Decepticon Dam-Busters!

« The Transformers (UK) #29–30 »
You know, this would look quite good on television.
"Decepticon Dam-Busters!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	Part 1: 28th September Part 2: 5th October, 1985
Cover date	Part 1: 5th October Part 2: 12th October, 1985
Writer	Simon Furman
Art	John Stokes
Colours	Steve Whitaker
Lettering	Richard Starkings
Editor	Ian Rimmer
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

Ratchet tells the Dinobots about a Transformer battle involving a dam.

Synopsis

Part 1

Following their defeat of Megatron, Ratchet and the Dinobots are making their way back to the Ark. Grimlock decides to ask a passing human for directions and is surprised when the man runs away in fear. Ratchet explains that humans can't distinguish between the Autobots and the Decepticons. Grimlock is baffled and so Ratchet relates the story of a Decepticon attack on Sherman Dam...

When Soundwave deduces that they can convert electrical power into a crude form of useable fuel, the Decepticons seize control of Sherman Dam. To push the power output to maximum, Megatron has Rumble head under the water to create a tidal wave using his earthquake-generating powers. The Autobots arrive, and while their troops meet in battle, Optimus Prime engages Megatron in a duel atop the dam using energy weapons. Hound, meanwhile, attempts to stop Rumble by diving down and fighting him, but Rumble gains the upper hand and Hound is thrown clear of the water. This distracts Prime who is thrown from the dam by Megatron as a result.

Part 2: "Wave of Destruction!"

The Autobots rescue Optimus Prime from the water, but Megatron blasts the dam open to cover the Decepticons' escape. With a tidal wave of water now rushing downhill, the Autobots split into two groups; one heads to a nearby village in the path of the wave to begin evacuation procedures, while the other attempts to stop the water, first by trying to block it with a rock fall, and when that fails, by blasting channels into the ground for it to drain away into. Though the torrent is lessened, it is not stopped; fortunately, once they villagers have been taken care of, Bumblebee and Ironhide are able to cut more channels into the surrounding area, saving the day. Their celebrations are cut short, however, by the angry villagers who are unable to distinguish the Autobots from the Decepticons, and who blame them for the destruction in the first place. The Autobots sadly depart the scene.

As Ratchet finishes his tale, another angry human, Josie Beller, lying in her hospital bed, grows closer to completing the cybernetic upgrades that will allow her her revenge, while her employer, G.B. Blackrock, makes plans for vengeance of his own. Ratchet and the Dinobots arrive back at the Ark... where Swoop is suddenly attacked by the battle droid Guardian!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Sludge (1) Grimlock (3) Slag (5) Snarl (6) Ratchet (7) Swoop (8) Bumblebee (13) Sideswipe (14) Optimus Prime (15) Jazz (16) Prowl (17) Hound (18) Mirage (19) Ironhide (20) Inferno (21, see notes) Wheeljack (22) Trailbreaker (23) Brawn (25) Guardian (28)	Megatron (2) Rumble (9) Starscream (10) Soundwave (11) Thundercracker (12)	Charlie (4) Josie Beller (26) G.B. Blackrock (27)

Quotes

"I don’t think much of this specimen of carbon-based life."

—Grimlock on the human race

"That means taking out Megatron!"
"Doesn’t it always?"

—Prowl and Optimus Prime

Notes

Production notes

"Mine's bigger."

