Transformation 239: Bob's Your Uncle.

9/12/2016

It's a massive end of an era this week as Bob Budiansky drives off into the sunset with one last message for his loyal fans.

Amidst that, ironically it's the other story that's the better one, as a Mexican takes on Trump's wall building team.

All in my look at ISSUE 239!

Today happens to be Jose Delbo's birthday. Lean back and point in his honour.

And for those of you missing the now traditional Christmas Quiz, computer SNAFU's have stopped me getting on with it, but hopefully it will be up by next Friday, if not before. There will be some cool prizes this time as well!

10 Comments

Burstingfoam

9/12/2016 04:26:35 pm

Kudos for the words about Bob, there's been an awful lot of nonsense said about the man, and whilst I'm not going to defend some of his more bizarre creative decisions (even as a little 'un, I could see the quality difference between the UK and US tales, although I never really picked up on the reason until revisiting them in adulthood), he is the reason Simon F has had a career (which I'm sure he appreciates). You've never hidden what you felt about him, but even when we disagreed (frequently) you rarely simply bashed him, and found much joy in some of the less popular tales (Cosmic Carnival, anyone?).

It's ironic that these differences come to the fore so starkly in the issues that contain these stories. The Survivors arc is one of my favourites in the series, featuring two of the best characters (whilst my sentimental favourite Decepticon will always be Megatron, I do have something of a love for Bludgeon, who never really got the credit he deserved), and was cruelly cut short by the understandable (and fun) but also rather regrettable move to Earthforce and the continuity break. The wrestling story really is a big whimper for Bob, being neither funny nor dramatic. I actually like the others of the five tales that follow Dark Star, it's a pity it had to finish on this one.

I'm told that Jose Delbo is 83 today. Happy Birthday, old chap.

Burstingfoam

9/12/2016 04:57:17 pm

Yes, I missed that mention of Delbo in your introduction. Nevertheless, the sentiment stands.

Instead, I'll just mention how damned fantastic that cover is.

Tim Roll-Pickering link

9/12/2016 06:22:32 pm

So farewell Bob Budiansky. I can't remember when fandom discovered just how much he was involved in the franchise's creation. It's notable that when Simon Furman wrote his piece in the final US issue he noted Bob was the original editor and then most prolific writer but didn't touch on this side - perhaps he (and Rob Tokar?) didn't know about this back then? And of course, as you've noted, from the UK perspective Bob arrived after Simon and his stories often suffered from awkward cliffhangers, being pre-empted by UK material and the curse of having to insert Hasbro edicts into ongoing storylines (not that Simon was immune from the latter problem with some of his worst work being written to external order), not to mention an editorial that often couldn't hide the attitude that it preferred the home grown material (and even Titan contributed by doing the Furman issues first).

But Bob had great moments throughout his entire run - the initial Shockwave saga, Return to Cybertron, Gone but not Forgotten, Headmasters, Total(l)ed!, Underbase and even King Con! It's a pity his final story is focused on one of the most awkward toy gimmicks and has as its heroes Autobots who are simply never seen again. And I hadn't realised just how much of Roadhandler's speech is a writer letting vent as he finally escapes. However overall Bob delivered an incredible run and the basics of the story that's endured so long. (And as well as Sleepwalker his art on Ghost Rider is also great.) If you happen to be reading this Bob, MASSIVE THANKS!

Otherwise the cover to this issue is great and should have been the one used on the final reprint special, though the raw image may not have been available five years later. A Savage Place! does well at keeping up the pace and pressure, so it's a pity that the follow-up would take so long and get sucked into the continuity nightmares.

Dreadwind may have been caught in a general Marvel confusion - in the mid 1980s there was an attitude that all limited series were four parts unless they had "Secret Wars" in the title. Famously this led to a Punisher mini-series whose covers couldn't decide if it wasn't a four or five parter. A three parter would have been just as confusing.

