On the Edge of Extinction!

YUM

The Transformers battle the world-devouring dark god Unicron, who is determined to devour Cybertron.

Marvel US issue #75

(Story also appears in: Marvel UK issues #319-322

Script: Simon Furman
Pencils: Geoff Senior
Inks: Geoff Senior
Lettering: Rick Parker
Colors: Nelson Yomtov
Editor: Rob Tokar, Tom DeFalco

• Major characters (in order of appearance): Optimus Prime, Emirate Xaaron, Scorponok, Unicron, Shockwave, Starscream, G.B. Blackrock, Circuit Breaker, Primus, Galvatron, Nightbeat, Hot Rod, Jazz, Grimlock, Prowl, Wheeljack, Thunderwing, Hi-Q, Runabout.
• Originally published:

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 Emirate Xaaron -- urges 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 J.B. Blackrock's attempts to revive her.

Reinforcements arrive in the form of the Ark, which is filled 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 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 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.

Errors

• There are, of course, the errors of scale typically associated with the supposedly planet-sized Unicron.

Items of note

• Those apparently killed in this issue include Brainstorm, Xaaron, Cloudburst, Finback, Hardhead, Bomb-Burst, Joyride, Waverider, Scorponok, and Thunderwing.

• It's "apparently" because Joyride shows 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.

• References to other Transformers continuities/issues: 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.