Dry Run!

Cyclonus and Scourge call on Shockwave to form an alliance, only for their stupidity to land them in a fight for their lives against the ultimate opponent

THA-KUNCH! The sound of an uppercut from a mystery assailant that leaves Galvatron damaged and disorientated. He retreats to prepare a particle cannon blast, but takes a drop-kick and is blown to bits by a Fusion Cannon blast – Fraddam! It’s all over in 10 seconds. Megatron is victorious!

It’s fair to say that Dry Run, the 1988 story from Marvel UK (scripted by Dan Abnett, using a plot by Simon Furman), makes a dramatic entrance. Long-time readers will have been aware that Galvatron is the most powerful Decepticon there is. Created by a god (Unicron) during the Transformers Movie, he’s said to be the ultimate enhancement of Megatron – more powerful, more durable, more cunning. Yet here getting his ass kicked by his less powerful former self. What gives?

Simon Furman’s masterpiece Target: 2006 introduced readers to the concept of facsimile constructs – automated fake Transformers used in combat training. So, it’s not a surprise that Galvatron we’ve just witnessed getting ripped to bits is a fake, and I cannot imagine that Megatron could dispatch the real Galvatron with the same effortless ease. Nevertheless, Shockwave is pleased.

Since Enemy Action, earlier in the year, he’s been paranoid that Galvatron, who fled 2006 to hide out in ‘present day’ Earth (the 1980s as was), is out to steal his command. And not wanting to take him on directly, Shockwave had recovered the non-functional Megatron from his watery grave in the Thames and reprogrammed him into an obedient agent of destruction.

In the US ‘master’ continuity Shockwave burned up in Earth’s orbit after a space battle with Fortress Maximus (see Desert Island of Space) and the ambitious Ratbat very rapidly jumped into his seat (Shockwave would resurface on the beach at Blackpool in a later US story, creating a continuity faux pas).

In the UK comic, the fall to Earth was less of a big deal. Shockwave dusted himself off and regrouped to the original Decepticon base, Fortress Sinister, to continue his machinations. One of these would have been dealing with the Galvatron situation. However, if he’s worried about threats to his command, Ratbat ought to be the immediate problem.

As Shockwave muses the possibility of testing Megatron against more substantial opposition, he watches Cyclonus and Scourge on the monitor. These two refugees from the future are waiting in the hall, having come to Shockwave for his protection following their abortive attack on Galvatron (they confronted their former boss, Galvatron, in Wrecking Havoc hoping to steal his time travel device).

It’s debatable what protection Shockwave can provide, seeing as he seems to be on his own in the fortress – the rest of his Decepticon army is with Ratbat.

Cyclonus is on edge. He’s uncomfortable about cosying up to Shockwave, who was their hated commander in 2008 and who they subsequently executed (well, Death’s Head did the deed, but with their help). This was in the very excellent Legacy of Unicron part 2 of course. Scourge seems to be thinking more clearly, though that’s not saying much.

Within seconds of Shockwave entering the room and letting them know they’ll be serving him, Cyclonus is ‘triggered’. He calls Shockwave a “pompous, overbearing fool” and goes further – much further – by letting slip that they are destined kill him in the future and take his command. It’s such a ridiculously dumb and unnecessary outburst, like he’s developed the robot equivalent of tourettes syndrome! Scourge is furious.

The response is predictable: a volley of fire from Shockwave (who manages to miss, despite being at point blank range) as Cyclonus and Scourge scatter. The hapless pair unite with their Targetmaster Nebulans, Nightstick and Fracas, and return fire (also misfiring!). What happens next is entirely foreseen…

Shockwave appears with Megatron, instructing him that these are two ‘lieutenants of the hated Galvatron’ and must be destroyed, he’s happy to oblige. Cyclonus and Scourge are shocked and surprised – first Cyclonus is hit by a Fusion Cannon blast, and Scourge is pummelled and thrown against a wall.

Cyclonus, getting throttled, opens fire at point-blank range but Megatron only seems to become more enraged. He crushes Nightstick (surely fatal for the Nebulan) and threatens to crush Cyclonus, who screams for Scourge to help.

Scourge, on his knees, lines up Megatron with Fracas on full power to unleash a fatal blast. Then he thinks of the timeline, if Megatron dies might that mean that he can’t become Galvatron in 2006, and Cyclonus and Scourge might cease to exist as well. It’s a fascinating conundrum, and one that Scourge is not willing to test. He reverts to his jet mode and flees the fortress with Fracas, leaving poor old Cyclonus – the guy who was once able to throttle Megatron in Target: 2006 – to be terminated by Megatron tearing his head off.

In deep space the ‘heavens scream’ as a tear in space time is formed. Decapitation in a kids’ comic, well why not? It’s happened before, to Optimus Prime during the ‘Creation Matrix saga’ of 1985, and Scorponok’s head is severed by Highbrow in the 1988 Annual story All in the Minds. Neither of these died so Cyclonus seems to have been very unlucky in this instance!

In epilogue, Shockwave has decided that Megatron has proven himself ready to take on the main target. Human media reports a mechanoid answering Galvatron’s description running riot through a nearby settlement. Shockwave dispatches Megatron to find the “impostor who claims to be descended from you” and destroy him! And so, the stage is set for that irresistible reckoning, in the 1988 Transformers Annual (on sale now, naturally). It’s a good piece of marketing.

This issue is part of a major story arc that Simon Furman has been weaving in the UK comics since Fallen Angel (way back issue #101) where Galvatron fled to Earth’s past. We’ve since had Cyclonus and Scourge travel back (further disrupting time) and now the death of one of them nearly 20 years before his creation. This resulting rift in space-time is apparently the cause of the destruction of the Quintesson planet, as seen recently in the Space Pirates saga.

(Why the rift should form half the galaxy away at the Quintesson planet rather than at source is a curious question – there they are minding their own business, staging gruesome executions, and a rift that’s nothing to do with them shows up to destroy everything).

The comic is still being printed on the lower quality paper, but thankfully with eight of the 24 pages on glossy, including the cover. This is important as the tip in physical quality is unsettling. I remember thinking at the time that it was a sign of cost cutting and maybe the comic was losing sales and might be about to fold. In fact, it would survive until early 1993, though resorting to black and white and reprints along the way, which would test the loyalty of readers.

What happens when Megatron and Galvatron meet is told in the Annual story Altered Image.

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Wrecking Havoc

It’s Cyclonus and Scourge versus Galvatron versus The Wreckers, in this enjoyable three-way scrap from 1988, set in mid-western town

Transformers meets Top Gun, or so it appears from Jerry Paris’ fiery cover for UK issue 172 and the opening pages of its lead strip ‘Wrecking Havoc,’ by Simon Furman (naturally) and the rarely-spotted-though-much-celebrated artist Bryan Hitch. In fact, as I review the story 34 years later, Top Gun Maverick is wowing audiences in the cinemas and so it seems rather fitting to be revisiting this Decepticon dogfight.

The Transformation page intro suggests that readers may have thought they were witnessing an aerial battle between ‘Action Force’ (the anglicised version of GI Joe) and Decepticons Cyclonus and Scourge. This makes sense given that there have been crossover stories in the previous year, and AF was the back up strip in UK Transformers at this point in its run (July 1988).

However, by the most exciting thing on the welcome page as far as I was concerned then and now is the glimpse of Powermaster Optimus Prime and the assurance “He’s on his way honest…” and in fact Prime would be returning to the main strip, not as a computer-generated character, but as a fully restored Autobot in issue 177, just five weeks away. Of course, at this point fans had no inkling of what ‘Powermasters’ were, so the Hasbro advert for this new toy-line, on page 17, would have been especially interesting. It features Autobots Joyride, Getaway, Slapdash, but not Optimus, and Decepticons Darkwing and Dreadwind, whose name tags were mixed up.

But let’s get back to Wrecking Havoc. This is the fifth of five two-parters from Simon starring the Cybertr0n-based Autobot resistance movement led by Emirate Xaaron, and with Ultra Magnus as their star player. It picks up from Deadly Games, where the team were last seen waiting for their trans-dimensional portal to come online and to deposit them across the vast gulf of space to Earth. It’s not a perfect technology and I get the impression it can only be used when planets are in alignment, or some such, hence they are having to leave without Magnus. (On the letters page, we’re promised that Magnus’ final showdown with Galvatron will come, although I’m not sure it ever does, presumably because Time Wars was curtailed).

In the absence of internet, Furman must have consulted the military books to look-up the Grumman F14 Tomcat and presumably Hitch will have been provided with photos of the elite warplane (which according to Wikipedia is still in service today in Iran, although it stopped being widely used in 2006). There’s some fantastic artwork from the 16-year-old Hitch of Cyclonus and Scourge zooming up on the F14s and striking with deadly force. The rear of one plane explodes and the two pilots eject – phew, no humans injured yet – but Scourge is less obliging than his teammate, blowing a second plane to bits.

It’s enjoyable to see Nightstick and Fracas, the Target master companions of the two future Decepticons, seated in the cockpits. We don’t get a strong sense of the relationships except that Cyclonus is dismissive of Nightstick and won’t let him near the controls, whereas Scourge seems to have more confidence in his companion, and they seem the stronger pairing. Both Decepticons believe they have been enhanced by becoming Target-Masters and bonding with the Nebulans. This is revealed later in the issue by Shockwave, who has agreed to provide sanctuary for the pair if their mission to confront Galvatron fails.

As the aerial battle continues, Cyclonus’ arrogance counts against him as he is duped by two planes suddenly banking left and right and leaving him to collide with a precipice that somehow crept up on him! Down but not out, Cyclonus must quite recover his bearings and destroy a sidewinder missile that is homing in on him. He and Scourge scuttle off with their metaphorical tails between their legs, embarrassed at being bested by human jets. They fear that it’s a bad omen for their meeting with their old boss Galvatron.

An interlude sees a slimmed down line-up of Wreckers (minus Magnus but also inexplicably missing Whirl and Roadbuster, a shame) going through their drills as Xaaron and Wrecker commander Springer express their concerns about the mission. A combat drop through an unstable portal is bad enough without facing one of the most powerful Decepticons in creation. There’s no backing out now… but I do have to wonder why Galvatron is such a target. They could, if they wanted, leave him to the Earthbound Autobots to deal with, while they concentrate on the bigger fish they must fry, namely overthrowing the Decepticons on Cybertron. It could be that with Prime now dead and his successor Grimlock having abandoned the Earth, Xaaron and Springer feel and obligation to fill the void.

