Transformation 109: Juan and the Mechanic.

13/6/2014

Friday the 13th is unlucky for Ratchet as not only do his attempts to fix Optimus Prime totally fail, but he faces the greatest threat in Transformers history: The Mechanic.

Will anything ever be the same again?

All in my look at Funeral for a Friend! Part 1.

Plus, if you've not seen it, do check out the Survivors review that is the previous entry on the blog part of the site.

6 Comments

Ralph Burns

13/6/2014 06:26:23 am

The next issue box shouting: 'DARK ARK!' makes issue 110 sound like the most exciting thing possible. Oh the anticipation for that issue over the long 7 days to follow, back in the day.

As for 109, the funeral stuff is still very affecting to this day (so long as you can overlook all the insentive arsehole Autobots crowding round Ratchet when he is trying to work). It's almost enough for me to get by the whole Mechanic nonsense. He was...he was...he was...super cool to me at the time...*cries*

Stuart

13/6/2014 06:40:19 am

I just wish Bob had called Juan Mike instead so my tortuous 80's pop jokes wouldn't be such a stretch.

snowkatt

16/6/2014 03:29:25 pm

i hate to be the bearer of bad news again
but i am here to report about another person that passed away and this time a transforers voice actor

casey kasme passed away yesterday at the age of 82 http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/casey-kasem-dead-82/story?id=24016102

Sean

3/7/2015 03:34:31 pm

Rarely will you find a comic where the best and worst work can be traced back to an issue. In this case, Budiansky has his best work with how the Autobots handled the seismic dynamic shift of Prime's death. In the movie, Prime was killed, but the 'bots barely got a chance to catch their breath. People had to wait until 'Dark Awakening' until they realized how Prime was memorialized.

This issue, fans, rightfully upset with Prime's passing, could at least get a chance to say 'goodbye.' And as a kid, I remember even though I saw a kid 'save' Prime's memory to a floppy disc, I was thinking it was just that - a recording. So, seeing him shot into space add some finality to the choice of offing Prime.

Budiansky could have focused his entire plot on this, and there could have been enough for another issue. But instead, he chose to insert a villain that was both unnecessary and worse...boring. As a kid, I remember reading this issue repeatedly, and almost always, skipping over the parts with the Mecanic to see where Omega Supreme gently placed Prime in his bearer. Powerful stuff. The Mechanic addition...was just rubbish.

Colin H

19/10/2017 11:42:32 am

So, prompted by the latest issue of the G1 partwork, can I ask what's supposed to have happened to Prowl here? He was fine when last seen in both US and UK appearances, so what put him in this state? Was it the GI Joe crossover?

Felicity link

31/10/2019 07:23:52 pm

There’s some nice moody atmosphere to this issue. The inking is different than usual, with Brett Breeding IIRC instead of Akin & Garvey giving a smoother, cleaner line to the art. Ratchet going through a junkyard looking for parts for his friends, the undercover cops, the Forbes’ Garage hideout, and the surprise use of Prowl at the end to give the Mechanic his comeuppance are all excellent.

And *again* Budiansky fooled me the first time I read this issue, with a character waiting until someone leaves and then surreptitiously following them. The previous time was Bluestreak following Sparkplug, and here it’s the Mechanic waiting to see where Ratchet goes when he thaws out. That trick catches me off guard and delights me every time!

Transformation 109: Juan and the Mechanic.

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