Donny Finkleberg

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This article is about . For other uses of "Robot Master", see Robot Master (disambiguation)|The name or term "Robot Master" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Robot Master (disambiguation).}}
Donny Finkleberg, aka Robot-Master, is a human from the Marvel portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
Any resemblance to Woody Allen is incidental. We swear.

Donny Finkleberg is an on-the-outs comic book writer. Although he claims he can "sell any story," most of his titles have flopped, and he sees a grim financial future for himself. To stave this off, Finkleberg will do pretty much anything for a buck. His strong sense of financial self-preservation wars with what small sense of morality he has. Finkleberg sees himself as a good guy and wants to be a good guy, but $50,000 checks from the government don't bounce. Nor does he bounce, at least not well, according to Jetfire.

Fiction

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Marvel Comics continuity

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Marvel The Transformers comics

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Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.
To his credit, not responsible whatsoever for Heroes Reborn.

Finkleberg was originally a writer for a "famous comic book publishing company" in New York. His Robot-Master comic book series had been canceled, and his idea for a Potato-Salad Man graphic novel titled This Man, This Mayonnaise did not fetch interest from his superiors, so Finkleberg was turned away.

It was at this low point point in his career that he was approached by the United States government. III needed a cover story to explain the presence of the Transformers on Earth to panicked American citizens. The idea that a human terrorist controlled the Transformers was decided to be less frightening than the truth, so Finkleberg was paid 50 thousand dollars to dress as Robot-Master and appear in public broadcasts.

Rejected from Stan Lee's Who Wants to Be a Superhero?

When Megatron had ceased movement at the bottom of a strip mine due to lack of fuel, III used this opportunity to claim ownership of the immobile Decepticon leader. Unfortunately, both the Autobots and Decepticons arrived, though the Autobots were forced away by human firepower. After Megatron was refueled by Soundwave, he declared his intention to crush Finkleberg for his effrontery. Finkleberg pleaded with Megatron, suggesting that he continue masquerading as their commander, for the purpose of convincing the public that the Autobots were also their enemies. Megatron agreed, since he saw the value in the plan, which was just about enough to overcome his distaste for humans, even though Finkleberg had repeatedly struck matches on Megatron to light his cigarettes. I, Robot-Master!

The Decepticons set up camp at the bottom of the strip mine, where Finkleberg and a camera crew remained as their prisoner under careful watch of Ravage. Finkleberg overheard a conversation between Soundwave and Megatron, discussing the unlikelihood of a mere fleshling possessing knowledge of the next generation of Transformers. When he interrupted them to note that humans weren't as worthless as either of the Decepticons thought, Megatron reminded him that every time the former comic book writer spoke, he re-evaluated whether he should let Finkleberg live.

Soon Shockwave caught wind of Megatron's return, and the two battled at the bottom of the mine. Finkleberg, in his Robot-Master persona, emceed the fight for Decepticon supremacy in front of the camera crew. As Finkleberg rooted for Shockwave, Soundwave wondered whether he should intervene for their own good. Finkleberg laughed, figuring Soundwave had a death wish, and promptly got himself spit on. Second Generation!

Soundwave has only spit once, and it was totally worth it.

Refusing still to cower before his captors, Finkleberg mouthed off to Megatron when he was brought nothing but candy bars for nourishment. Megatron threatened his human "ally" once more, but his spiel was interrupted by the arrival of Shockwave. During the conversation that followed, Finkleberg made up his mind that it was in his best interest to escape and help the Autobots. The Bridge to Nowhere! He determined that the best time to make his escape was during a sudden Autobot attack on the Decepticon strip mine base, though after the confusion subsided, Ravage noticed he was missing and pursued his scent. Command Performances! As Finkleberg fled across Wyoming, he decided that running around in his Robot-Master costume was not only ridiculous but terribly conspicuous, and so he buried his costume and took clothes from a vacant campsite. (In an odd show of conscience, he left some money in exchange.) Continuing on his way, he bemoaned his inability to locate either Autobots or tuna salad sandwiches, finding only an overturned, abandoned car.

After Donny made it to a small town, he overheard a couple talking about a "living car" in a local diner. Acting on this clue, he found the same car he had passed by earlier talking to a human. Realizing that it had actually been an Autobot all along, he confronted Skids and his companion, Charlene. Charlene played dumb, but Finkleberg wouldn't have any of it, demanding that Skids reveal himself as a Transformer and take him to the Autobots so that he could deliver important information. Before Skids could be outed, suddenly Ravage attacked, having found Finkleberg. As it fired on them, Finkleberg and Charlene jumped into Skids, who drove away. Charlene suggested they hide in an abandoned gold mining town so that they could remove their skirmish from civilization. Once they arrived, Skids asked them to jump out and hide so that he could fight Ravage, to which Finkleberg did not complain. Adding to their problems, some guy named Jake Dalrymple with a vendetta against Skids leapt out from behind a fence and smashed in Skids' window, knocking the Autobot unconscious...right as Ravage arrived. Thankfully for all concerned, Skids came to just in time to trick Ravage into falling into a deep mine shaft. Though Skids had hoped to stay away from the Autobot/Decepticon war indefinitely, he decided in the end that he couldn't shirk his duties, and he returned to the Autobots with Finkleberg on board. Showdown!

