Exodus!

Fangry gets FUBAR'ed.

=Marvel US issue #77= (Story also appears in: Marvel UK issues #325-326

Script: Simon Furman Pencils: Andrew Wildman Inks: Stephen Baskerville Lettering: Rick Parker Colors: Nelson Yomtov Cover: Andrew Wildman


 * Major characters (in order of appearance): Darkwing, Dreadwind, Prowl, Krok, Grimlock, Bludgeon, Blaster, Fangry, Quake, Wheeljack, Shockwave, Starscream, Megatron, Galvatron
 * Originally published: April, 1991

Synopsis
As Cybertron's weather continues to worsen in the aftermath of Unicron's attack, Darkwing and Dreadwind are searching for cover. The two Powermasters search for someone to blame for their current apocalyptic woes, and the opportunity presents itself when a hanging Autobot symbol shakes loose from the building and crushes Dreadwind like an ACME cartoon. 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 bretheren, and don't want to commit to anything just yet, while Grimlock can't believe the 'Cons 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 seismographical 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 Actionmaster 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...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!

Errors

 * While carrying the Neo-Knights aboard, Quake is miscolored blue.

Items of note

 * For simplicity's sake, the majority of the Transformers seen here and in later 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.
 * 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 is the first appearance of Rollout and Treadshot. Blink and you'll miss 'em.
 * Transformers Universe profiles for Weirdwolf and Skullcruncher are found after the main story.