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by Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey    Script- Simon Furman Pencils- Will Simpson Inks- Tim Perkins Letters- Richard Starkings Colour- Tony Jozwiak Editor- Ian Rimmer synopsisGalvatron tests his weapon of mass destruction on the very ship that brought the Decepticons to Earth all those millions of years ago, blowing it to smithereens, and stranding his present day allies on the third rock from the sun in the process. Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr arrive at the Ark, where they meet a thwarted Ultra Magnus and "compare notes" on the events of 'Target: 2006,' thus far. Meanwhile, the prisoner exchange between Jetfire and co. and Galvatron quickly goes south for the Autobots, as a remote-controlled Jazz lays waste to them, prompting Ultra Magnus to finally step into the fray. Dave So, onto part 7 now. Well, technically part 8, if you include the prologue. Which counts as a part, I suppose. The cover kind-of reminds me of issue 78's cover. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, the prologue definitely throws you off, doesn't it? Jeez, you're right. They are very similar, particularly in their composition. Dave I wasn’t very keen on issue 78's cover, and I’m not keen on this one either. It is very bland looking. There’s not much in the way of colours either. Kev It is a bit washed-out looking, to be fair. I still quite like it though. What with Galvatron’s big, spooky, menacing head in the background, and a Jazz that looks very much like the toy I had as a youngster, drawn to almost toy accurate perfection by Robin Smith here. Dave And it's back to Will Simpson this time, for the interior artwork. Kev Yep, back to Will on art duties for this issue. This is a nice little bit of prose by Furman here; detailing the destruction of the Nemesis. And it’s an equally nice visual depiction of it by Simpson as well. I remember being genuinely shocked by this opening when I first read it at 9 years old. This felt like a big deal, because as the caption box on the following page explains, and Starscream alludes to as well, that ship has been there, up in space, for the entire duration of the comic, and its destruction here essentially renders the Decepticons stranded on Earth. Dave It’s a great panel of the destruction of their ship. It’s really messy, and slightly manga/anime looking.  The Nemesis' nemesis. Kev Ah, that's a good point. That hadn't occurred to me, about it having that manga/anime aesthetic, but I totally see what you mean. Dave And I agree, it's a nice little build up, with the narrative to that panel as well, "... the waiting is over!" Kev Yep. It's dramatic alright. Dave Simpson’s more rugged looking artwork works so well with the bright colours on the first two pages. Kev I completely agree. Jozwiak tailors his colours to suit Simpsons style, and the results are fantastic. Dave Galvatron can totally see through Starscream’s bullshit as he talks to him. Kev Oh, absolutely. After all those millions of years of having to deal with his underhanded treachery as Megatron, he knows exactly who, and what he's dealing with here. Dave And, of course, another movie reference by Galvatron on page 4, as he gives away another hint as to the fate of Starscream. Kev Yep. All these little breadcrumbs that Furman is strategically placing here were fascinating at the time. They were so intriguing, and really whet your appetite for 'The Movie.' I like how this feels, in Galvatron’s mind at least, like it’s all coming to a close. “As soon as it has recharged, we can return to our own time...and use it to destroy Unicron.” Unfortunately for him, this is where a few spanners start to be thrown into the works of his grand scheme, and it all starts to unravel a bit. Will Simpson’s depiction of Cyclonus in that second panel of page 3 is fantastic. That look he’s giving Starscream is hilarious. Dave Yeah, it's real character based work here. The facial expressions are great. Kev For someone who doesn't necessarily draw the Transformers' faces in as human a way as, say Jeff Anderson, Will Simpson doesn't half manage to convey a lot of emotion in them. They're doing a lot of the storytelling, those alien robot faces. Dave Very much so. Plus, that grizzled rawness works so well. He takes away the prettiness, if you could call it that, and goes for a more European western grittiness. Kev There's definitely more grit to his work, isn't there? I do love that panel of Galvatron and Cyclonus yukking it up at Starscream’s ultimate fate though.  "There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." Dave Yep. Very maniacal looking. