Blood on the Tracks
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| "Blood on the Tracks" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | September 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | January 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Michael Higgins | ||||||||||||
| Penciler | Herb Trimpe | ||||||||||||
| Inker | Vince Colletta | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | Nelson Yomtov | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Joe Rosen | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Bob Harras and Don Daley | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
The struggle for control of Power Station Alpha begins...
Synopsis
The G.I. Joe team has been assigned the task of protecting Power Station Alpha, the world's first mobile solar/nuclear power station. In addition to concerns about Cobra attacking, the Joes have to worry about a throng of protestors who object to the project for environmental and political reasons. The Autobots also recognize the potential of the station, and believe that the Decepticons will attempt to steal it. Optimus Prime sends Bumblebee to be on the lookout for any signs of Decepticon activity.
When the Dreadnoks stage an attack on Power Station Alpha, the Joes are able to fight them off, but Cobra Commander is outraged. He has lost the element of surprise, and is already worried about the threat of Serpentor to his command of Cobra. Megatron also witnesses the attack, thanks to news reports, and sends Dirge and Bombshell to the station for a more subtle attack. As the station prepares to launch, Bombshell injects a cerebro-shell into young Tony Duranti, son of one of the protestors, who Bombshell commands to step in front of the station's treads. Bumblebee, watching covertly in vehicle mode, is forced to break his cover to save the boy, but his actions are misinterpreted as threatening by the Joes, who open fire on Bumblebee, tearing him to shreds.
The situation threatens to grow even worse as Bombshell invades Power Station Alpha, and the gigantic form of Superion arrives to collect the body of his fallen comrade.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | G.I. Joes | Cobras | Other humans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Errors
- On page 19, when Optimus Prime calls for the Aerialbots, he calls for "Superion" when he apparently means "Silverbolt."
Items of note
- This story also appears in Marvel Transformers UK issues #265-268. However, it's not actually in continuity with Marvel UK, who had their own crossover and killer of Bumblebee.
- References to other Transformers continuities/issues:
- On page 4, Optimus Prime references Bumblebee's assistance in gaining gestalt technology in "Command Performances!".
- On page 5, Optimus Prime reflects on the message from Megatron, sent in "Decepticon Graffiti!", challenging Prime to a duel to the death.
- Real World References
- The title may be a reference to Bob Dylan's album of the same name.
- The cover corner box for this series uses Marvel's convention for many of its team-based comics at the time, by showing heads of prominent characters. For G.I. Joe and the Transformers, Marvel used the head of Snake-Eyes from the cover of G.I. Joe issue 53, slightly altered, and the head from Bumblebee's character model from Transformers Universe issue 1.
