TFtember: Hoist Goes Hollywood

 "Hoist Goes Hollywood", the Transformers, Nov. 21 1985

Pretty self explanatory title.

Spike and Carly are enjoying a ride in the country inside Hoist when two cars speed past them. When one of the cars veers off a cliff, Hoist to the rescue! He snags the car and then gets yelled at by a director, as he just blew his shot.

However, a giant robot that can turn into a car? Ok, he can work with that, so the director invites the trio to the studio. At the same time, Dirge is transporting a mysterious object, or at least trying to; despite his best effort he ends up crash landing in a swamp set located at Major Pictures-the very same studio our heroes are going to!

The next day, Hoist arrives but the director gives him the brush-off. Gate crashers Tracks, Warpath, Sunstreaker, and Powerglide on the other hand? Them he loves and casts them in the film. Hoist might have dodged a bullet, as every scene the Autobots are in involve them crashing, being dressed up as silly aliens and being shot, or crashing again as the leads make out over them.

The Decepticons are busy however, as Dirge is recovered and the mysterious object. What is it? It's mysterious! Also Wheeljack built it (no idea how Dirge got it), so regardless of his intent it's probably going to explode. When Megatron switches it on, however, all it does is smoke. 

Megatron, when he finishes beating Starscream, is mortified when told some humans caught them on film so he orders them to steal all the footage. Will they succeed? Will Hoist get his big chance? Will Attack of the Alien Robots sweep the Oscars?

Hoist really gets his time to shine here and while it's a bit silly (did the studio have those masks on hand or did the Autobots sit in the makeup chair?) we do get some nice comedy and a new setting. Starscream gets the tar beaten out of him a lot though. 

TFtember: Transformers#55

   "The Interplanetary Wrestling Championship!" the Transformers#55 (August 1989) with credits to Bob Budiansky (script), Jim Fern (pencils), Mike Gustovich (inks), Nel Yomtov (colors), Jim Massara (letters), and Don Daley (editor)

Picking up from last issue, Roadhandler has been invited to be on Cecila Santiago's talk show (she was introduced last issue, reporter who made friends with the Autobots). Roadhandler has a message for the people-he's a Micromaster. They aren't following the Autobots anymore and they're here to take a bite out of crime!

All of this (aliens acting as vigilantes, also they turn into small cars and trucks) fails to impress Jake "the Jackhammer" Jackson. He's the local wrestling champ and brother, if he wants to impress him, then he can drag his chassis in the ring, brother! Roadhandler accepts!

Only later does someone explain how pro wrestling works. Roadhandler is mortified but his honor is at stake! They met later at the gym and Jackson explains how to run the ropes without killing anyone. The match is a hit and soon Roadhandler is racking up victories left and right. 

Of course, while Roadhandler is imploring kids to train and eat their vitamins, the Decepticons have their own Micromasters and they figure Roadhandler would make an easy target; failing that they can always kill his fan club. 

Can Roadhandler save his fans or will be he forced to do the job?

This was Budiansky's final issue. A bit silly but he manages to juggle the plot, wrestling, and advertising new characters at the same time. 

TFtember: Hoist

Hoist  

More of a background guy, but he does his part well enough. Hoist started out as a retool of Trailbreaker, only with a tow truck instead of a camper. Whereas Trailbreaker was a Diaclone originally, Hoist technically doesn't count due to the retooling. 

Hoist' main function is maintenance, which raises a question about Ratchet. If an Autobot gets sick, do they need a doctor or a mechanic? Having both makes things a bit murky. The file card paints him as dedicated and jovial. 

He comes across less well in the comics. He first appeared in #14. He was shown as a stickler for maintenance but mostly stuck to the background before being blown up in #50. 

He fared better in the cartoon. Voiced by Michael Chain, he often acted as the Dr. Watson to Grapple's Holmes. He also drove Grapple around, which raises a lot of questions about scale that the show will never answer. He wasn't killed in the movie, which for a lot of characters is a major accomplishment in unto itself. 

TFtember: The Girl Who Loved Powerglide

"The Girl Who Loved Powerglide", the Transformers, Nov. 18, 1985

Or, the episode that raises WAY more questions than it answers

Here we met Astoria Carleton-Ritz, filthy rich and CEO of Hybrid Technologies. It's her birthday, but she isn't happy, mostly due to her being  stuck having to oversee the company. Her board of directors feel the exact same way, most of them grousing about having to essentially babysit a spoiled brat. 

Just then the Decepticons attack! Thankfully, Powerglide (Autobot who can fly) happens by. He manages to snag Astoria with a rope and fly her to safety. After some impressive dogfighting, he manages to lose the enemy jets and takes her back to Sparkplug's workshop. She rests while Optimus briefs Powerglide. It's also now pretty obvious Astoria isn't the brightest bulb, not even being sure what her company does. So what do the Decepticons want with her?

