The Big Shutdown!
From Transformers Wiki
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 Nightbeat shows off his fashion sense. | |||||||||||||
| "The Big Shutdown!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | 5th August – 12th August 1989 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 12th August – 19th August 1989 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Art | Lee Sullivan | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Helen Stone (#230) Stuart Bartlett (#231) | ||||||||||||
| Cover | Andrew Wildman and Lee Sullivan | ||||||||||||
| Apologies to | Raymond Chandler | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Nightbeat stars in his very first mystery as the next Decepticon menace is introduced.
Contents |
Synopsis
Having recently joined the Ark's crew on Earth, the Autobot detective named Nightbeat receives a chance to test his mettle when an Autobot corpse is found on a deserted California beach. Taking his partner Siren to the scene of the crime, he finds a mysterious figure has beaten them to the investigation. Siren's noisy...existence alerts the figure to their presence, and the suspect hightails it out of there with two vehicles. Nightbeat sends Siren to retrieve the snooper, while he does some snooping of his own.
As Nightbeat continues his investigation at the corpse, Siren corners the two vehicles in an alleyway, only to learn they are Autobot Transformers named Hosehead and Horsepower. The corpse was actually a friend of theirs named Playback, but before more explanations can be exchanged, Horsepower is blasted through the chest by a cyclone cannon, signature weapon of Thunderwing, heir apparent to the Decepticon throne!
While Siren is running in fear of the Decepticon Pretender and Nightbeat is interpreting his clues back at the beach, they piece together what has happened. Hosehead, Playback, and Horsepower were Decepticon prisoners on Cybertron, deliberately set loose on Earth. As part of his test to achieve higher rank in the Decepticon hierarchy, Thunderwing had been tasked with hunting them down as prey.
After leading Thunderwing back to the beach and Nightbeat, the three Autobots confront the considerably more powerful Decepticon. Thinking quickly, Nightbeat detaches his Nebulan counterpart Muzzle and temporarily reanimates the dead, headless body of Playback. Momentarily caught off guard by the shambling corpse, Thunderwing is unprepared when Muzzle suddenly disconnects and leaps clear, radioing his larger body to blast the corpse's power supply. This triggers a massive explosive inferno inches away from Thunderwing. Although the Decepticon's shell protects him from direct harm, it is also superheated from the blast, cooking the more vulnerable robot inside. Thunderwing is forced to dive into deeper waters in a desperate attempt to cool himself down.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Nebulans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"C'mon, Nightbeat - let's get outta here! Our leader, Optimus Prime, told us to stay at the Ark! We've only been on Earth for two days and already we're disobeying orders!"
"You know what I always say, Siren. If the rules won't bend enough to get you results...you have to break them!"
- —Siren does some pretty shameless exposition dumping while Nightbeat talks tough.
"The name's Thunderwing, Autobot! Heir apparent to the Decepticon throne! My thanks for leading me straight to my prey! Your reward...is DEATH!"
- —Thunderwing
"Yess! Flee, try to escape! The sheer futility of your efforts thrills me!"
- —Thunderwing gets creepy.
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
Continuity fun time
At this point in time, Megatron-Straxus is ruling the Decepticons on Cybertron... and "A Small War!" will retroactively place this story over fourteen months before August 1989, when the Triumvirate/Decepticon Imperial Headquarters were in control and Ratbat, Shockwave etc. are all around. In either case, why is Thunderwing being allowed to bid for leadership?
Well, it's possible that this is all a big mistake. At this point in time, the UK comics are aware of what's coming up in the US (as Furman's writing both) but Marvel UK is struggling to tie in the same way it used to: UK strips are running simultaneously with US and there are lengthy gaps where the US reprints are replaced with UK reprints to stretch things out. It's possible this was meant to run after the other Megatron's death, when Cybertron probably does need a new 'Con leader (as Scorponok's ignoring them), but has accidentally aired too early (as "Out to Lunch!" will do).
This leaves the other problem: if this is "fourteen months ago", the sequel "Assault on the Ark!" very much cannot fit with its Powermaster Optimus Prime being in charge. He should either be dead or not back on Earth yet, due to "Cold Comfort and Joy!".
The important thing is Nightbeat is cool.
Continuity notes
- Nightbeat indicates he and Siren only joined the Ark's crew two days ago.
- When or how Hosehead and Nightbeat got binary-bonded to Lug and Muzzle on independent occasions is unknown.
- Muzzle's trick with Playback indicates that, while a Headmaster robot might die if their head is destroyed, a binary-bonded Nebulan partner might be able to survive by simply attaching to a new body.
Real-life references
- The title and general ambiance are an homage to Raymond Chandler's classic detective novel The Big Sleep. It's likely that Playback's name was chosen based on another Chandler novel, Playback.
Other trivia
Back-up material
Issue #230:
- Reprint Transformers story: "Resurrection!"
- Other strips: Action Force - "Airshow" and Combat Colin
Issue #231:
- Reprint Transformers story: "Resurrection!"
- Other strips: Action Force - "Airshow" and Combat Colin
Foreign Localization
Swedish
- Title: "Den Stora Nedkopplingen" ("The Big Shutdown")
Covers (2)
- Issue #230 cover: Nightbeat wearing a trenchcoat and fedora, by Andrew Wildman.
- Issue #231 cover: Nightbeat sees Thunderwing through his magnifying glass, by Lee Sullivan.
Issue #230 - Nightbeat, you may want to hit the Big'N'Tall shop for your trenchcoat, pal.
Issue #231 - That's not technically how a magnifying glass works...
Reprints
- Issue #330 cover: Galvatron's hand protrudes through the Arctic ice, by Staz.
- Issue #331 cover: Action Master Prime in front of an Autobot casualty, by Andrew Wildman.
- Transformers Winter Special: Megatron "Spotlight", by Andrew Wildman. Re-use of the cover of issue #243.
- Transformers: Perchance to Dream: Superion gets smacked around by Menasor - detail from the cover of issue #259 by Andrew Wildman.
- Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection, Volume 17: Matrix Quest: Nightbeat and Prime's corpse by Makoto Ono and Geoff Senior.
Issue #330 - Lend a hand? (Marvel Comics UK, 1991)
Issue #331 - "You don't scare me. I've got chunks of guys like you in my stool!" (Marvel Comics UK, 1991)
Winter Special - Megatron's shadow is as mean as he is! (Marvel Comics UK, 1993)
Perchance to Dream (Titan Books, 2006)
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 17: Matrix Quest (Hachette Partworks, Ltd., 2018)
