Out of Time!

	; I ain't afraid of no ghosts!
	"Out of Time!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	October 1990
Cover date	December 1990
Writer	Simon Furman
Penciler	Andrew Wildman
Inker	Stephen Baskerville
Colorist	Nel Yomtov
Letterer	Rick Parker
Editor	Rob Tokar
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

Transformers vs. X-Men! Okay, not really...

Synopsis

In the Primus chamber, at the center of Cybertron, Galvatron grows impatient. He and Emirate Xaaron have fled down here, to escape the loyal minions of Unicron, and to entreat Primus himself to take the necessary steps to gather his children against Unicron. Unfortunately, Xaaron's prayers take both time and patience to awaken Primus properly, neither of which Galvatron has in abundance. The latter is demonstrated when he punches through a wall at Xaaron's slow methods, and the former is shown when Unicron grows suspicious of his herald's undetectable absence, and sends his other minions to track down the wayward time-traveler.

Back on Earth, Scorponok is highly amused at the "super humans" who have dared to challenge him. Thunderpunch does little to challenge the humor of the situation, but Dynamo at least manages to temporarily topple Scorponok. To his horror, Optimus Prime realizes it might actually be necessary to step into the fight against the humans, in order to preserve Scorponok and the alliance. As he reaches this conclusion, Rapture and Circuit Breaker both have a go at Scorponok as well, with the latter sizzling his every circuit. The amount of damage she's doing to the Decepticon is not lost on the observers—Nightbeat cries out against the torture she's inflicting, while the prone Shockwave takes the opportunity to blast her out of the sky. Unfortunately for Nightbeat, Circuit Breaker misinterprets who her attacker was, and her fragile grip on the Autobot/Decepticon dynamic shatters, as she begins attacking both sides with renewed vigor.

On Cybertron, Hook, Line, and Sinker have found Galvatron, and quickly assessed that he is up to no good. With Xaaron's entreaties still making no headway, Galvatron takes matters into his own hands, and gears up for the rematch with his former kidnappers. After momentarily stunning Hook, he disarms Line and uses Sinker's pounders to destroy the swordsman's head. With Sinker momentarily shocked at having killed his compatriot, Galvatron converts to cannon mode and annihilates the robot. His winning streak is cut short, though, when Hook skewers him in the back and begins to draw the Decepticon in for the kill.

Amidst the Decepticon Civil War, Mindwipe has managed to snag Field Commander Soundwave in his hypnotic gaze. He plans to use this ace to end the war... and the Autobots who approach him from behind with their guns drawn agree, so long as he ends it their way.

Back in Manhattan, Circuit Breaker has disabled Nightbeat and moved on to Optimus Prime himself. G.B. Blackrock is desperately trying to find a way to stop her rampage, when he notices Shockwave and remembers the Decepticon from the attack on his oil rig years ago... the attack that crippled Josie Beller. He draws Circuit Breaker's attention to the robot and, as recognition crosses her mind, she unleashes everything she has in a single blast that sends Shockwave fuming to the ground. Scorponok arights himself and prepares to continue the battle with the Neo-Knights, but a sharp word from Optimus Prime gets him to reconsider, and put aside his battlelust.

On Cybertron, Galvatron is saved by an act of God—literally. Xaaron has succeeded in awakening Primus, and now serves as the living avatar for the god, a vessel through whom Primus addresses his creation. Galvatron convinces Primus that the time has come to unite his creations against Unicron. And, in that moment, the Transformers on Earth begin vanishing one after another: from New Jersey, to Manhattan, and beyond.

And, on a distant planetoid, over the inert and impaled body of Thunderwing, the corrupted Creation Matrix hungers for new sensations once more. It hungers... for revenge...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Xaaron (2) Landfill (8) Quickmix (9) Optimus Prime (12) Nightbeat (18) Sureshot (22) Kup (23) Highbrow (24) Waverider (25)	Galvatron (1) Starscream (10) Scorponok (11) Shockwave (13) Mindwipe (20) Soundwave (21) Fangry (26) Thunderwing (28)	Circuit Breaker (14) Thunderpunch (15) Dynamo (16) Rapture (17) G.B. Blackrock (19)	Primus (3) Hook, Line, and Sinker (4–6) Unicron (7) Creation Matrix/Dark Matrix (27)

Quotes

"Ah! Enough of this hiding, cowering! I am Galvatron! If you want me, you mindless fools -- come and get me!"

