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|title="Shooting Star!"
|title="Shooting Star!"
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]
|date=October 1985
|shippingdate=[[October 22]], [[1985]]
|onsaledate=[[November 12]], 1985
|coverdate=February 1986
|coverdate=February 1986
|writer=[[Bob Budiansky]]
|writer=[[Bob Budiansky]]
Line 24: Line 25:


==Synopsis==
==Synopsis==
A small-time loser named [[Joey Slick]] flees through the woods, attempting to escape from thugs trying to kill him. He stumbles across a gun in a stream, but it doesn't work... until the two laughing thugs ''tell'' it to blast them, which it does.
[[File:Slickjoey.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|''Wherever you are{{-}}you're gonna see me fly{{-}}like a shooting star{{-}}across a midnight sky'']]
A small-time loser named [[Joey Slick]] flees through the woods, attempting to escape from thugs trying to kill him. He stumbles across a gun in a stream, but it doesn't work... until the two laughing thugs ''tell'' it to blast them, which it does. Retreating to an empty barn, Joey soon discovers that the gun is [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]. His cerebro-circuitry damaged by the fall he suffered during his battle with [[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]], Megatron's higher brain functions have been disconnected, leaving him unable to think for himself and able only to respond without question to what he is told or asked.


Retreating to an empty warehouse, Joey soon discovers that his gun is a [[Transformer]] called [[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]]. Megatron is unable to think for himself, due to damage from his fall during his battle with [[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]], and can only respond to what he is told or asked.
Crime lord [[Jake Lomax]], the gangster who sent the thugs after Slick because of an unpaid debt, is incensed that they failed. Crunching up [[Daily Globe|his newspaper]], he orders that Slick be killed immediately. Lomax's men hunt Slick to his run-down apartment in an immigrant neighborhood, but he is able to use Megatron to collapse a water tower on top of them, allowing him to escape. Needing money after being rejected by a [[Cascade Motor Court|crummy motel]] for being two dollars short, he holds up a [[6-12|convenience store]]... then uses Megatron's firepower to stop pursuing police cars. Realizing the possibilities, he soon uses Megatron to strike a one-man crime wave.


Crime lord [[Jake Lomax]], the gangster who sent the thugs after Slick because of an unpaid debt, is incensed that they failed. Crunching up [[Daily Globe|his newspaper]], he orders that Slick be killed immediately.
In short order, now redolent in riches, Joey finds himself surrounded by hangers-on and wannabes. Trying to reconnect with the things that matter, he returns to his old neighborhood, only to find himself feared by the adults he once called friends, and worshipped by the neighborhood's children for his "super gun." Realizing that his is not the life he wants, Joey blasts his way into Lomax's compound and confronts the gangster one on one. Despite his earlier bluster, Lomax is quick to surrender and plead for his life. No longer afraid of Lomax, Joey tosses the gun away and punches the mobster out, then tosses the money he owes him at his unconscious form. Joey turns to find Megatron looming over him—the impact with the ground after Joey threw him aside has reconnected his higher brain functions, and he is furious at Joey for attempting to command him. Megatron prepares to kill the impudent fleshling, but when Joey shows absolutely no fear before him, Megatron is impressed and spares him. Megatron leaves to rejoin the Decepticons, and Joey submits to arrest by the police, the baffled officers watching as the dark shape of Megatron disappears over the horizon.
 
Returning to his run-down apartment in an immigrant neighborhood, Joey is again attacked by thugs. He uses Megatron to delay them long enough to escape, then flees. Needing money after being rejected by a [[Cascade Motor Court|crummy motel]] for being two dollars short, he holds up a [[6-12|convenience store]]... then uses Megatron's firepower to stop pursuing police cars. Realizing the possibilities, he soon uses Megatron to strike a one-man crime wave.
 
Redolent in riches, Joey finds himself surrounded by hangers-on and wannabes. Trying to reconnect with the things that matter, he returns to his old neighborhood, only to find himself feared and worshipped for his "super gun". He realizes he has to face up to his problems.
 
Joey blasts his way into Lomax's compound and confronts the gangster one on one. Despite his earlier bluster, Lomax pleads for his life. No longer afraid of Lomax, Joey tosses the gun away, and punches him out. Joey throws the owed money at his unconscious form. Joey turns to find Megatron looming over him—the impact reconnected his higher brain functions. Megatron is furious at Joey for attempting to command him, and attempts to kill the impudent fleshling. But when Joey shows absolutely no fear before him, Megatron is impressed and spares him. Megatron leaves to rejoin the Decepticons, and Joey is willingly arrested by the civil authorities.


