COUNTDOWN: Assessing the body count in Time Wars

Transformers fiction gets pretty brutal at times. There’s obviously something about the main characters being robots that makes it perfectly ok for lots of horrific violence to regularly creep into the supporting media of a childrens’ toyline, eh?

Anyway, let’s not pretend we don’t all love a bit of robot-on-robot ruthlessness and instead take a look at some of the most notorious examples in the history of Transformers storytelling to see which ones really are the most savage. We’re going to be combing through a particular piece of franchise fiction and totalling up the number of confirmed dead characters that have been amassed come the tale’s end. Simple, eh?

#202, artwork credit: Wildman

Kicking us off on our rather sadistic quest is one of the more notorious epics from Marvel UK’s run on Transformers through the ’80s and ’90s. Yes, folks, it’s Time Wars! If you’ve never come across the story before then OBVIOUS SPOILERS TO FOLLOW…!

The saga is mostly set in the ‘present day’ of 1989, where a time rift caused by Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge having travelled back from the future is now threatening to destroy the universe. This has been steadily building up over the last 100 issues or so, as Galvatron started tearing it up in the ’80s in #101 (and before that in Target: 2006 as well!). Anyway, the Autobot *and* Decepticon forces from 2009 end up also coming back in time and (eventually!) team up with the present-day Autobots and Decepticons in an attempt to take Galvatron down. Only one problem… Galvatron has teamed up with his former self, Megatron, and the two of them commence an almighty rampage where they attempt to destroy anyone who opposes them! Cue carnage. 

#205, artwork credit: Wildman

The major retrospective twist in the tale is that this Megatron is latterly revealed to in fact be a clone (created to house the mind of the defeated Decepticon dictator, Straxus… long story), and although that creates a *lot* of questions about just who exactly Unicron turned into Galvatron, given he appears to share some memories with the clone, it’s all a little timey-whiney along the way.

Regardless, the main thrust of Time Wars is all about letting Galvatron and Megatron rip through the combined Autobot and Decepticon forces, taking out several names along the way! The saga has a reputation for being one of the most violent parts of the Marvel UK run, so let’s have a look today and see if that’s actually earned or not, shall we? 

 

#1: Cyclonus & Nightstick

#189, artwork credit: Anderson/ Smith

Kill count: 2

Killed by: Megatron (clone)

Cause of death: Crushed (Nightstick) / Decapitation (Cyclonus)

Notable sound effect: CHUK!

OK, full disclosure – this one doesn’t actually take place in Time Wars itself… but it is one of the major catalysts for the story, as Megatron brutally offing Cyclonus some decades before he was even created is ultimately what flares up the time storm something chronic, so I’d say that it’s still sort of essential! It also happens to be one of the most memorable moments of the lot, firstly for how Cyclonus ends up with his head being ripped right off but if anything more because of the downright cold way that Megatron dispatches with Nightstick.

Even as a kid, this one sent chills down my spine, as there was something different about a flesh & blood character being murdered in such a fashion that just hit extra hard. All this and we haven’t even made it to the actual story yet!

 

#2: Battletrap

#202, artwork credit: Reed

Kill count: 1̶ 0 (as he reappears in the comic later on…)

Killed by: Galvatron

Cause of death: Thrown into a wall

Notable sound effect: KRATCH!

Another memorable entry this, as the Dan Reed-fuelled sight of Galvatron’s hand lurching forward and ripping into Battletrap’s chest wasn’t one you soon forgot! #202 is where the pace picks up and numerous bodies start going down, although despite this first example seemingly being enough to take Battletrap out of action, it sadly can’t quite be counted as the character does appear again later on in the comic, towards the very end of the run. So it looks like he was playing robotopossum!

 

#3: Venom

#202, artwork credit: Reed

Kill count: 1

Killed by: Galvatron

Cause of death: Shot and then torn apart

Notable sound effect: FOOM!

Less fortunate is Deluxe Insecitcon, Venom, who, in his one and done appearance in the Marvel Transformers timeline, has the notoriety of dying twice! He’s first seen being shot at relatively close range by Galvatron (something which is demonstrably enough to kill other characters – just keep reading…) only to then be torn apart but a few pages later. Maybe he made it through that first assault after all, eh? Anyway, he’s never seen again so I think we can safely assume Galvatron got him the second time… or he was already dead and Galvatron just didn’t know when enough was enough.

 

#4: Topspin

#202, artwork credit: Reed

Kill count: 1

Killed by: Megatron (clone)

Cause of death: Head shot off

Notable sound effect: BAKKAM!

Most of the casualties on this list consist of the combined forces of the Autobot Wreckers and the Decepticon Mayhem Attack Squad, which is no surprise considering their plan amounted to blindly wandering into the location they knew Galvatron to be and seeing what happened, AKA ‘f— about and find out’. Yet of all the silly decisions witnessed on these pages, one of the worst was surely Topspin’s attempt to walk up to Megatron and goad him by loudly declaring he wasn’t all that tough. One swift BAKKAM later and he dead.