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh. A proper pair of moustache twirling villains. Dave The first three pages are not short on narrative or dialogue. This issue is definitely a heavier read. Kev Definitely. Which is odd because, if anything, it feels like Furman is upping the pace of things now. Dave He really is pushing the story onwards, and faster. I wonder if this was the Marvel execs putting the pressure on for a deadline, and to wrap up the story. Kev I don't think it was the Marvel higher ups at this stage, no. Oddly enough though, I do think that happens to him a couple of years later, when we get to the conclusion of the whole Galvatron saga, with 'Time Wars.' But here, I think it's just the nature of this story. All the elements, and all the players are firmly in place now. If this were a stage play, we'd be into the second act by this point. Dave It tends to jump about a lot as, on page 4, we are onto the Ultra Magnus scene. Kev Yep, I love this Magnus recap. He’s doing his Basil Exposition bit here. Dave I do like his whole spiel about how much he has screwed-up and let others down, then Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr appear. And, of course, another movie reference is put in here about The Matrix, where Kup stops Hot Rod from giving the game away with the old, "Shut it, lad....” Furman is certainly dropping little teasers throughout the story. Kev He certainly is. I suppose we're properly into the run-up to the UK release of 'The Movie' by now. That is a good bit of business, with Hot Rod being all reverential to Magnus because he mistakenly thinks he’s the bearer of The Matrix at this point. Also, it’s nice to see the Movie-style pink colour scheme for Hot Rod as well. Tony Jozwiak is in fine form again here.  C'mon Hasbro, give us the Studio Series '86 Hot Rod pink repaint that you know we all crave, you cowards! Dave I think the movie was released in August in the US, but didn't hit the UK until December time. So I'm guessing that's why all the little teasers are being dropped; to whet the appetites of the readers. Kev Oh definitely. I wonder if 'The Movie' had any effect on the number of copies the comic they sold around this time. I know 'The Movie' could hardly be considered to be a smash hit, but I wonder if even the amount of promotional work for it outside of the comic helped lift the sales of the book at all. Dave This was also to make sure that, when it hit the UK, as it was definitely in December of ‘86, that they had maximum bums on seats. Kev True. Didn't work though, apparently. Dave Yeah, I know. Just shows that maybe the whole Optimus-Prime-getting-killed thing didn't sit well. Kev Ha, ha! Nope. Not at all. The consensus is that it was downhill for the popularity of The Transformers, as a franchise, from that point. Certainly for the initial generation of it. I guess a load of kids had their wee hearts broken and they just never recovered. Bloody snowflakes! Dave It was a once only watch at the cinema. Kev Totally. Although, I don't think I could afford to go to the cinema to see anything any more than once back then. Well, my mum and dad couldn't afford to let me go to see any film more than once, that is. Dave Haha. Except for ‘Batman’ in 1989. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh. Although, I think I might have had my paper round money to pay for my own tickets by the time 'Batman' came around a few years after this. Dave I like the brief introduction, on page 5, by Kup for himself, Hot Rod and Blurr, and how quickly the scene shifts back to the Decepticons, after Magnus points out that they should compare notes on Galvatron. Kev Yeh, and I think “...the anti grav manacles on Scourge…” are great. I love the way he’s just floating in mid air, all hogtied. Like a pig about to be roasted.  Jetfire is serving a starter of anti-grav manacle fried Scourge, with deconstructed neural cluster, in an energon jus. Dave Simpson’s attention to detail in his work is impressive. Especially with all the different groups of Transformers to draw. Kev Yeh, I get the impression that drawing all the Transformers in this comic probably wasn't the easiest gig in the world. I also love Jetfire’s empty boasts and threats to Galvatron. “We beat Scourge easily.” “Remember what I said, Galvatron… Our next target might be you” and Galvatron’s withering response to them. “I doubt that very much.” Galvatron thinks the Autobots are barely worth his attention. They’re so beneath him. Dave It's a real boast of power by Galvatron. He really is such a powerful force of a villain. Which is what you want in a story like this. The story is only as good as its villain. So make the villain a good one. Kev Yeh, he's an excellent villain. Probably the main villain in the comic for the next couple of years or so. Perhaps only eclipsed, after that, by Unicron himself. Dave Yeah, Unicron was the seemingly unstoppable force at this point. The Death Star of The Transformers. Kev Ha, ha! He really was just the Death Star as a Transformer, wasn't he? Furman is clearly having a lot of fun playing around with the idea that, if Megatron and Galvatron are the same being, then they are able to get into the other’s head and predict exactly how the other thinks, and plans, and therefore can counteract accordingly. Although clearly, as becomes painfully apparent here, Galvatron has the upper hand, because he knows he was once