Tftember: Transformers#65

  "Dark Creation" the Transformers#65 (April 1990) with credits to Simon Furman (script), Geoff Senior (art), Nelson Yomtov (colors), Jim Massara (letters), and Don Daley (editor)

We've had noir, westerns, and Moby Dick. Why not an Alien knockoff too?

We learn the history of the Matrix and not all of it is good, as while it has known the feelings known as 'goodness' it is rather curious about the ones known as 'evil'. 

The Autobots and Decepticons end up in the ruins of a planet when the Matrixspawn (as it's been dubbed) lurks and boy is it hungry!

Shockwave is also alive, but we'll get to him later. 

As the unholy beast attacks every side, who will finally come back with the power?

Bit of a twist at the end but honestly just a rather run of the mill Alien knockoff. 

Tftember: Perceptor

Perceptor 

An odd one this time. Instead of a car or plane, we have a microscope (also a kind of tank/mobile lab if change him the other way). It was a real working microscope too, although nothing serious. The file card had him as your classic absent minded professor but devoted to finding ways for the Autobots to adapt to Earth. 

The comic was very different. He was leader of an Autobot faction, although Blaster tended to take most of the attention. When he finally lands on Earth, he ends up getting his head cut off and mounted on a wall. He did get killed off before the end but Optimus Prime made sure to mourn him. 

Voiced by Paul Eiding, he was closer to the file card in the cartoon, being the Autobot's top science guy. Unlike Wheeljack, his projects didn't go wild and try to team up with the Decepticons. His mind did end up in a robot geisha for a bit and that was the last time we'd see him. 

A decent character, filled a niche. Made Wheeljack irrelevant but some could argue that was a feature and not a bug.  

TFtember: Masquerade

"Masquerade" the Transformers, December 16, 1985

Interesting idea. The Stunticons are tasked by Megatron to steal various items. The Autobots manage to stop all the robberies, but how can they figure out Megatron's plan?

Simple-they will disguise themselves as the Stunticons and take their place! The plan works pretty well for a bit, but when the real McCoys break free, what will the Decepticons do with two Menasors?

Like I said, interesting. Actual robots in disguise as other robots. Rather surprised this never came up again. I'm also surprised they never did any toy repaints. Reissue Dead End and call him Jazz or vice versa.

TFtember: Transformers#64

    "Deadly Obsession" the Transformers#64 (March 1990) with credits to Simon Furman (script), Jose Delbo (pencils), Al Williamson & Dan Reed (inks), Nelson Yomtov (colors), Jim Massara (letters), and Don Daley (editor)

Well, we had noir and a western. Why not Moby Dick?

Mostly told in flashback, a group of Pretenders end up on the planet Pequod, as the spotting of the massive creature known as the Klud would suggest the hand of the Matrx. Pity that rogue Autobot Longtooth is obsessed with killing it as it took his leg.

So the Autobots and the Decepticons find themselves at a rather odd standoff. Decepticon Thunderwing wants to spare the creature, mostly due the thing might lead them to the Matrix, whereas the Autobots focus on trying to stop Longtooth. 

Not bad and heck, who saw a Herman Melville reference in Transformers?

TFtember: Omega Supreme

Omega Supreme

Certainly the biggest toy we've looked at so far. 

As far as toys go, only two in Generation One. The first is the best known and certainly the best. Omega Supreme was unique in that he didn't go from a car or a plane, no, Omega was a BASE, complete with motorized tank, rocket and track for the tank. He could also walk on his own. Not a lot of movable parts but the actions from robot to base aren't crazy complicated. Not crazy possible but given the time period I suppose that couldn't be helped. 

The second toy was part of the Action Masters, but it was never released in America. Also called 'Omega Spreem' for some reason but the transforming action seemed design to make the thing fragile as hell so good luck find one in even halfway decent condition. 

The file card has him as the last line of defense. Grim, serious, and almost unstoppable. 

The comic had him being built on Earth. For the most part he matched his file card, even he got knocked down by Buzzsaw. He was later killed by Starscream and his corpse later taken over by the Decepticon Sports Car Patrol. He was later shut down as the series ended. 

The cartoon, where he was voiced by Jack Angel, didn't leave him with much to do. In the show, he was shown as the leader of the Guardian robots and fond of Crystal City until it was destroyed by the newly brainwashed Constructicons. He chased them across the galaxies for centuries until he found them on Earth although that it rarely brought up.