==Featured characters==
==Featured characters==
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.)
(Characters in ''italic text'' appear only in flashbacks.)<br />
{{featuredcharacters
{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
|c1=
*''[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]]'' (9)
*''[[Ratchet (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ratchet]]'' (9)
|c2=
|c2=
*[[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] (4)
*[[Megatron (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Megatron]] (4)
*''[[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]]'' (5)
*''[[Frenzy (G1)|Frenzy]]'' (5)
*''[[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]'' (6)
*''[[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]'' (6)
*''[[Ravage (G1)|Ravage]]'' (7)
*''[[Ravage (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Ravage]]'' (7)
*''[[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]]'' (8)
*''[[Starscream (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Starscream]]'' (8)
|c3=
|c3=
Line 53: Line 49:
*[[Jake Lomax]] (10)
*[[Jake Lomax]] (10)
*[[Charlene (pool girl)|Charlene]] (11)
*[[Charlene (pool girl)|Charlene]] (11)
*[[Kim]] (12)
*[[Kim|Mr. Kim]] (12)
*[[Clyde]] (13)
*[[Clyde]] (13)
*[[Peréz]] (14)
*[[Peréz|Mrs. Perez]] (14)
*[[Ralston]] (15)
*[[Ralston]] (15)
}}
}}
Line 62: Line 58:
"You are not dead. I am not a weird angel. I am a '''Transformer'''."
"You are not dead. I am not a weird angel. I am a '''Transformer'''."
:—'''Megatron'''
:—'''Megatron'''
"Marko was right--Joey Slick '''is''' a loser! '''And I'm sick of lookin' at this loser's face!'''"
:—'''Joey Slick''' monologues to the man in the mirror




"You made all this possible. But it ain't all I thought it would be -- I got everything that I could want. So how come I feel like I got '''nothin''''? Heck, you're the only one I feel I can talk to -- and you're as brainless as a '''beer can!''' That ain't right, right?"
"You made all this possible. But it ain't all I thought it would be -- I got everything that I could want. So how come I feel like I got '''nothin''''? Heck, you're the only one I feel I can talk to -- and you're as brainless as a '''beer can!''' That ain't right, right?"
:—'''Joey Slick'''
:—'''Joey Slick''', on the verge of insight, speaks to a mindless '''Megatron'''




"You're not gonna kill me?"<br>
"Y-you're not gonna kill me?"<br>
'''''THWOK'''''<br>
'''''THWOK'''''<br>
"...'''Heck no!''' I'm just gonna pay back what I owe you -- 600 dollars plus interest! Now we're even, slimeball! Spend some of it to fix up your house, okay?"
"...'''Heck no!''' I'm just gonna pay back what I owe you -- 600 dollars plus interest! Now we're even, slimeball! Spend some of it to fix up your house, okay?"
Line 75: Line 75:


"But Megatron '''gives''' no thanks -- he only '''takes'''. And now I take your '''life''', fleshling!"<br>
"But Megatron '''gives''' no thanks -- he only '''takes'''. And now I take your '''life''', fleshling!"<br>
"M-my life? ...Sure, why not, take it! Jake Lomax wanted my life. I thought he was the most terrifyin' think I could imagine! Well, I just punched him out! Nothin' you can do to me now can take that away from me -- '''ever!''' Do what you want, Megatron!"<br>
"M-my life? ...Sure, why not, take it! Jake Lomax wanted my life. I thought he was the most terrifyin' thing I could imagine! Well, I just punched him out! Nothin' you can do to me now can take that away from me -- '''ever!''' Do what you want, Megatron!"<br>
"You surprise me, fleshling. Such audacity in a member of your species is wholely unexpected. It is deserving of Megatron's '''respect''' -- not his '''wrath!'''"
"You surprise me, fleshling. Such audacity in a member of your species is wholely unexpected. It is deserving of Megatron's '''respect''' -- not his '''wrath!'''"
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Joey Slick''' have a little heart to heart
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Joey Slick''' have a little heart to heart


==Notes==
==Notes==
===Artwork and technical errors===
* Page 5: in the flashback panel, Starscream appears to be wearing eyeglasses!
<!-- ===Continuity errors=== -->
===Continuity notes===
===Continuity notes===
*Megatron was defeated by Ratchet in US issue [[Repeat Performance!|#8]]. A front page headline on a newspaper reads, "ROBOTS LEAVE PLANE PLANT," a reference to the Decepticons' defeat in [[Prime Time!|#12]].
*Megatron has been missing in action since his defeat by Ratchet in [[Repeat Performance!|issue #8]].
* This is one of the few issues of the series in which no [[Autobot]]s appear, other than Ratchet in flashback; in fact, Megatron is the only Transformer shown in the actual story, which is almost entirely centered around its one-shot human cast.
*The front-page headline of the motel clerk's newspaper reads "ROBOTS LEAVE PLANE PLANT," a reference to the Decepticons' defeat and the liberation of [[Blackrock Aerospace Assembly Plant Number One]] in [[Prime Time!|issue #12]].
* Two fictional newspapers appear: the Globe Journal and the Daily Globe.


