No, You Don't Know the Ones Who Dream of You at Night.
Issue 243: The Resurrection Gambit! Part 1/Mind Games. 4th November 1989.
No. No. No! No!
Happy New Year everyone! We’re still here amazingly.
The Hachette Partwork has launched and the £2.00 Target: 2006 hardback should still just about be out at the time or writing. You can’t say no at that price. Though sadly it's been confirmed the series won't be including Generation 2, which is more than a bit baffling.
Though there will still be the odd moment of inspiration shared between the two, the stories that start this week are the last time the UK and US series really try to tie together. The reason this is the end of the attempts to play the two off each other is simple: This is one of the most contrived and controversial parts of the entire run as Furman tries to deal with the “Megatron has been dead the entire time you’ve seen him running about” thing and sweats blood in the attempt.
Most of that is to come though, the opening of the two stories is given over to set up, meaning just how poorly things hold together is going to sneak up on us as well go along.
No. No. No! No!
Happy New Year everyone! We’re still here amazingly.
The Hachette Partwork has launched and the £2.00 Target: 2006 hardback should still just about be out at the time or writing. You can’t say no at that price. Though sadly it's been confirmed the series won't be including Generation 2, which is more than a bit baffling.
Though there will still be the odd moment of inspiration shared between the two, the stories that start this week are the last time the UK and US series really try to tie together. The reason this is the end of the attempts to play the two off each other is simple: This is one of the most contrived and controversial parts of the entire run as Furman tries to deal with the “Megatron has been dead the entire time you’ve seen him running about” thing and sweats blood in the attempt.
Most of that is to come though, the opening of the two stories is given over to set up, meaning just how poorly things hold together is going to sneak up on us as well go along.
Together again!
The second part of Furman’s opening salvo on the Americans, The Resurrection Gambit, is neatly split into good and bad halves. Despite how confusing this is for Brits, the splash page of Megatron (in the Delbo pose) lording it up over Ratchet as the Autobot has a complete breakdown is fantastic, playing well on the memories of long time readers who recall the history between the two of them. Considering this is very much trying to be a crowd pleasing arc it’s perhaps surprising Furman won’t be pitching Megatron against Optimus, but the revival of this old rivalry works extremely well.
Ratchet is absolutely fantastic here, after the horror of the return of Space Hitler settles in (and after some recap exposition disguised as mocking from the three Micromasters who came with him) he manages to collect himself and disguise his fear as extreme sarcasm. I especially love his mocking of comic tropes, first asking for the “How I survived” story and—when this is not forthcoming and he is instead show to a room full of three discarded “Prototype” Pretender shells—declares that “So it’s the “My insane Scheme” story” first. But not for a second do you forget that under the surface he’s still full of fear and trying to work things out at the same time.
Though again, a year ago the comic would have changed Ratchet’s claim that the last he heard of Megatron was that he blew himself up to make the continuity patch easier for the British story. Hell, considering (SPOILER) a Megatron blows himself up next week in the attempted explanation you might only have needed to change the “See issue 125” box (which has already been altered anyway of course) to “See the next issue!”.
Ratchet is absolutely fantastic here, after the horror of the return of Space Hitler settles in (and after some recap exposition disguised as mocking from the three Micromasters who came with him) he manages to collect himself and disguise his fear as extreme sarcasm. I especially love his mocking of comic tropes, first asking for the “How I survived” story and—when this is not forthcoming and he is instead show to a room full of three discarded “Prototype” Pretender shells—declares that “So it’s the “My insane Scheme” story” first. But not for a second do you forget that under the surface he’s still full of fear and trying to work things out at the same time.
Though again, a year ago the comic would have changed Ratchet’s claim that the last he heard of Megatron was that he blew himself up to make the continuity patch easier for the British story. Hell, considering (SPOILER) a Megatron blows himself up next week in the attempted explanation you might only have needed to change the “See issue 125” box (which has already been altered anyway of course) to “See the next issue!”.
" I mean, no one would want these shells. Anyone who was given them would just get rid of them as quickly as possible"
Megatron is also much better than I remembered. In my mind he was just a one dimensional Thunderwing style loon here, ranting and raving with no subtlety and not as interesting as Furman’s British take on the character. I think this is down to a combination of Delbo giving him vacant eyes in a lot of panels (but he does nail the one where he amiably gives Ratchet a pat on the shoulder whilst welcoming him as a “Guest”) and the fact his actual plan is so nonsensical and rubbish it would almost make more sense if he were nuts.
But instead he’s actually quite the cordial host, making little jokes and refusing to rise to Ratchet’s baiting of him. It’s probably the most together American readers have seen him since Shockwave showed up and it’s a closer fit to the post-Time Wars British Megs than I thought.