Cyclonus and Scourge transform and land in the middle of a human settlement. Their arrival sends the human inhabitants (depicted in an array of eclectic outfits) to flee in a panic, all except one guy in a suit who is holding the shrunken gun-form of Galvatron and pleading to be allowed to go. Galvatron reverts to his robot form, surprising Scourge and Cyclonus, and although he stipulated that they should come unarmed there’s Galvy with his trademark particle cannon! He’s less happy that they have brought along the Nebulans – he also specified they come alone.

Oddly enough, given their history there are no pleasantries, nor any attempt by Cyclonus and Scourge to deceive their old boss by posing as allies and finding out about the time-jump control. They foolishly show their hand immediately by declaring to Galvatron that they have no desire to serve him and again, and they are prepared to take his trigger by force. Their intention is of course to return to 2008 and the position of power they enjoyed there.

Let’s explore that a moment. The are two ways to get to 2008. One is simply to sit tight and let the years roll around, after all 20 years is no big deal for an immortal robot. Or they can skip over those years with the device, saving themselves the wait, but then what – surely, they would run in an older version of Galvatron, laying in wait for them. It’s a flaw in the story’s logic I feel. (Or maybe they know that Galvatron is destined to die in the past?)

Reacting to their clumsy approach, Galvatron maintains the pretence that he still possesses the time travel device and challenges the two Target Masters to take him on. It’s certainly a fight I would have like to have seen, but alas it’s not to be, for at that moment the sky opens as the Wreckers descend from the portal, realising to their horror that they are smack-bang in the middle of a human settlement and the mission is already doomed. All this sets-up a strong cliff-hanger going into next week’s issue.

Jeff Anderson’s cover for issue 173 sees Galvatron busting through a wall, bricks flying in all directions. It’s okay as an image except that the Hulk or some other Marvel character of human size, he’s a giant robot. He should be a lot taller than most brick walls and the bricks and mortar itself would be tiny in comparison, but not so in Jeff’s image. It niggles with me, but I imagine most readers would not have noticed. Bryan Hitch continues one art duties, with Springer being propelled into an apartment block in the opening splash page and demolishing it. Interestingly there’s a naked silhouette in one of the shop windows, either a mannequin or somebody blissfully unaware of what’s going on outside!

Springer dodges Cyclonus’ downward punch in his direction and a laser blast before recovering his weapon and shooting a crater like dent into the Deception’s chest (the first time I’ve seen weapons have this level of impact). In a little reminder to the readers of the Target-Master concept, Springer attempts to relieve the dazed Cyclonus of his weapon, only for it to transform into Nightstick and run away.

I mentioned previously that The Wreckers are little light on troops, with some key people missing. Here they are not only battling three Decepticons rather than the one they expected to be up against, but Sandstorm is left performing crowd control.

Rack ‘n’ Ruin charges towards Galvatron, engaging in hand-to-hand combat and a close-range blast to the chest (another crater impact) but the Decepticon punches our Broadside and swings him into the others. The fight is going badly.

Fortunately, Galvatron inexplicably decides to voice out loud the irony that if the Autobots had waited, Cyclonus and Scourge would have tried to do the job for them (no internal monologue for him). Springer overhears Galvatron going on to say that the time travel device no longer exists, and – after sandwiching Cyclonus’ head between two cars (probably my favourite moment in the story) – he ambushes Galvatron and leaps away (a welcome reminder of his ability in this regard), exclaiming loudly that the “time jump trigger device is ours”. Cyclonus and Scourge immediately take the bait and go in pursuit, leaving the human settlement.

Galvatron understands that Springer has exploited his ex-lieutenants’ weakness, “their stupidity” and of course offers them a choice: ‘save your leader or try and take me in’. The Wreckers promptly go to Springer’s aid forcing Cyclonus and Scourge to take to the air and flee. Springer’s gamble worked, but presumably if they had offered to help Cyclonus and Scourge to take down Galvatron they might have collectively succeeded. The answer is surely that as soon Springer realised human innocents were in danger the priorities of the mission changed.

Despite a bold declaration that ‘Galvatron’s head will be ours’ they have been outwitted for now. Likewise, Cyclonus and Scourge will be forced into the arms (arm?) of Shockwave with rather far-reaching consequences (see Dry Run). And so, the curtain falls on an enjoyable run of UK stories. Next issue, the very long awaited (six and a half months) continuation of the Blaster versus Grimlock story. At last!

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Salvage!

Shockwave recovers Megatron from his watery grave to use as an agent against Galvatron, who appears to have mentally broken poor old Ultra Magnus…

‘Look who’s in Transformers’, teases the Transformation page for issue 160 with Lee Sullivan’s realistic drawing of a familiar face from the ‘real world’ – Richard Branson. Genuinely this was unexpected.

Branson was/is one of the Britain’s most recognisable business personalities, and in April 1988 when the comic was released, he was famous for high-profile marketing stunts such as driving a tank through New York’s 5^th Avenue or wearing a wedding dress to launch his Virgin Brides line.

It’s easy to imagine that when Marvel UK asked if he would like to appear in Britain’s best-selling weekly comic, Branson was tickled by the idea. It may well have engendered some goodwill from young readers towards Virgin corporation (and sales as the Virgin Media stores) but if Sir Richard was hoping to look cool and down with the kids, he might be disappointed. If anything, he’s on the receiving end of some Decepticon humiliation, in a manner that other billionaire GB Blackrock knows well.

Our story opens with a full-page of Megatron and Centurion being dredged from the bottom of the Thames by Mr Branson, while still locked in the battle poses they were in when bombed by Action Force in the Ancient Relics crossover story.

Mr Branson is dreaming of his corporation being splashed across the headlines – all good publicity for his environmental credentials (that was a thing in the 80s too!) -when an employee shouts a shark warning. This sounds ridiculous, as ‘there are no sharks in the Thames’, but the Seacon Jawbreaker pops up and bites through the chains that are holding the two petrified giants. Then Blitzwing, Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust swoop down make off with Mr Branson’s prize, leaving the tycoon shaking his fists.

Hours later at Mount Verona, USA, the Sparkler Minibots – Sizzle, Fizzle and Guzzle – free Magnus from his tomb, where he’s been contained since the 1987 Transformers Annual. Magnus is at first disorientated and then overcome with fear as images of his fateful last encounter with Galvatron flood back. Sullivan’s nightmarish depiction of Galvatron’s laughing face inside a Decepticon sign is genuinely creepy.

FYI Salvage is Lee Sullivan’s first ‘interiors’ for Transformers UK after cutting his teeth on a series of covers. I wasn’t a fan back in the day, as I didn’t think robots should have human expressions, wrinkles and saliva – metal faces shouldn’t contort. But revisiting the story now I think Lee has done a much better job than I’d initially given him credit. His splash page of Optimus Prime looming over a cowering Megatron in part two is particularly inspired.

When Magnus and the Sparklers catch sight of the Decepticon jets flying Megatron and Centurion in the direction of Fortress Sinister, their original and long abandoned base, the Autobots set off to investigate. Meanwhile, a shadowy figure keeps watch outside the said base. Sullivan does well to conceal the figure’s identity, but most fans will have immediately twigged it was Galvatron.

Why’s he there? Well, ever since Enemy Action Galvy has been keeping tabs on Shockwave and plotting his moves to overthrow him. He thought the present day Decepticon leader had ‘escaped’ him by blasting his island base into space, only for Shockwave to fall to Earth moments later in a blaze of fire. As we know, he was shot down by Fortress Maximus in last week’s story and got sucked into Earth’s gravitational pull. His demise looked conclusive, and it will see Shockwave written out of the US comic for the next two years, while Ratbat rules.

However, Simon Furman has need of Shockwave for his developing storyline in the UK and downplays the demise, which is a shame as Bob Budiansky had written such a good exit for the character. Now the Earthfall is relegated to a minor setback leaving Shockwave stranded with a handful of remaining Decepticons but free to pursue his long-term aim of ending the threat of Galvatron. What’s odd about this of course is that Shockwave is worried about Galvatron stealing his command, when Ratbat has actually gone and done exactly this. How has Shockwave not realised?

Inside the fortress, Snaptrap shows himself to be quite capable as Shockwave’s mad scientist sidekick complete with ‘psycho-probe’ equipment. Finding Megatron in a vegetative state, it will be necessary to stimulate coax his catatonic mind back to consciousness and requiring the former Decepticon leader to overcome his greatest fears along the way.

Ultra Magnus is about to face the same mental trial, as he arrives at Fortress Sinister with the Sparklers hoping to prevent Megatron’s revival, he runs into his archnemesis Galvatron. Magnus sinks to the ground screaming ‘nooooo’ as part one ends on a suitably dramatic cliff-hanger.

In part two, Megatron once again strides confidently through the corridors of the Decepticon fortress, is he restored to his past glory? No, as it turns out. Where once he was a force of undiluted evil, feared by the enemy and his own troops alike, now he is reduced to a quivering wreck as he is confronted with a ghost from his past… that of Optimus Prime. In the real-world Shockwave is frustrated – he needs Megatron back to his aggressive and arrogant best if he is to be of any use.

Furman now runs the twin plots of Megatron and Magnus in parallel as both are forced to confront their demons. Magnus is on his knees, broken by the haunting memory of past battles with Galvatron, battles where he’s been utterly defeated. The fear is suffocating but if he can’t get snap out of it his new friends, the Sparklers are about to become Galvatron’s next victims, having rejected the offer to take Magnus and scram.

In possibly the finest moment of the story, we’re treated to the return of Lord Straxus – who asks: ‘why so surprised to see me?’ – after all he shares the same mind as Megatron following a botched body takeover back in issue 103. As if to revel in Megatron’s weakness, Straxus proceeds to tear Prime limb from limb, just as Galvatron is busy knocking seven bells out of the Sparklers as Magnus is in the grip of despair.