===Real-life references===
===Real-life references===
* The action's set in and around [[Portland]], [[Oregon]]. Joey lives in the Southwest section, an actual designation for part of town.
*As usual, the action is set in and around [[Portland]], [[Oregon]]; specificailly, Joey lives in the real-life "{{w|Neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon#Southwest|Southwest section}}," though it's drawn looking a lot more like a New York neighborhood.
* The kids on Joey's block mention the Seattle Seahawks; Joey mentions the NFL.
*The kids on Joey's block mention the [[Seattle Seahawks]] football team, a local favorite since Portland doesn't have its own NFL team. Joey mentions the [[NFL]] by name as well.
*The [[Cascade Motor Court]] Joey tries to get a room at seems to be based on a ''real'' Cascade Motor Court motel Google tells us existed back in the 1950s... though it was in Bend, Oregon, a good three hours away, versus the "90 minutes out of Portland" this one is.
*Joey robs a "[[6-12]]" convenience store, a reference to [[7-Eleven]].
*Joey robs a "[[6-12]]" convenience store, a reference to [[7-Eleven]].
* Joey feels the kids are treating him "like [[Al Capone]]".
*Joey feels the kids are treating him "like [[Al Capone]]".
 
===Artwork and technical errors===
*Megatron's pistol form spends much of the issue miscolored, with a black muzzle tip and body. The black tip sticks and is almost always present, but occasionally the body's colored white/silver, with the black correctly being shifted to the "slide" to which his fusion cannon/scope would attach (if he had it attached, which he doesn't, which you could consider an error in and of itself).
*Additionally, when in robot mode, his Decepticon insignia is coloured ''very'' faintly, except on page 22.
*The artist forgets which gangster had been specified as "Marko". At the start, two particular men are identified by Joey as "Whitey and Marko", but in the later chase involving four gangsters, a different man in a pink suit and a hat is twice referred to as Marko, with the two guys from earlier both visible amongst his companions.
*Page 5, panel 3: Starscream has red wings and purple null rays. Soundwave is colored a ''very'' dark purple (so dark he almost looks blue, a little darker than he appeared [[Prime Time!|last issue]]) instead of his normal lighter shade.
*Page 17, panel 3: Some of the lettering in Joey's speech bubble has been obscured or erased, turning the sentence "Buncha bloodsuckers!" into "Bunc a bloodsucker !"
*Page 21, panel 4: Megatron's gun barrel, which normally peeps up over his shoulder, is missing here...
*Page 22, panel 1: ...and here.


===UK printing===
===UK printing===
'''Issue #51:'''
'''Issue #51:'''
*'''Backup strips:''' ''[[Robotix]] "A World in Chaos" Part 1'', ''[[Robo-Capers]]'' and ''Matt and the Cat''
*'''Published:''' [[March 1|1st March]], 1986
*'''Cover date:''' [[March 8|8th March]], 1986
*'''[[Back-up strips]]:''' ''[[Robotix]]'' ("A World in Chaos," Part 1), ''[[Robo-Capers]]'' and ''Matt and the Cat''. Due to an error, this issue's ''Robo-Capers'' was missing the black layer of print. A corrected version would be printed in [[Plight of the Bumblebee!|issue #58]].
'''Issue #52:'''
'''Issue #52:'''
*'''Backup strips:''' ''Robotix "A World in Chaos" Part 2'', ''Robo-Capers'' and ''Matt and the Cat''
*'''Published:''' [[March 8|8th March]]
*'''Free Gift:''' A [[Panini]] Transformers sticker album.
*'''Cover date:''' [[March 15|15th March]], 1986
*'''Back-up strips:''' ''Robotix'' ("A World in Chaos," Part 2), ''Robo-Capers'' and ''Matt and the Cat''
*'''[[Fact File|Fact File Interface]]:''' [[Smokescreen (G1)|Smokescreen]] and [[Mixmaster (G1)|Mixmaster]]
*'''Free Gift:''' A [[Panini]] ''Transformers'' sticker album


