Cold War!

	; Not the first time, and not the last, that Decepticon will fight against Decepticon. These guys just can't get along....
	"Cold War!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	October 1988
Cover date	February 1989
Writer	Bob Budiansky
Penciler	José Delbo
Inker	Danny Bulanadi
Colorist	Nel Yomtov
Letterer	Bill Oakley
Editor	Don Daley
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

The name or term "Cold War" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Cold War (disambiguation).

If Starscream was always this competent, we'd be in a lot of trouble.

Synopsis

Having moved their base to the cold Arctic after the Club Con debacle, Ratbat and his Decepticons respond to an incoming intruder alert signal. As the Seacons form Piranacon and begin shaking the arriving starship, Starscream flies in and tells the combiner robot to stop what he's doing and let the ship down gently. Good thing too, because, as soon as he does, Scorponok and his Decepticon Headmasters file out, and they are not in the best of moods.

Starscream explains that Scorponok contacted him some weeks ago about the prospect of working together against the Autobots. With Club Con active at the time, Starscream asked Scorponok's crew to keep their distance for the time being. It seems once the Club folded, Scorponok tracked a signal beacon that Starscream had set up for them, since humans were no longer an issue. Starscream claims to have simply "forgotten" to inform Ratbat during the shuffle of moving. In a whispered aside, he also tells Ratbat that he couldn't have warned Scorponok off any longer without making him suspicious, despite how critical the time is in their plans for the Underbase. As both commanders' hackles are already raised, things don't get any more pleasant when Scorponok reveals that he and his troops are part "puny fleshling", something Ratbat finds infinitely distasteful.

Optimus tries to float a mile in Fort Max's shoes.

Back in the Caribbean, Optimus Prime and Blaster are accompanied by Spike and Fortress Maximus in a futile search for the Decepticons' island base. The search for Buster Witwicky and the threat of the Underbase weigh heavily on all three Autobots.

In the Arctic, Starscream has been escorting the Decepticon Headmasters on a highly censored tour of their base. During the tour, he stops in on Buster Witwicky and openly informs the flesh creature that he is scheduled for immediate termination. Naturally, Buster speaks up about how they're only killing him because he overheard about the Underbase. Even though Starscream tries to stop him from talking (really), the topic quickly catches Scorponok's attention. After Starscream "reluctantly" pleads the fifth on the subject, Scorponok goes stomping off to confront Ratbat. Giddy with evil glee, Starscream thanks Buster for helping set his plan in motion, before gathering up the boy for his last flight.

Ratbat and Scorponok exchange harsh words with each other over the Underbase and the inherent value of fleshlings, at which point Scorponok stalks off to leave with his Headmaster entourage. Ratbat sends the Predacons to stop his departure, and events proceed naturally from there. The rest of Scorponok's troops file out of their starcruiser, and the battle is joined.

That's gotta be disappointing for the big Russian. He probably doesn't have much pain right now, but I think tomorrow he is really gonna feel that.

In the meantime, Starscream prepares to abandon Buster on the Arctic ice shelf. As a parting gift, he leaves Buster a small communication beacon that, when triggered, will send a powerful homing pulse directly to the Autobots. Buster quickly realizes exactly what Starscream intends: to gather the Autobots so close to the Decepticon base would only serve as a uniting force to bring Ratbat and Scorponok's crew together, and slaughter the Autobots. Still, Buster realizes that he'll die otherwise, and only the Autobots can possibly stop Starscream from stealing the Underbase for himself. As Starscream flies into Scorponok's now-empty starcruiser and commandeers it, Buster reaches over to press the beacon...

Scorecard

Buzzsaw v. Cutthroat = Buzzsaw
Blitzwing v. Horri-Bull = Blitzwing
Skywarp v. Bugly = Bugly
Rampage v. Apeface = Apeface
Astrotrain v. Weirdwolf & Snapdragon
Octane v. Rippersnapper
Tantrum & Razorclaw v. Scorponok = Scorponok
Soundwave v. Bomb-Burst = Bomb-Burst

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Nebulans
Blaster (32) Optimus Prime (42) Fortress Maximus (43)	Buzzsaw (1) Laserbeak (2) Octane (3) Rampage (4) Blitzwing (5) Tantrum (6) Astrotrain (7) Ratbat (8) Headstrong (9) Soundwave (10) Thundercracker (11) Divebomb (12) Overbite (13) Seawing (14) Snaptrap (15) Skalor (16) Tentakil (17) Nautilator (18) Piranacon (19) Starscream (20) Scorponok (21) Mindwipe (22) Snapdragon (23) Weirdwolf (24) Iguanus (25) Bugly (26) Bomb-Burst (27) ? (28) Cutthroat (29) Submarauder (30) Razorclaw (31) Skullcruncher (40) Apeface (41) Breakdown (45) Triggerhappy (46) Hun-Grr (47) Horri-Bull (48) Rippersnapper (49) Squeezeplay (50) Sinnertwin (51) Skullgrin (52) Finback (53) Skywarp (54)	Buster Witwicky (33) Spike Witwicky (44)	Zarak (34) Grax (35) Vorath (36) Spasma (37) Monzo (38) Krunk (39)

Quotes

"This optical projection reveals Buster Witwicky, our one human prisoner. Like all of his kind, he is a worthless, feeble-minded fleshling! He is scheduled for imminent termination."
"Do with the lad as you will, Ratbat... but be aware that, by your standard, part of me is equally unworthy!"
"What --?! You're a human! ....But... but humans and Decepticons can't --"
"Can't what, Ratbat? Work together? Let us hope in this instance.... that is not the case."

