On the Edge of Extinction!
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| "On the Edge of Extinction!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | December 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | February 1991 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Artist | Geoff Senior | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | Nel Yomtov | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Rick Parker | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Rob Tokar | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Unicron drops by for a light lunch.
Synopsis
With Unicron looming over the planet Cybertron, the assembled Transformers flee in a blind panic. The Dark God rips into the planet's surface, sampling its metal (and Brainstorm) and declaring it "succulent".
Primus—still possessing the form of Xaaron—urges Optimus Prime and Scorponok to calm their warriors and unite them in battle against the Chaos-Bringer, but even the two leaders are overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of their foe. Primus himself initiates an attack on Unicron—but the dark god sees through what is essentially a ruse, and destroys Xaaron.
Galvatron blasts Unicron at full power; while it does virtually no damage, it does what Galvatron had hoped—inspires the Transformers to stand and fight. Soon a planet-wide battle is raging; many Transformers are killed in the fighting, most notably Scorponok, who makes a final stand to live up to his legacy as a Decepticon warrior. The Neo-Knights also attempt to engage, but their powers are no match for Unicron, and Circuit Breaker remains catatonic, despite G.B. Blackrock's attempts to revive her.
Reinforcements arrive in the form of the Ark, which is filled with Autobots reactivated by the Nucleon retrieved by Grimlock. Grimlock has the ship sideswipe Unicron, damaging it and forcing them to abandon it in flight.
As Optimus Prime struggles to keep his Powermaster bond from coming apart, the tainted Creation Matrix suddenly arrives at Cybertron, with the possessed Thunderwing at its core. The Matrix confronts its old foe, Unicron. But with its virtuous nature stripped away, the Matrix no longer has any advantage over Unicron, who unleashes a power burst that tears Thunderwing limb from limb and devastates the surface of Cybertron. As the blast passes, Prime spots the Matrix.
Tiring of the battle, Unicron reverts to his planet mode and prepares to devour Cybertron entirely. But as he begins, he is blasted by the revived Circuit Breaker, who pours every bit of her power at him in an insane rage. The distraction gives Optimus Prime enough time to reach the Matrix. His mind free from doubt, he reclaims it, purges it of darkness, and plunges it—and himself—into Unicron's maw. Overloaded with "terrible, wonderful life", Unicron explodes while the survivors on Cybertron's surface look on in awe.
Some while after the battle, Battletrap and Runabout are walking somewhere on Cybertron. Runabout goes to investigate some movement in the shadows. He is promptly snatched underground by a clawed hand and, as observed by a hidden Hi-Q, devoured.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans | Nebulans | Misc | ||||
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Quotes
"Duh-do...something! Brainstorm, you're the clever one... tell us what to do!"
"I -- No No No No No No No No No"
- —Brainstorm resorting to firepower when confronted by a planet sized God
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
- There are, of course, the errors of scale typically associated with the supposedly planet-sized Unicron.
- The Autobot Pretenders had their shells confiscated back on Earth by Scorponok's Decepticons when they surrendered in issue 71. Last issue after all the Transformers were teleported to Cybertron by Primus, the Autobot Pretenders were without their shells. This issue they are wearing their shells, without explanation.
Continuity errors
- When Primus is killed while inhabiting Xaaron's body, it's Scorponok who screams out Xaaron's name in shock and Optimus who calls out for Primus (despite being an old comrade of Xaaron's).
- Among hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of Transformers... Circuit Breaker's the only being on the planet who can manipulate electricity? Shrapnel hadn't been seen in donkey's years and may have been long dead, so this isn't as jarring as it could have been.
Continuity notes
- Grimlock's (shown) reinforcements are the same cast as Earthforce, more or less.
- Those apparently killed in this issue include Brainstorm, Xaaron, Cloudburst, Highbrow, Finback, Misfire, Hardhead, Bomb-Burst, Joyride, Waverider, Scorponok, Thunderwing, Mindwipe, and Runabout.
- It's "apparently" because Joyride and Mindwipe show up alive and well in Generation 2. Quake, who was with Joyride and Waverider when they were blasted, is not shown getting hit—and is fine just a couple of issues later.
- The next issue's opening page would reveal several more deceased Transformers: Apeface, Sureshot, Hosehead, and Runamuck (who nevertheless appeared in Generation 2 long enough to die again.) Prime's gruesome fate would be revealed as well, as he was still within Unicron during the explosion.
- Ironically many of the casualties here are Transformers who managed to survive the Underbase Saga. Even more ironic is the fact that they die just as the casualties of the Underbase Saga are revived and brought back into the story.
- Most of the surviving Transformers, including Soundwave, Prowl, Wheeljack, Blaster, Bumblebee and Jazz show up in the Action Masters line. While most never transform after this issue, Prowl clearly retains his ability to do so.
- The grand battle with Unicron concludes a storyline that began way back in issue #60.
- Grimlock's reinforcements were fueled with Nucleon in the previous issue.
- While Primus is outright said to be dead deadity dead, the later retcon of the Primus/Unicron plan would say he isn't.
Real-life references
UK printing
Issue #319:
- Other strips: Machine Man - "If This Be Sanctuary?!" and Combat Colin
- AtoZ: Fangry
Issue #320:
- Other strips: Machine Man - "If This Be Sanctuary?!" and Combat Colin
- AtoZ: Squeezeplay
Issue #321:
Issue #322:
- Other strips: Machine Man - "Rime of the Ancient Wrecker!" and Combat Colin
- AtoZ: Kup
- Once again, the Machine Man story was previously printed, starting way back in Issue #35
Other trivia
- In celebration of reaching three quarters of a century, this was a doubled sized anniversary issue and was Geoff Senior's last G1 issue.
- Transformers Universe profiles for Fangry and Squeezeplay are found after the main story.
- This was the last Dutch Generation 1 comic printed by Junior Press.
- It was also the last Polish Generation 1 comic printed by TM-Semic.
Covers (10)
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US issue #75 - Cybertron - with delicious crunchy filling! -
UK issue #319 - UK Cybertron - strawberry flavoured. -
UK issue #320 - I can hear the fangirls crying... -
UK issue #321 - "Wasn't me guv, it was that big orange guy with horns."
- US issue #75 cover: Unicron devouring Cybertron, by Geoff Senior.
- UK issue #319 cover: recolored version of US cover, by Robin Bouttell.
- UK issue #320 cover: Unicron destroying Xaaron, by Stewart Johnson.
- UK issue #321 cover: Optimus Prime and the defeated Scorponok, by Stewart Johnson.
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UK issue #322 - Come on, how awesome is this? -
End of the Road TPB -
End of the Road HC -
The Best of Simon Furman
- UK issue #322 cover: Prime entering Unicron with the Matrix, by Stewart Johnson.
- End of the Road TPB cover: Galvatron, Grimlock, Bludgeon, Prowl and half of Unicron, by Andrew Wildman
- End of the Road hardback cover: Galvatron and generic Decepticons, by Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie & Chris Blythe
- The Best of Simon Furman cover: Cybertron, by Don Figueroa.
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Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm -
Classic Transformers Volume 6 -
The Transformers Classics Vol. 6
- Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm cover: Optimus Prime, Ravage and ???, by Andrew Wildman.
- Classic Transformers Volume 6 cover: A scrapbook of images from issues #76–80, all by Andrew Wildman and Stephen Baskerville
- The Transformers Classics Vol. 6 cover: Blitzwing by Guido Guidi.
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