Then comes the turning point for both protagonists. Megatron remembers how he used to be – previously if any being dared to challenge him, he would crush them utterly, and with that his anger swells and he punches a crater sized hole in Straxus’ face, tearing him in two! Megatron is victorious and Shockwave is pleased, his subject is now ready to receive new programming.

Likewise, Magnus finally comes to his senses, knowing he has to act to save his fellow Autobots – better to die than live a coward. He reigns blows on Galvatron, taking him by surprise and amazingly wins the battle. Galvatron is hurt and retreats (first time for everything). Magnus does not pursue but he knows now that he could have beaten his foe all along, he just lacked the confidence. Next time will be different he vows, and they will fight for the last time. That next encounter was, I think, intended to happen in Time Wars but fell by the wayside when the saga was shortened.

All in all, Salvage is a satisfying read and lays the building blocks for epic upcoming events that will take us up to and beyond the milestone 200^th issue.

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Desert Island of Space

Spike’s first mission as Fortress Maximus and Autobot leader may be his last as he gives way to emotion in a desperate bid to rescue his brother from Decepticon clutches…

Our second Transformers story of 1988 from the Marvel US team of Bob Budiansky, Jose Delbo and co and its one of my favourites.

After the hugely enjoyable Headmasters mini-series, which spanned 16 weeks of the Marvel UK comic in the back-up strip spot, readers were left thirsting for more of the adventures of this great new cast of Autobots, Decepticons and their Nebulan companions. In Trial by Fire the Headmasters returned, this time in the main story, and sadly it was to prove the final curtain for Galen Kord, a central figure in the Headmasters saga, but who died passing the helmet of Fortress Maximus to Spike Witwicky. As mentioned in the last review this was inevitable if the comic was to keep in step with the Hasbro toy line which has Spike as Fort Max’s partner.

No sooner had Galen succumbed to his injuries, and a volcano’s blast, Spike was anointed by the other Autobots as his successor. Essentially, we’ve got a young man who’s straight out of college, who’s an alien to the Nebulans and Autobots, and has no military experience or credentials other than he made a promise to Galen and enjoyed one successful rout of Scorponok’s Decepticons. To say he’s a risky choice is probably an understatement.

Added to this, Spike’s judgement – and by extension Fort Max’s – is clouded by the emotional pressure he’s under to try to rescue his brother Buster from Decepticon captivity. It’s a perfect storm which comes to a head in Desert of Island of Space, where the Targetmasters take their turn in the spotlight and Kup provides the mouthpiece for all those pent-up doubts about their new ‘leader’.

It’s also a pivotal story in that it removes the Earthbound Decepticons from the stage (temporarily) to clear the way for Scorponok’s group to fill the gap, and the unlikely ascendancy of Ratbat – a subplot for several US stories now – comes to fruition as he successfully sees off Shockwave for the Decepticon leadership.

Dan Reed provides the cover for issue 158, which depicts ‘The Hostage’ aka Buster Witwicky on Shockwave’s palm as seen through the binoculars of the US Navy. The Transformation page also trumpets a four-page mini comic about The Visionaries, who are due to get their own Marvel UK monthly comic and talks up the ‘bizarre and exciting’ new Transformers that are on their way… the Pretenders.

The action begins with Buster coming-to on the shore of an island off the Florida Keys, which we know to be masking the current Decepticon undersea base. For someone who was once pursued, terrified to near death by Shockwave, the site of the cold and imposing Decepticon leader, plus Ratbat, doesn’t seem to faze him. Quite chipper, Buster asks whether he might be provided with breakfast – at which Ratbat catches a raw fish (what a skinflint) and Shockwave proves the more generous by firing a nifty laser beam from his eye to fry several fish. True to form, Ratbat complains of the waste of energy resources! LOL

Why are they keeping Buster alive? The answer is the naval armada that has gathered on the horizon, thanks to Triple I tracking the recent Decepticon raids back to their source. Head of the organisation Forest Forsythe is aboard the flagship and welcomes back Walter Barnett, who by rights should be in the firing line for stealing the Throttlebots’ brain modules prior to their execution (see the story Toy Soldiers). Lucky for him, Forsythe had a close run-in with Ratbat and the Predacons that persuaded him that there might indeed be two warring factions of Transformers.

Walter has brought along five Throttlebot brains inside toy cars (minus Goldbug of course, who has since been crushed by Ratbat and recovered by the Autobot Headmasters) and spots Buster through binoculars. This complicates things as it means the navy can’t attack while there’s a human hostage.

Bob seems to be having a moment and forgets how many Throttlebots there are. Seven are mentioned and then later in the issue Hot Rod’s Nebulan companion is mis-labelled as Sparks rather than his actual name Firebolt. This requires a bit of editing for the UK edition, some Tippex and overlay text.

Slightly silly is Sparkplug not noticing that Spike has majorly bulked up in the couple of days he was away. In fact he’s wearing a suit of Autobot armour under a baggy overcoat which ought to have raised a question mark with his dad. Perhaps it was because Spike is visiting his dad’s motel room at 5.36am and Sparkplug is a bit sleepy? Barnett calls to say that Buster has been located but he’s not at liberty to divulge the location. Spike holds the wire and ‘traces the call’, one of his many new abilities since binary bonding to Fortress Maximus.

This rather gives the game away so Spike leads his dad outside and introduces him to Fortress Maximus and Cerebros, demonstrating that he can now transform and combine with the pair of them (you can only imagine how Sparkplug must be feeling about this, having sought to keep his other son away from the Transformers war, now here’s his eldest becoming intimately involved). Spike reassures that this is the best way of rescuing Buster and goes on to introduce the six Targetmasters emerging from the bushes, and their Nebulan partners.

As mentioned, the Autobots had taken quite a chance on bonding the inexperienced, alien Spike with their leader, and it would be quite understandable for this to have thrown up some concerns in the camp. These misgivings are voiced by Kup, in private to his Targetmaster colleagues, that Spike is ‘too emotional’ and will lead them to the junkyard if they let him! He’s at least consistent, as he’ll be on the verge of leading a mutiny against Optimus Prime in the run up to the Unicron war.

I very much enjoy the humorous moment where Forsythe, on being prevented from blasting the approaching Autobot shuttle by Rollbar who protests that it’s their comrades coming to help, complains that he cannot believe that he is expected to take orders from a “*$@# toy”! (he he).

Issue 159’s cover, dated 2^nd April 1988, depicts Fortress Maximus harpooned in space and Shockwave closing in. For reasons I could never fathom his robot mode remains uncoloured. An oversight? The story opens with the Targetmasters storming the beach WW2 style, as Kup restrains the eager Fortress Maximus to hang back and provide covering fire in his battle station mode, lest his feelings get in the way.

Spike at this point feels too much like the new boy to argue, but it’s a mistake as the Targetmasters quickly come under heavy attack by an array of automated weaponry that emerges from below ground. They are repelled just as glass encases the island and the bases transforms into a rocket which starts blasting off.

Fortress Maximus, motivated by Spike’s strong desire to rescue Buster, launches himself at the rocket and clings on as it blasts into Earth orbit. Kup’s concerns appear to have come to pass, but was this foolishness or guts?

Inside the craft Ratbat continues to goad the rather patient Shockwave in the manner of a nagging spouse, pointing out that Max had tagged along and risks dragging them down (surely, he’s not that heavy in context of a huge rocket?). Shockwave clearly feels he has something to prove to Ratbat, this representative of the Cybertron Decepticon leadership, and activates the ship’s external defences – a huge pitch fork WTAF? It’s followed by a harpoon fired from a palm tree in the island section that spears the Autobot leader through the chest. Fortress Maximus’ new and improved body is incapacitated but he can still transform to Cerebros and continue his advance.

So, Shockwave ‘takes matters into his own hands’ heading outside in space gun mode to put Cerebros out of commission. Spike ejects and transforms, again demonstrating solid tactics or perhaps a lucky streak by commanding Fortress Maximus’ guns to blast Shockwave, sending him into Earth’s gravitational pull and sending him into sky fall, with Ratbat smugly welcoming the leader’s demise and seeing this as his chance to seize his chance to take command of the Decepticons.

Spike and Buster come face to face on opposite sides of the island dome. The big brother vows to find a way of freeing his sibling, just as Decepticon craft accelerates away. Spike is stranded in space but not for long as the Autobot shuttle shortly arrives and collects him. On board he’s gutted about the loss of Buster and shamed by the damaged to Fortress Maximus. However, Kup now sees things differently. He realises that he should have had more faith in Spike who has shown himself to be a true hero and worthy of the Autobot name.

In closing, the harpoon and pitchfork are a bit camp and gimmicky, typical Bob Budiansky lighter moments, but it all helps to make the story enjoyable and Spike’s heroism and the loss of his brother at the end are genuinely touching.

Clearly, Shockwave is meant to be written of the US storyline at this point and he’ll be gone for two years or so before turning up off the coast of Blackpool falling his planet fall. However, Simon Furman is not done with the character and intends to use him going forwards, starting in the very next issue. For this reason, Shockwave’s commentary in UK version of the story has been changed to ‘logical that I fall to Earth’ rather than burning up. Of course, this means his later appearance at Blackpool will be somewhat awkward and not satisfactorily explained.

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Enemy Action

The Seacons make their UK debut in an underwater battle with Galvatron; while on land the Firecons and make things uncomfortably hot for the Sparkler Mini-bots!

One of Bob Budiansky’s major headaches as the writer of Marvel’s monthly Transformers comic in the US was the constant pressure to introduce new characters, to keep pace with Hasbro’s expanding toy range.

Bob came up with several inventive plot devices over the years, from the Creation Matrix to personality engrams in crystals used to create the new Autobots, before eventually settling on the Space Bridge as a handy device for introducing waves of new warriors from Cybertron.

As a fan I found it exciting when new Transformers appeared in the comics. It was fun to learn their bios, abilities, unique weaponry, and of course their mottos. So, Enemy Action, a UK story from February 1988, is a treat because it introduces no fewer than twelve new characters – that’s the six Seacons, three Firecons and three Sparkabots (for some reason the UK comic would refer to them as Sparkler mini-bots). In fact, it’s thirteen new characters if you include the Seacon combined form, Pirranacon.

