centurion was theirs. He notably doesn't seem worried that the President would know they tried to murder a journalist...!
- Centurion would then hang around with the Dinobots for a while before being destroyed by Galvatron. The Dinobots must have liked him, because Grimlock ordered Wheeljack to rebuild him ahead of other Autobots when Grimlock became leader.
- This is the second UK Dinobots story, after "Dinobot Hunt!", where Soundwave turns things into a Decepticon victory. Don't mess with Marvel UK Soundwave!
- "Target: 2006" opens with Optimus not being told what had happened by the Dinobots, who then walk away from the Autobots.
Real-life references
Other trivia
Back-up material
Issue #74:
- Back-up strips: Hercules — "For the Love of Gods" Part 1 and Robo-Capers
- Robo-Capers was a full page special edition, revealing the new host of the letters page—Grimlock, guest written by Simon Furman.
- However, there was no letters page this issue.
- Fact File: Hercules
Issue #75:
- Back-up strips: Hercules — "For the Love of Gods" Part 2 and Robo-Capers
- This was the first Grim Grams, which would run until #182
Issue #76:
- Back-up strips: Hercules — "For the Love of Gods" Part 3 and Robo-Capers
- Fact File: "And Now... The Dinobots!"
Issue #77:
- Back-up strips: Hercules — "For the Love of Gods" Part 4 and Robo-Capers
Covers (25)
-
UK issue #74 -
UK issue #75 -
UK issue #76 -
UK issue #77
- UK issue #74: Grimlock, Sludge and Slag burst through the cover, by Alister Pearson.
- UK issue #75: while Megatron is about to destroy Swoop, Guardian looms up behind him, by John Stokes.
- UK issue #76: Swoop carries off the LCTV van, by David Hine.
- UK issue #77: composite of the story's major players, by Phil Gascoine.
-
UK issue #302 -
UK issue #303 -
UK issue #304 -
UK issue #305
- UK issue #302: Blaster & Dreadwind, by Stewart Johnson & John Burns.
- UK issue #303: Starscream, by Stewart Johnson & Robin Bouttell.
- UK issue #304: Circuit Breaker & Starscream, by John Marshall, Bambos Georgiou & Robin Bouttell.
- UK issue #305: Shockwave, by Richard Fisher.
-
UK issue #306 -
UK issue #307 -
Dinobot Hunt TPB -
Best of UK: Dinobots #4 A
- UK issue #306: a contemplative Optimus Prime, by Stewart Johnson & Robin Bouttell.
- UK issue #307: Galvatron being punished by Unicron, by Andrew Wildman & Robin Bouttell.
- Dinobot Hunt TPB cover: the Dinobots crush some log cabins, by ???
- Best of UK: Dinobots #4 cover A: Sludge holding Joy, art by Nick Roche, colors by Rob Ruffolo.
-
Best of UK: Dinobots #4 B -
Best of UK: Dinobots #4 RI-A -
Best of UK: Dinobots #4 RI-B -
Best of UK: Dinobots #5 A
- Best of UK: Dinobots #4 cover B: scene from "Victory!", by Geoff Senior.
- Best of UK: Dinobots #4 Retailer Incentive cover A: panels from "Victory!", by Geoff Senior.
- Best of UK: Dinobots #4 Retailer Incentive cover B: sketch of cover A, by Nick Roche.
- Best of UK: Dinobots #5 cover A: Grimlock brandishing sword over defeated Decepticons, art by Nick Roche, colors by Liam Shalloo.
-
Best of UK: Dinobots #5 B -
Best of UK: Dinobots #5 RI-A -
Best of UK: Dinobots #5 RI-B -
Best of UK: Dinobots #6 A
- Best of UK: Dinobots #5 cover B: scene from UK issue #75, by Will Simpson.
- Best of UK: Dinobots #5 Retailer Incentive cover A: panels from UK issue #76, by Will Simpson.
- Best of UK: Dinobots #5 Retailer Incentive cover B: sketch of cover A, by Nick Roche.
- Best of UK: Dinobots #6 cover A: Centurion beating up the Constructicons, by Josh Burcham.
-
Best of UK: Dinobots #6 B -
Best of UK: Dinobots #6 RI -
Best of UK: Dinobots TPB -
Best of UK Omnibus
- Best of UK: Dinobots #6 cover B: Centurion leading the Dinobots, by Josh Burcham.
- Best of UK: Dinobots #6 Retailer Incentive cover: panels from UK issue #77, by Will Simpson.
- Best of UK Dinobots TPB: Grimlock, by Nick Roche.
- Best of UK Omnibus cover: crop of Best of UK: Time Wars issue #4 cover A.
-
The Transformers Classics UK Volume 2
- The Transformers Classics UK Volume 2 cover: Centurion, Professor Morris and his neural relay link, Soundwave, Shockwave, Megatron, Buster's battlesuit, the Overlord and Nightstalker, by Andrew Wildman.
Reprints
- 1990–1991 — The Transformers #302–307
- 2004 — Transformers: Dinobot Hunt
- 2007–2008 — The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots #4–6
- 2008 — The Transformers: Best of UK: Dinobots TPB
- 2009 — The Transformers: Best of UK Omnibus
- 2012 — The Transformers Classics UK Volume 2
