Ashes, Ashes...

	; "I shall crush the Earth with my own hands! ...Since when do I have two hands?"
	"Ashes, Ashes..."
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	November 1986
Cover date	March 1987
Writer	Michael Higgins
Penciler	Herb Trimpe
Inker	Vince Colletta
Colorist	Nelson Yomtov
Letterer	Joe Rosen
Editor	Bob Harras and Don Daley
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

Betrayals fly left and right as Shockwave puts his plans for Power Station Alpha into motion.

Synopsis

"A pleasure to make your-[CRUNCH] AAARRRGGHH!"

Shockwave shows the Decepticons a video presentation of his plans for the Power Station Alpha. He will use it to extract all conceivable energy from the Earth, and beam said energy to Cybertron, leaving the Earth nothing but a lifeless fireball. At the end of his presentation, Cobra arrives outside their base. The two evil organizations make plans to ally and use Alpha to their mutual benefit, but both are quietly planning to betray the other. Shockwave talks Serpentor into attacking the Autobots at the Ark and retrieving a generator the Decepticons need to make adjustments on Alpha. Dirge goes with Cobra; Doctor Mindbender stays with the Decepticons.

At Fort Lewis in Seattle, G.B. Blackrock is telling Mainframe and Crankcase that A) that gold robot they blew up is actually an alien, B) he's one of the good guys, and C) it's a crying shame the Joes killed him by blowing him to bits. Mainframe replies that it may be possible to restore him.

Meanwhile, at the Ark, the Autobots are holding the funeral of Optimus Prime. Blaster says a few words, inspiring Omega Supreme to vow to be ever-vigilant as the Ark's last line of defense.

In Washington, D.C., Senator Barbara Larkin "secretly" meets with the Baroness at a restaurant. Larkin berates the Baroness for the way Cobra is handling the Alpha situation. Alpha's construction records are being re-examined, and when the details come out, Larkin will be ruined. The Baroness simply smirks and says that Larkin knew the risks. Unfortunately for Larkin, the meeting was observed and photographed. When presented with this evidence, Hawk feels royally betrayed.

At the Ark, the Cobra airfleet (with Dirge) is approaching. They fire upon Omega Supreme, and he engages them to great effect. Both Dirge and Serpentor hold back, Dirge because he doesn't much care if Cobra gets wiped out, Serpentor due to cowardice. As more Autobots enter the battle, Dirge and Serpentor goad each other into the fight.

Back at the Decepticon base, Bombshell is giving Doctor Mindbender a tour. Simultaneously, Doctor McGrath is experimenting on one of Bombshell's cerebro-shells, recently removed from the head of Anthony Duranti. His prodding of the shell makes Bombshell spasm uncontrollably; Mindbender observes this possible weakness with interest.

At Fort Lewis, Mainframe and Crankcase have managed to activate Bumblebee's core processor and speech units. Bumblebee promptly starts complaining about having no head, no body, etc.

Hawk confronts Larkin at her hotel regarding her dealings with Cobra. It doesn't go well.

At the ongoing Ark battle, Dirge prepares to fire a huge blast at Omega Supreme, but Serpentor remotely jams his gun, causing Dirge to explode from the backfire. He uses this "act of good faith" to end hostilities with the Autobots.

Hawk is drowning his sorrows when he receives a call (presumably from Mainframe and Crankcase) explaining the whole situation. He berates himself for his "shoot first" stupidity, and sends a full force to the Ark (presumably to help defend it, though his orders are unclear).

At the Decepticon base, Mindbender is woken by the sound of the robots launching Alpha into space. He realizes they have finally explicitly betrayed Cobra, and contacts Serpentor. Serpentor uses this news—that the Decepticons are prepared to destroy the Earth—to seal an alliance with the Autobots. The Joes, having just arrived, intercept this message, and realize they too will have to join this mismatched alliance...