This is time it is Simon Furman, not Budiansky, adding to the cast. Simon was not under a Hasbro mandate to do so, he did it for the sheer fun of it apparently and because he liked the idea of an underwater story. This was several months before these characters would appear in the American comic so once again Simon is stealing a march on the parent title as he had done by featuring the Transformers the Movie cast and the Predacons long before they appeared Stateside.

To ensure there’s no loss of momentum following the Legacy of Unicron epic, the comic is bringing back one of the most dangerous Decepticons (and most popular guest stars) the future leader, Galvatron.

We last saw Galvatron in Ladies’ Night, breaking free from his volcano tomb. Now he’s straight back to the forefront, striding along the seabed towards the present day Decepticons’ undersea base off the coast of Florida.

His approach has not gone unnoticed by Commander Shockwave who fears that Galvatron has come to take his crown (and with it everything he has worked so hard to accomplish). It’s easy to feel some sympathy for Shockwave at this point, after all it was only a few issues ago that we witnessed his brutal execution in the future at the hands of Death’s Head.

Shockwave is so jittery that he almost incinerates Soundwave for sneaking up on him, in a comical moment. Soundwave is the loyal deputy but also offers some wise advice: they could try speaking to Galvatron and perhaps coming to an agreement based on their mutual interests as Decepticons.

While Shockwave can see the logic of an alliance, his personal survival comes first. So he orders their untested new troops the Seacons – who were imported from Cybertron to work on the base’s fortifications rather than combat – to go toe to toe with Galvatron.

Soundwave’s disapproval is evident via a clenched fist and thought bubble “On your head be it”. Soundwave is no fan of Galvatron – he got buried alive by him in Target: 2006 for starters – and has led the Combaticons on the mission to finish off the future Decepticon when he was trapped in Mount Verona) but Soundwave has also made a career out of aligning himself with whoever rules. Galvatron would just be a continuation of that. Not so for Shockwave.

Lee Sullivan’s memorable ‘sea scrape’ cover provided the hint of the battle to come. Snaptrap, having received his orders, instructs the team to hit their opponent ‘hard and fast’ – no doubt this is the best way to compensate for the team’s lack of experience with their new Earth modes.

The five Seacons take turns to attack, giving readers a sense of each one, while Galvatron arrogantly dismisses them as nautical non-entities. His overconfidence is put into check briefly though by Seawing’s paralysing sting.

Readers with prior experience of Galvatron will not be surprised that the Seacons are, to pardon the pun, out of their depth against this opponent. Even in their combined form Pirranacon, they don’t fair much better.

A couple of nitpicks/observations. Overbite is named Jawbreaker in the story – it’s never made clear why the comic departed from the official toy name or whether this was done in error. Pirranacon’s name has two Rs, though the word piranha, which it is presumably derived from doesn’t. Also Jeff Anderson, the story’s artist, draws Pirrancon as pretty comparable in size to Galvatron. I think it would have been more dramatic for him to be much larger, similar to the Megatron versus Predaking contest in Budiansky’s 1987 classic Gone But Not Forgotten.

At this point Furman brings in the story’s other protagonists, starting with the Sparklers, Sizzle, Fizzle, and Guzzle. They were sent to Earth by the Wreckers leader Springer to keep tabs on Galvatron and have followed him to the beach. Since the trio have no undersea modes they are unable to follow any further.

It’s curious that Springer is preoccupied with Galvatron. You might think he has enough on his plate with trying to overthrow Decepticon rule on Cybertron without also picking a fight with the most powerful Decepticon on Earth. Then again, perhaps he knows of the Cybertron Decepticons’ plan to recruit Galvatron, or simply fears that Grimlock’s Earthbound Autobots have abdicated their responsibility.

As it turns out, the Sparklers are not destined to be mere bystanders after all… for they are suddenly confronted by the Firecons – Cindersaur, Sparkstalker, and Flamefeather! See below.

So, to part two and issue #153. The first thing you notice when picking up the issue is Snake Eyes and another Action Force guy (Flint?) bursting out of the cover as Sizzle, Fizzle and Guzzle look on in horror. I think the trio are meant to be recoiling from the sight of the Firecons but maybe the merger has got them spooked?

Transformations sells this as major win for fans of both comics – a two for the price of one. Soon enough AF it would settle into that traditional back-up strip role, but unlike previous back-ups its logo appears on the cover along side Transformers so this is a new development. Combat Colin has been annexed from the former AF comic, taking-up the regular cartoon spot vacated by Robo Capers and would go on to become a firm favourite of the readers.

Returning to the story, part two picks up with the Firecons, breathing fire in all directions like a pack of dragons post-feasting on hot chili peppers. We discover that they are here to secure Galvatron for their masters on Cybertron and any Autobots in their way are set to the feel the heat.

Fizzle is soon made to sizzle, courtesy of Cindersaur, and plunges into deep water to recover. Oddly, Fizzle is coloured red and Sizzle is blue, which is the opposite of their official toys. All three Sparkler mini-bots, while a likeable bunch, are rather homogenous and so maybe the production team had trouble telling them apart?

The unarmed Sparklers ‘remember’ that they can also discharge their own flame courtesy of their engines while in vehicle mode. Sizzle demonstrates this on Spark Stalker, which feels a bit contrived to show off the toy gimmick if I’m honest. While Guzzle sticks to the more convention tank mode gun barrel to take down Cindersaur.

Below depths, Galvatron finishes off Pirranacon with a well-placed blast, breaking him up into his component Seacons, before punching his way into the Decepticon base. With seawater flowing in behind him, he declares to Shockwave and the assembled warriors that he had come in peace seeking an alliance, but Shockwave’s hostile actions have made an enemy of him and when they next meet all Decepticons will pay. He then exits leaving Shockwave to fend off some very angry looks from his warriors.

So, clearly it was Galvatron’s plan all along to provoke Shockwave into attacking and creating an opportunity for Galvatron to drive a wedge between the Decepticon leader and his warriors. Pretty smart, but Galvatron is powerful enough to come in and take the leadership if he had wanted to. I think most Decepticons would have fallen into line out of fear or opportunism, I’m not sure the political machinations are that necessary.

On the other hand, surely Galvatron becoming leader in 1988 would have been a significant change to the timeline such that he might unravel the events that lead to his own creation by Unicron in 2006? If that’s on his mind he doesn’t voice it. This is unlike the Galvatron of Target: 2006 who clearly conscious of disrupting the timeline.

Enemy Action’s two plots neatly converge as Galvatron exits the ocean with the unconscious Fizzle in his clutches. Flamefeather rushes to his side and offers the alliance with the Decepticons of Cybertron “that we may crush their mutual enemies together” only for Galvatron to laugh and dismiss this. Having skilfully avoided one alliance he’s not about to fall into another. Sizzle offers token resistance and swiftly knocked aside by Galvatron like a troublesome bug.

In closing, Shockwave has been left in command and under no illusions that his days are numbered unless he does something radical. He needs an expendable agent with the raw power enough to take down Galvatron – his choice is an intriguing one… none other than Megatron, Galvatron’s past self. This thread plays out further in the upcoming story Salvage and then comes to a head in the 1988 Transformers Annual. Lots to look forward to then.

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Legacy of Unicron (Parts 1 and 2)

Death’s Head corners Cyclonus and Scourge on the Planet of Junk, where the all three are forcibly enlisted into an insidious plot hatched by the dismembered head of Unicron!

In January 1988, Marvel UK’s flagship comic, The Transformers, was ushering in a new year… except the one in question was 2008 – twenty years beyond the publication date! Yes it’s another story set in the post-Transformers Movie future, which will take the comic up to and beyond its milestone 150^th issue.

Lee Sullivan’s cover for issue #146 depicts a wonderfully maniacal-looking Death’s Head poised to execute poor, battered and wretched Cyclonus, with a Junkion springing up all-jolly and shouting “G’Day!” Since Junkions use popular culture references for communication, I’m wondering whether the greeting is riffing off the Crocodile Dundee movies or maybe Aussie soap Neighbours, as that was taking off in the UK at the time.

The corner box also features Rodimus Prime raising a toast to the new year, which is a nice touch.

Ever since Target: 2006 proved a runaway success, Simon Furman has known there is a rich furrow to be ploughed in Transformers the Movie and post-Movie tie-ins. Not only are these popular with the readers, but they offer freedom from the comic’s usual constraints.

Back in the day a lot of the UK material consisted of the Marvel US stories. In fact the American material was the main canon and the home-grown British stories supplemented and expanded on these. Simon would take care not to do anything that might inadvertently contradict an upcoming US story (and for the most part was successful). However, future stories could be taken in any direction the liked, even killing off main characters, i.e. Shockwave, as we’ll see.

Issue #146’s Transformations page tries incredibly hard to tease the main story without giving away the title or the identity of the big threat. It’s fun to see how they fill a couple of hundred words saying without giving anything away, although I reckon most fans would have guessed the big reveal from the clues, I know I did at the time.

The story picks up the threads of 1987’s Headhunt, where Rodimus Prime paid Death’s Head an advance to hunt down the troublesome Cyclonus and Scourge. As 2008 dawns, that pursuit is entering its final stages in the skies above the Planet of Junk.

Scourge is hit with a blast from Death’s Head’s ship and goes down in a trail of smoke. His calls for Cyclonus to help fall on deaf ears, as apparently his partner-in-crime is in an ‘every man for himself’ mood, or is it a trick? (Ironically, the tables will be turned in the story Dry Run later that year). Scourge manages to style-out his crash-landing by transforming and aiming a blaster at Death’s Head’s ship, now hovering a few feet from him.

Scourge is obviously confused as to why he’s not under attack but quickly starts scanning around for a fuel tank he can blast. Death’s Head shows up, having been on the planet all along and operating his ship remotely. I particularly like the scene with Scourge on his knees feigning a plea for mercy (which Death’s Head regards with utter contempt) as Cyclonus swoops down to attempt a reverse-ambush and a surprise bombing run.

Death’s Head is a class act and manages to get clear of the explosions. He takes out Scourge and sticks a heat seeker on Cyclonus’ tail, forcing him to revert to his more vulnerable robot mode, where he too is quickly subdued. When you consider that Cyclonus and Scourge are two Unicron creations and elites (one hundred Autobots could not best them, Galvatron once said) all this underlines Death’s Head’s badass credentials. He’ll soon have his own Marvel UK monthly title, so the story is undoubtedly a showcase for the character.

