The Mission

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Hoist is stuck in a hole? That's the emergency? What is this, Go-Bots?

"The Mission"

Publisher

Marvel Comics

First published

September 1986

Cover date

1986

Writer

Jamie Delano

Art

Colours

Continuity

Marvel Comics continuity

Jazz rushes to save Hoist in barren Alaska—but who is going to save Jazz?

1 Synopsis
2 Featured characters
3 Notes

Synopsis

Hoist accidentally falls into an abandoned human mineshaft while tracking the Constructicons in the Alaskan-Yukon Wilderness. Totally exposed, he sends out a signal on the Urgent Distress Frequency.

Jazz races through a harsh and desolate landscape to try and rescue Hoist before the Constructicons emerge from their subterranean base and see him. But having psyched himself out with the oppressively barren landscape and his own low estimation of Hoist's skills as a scout, Jazz mistakes Hoist's head above the snow as his severed head, and believes he's walking into a Constructicon trap. When Hoist spots him and turns his head, the wired Jazz fires his photon rifle, alerting the Constructicons to their presence.

While freeing Hoist from the mines, Jazz is shot in the head, destroying his logic circuits and reducing him to the level of a toddler with no understanding of the world. Hoist spends several hours pushing, pulling and shoving Jazz through an Alaskan forest ahead of him while the Constructicons pursue.

Hoist has been heading downhill, as he plans to find the river running through this area and build a raft to carry them away from the pursuing Constructicons. However, when they reach the river, a dam has reduced it to a trickle, probably insufficient to the task.

Jazz, whose childlike mind had previously marveled at a deer, is profoundly disquieted by the dam's intrusion on the untouched landscape. He is staring angrily at the dam when the Constructicons (who have formed Devastator) shoot at him. Hoist tackles him, and the shot instead blows a hole in the dam, which crumbles. Hoist drags Jazz onto his makeshift raft as the Constructicons are separated and swept away by the torrent.

Two days later, Hoist crosses the border back into the United States from Canada, Jazz in tow.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons
Jazz (1) Hoist (2)	Constructicons (3) Devastator (4)

Notes

Continuity notes

Unlike most of the present-day prose stories featured in the first two annuals, there are no continuity conflicts within "The Mission" that prohibit it from fitting into the timeline of the regular weekly UK comic series. Logic would suggest it falls somewhere between issue #65 and issue #78; the former was the final chapter of a run of consecutive stories that began with what was explicitly Devastator's second time in action, meaning this story cannot occur before it, while the latter marked the beginning of "Target: 2006," in which Jazz was lobotomized by the Decepticons and taken out of action for a while. Jazz would be fixed up by issue #93, so "The Mission" could also take place at any point in time after that story.

Artwork and technical errors

On page 53: "However, something had gone drastically wong." Wong indeed.
In page 55's illustration, Jazz is pointing at some robots in the distance, but they don't look anything like the Constructicons. Curiously, they're drawn and coloured to kinda resemble the 1985 Autobot Mini Vehicles in that there are two red ones, a blue one, and a green one, although the fifth purple block-coloured character at the back doesn't resemble Seaspray's silhouette at all.
Hoist's face is drawn without its mouthplate.
On page 60: "calmly scanning it from to to botom and from side to side," should read "from top to bottom." Later on the same page, "forever" is erroneously written as "for ever."

Other trivia

The nature of the Constructicons' excavation under the mountain is never revealed.
Dude, dragging your brain-damaged fellow soldier across hostile terrain? Hardcore.