Transformation 59: THe Ticking Clock.

28/6/2013

I am typing this as the seconds are ticking down on the use of this library computer, so no preamble this week, just my look at:

Robot Buster! Part 1.

10 Comments

Ryan F

28/6/2013 04:16:10 pm

The one thing hardly anyone notices about this issue: the fact that Shockwave's return is kept secret until the final frame. Until that last splash page, he's never once mentioned by name, and only ever seen in shadow. A weird thing to do, considering it's so obvious who the 'mystery' bad guy is supposed to be

Tim Roll-Pickering link

28/6/2013 07:43:34 pm

I wonder if at one point this story was intended to precede Rock and Roll Out? The dramatic reveal of Shockwave and the moment next week where he recalls how he escaped from being stuck in the swamp are both part of an absolutely classic stock approach to bringing back a villain who has been missing for a while.

Ryan F

29/6/2013 04:12:33 am

Tim, I reckon you could be spot-on there, that's a great theory. Another thing: it's revealed here that Shockwave hates Fortress Sinister with a passion... Which means that his base in "Plight" must be a completely different location entirely.

Ryan F

29/6/2013 04:16:15 am

Just read the story again, and Tracks makes an appearance at the end of Part 2. So if this WAS supposed to be set pre-"Roll Out", nobody told the artist!

Tim Roll-Pickering link

29/6/2013 06:06:14 am

Well it wouldn't be the first or last time an artist got the cast continuity slightly muddled and drew characters who shouldn't be there. But it's possible the story may have been conceived and plotted early but put back to tie in with other stuff, especially since it had multiple parents. Certainly it's a little odd that the UK continuity made a big deal of Shockwave being absent for a bit yet didn't really give him a return moment.

Stuart

29/6/2013 04:26:01 am

I'd say this was unlikely to be intended to be be before Rock and Roll Out as it runs straight into the next two stories, which would have been required to be published "Now" due to the toy tie in.

I'd say Shockwave isn't ment to be a surprise as such (at the very least Furman wouldn't have had him saying "logical", bit too much of a giveaway), it's more akin to the Doctor Who ...of the Daleks thing where the show makers didn't seriously think people would be surprised by a Dalek showing up in a story with that word in the title, they just hold off till the cliffhanger for the reveal for the visual impact.

And yay, I can respond to comments on my tab. I wasn't sure as it seems to have an adversarial relationship with editing the site.

snowkatt

5/7/2013 10:10:04 am

i always felt that the robo suit made sense
if buster must eb around them then he will always be a target
if he is close to the autobots he will be a target regardless
so giving him the means to defend himself makes sense

but thats the only thing the suit should have been used for to defend himself if need be
not to go "adventuring" with the autobots like his cartoon counterpart did

buster also put down the cold hart truth to prime that he was good enough to carry the matrix around for weeks and put his life on the line for the autobots

off course the whole idea that he should fight along the autobots or needs to prove himself by defeatinga decepticon also shows that buster isnt quite as mature a she likes to think

but as we will see in devastation derby buster ratchet and wheeljack were right after all

shockwave still looks silly though

Felicity

4/8/2016 08:40:06 am

I liked the 1985 Biggles movie too! I saw it on a movie channel on a hotel room TV on vacation in the late 1980s and was captivated. A few years ago I rescued a VHS copy from a video store going out of business, and watched it again. It didn’t live up to my memories of it but it was still pretty good. :-)

Stuart

4/8/2016 08:53:05 am

I've still not dare rewatch it!

Felicity

28/10/2019 02:29:09 am

Oops, I see that I already commented about the Biggles movie. And 2016 me remembered where I found a copy more clearly than 2019 me does!

Transformation 59: THe Ticking Clock.

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