The Bridge to Nowhere!
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 "May I axe you a question?" | |||||||||||||
| "The Bridge to Nowhere!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | March 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | July 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Bob Budiansky | ||||||||||||
| Penciler | Don Perlin | ||||||||||||
| Inkers | Keith Williams & Vince Colletta | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | Nel Yomtov | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Janice Chiang | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Michael Carlin | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
While the Cybertronian Decepticons build a device that will allow travel between Cybertron and Earth, the Autobots make a desperate attempt to stop them.
Synopsis
A young couple is out for a drive through the mountainous countryside, when they discover a huge bridge. They further find that the bridge only goes half-way across, and has strange giant metal creatures that appear and promptly explode. They flee just as the bridge itself vanishes into thin air.
On Cybertron, Straxus is furious: the space bridge is returning from Earth, unprompted. He's somewhat less concerned about the fact that one of his own troopers just blew up. Before too many more troops can be sacrificed, Shrapnel contacts Spanner, a kidnapped neutral scientist who designed the bridge, and identifies the fatal flaw. A watching Blaster, sent to hunt for Spanner, notes the info with interest. The space bridge is shut down pending repairs.
On Earth, Donny Finkleberg is still making broadcasts in his "Robot-Master" role, trying to convince humans that the Autobots are hostile. He complains about his working conditions, as all Ravage brings him for food is a snack machine full of candy. Megatron is barely tolerant of this. Shockwave arrives just then; he and Megatron argue about who leads the Decepticons until they receive a message from Straxus, declaring that he is about to open the space bridge. Given this development, the two leaders agree to a truce. Finkleberg decides he needs to find a way to warn the Autobots.
Unable to spare further time hunting for Spanner, Perceptor's Autobots mount a full-scale assault on Darkmount as a diversion. With the Decepticons occupied, Blaster attempts to sabotage the bridge, but hesitates to detonate the explosives when he discovers that Spanner has actually been reconfigured into the space bridge itself, even as Spanner pleads with him to destroy his mutilated form. The Decepticons discover Blaster and attack, preventing him from carrying out the mission.
Straxus orders the bridge to be activated, and the two sides battle between Earth and Cybertron. Blaster uses his earlier knowledge of the bridge's systems to destabilize it, and boots Straxus over the edge, destroying him. Blaster and his Autobot teammates flee to the other side of the space bridge to arrive on Earth, but the unstable bridge disappears behind them, and they are trapped on a strange new world.
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
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Regulars
Guests
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Errors
- Straxus's colors change extensively in comparison to the previous issue.
Items of note
- When Shockwave appears with Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to confront Megatron, Megatron comments that he had sent the two condors to retrieve the Seekers, not Shockwave. This is new information, most likely an attempt to explain an earlier continuity hiccup: Laserbeak and Buzzsaw (along with Soundwave and Ravage) had rescued Megatron from his immobility in issue #15 of the US series, but in #16 (written by a different author), the two bird-cassettes were working for Shockwave. This issue's revelation that they had been sent out on a mission provides an explanation: They had succeeded in finding the Seekers, but since the Seekers were serving under Shockwave at the time, the condors simply fell into his band. Notably, the UK comic inserted an additional seven issues between US #16 & #17, wherein Soundwave and the cassettes served under Shockwave but manipulated events to bring him together with Megatron to resolve the Decepticon leadership issue.
- References to other Transformers continuities/issues: Donny Finkleberg was captured by the Decepticons in I, Robot-Master!.
- The full title of the previous issue was given as "Return to Cybertron Part 1: The Smelting Pool!". Ostensibly, this would make "The Bridge To Nowhere!", "Return to Cybertron Part 2", although it is not explicitly named as such.
- This issue introduces the concept of the space bridge, and it is radically different to how it appears in the cartoon.
- This issue was reprinted in the Titan Books collection "Cybertron Redux".
- This issue was reprinted as issue #6 of IDW Publishing's Generations series.
- The Letters to the Editors section of the Marvel US publication of this issue includes the first mention of Shingo.
Covers (3)
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US issue #18 - "Maybe we should start seeing other people?" -
UK issue #68 - A really bad space soap opera. -
UK issue #69 - The US cover on acid. -
Titan TPB cover -
Titan HC cover
- US cover: Blaster vs. Straxus, by Herb Trimpe.
- UK issue #68 cover: A half Earth/half Cybertron with the respective leaders of each, by Phil Gascoine.
- UK issue #69 cover: reuse of art from US cover with a new background.
- Titan TPB cover: Blaster, Ramhorn, Bombshell, Shrapnel, Kickback and half of the Space bridge by Andrew Wildman.
- Titan hardback cover: Blaster in the Smelting pool by Don Figueroa, Gary Erskine & Chris Blythe.
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- Bonkers candy Robot-Watch offer - between pages 4 & 5