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	G.I. Joe	Cobra	Humans
Bumblebee (16) ? (17) Jetfire (18) Red Alert (19) Omega Supreme (20) Optimus Prime (21) Blaster (22) Ratchet (30) Perceptor (32) Cliffjumper (34)	Shockwave (1) Bombshell (2) Dirge (3) Ravage (4) Laserbeak (9)	Main Frame (13) Crank Case (14) Hawk (23) Slip-Stream (35)	Serpentor (5) Baroness (6) Doctor Mindbender (7) Zartan (8) Torch (10) Buzzer (11) Ripper (12) Tele-Viper (31)	G.B. Blackrock (15) Mrs. Duranti (24) McGrath (25) Anthony Duranti (26) Barbara Larkin (27) Terence (28) Kruchkow (29) Garcia (33)

Quotes

"Oh my achin' head! Wait a minute! I dont even have a head or anything else for that matter!"

— Bumblebee has a revelation.

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

Jetfire #2 either forgot to bring his legs, or Ratchet's carrying his torso around.

The cover depicts Shockwave as having two hands.
Both Jetfire and... Jetfire's "Macross" model show up at Optimus Prime's funeral.
And standing behind Jetfire seems to be Ratchet, who's expressly not supposed to be there according to "Funeral for a Friend!" Though it's hard to tell if that's indeed a chevron on his head or parts of the back of Macross Jetfire's head. If the latter, it could be Ironhide, but Ratchet's definitely there when the issue returns to the Autobots.
"Mainframe" and "Crankcase" are wrongly spelled "Main Frame" and "Crank Case".

Continuity errors

Continuity notes

The events of this issue take place at the same time as #26 of the regular Marvel series, "Funeral for a Friend!".
Senator Larkin meets with a known member of a terrorist organization in a public restaurant. Was she trying to get caught?
Omega Supreme is extremely gullible. The Cobra jets shoot at him for a while, then say, "Uh, we didn't mean it," and he goes along with this?
Dirge stays dead until Generation 2, when he reappears in order to die again...
This is Red Alert's only fictional appearance in the US Marvel comics until Generation 2. His presence is never explained, nor is he even acknowledged by name in the single panel he appears in (see right). A similar silhouette also appears earlier during the funeral scene between Blaster's legs. Some might suspect this is just Sideswipe, but a few factors suggest otherwise:
- Sideswipe is still currently inactive at this point, since "Prime Time!".
- Sideswipe has one of the oldest Sunbow models that predates even the first issue of the comic—and as such, he has used his Sunbow model since the beginning.
- Finally, Red Alert and Sideswipe's character models were drawn differently to differentiate the two; with Red Alert's being the closest to the overall toy design (from the front at least). The weapon placement is also undeniably the same as Red Alert's.

Real-life references

The title along with the title of next issue are from the children's nursery rhyme "Ring a Ring o' Roses" (specifically the American version).

UK printing

Issue #273

Additional Transformers story: "Wolf in the Fold!"
Other strips: G.I. Joe the Action Force - "The Tenth Letter" and Combat Colin
AtoZ: Skywarp and Slag

Issue #274

Additional Transformers story: "Where Wolf?"
Other strips: G.I. Joe the Action Force - "Cold Snap" and Combat Colin

Issue #275

Additional Transformers story: "Secrets"
Other strips: G.I. Joe the Action Force - "Cold Snap" and Combat Colin

Issue #276

Additional Transformers story: "Bugged!"
Other strips: G.I. Joe the Action Force - "Cold Snap" and Combat Colin
AtoZ: Slingshot and Sludge

Other trivia

Covers (5)

G.I. Joe and the Transformers #3
UK issue #273
UK issue #274
UK issue #275
UK issue #276

G.I. Joe and the Transformers #3 cover: Shockwave, Hawk, Dirge, Serpentor, Blaster, the Baroness, Omega Supreme and Doctor Mindbender around an explosion, by Al Milgrom.
Issue #273 cover: Carnivac stalks the Mayhems, by Staz.
Issue #274 cover: Earthforce to the rescue, by Pete Venters.
Issue #275 cover: Shockwave throws Megatron off a cliff again, by Stephen Baskerville.
Issue #276 cover: Starscream prepares to swat the Insecticons, by Pete Knifton.

Reprints

Other than reprints of the full series

N/A

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Ashes, Ashes...

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