Powerglide doesn't know but he's ordered to take her back to the Ark. Pity that Astoria is quite hungry, so she gets him to make a detour to a nearby amusement park. Fine, he says, one meal then we go. 

She has her fill of hotdogs but now she wants to go on the Merry-Go-Round! Fine, he says, one turn on the round then we go.

Pity this detour is enough to let the Decepticons find them again. Powerglide isn't as lucky this time out and Astoria is kidnapped. Ratchet and Wheeljack drag him back to base for repairs.

Declaring himself fixed enough, Powerglide flies out to rescue her. And why do the Decepticons want Astoria so bad? Because of the energy formula her father gave her! The jokes on them, she answers, as he never told her. 

Turns out he did, sort of, via the locket she's wearing. Can she part with the item before Powerglide is shot down for good?

Shockingly good; Powerglide and Astoria make a rather cute couple. Pity she didn't show up any more. 

TFtember: Transformers#54

  "King Con!" the Transformers#54 (July 1989) with credits to Bob Budiansky (script), Jose Delbo (pencils), Danny Bulandi (inks), Nel Yomtov (colors), Jim Massara (letters), and Don Daley (editor)

Some hunters are on the prowl somewhere in New Jersey. They're hunting a monster, and they find one. Not the Jersey Devil, and not Bigfoot-nope, they stumble over Iguanus and he isn't happy. They manage to escape with their lives and a tale no one will take serious. 

On the Autobot side, Optimus is worried. Still mourning the Autobots lost in #50, he realizes they need more Autobots if they want to survive, so he puts out the call. He gets the Micromasters (now available at your finer retail stores kids!).

Optimus is underwhelmed by the tiny terrors but eh, you work with what you got. Two missions he has, 1) the sightings of Iguanus and possible Decepticon activity and 2) strange weather that has been plaguing New York and New Jersey. 

Turns out both items are connected. Yup, the Decepticons have set up shop in New Jersey and the weird weather is a result of their latest machine to gather energy; thus the Micromasters scramble and we get good character moments and everyone has a decent build up.

I mean, they do a hard sell on the Micromasters but they still establish them as characters.  

TFtember: Grimlock

Grimlock 

The Leader of the Dinobots, AKA the bad ass dude on the show. The toy was a real beaut, starting in life as a Diaclone Dinosaur Robo Tyrannosaurus. Gun, sword and a tiny pilot (in Japan anyway) all rolled up to make one mean mother of a toy. The figure was largely unchanged from his Japanese counterpart, save for a few paint details. The file card paints a study in contrasts; cares for the Autobot cause but hates weakness (especially humans), Dinobot commander but resents authority, aside from lack of speed has no weakness. 

Grimlock proved popular enough to be part of the Pretenders line (yet they did very little with his disguise being a human) and part of the Action Masters too. The latter being pretty basic but they did get the basic visual of the character down. 

The comic was pretty similar to the file card but goes in a darker direction. Seriously, gets named Autobot leader and half a panel later he's sporting a crown and issuing death to his enemies and boy, does he have enemies. Mostly people who disrespect him; pity that Grimlock has a very board definition of the concept of disrespect. He manages to stick around, usually being the hothead on the Autobots side. 

Grimlock was eventually humbled and even made it to the last issue

The cartoon was probably the most known version of the character. Voiced by Gregg Berger, here Grimlock was a monosyllabic destroyer, usually starting every line with "Me Grimlock". He was the wild card and the episodes that featured the Dinobots made it clear Grimlock was the smartest of the Dinobots, even if that doesn't mean a whole lot. A real nutty character but it is easy to see why he's in most versions of the show. It's also odd in the consistency. Comic, cartoon, and toyline takes on the character are nearly identical. Brash, a little dim, but willing to put everything aside to kick some metal ass. 

TFtember: The Search for Alpha Trion

 "The Search for Alpha Trion", the Transformers, Nov. 12, 1985

AKA the one with the ladies

Yeah, this episode sees the debut of the female Transformers. It seems a small group of them got left on Cybertron and they've been running a resistance ever since the Autobots left. They've just hit Shockwave's energon stash but in the process of the raid they get discovered. 

Shockwave manages to track down their hideout. Their leader Elita-One gets captured but the rest flee. Megatron calls up Optimus to boast about this, prompting the Autobot leader to rush to her rescue. Unseen by him, Powerglide, Ironhide, and Inferno follow.

Optimus is quickly dropped into a vat of acid but Elita-One uses her special power of time to rescue him, at the cost of her life. Prime gets her out of there and goes in search of Alpha Trion. 

Who's he? Alpha is the Autobot who made Elita-One (and also Optimus but he doesn't know that until the end of the episode) and thus might be able to reset her settings. 

The heroes arrive and the female Autobots are soon given a new hideout. 

Not bad, although it raises more questions than it answers. Ignoring the whole biology thing, if Elita-One and Optimus have the same creator, wouldn't that make them siblings? Like I said, weird.