This largely entertaining segment of the issue ends with the reveal of the final super new Pretender shell (the main difference from Scorponok’s take: The open at the sides rather than own the middle), the instrument of Megatron’s revenge. Which makes Ratchet slightly randomly wonder why Optimus didn’t answer his SPACE call last week...
Two things to note before we switch location though:
1: There will be no explanation as to who built the Pretender shells for Megatron, even though he’s never been technical and only has eight short idiots under his command.
2: When the Brits last saw present day Megatron he had lots of troops. Lots and lots of troops. Something the British story is careful to remind us of. No explanation is ever going to be forthcoming as to where they went.
But instead he’s actually quite the cordial host, making little jokes and refusing to rise to Ratchet’s baiting of him. It’s probably the most together American readers have seen him since Shockwave showed up and it’s a closer fit to the post-Time Wars British Megs than I thought.
This largely entertaining segment of the issue ends with the reveal of the final super new Pretender shell (the main difference from Scorponok’s take: The open at the sides rather than own the middle), the instrument of Megatron’s revenge. Which makes Ratchet slightly randomly wonder why Optimus didn’t answer his SPACE call last week...
Two things to note before we switch location though:
1: There will be no explanation as to who built the Pretender shells for Megatron, even though he’s never been technical and only has eight short idiots under his command.
2: When the Brits last saw present day Megatron he had lots of troops. Lots and lots of troops. Something the British story is careful to remind us of. No explanation is ever going to be forthcoming as to where they went.
This panel is almost a parody of Delbo...
On Earth, time jumps back slightly to the exact moment we last saw Optimus, even doing the Delbo pose still (more on that in a second). Yes, plot is not only not progressing, it’s actually going backwards. Prime even helpfully points out he’s repeating his surrender order, with Tailwind equally helpfully pointing out they’ve already done this.
There’s a bit of business talking about hostages and the US General in charge of the base being annoyed at it all, but the big thing is Optimus getting the SPACE call from Ratchet we saw sent last week, only for Storm Cloud to shot out Prime’s communicator.
This entire sequence is so stupid on so many levels it’s actually impressive how much silliness it fits in to so short a page count. Aiming for the radio rather than, say, shooting Prime in the face, immediately gives away the fact something is wrong back at the Ark. It also relies on Optimus not just sending Highbrow back into the shuttle and calling home on it’s equipment. Optimus then easily takes out Storm Cloud before sweeping the other Micromasters aside with a “KRUNG” in such a straightforward fashion it makes a complete mockery of him having brought everyone with him to deal with this.
And things are only going to get sillier in this plot from this slightly awkward cliffhanger.
This is a frustrating story as we skip from pure gold to pure dross, but the Ratchet sequence is good enough to elevate the bad. Delbo seems to agree as his art takes a notable shift downwards in quality in the shift of locations. Forget what I said last week about Prime striking the ultimate Delbo pose, here he tops it as his waist is clearly going to detach itself. Plus the Autobots behind him are just sort of floating in mid-air at different heights. Not to mention that in both his appearances in the issue Highbrow has no lower body.
There’s a bit of business talking about hostages and the US General in charge of the base being annoyed at it all, but the big thing is Optimus getting the SPACE call from Ratchet we saw sent last week, only for Storm Cloud to shot out Prime’s communicator.
This entire sequence is so stupid on so many levels it’s actually impressive how much silliness it fits in to so short a page count. Aiming for the radio rather than, say, shooting Prime in the face, immediately gives away the fact something is wrong back at the Ark. It also relies on Optimus not just sending Highbrow back into the shuttle and calling home on it’s equipment. Optimus then easily takes out Storm Cloud before sweeping the other Micromasters aside with a “KRUNG” in such a straightforward fashion it makes a complete mockery of him having brought everyone with him to deal with this.
And things are only going to get sillier in this plot from this slightly awkward cliffhanger.
This is a frustrating story as we skip from pure gold to pure dross, but the Ratchet sequence is good enough to elevate the bad. Delbo seems to agree as his art takes a notable shift downwards in quality in the shift of locations. Forget what I said last week about Prime striking the ultimate Delbo pose, here he tops it as his waist is clearly going to detach itself. Plus the Autobots behind him are just sort of floating in mid-air at different heights. Not to mention that in both his appearances in the issue Highbrow has no lower body.
Megatron has his Patrick Dempsey moment.
Because of the massive continuity snarl up that is next week, it’s very easy to forget how good Mind Games (which is set before the opening story. This is important) is in isolation. Why Furman didn’t give himself a slightly easier time of it is something I’ll theorise on when the explanation is given, but you can’t argue that the opening of a Mystery Someone approaching Megaton’s base from Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire (along the way he’ll knock out one of the troops the opening story asks us to forget about) is nice and atmospheric.