He also exploded a lot. He survived the movie and made smaller cameos until "Grimlock's New Brain"

TFtember: The Revenge of Bruticus

"The Revenge of Bruticus" the Transformers, January 8, 1986

Following up from the previous episode, Starscream is not happy at his being banished and remembers he can fly, so he does. Tragically he forgot that two members of the Combaticons can also fly. Blast Off flies off, the asteroid in tow to Cybertron. 

While the Autobots and the Decepticons duke it out again, and Spike gets an astronomy lesson from Perceptor (which I'm sure won't have any bearing on the plot), the Combaticons take out Shockwave and come up with a nifty idea to get ride of their foes. Why not use the Space Bridge to transport the Earth into the Sun?

Starscream runs into Shockwave and the two team up to save their world, but Starscream got to Starscream and he blasts Shockwave and issue an ultimatium to Megatron-surrender leadership of the Decepticons to him or burn!

Can the Autobots and Decepticons put aside their differences long enough to save themselves?

Decent, although I'm curious why this couldn't have been a two parter but eh. Good introduction to a new toy set. 

TFtember: Transformers#63

   "Kings of the Wild Frontier" the Transformers#63 (February 1990) with credits to Simon Furman (script), Jose Delbo (pencils), Dave Hunt (inks), Nelson Yomtov (colors), Jim Massara (letters), and Don Daley (editor)

The Western issue

The hunt for the Creation Matrix is still going on; this time out we focus on the Triggerbots as they search the desert planet Cheyne. The Autobots aren't there for a few panels when they spot some riders trying to run down a child. Dogfight, living up to his name, charges in the fray and chases the riders off. 

The boy, Hud, is grateful and takes the 'bots back to his parent's farm. It seems they were run off by greedy land speculators as the 'bots seem to be more concerned about helping about on the farm. Pretty soon they've even forgot their names.

Decepticon Thunderwing arrives and even tries fighting Dogfight but seems the bot in his amnesic state a far crueler fate than anything he could devise. Dogfight manages to free himself of this mental fog, but can he resuce his friends in time?

Good subversion of Western cliches and settings. I'm not sure if I've ever seen 'poor ranchers are actually vampires' bit done before. 

TFtember: Natron

Natron

Odd one here. We look at the Autobot racer. Yeah, this and Freezon came with the Transformers Electric Racing Set. Pretty much the same toy; it pops into a robot when racing. Simple transforming action but the idea is neat. They race around the track and that's about it. 

No file card, comic, or cartoon appearances so yup, pretty flat guy. 

TFtember: Starscream's Brigade

"Starscream's Brigade" the Transformers, January 7, 1986

The origin of Bruticus

Starscream finally makes his play to lead the Decepticons, i.e. he shoots Megatron in the back and declares himself leader. Megatron no sells this and finally wises up, banishing Starscream from the Decepticon ranks.

This annoys the Air Commander to no end and he ends up being dumped on the island of Guadalcanal. This is relevant as back in 1943 there was a battle, with several vehicles being dumped there in the battle's aftermath. Seeing the potential, Starscream steals some personality components and pops them in the vehicles. Pity those components were some of the worse Decepticons around, but Starscream has a plan. Seems he left out the energy absorbers, so unless the new recruits want to starve to death they had better look sharp and obey his orders. The Combaticons, as they are dubbed, agree (for now at least).

From there, they shill the new figures before everything resets. 

Not awful, even if the animation is wonky in several bits. The Combaticons won't get any real personality here (although Swindle gets some moments later on) aside from angry. Even as a toy shilling episode it's a bit weak. 

TFtember: Transformers#62

  "Bird of Prey!" the Transformers#62 (January 1990) with credits to Simon Furman (script), Geoff Senior (art), Nelson Yomtov (colors), Jim Massara (letters), and Don Daley (editor)

Skipping the whole 'awakened our ancient god' thing to focus on Nightbeat. 

Autobot teams have been assembled and sent across the galaxy. Their mission? Hunt down the Creation Matrix, possibly the only thing capable of stopping Unicron. 

Nightbeat and his team up in a wretched hive of scum and villainy, a fact that overjoys Nightbeat, as his main characteristic is he a cop. What better story for a cop than a film noir?

Hitting the town, they get dragged into a detective story when a dying alien passes a statue to a confused Siren (Nightbeat's partner on this case). Siren and Hosehead want to continue the mission but Nightbeat thinks the statue plays a part. Miss Fatale introduces herself. She couldn't help but eavesdrop. If the Autobots are willing to do a short hike, what they seek might at the top of a nearby mountain. All she wants in exchange is a statue of a bird. It was stolen from her and she is ever so anxious to get it back. 

Nightbeat smells a rat. Can this dame be trusted?

Decent yarn. Maltese Falcon + Transformers? Not the first two things I would combine but a good effort. 