• "Decepticon Dam-Busters!" represents a series of "firsts" for the UK comic. It is the first UK-original strip published in full colour, and the first to abandon the toy-based designs that defined the previous original stories, "Man of Iron," "The Enemy Within!", and "Raiders of the Last Ark," with the Transformers appearing instead in rather unique designs that mash-up aspects of their toys, package art, and character models (notably, Ratchet appears with his final character model design, while Ironhide is still based on his headless windscreen-faced toy!). Additionally, it is the first UK-original story to actively integrate itself into the ongoing narrative of the US stories between which it was published; where the past UK strips had played very loose with continuity, requiring editorial retcons to properly explain where they fitted into the timeline, the "Dam-Busters" framing sequence follows directly on from the end of the previous US issue. Even further, it does something that future UK strips generally would not do: written with knowledge of upcoming US stories, it is able to build upon subplots already in motion, checking in with certain characters and laying seeds for their next appearances in US material.
• The bulk of this story is, of course, an adaptation of portions of the original Generation 1 cartoon episode "More than Meets the Eye, Part 2." The idea to do so came from editor Ian Rimmer, who sought to capitalize on the television adverts that were still running for the full-colour revamp the comic had undergone two weeks prior by producing a story that made the different parts of the Transformers franchise seem "unified," thereby projecting an aura of accessibility. It was a one-time stunt; the cartoon's continuity-lite episodes were at odds with comic's preferred type of storytelling, and the production team had no wish to follow its lead.
• The adaptation itself is a largely faithful one, with lifted dialogue ("Stick it in neutral, Megatron!" "You're old... yesterday's model!") and even featuring literal "screencap redraws" of Ironhide and Bumblebee cutting channels into the ground to stem the flow of water (right). This extends to the inclusion of cartoon-original ideas that were not part of comic continuity, like Rumble's piledriver arms and the Decepticons' use of energon cubes; though energon cubes would be introduced in the comic in later issues, for now, their unfamiliarity to the reading audience sees the strip refer to them as "energon fuel cubes" to make it clear what they are. Alterations and additions include:
  • In Part 1, Spike Witwicky's role in the story is naturally erased, as he did not yet exist in the comic's storyline. This means that Hound is hurled out of the river by Rumble rather than buried under rocks which Spike rescues him from, and it is Hound's dramatic emergence that distracts Optimus, allowing Megatron to knock him from the dam, rather than Spike's distressed cries.
  • Part 2 moves the Autobots' protection of the town to after the Decepticons have departed, rather than setting it concurrently with their battle at the dam. Megatron blasts the dam open to cover the Decepticons' escape, rather than it cracking as a result of the tidal wave, and extra scenes of the Autobots attempting to block the water as it heads for the town are added. Finally, the humans' misunderstanding and blaming of the Autobots is a new idea that's not part of the cartoon episode.

Continuity notes

I love the Power Glove! It's so bad.

• As noted above, in a UK-story first, the framing sequence of this story follows on directly from the end of the previous issue, in which Ratchet and the Dinobots defeated Megatron and then started off back toward the Ark. Footage from that battle (caught by vacationer Brad Newbury) is broadcast on a bar television on the first page of this strip.
• Ratchet's flashback, on the other hand, is more in-line with the other UK-original stories up to now, being set in some vague time period during the events of the original four-issue US mini-series. The "Robot War" text features run in issues #36 and #63 will place it as occurring during the time-lapse montage on pages 9–11 of US issue #3, shortly after "Man of Iron."
• US sub-plots in motion which the story checks in on include the schemes of the paralyzed Josie Beller, including a redrawn version of US issue #8, page 14, panel 8 (right), and G.B. Blackrock's own future plans to take down the Transformers, as he is shown looking at huge weapon. This must be his Anti-Robot Photonic Multi-Cannon, which he will unleash in US issue #9, though it looks completely different.
• The Guardian battle-droid previously appeared in issues #20-21.

Real-life references

• The title of this story is a reference to the 1955 film, The Dam Busters.
• A customer at the bar thinks the footage of the battle at the dam is from the set of the next Steven Spielberg film.

Continuity and plotting errors

• The dam is given the name "Sherman Dam" in part 1, taken straight from the cartoon episode, but in part 2, it is referred to as "Boulder Dam." The Collected Comics #5 reprint corrects this so that both parts use "Sherman Dam," and this version of the comic has been used for all other reprints.
• Inferno appears among the Autobots fighting the flood in part 2, page 3, panel 6, when, as a character from the 1985 toy range, he should not be active on Earth yet. Internal to UK continuity, this was not strictly an error at the time of publication; the famous "Autobot roll call" double-page spread had been omitted from the reprint of US issue #1, so UK readers did not have a definitive list of which Autobots were "meant" to be on Earth at the time, and Inferno's appearance did not contradict anything up to that point. The same had previously happened with Red Alert in "The Enemy Within!", and just like Red, when the 1985 Autobot Cars range was properly introduced into comic continuity in US issue #14, Inferno was, for whatever reason, not among them. It looked like this early appearance of his could fit into the same plot-gap as Red Alert's did... until issue #188 over three years later, when Inferno arrived on Earth with the Wreckers. Oh well!
• As a side note, Inferno also appears in the story "Missing in Action" in the Transformers Annual 1985, but that story was written without regard for the larger UK continuity and doesn't fit into it properly.

