Transformation 311: "What do you think this A stands for? France?"

26/4/2018

This week... the war is over. And the Autobots have lost! Will Prime's sacrifice be enough to stop Unicron? And how do you keep a Nebulon fresh for longer?

Plus, Shockwave shows off his figurine collection and Mindwipe thinks everyone is out of their mind. All in my look at SURRENDER! PART 1!.

10 Comments

bouncelot

27/4/2018 05:32:37 pm

We have finally reached the point where Earthforce can't fit in alongside the US stories. And, co-incidentally, this issue features Shockwave's forces as they were at the very start of the Earthforce era.

And that Transmasters letter is somewhat weird. The idea of giant alien robots having human-style families has always seemed incredibly stupid to me. This letter ensured that I never even considered joining Transmasters simply by mentioning that their fanfics were going in that direction. If Transmasters-related letters had given the impression that their fanficion was more in keeping with the premise of the franchise, I would probably have been interested in the group, whether or not I actually contacted them.

Cosmic Horse

27/4/2018 07:14:06 pm

Stu, I had quite a few of those Complete Spider-Man issues and I think that Colossus-looking guy is called Molten Man. I can't remember what the story was about or why the Green Goblin was hanging out with them (I think it might'be been Harry Osborn at that point?), but there you go. Thinking about it, along with the Marvel super heroes and villains Top Trumps, CS was probably my first introduction to American superhero comics, which is nice to be reminded of. I owe this blog so much...

Tim Roll-Pickering link

27/4/2018 09:48:29 pm

The original issue that cover is from is Web of Spider-Man #66 and the cover can be seen at http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Web_of_Spider-Man_Vol_1_66 This was a period when both the Molten Man and the second Green Goblin (who are brothers in law) were trying to reform and become heroes, battling against Tombstone.

Stuart

30/4/2018 08:28:30 am

Good catch on Molton Man, thanks for the info :)

Ryan F

27/4/2018 09:05:01 pm

I’ve recently learnt that the opening to this issue is known in the writing trade as a “Compo Cut”. Prime saying “Autobots never surrender” and the story then immediately switching to him surrendering is very akin to old episodes of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’, wherein the character Compo would often say stuff like “you’d never catch me rolling down a hill in a wheeled bathtub”, only for the episode to cut to him doing exactly that!

And a little tidbit from the US letters page around the time - it was confirmed there that Shockwave’s Blackpool base was in fact the original Decepticon ship from issue #1. Of course, the Americans never got Target: 2006, in which that same ship was blown up...

Stuart

30/4/2018 08:29:46 am

IIRC Americans call it a Gilligan's Cut after that sitcom their film and TV shows will often mention, but which we rarely saw.

Felicity

27/12/2019 06:22:46 am

Agreed; the confiscation of Nebulans and Pretender shells was a nice touch, though I do worry about the Nebulans’ comfort in those Tupperware boxes.

In the US continuity, were the two Battlechargers dead since Circuit Breaker shot them in “Decepticon Graffiti”? And if so, did Shockwave explain how they’re alive, or is this more fodder for Starscream’s “ex-Decepticons” non-explanation?

I love Shockwave’s models. I wonder how big they would seem to a human?

I don’t get the pun in “Beret good chaps.” I mean, “I still don’t flash it, bro.” (We still have one more week to get that going!)

Tim Roll-Pickering link

27/12/2019 02:38:22 pm

Officially the Battlechargers are assumed dead in US continuity but they make a few appearances that suggest Jose Delbo didn't have a fully up to date and accurate reference guide of available characters for group scenes. There's possibly one in US #41/UK #175 and there's one or two seen in US #47/UK #194-195, with one appearance on the Ark(!). They also appeared in the alternate future in US #67/UK #300.

"Beret" is pronounced, at least over here, to rhyme with "very" and is one of numerous puns that use names of hat types in place of the normal words.

Ryan F

27/12/2019 03:35:31 pm

Yeah, it’s generally assumed that the Battlechargers were revived at some point, hence their appearance here and some sporadic cameos in previous stories. Budiansky sometimes had difficulties with keeping track of who was alive and who wasn’t - for example Prowl being out of action in US#26 (Mechanical Difficulties) despite having been alive and well in US#14 and #16 and not having been shown getting hurt at any point in the interim. Also Mirage is in US#14 but also gets incapacitated somehow via reasons unknown.

It seems there was a genuine attempt around the time of ‘Totaled’ (US#41) to clear things up and ‘reset’ the death count, bringing absolutely EVERYBODY back into play (Megatron and Shockwave excepted), hence the big battle on the moon where we saw the likes of Prowl, Sunstreaker, etc. make a mini come-back of sorts.

Although they weren’t in ‘Totaled’ (well, they might have been, but if so they’re hard to spot amongst the hundreds of tiny, block-coloured background characters in that issue), it’s safe to assume that the Battlechargers were also beneficiaries of this mass resurrection.

Tim Roll-Pickering link

27/12/2019 05:02:00 pm

I'd probably lean more towards a mistake - there's quite a few other characters who appear in group shots drawn by Delbo whether they're assumed deactivated (e.g. Frenzy in the Desert Island of Space) or have never been used in the US book/are based on Cybertron in the UK (Sandstorm and Twin Twist in Spacehikers, Broadside in Totalled, Outback in Totalled and Club 'Con).

(The Battlecharger appearance in Totalled is on page 17, in the panel where Fortress Maximus blasts Bombshell. Alternatively it could be Pipes shorn of his pipes - it's a rather vague background image but one with the distinctive hood so few TFs have.)

When they do officially return in present day the implication is that Shockwave has found them as part of a round-up of forgotten warriors like Ravage rather than being more defectors. However it's not explicit. The letters page in US #72 does state that Shockwave's missing months and his quest for warriors is a tale they might get round to telling one day, though I suspect the letterspage writer assumed this was something that at most the UK comic would fill in (probably not being aware of the Earthforce turn the UK strip had taken).

All that said, Spacehikers and Totalled strongly suggest that Grimlock's leadership has at least seen a major effort devoted to fixing fallen Autobots with even Sunstreaker finally repaired. The Decepticons shown are mainly characters who've been running around for the last few years with most fallen casualties shown recovered and, presumably, the absent Dirge and Blast Off were retrieved at this time as well. Since the Battlechargers fell in conflict with humans not the Ark based Autobots it's hard to see how they could have been retrieved and restored at this time.

Transformation 311: "What do you think this A stands for? France?"

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