There’s also a very clever transition, the issue opens with third person narration conveying the thoughts of the intruder (“For his own survival and perhaps that of every Decepticon on Cybertron he must destroy Megatron!”) before switching to a dream sequence narrated in the same style (“Images explode across his mind...”) where it takes a few seconds for you to realise we’ve change characters and this is a nightmare Megatron is having. It’s very neatly done and the uncertainty of when the change occurs means the ending of the second part isn’t entirely blown as we see a stock trooper being rebuilt into a Megatron double as he recalls his torment under Straxus.
Turns out Megatron is once again being haunted by dreams of his mental nemesis, and is now worried his old rival might try and take control once more. This private moment of confiding in Ravage is very well done and really solidifies the strong relationship between the two, you don’t think Megatron would ever admit this to anyone else. Megatron having fallen into a slump also neatly deals with why he hasn’t done anything in the close to a year since his grand proclamations at the end of Fall and Rise...
There’s also a very clever transition, the issue opens with third person narration conveying the thoughts of the intruder (“For his own survival and perhaps that of every Decepticon on Cybertron he must destroy Megatron!”) before switching to a dream sequence narrated in the same style (“Images explode across his mind...”) where it takes a few seconds for you to realise we’ve change characters and this is a nightmare Megatron is having. It’s very neatly done and the uncertainty of when the change occurs means the ending of the second part isn’t entirely blown as we see a stock trooper being rebuilt into a Megatron double as he recalls his torment under Straxus.
Turns out Megatron is once again being haunted by dreams of his mental nemesis, and is now worried his old rival might try and take control once more. This private moment of confiding in Ravage is very well done and really solidifies the strong relationship between the two, you don’t think Megatron would ever admit this to anyone else. Megatron having fallen into a slump also neatly deals with why he hasn’t done anything in the close to a year since his grand proclamations at the end of Fall and Rise...
My Two Megatrons.
Ravage is now faced with a dilemma: Straxus returning would be a massive danger to all the Decepticons present (considering he managed to rule a large chunk of Cybertron effectively even when just a head, I suspect personal bias on the part of Ravage), could he bring himself to kill Megatron if that happened? Which is paralleled by Megatron wondering if he could kill himself in the same circumstances.
Their retrospective inner turmoil is given a distraction by an intruder alarm, with Ravage arriving on the scene first to see the Mystery Figure taking out more of those troops we’re supposed not to think about. Mr Mystery clearly think better of Ravage than the generics as he begs the cat not to oppose him and then agonises that he can’t strike against such a close friend...
Which is when Ravage (who unlike the reader can see who this is clearly) strikes himself, thinking the thing he had just been worrying about has happened. But like the Mystery Figure he can’t kill a friend...
Which is when things get really confusing for him as Megatron arrives from the throne room because the Mystery Figure is...Another Megatron!
If you isolate this from what comes next—as was the case when I first read it as a child—this is actually fantastic stuff with strong character work, a nice moody atmosphere and some good subtle continuity beyond the Straxus stuff, mainly from artist Staz having done his homework so the base and throne room are the same as the last time we saw them and the trooper in the nightmare is of the same design as those looking after Straxus’ head back around issue 100. If only things weren’t about to go very wrong… He also does as good a job of disguising the distinctive silhouette of a Transformer that’s supposed to be mysterious as anyone will ever do.
It’s just a shame, amidst all the other issues going on here, we get two weeks in a row with a story ending on a surprise reveal of Megatron. Will every story end that way from now on?
Their retrospective inner turmoil is given a distraction by an intruder alarm, with Ravage arriving on the scene first to see the Mystery Figure taking out more of those troops we’re supposed not to think about. Mr Mystery clearly think better of Ravage than the generics as he begs the cat not to oppose him and then agonises that he can’t strike against such a close friend...
Which is when Ravage (who unlike the reader can see who this is clearly) strikes himself, thinking the thing he had just been worrying about has happened. But like the Mystery Figure he can’t kill a friend...
Which is when things get really confusing for him as Megatron arrives from the throne room because the Mystery Figure is...Another Megatron!
If you isolate this from what comes next—as was the case when I first read it as a child—this is actually fantastic stuff with strong character work, a nice moody atmosphere and some good subtle continuity beyond the Straxus stuff, mainly from artist Staz having done his homework so the base and throne room are the same as the last time we saw them and the trooper in the nightmare is of the same design as those looking after Straxus’ head back around issue 100. If only things weren’t about to go very wrong… He also does as good a job of disguising the distinctive silhouette of a Transformer that’s supposed to be mysterious as anyone will ever do.