Then, as per the cover, a Junkion rises from beneath a pile of debris. He’s more solemn than on the cover and implores Death’s Head to help free his people from the mental control of a being of vast power (a big clue there). Death’s Head doesn’t do freebies but is assured the Junkions are “among the richest traders in the galaxy” (not that you would think it to see the state of their planet) so this could be a profitable diversion.

He’ll need Cyclonus and Scourge to help with the operation, but he makes a mental note to double-cross the pair afterwards and kill them anyway. To not deliver on a contract would be bad for business after all. You’ve got to love him.

In a quick interlude, we see Rodimus bidding farewell to Wreck-gar who is heading back to that great fly-tip pile he calls home. There’s a genuine fondness between the two unlikely allies, perhaps because Wreck-gar has been at Prime’s side since his ascendance to the leadership. Wreck-gar departs in a shuttle, piloted by Smokescreen and the lesser seen Inferno, with Prime offering an appropriate farewell: “May all your programmes be sequels”.

Back on Junk, the attack goes badly awry. The Junkion, who was meant to be laying explosives, is discovered and quickly dispatched. Then powerful will commands Death’s Head, Cyclonus and Scourge to stand to attention. Artist Geoff Senior is on top form with a splash page making the big reveal – yes, it’s Unicron! No doubt there will have been genuine shock and excitement from the fans and the certain knowledge this is about to get epic…

Some quick thoughts on part one: Unicron is back as a head and is being reassembled by an army of Junkion slaves. Surely, they will have to keep hoisting him up to add layers, and it would be far easier to do the rebuilding in space. When last seen, Unicron was doing a slingshot around Cybertron and either entering into orbit or heading for deep space. You might expect that the Transformers would have kept tabs on their mortal enemy but apparently not. Junkions evidently have no long-range warning capabilities.

In the second instalment readers were assured, “if you thought last week’s episode was shocking, you are not going to believe what’s in store for you now!” They were not wrong. In fact, Shockwave’s demise in issue #147 is one of the best deaths of a main character I’ve ever seen in the comic. Truly unexpected and impactful.

The curtain rises on the Decepticons’ stronghold on Cybertron. It’s depicted from the outside with a couple of moons in the night sky behind it. Not that I spotted it at the time, but re-reading 33 years later it occurs to me that both of Cybertron’s moons were consumed by Unicron in the Movie – oops!

Commander Shockwave, flanked by his bodyguard, is on his way to the throne room to receive Death’s Head. The bounty hunter has returned out of the blue seeking compensation for Cyclonus and Scourge messing up the hit on Rodimus Prime. If as it turns out Death’s Head has executed the pair, he’ll have done Shockwave a favour. Ever cautious, he orders Soundwave to monitor from behind the scenes.

I have to admire Death’s Head’s gumption. He was hired by Shockwave to kill Prime and he failed. However, he still wants a pay out as it was two of Shockwave’s warriors who got in the way and messed it up. Rather than telling him to get lost, Shockwave agrees to pay up as he might have need of Death’s Head in the future.

First, he wants to be convinced that Cyclonus and Scourge are dead. Soundwave, monitoring from another room, scans for minds… the guards, Shockwave, his bounty hunter guest… and, surprise, surprise the not-dead-after-all Cyclonus and Scourge! With that Death’s Head turns and fires at the throne, disintegrating it but finding Shockwave gone. The Decepticon leader pops up to return fire, showing himself to be a wily (and worthy) opponent.

Elsewhere Smokescreen, Inferno and Wreck Gar find the Planet of Junk deserted. The absence of a welcome party is a concern and it doesn’t take long before they stumble across the horrific scene of Unicron being rebuilt by enslaved Junkions. So, now the Autobots are aware of Unicron’s return, but can they get word back to Rodimus Prime?

Meanwhile, Death’s Head pursues Shockwave deeper into the labyrinthine Decepticon base and comes across a target range with effigies of Prime and key Autobots. Its reminiscent of the final showdown between 007 and the Man With The Golden Gun in the film of that title.

We learn that Death’s Head can still think for himself but Unicron maintains a subliminal control and the ability to punish (much like the hold he retained over Galvatron in the Transformers Movie) and as a result Death’s Head’s senses are dulled. This is an edge for Shockwave, as is the advantage of facing his adversary on home turf.

As Death’s Head contemplates whether the real Rodimus would be laughing if he could see the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter “killing for free”, the Prime effigy rolls forward propelled by Shockwave. Death’s Head gets the jitters and blasts it, coming under attack by Shockwave and incurring a blast wound to his leg. Shockwave is on fine fighting form here it must be said.

Then he gets overconfident and steps out into the open – fatal. Another Autobot target rolls forward and Shockwave thinks Death’s Head is trying to trick him with his own tactic. Little does he realise that Death’s Head is hiding behind the target and opens fire at close range leaving the Decepticon leader badly damaged and spewing circuitry from his chest wounds. The defeated Shockwave sinks to his knees and Death’s Head (turning away in self-disgust) blows him to bits. Praising Shockwave as a worthy adversary, and promising to avenge them both, Death’s Head reaches into the Decepticon’s skull and crushes his brain module. Wow – there’s no coming back from that it would seem.

Meanwhile Menasor has pounded in the throne room doors and Cyclonus and Scourge are on their knees about to be executed (so much for the warriors who are superior to one hundred Autobots). Death’s Head arrives to save their bacon. He announces that Shockwave is dead and Cyclonus and Scourge will be the new leaders, and if not, he’ll let go of his hold on an explosives trigger and blow the fortress sky high. Soundwave would rather like to kill the lot of them and take over himself, but he’s not about to call Death’s Head’s bluff and responds by hailing Cyclonus and Scourge as the new joint commanders.

On Junk Unicron’s eyes glow with pride as he realises the first phase of his plan has been achieved. Cyclonus and Scourge will instigate a suicidal attack on the Autobots which few will survive, he declares.

So, in closing… wow. It’s not often we see a major character destroyed in Transformers (with the exception of Optimus Prime, naturally!!) but Shockwave’s death in ‘the future’ does not preclude him from appearing in the regular continuity. Indeed, as we’ll see in later stories, past Shockwave will learn of his future counterpart’s death and lose his mind over it.

I had thought that Transformer brain modules were globular. That’s the case for Skids when Circuit Breaker extracts his brain in issue #94. Shockwave’s vital components are rectangular and suggest that internal components can vary from robot to robot. Also, Menasor shouldn’t be here because one of his component parts, Wildrider, was executed by Megatron in the Earthforce stories. This suggests he survived somehow and was rebuilt.

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Ladies’ Night

Susan Hoffman is on the brink of the greatest find of her archaeological career – the fossilised remains of Ultra Magnus and Galvatron!

Transformers is and has always been a bit of a sausage fest. Not that giant alien robots have a gender either way, at least not officially. But in appearance, personality, voice and behaviour they’ve always been depicted as male. That was certainly true in the 1980s when the Marvel comic was on sale, and the arrival of Arcee (the first Autobot of female Autobot) in the 1986 Transformers Movie only cemented the idea that the rest were male.

So, the premise of Simon Furman’s 1987 story Ladies’ Night – that the sisters are doing it and taking centre stage in the fight against the Decepticons – was something of a novelty. Is it sexist? I wouldn’t go as far as to say that. The dictionary definition of sexism is prejudice and discrimination based on gender and I don’t think that’s in play here. But take a look at the cover with the ‘fellas’ Rollbar and Goldbug being shocked at being relegated to the side lines by the three ladies and there’s a whiff of something patronising and gender stereotyping, that looks a bit antiquated these days.

That said, the story is pretty good and advances the Ultra Magnus and Galvatron plot a little, as well as the rivalry and paranoia of Shockwave in relation to the threat that he perceives Galvatron to be to his command. We catch up with the human characters we haven’t seen in a while and the story provides a plausible explanation for the Combaticons’ pursuit of the Throttlebots which would be the plot of the next US story Used Autobots. But mostly for me, the highlight of the entire story is Dan Reed’s rendition of Magnus and Galvatron petrified in stone. It’s a kind of nightmarish Pompeii meets Han Solo in Carbonite.

The tale begins with Susan Hoffman, the archaeologist we met in the Ancient Relics story earlier in 1987. You might have been forgiven for thinking her specialism was Roman architecture given that this was what she was investigating under London.

However, in Ladies Night she’s half a world away in Southern Oregon about to descend into Mount Verona to uncover the secret of its sudden and mysterious eruption recently (and the presence of metal debris at the volcano mouth). We’ll just have to suspend our belief and go with it. She doesn’t have to descend far before she lands on something. A spotlight quickly illuminates what it is – Galvatron’s shoulder! Susan has found the fossilised remains of the future Decepticon leader and his greatest enemy (in this era at least) Ultra Magnus.

Incidentally Simon Furman later confirmed that Susan Hoffman was modelled on Susanna Hoffs, lead single of the 80s the band The Bangles, who he evidently had a crush on.

Fast forward a week and Goldbug is helping Rollbar get acquainted with Earth but parking up outside an electronics store that has closed for the night. They are watching TV with Blaster on hand to intercept the sound at source and provide the volume. As he notes, it’s “sorta inconsiderate” of the shopkeepers to turn the sound off on the sets! A news broadcast catches Goldbug’s attention – it is Joy Meadows, the investigative reporter who got involved in the Transformers war when she attempted to uncover the Robot Master hoax with help from the Dinobots – and she’s broadcasting her Ladies Night show from the summit of Mount Verona. Joy is interviewing Susan Hoffman about her amazing find and Goldbug is shocked to see a close-up of the petrified Magnus. He’d thought his friend had perished along with Galvatron but evidently not. (It’s that old rule of comics that nobody actually stays dead for good).

Elsewhere Cindy Newell, the student who befriended Ultra Magnus during the Galvatron saga, is suffering a recurring nightmare about the monstrous Galvatron. Its fair to say that coming up close to a being that powerful and evil, coupled with the loss of her friend, probably has left some post traumatic stress. Incidentally the scene looks really reminiscent of Buster Witwicky in his bedroom, with Cindy even wearing Buster’s trademark colours of pink top and blue jeans. I digress, she wakes from her dream to sees the face of Galvatron on her TV screen!

