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Surrender!

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« The Transformers(US)#71 »
« The Transformers(UK)#311–312 »
MarvelUS-71.jpg
Hey look, a face!
"Surrender!"
Publisher Marvel Comics
First published August1990
Cover date October 1990
Writer Simon Furman
Penciler Andrew Wildman
Inker Stephen Baskerville
Colorist Nel Yomtov[1]
Letterer Rick Parker[2]
Editor Rob Tokar
Continuity Marvel Comics continuity

Prime finds his cajones, and Zarak finds his soul.

Contents

Synopsis

Four million years ago,Optimus Primeis on thefront linedefending thecity-stateofIacon.An Autobot soldiertries to tell Prime they are being overrun, and have no choice but to surrender. Optimus asks the soldier for the white flag, but only to bind his wound. Optimus Prime then leaps out of the foxhole and charges theDecepticonbattle line shouting "Never Surrender!"

(thumbnail)
"We'll take that nice shuttle too!"

PowermasterOptimus Prime kneels in the rain, in the garbage atopthe Decepticon base,surrendering his crew toScorponok.Naturally, theDecepticonleader is all too happy to accept and commands his soldiers to divest theAutobotsof all weapons and toy gimmicks.Kupis in no mood to go quietly, but Prime insists it's the only option. In his own mind, however, Optimus is just as worried about his decision as Kup.

Scorponok, meanwhile, is having a ball. His warriors were less than pleased with his recent leadership decisions, especially takingStarscreamunder his command and then losing him. Now, though, it seems he's once more back on top... as long as he breaks his word to Optimus Prime and reneges on their potential alliance againstUnicron.

In the meantime,Shockwaveand Starscream's insurrection army has grown, and Scorponok's present "victory" over all the Autobots has pushed up their plans considerably. With some leisurely applied peer pressure and threats of death,MindwipeandTriggerhappyare officially inducted into the Decepticon auxiliary group, and the strike plan begins.

Hours later, Optimus Prime is being guarded in his cell bySoundwave,and dreams of an alliance with Scorponok seem to be turning to ash before his eyes.

Surrender! Galvatron attacks Autobase.jpg

Things are doing little better onCybertron.GalvatronandUnicron's heraldshave reached the planet and begun sowing discord in his name, starting withEmirateXaaron'sAutobase.Quickmixconvinces Xaaron to take the turbo-lift into the sewers and flee for safety, to form another Autobot rebellion one day if need be. Quickmix and the others remain behind to deal with the attackers.

OnEarth,Optimus has had enough of waiting in his cell and slams Soundwave through a wall before making his escape. He breaks out Kup andHot Rodfor assistance, but Kup has had enough and demands Prime give them a good reason why any Autobot should listen to him now. Still, he wouldn't be Optimus Prime if he couldn't make up an impassioned speech on the spot, and Kup agrees to go along.

Nearby, in his war room,Zarakis beginning to regret tarnishing his honor by rolling over on Optimus Prime as he did. His musings are interrupted by Prime and his Autobots bursting in on the scene. Once again, Optimus attempts to get through to Zarak about the severity of their situation, and this time he succeeds. The alliance is about to be sealed with a handshake when Shockwave and his warriors bomb the base, leaving all inside for dead.

On Cybertron, Xaaron is on the run. The sewers provide him no safe passage. The might of Galvatron is on his trail, and there is no escape...

Featured characters

(Characters initalic textappear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Nebulans Others

Quotes

"Optimus Prime -- this is madness! We're beaten, defeated! We must surrender before we're all killed!"
"Do you have thewhite flag?"
"The flag--? Oh, yes,the flag! Thank Primus!I'll tie it to the front battlements and -- "
"You'llbind my woundwith it, soldier! "

—AnAutobot soldierlearns howOptimus Primerolls


"We'reAutobots!Wenevergive ground and wenever, never surrender!"

—Optimus Primesounds the Autobots' rallying cry


"Scorponok-- in the name of theAutobots,I...I surrender!"

—Four million years later,Optimus Primelays it all down in pursuit of a greater goal


"I'll make it real simple for you. You've seen and heardtoo much!If you want out, you gofeet first!"

—Starscreamapplies his usual charisma to persuade a doubtful Mindwipe


"Thank you for your... hospitality, Soundwave."

—Optimus Primeexercises some rarely-heard sarcasm.


