I, Robot-Master!

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"I'll control the Transformers when I feel like it! GOSH!"
"I, Robot-Master!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Shipping date	December 31, 1985
On-sale date	January 21, 1986
Cover date	April 1986
Writer	Bob Budiansky
Penciler	Don Perlin
Inker	Keith Williams
Colorist	Nel Yomtov
Letterer	Janice Chiang
Editor	Michael Carlin
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

Introducing the dorkiest terrorist the world has ever known.

Synopsis

"Comics about giant robots? Pfft, it'll never catch on."

Megatron hungers! The displaced Decepticon has found his way to a coal mine in Wyoming, which he begins tearing apart in a desperate search for fuel. Megatron attempts to ingest the mine's coal but finds it useless to him, and is about to head off to look elsewhere before his whole body suddenly grinds to a halt as he finally runs out of energy.

Government agent Walter Barnett is summoned to a meeting of the Intelligence and Information Institute at the organization's base in the Cascades. Barnett has already been tasked with finding a cover story to explain the presence of giant robots to the public that will prevent panic, but Megatron's appearance in Wyoming forces Barnett's boss Forrest Forsythe to push up his deadline. Also in attendance is G.B. Blackrock, who tries to convince I.I.I. that the Autobots can be Earth's allies, but Forsythe doesn't want to hear it; he excuses Blackrock, then sends the agency's staff sent home to come up with a viable cover story within two days, on pain of unemployment.

Barnett returns home, where he finds unexpected inspiration in his son Stevie's comic book, Robot-Master. Hopping a plane to New York City, Barnett makes his way to the offices of Marvel Comics in search of Robot-Master writer, Donny Finkleberg, intending to pay him to write a cover story about a costumed human supervillain they can blame the robot attacks on. Having just lost his job with the company, Finkleberg is only too happy to accept Barnett's offer of lunch... and even more readily accepts an offer to actually play the role himself! The next day, broadcast television across the continent is interrupted, and America meets "Robot-Master," who claims that all the Transformers are under his control. Reactions are varied; the Autobots are baffled, and turn to Blackrock for answers, learning about the government's intentions from him.

"Megatron, you fat lard!"

I.I.I.'s plan takes a hit when a photograph of the inert Megatron leaks to the news media, so they plan to make a second broadcast from the Wyoming coal mine itself, shoring up their story by showing "Robot-Master" and Megatron together. Unfortunately for them, the news story about Megatron has also been witnessed by the Autobots, and by Soundwave, who has been hiding out in an electronics store in tape deck mode. The Autobots are first to arrive on the scene as I.I.I. are getting ready to broadcast, but are met with resistance from the human military, which does not recognize the Autobots as anything other than a threat despite Blackrock's attempts to make them understand otherwise. While the military are busy with them, however, Soundwave and his cassettes fly in with a fresh supply of fuel for Megatron, who becomes mobile again. The Decepticons go on a rampage against the human military; the damaged Autobots are in no condition to help the humans, and are forced to retreat.

In the aftermath of the destruction, Laserbeak spots Finkleberg and snatches him up, depositing him in front of Megatron for the Decepticon leader to dispose of for his effrontery. Finkleberg is able to convince the Decepticons that he can be of help to them: by continuing his Robot-Master charade, he can convince humans that the Autobots are as much a threat to them as the Decepticons, thereby thwarting future Autobot efforts just as they were today. Soundwave agrees that the course of action is logical, and though it leaves Megatron with an extremely bad taste in his mouth, he consents to another broadcast, displaying his might in the "service" of Robot-Master for all to see. Finkleberg is spared... but Megatron warns the presumptuous human that it is only for now!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans
Hoist (7) Bumblebee (13) Tracks (14) Skids (15) Optimus Prime (16) Wheeljack (17)	Megatron (1) Shockwave (4) Soundwave (5) Decepticon jet (8) Ravage (18) Laserbeak (19) Buzzsaw (20)	Walter Barnett (2) Forrest Forsythe (3) Brick Springstern (6) G.B. Blackrock (9) Stevie Barnett (10) Charlene Barnett (11) Donny Finkleberg (12)

Quotes

"I bet the Communists are behind this!"
"I bet the P.L.O. is behind this!"
"I bet the GOVERNMENT is behind this!!"

