Decepticon Dam-Busters!: Difference between revisions
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**If this is Inferno, he has his forearm cannon in place of his left hand. In fiction he ordinarily has the cannon on his right hand, though his toy can have the cannon in either hand or neither hand. | **If this is Inferno, he has his forearm cannon in place of his left hand. In fiction he ordinarily has the cannon on his right hand, though his toy can have the cannon in either hand or neither hand. | ||
*In one panel Megatron is stood on the dam waving his arms and [[Fusion cannon]] in the air, goading Prime. By the time Prime reaches the top of the dam, a few panels later, Megatron is in the same position but has lost the cannon. | *In one panel Megatron is stood on the dam waving his arms and [[Fusion cannon]] in the air, goading Prime. By the time Prime reaches the top of the dam, a few panels later, Megatron is in the same position but has lost the cannon. | ||
*On page five of part two, when in the water, Bumblebee has a green head, green eyes and a bright pink face. He also uses the cartoon character model despite looking more like the toy just a panel before. He then has a slightly different head design page six. Mirage is also miscolored on page five, looking like Rumble. | *On page five of part two, when in the water, Bumblebee has a green head, green eyes and a bright pink face; this miscolouring does not occur in every copy of the comic. He also uses the cartoon character model despite looking more like the toy just a panel before. He then has a slightly different head design page six. Mirage is also miscolored on page five, looking like Rumble. | ||
===Continuity errors=== | ===Continuity errors=== | ||
Revision as of 16:11, 23 February 2017
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 You know, this would look quite good on television. | |||||||||||||
| "Decepticon Dam-Busters!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 5th October–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
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 a story of a Decepticon attack on Sherman Dam. The Decepticons attacked the dam while Rumble went under the water to create a tidal wave, increasing the power output which the Decepticons planned to harness.
The Autobots arrive to the rescue and Optimus Prime and Megatron duel atop the dam. Hound meanwhile attempts to stop Rumble by diving down and fighting him. Rumble gained 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.
As the Autobots rescue Optimus Prime from the water Megatron blasts the dam and makes his escape. The water pouring through the shattered dam rushes down the valley and threatens to sweep away a nearby village.
The Autobots scramble to save the village, first by trying to block the water with a rock fall and when that fails by blasting channels in the ground for the water to drain away into. This eventually works and the Autobots are pleased that they have saved the village.
Their celebrations are cut short by the angry villagers who, unable to distinguish the Autobots from the Decepticons, 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, lies in a hospital bed and becomes Circuit Breaker. Ratchet and the Dinobots arrive back at the Ark where Swoop is attacked by a Guardian battle droid.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Quotes
“I don’t think much of this specimen of carbon-based life.”
- —Grimlock
“That means taking out Megatron!”
“Doesn’t it always?”
- —Prowl and Optimus Prime
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
- On page three of part two of the story, there is a block-coloured Autobot shown from behind who looks very similar to Inferno. This could be an error or an elaboration of Ratchet's storytelling, but equally it could indicate that Inferno was one of the original Autobots who spent the early years almost always off-panel, similar to Red Alert who is seen in "The Enemy Within!". Inferno also appears in the story "Missing in Action" in the very first annual, though that story's place in continuity is unclear. When Inferno does eventually appear in the present day in issue #188's "Firebug!" he is working with the Wreckers but is not a member himself.
- If this is Inferno, he has his forearm cannon in place of his left hand. In fiction he ordinarily has the cannon on his right hand, though his toy can have the cannon in either hand or neither hand.
- In one panel Megatron is stood on the dam waving his arms and Fusion cannon in the air, goading Prime. By the time Prime reaches the top of the dam, a few panels later, Megatron is in the same position but has lost the cannon.
- On page five of part two, when in the water, Bumblebee has a green head, green eyes and a bright pink face; this miscolouring does not occur in every copy of the comic. He also uses the cartoon character model despite looking more like the toy just a panel before. He then has a slightly different head design page six. Mirage is also miscolored on page five, looking like Rumble.
Continuity errors
- The dam is given the name "Sherman Dam" in part 1 but "Boulder Dam" in part 2. This was corrected to "Sherman Dam" for the reprints.
Continuity notes
- Like many early UK stories, it’s not clear exactly when the dam portion of this story is set. It is presumed to be somewhere during "Prisoner of War!" and "The Last Stand".
- The "Robot War" features run in issues #22, #36 & #63 of the comic place the dam portion after "Power Play!" and "Man of Iron" and before "Prisoner of War!".
- The battle between Megatron and the Dinobots from last issue was caught on tape by the vacationing Brad Newbury. His footage was broadcast on the news.
Real-life references
- The title is derived from the film The Dam Busters.
Other trivia
- This story is basically a retelling of the Sherman Dam incident from "More than Meets the Eye". This was an act of synergy by Ian Rimmer, trying to make the comic more accessible by making it look like it and the cartoon were in the same franchise. It was quickly decided to not adapt the show again as the continuity-lite episodes would soon clash with the US comic's direction.[1]
- This was the first original UK story to utilize regular rounded speech balloons for the Transformers characters, although the tail indicating the speaker was usually given a zig-zag pattern to indicate "electrical" speech. This style was previously utilized in issues 5 through 9 of the US series. Previous UK stories used jagged balloons for the Transformers.
Back-up material
Issue #29:
- Back-up strips: Machine Man - "He Lives Again" Part 3, Robo-Capers and Matt and the Cat
- 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: Machine Man - "He Lives Again" Part 4, and Robo-Capers; Matt and the Cat "takes a rest this issue".
Covers (5)
-
Issue #29 -
Issue #30 -
Collected Comics #5 -
Winter Special 1993 -
The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1
- Issue #29 cover: Optimus Prime and Megatron fight on Sherman Dam, art by John Ridgway.
- Issue #30 cover: Ratchet and Prowl rescue Optimus Prime while Megatron destroys Sherman Dam, by Mike Collins?
- Collected Comics #5 cover: Optimus Prime and Megatron fight using energy weapons, by Geoff Senior.
- Winter Special 1993 cover: Megatron, with Straxus-Megatron in shadows behind him, by Andrew Wildman originally used for the cover of issue #243.
- The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1 cover: Cybertron, the Ark, Auntie, Optimus Prime, Megatron, the Overlord, the Man of Iron, Guardian and the Ultimate Autobots, by Andrew Wildman.
Reprints
- 1987 — Transformers Collected Comics #5
- 1993 — Transformers Winter Special 1993
- 2011 — The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1
References
- ↑ The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1, page 147
