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Issue #12 Story: Man of Iron (Part 4) Synopsis:
Back at the castle the army has finally dug through to the giant object underground - which is thought by the Autobots to be a Cybertronian rescue craft! While the experts try to make sense of it, castle curator Roy Harker can only hope that his son Sammy is okay after he was kidnapped by a strange car (Jazz)! Suddenly the ground begins to shake, and just as it did in the middle ages, and the tremor is the prelude to the Man of Iron's re-appearance. After he finally emerges from a nifty concealed hatch, he promptly attacks the army - why, I have no idea? But suddenly Starscream appears from nowhere and blasts him to pieces. Elsewhere the Autobots are heading towards the castle in their shuttle, and just before they arrive, Jazz departs at speed from the hatch underneath. He lets Sammy out before ramming Starscream at full-speed! The other flying Decepticons arrive and are picked off by Bluestreak inside the shuttle. They attack with everything they have got but are forced into retreat by superior firepower. Optimus Prime realises that the Autobots could never leave Earth while the Decepticons pose such a threat to this planet. Neither can they let the rescue craft fall into enemy hands so the only choice is to destroy it. Jazz does the deed with one of his rockets and pretty soon the fill in the hole and allow life to get back to normal at the castle. Soon the tourists are back, this time with the stories of UFO sightings, but see nothing new that is out of the ordinary. Sammy never sees the Autobots again but the Man of Iron continues to walk in his dreams. ****** Comments: What a weird story, in the end the Man of Iron does show up, but is immediately destroyed! From the soldier's words that the Decepticon 'just came out of nowhere' you might think it was Skywarp who teleported in to unleash hell. But when the page was reprinted for the US and coloured the attacker was painted as Starscream. Man of Iron never talks so we don't learn his name, but that preserves his mystique. We find out he has a companion, Navigator, who is sleeping in the ship deep below ground and has been programmed with the data about Cybertron's whereabouts. So it is foolhardy that Jazz should be ordered to destroy the craft without rescuing Navigator first? Why not pilot the ship back to the Ark and study it? The story is very English in its setting, with castles and leafy suburbs etc, and military men say things like 'what's going on old boy?', perhaps a tad over the top. I suspect that is why this story was picked for the US audience, but it is a shame because there are finer examples of UK stories such as Dinobot Hunt, The Enemy Within or In the National Interest that would equally have filled to US issues. As mentioned this tale takes place between Powerplay and Prisoner of War, so we are to believe that the low on fuel Autobots swanned off on a jaunt to England while Sparkplug held captive by the Decepticons. Likewise Megs must have suspended his quest for a fuel source, which would have given his side a huge advantage, and sent his men to investigate the craft's signals. Next issue
This page is part of Steve's Transformers Fansite © 2003 |