—Two average Joes and G.B. Blackrock register their reactions to "Robot-Master"

"Are his circuits disconnected? Who is this mad human?"

—Bumblebee reacts to "Robot-Master"'s first broadcast

"...Mull this over—how long do you think the Decepticons are going to tolerate this clown claiming to be their leader? I mean, cigarette smoking isn't going to be the only hazard to this guy's health! I hope he's made out his will!"

—G.B. Blackrock tells Triple-I how it is.

"Do not judge humans too harshly, Autobots. They are only capable of acting upon what they understand... and apparently they do not yet understand us."

—Optimus Prime leads his battered troops away from the attacking humans.

"Human, you presume too much of me. At this moment your value to me outweighs my loathing for you -- but only by the most precariously slim margin! For the next cigarette you light could change that equation... and you would find that smoking can indeed be... hazardous to your health!"

—Megatron lays down the law to Finkleberg

Notes

Continuity notes

• I.I.I. has been looking for a way to deal with the issue of the Transformers since last issue. The briefing session the organization holds includes a video record of several events from past issues, including:
  • Megatron and Shockwave destroying a high school football stadium while fighting, from issue #6.
  • Soundwave invading Blackrock Aerospace Assembly Plant Number One, from issue #7.
  • Hoist repairing damage at the Brick Springstern concert, from last issue.

• Soundwave and the cassettes were last seen in issue #12, having been undercover since they were defeated by Optimus Prime and left leaderless. Rumble and Frenzy do not appear to be with them; it might seem logical to think that, as cassettes, they would be, but the Marvel comic did not particularly emphasize a connection between them and Soundwave the way the cartoon did. They and the Constructicons are only ones unaccounted for by the US stories during this period of Decepticon instability, but UK stories will place Frenzy and the Constructicons with Shockwave's camp.

Transformers references

• Wheeljack and Prowl have given the Autobots the order to "roll out" in issues #9 and #12 respectively, but this issue marks the first time that Optimus Prime delivers the iconic catcphrase made famous by the animated series in its full form: "Transform... and roll out!" (right)

Real-life references

• This issue's title is an homage to the classic science fiction collection I, Robot by Isaac Asimov.
• Continuing the slow expansion of the comic's events outside of Oregon, this issue takes Megatron to the real-life Powder River Basin of eastern Wyoming (meaning Megatron's walked about 1000 miles in the weeks since he left Portland in issue #13!)
• Though the comic company which published Robot-Master is not named in dialogue, it's obvious that it's Marvel Comics; it's located at Marvel's real-life then-address 387 Park Avenue South, New York City, its reception desk has images of Captain America and the Incredible Hulk on the wall behind it (right), and if you look real close, you'll see the "Marvel" name and logo on the cover of Stevie's comic. The idea of Marvel Comics existing as a company within the fictional world of one of their comics is a longstanding idea, having originated in 1963's Fantastic Four #10.
• In keeping with this real-life Marvel Comics connection, Donny Finkleberg is based on and named in homage to Marvel staffer Danny Fingeroth.
• The title of Finkleberg's proposed Potato Salad Man graphic novel, "This Man, This Mayonnaise", is a reference to the seminal Fantastic Four story, "This Man, This Monster".
• Civilians watching Robot-Master's broadcast, quoted above, blame "the Communists" (i.e.: the Soviet Union, America's real-life political enemy at the time) and "the P.L.O." (the Palestine Liberation Organization, then considered a terrorist organization by the US).

Continuity and plotting errors

• Triple I's suddenly got its own headquarters in the Cascades, when just last issue, Barnett had to fly out to Washington, D.C., to meet with Forsythe.
• The reader is required to assume that the media never notices that Finkleberg's assumed persona is identical to a comic book, that the creator of that comic book is missing, and that he bears a strong resemblance to this "real" Robot-Master. Apparently, the comic is absurdly unpopular.
• So, Ravage picks up tape-player-mode Soundwave in his jaws, then Ravage is picked up and carried off in turn by Buzzsaw. Why doesn't Buzzsaw just carry Soundwave directly with Ravage inside him in tape mode? (They have switched to this more logical configuration by the time they arrive at the coal mine.)
• The immobile Megatron vows to crush Finkleberg when the human calls him ugly—but Finkleberg is inside a flying helicopter talking to Barnett at the time, so how does Megatron hear him?

