I hate not knowing who to root for.
The Transformers #45
Marvel Comics (October, 1988)
“Monstercon From Mars!” WRITER: Bob Budiansky BREAKDOWNS: José Delbo FINISHED ART: Dave Hunt COLORIST: Nel Yomtov LETTERER: Bill Oakley EDITOR: Don Daley
A movie studio looking to get beyond B-Movie status thinks getting a Transformer would be a good idea…until they see Sky Lynx being chased off by anti-robot types when he returns the Spacehikers to their parents. (It’s a Marvel universe, even if it isn’t 616.) So they try another angle when they see reports of a monster…except unknown to them it’s also a Transformer, the Decepticon Pretender Skullgrin, who agrees to act in their movie in exchange for fuel (unknowingly to serve the Decepticons). Skullgrin learns to like acting and makes a friend in actress Carissa Carr…until Circuit Breaker joins in.
What they got right: I find it interesting to see a Decepticon out of his element and find he’s better off there. Events in this issue will be reference in a future Skullgrin appearance and a Decepticon who might get along with humans (and isn’t a Head/Target/Powermaster) is a concept I wish Budiansky had stayed on long enough to really explore. Would Skullgrin have joined the Autobots? That might have been interesting. We also get a finale to the Spacehiker kids (although I want to see them tell their story and tell the protesters where to go).
What they got wrong: With the exception of Carissa, everyone is a stereotype of bad movie makers you usually see in bad movies. I’d wonder where they got a robotic “creature” that doesn’t look like animatronics but this is comics after all. However, we finally have Circuit Breaker, in her last Budiansky appearance, finally attack a Decepticon instead of an Autobot and it’s one on the verge of reforming. I wish this HAD been her last appearance, but that also has something to do with my dislike of the Neo Knights. Oh, we’ll get to them.
Recommendation: Not a must-have comic unless your a Circuit Breaker fan, but not a bad comic to have, either. It’s a nice story that’s worth reading.
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