The Decepticons have seen the broadcast too. Soundwave, who monitors human channels routinely, flags it up to his commander. Shockwave’s response is not to order Soundwave to accompany the Combaticons to Mount Verona, not to free Galvatron but to finish him off. It’s a risk for Shockwave and one that will come back to haunt him later, but no doubt his logical mind has concluded that he would be unable to withstand a leadership challenge from Galvatron so he must take advantage of his rival’s current helplessness.

With the key players mobilised, the story flips back to Mount Verona where the US military is keeping guard (with several tanks and jeeps securing the scene) as Hoffman and Meadows talk post-interview. There’s a scuffle as Cindy attempts to reach them and has her way blocked by a soldier. Joy appeals for her to be let through but she’s wittering on about Magnus and not making a great deal of sense.

Suddenly an explosion rocks the area, as Combaticons arrive and lay waste to the military. (I particularly enjoy Brawl verses a tank. It’s actually something of a relief to see him functional again after the particularly gruesome way that Megatron squashed his head back earlier in the year (in Gone But Not Forgotten). With the humans in retreat Soundwave instructs the Combaticons to proceed with the plan to destroy Galvatron.

Nearby, Goldbug and Rollbar and watching and listening. When you consider that they were watching the TV news from 200 miles away they’ve wasted no time in getting there. However, on learning that the Decepticons are there to rub out Galvatron, Goldbug concludes that they would be wise to withdraw and let them get on with it.

Cindy confronts Goldbug and appeals to him to rescue Magnus. He rightly points out that if the Autobots did that, Magnus’ original sacrifice would be in vain, and tells Cindy to go home. She insists that, on the contrary, the fight has only just begun!
On the letters page Grimlock confirms to reader Andrew Jackson that the Terrorcons and Technobots will feature in next issue’s Headmasters instalment and Runabout and Runamuck are still at the bottom of New York harbour. Going back to what I was saying about TFs never truly being dead, you have to wonder at this juncture whether anyone will be coming to fish them out (they will eventually). And a letter from Christopher Millwood asking for Transformers reprints as the back-up story would sadly become rather prescient as the comic cut corners in its latter years! In the Robo Capers strip, one Margaret Thatcher makes a cameo (with the banned spook memoir Spycatcher in her bin!).

Part two begins with a great splash page by Geoff Senior of Swindle planting an explosive just as a flaming jeep comes bearing down on him. He can’t react in time and takes the impact full on. He turns, angry, to see who has dared attack, only to see a tank approaching. Next thing he’s hit square in the chest with a projectile and collapses backwards bemoaning his resale value in true Swindle/Ferenghi fashion.

It turns out that Joy Meadows operated the tank. The Ladies Night edition she did with a female tank driver surprisingly provided all the training required. Hmm.

The trio are jubilant at taking first blood and we get an insight into why Hoffman and Meadows are helping Cindy. In the former’s case its protect the Decepticons from destroying the greatest find of her archaeological career and for the later it’s the prospect of a great news story.

Nearby Soundwave completes his work priming the detonator, while the Combaticons are wondering why Swindle hasn’t returned. Soundwave sends them to find out while he remains to guard the detonator. Elsewhere, the Throttlebots and Blaster are concerned that the humans might be attempting to tangle with the Decepticons and implore Goldbug to rethink his earlier decision to step away. It’s the first time that Goldbug has appeared to be the defacto leader of this group, even though Rollbar commands the Throttlebots. I suspect its because Goldbug has the most experience of Earth while the rest of relative newcomers and he’s also a fairly switched on chap most of the time (and in fact in the IDW verse Goldbug’s alter ego Bumblebee would enjoy stints as an Autobot civilian leader).

Finding Swindle unconscious, the Combaticons look for signs of the perpetrators. An empty jeep rolls down the mountainside towards them. Only when it arrives do they notice the explosives. Onslaught orders them to scatter but they are too late – as Cindy and Joy fire a tank shell at the powder keg, catapulting the Decepticons into the air. Debris from the explosion lands in the volcano, cracking the solidified lava around Galvatron!

The blast is also enough to upturn the tank and both women crawl out dazed. Onslaught seizes the unconscious Susan Hoffman in his palm. He’s mad enough to squish her but then relents. Cindy and Joy realise why when they spot four Throttlebots present with their weapons drawn. Onslaught withdraws, smarting from the humiliation.

From a safe distance, Soundwave transmits the detonation signal only for there to be no ensuing explosion. The Autobots could not have defused the bombs in time he thinks. The explanation, as if we couldn’t guess, is Blaster in radio mode jamming the signal. This might be the one and only time Soundwave and Blaster have competed, though not in battle more’s the pity. There’s a nice satirical conclusion with Goldbug chastising the girls for trying to take on the Decepticons. That said, he notes they “did pretty well for mere…” and Meadows, triggered, jumps in expecting him to say “mere women”. In fact Goldbug was going to say “mere humans”!

Magnus and Galvatron have been present throughout the story without actually playing an active role. It’s fitting that they have the final scene with the rock around Galvatron cracking and his eyes returning to life. A story for another time we’re told…

In summary. This Ladies Night is an enjoyable two parter that shows that’s that a bit of human ingenuity can actually be a match for a team of heavily armed and dangerous Decepticons. The execution is good and doesn’t stretch the boundaries of belief too far. Onslaught declares that, after their intervention, the Throttlebots will become their primary targets which ties in nicely to the US story arc that starts in the next issue.

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Headhunt!

It’s back to the future where Death’s Head latest target is none-other-than the Autobot leader of 2007, Rodimus Prime. That is unless the bungling Cyclonus and Scourge don’t get in the way.

What happened to Death’s Head and Rodimus Prime after they were forcibly returned to their own time (2007) at the conclusion of Transformers UK #120? That’s apparently the big question on the minds of readers in the Autumn of 1987, and Headhunt is the story with the answers!

To be fair, there’s not much mystery involved – we all worked out that everyone got transported back to their point of origin. The desire for a sequel on the part of fans is really in order to see more of Death’s Head. Why? Well, to put it simply he’s an money-loving, badass space bounty hunter, with an assortment of plug in weapons and hilarious eccentric quirks. What’s not to like?

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So, we’re back to 2007, which was an exciting prospect for a 13-year-old kid reading in 1987. Dan Reed returns on art duties with Simon Furman (natch) writing and, as the comic opens in Death’s Head’s private eye office on the planet Scarvix (weird name) we’re also introduced to the Terrorcon Blott, who’s making his UK comic debut. Blott has been sent by the Decepticon leadership to offer Death’s Head safe passage onto Cybertron and intel on Rodimus Prime’s movements, such that he can avenge himself by killing the Autobot leader. Big mistake! Death’s Head is not interested in revenge – there’s no profit in that. He responds to cold, hard currency and Blott quickly finds himself with Death’s Head’s mighty hands clamped around his throat. He decides it’s best to make an offer: ‘kill Prime and 10,000 Shanix is his’. Finally, he is talking a language Death’s Head’s understands.

When we see Rodimus, he’s melancholic and depressed. The burden of the Autobot leadership is weighing heavy and he longs for simpler times, when as Hot Rod the war had been a source of excitement. For a time he had a sidekick, his Nebulan Target Master companion Firebolt, who we learn had died on Earth some time before 2007. His loss a particularly painful memory for Rodimus. It is a natural story thread for Furman to develop at some point – how did Firebolt die – but alas it was a story that would remain untold as Furman never got around to it.

As Rodimus begins his tour of First World War inspired trenches, we switch to Decepticon HQ where Shockwave is sitting pretty on the throne and enjoying the discomfort of Cyclonus and Scourge, who are fuming that Death’s Head has been hired for the Prime hit. The pair are still smarting over their previous run-in with this particular bounty hunter, and Scourge still bears the physical scars. Clearly the appointment is an attempt by Shockwave to humiliate them. How they long for Galvatron’s return. Again Shockwave taunts them: Galvatron is content to remain in Earth’s past, he says.

This Galvatron situation is a nonsense when you start to think about it. He travelled to the 1980s, and assuming he stays for 20 years, he would have caught up with 2007 eventually. So he ought to be still around and a threat to Shockwave’s command. The only explanation for his absence is if Galvatron is in a parallel universe or he dies in Earth’s past. In fact that’s pretty much exactly what happens when, in the 1989 story Time Wars, Galvatron is swallowed up by a rift in time.

However, Shockwave participates in those events, so you would assume his 2007 self would remember those events. If he does he would also have to be aware of his own death, since it was knowledge of his own demise that prompted 1980s Shockwave to have Cyclonus executed and which triggered the space-time rift.

Anyway, getting back to the story… Rodimus continues his inspection, escorted by a couple of chumps who are so useless as body guards, they are silently snatched as they walk and decapitated. Death’s Head throws down their severed heads, causing Prime to duck and cover, thinking its a bomb. Death’s Head closes in for the kill, only for Prime’s extraordinary jamminess to kick in, as the ground collapses under them, and they fall into the sewer system. However, part one concludes with Prime on his knees, about to be put out of his misery by a shot from Death’s Head’s titanium blaster. There’s an explosion, a kill shot perhaps? But we know that it’s very probably not the end of Rodimus Prime and something else has happened. Still, it’s a good cliff hanger and sets-up the next issue nicely.

(Just to add that issue #133 has an extra four pages, carrying a competition to win Transformers the Movie VHS videos, there’s an AtoZ entry for Defensor and Devastator, and a page advert for Marvel UK’s Thundercats #30 comic which was a landmark issue for that title. At the time I was collecting both at the time but no prizes for guessing which I always read first.)

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Geoff Senior returns to art duties for the second instalment, following an excellent atmospheric cover by Lee Sullivan depicting a menacing Cyclonus and Scourge which (as it turns out) is at odds with their comedic bungling in the story itself. As we kick off the second act, the pair are squabbling. Having snuck up on Death’s Head, they only had to wait for him to finish off Prime and they could have ambushed the bounty hunter and claimed his kill as their own – the Decepticon leadership could have been theirs for the taking.