===Other trivia===
===Other trivia===
*Although this story is often criticized by fans, it is one of few stories in any continuity to make full use of the fact that Megatron's alternate form is a realistic-looking handgun.
[[File:Daily Globe.jpg|right|thumb|For God's sake do not scroll left.]]
* The sole decorations in Joey's apartment: a couple of pinup girls. Classy!
*This story would be the subject of an annoyed letter to the UK comic in #61, asking why the art had "gone back to sub-standard dotty colouring and often ropey drawing". At the time, the comic didn't admit it was running reprints from America—which used a different colouring method and different paper stock to the UK, and thus meant colorists like Yomtov had to work with a more limited palette than his British counterparts—and <s>Simon Furman</s> "[[Soundwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Soundwave]]'s" cover was that this was the artists "experimenting with different colouring methods".<ref>[[Source:Soundwaves#Issue 61|Soundwaves, issue 61]]</ref>
*This issue was reprinted in the [[Titan Books]] collection ''[[Transformers: Cybertron Redux]]''.
*''Marvel Age'' #33 reported [http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=4613 Sam de la Rosa] as the inker of both "[[Prime Time!]]" and this issue instead of Al Gordon. While de la Rosa would never work on ''Transformers'', he did go on to ink a number of comics starring [[Venom (Marvel)|Venom]].
*This issue was reprinted as issue #2 of [[IDW Publishing]]'s ''[[The Transformers: Generations|Generations]]'' series.
*This issue is the first time Bob Budiansky uses the names "Jake" and "Charlene" for some incidental human characters (Jake Lomax and his moll, Charlene). These will (deliberately? unconsciously?) go on to become Budiansky's "go-to" names for multiple guest-spot characters in future issues of the series.
*Rather than the [[Daily Bugle]], used in past issues when a newspaper has been required, this issue features two fictional papers, the [[Daily Globe]] (pictured at right) and the [[Globe-Journal]]. This is probably reflective of the decision to "separate" the ongoing Transformers adventures from the Marvel Universe, which it spent much of its first year being written to take place in. That said, there ''is'' a [[fandom:marvel:Daily Globe (Earth-616)|Daily Globe]] in the Marvel Universe!
*The sole decorations in Joey's apartment: a couple of pinup girls. Classy!


===Covers (12)===
===Bot Roster===
*Autobots: 11 active; 12 inactive. (23 total)
*Decepticons: 16 active as Megatron returns to operational status; [[Shockwave (G1)/Marvel Comics continuity|Shockwave]] missing in action; [[Jetfire (G1)|Jetfire]] left lifeless when last seen. (18 total)
 
===Covers (3)===
*'''US issue #13:''' Gun mode Megatron, by [[Don Perlin]].
*'''UK issue #51:''' Megatron and Joey Slick, by [[Geoff Senior]].
*'''UK issue #52:''' reuse of art from US cover.
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:MarvelUS-13.jpg|'''US issue #13''' - Look, it's STILL a gun...
File:MarvelUS-13.jpg|'''US issue #13''' - Look, it's STILL a gun...
File:MarvelUK-051.jpg|'''UK issue #51''' - A purple Megatron? That is just [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|crazy!]]
File:MarvelUK-051.jpg|'''UK issue #51''' - A purple Megatron? That is just [[Megatron (BW)/Beast Wars cartoon continuity|crazy!]]
File:MarvelUK-052.jpg|'''UK issue #52''' - The UK gets free sticker albums. What do ''you'' get?
File:MarvelUK-052.jpg|'''UK issue #52''' - The UK gets free sticker albums. What do ''you'' get?
File:Transformers Digest 07-cover.jpg|'''''The Transformers Comics Magazine'' #7'''
</gallery>
</gallery>
*'''US cover:''' Gun mode Megatron Prime, by [[Don Perlin]].
 
