Distant Thunder!
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 Carlsberg don't do Transformers covers, but...... | |||||||||||||
| "Distant Thunder!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 14th February 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Script | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Pencils | Will Simpson | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Tim Perkins | ||||||||||||
| Colours | Steve White | ||||||||||||
| Letters | Annie Halfacree | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Ian Rimmer | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity (Marvel UK) | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | 1987, flashbacks 1986 | ||||||||||||
Cowering in the Dead End, Prime seeks to keep Outback's spirits alive by revealing finally what happened when he disappeared...
Synopsis
Optimus Prime has taken the wounded Outback to the Dead End region of Cybertron in the hope that he can recover from his wounds, but instead his companion continues to weaken. Prime can hear the Wreckers coming in the distance.
Outback is despondent about his fate, but Optimus Prime tells him to never abandon hope. In order to raise Outback's spirits Prime decides to tell him of another time when he triumphed against seemingly insurmountable odds.
- Optimus Prime recalls how he, Prowl and Ratchet were forcibly transferred from Earth into a strange technorganic world. There they were fighting a race of cybernetic monkey-like creatures. Prime refused to countenance the use of lethal force despite the other Autobots telling him it was the only way to win. Suddenly Shockwave, Frenzy, and Thundercracker materialise in the world, having been transported from the Decepticons' coal mine base. They see the Autobots fighting and Shockwave orders the Decepticons to wipe out the creatures. They do so with ruthless efficiency.
- Shockwave declares that it is logical the Decepticons and Autobots work together to escape the world. Optimus Prime is uneasy but agrees and explains how they came there.
- The Cloran were a peaceful cybernetic cat-like race who were driven from their home by the monkey-cyborgs. Upon their arrival the Autobots encountered the survivors and accepted a plea for aid. The Autobots then stopped the monkeys from invading neighbouring territories. The monkeys' leader, Zenag, was outraged and offered the Autobots a device that could return them to Earth, in exchange for allowing the invasion to continue. The Autobots refused...
- Shockwave declares that he will take Zenag up on the offer. Optimus Prime is concerned as Zenag is "evil, deceitful! He cannot be trusted!" And then he realises how similar this is.
- Shockwave, Thundercracker and Frenzy meet with Zenag and agree to destroy the Autobots. They attack, but are tricked when the Autobots seemingly succumb to Frenzy's sonic attacks, only to reveal they have shut down their audio sensors. Once the Decepticons are beaten, Optimus Prime describes how the situation of a peace-loving race coming under attack from a remorseless killer race seeking to extend their power into neighbouring territories is a carbon copy of the Transformers' own war. He wants time to put the theory to the test, when Zenag shows up and demands Shockwave destroy the Autobots now. Shockwave refuses, whilst Prime declares he won't fight back and goads Zenag to kill him.
- Zenag proceeds to attack Optimus Prime, ripping out part of his chest. Prime refuses to fight back, believing that it is important to realise that fighting must always be the last alternative. Zenag is furious...
- And then Zenag and his entire world fades away. The six Transformers come to in a dark null space, with strange green creatures attached to all their heads. Ratchet analyses one of the creatures and deduces that it is a parasite that feeds off emotions, especially violent emotions. They are able to fashion illusions to provoke violent reactions. Optimus Prime adds that given time the creatures could have fashioned a reality from the illusions—and shows his side!
Outback is amazed at how close Optimus Prime came to being killed. Prime himself realises that he may have found an answer from the tale. He completes the story by explaining that when Galvatron returned to his own time, the Autobots returned to Earth.
Suddenly, the Wreckers burst in and prepare to kill Optimus Prime. Broadside asks if Prime has anything to say. Prime responds by saying he will not beg for his own life but asks for them to spare Outback. Prime had believed that his death would give Megatron his greatest victory, but realises that instead it was fighting back against his fellow Autobots and dragging the innocent Outback into his fight that is Megatron's real victory. Prime states that: "If, as a result of my death, just one Autobot life is saved, then it will not have been without meaning and the real victory will be mine!"
Suddenly, Emirate Xaaron and Ultra Magnus enter. Magnus has confided his suspicions to Xaaron, who realises there is just time to prevent a great mistake. He steps forward and welcomes his old friend Optimus home.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"Wh-what happened? Where are we?"
"One minute we're at our coal mine base on Earth, and the next... we're not!"
"Questions which have - at present - no possible answer and statements that are so circuit-numbingly wasteful in the extreme."
- -Shockwave doesn't like narratively helpful exposition
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
- Outback's wound is not consistent throughout the issue, at times shifting between his left and right sides and sometimes not appearing at all.
- On the second page Springer's and Twin Twist's colours are reversed.
- Optimus Prime's head is coloured white in the last panel of page 18.
Continuity errors
Continuity notes
- This is the first appearance of the dimension Limbo, though it is not named as such in this story.
- This is Whirl's last present day appearance. He was only seen again in 2510 in an alternate UK Futures timeline. This absence is never explained. Perhaps, like other incarnations, he had become a liability.
Real-life references
- Prime refusing to fight Zenag is taken directly from the film Nightmare On Elm Street [1]
Other trivia
- For the 100th issue, the story was specially extended to a full nineteen pages.
Back-up Material
- Backup strips: Action Force- "Improvisation on a Theme" Part 2 and Robo-Capers
Covers (3)
-
Issue #100 -
Collected Comics #13 -
Prey TPB -
The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3
- Issue #100 cover: big Transformers brawl, Wraparound cover by Alan Davis.
- Collected Comics #13 cover: reuse of issue #100 cover.
- Prey TPB cover: Optimus Prime staves off Razorclaw while Ultra Magnus broods, by Lee Sullivan.
- The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3: Impactor, Megatron vs Guardian, Straxus's head, Xaaron, Galvatron riding Ultra Magnus and Outback by Andrew Wildman.
Reprints
- 1989 — Transformers Collected Comics 13
- 2004 — Transformers: Prey
- 2009 — The Transformers: Best of UK: Prey #3
- 2010 — The Transformers: Best of UK: Prey
- 2012 — The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3
Footnotes
- ↑
The Transformers Classics UK Volume 3:
- [Furman:] It's also one of the few examples I can pinpoint of my just mercilessly ripping something off. The conclusion when Prime turns his back on the ape creature and denies his existence is lifted completed from the end of A Nightmare of [sic] Elm Street. Completely. The heroine turns he back on Freddy Krueger, says "I don't believe in you, you can't harm me," and he slashes at her with his claws and they pass right through her.