TFtember: Mixmaster

Mixmaster

Moving into the proper toys, we have the left leg of Devestator. Mixmaster began life as a Diaclone Construction Vehicle, going from robot to cement mixer. The transformation is fairly simple but making him the left leg is a neat feature. 

For the file card, his main job is materials fabrication, using everything from unliving rock to living robot to make base components, a living chemistry lab on wheels.

Yeah, yeah, insert Breaking Bad memes here.   

In the Marvel comics, he didn't do a whole lot on his own. As a Constructicon, he was part of the first Decepticons to made on Earth. He mostly stayed with them in the issues they were focused on, but he did make it to the last issue.

The cartoon is a mixed bag. Voiced by Frank Welker, he and his teammates are bogged down with multiple origins that contradict each other. Aside from that, he doesn't really have any individual moments to shine. He appears in quite a few episodes and even is shown mixing things, but he never takes the lead.  

TFtember: Cosmic Rust

 "Cosmic Rust", the Transformers, December 26, 1985

Ending 1985 with an odd one. 

Megatron and few other Decepticons are in deep space when they stumble upon a planet with a giant Autobot symbol. Landing, they discover a warning in ancient Autobot, telling them to leave or never return to Cybertron and also a giant laser cannon. Megatron blows the warning off, thinking they have just found the perfect weapon to destroy the Autobots, and best of all it's from their own side!

An asteroid flies after them after they leave. When Megatron blasts it, a small fragment hits his shoulder...

Back on Earth, Perceptor is being awarded for his latest invention, a solution that destroys rust and preserves whatever is coated with it. He only has enough to preserve the Statue of Liberty at the moment.

Megatron, however, is need of that stuff or Perceptor at the moment as his entire body is slowly being eaten by rust-cosmic rust!

Perceptor is kidnapped and he makes a most unusual discovery. The ancient weapon that Megatron found and is using with some frequency is making his rust worse. Can the Autobots save Perceptor? Can they stop the menace of cosmic rust?

Not bad, even if the science is utterly wonky. That asteroid that infects Megatron? It had to go through Astrotrain first, yet he's never shown being infected. 

TFtember: Transformers#61

 "The Primal Scream" the Transformers#61 (Mid-December 1989) with credits to Simon Furman (script), Geoff Senior (art), Nelson Yomtov (colors), Jim Massara (letters), and Don Daley (editor)

So we met Primus this issue. 

Yeah, when Bludgeon sabotaged the Autobot's ship they ended up crashing into the center of Cybertron, where they encounter an ancient Transformer who states he is the Keeper, i.e. keeping the head of Primus. Who is Primus?

God, more or less. Grimlock is less than impressed so the Keeper spins a yarn. To wit, ages ago Primus and Unicron were locked in a deadly stalemate. They end up trapped, locked into the forms of two metal planets. Unicron manages to shape his prison to his will and moves about the cosmos in search of his old enemy. Primus, by comparison sleeps and avoids detection. He also managed to create a smaller race of robots in his image mostly to find Unicron. 

Before we can get into any more theology, the Decepticon Mayhem Squad attacks and kills the Keeper. 

Scorpionok, on the other hand, is not having a good day either. His decision to bring Starscream back into the fold is NOT popular and the troops are growing restless. Scorpionok argues that by having the Air Commander in their ranks he can keep a better eye on him which fails to produce anything other than sullen rage. 

The fight between the Autobots and the Mayhem Squad ends with the Autobots winning, albeit with Primus getting shot and screaming. Bumblebee tries to assure Grimlock that no one could possibly have heard the ancient god screaming...

Well, this is a bit different. I wasn't sure we needed an in-depth look at the theology of a toyline of robots that turn into things but we got it. Interesting mythology, I'll give them. 

TFtember: Mini-cars

Mini-cars 

Bringing this back to close out 2024 and we open with certainly an odd choice. 

The toys were randomly inserted with the new line of mini vehicles and the rerelease of the previous mini vehicles from series one. At random you could have a pick of one of four cars; a jeep, a dune buggy, a sport car (based on a Toyota concept car), and a Porsche with colors of blue, white, or yellow. 

The trick is the rubsign. Is it an Autobot? A Decepticon? You'll have to buy the figure to know! Not bad, kind of simple but the idea is cute. 

No file cards and as far as the comic and cartoon go, they did show up in the Dreamwave series for a bit and they pop up in a commercial.

Minispies, basically. Tiny robots that are designed to sneak into or around places without the other side seeing them. Which doesn't really make them all that distinict from the regular Transformers but I disgress.