Front Line! (issue)
| The name or term "Front Line" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Front Line (disambiguation). |
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| "Front Line!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | 15th September 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 22th September 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Pencils | Pete Knifton | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Pete Venters | ||||||||||||
| Lettering | Stuart Bartlett | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity/Earthforce | ||||||||||||
Both the Autobots and Decepticons try their hand at spin doctoring.
Synopsis
At the Decepticon base, Soundwave shows Starscream a copy of the newspaper Front Line! and explains that Project: Smear has gone wrong. Unless action is taken quickly, the Autobots will be seen by the humans as the heroes they are.
At the Autobot Earthbase, Irwin is being shown around by Prowl and Grimlock, though the latter is having a hard time concealing his disdain for the whole idea in spite of Prowl regularly reminding him how important it is. After seeing the Equipment Room, Irwin asks to see the Combat Room before conducting the interview.
Earthbase has another visitor—Bombshell! The Insecticons radios Soundwave and Starscream to report that Irwin is going to write about the Autobots in his newspaper. Whilst Bombshell's takeover of Superion was intended to discredit them, this story will have the opposite effect. He requests orders. Soundwave wants to stop the human writing the story, but Starscream suggests instead making sure he writes it the Decepticons' way!
The Combat Room is incredibly noisy so Irwin suggests conducting the interview somewhere else. Grimlock suggests outside, despite the freezing temperatures, as there's no-one around for miles. But then he is blasted by the Stunticons as they speed up to the base. Prowl raises his rifle but is rammed by Motormaster, who transforms and picks up Irwin...
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
Continuity errors
- Previous stories have stated that the Earthbase has massive surveillance systems to detect any Decepticons. Yet Bombshell is able to fly through unnoticed.
- Why do the Decepticons need to capture Irwin, rather than simply have Bombshell follow him and implant a cerebro-shell as soon as he's alone?
Continuity notes
- This story continues the theme that in the comic continuity the Autobots have never successfully convinced the humans that there are good robots and bad robots.
- The front page of Front Line! highlights the stories "COMIC CONVENTION SCANDAL!!", "MAN BITES DOG!" and "ELVIS... POLAR BEAR EXPOSÉ!!" One has to wonder quite why both the Autobots and Decepticons are so concerned about what will appear in a US supermarket tabloid.
Real-life references
Other trivia
Back-up Material
- Additional Transformers Story: Deadly Obsession
- Other strips: G.I. Joe the Action Force - "Fair Trade" and Combat Colin
- AtoZ: Vortex and Warpath
Covers (2)
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Issue #288 -
Titan TPB
- Issue #288 cover: Grimlock dangles Irwin Spoon by Pete Knifton.
- Perchance to Dream TPB cover: Superion gets smacked around by Menasor - detail from cover of issue #259 by Andrew Wildman.
