Exodus!
| The name or term "Exodus" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Exodus (disambiguation). |
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 Don't poke me! My mother poked me once... ONCE! | |||||||||||||
| "Exodus!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | February 1991 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | April 1991 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Penciler | Andrew Wildman | ||||||||||||
| Inker | Stephen Baskerville | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | Nel Yomtov | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Rick Parker | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Rob Tokar | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Fangry gets FUBAR'ed.
Synopsis
As Cybertron's weather continues to worsen in the aftermath of Unicron's attack, Darkwing and Dreadwind are searching for cover. As the two Powermasters search for someone to blame for their current apocalyptic woes, the opportunity presents itself when a hanging Autobot symbol shakes loose from the building and crushes Dreadwind. Darkwing quickly jumps to the conclusion that everything must be the Autobots' fault... a conclusion rather representative of the Decepticon army as a whole.
Inside, Prowl is desperately trying to maintain the alliance, but is receiving little help from his co-commanders. Bludgeon and Krok are focused on feeling out the mood of their brethren, and don't want to commit to anything just yet, while Grimlock can't believe the Decepticons will ever be able to stand being at peace, and so makes no effort to avoid antagonizing them. Fangry, in particular, raises the ire of both Grimlock and Bludgeon with his insubordinate attitude. Everyone quiets down, though, when Blaster unveils his seismographic findings... the planet is literally tearing itself apart without Primus's lifeforce to sustain it. They have no choice but to abandon the planet entirely before it destroys itself.
Meanwhile, Shockwave and Starscream have prepped the Ark for take-off, unaware that they may have more than one uninvited stowaway...
Later on, Prowl tries to get Grimlock to agree to make an inspirational speech to the troops to rally their morale, just like Optimus Prime would do. Grimlock tells him to get bent. He makes it very clear to Prowl that even though Prime named him leader, that doesn't mean he'll be doing things like Optimus, or especially Prowl, might want things done. Leaving his unwanted second-in-command behind, Grimlock runs into Fangry, who's interested in a little selfish payback after their exchange back at the meeting. Grimlock's new Action Master body lets him take Fangry's punishment, and give much harder than he gets. The public and humiliating beating of a fellow Decepticon by the Autobot leader, though, is just what Bludgeon and Krok needed to swing their troops fully in favor of turning on their "allies". After getting the overly compliant Prowl to reveal HIS plans, they begin to make plans of their own.
Elsewhere on Cybertron, the Neo-Knights have found themselves in an unenviable position: trapped in a cell-box for eventual transit back to Earth with the catatonic Circuit Breaker and Hi-Q, who is still rambling on about being the real Optimus Prime, and the power of the Last Autobot to save Cybertron from destruction, yada yada yada. He's bald—who's gonna believe him?
And so, after telling the Decepticons all their plans and allowing them to be the first ones to safely leave the planet, Prowl suddenly developed a nagging feeling that he might just have screwed everyone. Grimlock does little to assuage his fears, as he has some secret plans of his own being prepped by the Dinobots. Prowl's fears are quickly confirmed when Wheeljack checks out their getaway ships and realizes they've all been sabotaged beyond repair, leaving the Autobots stranded... on a dying world.
Meanwhile, the Ark has finally taken off, and Galvatron congratulates himself on having stowed away for the voyage. As he strides confidently down the hallway, however, he comes face-to-face with his own mirror image—Megatron!
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Nebulans |
|---|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"[The Autobot's] plan, fellow Decepticons, is weak! Ill-befitting a warrior race such as ours! Colonizing a barren world, starting from nothing, scratching a living from dust and dirt! This is not our way! We take, and any thing or one in our way is crushed! They would have us bury our heritage, bend our knees to their feeble-minded ways! Well, I say no! I say from this day on we begin afresh, with new wars to fight, new worlds to conquer! I mean, why fight it, it's in our oil!"
- —Bludgeon rallies the troops
Notes
- For simplicity's sake, the majority of the Transformers seen here and in the remaining issues are from the Earthbound crews. However, there used to be thriving Autobot resistances and Decepticon hierarchies on Cybertron before the battle with Unicron, yet now the planet is portrayed as virtually empty except for the few troops under Grimlock and Bludgeon's command. One can assume they were destroyed by Unicron. Of course they could have also joined up with the main cast, which would explain the sudden appearances of the Action-Masters characters who make their first appearances here (see the note below).
- Another "cast living in a bubble" plot device is the number of ships necessary to carry all Autobots and Decepticons on Cybertron to another world—six—and the Decepticons managing to destroy every other available ship on the planet to strand the Autobots—all three of them.
- This issue features the first appearances of Rollout and Treadshot. Blink and you'll miss 'em.
- Transformers Universe profiles for Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher are found after the main story.
- With Grimlock in charge of the Autobots again, he moves back into the US cover's corner box, this time in his Action Master form as rendered by Andrew Wildman. Sadly, with the impending end of the US comic, ol' Grim only gets three issues of corner-box glory.
Errors
- While carrying the Neo-Knights aboard, Quake is miscolored blue.
Covers
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US issue #77 - Green and blue pleased nobody. -
UK issue #325 - They even have the comedy costumes! -
UK issue #326 - No-one likes the new fan-designed logo.
- US issue #77 cover: Bludgeon gets in Prowl's face by Andrew Wildman.
- UK issue #325 cover: Grimlock punches out Fangry by Andy Wildman.
- UK issue #326 cover: recolored version of US cover.
Advertisements
- None yet identified.
Reprints
- 2002 — Transformers: End of the Road
- 2010 — Classic Transformers Volume 6