*'''UK issue #51 cover:''' Megatron and Joey Slick, by [[Geoff Senior]].
===Reprints===
*'''UK issue #52 cover:''' reuse of art from US cover.
*'''''The Transformers Comics Magazine'' #7 cover:''' reuse of art from US cover.
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Titan-CybertronReduxSC.jpg|'''''Cybertron Redux'' TPB'''
File:Transformers Digest 07-cover.jpg|'''[[The Transformers Comics Magazine issue 7|''The Transformers Comics Magazine'' #7]]''' (Marvel US, 1987)
File:Titan-CybertronReduxHC.jpg|'''''Cybertron Redux'' HC'''
File:Titan-CybertronReduxSC.jpg|'''''[[Transformers: Cybertron Redux]]'' paperback''' (Titan Books, 2003)
File:IDW Generations 2 Cover A.jpg|'''''Generations'' issue #2 cover A'''
File:Titan-CybertronReduxHC.jpg|'''''[[Transformers: Cybertron Redux]]'' hardback''' (Titan Books, 2003)
File:Idw generations shooting star b.jpg|'''''Generations'' issue #2 cover B'''
File:IDW Generations 2 Cover A.jpg|'''[[The Transformers: Generations (comic)#"Shooting Star!"|''The Transformers: Generations'' #2]] cover A''' (IDW Publishing, 2006)
File:IDW Generations 2 Cover B.jpg|'''[[The Transformers: Generations (comic)#"Shooting Star!"|''The Transformers: Generations'' #2]] cover B''' (IDW Publishing, 2006)
File:IDW Generations 2 Cover RI.jpg|'''[[The Transformers: Generations (comic)#"Shooting Star!"|''The Transformers: Generations'' #2]] retailer incentive cover''' (IDW Publishing, 2006)
File:Generations TPB.jpg|'''[[The Transformers: Generations (comic)#"Shooting Star!"|''The Transformers: Generations'' #2]] TPB''' (IDW Publishing, 2007)
File:Classic Transformers Vol1.jpg|'''[[Classic Transformers Volume 1|''Classic Transformers'' Volume 1]]''' (IDW Publishing, 2008)
File:TFClassicsVol1.JPG|'''[[The Transformers Classics, Vol. 1|''The Transformers Classics'', Vol. 1]]''' (IDW Publishing, 2011)
File:DefinitiveG1Collection v4.jpg|'''[[Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection|''The Definitive G1 Collection, Vol. 4: Second Generation'']]''' (Hachette Partworks, Ltd., 2018)
File:HXClassicsVol4.jpg|'''''[[The Transformers Classics#Japanese reprints|The Transformers Classics]], Vol. 4''''' ([[Mediaboy Mook]], 2019)
</gallery>
</gallery>
*'''''Cybertron Redux'' TPB cover:''' [[Blaster (G1)|Blaster]], [[Ramhorn (G1)|Ramhorn]], [[Bombshell (G1)|Bombshell]], [[Shrapnel (G1)|Shrapnel]], [[Kickback (G1)|Kickback]] and half of the [[Space bridge]] by [[Andrew Wildman]].
 
*'''''Cybertron Redux'' hardback cover:''' Blaster in the [[Smelting pool]] by [[Don Figueroa]], [[Gary Erskine]] & [[Chris Blythe]].
====Titan edits====
*'''''Generations'' cover A:''' Joey Slick poses with gun-mode Megatron while robot-mode Megatron watches from the shadows, by [[Ashley Wood]].
*It's standard practice for any collection of comics to remove the publishing indicia usually found on the first page of an issue, but Titan's ''Cybertron Redux'' reprint of this issue accidentally deletes the creator credits along with it, because they're printed outside the splash page panel, just above the indicia itself.
* '''''Generations'' cover B:''' Joey Slick points Megatron at the reader, by [[Nick Roche]].
 
<gallery>
====IDW ''Transformers Classics'' edits====
File:Idw generations shooting star i.jpg|'''''Generations'' issue #2 incentive cover'''
[[File:ShootingStar damaged reprint.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Quality!]]
File:Generations TPB.jpg|'''''Generations'' TPB'''
*IDW's reprint of this issue was created using a scan of a physical copy featuring several printing defects that caused splotches of the lineart to be missing.
File:Classic Transformers Vol1.jpg|'''''Classic Transformers'' Volume 1'''
**Page 5, panels 3 and 6: Portions of the lineart of Megatron's chin in panel 3, and his chest, knee and the barn wall behind him in panel 6 are missing (see right).
File:TFClassicsVol1.JPG|'''''The Transformers Classics'', Vol 1'''
**Page 6, panel 5: The lower-right corner of Lomax's mouth has been re-drawn to fill in the missing lineart.
</gallery>
**Page 9, panel 3: Likewise, a portion of Joey's chin and shirt.
* '''''Generations'' incentive cover:''' reuse of a panel from this issue.
**Page 17, panels 3-4: Patches of colour appear within the silhouette of Joey as he sits in his chair when he should be solid black.
*'''''Generations'' TPB cover:''' reuse of Nick Roche cover to issue #1.
*The ''Transformers Classics'' series of reprints normally recolors Soundwave blue to match his cartoon and toy appearance, but his one panel appearance in this issue goes unaltered.
*'''''Classic Transformers'' Volume 1 cover:''' featuring panels from "[[The Transformers (issue)|The Transformers]]", "[[Power Play!]]", "[[Brainstorm!]]", "[[The New Order]]" and "[[Prime Time!]]".
*Mr. Kim is recolored with a Caucasian skintone.
*'''''The Transformers Classics'', Vol. 1 cover:''' Optimus Prime, by [[Guido Guidi]].
*Page 11, panel 6: The yellow patches on the motel clerk's newspaper (used in several other spot in this issue, intended to add a sense of texture) are erased from this panel only.
*Page 17, panel 3: The missing lettering is filled in.
*Page 22, panel 1: Careless text recreation turns the word "member" in Megatron's speech into the nonsense "memser."
{{--}}


