Transformers Comic-Magazin issue 12

« Transformers Comic-Magazin #12 »
Well at least there isn't a random little kid on this one...
Publisher	Condor Verlag
Cover date	December 1990
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity
Price	3.50 DM

Contents

Transformers in Action: "By their Blasters you shall know them ...!"

The mood inside the Ark is solemn. During a mission, Ruckus has been wounded heavily by stray Autobot fire. Reason enough for Optimus Prime to give his troops a stern talking-to about the importance of being able to tell friend from foe. He explains how the Decepticons are recognizable by their generally hostile and sinister appearance and more powerful weaponry.

When Backstreet and Bumblebee point out that the constant stream of new arrivals makes it hard to tell Autobots from Decepticons, Optimus starts an educational program on the Ark's computer, running down a list of Transformers found on Earth at the time. He announces a combat simulation that will take place after his return as he leaves on a recon flight.

The program lists Autobots and Decepticons by sub-group. (source)

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots
Ruckus (1) Optimus Prime (2) Backstreet (3) Bumblebee (4)

Articles and features

The Persistence of Logic by Somevador Germanguy.

• Profiles for Bruticus, Breakdown, Brawn and Brawl
• A picture of Optimus Prime with a grid for kids to copy it onto.
• In the treasury of the Decepticons: a puzzle which sees Shockwave in a room full of toys and trafficlights. Shockwave looks understandably confused.
• Alarm! Megatron in the Ark!: A puzzle where the reader must match closeups of a crudely drawn image to the overall picture. Megatron is notable by his absence.
• An animal wordsearch which has a picture of Optimus Prime slapped onto it.
• A maze where the reader must find which of Optimus Prime's 3 laser beams is cruelly murdering Megatron (who is coloured like Shockwave).

Reprints

• The Transformers (Marvel UK) #117-118 - "Hunters"

Notes

• The reprinted strip is titled "The Hunter of the Cosmos".
• With this issue, the comic starts to print character profiles.
• This is the first issue that doesn't feature any random humans on the cover. Yay?
• You might think we're going to list it as an error that Optimus Prime is upset because someone shot his friend Ruckus and shouts at the Autobots for not being able to tell who is a Decepticon. Well, we can't because Ruckus was part of the Triggerbots last issue!
  • Similarly, Windsweeper was an Autobot last issue, and the Micromaster Battle Patrol were Decepticons in issue #9. This is consistent within Comic-Magazin (there's a sentence you never expected to read).
• The text story is basically just a list of toys with very little story framework. However, it is somewhat revealing in regard to the mythology with which the writer Robert Mann is working. It is explained that the Decepticons are intentionally using aggressive and mean-looking altmodes, while the Autobots are doing their best to appear peaceful—a theme that is reinforced several times during the cast rundown.
• Optimus Prime appears to be able to achieve flight. This might be a reference to his Action Master vehicle, which is advertised in the same issue. It's a little odd, in any case, seeing as the Autobots explicitly shun flight modes in the Condor sub-continuity.
• Bumblebee's lament about the ongoing flood of new arrivals feels suspiciously like a frustrated author's outlook on a large, ever-changing cast.
• The story becomes increasingly transparent as copied toy specs as it goes on. This is particularly notable in the section about the Ultra Pretenders, as it explicitly speaks of "figures". Even worse, the abbreviation "ASST", as in "assortment", is hilariously misinterpreted as "assistants", giving us the bizarre line-up of "New Pretender Assistants", "Sparkler Minibot Assistants", "Small Targetmaster Assistants" and "Micromaster Transport Assistants". Speaking of, the term "Sparkler Minibots", which was also used in the Marvel UK comics, is used here as a super-category for Sparkabots and Firecons.
• The space bridge to Cybertron is referred to as a "dimensional bridge". The most likely explanation for this is that the writer is unaware just what exactly a "dimension" is, and is just casually using it as one of them fancy space terms. The bridge also seems to be a permanent link, with time travel capabilities, which appears to be a misinterpretation of how Galvatron, Cyclonus and Scourge had traveled back in time, presumably based on the recap at the beginning of "Prey!", the first UK story published by Condor. Since the space bridge is explicitly identified by Optimus Prime in that story as "the source of the threat", referring to events from "Aerialbots over America!" and "Decepticon Graffiti!", anyone with no access to any of the material Condor hadn't published, such as the original story in which the time-travel had occurred, "Target: 2006", might reasonable come to the assumption that the space bridge had something to do with it. (And yet, Galvatron's flashback in Marvel UK issue #101, which was reprinted in Comic-Magazin #9, clearly depicted his time-travel mechanism.) In any regard, the story identifies the Micromasters as the latest arrivals.
• Some Decepticons love to pretend to be Autobots to trick their foes apparently. Like uh, Ruckus maybe, who in this story seems to be everyone's friend!
• Some facts are given out about the special toys in this continuity:
  • The Triggerbots chose fantasy vehicles to turn into.
  • Both the Sparkabots and Firecons turn into robot dinosaurs with fire-generating engines, thought the Firecons shoot flames from their, erm, "exhaust".
  • The Classic Pretender shells are modelled on 'gladiators of the future' and are meant to look trustworthy. The Pretender Assistants, however, all use "massive, fearsome colossi" shells to disguise the tiny robot inside (equated to the Trojan Horse).
• Groundshaker is mentioned as the Autobot Ultra Pretender, whilst Skyhammer is the Decepticon one! While this could be an error, Groundshaker is running about in issue #16 doing a lot of Autobot things, and we saw Skyhammer as an Autobot in issue #9. Did Skyhammer later defect due to the Autobot's disapproval of flying alternate-modes? Does this also mean that Groundshaker is a redeco of Roadblock?
• The term "Delta-Jet" used to describe Needlenose's alternate mode is apparently referring to a delta wing airplane. (Needlenose's toy is based on a cranked-arrow delta wing F-16XL, so the term is not entirely inappropriate, just slightly weird.)

Errors

• Crankcase is listed as a Triggercon. That's an error because he was a Triggerbot in Comic-Magazin continuity just last issue! You Judas, Crankcase!
• In a story about the importance of keeping friends and foes straight, the clarifying rundown of Transformers on Earth is riddled with errors like misspelled names and switched allegiances. Autobots listed as Decepticons include Override, Guzzle, Sizzle, Pincher, Doubleheader, Pretender Grimlock, and Skyhammer. Decepticons identified as Autobots include Ruckus, Windsweeper, Cindersaur, Sparkstalker, Octopunch, Stranglehold, and the Micromaster Race Car Patrol.

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