Megatron, whereas Megatron does not know what lies in store for himself. Dave Yeah, there’s a lot of double dealing and treachery going here on page 6. Kev There's a few different agendas competing with each other here, isn't there? Dave It perfectly suits the treachery of the Decepticons though. It's in their name, after all. Decepticion. Deception. Kev Ha, ha! Yeah, that's the John Cena joke in the 'Bumblebee' movie, isn't it? That's a great panel of Starscream standing over the fallen Megatron, with the smoking null rays. Excellent work once again by Simpson and Jozwiak. Dave It is. I like how this little scenario just keeps turning bad for all involved. And never trust Starscream either. Kev No, you'd have to be absolutely insane to trust Starscream any further than you could throw him. And we actually get the reveal here of what has happened to Prime, Ratchet and Prowl. For such a massive plot point, Furman just drops it there and moves right along. I suspect that the reason for this may be that, not only has the pace of this story hit full speed now, but he also had that particular story in mind for the big, double-sized issue 100, where he knew he could go into it in a lot more detail. Dave Yep. Then, of course, another spanner is thrown in the works, as we get the reveal that Jazz is under Galvatron’s control now, and so Galvatron sends him on a rampage. There is a good amount of grittiness to Simpson’s action scenes, which makes them more violent looking than Senior’s flashy flamboyance. Kev Oh, for sure. This is some proper, full-on, horror stuff here, when Galvatron reactivates Jazz. It’s almost as bad as Vera Webster being transformed into a cyborg in 'Superman 3.'  Sis? Sis, it's your Bubba....." Dave It’s just two pages of absolute carnage by Jazz. Kev It really is. He knocks seven shades of Energon out of the Autobots here. Now, you could make the argument that, because he's one of them, the rest of the Autobots didn't want to retaliate, or even engage, but I'm not sure I buy that. Zombie Jazz seems a lot more powerful than regular Jazz. Dave He was probably just enhanced, as part of his reprogramming. Kev Could very well be a Galvatron enhancement, yeh. Or perhaps even just having the inhibitions of being a protector removed, turned him into a straight-up killing machine. Dave There’s so much dialogue throughout this issue. This is like ‘Weapon X’ a bit, in that it’s a heavier read of an issue. Kev There's definitely significantly more prose and dialogue in this issue, yeh. I think it says a lot for Furman’s storytelling that, back when I read this originally, I was so caught up in the main plot, and anticipating the Galvatron/Magnus showdown, that I wasn’t particularly concerned about Prime and co. Maybe I was just cold-hearted, or perhaps I was still inexperienced with comics and film enough to think that they wouldn’t actually kill Prime off at this point. Ah, the naivety of youth. Of course, this was before they started killing him off, and then bringing him back, at least once a year. Dave Haha. Then, as we shift back to Starscream having his moment with Megatron, it takes another sudden twist, as Galvatron intervenes. This is as nuts as wrestling back in the day. You never knew who would appear at any time.  Galvatron turns on Starscream before Starscream has the chance to turn on him. THIS is long-term booking, kids. Kev Absolutely. In your best Gorilla Monsoon voice, "It's Galvatron with the run in! Just in time to make the save!" Dave Haha, yeah. With Jesse “The Body” Ventura is sitting next to him, disagreeing with everything he says. Kev Yep, either “The Body,” or “The Brain,” depending on whether it was Jesse Ventura, or Bobby Heenan. Dave That is a cracking final page, with the inevitable showdown about to take place. Simpson’s artwork has a real ferocity to it. Kev Yep, it's the final set-up for the big showdown. The two of them are milking it though; they’re both very verbose, and clearly like a bit of drama, as well as the sounds of their own voices. To continue the wrestling analogy; it’s like two wrestlers cutting promos on each other. Dave That's true. What are your thoughts on this issue? Kev I think it's class. It opens and closes with two really big moments; the destruction of The Nemesis, and finally, the meeting of Galvatron and Ultra Magnus. It also has the revelation of what has happened to Optimus Prime, Ratchet and Prowl, as well as the sheer horror of a mind-controlled, zombie Jazz. Furman has some great prose in it, as well as some snappy dialogue, and it's visually arresting, with top notch work by Will Simpson and Tony Jozwiak. What's not to like? What about yourself? What do you think of it? Dave It was certainly a darker issue, for sure, and that has a lot to do with Simpson’s art style. The colours were great as well, and Furman’s writing was really shifting into top gear, moving things along at breakneck speed. Yeah, all in all, it was a really good issue. (D) & (K) Next: 'You Haveta Ask?!' 
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