Deathbringer (issue)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Deathbringer" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, seeDeathbringer (disambiguation). |
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| "Deathbringer" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | 9th Septemberand16th September1989 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 16th September and23rd September1989 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Art | Geoff Senior(#235) Staz(#236) | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Glib | ||||||||||||
| Cover | Geoff SeniorandLee Sullivan | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity([Marvel UK and Marvel US, seeNotes) | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | 1989 | ||||||||||||
A ravaging mechanoid rampages across Earth... and holds a clue to the Creation Matrix's whereabouts.
Contents |
Synopsis
Aboard theArk,Sirenrecites aCybertronianmyth about a god-like being called theDeathbringer,which has the power to create and destroy worlds.
TheAutobotsare aboard the Ark recovering from theUnderbasebattleand theTime Wars.NightbeatasksOptimus Primewhy he can't use theMatrixto repair all the injured Autobots. Optimus reveals (for the first time) that when the Autobots launched his old body into space, they unknowingly launched the Matrix along with it. Thus, the Matrix is lost.
A communication comes in fromCloudburstofRec Team Two,which was sent to check out a disturbance onEarth.Cloudburst is badly damaged and asks for help before his communication signal is lost.
Optimus Prime and several Autobots, including Nightbeat, head to Earth, where they encounter a being calling itself Deathbringer. Deathbringer claims his purpose is to "wipe the stain of life from this planet", as he annihilates the city.
Suddenly, Optimus Prime recognises that the being possesses the power of the Matrix, and he refuses to fight back against it. The other Autobots try to fight back, but Deathbringer quashes their attempt and heavily damages them.
Meanwhile, Nightbeat radios the Ark, and asksWaveriderfor information on Deathbringer. Waverider reveals that there are two records: one the legend that Siren recited earlier, and the other a mechanoid that kills beings gripped by plague or mental illness in order to grant them relief from their suffering. Nightbeat notices that Deathbringer is being slowly eaten away by the Matrix's power, and informs Deathbringer of this. Deathbringer follows its purpose and kills itself.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Others |
|---|---|
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Quotes
"I amDeathbringer!I come to cleanse, to wipe the stain oflifefrom this planet! "
- —Deathbringer
"Unf! Getawayand the others are getting slaughtered, andno wonder!If that thing really is fuelled by the matrix, it's like trying to fighta god!"
- —Nightbeat
"Ahollowvictory. "
"Yes. Not only have we lost our one chance of finding the creation matrix, but aninnocent beinghas died. Its sole function was to provide relief and we destroyed it. Our sacred life force...has become a deathbringer!"
- —NightbeatandOptimus Prime
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
Continuity errors
Continuity notes
- This incident was referred to in "Dark Creation",one of the few times a UK story was acknowledged in the US comic.
- Regeneration Onefurther links this story to the Marvel US continuity whenHot Rodobserves the end of the battle in "Less Than Zero",where the city that the Deathbringer attacks is retroactively identified asDenver,Colorado.
Real-life references
Other trivia
Back-up material
Issue #235
- AdditionalTransformersstory:"King Con!"
- Other strips:Action Force- "Airshow" andCombat Colin
Issue #236
- AdditionalTransformersstory:"The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!"
- Other strips:Action Force- "Beginnings... and Endings" andCombat Colin
Foreign Localization
Swedish
- Title:"Dödsbringaren"(" The Deathbringer ")
Covers (2)
- Issue #235 cover:the Deathbringer floats above a defeated Prime, byGeoff Senior.
- Issue #236 cover:half Deathbringer, half Prime, all cover, byLee Sullivan.
Issue #235
Issue #236
Reprints
- Transformers: Aspects of Evil:Rodimus PrimeandUnicronfight, byStephen Baskerville.Cropped version of issue#254's cover.
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection,Volume 17: Matrix Quest:Nightbeat(fromDreamwave Productions'More than Meets the Eyeprofiles) over an interior image ofOptimus Prime'scorpse (fromUS issue #65byMakoto OnoandGeoff Senior.
- Transformers: Best of the Rarities:SoundwaveandRavage"cassette" byJames Biggie.
Aspects of EvilTPB
(Titan Books, 2005)
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 17: Matrix Quest
(Hachette Partworks, Ltd., 2018)
Transformers: Best of the Rarities
(IDW Publishing, 2022)
