Raiders of the Last Ark
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 Tannis development proceeding. Acquire headpiece, Staff of Ra, Abner Ravenwood, US. | |||||||||||||
| "Raiders of the Last Ark" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 18th May - 12th July 1985 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Art | Mike Collins & Jeff Anderson | ||||||||||||
| Colours | Gina Hart | ||||||||||||
| Letters | Richard Starkings (#18, #20-21); John Aldrich (#19) | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Sheila Cranna | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
A Decepticon attack on the Ark prompts the Autobots to activate the shipboard computer Auntie...which promptly threatens to destroy both sides.
Synopsis
The Decepticons make their first attempt to overrun the Autobots and capture the Ark. Though the Autobots fight valiantly, Optimus Prime fears defeat is only a matter of time, unless the ship's defences can be activated. To that end, Prime leaves the battle and brings online Auntie, the ship's controlling AI. Megatron follows and is present when Auntie awakens...and brings the battle to a halt by magnetizing the ship's walls, leaving Autobot and Decepticon alike helpless. The damaged computer can no longer distinguish between friend and foe, leaving Prime and Megatron to plead their cases before it.
At the main battle site, meanwhile, Ravage and Windcharger alone are able to circumvent Auntie's magnetic field. With some reluctance, they team up and fight their way past a series of defences toward the computer core.
Optimus Prime explains to Megatron that Auntie will likely kill both sides; Megatron responds that he may be able to stop her, and he begins building up power, drawing energy cross-dimensionally from a black hole. But before he can discharge it, Windcharger and Ravage burst in, engaged in combat with Guardian. While Windcharger handles the mechanoid, Ravage destroys Auntie.
Freed, Megatron decides it'd be a shame to waste all the energies he's accumulated. But before he can destroy anything, Windcharger uses his magnetic powers to blast Megatron out of the Ark and into the stratosphere, though he burns himself out in the process. The Decepticons retreat after their leader's exit, but Optimus Prime knows it is but a short reprieve...
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
- The Transformers are drawn straight off their toys, rather than the animation models that would become standard later on. This was because Marvel UK did not have a production bible until John Ridgway and Mark Farmer visited America and met Bob Budiansky who gave them a copy. Raiders was the last UK story to feature such toy based designs, by the time of the next UK story, Decepticon Dam-busters, the character models would be much more harmonized.[1]
- In the flashback section which opens Part Three of this story, the silhouette of one of the Decepticon seekers can be seen in the background. This seeker has Thrust's distinctive VTOL engines on his wings; as with the appearance of Red Alert in "The Enemy Within!", this is another example of the UK art team placing Year Two characters in the early UK stories despite them not being a part of the contemporary character roster.
Continuity errors
- An opening recap of the Transformers' arrival on Earth shows Auntie computing that a suicide course into Earth is the only logical choice. In the original telling of that story, Optimus Prime reached that decision on his own.
Continuity notes
- This follows directly on from "The Enemy Within!" and sets up the already published "The Last Stand".
- The Ark is here referred to as "the last of the great arks", implying a series of such vessels.
- Like "Man of Iron" and "The Enemy Within!", this strip was originally printed between "The Last Stand" and "The New Order" but is set in some vague time before the Autobots and Decepticons were deactivated after Shockwave's arrival. The Robot War features run in issues #22, #36 & #63 of the comic place both this story and "The Enemy Within!" between "Prisoner of War!" and "The Last Stand". Robot War was a bit cheeky in ignoring that "Last Stand" directly follows from "Prisoner", claiming Sparkplug Witwicky returns to the Ark after "Raiders".
- This issue marks one of the extremely rare times when Megatron uses the ability to link up with a black hole to boost his powers mentioned in his tech specs - he won't use it again until "Resurrection!".
Real-life references
- You know the source from which the issue's title possibly derived.
Other trivia
- This story was originally intended as a two-parter, but was divided into four parts at a late stage. As such, only Part Three has a flashback-style recap of previous events; originally this would have been at the beginning of Part Two.
- Windcharger freeing himself and Ravage by "reversing the polarity of their own magnetic fields" is a nod to the recurring act of "reversing the polarity of the neutron flow" in the long running British TV series "Doctor Who".
Back-up material
Issue #18:
- Back-up strips: Machine Man - "Alone Against Alpha Flight" part 1, Robo-Capers, Chromobots, Planet Terry and Matt and the Cat
- Fact File: Jazz
- June calendar: Laserbeak
Issue #19:
- Back-up strips: Machine Man - "Alone Against Alpha Flight" part 2, Robo-Capers, Chromobots, Planet Terry and Matt and the Cat
- Fact File: Rumble
- Tales from the Fact Files: "Battle of Hastings - The True Story"
Issue #20:
- Back-up strips: Machine Man - "Alone Against Alpha Flight" part 3, Robo-Capers, Chromobots, Planet Terry and Matt and the Cat
- Transformers Checklist: part 1
Issue #21:
- Back-up strips: Machine Man - "Alone Against Alpha Flight" part 4, Robo-Capers, Chromobots, Planet Terry and Matt and the Cat
- Tales from the Fact Files: "The Saga of Erik the Red"
- July calendar: Sunstreaker
- Transformers Checklist: part 2 - intriguingly, Soundwave is referred only to as "Cassette Man", though he would later explain this away in issue #24's Soundwaves as a nickname he allows select humans to call him.
Covers (5)
-
Issue #18 - WAZ! SPLO! -
Issue #19 -
Issue #20 -
Issue #21 -
The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1
- Issue #18 cover: Autobot/Decepticon battle, pencils by Mike Collins, inks by Jeff Anderson.
- Issue #19 cover: Optimus Prime and Megatron encounter Auntie, by Mike Collins and Jeff Anderson.
- Issue #20 cover: Windcharger and Ravage caught in the electric field, by Mike Collins and Jeff Anderson.
- Issue #21 cover: Megatron activates his anti-matter power, by Mike Collins and Jeff Anderson.
- The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1 cover: Cybertron, the Ark, Auntie, Optimus Prime, Megatron, the Overlord, the Man of Iron, Guardian and the Ultimate Autobots, by Andrew Wildman.