Artwork and technical errors

• Reoccurring from "The Enemy Within!" and "Raiders of the Last Ark" are a pair of "errors" that might as well be considered stylistic choices at this point, as Optimus appears with an all-blue mouthplate, and Megatron is coloured with a golden torso, an overly literal artistic interpretation of how his toy's package art renders the figure's chromed chest. Where those stories coloured Megatron's arms the same gold, however, this one only colours his upper arms, leaving his forearms silver-white.
• Prowl is colored virtually all solid silver-white, with none of the black (or, well, blue depending on the comic) trim he should have. His shoulder launchers come and go throughout the story.
• In Part 1, page 6, panel 6, Jazz has toy-accurate shoulder doors and a shoulder cannon, but in part 2, page 3, panel 2, he's drawn lifted directly from his character model, without doors or launcher.
• Part 1, page 4, panel 3: Snarl's dino-mode head is grey instead of golden-yellow.
• Part 1, page 7, panel 3: It's a little hard to tell given the indistinct mashup designs used for this story, but besides Prowl, none of the Autobots on this page appear to be identifiable characters.
• Just as it did in the cartoon, Megatron's fusion cannon disappears between pages 7 and 8 of part 1, so he can have his close-quarters duel with Prime atop the dam. It never reappears.

Hey, it's Marvel-continuity Wasp!

Inferno is on the far left, with the Jazz/Prowl chimeras to his right.

• In Part 2, an Autobot team consisting of Prowl, Jazz, Mirage, Ironhide, Bumblebee, and Sideswipe leave the other Autobots at the dam to go and evacuate the town. Unfortunately, several artistic errors go on to depict members of this team among the Autobots who remain behind to fight the flood:
  • On page 4, panel 6, both Mirage and Prowl are part of the group that blasts a trench to stop the water; Mirage's shoulder cannon is off-model.
  • On page 5, panel 4, Bumblebee is present, with an off-model sort of toy-based head.
  • On page 5, panel 5, Bumblebee is still present, this time with a character model-esque head. This was the one error that evidently jumped out to the Marvel UK crew; when the issue was reprinted for Collected Comics #5, 'Bee was recolored to be green and pink, apparently to obscure his identity (pictured at right) This version was used for all future reprints.
  • Also on page 5, panel 5, Mirage is part of the group being washed away by the flood, but miscolored like Rumble.
• For Inferno's one-panel appearance (pictured) his gun-barrel appears in place of his left hand, when his character model depicts it in place of his right hand. It can attach to either arm on his toy, though, and given the artist inspirations for the Transformers' appearances in this story, he could have just been drawn based on a sample figure with the barrel on the left.
• In the same panel in which Inferno shows up, two Autobots appear resembling a severely off-model meshing of Jazz and Prowl. Setting aside the fact that neither should be in the scene as noted above: second from the left is a bot with Prowl's legs, back, and shoulder-doors but Jazz's arms, holding Prowl's gun (and with no launchers); and to his right is a 'bot with Prowl's arms, legs, and body (all drawn slightly differently to the other 'bot), with Jazz's toy's squared-off shoulder-doors, and a made-up gun.
• Also, Hound's aiming his shoulder-cannon as if it was mounted on his forearm, but at this point, he's the least distracting thing in the panel.

Other trivia

• Where previous UK stories had used jagged "starburst" speech balloons to represent the Transformers' "robotic" speech, with this strip, the series adopts the style it will maintain for the remainder of its run: regular rounded balloons with "electric" zig-zag tails. This was presumably inspired by the fact that this style of bubble was being utilized in the US series at the time, beginning with US issue #5, but after US issue #9, the US title would revert to the "square box with jagged corners" style of the original mini-series, which it would use until the end of the series.
• John Stokes swipes include:
  • Prowl's attack on Decepticons at Sherman Dam is redrawn from US issue #1.
  • Bumblebee's "the horror, the horror!" expression (had while flailing in the water) is redrawn from the cover of US issue #2.

Back-up material

Issue #29:

• Back-up strips: Robo-Capers , Matt and the Cat , and Machine Man ("He Lives Again!" part 3 )
• October calendar: artwork of Shockwave by Richard Fisher that would be recycled for the cover of issue #305 more than five years later.

Issue #30:

• Back-up strips: Robo-Capers  and Machine Man ("He Lives Again!" part 4); Matt and the Cat "takes a rest this issue".

Covers (2)

• Issue #29: Optimus Prime and Megatron fight on Sherman Dam, art by John Ridgway.
• Issue #30: Ratchet and Prowl rescue Optimus Prime while Megatron destroys Sherman Dam, by Mike Collins.

• 
  Issue #29
• 
  Issue #30

Reprints

• 
  Collected Comics #5; cover by Geoff Senior (Marvel UK, 1987)
• 
  Winter Special 1993 (Marvel UK, 1993)
• 
  The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1 (IDW Publishing, 2011)
• 
  Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection, Vol. 2: New Order (Hachette Partworks Ltd, 2018)