Instead, Scourge blundered in and shot Death’s Head BEFORE he’d opened fire. So, now we know that there was ‘more than meets the eye’ to Prime’s apparent demise in the last issue. It’s amusing to see Cyclonus tug his friends’ beard as he berates him, and Scourge defends his actions by pointing out that Death’s Head blew a big hole in his chest and had payback coming to him. Scourge has a rather nifty scar to show for it, which is interesting in itself as I would think a medic would have replaced that chest plate for a new one. There’s no real reason for a Transformer to bear battle scars unless they want them, right? And of course, while the pair are squabbling they Prime a chance to sneak off. Doh! They then compound matters by pursuing without finishing off Death’s Head. Double doh!

Rodimus soldiers on, weary and still conflicted. Part of him would welcome the release of death but as a Matrix Bearer he his survival is imperative. As a figurehead his demise could tip the balance of the war in the Decepticons’ favour. Cyclonus and Scourge open fire in a tunnel, only to find that Prime has alluded them again. He’s hiding in a drain below their feet, and showing that he’s finally snapping out of his debilitating haze and starting to use his brain to outsmart his pursuers.

Prime coughs and splutters after emerging from the ‘water’. Remember, the Scraplets saga established that water is something so rare that Cybertronians doubt its existence, so you have to wonder what is slushing around the underground tunnels of Cybertron. It certainly looks like H20.

Cyclonus and Scourge, bungling from one mistake to the next, run into Death’s Head, who is very much alive and spoiling for a fight. They flee rather than face him, running into Prime and bypassing him to save their own skins. So now its Rodimus’ turn to face Death’s Head, which he does by impaling the bounty hunter with his own shield. He then scrambles up a ladder and through a hatch. Death’s Head follows and finds himself inside Autobot HQ and with several guns point at him. Rodimus has the upper hand but decides to make Death’s Head an offer: kill Cyclonus and Scourge and earn 10,000 Shanix. Death’s Head readily accepts, setting up a showdown which will culminate in the 1988 year opener, The Legacy of Unicron.

In closing, it’s a relief to see Rodimus recovering his form. He’s been quite a disappointment of late. Having made a strong start in the Movie, defeating Galvatron and ejecting him into space, he got bested at their rematch and has been wallowing in doubt and depression ever since. His confidence may have deserted him but his luck certainly hasn’t.

And so, after foray into the past and then the future, it’s back to the present (well 1987 as was) for the big fight of the year between the Dinobots and the Predacons, but first its over the annual for the back story of Swoop versus Divebomb.

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Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom!

One of the most bizarre Transformers stories of writer Bob Budiansky’s reign sees Buster Witwicky uncover a plot by Ratbat to steal gasoline by hypnotising motorists in his Wash and Roll car washes!

Simon Furman titled one of his early Marvel UK Transformers stories Raiders of the Last Ark and in 1987 it was the turn of US writer Bob Budiansky to run with the Indiana Jones theme. His story, Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom is one of his most off-the-wall and rather sounds like the title came to him in the shower one morning and he decided to craft a story around it.

On the up side it’s got Ratbat as a main character, offering us a chance to enjoy more of his obsessive penny pinching and complete absence of morals – and it’s a welcome return for the Buster Witwicky (who saves the day without help from any of his Autobot friends). On the downside its a stand-out silly story that even the UK editorial team are struggling to take seriously and raises questions about whether Bob was starting to get a bit bored with the book by this point.

Car Wash has been a few issues in the making. Bob introduced us to Ratbat an his role as Decepticon fuel auditor and bean counter in chief in the Trypticon story. Crater Critters established that he’d sent a mysterious cargo to Earth and in The Cure, Astrotrain darted GB Blackrock with a brainwashing microchip that allowed him to be manipulated for what’s to follow. At this point in the US run, readers last saw Buster at the end of the 1985 story Prime Time where he returned the Matrix to Optimus Prime and returned to a normal life. In the UK Buster returned a couple more times, not least in a major way for the Special Teams debut story Second Generation, but even this side of the pond he’s been absent for a good nine months. And what an infamous story to return to!

The story is printed in the UK in the pages of Transformers #128, with a cover depicting Shockwave setting his ‘dogs’ (Ramjet, Thrust and Vortex against a Blackrock tanker). I like it a lot. Now, Blackrock must be one of the most unlucky billionaires there is! Literally every time the Decepticons target a rig or a plant its always one his, never a competitor. (Having said that Blackrock did comment in UK#123 that tankers were going missing so perhaps the Decepticons have been targeting indiscriminately). On this occasion one of Blackrock’s tankers is attacked in a bit of piracy on the high seas by the Conehead jets, Vortex and the Insecticons (all fairly recent additions to the Earth Decepticons’ ranks).

Before too long the vessel is seized and the crew rounded up. Bombshell hits one poor soul with a mind-controlling Cerebro Shell in order to have the man direct them to the control room. It’s a waste of a good shell as Kickback suggests – he’d have rather used his own powers of persuasion! – but Bombshell reveals their effectiveness is being tested. This being a family comic, the crew are put to sea in lifeboats rather than be executed (which might have been easier). The ship is towed to a small uncharted island, or rather the Decepticon’s undersea base which is concealed below. Commander Shockwave and the newly arrived Ratbat fly out to it.

Shockwave is smugly content that the operation went flawlessly, thanks to his “infallible logic” (naturally). But when Ratbat sinks his fangs into a pipe line there’s red faces all round – the tanker is empty!! It appears the tanker had already delivered its cargo when the Decepticons attacked. Shockwave is furious, immediately laying the blame with his warriors! Ratbat makes sure to rub it in by calculating the units of lost energy. The dynamic between the two is highly amusing. Clearly there’s no love lost between them but Shockwave has to be on his best behaviour to avoid Ratbat pulling the plug on the Earth operation. It’s difficult to imagine Megatron controlling himself and not roasting Ratbat with his fusion cannon and the first sign of condescension.

Ratbat suggests that they ought to be making use of the planets natives. Shockwave has little time for the idea and warns Ratbat not to bother – but Ratbat reveals that he already has plans in place…

Back on the mainland, in Portland, Oregon, Sparkplug Witwicky’s auto dealership now has a vulgar-looking Wash and Roll car wash adjacent (presumably this would have required months of applying for planning permission or perhaps not). Business seems to be booming with a queue formed on the forecourt. Sparkplug arrives to take over filling the customers’ tanks from Buster, mentioning that he also wants to fill his own tank – very strange as it was only filled an hour ago. Suddenly Buster’s girlfriend Jessie arrives on her bike and invites Buster to join her for a drink. He is forced to decline as another customer pulls up. Jessie shows Buster the local paper reporting a feared fuel shortage in the north west. Could it all be linked?

Elsewhere, at his corporate headquarters, GB Blackrock holds a press conference to reveal the success of the Wash and Roll – the “cleansing experience for both car and driver” – and reveals his plans for Wash and Roll mark two. After the reporters leave, Blackrock’s mind turns blank like he’s been hypnotised. He removes a tiny cassette from his inside pocket, which transforms into the fearsome form of Ratbat – his plan working perfectly.

Later that evening, Buster is sweeping up the forecourt when a final customer pulls up – Jessie! Her brother’s car needed a wash, and Buster reluctantly accepts her invitation to join her through the Wash and Roll! As the car slowly moves through, various flashing lights and heavy metal music blaze out, but Buster spends every day at this place so he’s not too excited. She decides to cheer him up another way – i.e. jumping on him! All of a sudden a light flashes into Jessie’s eyes, and the effect is instant. As the cycle soon finishes, Jessie tells Buster she has to go and then drives off zombie-like. Buster is confused and concerned and decides to follow her for an hour’s drive until she turns off the highway into a Blackrock fuel depot…

Elsewhere in the issue, we’ve got our first advert for the Hasbro Headmasters toys, and Grimlock defends the decision to conclude the Wanted Galvatron saga in the annual. It seems the marketing gimmick is not to everyone’s liking, though I would have thought most Transformers fans would want to pick up the annual anyway. We’re also at the start of a long an enjoyable Robo Capers saga with King Nonose and the Inventor on Earth’s moon.

In part two (UK #129) Buster uncovers the Decepticon plan. He follows Jessie into the Blackrock depot wondering whether she has a night job that she hadn’t mentioned before. He sees her ‘fill up’ her tank before driving off again and blocks her path with his car. Jessie doesn’t seem to acknowledge him until he flashes his headlights, snapping her back into reality. Suddenly Laserbeak swoops down and blasts at Buster’s car. He hasn’t been recognised the human as an Autobot as first thought, just a human who is out of line
The cons are actually siphoning fuel from hypnotised motorists before sending them on their way.

Presumably there is an art to leaving just the right amount of fuel in the tank or there would be a lot of folk breaking down on the drive home? Ratbat’s plan seems very inefficient compared to just stealing the oil directly as per Shockwave’s approach. The only justifiable reason for the laborious process of stealing gasoline from drivers must simply be down to its discreteness, but then you can only wonder how long people would take to notice their partners constantly staring into space and going on late night drives. Plus spending all the household income on petrol!

Buster and Jessie climb to the roof of an adjacent building where they can see Blackrock, flanked by Ratbat, addressing the crowd. He helpfully explains (for the readers – it’s difficult to imagine why the hypnotised crowds need to know) that Astrotrain zapped him with a hypnotising chip and he’d witnessed the Decepticon’s cargo transform into the first Wash and Roll car wash. Blackrock then instructed his organisation to begin mas production of the washes. The only problem is that the hypnosis quickly wears off – however Wash and Roll mark II will be a lot more permanent. He selects someone from the crowd to test it out, and picks on Buster’s dad Sparkplug (who oddly gives his name as Irving Witwicky and not William as he did previously in Prisoner of War – Bob probably forgot).

Buster must act right away, and after sending Jessie to find help, he speeds his own car into his dad’s path. The brainwashed humans soon surround him, leaving Buster no choice but to flee into the Wash and Roll (not the most sensible escape route given that it washes brains!) and Ratbat follows him, jumping onto Buster’s bonnet, and draining the cars fuel vampire-like. Buster rolls out of the door, covering his eyes, and gripping a tyre iron. He kicks a water pipe, splashing Ratbat in the face who releases him. Suddenly Jessie comes speeding in and shunts Ratbat (she couldn’t leave Buster to face this monster alone, she says). Buster decides there is no time to call the Autobots, this must be ended now.