 

#5: Chop Shop

#202, artwork credit: Reed

Kill count: 1

Killed by: Galvatron (probably)

Cause of death: Shot

Notable sound effect: CHOOM!

Like his Deluxe Insecticon buddy, Venom, Chop Shop here is never seen before this in the Marvel comic and, well, he’s never seen again after this, either. That’s all the evidence we need to declare this guy total cannon fodder. It’s not 100% confirmed whose CHOOM it was that finished him off, but we’re calling it as Galvatron here.

 

#6: Sandstorm

#202, artwork credit: Reed

Kill count: 1

Killed by: Galvatron

Cause of death: Shot

Notable sound effect: FRASHK!

Unlike some of the names on the list, Sandstorm had a fairly decent role in the comic before this point, which is perhaps why the image of him being casually blasted to pieces in such a gruesome fashion was enough for it to remain burned in my retinas for some time after. Thanks for all the nightmares, Dan Reed!

 

#7: Roadbuster

#203, artwork credit: Reed

Kill count: 1

Killed by: Accident

Cause of death: Exploding Pathblaster weapon

Notable sound effect: WHOOM!

There are a couple of kills here that aren’t delivered by either Galvatron or Megatron, but only one of them involves standing too close to an untested Decepticon megacannon whilst it blows up. One sizeable WHOOM later and Roadbuster is busted.

 

#8: Rack’n’Ruin / Twin Twist

#204, artwork credit: Sullivan

Kill count: 3

Killed by: Galvatron

Cause of death: Shot (Rack’n’Ruin) / Decapitation (Twin Twist)

Notable sound effect: FRAKAMM!

This is quite the panel, isn’t it? The opening splash page of #203 sees no less than three (counting Rack’n’Ruin as two separate characters, technically!) of your favourite Wreckers being annihilated by Galvatron at once, all never to be seen again. The giddy highs of Target: 2006 were a long time ago, lads, get off the page!

 

#9: Flywheels

#203, artwork credit: Reed

Kill count: 1

Killed by: Galvatron

Cause of death: Unknown

Flywheels has the honour of being the only character on this list to be disposed of “offscreen”, as although we see him in dire straits tumbling with Galvatron in #203, it’s not until the subsequent chapter that we have his fate confirmed.

#204, artwork credit: Sullivan

Yep, if you look closely towards the bottom right corner, that is what’s left of Flywheels (complete with severed arm). Coupled with the fact he’s never seen again and I think this one is safe to call.

 

#10: Ultra Magnus

#204, artwork credit: Sullivan

Kill count: 1

Killed by: Scorponok’s army

Cause of death: Torn apart

Boy, this one hurts! Once one of the main protagonists of the entire Marvel UK saga before this point, Ultra Magnus comes a cropper as a result of a fairly hasty and mistimed shot that just happens to accidentally strike Scorponok. What’s worse is that although it’s the Decepticon Headmaster’s troops who dispose of Magnus, it’s his old nemesis, Galvatron, who sets this up by manoeuvring Scorponok into the firing line to begin with! The ignominy.

In any case, it’s worth clarifying that this is the 2009 Magnus, so the future version of the lad we spend much of the prior 125 issues reading about, but even then this is the last time we see an in-continuity version of the character featured in the storyline at all, so it’s safe to say this is ultimately how he met his end (or at least it was before all this time travel nonsense began in the first place!).

Many readers had anticipated that Galvatron and Magnus might have more of a final showdown in these pages and evidently, that was originally supposed to be the plan, but ultimately the idea was scrapped given how much was already going on in the story. Still, it was memorable!

 

#11: Galvatron

#205, artwork credit: Sullivan

Kill count: 1

Killed by: Time storm

Cause of death: Ripped to pieces

So it all boils down to this, as despite his best efforts, Galvatron loses hard thanks to the time storm finally catching up with him. He stands and screams against it defiantly but that doesn’t stop it ripping him to shreds in the process before his remaining skeleton is swept away back to whence it came and a generation of disturbed children is left in its wake. Seriously, don’t tell me those eyeballs didn’t upset you just a smidge. Anyway, Galvatron is no more (which kind of makes you think the Autobots and Decepticons could have just waited for the time storm to catch up with him in the first place, really, doesn’t it?), and although the character would be featured in later issues of the comic, that was an alternate universe version, so this one counts.

 
Thus, our final tally is…

Huh. I really thought this number would be WAY higher! Time Wars is so often considered the most brutally epic part of the Generation 1 comic but actually, it could have been way worse. Still, some of the deaths remain pretty shocking, all the same! 
 
 
So that’s the lot… for now! Which other stories would you like to see assessed?

TTFN