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Funeral for a Friend!

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MarvelUS-26.jpg
"I don't care for the term 'grease monkey'."
"Funeral for a Friend!"
Publisher Marvel Comics
First published November 1986
Cover date March 1987
Writer Bob Budiansky
Penciler Don Perlin
Inker Brett Breeding
Colorist Nel Yomtov
Letterer Janice Chiang
Editor Don Daley
Continuity Marvel Comics continuity

While most of the Autobots pay their last respects to Optimus Prime, Ratchet is left alone to face a new human threat.

Contents

Synopsis

Ratchet has worked non-stop for the last ten days to repair the fallen Optimus Prime. At last his work is finished, and before the assembled Autobots within the Ark, he flips the switch to send a power surge through Optimus's body. But to the grief of all, no spark of life returns to the Autobot leader, and Ratchet declares that Optimus Prime is beyond repair.

Powerboosterrod.jpg

Omega Supreme arranges a variety of heavy armaments, remotely activated via a remote-controlled power booster rod, to defend the Ark so that the Autobots can carry out a full Cybertronian funeral service for Prime. Ratchet chooses to stay behind rather than face another of his failures; First Aid leaves him with some words of comfort and encouragement before departing with the other Autobots.

Alone in the Ark, Ratchet pays a morose visit to the Ark's life support bay, despairing that he lacks both the parts and the equipment to effect proper repairs on the many off-line Autobots stored there. Gazing on Prowl's inert form, Ratchet decides to stop moping and be more proactive about repairing his comrades. He drives to a nearby used auto parts junkyard, and begins scavenging parts to fit his patients.

While he works, however, a nearby police sting unfolds, as the local police attempt to bring in the head of a stolen car ring who calls himself "the Mechanic". Hiding in ambulance mode, Ratchet is discovered by the Mechanic and his assistant Juan, who promptly use him as an escape vehicle. Forced to aid the Mechanic lest he blow his cover, Ratchet is pursued by local police authorities, and in an effort to evade them, he uses some of his Autobot weaponry (namely, a cryogenic sprayer and a laser scalpel) on the pursing vehicles, hoping that the Mechanic - paralyzed by his crippling fear of the police - won't notice. The Mechanic does indeed see the power of these weapons, however, and removes them for his own use.

The two thieves return to their home base garage and began examining the strange ambulance and discussing what to do with their find. Ratchet finally decides he's had enough - but when he transforms and attempts to retrieve his surgical instruments, the Mechanic uses the cryogenic sprayer to freeze him solid.

Deep in the Cascades, Omega Supreme lays Optimus Prime's body in a funeral bier. After a heartfelt eulogy from Perceptor, the bier is launched into space, to return to the cosmos.

Ratchetmechanic.jpg

When Ratchet thaws out, he returns to the Ark, only to be followed by the Mechanic and Juan, who hope to follow Ratchet to the source of more Cybertronian weaponry. Before Ratchet realizes that he has led the humans right to the Ark, the Mechanic has stolen the power booster rod from the Ark's defense systems, in addition to Ratchet's weapons.

Using these devices, the Mechanic injures Ratchet and reactivates the Ark's automatic defenses so that the Autobots are prevented from offering assistance as they return from Optimus Prime's funeral. Crippled, Ratchet drives off to the repair bay, doing what he can to restore his fallen friends with the junkyard parts. The Mechanic arrives, and is on the verge of crushing Ratchet with a piece of machinery when a police car arrives! The terrified Mechanic flees... never realizing that the police car is actually the partially-restored Prowl.

The Mechanic escapes with the power booster rod and Ratchet's tools; Ratchet deactivates the defenses and ends the assault on his comrades. Outside, he and First Aid take stock of the damage - nothing too serious. His spirits lifted, Ratchet reflects that he's had no time to think about the dead - he's focused on helping the living.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Humans

Quotes

"He wasn't just another gun-toting conscript to me, First Aid. He was my friend. I'm staying."
"I understand your grief, Ratchet. But remember -- we doctors must concern our selves with those we can still help -- the living. Where there's life, there's hope."

—Ratchet and First Aid


"We are gathered to pay final tribute to Optimus Prime -- commander, leader... friend. His courage was the beacon that guided us through the dark wilderness of this alien world. His love and kindness inspired us when our prospects seemed most bleak. His wisdom washed over us in unending waves. If we each retained but a drop we would each be immeasurably the better for it. We thank you, Optimus Prime. Farewell. We send you to join with the universe -- to return to the cosmic dust from which all life began... and from which it will begin again."

—Perceptor delivers a eulogy for Optimus Prime


"That human was right. I suppose courage wasn't included in my programming -- why would a doctor need it? And I'm not much of a doctor either. I've lost more lives than I've saved! I can't even save myself! Guess I'll never have a chance to repair everyone here. Sorry, Prowl. But at least you're still alive. And.... where there's life, there's hope."

—Ratchet, crippled and hunted


"I'm glad you're in much better spirits than a few hours ago, Ratchet. Have you finally put the loss of Optimus Prime behind you?"
"No, not yet. But I guess I've been too busy to think about the dead... I've been too concerned with helping the living."

—First Aid and Ratchet

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

  • Page 4, panel 3: block coloring gives us a white Skids, a blue Hoist, and a white Fireflight.
  • Ratchet's ambulance mode is consistently colored all-white - even the light bars! (Partially corrected in Transformers: Classics)
  • Omega Supreme isn't nearly as huge as he was in #19; now he's maybe twice the height of an average Transformer. (And how did he get to the funeral, anyway?)
  • Page 10, panel 2: Omega's arm is colored orange instead of gray.
  • Page 21, panel 6: Powerglide is colored like Seaspray.