Was the Action Force story a reaction against how the US left men abandoned behind enemy lines for the sake of wider politics? Was the issue of the left behind prominent when the story was originally written or was this Larry Hama venting his fury at the treatment of his comrades?

Grant

11/12/2016 09:35:14 pm

Catilla being killed by a blade through the shoulder works if you remember where Catilla actually is inside the shell. In the toy that's roughly where his robot head is....

I've always believed Bludgeon went for Catilla's brain module, that tiny thing we saw Death's Head crush betwixt thumb and forefinger, the first time we've seen Buldgeon being the astonishingly understated supreme badass we all imagined he was as young comic readers (and which he more or less became in later years) He killed a Pretender by slicing a Transformer brain through not only its shell but also (if you recall Catilla is mostly in alt-mode inside that shell) through the side of his alt-mode beast head as well! This makes *perfect* sense in the context of who and what Blugeon is and what the Mayhems had clearly been training for.

The staggering genius of Senior/Furman encapsulated in one panel? I've always believed it.

Grant

11/12/2016 09:42:37 pm

PS: I felt the pain of this death very keenly, being the hugely proud owner of Catilla's toy. Not sure I've ever forgiven Furman for it!

Tim Roll-Pickering link

11/12/2016 11:04:41 pm

You may not have been the only one upset by that. If memory serves correctly, there were still a lot of 1988's toys on sale at the time (oh how the market has changed). A glance at the character used in issues #228 - #242 suggests that Furman may have been given a "Help shift the older stock" order from Hasbro UK - other than the Micromaster debut every UK story in the run has prominent roles for 1988 toys and the next Collected Comics features a dozen more.

Ralph Burns

25/12/2016 01:52:23 pm

Yes I would agree that the problem with Uncle Bob's last effort is just that it is sadly dull. A real shame as while his previous stories were far from his best they still displayed some zany fun.

SPECIAL TEAMS!

Snowkatt

25/11/2019 04:08:00 pm

I can't stand the DJD. They are a bunch of nobodies, that come out of nowhere and take down phase six Decepticons.

They aren't even redeco's, rare toys or Japanese exclusives, they are literal bloody nobodies.
And a complete and utter cop out, the worst thing that came out of MTME.
The moment they show up in a story, is the moment I tune out and lose all interest.

The DJD is is the mary sue trope in action, in the worst kind of way.
It should have been the Mayhem Squad.
It would still be improbable, but at least they would have been SOMEBODY.
Not too mention a callback to G1.

LiamKav

10/10/2020 06:26:22 pm

I dunno. Not everything has to be a reference to the 80s comics and cartoon. And the DJD being nobodies is kinda the point of their last arc. But I digress.

If he gets credit for nothing else, the Transformers Universe profiles are an astonishing achievement. It means when you pick up a toy it's not just a toy, it's a character. Silverbolt being afraid of flying but hiding it to inspire his team, Long Haul being frustrated at being used for transport but not daring to tell Megatron, Sunstreakers vanity bordering on sociopathy... Even if they don't get a cartoon or comic issue to themselves it means you still know who they are.

Felicity link

25/11/2019 10:27:44 pm

I really want to check out “Sleepwalker” now. It’s Bob Budiansky, it’s now an older comic book (compared to modern comic books which no longer speak to me), and I’m curious to see how it’s a reaction to “Sandman”!

This is the first time it occurred to me that Bob Budiansky might have seen online “Transformers” fandom in its early days. Poor guy! I’m glad he took it in stride and was only bemused, not hurt. Those were hateful, argumentative times. There’s a reason I stopped visiting alt.toys.transformers long before the decline of Usenet.

This *is* that “GI Joe” story. I remember the alley. Outback will escape through the storm drain and make it back to HQ where everyone will ostracise him for abandoning his friends even though Stalker expressly ordered him to do so because then at least people would know what happened to his friends. To his credit Outback isn’t having any of it. I forget how it all ends; presumably they go rescue the missing Joes and everyone is friends again.

Transformation 239: Bob's Your Uncle.

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