Artwork and technical errors

A-hyuck!

• On the issue's cover, none of the robots standing behind Megatron and Robot-Master are colored correctly. Given that the image is a "cover within a cover" representing the fictitious "Robot-Master" comic book, these miscolorings might be intentional, but all the same, they include: a pale blue Soundwave with white limbs, orange details, and a red Decepticon insignia (...is his color scheme based on Twin Twist?); an orange block-colored Skids; a Hoist who is mostly the correct green, but the details of whose head have been grossly misinterpreted by the colorist and colored to look like he's got a face growing out of his forehead, his actual visor-eyes becoming a pair of "buck teeth," along with incorrectly-green shoulder-fins and head-mounted sensor module (see closeup at right); Tracks in an approximation of Hoist's colors, and an orange-and-grey Bumblebee, with a grey Autobot symbol. Also, there's a legless white Laserbeak (or Buzzsaw) flying up in the corner.
• On the cover, the back end of Megatron's cannon is positioned across his chest in an impossible manner.
• G.B. Blackrock is once again missing his mustache throughout this issue; thankfully, this is the last time we'll see this reoccurring error.
• When Ravage emerges from Soundwave, the man holding shouts "Holy mackeral!", misspelling "mackerel".
• Pages 2–3: Megatron's Decepticon insignia is left uncolored.
• Page 4, panel 5: Soundwave is missing his shoulder cannon.
• Page 8:
  • Panels 3 and 5: Hoist is missing his orange shoulder-fins, and the panels down the backs of his arms are colored orange instead of green. His arms, hand, and gun-barrel are all solid green, and his legs above the ankle are solid orange, missing the white section that should be in-between like last issue.
  • Panel 6: Wheeljack is colored like Hoist.
• Page 12, panel 3: What seems to be a technical/printing error causes the yellow ink used on Optimus Prime for this panel to extend past where it should, giving him a bit of yellow "halo," and turning his right headlight yellow instead of white.
• Page 14: Barnett's trenchcoat is colored burgundy, when subsequent pages show it should be grey; it's Blackrock who's wearing burgundy.
• Pages 14–15: Megatron's Decepticon insignia continues to go uncolored, as does Ravage's.
• Page 16, panel 3: Another yellow ink mishap splatters Optimus's face with a big yellow splotch.
• Page 18, panel 1: Laserbeak's red parts are magenta.
• Page 19, panel 2: Given that the Decepticon condor in this panel is snapping off the barrel of a tank with his beak, he's almost certainly supposed to be Buzzsaw, since that's his whole shtick, but he's colored like Laserbeak. Also, his beak is red, and that's not right for either of them.

UK printing

Megatron's mother was a drive thru speaker.

Issue #55:

• Published: 29th March, 1986
• Cover date: 5th April, 1986
• Back-up strips: Rocket Raccoon ("Animal Crackers," Part 1), Robo-Capers, and Matt and the Cat; Rocket Raccoon debuts this issue.
• Fact File Interface: Kickback and Slag

Issue #56:

• Published: 5th April, 1986
• Cover date: 12th April, 1986
• Back-up strips: Rocket Raccoon ("Animal Crackers," Part 2), Robo-Capers, and Matt and the Cat
• Soundwaves: Soundwave states that Traachon bore the Matrix before Optimus.

Other trivia

• Stores seen in downtown Portland include "Becky's Coffee Shop".
• When Megatron is reactivated, the interior of his mouth is drawn as a kind of grid or mesh (right) looking not unlike a blown-up version of what you'd find on a speaker. It's an unusual visual and not one that would be repeated, but it found its way to the cover of the UK reprint of this story (see below), which would itself be re-used for The Transformers: The Complete Works Part 2.
• In 2003 Bob Budiansky described the plot of a government agency using the media to manipulate the public into believing in a non-existent terrorist threat, as eerily predicting the lead up to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq.

Courtesy of my...

• Tracks is ready to fire an incendiary missile.