===Advertisements===
===Advertisements===
[[File:ShootingStarQuikGoBotsAd.jpg|upright=0.85|thumb|I'm sure this is cheating somehow.]]
* ''Thundercats'', ''Misty'', and [[Care Bears]] comics (inside front cover)
*The original US printing of this issue features not one, but ''two'' advertisements related to ''[[GoBots (franchise)|GoBots]]''! One is for a [[Nestlé]] Quik-sponsored contest to win a "complete set of ''GoBots'' toys" between pages 4 & 5, while another is for the syndicated Hanna-Barbera ''Challenge of the GoBots'' television series between pages 7 & 8. One must assume that Marvel didn't run advertising approvals by [[Hasbro]]...
* Not one, but ''two'' advertisements related to ''[[GoBots]]''! [[:File:ShootingStarQuikGoBotsAd.jpg|The first]] is for a [[Nestlé]] Quik-sponsored contest to win a "complete set of ''GoBots'' toys" between pages 4 & 5, while another is for the syndicated Hanna-Barbera ''Challenge of the GoBots'' television series between pages 7 & 8. One must assume that Marvel didn't run advertising approvals by [[Hasbro]]...
*G.I. Joe and Transformers on videocassette from [[Family Home Entertainment]], 5 new adventures for each title now $14.95 each—upper half of page between pages 16 and 17
* Glow in the dark Solar Ball - between pages 5 & 6
* ''The Jetsons'' and ''Galtar and the Golden Lance'' cartoons - between pages 8 & 9
* ''G.I. Joe'' and ''Transformers'' on videocassette from [[Family Home Entertainment]], 5 new adventures for each title now $14.95 each —upper half of page between pages 16 and 17
* J & S Comics - lower half of page between pages 16 and 17
* [[New York Comic Con|New York Comic Book Convention]] and Marvel Super Mart - between pages 17 & 18
* Academic Industries "Comic Classics Offer" - between pages 19 & 20
* East Coast Comics - between pages 20 & 21
* Marvel Comics subscriptions
* Bullpen Bulletins (inside back cover)
* ''Secret Wars II'' #8 and 9 (back cover)


===Reprints===
==References==
*[[1988]] — [[The Transformers Comics Magazine issue 7|''The Transformers Comics Magazine'' #7]]
{{reflist}}
*[[2003]] — ''[[Transformers: Cybertron Redux]]''
*[[2006]] — ''[[The Transformers: Generations]]'' #2
*[[2007]] — ''The Transformers: Generations'' TPB
*[[2008]] — [[Classic Transformers Volume 1|''Classic Transformers'' Volume 1]]
*[[2011]] — [[The Transformers Classics, Vol. 1|''The Transformers Classics'', Vol. 1]]


[[Category:Marvel US issues]]
[[Category:Marvel US issues]]
[[Category:Marvel UK issues]]
[[Category:Marvel UK issues]]

Latest revision as of 19:24, 21 April 2026

This article is about the Marvel comic issue. For the Autobot satellite, see Shooting Star.
« The Transformers (US) #13 »
« The Transformers (UK) #51–52 »

I am the NRA.
"Shooting Star!"
Publisher Marvel Comics
Shipping date October 22, 1985
On-sale date November 12, 1985
Cover date February 1986
Writer Bob Budiansky
Penciler Don Perlin
Inker Al Gordon
Colorist Nel Yomtov
Letterer Janice Chiang
Editor Michael Carlin
Continuity Marvel Comics continuity

A small-time crook's life changes when he finds a special gun.

Synopsis

[edit]
Wherever you are
you're gonna see me fly
like a shooting star
across a midnight sky

A small-time loser named Joey Slick flees through the woods, attempting to escape from thugs trying to kill him. He stumbles across a gun in a stream, but it doesn't work... until the two laughing thugs tell it to blast them, which it does. Retreating to an empty barn, Joey soon discovers that the gun is Megatron. His cerebro-circuitry damaged by the fall he suffered during his battle with Ratchet, Megatron's higher brain functions have been disconnected, leaving him unable to think for himself and able only to respond without question to what he is told or asked.

Crime lord Jake Lomax, the gangster who sent the thugs after Slick because of an unpaid debt, is incensed that they failed. Crunching up his newspaper, he orders that Slick be killed immediately. Lomax's men hunt Slick to his run-down apartment in an immigrant neighborhood, but he is able to use Megatron to collapse a water tower on top of them, allowing him to escape. Needing money after being rejected by a crummy motel for being two dollars short, he holds up a convenience store... then uses Megatron's firepower to stop pursuing police cars. Realizing the possibilities, he soon uses Megatron to strike a one-man crime wave.