Meanwhile, other parties continued to question the "Robot-Master" charade, chief among them the news reporter Joy Meadows. Having met the Dinobot Sludge, she knew that Robot Master's claims were a bunch of hooey, and announced that should would prove as much on television. The Decepticon forces went after her, both to prevent their cover story from being ruined, and in the hopes that Finkleberg was somehow in contact with her. Though Megatron failed to locate Finkleberg, he did intimidate the news reporter into remaining silent. In the National Interest

Look, we know Skids was shortpacked, but $50,000 for one is a little ridiculous.

While Finkleberg was a captive of the Decepticons, he had learned that seven Autobots had arrived on Earth over the space bridge, and informed Optimus as much. Jetfire accompanied Finkleberg to the arrival zone of these seven Autobots, but they were nowhere to be found. The only clue to their whereabouts was a fuel trail left behind. Aerialbots over America! Holding for ransom Finkleberg's cashier's check from III, Optimus Prime ordered Finkleberg and Skids to follow the trail and find the missing Autobots.

Grumbling all the way, Finkleberg hit the road with Skids, their journey briefly interrupted so the Autobot could play the hero and save a women from some downed power lines. This breach of cover drew the attention of the Decepticons, who sent the Stunticons after the duo. Unable to flee due to being stuck in traffic, Skids was forced to call for help when the Stunticons attacked, and the Aerialbots swiftly arrived to join the battle. As the machines clashed, Finkleberg met Circuit Breaker, a robot-hating fanatic working for his old Triple-I boss, Walter Barnett, also on the scene. Finkleberg tried to convince the other two that some of the robots were benevolent, but the Decepticons made his words hard to believe, as they actively smeared the Autobots during the battle.

Bob Budiansky named the organization "RAAT" just so he could put it on Donny's t-shirt, didn't he?

When an opening presented itself, Donny and Skids fled, though at this time the former had given up hope that their original mission had any chance of succeeding. So Finkleberg shut down Skids and sold him to Triple-I. Heavy Traffic!

RAAT (a military subdivision of III), in league with Circuit Breaker, had captured not only the seven missing Autobots, but also the Aerialbots, and now added Skids to their number. Meanwhile, the Battlechargers had also arrived on Earth and were defacing public property across the United States. With the Autobots' ranks depleted, Finkleberg realized it was his fault there was no one available to stop the Decepticons' graffiti. He convinced Circuit Breaker to control a robot built from the bodies of the captured Autobots to defeat the Battlechargers in exchange for the Autobots' freedom. Although they defeated the two Decepticons, they were not able to stop them in time from writing "HUMANS ARE WIMPS" on the Statue of Liberty.

In a last-minute change of conscience, Finkleberg donated the 50 thousand dollars he'd earned for his treachery towards the clean-up efforts. Decepticon Graffiti!

According to Blaster, Donny eventually got a job packaging at Hasbro after the Statue of Liberty incident.<ref>Darn 'n' Blast, issue 308</ref>

Classics

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Classics continues from the Marvel US series, and does not include the UK stories or any subsequently published stories.
The alternate reality where Spider-Man joined Alpha Flight instead of the Avengers.

When an alternate Ultra Magnus threatened to destroy Earth with the power of his Terminus Blade, Robot-Master was saved from a collapsing building in Canada by Sideswipe. Invasion

Kre-O comic

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This Man, This Army Of Nightbirds

According to Obsidian, Robot Master was in the top five of Earth's Most Wanted criminals. He and the other most wanted, Autobot Spike, Dr. Arkeville, Headmaster, and a whole army of Nightbirds descended upon Autobot City in an attempt to copy and steal Metroplex's mind on a floppy disk. Their plot was foiled when G.B. Blackrock's gas pump transformed into the Circuit Smasher and turned the tide of battle. Robot Master ordered the Nightbirds to retreat and they all fled. The Brick List: Earth's Most Wanted

Animated cartoon continuity

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A comic strip called "Boxtron" is written by a D. Finkleberg. The AllSpark Almanac II

2005 IDW continuity

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Donald Finkleberg was the leader of the clandestine spy organization Triple-I. Along with Peter Anthony Morris, he was apprehended by the undercover MI6 agent Terrence Salmons. Terrence Salmons's profile

Toys

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Kre-O

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So, when does IDW release the version with pink lips?
The Robot Master Kreon came with four other Kreons: Nightbird, Autobot Spike, Dr. Arkeville, and Sentinel Prime with Headmaster. In addition to his fabric cape, Robot Master comes with a flat Kre-O stand and an alternate head for his unmasked civilian identity. A mini-comic, "The Brick List: Earth's Most Wanted," was included.

Notes

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The likeness is frightening.
  • Donny Finkleberg is based on Marvel Comics writer and editor [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Danny Fingeroth|{{#if:||Danny Fingeroth}}]]. What a dubious honor.
  • Due to Finkleberg's smoking habit, the company he keeps, and the young readership demographic, a surprising number of Decepticons have let him know that smoking is dumb and bad for him. Aw, they care!
  • Donny Finkleberg's life is a series of wardrobe malfunctions, from the questionable things he actually chooses to wear, to his so-does-not-fit-him supervillain costume, to the "RAAT" t-shirt he's given and wears with the tag flipped out.
He answers the door for the Avon lady. Every time.

Foreign names

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  • Japanese: Donny Finkleberg (ドニー・フィンクルバーグ Donī Finkurubāgu), Robot-Master (ロボットマスターRobotto Masutā)

References

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<references />
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