— Ratbat and Lord Zarak

"Being binary-bonded to Fortress Maximus does grant you a unique insight into our affairs, Spike Witwicky."
"Lucky me. I only linked with this tub we're floating on to rescue my brother, Buster."

—Spike Witwicky lets Optimus Prime know how he feels about his Headmaster partner

"As long as I command the Autobots, the search for your brother will continue without pause. We will find your brother."
"I'd like to believe that, Optimus."
...As would I.

— Optimus Prime and Spike Witwicky aren't feeling optimistic

"The Autobots, Starscream -- how do you plan to eliminate them?"
"Please, Commander -- there'll be plenty of time for shoptalk later. Ah -- now this should be of interest."
[aside to Skullcruncher] "So far, nothing has been of interest."

— Scorponok, held at bay by Starscream

"Was it something I said?"
"It was precisely what you said. Thank you."

— Buster inadvertently helps Starscream push his agenda along

"Humans! Those putrid protoplasmic parasites should all be carted to the scrapyard!"
"And would you have me go there, too?"
"Where you go is your business, Scorponok. Just keep your fleshy face out of mine!"

— Ratbat and Scorponok

"Can't we discuss this?"
"What's to discuss -- how you are to meet your end?"
"Don't tell me, let me guess -- old age?"
"Sorry, that would throw off my schedule!"
"Any other way will throw me off mine!"

— Buster makes a game effort to reason with Starscream

"Rrar!! A nice, big, fuel-juicy prey! And slow-footed, too!"
"Stupid Predacon! Apeface is much more than this form you see! My agility is legendary!"
"Rrar!! Rampage eats legends for breakfast! Just ask my commander, Ratbat!" [tears off Apeface's arm; spits it out]
"My arm isn't to your taste, Rampage?! Try swallowing it this way!" [bashes Rampage with his own torn-off limb]

— Rampage gets an epic smack-down from Apeface

"Whaddaya tryin' to do -- kill me?! ...Uh, on second thought, don't answer that!"
"Whether you continue or cease operation is entirely up to you, Buster Witwitcky."

— Buster and Starscream

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

The cover date is misprinted as February 1988.
Page 9: Skullcruncher has Horri-Bull's color scheme.
Page 12: Hun-Grr is colored like Horri-Bull as he leads the Decepticons out of the ship.
Page 13: Thundercracker has Starscream's colors.
The depiction of Skywarp's teleportation power makes it look like he's just doing some kind of loop-de-loops.

Continuity errors

Several Decepticons who are critically damaged in this issue, most notably ones like Tantrum who was literally torn in half, somehow are perfectly healthy next issue (in some cases, only to be destroyed again).

Continuity notes

This issue marks the fourth and last time we ever see Fortress Maximus transformed.
On page 6, the art of the Decepticon Headmasters' heads transforming is a swipe from Headmasters #4.
On page 10, the art of Scorponok pointing to Ratbat is a swipe from Headmasters #3.

Real-life references

The action is set in the Arctic, aside from a brief visit to the Caribbean Sea.

Bot Roster

Autobots: 75 active; 5 bodyless Throttlebots. (80 total)
Decepticons: 71 active as the two teams join forces; 4 offline/missing. (75 total)
- Though some characters suffered severe damage, it's not clear if it is intended to take any of them permanently out of the story.

Courtesy of my...

Blitzwing bisects Horri-Bull with his electron scimitar.
Bugly hits Skywarp with a burst of photon fire.
Bomb-Burst shoots Ratbat with a stream of liquid corrosive acid.

Character profiles

UK printing

Issue #206

Transformations takes some time to promote Marvel UK's upcoming William Tell comic... which never actually came out, dropped at the eleventh hour.^[1]
Back-up strips: Action Force - "Strange Bedfellows" and Combat Colin

Issue #207

Transformations says the first post-"Time Wars" story will be in #215 due to their very silly attempt to claim the Underbase came before "Time Wars", which features a bunch of characters that will be dead next issue. This is a double gaffe as "The Man in the Machine!" runs in #211, getting rid of Fortress Maximus, and if they just mean the first UK strip that will be "The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire." in #213.
To bulk up the 'running time', #207 added the first two pages of "Dark Star" to the end of "Cold War": the prologue and recap turned into a cliffhanger of the planet-killing Underbase heading our way.
Back-up strips: Action Force - "Strange Bedfellows" and Combat Colin

IDW Classics reprinting

Throughout this issue, Buster's pants are bright red instead of brown.
Page 1: Rampage and Headstrong's legs are dark green instead of the usual dark-blue-for-black.
Page 5: In panel 5, an area of Starscream's shoulder thrusters colored green is corrected to red. In panel 6, Flashback Blaster now has magenta legs and a green bicep.
Page 13: In Panel 1, Squeezeplay's lower jaw is no longer a different color from the rest of his face. In panel 4, Thundercracker is corrected to his own colors rather than being in Starscream's.
Page 15: Panel 2, Skywarp's jet intakes are now (erroneously) colored purple rather than being the same uniform dark gray as the rest of him (also erroneously, should be silver/white).
Page 16: Notably, as Soundwave is tasted by Bomb-Burst, he is NOT altered here to be mouthless and blue as he is in other issues.

Covers (3)

US issue #49 cover: Starscream holds Buster while Decepticons battle, by José Delbo and Danny Bulanadi.
UK issue #206 cover: Starscream scheming away from Scorponok and Ratbat, by Andrew Wildman.
UK issue #207 cover: Headstrong vs Bomb-Burst, by Lee Sullivan.