In short order, now redolent in riches, Joey finds himself surrounded by hangers-on and wannabes. Trying to reconnect with the things that matter, he returns to his old neighborhood, only to find himself feared by the adults he once called friends, and worshipped by the neighborhood's children for his "super gun." Realizing that his is not the life he wants, Joey blasts his way into Lomax's compound and confronts the gangster one on one. Despite his earlier bluster, Lomax is quick to surrender and plead for his life. No longer afraid of Lomax, Joey tosses the gun away and punches the mobster out, then tosses the money he owes him at his unconscious form. Joey turns to find Megatron looming over him—the impact with the ground after Joey threw him aside has reconnected his higher brain functions, and he is furious at Joey for attempting to command him. Megatron prepares to kill the impudent fleshling, but when Joey shows absolutely no fear before him, Megatron is impressed and spares him. Megatron leaves to rejoin the Decepticons, and Joey submits to arrest by the police, the baffled officers watching as the dark shape of Megatron disappears over the horizon.

[edit]

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans

Quotes

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"You are not dead. I am not a weird angel. I am a Transformer."

—Megatron


"Marko was right--Joey Slick is a loser! And I'm sick of lookin' at this loser's face!"

—Joey Slick monologues to the man in the mirror


"You made all this possible. But it ain't all I thought it would be -- I got everything that I could want. So how come I feel like I got nothin'? Heck, you're the only one I feel I can talk to -- and you're as brainless as a beer can! That ain't right, right?"

—Joey Slick, on the verge of insight, speaks to a mindless Megatron


"Y-you're not gonna kill me?"
THWOK
"...Heck no! I'm just gonna pay back what I owe you -- 600 dollars plus interest! Now we're even, slimeball! Spend some of it to fix up your house, okay?"

—Jake Lomax gets punched out by Joey Slick, after Slick has trashed his mansion


"But Megatron gives no thanks -- he only takes. And now I take your life, fleshling!"
"M-my life? ...Sure, why not, take it! Jake Lomax wanted my life. I thought he was the most terrifyin' thing I could imagine! Well, I just punched him out! Nothin' you can do to me now can take that away from me -- ever! Do what you want, Megatron!"
"You surprise me, fleshling. Such audacity in a member of your species is wholely unexpected. It is deserving of Megatron's respect -- not his wrath!"

—Megatron and Joey Slick have a little heart to heart

Notes

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Continuity notes

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Real-life references

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  • As usual, the action is set in and around Portland, Oregon; specificailly, Joey lives in the real-life "Southwest section," though it's drawn looking a lot more like a New York neighborhood.
  • The kids on Joey's block mention the Seattle Seahawks football team, a local favorite since Portland doesn't have its own NFL team. Joey mentions the NFL by name as well.
  • The Cascade Motor Court Joey tries to get a room at seems to be based on a real Cascade Motor Court motel Google tells us existed back in the 1950s... though it was in Bend, Oregon, a good three hours away, versus the "90 minutes out of Portland" this one is.
  • Joey robs a "6-12" convenience store, a reference to 7-Eleven.
  • Joey feels the kids are treating him "like Al Capone".

Artwork and technical errors

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  • Megatron's pistol form spends much of the issue miscolored, with a black muzzle tip and body. The black tip sticks and is almost always present, but occasionally the body's colored white/silver, with the black correctly being shifted to the "slide" to which his fusion cannon/scope would attach (if he had it attached, which he doesn't, which you could consider an error in and of itself).
  • Additionally, when in robot mode, his Decepticon insignia is coloured very faintly, except on page 22.
  • The artist forgets which gangster had been specified as "Marko". At the start, two particular men are identified by Joey as "Whitey and Marko", but in the later chase involving four gangsters, a different man in a pink suit and a hat is twice referred to as Marko, with the two guys from earlier both visible amongst his companions.
  • Page 5, panel 3: Starscream has red wings and purple null rays. Soundwave is colored a very dark purple (so dark he almost looks blue, a little darker than he appeared last issue) instead of his normal lighter shade.
  • Page 17, panel 3: Some of the lettering in Joey's speech bubble has been obscured or erased, turning the sentence "Buncha bloodsuckers!" into "Bunc a bloodsucker !"
  • Page 21, panel 4: Megatron's gun barrel, which normally peeps up over his shoulder, is missing here...
  • Page 22, panel 1: ...and here.