Covers (3)

• US issue #15: Robot-Master comic, by Herb Trimpe.
• UK issue #55: reuse of art from US cover, with the top left hand corner box for Robot-Master changed to fit the Marvel UK style and price.
• UK issue #56: Megatron blasting coal mine equipment, by Robin Smith.

• 
  US issue #15 - Donny: International Hero.
• 
  UK issue #55 - They changed the corner box, how sweet.
• 
  UK issue #56 - Make sure you don't let YOUR Megatron swallow netting.

Reprints

• 
  The Transformers Comics Magazine #8 (Marvel US, 1987)
• 
  Transformers Comic-Magazin #3 (Condor Verlag, 1989)
• 
  Transformers: Cybertron Redux paperback (Titan Books, 2003)
• 
  Transformers: Cybertron Redux hardback (Titan Books, 2003)
• 
  Classic Transformers Volume 1 (IDW Publishing, 2008)
• 
  The Transformers Classics, Vol. 2 (IDW Publishing, 2012)
• 
  The Definitive G1 Collection, Vol. 4: Second Generation (Hachette Partworks, Ltd., 2018)
• 
  The Transformers Classics, Vol. 4 (Mediaboy Mook, 2019)

IDW Transformers Classics edits

He answers the door for the Avon lady. Every time.

Slowly getting there...

For The Transformers Classics series of trade paperbacks, IDW Publishing "remastered" the coloring of the series with varying degrees of success. These changes were sometimes to fix errors, but often to alter characters' color schemes to make them resemble their toy and/or cartoon selves, and were rarely applied with consistency. IDW's recolored version was also used for Hachette's Definitive G1 Collection. (n.b. not all the changes made in IDW's The Transformers Classics are present in the Definitive G1 Collection in this instance. Where they differ, a note has been made below.)

• Finkleberg is intermittently given luscious pink lips throughout the issue (on pages 8, 10, 15, and 21), including on the cover, despite no other 'fixing' of the cover's many coloring errors (right). The blue "eyes" on Hoist's hideous forehead-face are removed, though.
• Page 7: The images of Hulk and Captain America are removed for legal reasons, leaving the walls blank. (change not present in Hachette edition)
• Page 8, panel 6: Wheeljack's colors are "corrected," but into an approximation of his cartoon colors (giving him a grey head) instead of his correct Marvel ones (his head should be blue). Also, his fin and hand are still left in the wrong colors (right). (change not present in Hachette edition)
• Page 12, panels 6-7: While Soundwave is mostly "corrected" from Marvel purple to toy-and-cartoon blue throughout this issue, as is standard for the Classics reprints, while he is in alternate mode in these two panels, his colors are left unchanged. (change not present in Hachette edition)
• Page 14, panel 2: Megatron's Decepticon insignia, uncolored in the original artwork, is now colored in, but his eyes are now orange instead of yellow.
• Page 15, panel 1: Now Megatron's eyes have gone from the correct yellow to uncolored white.
• Page 16, panel 3: The yellow ink splotch on Optimus's face is removed.
• Page 17, panel 1: Like Megatron before him, Optimus Prime's eyes are changed from yellow to uncolored white.
• Page 22, panel 2: The Ben Day dots used to shade Megatron's forehead are removed.

Advertisements

• M&M's (inside front cover)
• Sales Leadership Club offering prizes such as the Autoceptor Robot Watch, Diatarn-3 Changeable Robot (Sell Only 12 items for each) and Transformers Race Set (Sell Only 33 items) - between pages 4 & 5
• Elf Quest and Groo comics - between pages 5 & 6
• Power Pack and the Amazing Spider-Man with tips on ways to prevent sexual abuse (Really!) - between pages 7 & 8
• Various comic shops, Charles Atlas and typical ads from the era - between pages 8 & 9
• Mile High Comics - between pages 16 & 17
• G.I. Joe Yearbook #2 - between pages 17 & 18
• Marvel Super Mart and Rick Buckler's How To Become a Comic Book Artist - between pages 19 & 20
• Firestar 4-issue miniseries
• Marvel subscriptions
• Scott Adams Presents Marvel Adventures computer games - inside back cover
• MASK toys - back cover