Assassins
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 "Over here. Turn around." | |||||||||||||
| "Assassins" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | 18th August 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 25th August 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Pencils | Jeff Anderson | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Michael Eve | ||||||||||||
| Lettering | Stuart Bartlett | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity/Earthforce | ||||||||||||
While Starscream faces off against some freelance peacekeeping agents bounty hunters, the Autobots make a terrible discovery...
Synopsis
In the Louisiana bayous, an alien assassin unsuccessfully fires on Starscream and is shot down for his troubles. A second alien, looking like a knight on horseback, charges the Decepticon but is easily thrown aside. Then a third creature, composed of two lumps of organic matter linked cybernetically, tries to electrocute Starscream but is unsuccessful. Starscream cuts it in two and demands answers as to why they are trying to kill him.
In a control room elsewhere, two shadowy figures observe the situation and note that all Starscream will learn is that someone put a bounty on his head, as they wish him to find out. On the screen Starscream comes to the conclusion that Soundwave is behind all this. The shadowy figures change frequency and tell Bludgeon that there is a job for him.
Meanwhile at the Earthforce base, Wheeljack explains to Grimlock that Snarl is suffering from Corrodia Gravis and that he needs a systems boost from a compatible Transformer. But the only compatible one is Starscream!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
Quotes
"One chance, my friend - [Blasts his would-be assassin] - is all you get!"
- —Starscream is badass. Wait, what?
"It's gonna be a bad day..!"
- —Starscream after he's attacked by the second assassin in under a minute.
"Ftyuh? Ni? Yamma!"
"Whatever you say, Jack - [Tosses the Knight bounty-hunter into a tree] - Always ready to lend a hand!"
- —Knight bounty-hunter and Starscream
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
Continuity errors
Continuity notes
- The cover shows Starscream being stalked by a strangely familiar bounty hunter who does not appear in the story itself. Dreadwind helpfully confirmed this predatory individual's identity in the letters page of issue #293[1].
- The identity of the shadowy figures is rather easily given away by the way they are drawn.
- Snarl was shown to be suffering from Corrodia Gravis in the Transformers Annual 1990 story "Destiny of the Dinobots!", which was set in 1992, long after these events.
Real-life references
Other trivia
Back-up material
- Additional Transformers story: "Kings of the Wild Frontier."
- Other strips: G.I. Joe the Action Force - "Into the Breach" and Combat Colin
- AtoZ: Topspin and Tracks
- In the box in the top left hand of the cover Dreadwind now appears, having pushed Optimus Prime out over the last two issues. His permanent cover pose and Hi-Test appear from the next issue.
Covers (2)
-
Issue #284 - "Want some candy?" -
Fallen Star
- Issue #284 cover: Starscream is stalked by a Predator, by Kirk Etienne.
- Fallen Star cover: Megatron and Shockwave wrestle at Memphis Airport, by Stewart Johnson.