UK printing

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Issue #51:

Issue #52:

Other trivia

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For God's sake do not scroll left.
  • This story would be the subject of an annoyed letter to the UK comic in #61, asking why the art had "gone back to sub-standard dotty colouring and often ropey drawing". At the time, the comic didn't admit it was running reprints from America—which used a different colouring method and different paper stock to the UK, and thus meant colorists like Yomtov had to work with a more limited palette than his British counterparts—and Simon Furman "Soundwave's" cover was that this was the artists "experimenting with different colouring methods".[1]
  • Marvel Age #33 reported Sam de la Rosa as the inker of both "Prime Time!" and this issue instead of Al Gordon. While de la Rosa would never work on Transformers, he did go on to ink a number of comics starring Venom.
  • This issue is the first time Bob Budiansky uses the names "Jake" and "Charlene" for some incidental human characters (Jake Lomax and his moll, Charlene). These will (deliberately? unconsciously?) go on to become Budiansky's "go-to" names for multiple guest-spot characters in future issues of the series.
  • Rather than the Daily Bugle, used in past issues when a newspaper has been required, this issue features two fictional papers, the Daily Globe (pictured at right) and the Globe-Journal. This is probably reflective of the decision to "separate" the ongoing Transformers adventures from the Marvel Universe, which it spent much of its first year being written to take place in. That said, there is a Daily Globe in the Marvel Universe!
  • The sole decorations in Joey's apartment: a couple of pinup girls. Classy!

Bot Roster

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  • Autobots: 11 active; 12 inactive. (23 total)
  • Decepticons: 16 active as Megatron returns to operational status; Shockwave missing in action; Jetfire left lifeless when last seen. (18 total)

Covers (3)

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  • US issue #13: Gun mode Megatron, by Don Perlin.
  • UK issue #51: Megatron and Joey Slick, by Geoff Senior.
  • UK issue #52: reuse of art from US cover.
  • US issue #13 - Look, it's STILL a gun...
    US issue #13 - Look, it's STILL a gun...
  • UK issue #51 - A purple Megatron? That is just crazy!
    UK issue #51 - A purple Megatron? That is just crazy!
  • UK issue #52 - The UK gets free sticker albums. What do you get?
    UK issue #52 - The UK gets free sticker albums. What do you get?

Reprints

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Titan edits

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  • It's standard practice for any collection of comics to remove the publishing indicia usually found on the first page of an issue, but Titan's Cybertron Redux reprint of this issue accidentally deletes the creator credits along with it, because they're printed outside the splash page panel, just above the indicia itself.

IDW Transformers Classics edits

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Quality!
  • IDW's reprint of this issue was created using a scan of a physical copy featuring several printing defects that caused splotches of the lineart to be missing.
    • Page 5, panels 3 and 6: Portions of the lineart of Megatron's chin in panel 3, and his chest, knee and the barn wall behind him in panel 6 are missing (see right).
    • Page 6, panel 5: The lower-right corner of Lomax's mouth has been re-drawn to fill in the missing lineart.
    • Page 9, panel 3: Likewise, a portion of Joey's chin and shirt.
    • Page 17, panels 3-4: Patches of colour appear within the silhouette of Joey as he sits in his chair when he should be solid black.
  • The Transformers Classics series of reprints normally recolors Soundwave blue to match his cartoon and toy appearance, but his one panel appearance in this issue goes unaltered.
  • Mr. Kim is recolored with a Caucasian skintone.
  • Page 11, panel 6: The yellow patches on the motel clerk's newspaper (used in several other spot in this issue, intended to add a sense of texture) are erased from this panel only.
  • Page 17, panel 3: The missing lettering is filled in.
  • Page 22, panel 1: Careless text recreation turns the word "member" in Megatron's speech into the nonsense "memser."

Advertisements

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  • Thundercats, Misty, and Care Bears comics (inside front cover)
  • Not one, but two advertisements related to GoBots! The first is for a Nestlé Quik-sponsored contest to win a "complete set of GoBots toys" between pages 4 & 5, while another is for the syndicated Hanna-Barbera Challenge of the GoBots television series between pages 7 & 8. One must assume that Marvel didn't run advertising approvals by Hasbro...
  • Glow in the dark Solar Ball - between pages 5 & 6
  • The Jetsons and Galtar and the Golden Lance cartoons - between pages 8 & 9
  • G.I. Joe and Transformers on videocassette from Family Home Entertainment, 5 new adventures for each title now $14.95 each —upper half of page between pages 16 and 17
  • J & S Comics - lower half of page between pages 16 and 17
  • New York Comic Book Convention and Marvel Super Mart - between pages 17 & 18
  • Academic Industries "Comic Classics Offer" - between pages 19 & 20
  • East Coast Comics - between pages 20 & 21
  • Marvel Comics subscriptions
  • Bullpen Bulletins (inside back cover)
  • Secret Wars II #8 and 9 (back cover)

References

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  1. ↑ Soundwaves, issue 61
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