The Void! (UK)
From Transformers Wiki
| The name or term "Void" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Void (disambiguation). |
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 "This reminds me of the time—" "Was that before or after history changed?" | |||||||||||||
| "The Void!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | 31st December 1989 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 6th January 1990 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Art | Staz | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Glib | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity (Marvel UK) | ||||||||||||
| Chronology | Post-Time Wars future (2010) | ||||||||||||
Rodimus Prime leads the Autobots to Earth—but there's a traitor on board...
Contents |
Synopsis
New Year's Day, 2010. Following the timeline reset that left Galvatron in charge of Cybertron, Rodimus Prime leads the Autobots in a retreat to Earth. As the Autobots enter hyperspace—or the Void, as it's nicknamed—Rodimus is feeling the widespread unspoken resentment at the idea of running away.
Doubleheader and Pincher discover the ship's guidance systems have been destroyed, leading Kup to realise there's a saboteur onboard and they're flying blind. Soon afterwards, Rodimus Prime goes missing. Kup begins to crosscheck lifesigns against crew listings in the hope of identifying the unknown enemy—who two guards run into and recognise as an Autobot before being gunned down. As the ship emerges from hyperspace too close to Earth and with emergency retros dead, Kup discovers there are no extra lifesigns—"the saboteur is one of us!".
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons |
|---|---|
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Quotes
"Once you're in, you're in for the duration — no short cuts on this road, lad!"
"How true. He doesn't know it but Kup's analogy holds true for the Autobots as a whole! For us, there's no going back! We returned to Cybertron from Earth's past, to find everything horribly changed. Galvatron still lived, and the Decepticons now ruled! Through my troops understand the reason to withdraw, this 'retreat' still leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It goes against the grain to turn and run — however logical it may be! Perhaps its the unspoken resentment that's getting to me or, like the others, this trip through hyperspace has got me spooked... but I can't help feeling... ...that things are going to get worse!"
- —Rodimus Prime has an internal monologue in response to Kup, just before things get worse.
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
Continuity errors
- The opening narration gives the date as New Years Day, 2009, instead of 2010. The previous two years, the UK comic's "future" storylines had started on the New Years Day 20 years from the publication date. January 1988's "The Legacy of Unicron!" was set at the start of 2008, while January 1989's "Time Wars" began in 2009. Dreadwind confirmed that the 2009 date was an error and that 2010 is the correct date in issue #258's letters page.[1]
Continuity notes
- The future Autobots last appeared in the Galvatron segment of "Aspects of Evil!", which directly precedes this story. Their story continues into "Edge of Impact" and the two following issues. Multi-part stories with a different title for each part would be the norm from this point on.
- Whoever the saboteur is, they kill three generic Autobots.
- This issue begins the 4-part story that will be the last appearance of the post-movie cast and era.
Real-life references
- TBD
Other trivia
- TBD
Back-up material
- Additional Transformers story: "Skin Deep"
- Other strips: G.I. Joe the Action Force - "The Lower Depths" and Combat Colin
- AtoZ: Runabout and Runamuck
Cover
- Issue #251 cover: Kup and Red Alert in the cockpit of the evacuation ship, by Gary Erskine.
Issue #251
Advertisements
- The Punisher comic
- Doctor Who Magazine (twice)
- Pretender Classics Starscream, Grimlock, Bumblebee and Jazz (back cover)
Reprints
- Transformers: Aspects of Evil: Rodimus Prime and Unicron fight, by Stephen Baskerville. Cropped version of issue #254's cover.
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection: Vol 19: Perchance to Dream: Megatron (from early IDW promo art), by Guido Guidi above a retro scene of the Battlechargers (from Marvel UK #255 cover), by Stephen Baskerville.
Aspects of Evil TPB (Titan Books, 2005)
The Definitive G1 Collection Vol. 19 (IDW Publishing, 2017)
