#64 - "Deadly Obsession"

Matrix Quest, part 3 of 5

Credits

Writer - Simon Furman / Penciler - Jose Delbo / Inker - Al Williamson, Dan Reed / Lettering - Jim Massara / Colors - Nel Yomtov

Story

The story begins with the Autobot Longtooth, who is alone at sea, hunting a whale-like "klud" on the planet Gottlieb. As he prepares to harpoon the klud, Doubleheader and Pincer are searching for him, hoping to stop him before he kills it.

Flashback: Arriving two weeks ago, the Autobots overheard stories about the klud's return, who was previously thought to be extinct. Wondering if the "resurrection" might have been caused by the Creation Matrix, they began searching for it. Unfortunately, the klud attacked them, biting off Longtooth's leg in the process. The trauma causes Longtooth to snap, and he becomes obsessed with destroying the klud.

Back in real time, Longtooth attacks the klud, but his harpoon is intercepted by a Decepticon ship. Thunderwing orders the Decepticons to protect the klud and destroy Longtooth; when Ruckus wonders why the klud is important, Thunderwing turns wild, and the Decepticons suspect that he is being obsessed over the Matrix. The other Autobots soon arrive and a fight breaks out; Longtooth's ship is destroyed, knocking him into the ocean to face the klud.

As the battle proceeds, Thunderwing uses his affinity for the Matrix to read the klud's mind. He learns that the dying klud became rejuvenated when it swallowed a dead scientist infused with Matrix energy, and that the scientist came from the moon of a nearby planet. Thunderwing immediately orders the Decepticons to retreat, which prompts even more silent dissention.

Longtooth and the klud return to the surface, and Longtooth prepares to deliver the final kill. He is stopped by Pincer, who pleads that needless murder is not the Autobots' way. Longtooth snaps out of his obsession and spares the klud.

Notes and Comments

• This issue is based loosely on the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Longtooth plays the role of Captain Ahab, who went on a similar obsessive hunt for the great white whale.
• When the Autobots are interrogating about the klud, some of the harbormaster's lines are almost word-for-word identical to parts from the movie Jaws.
• When Thunderwing reads the klud's memories, he learns that the dead scientist came from the moon VsQs, orbiting the planet Cameron. This appears to be a reference to the movie Aliens; "Cameron" is director James Cameron, and "VsQs" is the character Private Vasquez.