"I know I am askingmuch,my Autobots, but hear me out before you decide! All our lives we have been bred tofight,to struggle, tonevergive ground. It'singrainedin us! But that's with anormalenemy, a foe inour league!Unicron isneither!It's difficult to believe a single foeexiststhat we cannot vanquish through earnest effort and guts, but Unicron is powerful beyond measure, afallen god!To stand achancewe must do the most difficult thing of all --nothing!This surrender is not an act ofcowardiceon our parts... it requires thegreatest courage of all!Will you standwithme,helpme see it through? "

—When it comes to motivational speeches, nobody can topOptimus Prime


"Foolish Autobot!I am a master ofMetallikato,the forbidden Cybertronianart of combat!I'll cut you in two before -- "
"Before I pull the arms and legs off thispuny flesh creature?I thinknot!"

—BludgeonandHot Rod,the latter with Zarak in his grip

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

  • During the flashback at the beginning of the issue, Optimus Prime is shown with the red eyes of his Powermaster body, rather than the yellow eyes his original body had.
  • Page 17, panel 5: "Hot Rod" is misspelled as "Hod Rod."

Continuity errors

  • TBD

Continuity notes

  • The flashback happened relatively early in the Transformer civil war. If it happened before the launch of theUnderbase,Optimus Prime might have been aLieutenant Commanderat the time; alternatively, this could be shortly before "And There Shall Come...a Leader!".
  • The Autobots are ordered to give up their weapons,Nebulansand Pretender Shells. That can't have been fun for theHeadmastersin the group. Or thePowermasterseither, for that matter. (It's notable that Optimus Prime doesn't hand overHi-Q,or his shoulder guns for that matter. And Bomb-Burst points his gun right at Highbrow'sheadand all Highbrow does is pass over his weapon, realizing that Scorponok was just being a bit silly.)
  • Despite being highlighted in dialogue this issue by Mindwipe, the mystery origins of the ship Shockwave is using as an underwater headquarters will never be resolved on-panel. The answer was ultimately provided in the letters page ofissue #74,which explained that it wasthe starshipthe Decepticons used to follow the Ark to Earth, which Shockwave parked underwater four million years ago before brawling with the Dinobots. This represents either a divergence between the US and UK continuities or a UK continuity error since that same starship was revealed to have been parked in orbit by Shockwave and later destroyed by Galvatron way back in "Target: 2006".
  • Bludgeon and hisMayhem Attack Squadmaterialized on Earth after US issue#61,and would then join up with Scorponok's crew prior to this issue.
  • Shockwave's "brush with death" occurred in US issue#39.If you believe in the US/UK combined comic universe, the logic-related nervous breakdown caused by UK issue#189and#199–205could also be responsible for "loosening his circuits", as Mindwipe put it.

Real-life references

  • As he mentally commands Scorponok to release Kup, Zarak throws up the "I love you" hand sign!
  • The action is set in the swamps of northwestNew Jersey,with a brief interlude off the coast ofEngland.

Bot Roster

  • Autobots: 30 active; 8 rogue Micromasters; 1 in storage, 32 offline as Ratchet is put into storage (off-panel), 24 presumed offline. (95 total)
  • Decepticons: 21 active, 7 gone rogue as the Battlechargers - missing since #23 - join Shockwave's team; 25 offline, 25 presumed offline. (78 total)

UK printing

Issue #311:

Issue #312:

  • Other strips:Machine Man- "He Lives Again" andCombat Colin
  • This issue also featured a readers poll for which the results would never be published.

Other trivia

Covers (3)

  • (thumbnail)

    US issue #71- That's the last sticker he needs for the album!

  • (thumbnail)

    UK issue #311- Nope, try again!

  • (thumbnail)

    UK issue #312- Now, how are you supposed to shakethat?

Advertisements

  • None yet identified.

Reprints

  • (thumbnail)

    Transformers: All Fall DownTPB
    (Titan Books, 2001)

  • (thumbnail)

    Transformers: All Fall Downhardback Botcon exclusive cover
    (BotCon Exclusive, 2001)

  • (thumbnail)

    Transformers: All Fall Downhardback standard cover
    (Titan Books, 2003)

  • (thumbnail)

    The Best of Simon Furman
    (IDW Publishing, 2007)

  • (thumbnail)

    Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm
    (Titan Books, 2008)

  • (thumbnail)

    Classic TransformersVolume 5
    (IDW Publishing, 2009)

  • (thumbnail)

    The Transformers Classics,Vol. 6
    (IDW Publishing, 2013)

  • (thumbnail)

    The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 18: Edge of Extinction
    (Hachette Partworks, 2017)

References

  1. ↑Comic Book Database credits Rob Tokar as the colorist on this issue.
  2. ↑Comic Book Database also credits Nel Yomtov as letterer.
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