Continuity errors

  • Assuming the Protectobots were granted life via the Creation Matrix (since the Autobots currently have no means of getting reinforcements from Cybertron), First Aid's words to Ratchet on pages 3 and 4 seem to be words of long experience that he shouldn't really have yet.
    • Speaking of whom, why wasn't First Aid aiding Ratchet in repairing Prime in the first place?
  • It's not real clear how Omega Supreme - who has a gun for one arm and a claw for the other - could construct anything at all, let alone an elaborate defence system.
  • The choice of Perceptor to deliver the eulogy is a... curious one. He and his group didn't join the Ark's Autobots until after the events of issue #23, and Optimus was killed almost immediately afterwards, in issue #24! We never saw the two characters together; in fact, this is the first time in the American stories we've seen Perceptor's group with the Ark Autobots.
  • The Mechanic removes Ratchet's weapons from his interior with an ordinary screwdriver. Did the Ark adapt the Transformers that much to Earth?
    • Similarly, the 'on' and 'off' positions for the Ark's defence systems are marked in English. That certainly makes it easier for the Mechanic to figure out how they work. Maybe Omega Supreme marked them that way because he was created on Earth?

Continuity notes

  • In G.I. Joe and the Transformers #2, Blaster ordered all Autobots to return to the Ark due to Prime's death - meaning the roll call at the start of the issue should be a complete tally of active Autobots:
    • 26 Autobots are shown (including Ratchet)
    • Bumblebee is missing, since he got blown up by G.I. Joe in issue #1 of the crossover
    • The Dinobots have been AWOL since #19
    • Bluestreak and Mirage are both missing, and were likewise missing from a similar roll call in issue #19; presumably they were both taken out of action some time after their last appearances in issue #16 and #14, respectively.
    • Prowl is shown up and about after some repairs...but we don't see him again until #36. His absence from next issue's leadership conference would seem to indicate his repairs were not complete.
  • Further overlap with the G.I. Joe crossover: issue #3 repeats the end of Perceptor's eulogy; it also adds some additional dialog from Blaster and Omega Supreme.
  • Ratchet notes that he's managed to keep most of the Autobots alive in the Ark's life support bays.
  • As he scavenges in the junkyard, Ratchet finds parts for Ironhide and Gears, as well as Prowl.
  • Portland businesses visible in the backgrounds include A-1 Used Auto Parts (Domestic & Foreign), Jeanies, a liquor store, Paint World, a sub store, Bar O, Gursky's, and of course, Forbe's Garage.

Real-life references

  • The Ark sits in rural Oregon; the funeral happens elsewhere within the Cascades. The junkyard is off Route 26 in the Southeast area of Portland, where the Portland Police Department springs their trap. (Our Google Maps pedant-o-vision tells us that there actually are several junkyards a mile or so off of Route 26 in the city's Southeast neighborhood!)

UK printing

(thumbnail)
Once again, poor Skids gets shafted.

Issue #109

  • Back-up strips: The Inhumanoids - "I Left My Monsters in San Francisco" and Robo-Capers
  • When US page 2 was printed, Skids' appearance and caption were blacked out. This was because according to the UK comic's continuity, he'd been displaced to Limbo by a time-traveling Galvatron eight issues earlier.
  • US page 5, panel 7 was altered to read 'I think this thermostat might fit BLUESTREAK' to account for IRONHIDE showing up prominently in 'Target: 2006'.
  • The order of US pages 10 and 11 was reversed when they were printed in the UK comic to provide the issue with a more poignant cliffhanger—the beginning of the funeral of Optimus Prime.
  • In Grim Grams, one reader asks for people to send him nominations for the 1986 Transformers Awards and another reader requests Comic Exchange to be added alongside Stock Exchange.

Issue #110


Other trivia

  • Hoist drives Optimus Prime to his funeral on a special trailer.

Bot Roster

  • Autobots: 27 active (again discounting Optimus Prime as he's officially dead); 5 rogue Dinobots, 14 in repair bay. (46 total)
  • Decepticons: 31 active; 9 offline. (40 total)

Courtesy of my...

Covers (3)

  • US cover: the Mechanic in front of dead Autobots, by Herb Trimpe.
  • UK issue #109 cover: reuse of art from US cover, slightly recolored with new captions.
  • UK issue #110 cover: Autobots attacked by the Ark, by Jeff Anderson.
  • (thumbnail)

    US issue #26 - How manly!

  • (thumbnail)

    UK issue #109 - The UK really liked their lime green. The editor was Scrapper.

  • (thumbnail)

    UK issue #110 - Now this is more like it! If only we could see what was going on.

Advertisements

US

  • M&M's - inside front cover
  • Brach's candy - between pages 4 & 5
  • Marvel Super Mart - between pages 5 & 6
  • Comics and Sketchy ads - between pages 7 & 8
  • American Comics - between pages 8 & 9
  • Mile High Comics - between pages 16 & 17 and between 17 & 18
  • Alternate Realities Distributing, Inc. - between pages 17 & 18
  • New Universe Super Sleuth Sweepstakes - between pages 19 & 20
  • Fallen Angels - between pages 20 & 21
  • Transmissions
  • Marvel subscription service
  • Yamaha keyboards - inside back cover
  • Brach's candy (back cover)

UK: #109

  • Action Force (toy range)
  • The incredible New Teams

Reprints

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