—Galvatron throws down the gauntlet for Hook, Line and Sinker

"Hear me, most revered one. Unicron is coming! He has found us and intends to end your age-old war by devouring Cybertron! Bring your children home, Primus -- unite us against the Chaos-Bringer!"
"Yes. I see the time is right. We are one."
Hah. For all their supposed omnipotence... even gods can be conned!

—Galvatron entreaties Primus

"Aww, man... How'm I supposed to write this one up?"

—After a giant robot battle, a talking truck, and a team of super-humans all vanish into thin air, a New York policeman really has seen it all

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

Based from the incorrect colors on his character model, Landfill continues to be colored yellow and red, rather than his toy- and animation-based tan and brown.

Continuity errors

TBD

Continuity notes

Hector Dialonzo is first identified as Dynamo in this story.
Galvatron's capture by Hook, Line, and Sinker was shown in US issue #67.
Shockwave crippled Josie Beller waaay back in US issue #6.
This marks the second of two occasions in Furman's run where Mindwipe uses his hypnotic powers (the other being issue #59). This time it actually works.
The corrupted Matrix, and the possessed Thunderwing, were thought destroyed back in issue #66.

Real-life references

TBD

Bot Roster

Autobots: 34 active; 8 rogue Micromasters; 1 in storage, 28 offline, 24 presumed offline. (95 total)
Decepticons: 21 active, 7 gone rogue; 25 offline, 25 presumed offline. (78 total)

UK printing

Issue #315:

Reprint Transformers story: "The Enemy Within!"
Other strips: Combat Colin
AtoZ: Landmine
Free gift: a cover-mounted Beetlejuice joke book
<< Blaster answers a letter from David Mapes who, with his twin Steven, would go on to become Transformers rarity collectors, convention organisers, and webmasters of fansite Transformers At The Moon.

Issue #316:

Reprint Transformers story: "The Enemy Within!"
Other strips: Combat Colin
In other Transformers pro related trivia, a young James Roberts' letter was published in UK issue #316.^[1]

Other trivia

There are no Transformers Universes profiles after the main story. There is an inexplicable pin-up of Optimus Prime and Megatron fighting in front of the World Trade Center drawn by Alan Kupperberg. Stranger still, Megatron's drawn with his early head design!
In an 'All Fan Art Page' of Transmissions, usually filled with letters to the editor, the first piece of fan art is drawn by future pro Transformers artist Dan Khanna.

Covers (3)

US cover: Scorponok, Shockwave and Prime transported to Cybertron while the Neo Knights watch, by Andrew Wildman.
UK issue #315 cover: Circuit Breaker vs Scorponok, by Andrew Wildman and Robin Bouttell.
UK issue #316 cover: US cover slightly recolored.

US issue #73 - Special Hate-Plague armor edition!
UK issue #315 - At least she's wearing a bit more this time.
UK issue #316 - Feeling blue?

Reprints

Transformers: All Fall Down TPB: Powermaster Optimus Prime, Megatron/Ratchet, Starscream, Shockwave and half of Unicron, by Andrew Wildman.
Transformers: All Fall Down BotCon exclusive cover: Powermaster Optimus Prime and Unicron, by Geoff Senior & Oliver Harud.
Transformers: All Fall Down standard HC: Bludgeon, by Howard Chaykin & Chris Blythe.
Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm: Optimus Prime, Ravage and Skywarp, by Andrew Wildman.

Transformers: All Fall Down TPB
(Titan Books, 2001)
Transformers: All Fall Down hardback Botcon exclusive cover
(BotCon Exclusive, 2001)
Transformers: All Fall Down hardback standard cover
(Titan Books, 2003)
Best of Transformers: Eye of the Storm
(Titan Books, 2008)

Classic Transformers Volume 5: panels from this issue, "Deadly Obsession", "All Fall Down" and "...All This and Civil War 2".
The Transformers Classics, Vol. 6: Blitzwing, by Guido Guidi.
Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection:Volume 18: Edge of Extinction: Grimlock, above an interior scene (issue #74) of Powermaster Optimus Prime battling the Acolytes of Unicron. Grimlock art by Guido Guidi, Retro art by Andrew Wildman (pencils) and Stephen Baskerville (inks).

Classic Transformers Volume 5
(IDW Publishing, 2009)
The Transformers Classics, Vol. 6
(IDW Publishing, 2013)
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 18: Edge of Extinction
(Hachette Partworks, 2017)

References

↑ Darn 'n' Blast, issue 316

[0] Darn 'n' Blast, issue 316

[1]

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