He smashes the neon Car Wash sign with a throw of the iron, creating a big flash that wakes everyone from their trances. The crowd bombard the Laserbeak and Ratbat with spanners forcing the Decepticons into a rather pathetic retreat. Buster has saved the day and is congratulated by his dad and GB Blackrock (amazingly this is the first time the two have met considering they are both so closely linked to the Autobots). Blackrock vows to dismantle all the Wash and Rolls and Jessie thanks Buster with a big smooch.

In summary, the infamous Car Wash of Doom is not one of the best examples of the Marvel Transformers run, which is a shame seeing as it sees the welcome return of Buster, Jessie and Sparkplug. The story has its moments, in particular the moment where the Decepticons discover the tanker they went to all the trouble to hijack is empty! It’s odd to think that an operation run by the calculating Shockwave could be incompetent. Mind you Ratbat may not be in a position to criticise after this, now that his ropey scheme to hypnotise people into handing over their fuel tanks has literally run out of gas. Why not capture a rig or demand fuel in return for not destroying a city or something? Bizarre.

Next issue we go off-world for our first glimpse of the planet Nebulos, home of the most unique Autobots and Decepticons yet – the Headmasters!

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Wanted Galvatron!

Marvel UK goes ‘back to the future’ with a Transformers the Movie sequel featuring the eagerly awaited debut of Rodimus Prime and surprise show-stealer in the form of a robotic bounty hunter known as Death’s Head

After Transformers the Movie the character that the fans were desperate to read about was without doubt Rodimus Prime. And amazingly it was the UK comic and not its wider circulated US counterpart that featured him first! Perhaps that shouldn’t be too surprising really, as the US book pretty much ignored the Movie as it did with the cartoons. Here in the UK however, the film was well and truly embraced as part of the continuity. In fact it was the movie inspired saga of Target: 2006 which had given the book (and writer Simon Furman) their biggest success to date. So, it was inevitable that Furman and the team would wish to return to the fertile territory of the post Movie era for another epic.

In my opinion Wanted Galvatron! is not in the same league as Target: 2006 and it loses its way a bit towards the end, but by god it makes a fantastic start, as we see in issue #113 which sets the scene and #114 where we meet Rodimus for real.

The first sight of the future Autobot leader is the fantastic and super-impactful cover by Geoff Senior with of Rodimus calling for the head of Galvatron. In fact Geoff is on art duties for the story too and at top of his game here. I understand he was responsible for designing the aforementioned Death’s Head and the character looks amazing and totally suits the dialogue and the character that Furman has written. It’s not surprising therefore that Death’s Head would go on to have his own monthly Marvel comic within a couple of years of this impressive debut.

Rodimus wants Galvatron’s head and this is exactly what readers see on the opening page, courtesy of a wild west style wanted poster. This sets the tone and the scene really nicely as readers are deposited into a frontier style saloon on the robot world of Elpasos. The year is 2007 and as the poster suggests, Rodimus Prime is the new sherif and Galvatron the outlaw. A reward of 10,000 Shanix is offered and Death’s Head is intent on claiming it. He asks a ridiculously scrawny robotic bar-keep to fill him in on the details.

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After a particularly hilarious moment where the barkeep gets throttled for referring to Death’s Head as “bounty hunter” – a term he is extremely touchy about (he prefers ‘freelance peacekeeping agent’) which is recurring gag and part of the entertainment – the wimpy robot gives a recap of the now familiar events at the end of the movie. Unicron had launched an assault on the Transformers homeworld, he tells Death’s Head. And inside Unicron his servant Galvatron fought with the Autobot warrior Hot Rod. By rights Hot Rod should have perished but the Matrix was his saviour – it transformed, enlarged and enhanced him into Rodimus Prime, who threw Galvatron into space before unleashing the full power of the Matrix to destroy Unicron.

Although these scenes are all very well known to fans, it’s still nice to see Senior’s interpretation and in particular the transfiguration of Hot Rod into Rodimus. And then we’re into new and exciting sequel territory as we’re told, again courtesy of the barkeep (who for a non-Transformer is very well informed about events on Cybertron) that Rodimus had become obsessed with locating and neutralising Galvatron and had personally led the search for many fruitless months. In his absence, Shockwave had regrouped the Decepticons on Cybertron and renewed the age-old civil war. Rodimus had no choice but to break off the search and return home, so he issued the bounty to get others to finish the job.

Death’s Head goes to leave without settling the tab for the three quarts of oil he downed and the weedy barkeep pulls out a huge gun that is twice the size of him! Death’s Head tosses a credit card in his direction and the barkeep’s eyes extend on stalks to examine it closely – oops its a blank! Before he object, Death’s Head pummels his face into the bar leaving the poor mechanoid battered and broken and mumbling “Th-that’ll do nicely”. It’s a very funny scene and establishes Death’s Head as a truly magnificent bastard.

So far no-one has even come close to finding Galvatron but Death’s Head is bolder and more determined than most. He travels to Cybertron to confront Galvatron’s lieutenants Cyclonus and Scourge. We find the pair jetting above the Cybertron landscape complaining about the their new “freak” of a boss Shockwave and how they are looking forward to him getting his comeuppance once Galvatron returns. They transform and land in exactly the spot where Death’s Head is lying waiting for them (quite a coincidence).

He introduces himself and asks “heard of me, yes?” – and it seems his reputation has reached the Decepticons on Cybertron. A fire fight ensues but the mercenary is swift and deadly and dispatches Scourge with a blast to his face. Cyclonus returns fire and attempts to batter Death’s Head with a metal girder. Cyclonus is quickly subdued and Death’s reveals his neat trick of replacing his left hand with one of the weapon attachments he carries on his back, in this case a spiked ball. With Cyclonus at his mercy, the Decepticon has one chance to avoid death – to spill the beans. He reveals what he suspects, that Galvatron has fled into Earth’s past.

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The first instalment ends with Death’s Head locating their time-jump equipment and vanishing into the time stream heading for 1987 and a showdown with Galvatron! Now here’s the interesting thing about Galvatron hiding in the past, it’s not as though they are separate places existing concurrently, one follows the other. So if Galvatron travels to 1987 it figures that he would still be around in 2007 only 20 years older, or he would have to die in the past to not still exist in the future, right?

Part two (issue #114) opens with a birds eye perspective of Rodimus Prime, Kup, Blurr and Wreck-Gar with missiles reigning down on their position. It’s another brilliantly drawn issue, this time by Will Simpson, another of my favourites. In fact I have a vague memory of Simon Furman appearing on weekend kids TV show with uncoloured version of this artwork talking about the comic. Sadly the clip doesn’t seem to be available anywhere.

It is the year 2007 (which to us now seems the dim and distant past but back then felt futuristic and exciting) and after the flashbacks, we now see Rodimus in a live action situation. He’s out in the open, out numbered, and possibly out of luck! Wreck-gar, talking TV, declares there’ll be full reports in the ten o’clock bulletin. I can only imagine it must have been a tricky challenge for Furman to write dialogue for this character.

As fleet of Decepticon hunter planes drop their payload, seemingly consigning Kup and Blurr to unconsciousness. They transforms and close in on Prime. The cocky squadron leader can almost taste victory and wants to hear the Autobot leader beg. Instead, Rodimus gives the order to fire and Ultra Magnus and the others spring up and cut down the Decepticons comrades in a volley of laser beams. The squadron leader runs, trips and falls at Prime’s feet. He begs for mercy in a scene which echoes Prime and Megatron’s battle at Autobot City and ends with Rodimus, a cold-steel in his eyes, opening fire.

Later, he snaps at Kup for declaring that they “did good”. True, Decepticons are the lowest of the low, but they were sentient beings whose lives they’ve been forced to end. Prime is very much in the mould of his predecessor Optimus in terms of angst and sentiment and he hates the way that fate has forced him to shoulder the burden of leadership and to compromise his principles. I’m not sure that Hot Rod would have been quite so burdened by having to kill the enemy and I’m guess that Rodimus may well have something of the essence of Optimus about him. After all it was the voice of Optimus who he heard as he was created telling him to arise, right?

Kup provides the wise counsel to the young leader. The only way Shockwave will win is if the Autobots doubt themselves he says. Then Rodimus is visited by their ‘Decepticon’ spy Nautilus (named after Captain Nemo’s ship perhaps?) who has broken cover early to deliver some very important information: he has learned the location of Galvatron! He ran into Cyclonus and Scourge after their bruising encounter with Death’s Head and amazingly got them to spill the beans. Oddly, considering they had to have the same information beaten out of them by Death’s Head, they were willing to tell Nautilus about their earlier time-jump into Earth’s past and that Death’s Head had most likely followed. Rodimus is aghast, realising he’s unwittingly set in motion a confrontation between the most powerful Decepticon of all and the fearsome Death’s Head in Earth’s past. This knowledge only seems to add to the pressure on the young leader’s shoulders.

Our scene shifts to 1987 Earth where Bumblebee is kneeling over a patch of scorched ground where First Aid had recently stood. The medic’s disappearance means that a time traveller has arrived from the future, and that probably means trouble. How right he is. Death’s Head materialises at the scene (unusual for a time jump) and decides to make sure Bumblebee cannot raise the alarm about his arrival, by blowing the mini-Autobot to pieces! Whoa!

Whilst a similar demise was enough to finish Optimus Prime for good, the fans will have been aware of the Goldbug toy recently released as part of the new Throttlebots team from Hasbro. A few may even have known of the recent TFs vs GI Joe mini-series stateside which saw Bumblebee blown up by the Joes and rebuilt (by Ratchet) as Goldbug. So the expectation here will be that Bumblebee will be similarly rebuilt. Since that US crossover was decidedly second rate it’s as well that we’re getting the alternate version. Plus, its worth noting that Bumblebee is among the Autobots who open fire at Rodimus’ order at the start of the issue, so he ought to be alive in 2007 unless Death’s Head has changed history irrevocably?!

All in all a very strong start to the Wanted Galvatron! saga and the action now shifts back to 1987 Earth to catch up with Galvatron and our old friend Ultra Magnus.

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