It’s just a shame, amidst all the other issues going on here, we get two weeks in a row with a story ending on a surprise reveal of Megatron. Will every story end that way from now on?
That's one for TFWiki.
Transformation is very aware that we’re about to hit a big massive mess, straight up apologising for how confusing things are going to become, calling the British story “Convoluted” and that it will have “Repercussions that will cause all sorts of problems!”. There’s nothing like honestly in advertising I suppose. It also has to make it clear that Out to Lunch! took place after "Gambit", but Mind Games happens before.
The sidebar again apologises for both the Classic Covers Calendar (from issue 135) for November arriving late and the recent absence of AtoZ. There’s also an apology from the lack of Dreadwind this week, apparently he’s gone in for his 10’000 year service.
Combat Colin takes the week off to recover from the Gunge, so instead we get The Giggly Sisters Nice Page. Where they deal with Monstero, Ruler of the Nightmare Zone, by giving her a fab makeover and nice new dress to deal with her self-esteem issues.
The bottom half of the page is them split between Julie teaching you how to knit a Combat Bobble Hat (“Get a big ball of red wool and two knitting needles and sit in a comfy chair and start knitting!”) and Joanne Giggly’s Problem Column. Where Albert Rambo (Age 6) is angry the strip didn’t have Colin blowing up Monstero with a bazooka.
Best of all though is Mick Einstein (46) asking about the differences between the cartoon and comic, only for Joanne to cheerfully admit she watches Cookery Corner instead. Which should be the solution to all continuity issues (knowing Stringer’s attention to detail I wouldn’t be surprised if Transformers was shown opposite Cookery Corner at one point as well). Colin jumps in at the end to assure people making angry phone calls he’ll be back next week...
Action Force has some nice solid spy stuff this week as Snow Job steals some clothes and buys a hugely overpriced truck to try and make the Western border, making the mistake of picking up a hitch-hiker so as to look less suspicious only for them to turn out to be a high-jacker. Meanwhile the Not-Russians show some actual intelligence as they realise the spies were using forged money with sequential serial numbers, meaning if they hit the markets near the border and check everyone’s cash they have a potential lead.
The sidebar again apologises for both the Classic Covers Calendar (from issue 135) for November arriving late and the recent absence of AtoZ. There’s also an apology from the lack of Dreadwind this week, apparently he’s gone in for his 10’000 year service.
Combat Colin takes the week off to recover from the Gunge, so instead we get The Giggly Sisters Nice Page. Where they deal with Monstero, Ruler of the Nightmare Zone, by giving her a fab makeover and nice new dress to deal with her self-esteem issues.
The bottom half of the page is them split between Julie teaching you how to knit a Combat Bobble Hat (“Get a big ball of red wool and two knitting needles and sit in a comfy chair and start knitting!”) and Joanne Giggly’s Problem Column. Where Albert Rambo (Age 6) is angry the strip didn’t have Colin blowing up Monstero with a bazooka.
Best of all though is Mick Einstein (46) asking about the differences between the cartoon and comic, only for Joanne to cheerfully admit she watches Cookery Corner instead. Which should be the solution to all continuity issues (knowing Stringer’s attention to detail I wouldn’t be surprised if Transformers was shown opposite Cookery Corner at one point as well). Colin jumps in at the end to assure people making angry phone calls he’ll be back next week...
Action Force has some nice solid spy stuff this week as Snow Job steals some clothes and buys a hugely overpriced truck to try and make the Western border, making the mistake of picking up a hitch-hiker so as to look less suspicious only for them to turn out to be a high-jacker. Meanwhile the Not-Russians show some actual intelligence as they realise the spies were using forged money with sequential serial numbers, meaning if they hit the markets near the border and check everyone’s cash they have a potential lead.
This is just a world that's impossible for anyone who grew up with the internet to imagine.
Also of note is the classified ads this week, or rather oddly seedy seeming one offering you the chance to send off for glossy pictures of Sophie Aldred in sunglasses (though based on the small blurry black and white one reproduced here, you get a good look at her midriff as well. Which is all you needed pre-internet). Despite this being around the time of the broadcast of season 26 and despite this being a Marvel UK (publishers of Doctor Who Magazine) advert and despite that program being the one out of the two she does more likely to have fans of an age who’d want glossy pictures of her, it still mentions Corners before Doctor Who. Which says everything about the state of that program in late 1989
Next week (the day of which is variable as I'm away on the Friday, may be on Thursday or Saturday)... The Explanation. This are going to get very confusing.
ISSUE 242
1989
COMMENT
Next week (the day of which is variable as I'm away on the Friday, may be on Thursday or Saturday)... The Explanation. This are going to get very confusing.
ISSUE 242
1989
COMMENT
