Robot Buster!
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 Buster takes Frenzy from behind. | |||||||||||||
| "Robot Buster!" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | 3rd - 10th May 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Simon Furman | ||||||||||||
| Art | Barry Kitson | ||||||||||||
| Colours | Josie Firmin (59), T.M. Cooks (60) | ||||||||||||
| Lettering | Annie Halfacree | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Ian Rimmer | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
Wheeljack builds an exo-suit for Buster who uses it to confront Shockwave.
Synopsis
Wheeljack and Ratchet ask Optimus Prime to visit their lab to see their newest creation—a large mechanical suit for Buster Witwicky that will allow him to fight alongside the Autobots. Optimus Prime is outraged at the notion of endangering Buster's life in battle and orders the suit dismantled. Buster commandeers the suit that night, convinced that Optimus will change his mind if he can defeat a Decepticon on his own. Approaching the Decepticons' mountain base, he finds Frenzy alone and manages to defeat him, although the fight alerts current Decepticon commander Shockwave to Buster's presence.
After spending most of the night running from Shockwave and making futile attempts to combat him, Buster escapes momentarily by throwing sand in Shockwave's optic sensor. Shockwave recalls his recent burial at the hands of the Dinobots, augmenting his fury toward Buster. Buster reconfigures his suit to channel all of its energy into one blast against Shockwave, but the effort proves futile as Shockwave recovers and prepares to kill Buster. The Autobots arrive in time to save Buster and he agrees to resign from fighting the Decepticons. Shockwave, retreating in humiliation, concludes that the Autobots' concern for humans is a weakness he can exploit at a later date.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
Notes
Artwork and technical errors
- Part two marked the Marvel UK team's first attempt at using mechanical colour separation—the cheaper method by which the American comics were coloured—instead of the (arguably) beautiful, but more expensive, painted artwork that had been the comic's hallmark. Dissatisfaction with the result led to use of the pseudonym credit "T.M. Cooks" for this issue's colourist. The team would eventually get a handle on the process, and the comic featured colour separation from issue #96 onwards.
- Barry Kitson draws an oddly proportioned Shockwave, with an oversized head and tiny little hands.
Continuity errors
- Shockwave declares Buster will die at his "hands". He's only got one. Of course, he may have been speaking figuratively.
Continuity notes
- Shockwave actually displays emotion. In this case, rage and a fear of entombment, brought on by his four million years buried under rocks, and his more recent dip in a swamp.
- Buster considers Frenzy one of the least powerful Decepticons, but a point-blank plasma blast doesn't do anything more than make him angry.
Real-life references
- The story's title may be a reference to the British comic strip Ro-Busters.
Other trivia
- The story idea for "Robot Buster" is attributed to artist Barry Kitson.
Back-up material
Issue #59:
- Back-up strips: Rocket Raccoon - "Masque of the Red Breath" Part 2, Robo-Capers and Matt and the Cat
- Who's Who: Humans
Issue #60:
- Back-up strips: Rocket Raccoon - "Masque of the Red Breath" Part 3 and Robo-Capers
Covers (5)
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Issue #59 - Who ya gonna call? Not Buster! -
Issue #60 - I spy with my little eye... -
Collected Comics #9 - Busted! -
Second Generation - I use the power of PERSPECTIVE to make my fist bigger! -
The Transformers Classics UK Volume 2
- Issue #59 cover: Robot Buster takes down Frenzy, by Geoff Senior.
- Issue #60 cover: Shockwave has Buster in his sinister hand, by Barry Kitson.
- Collected Comics #9 cover: Shockwave stalks Robot Buster and a vanquished Frenzy, by Bryan Hitch.
- Second Generation cover: Defensor vs Bruticus, by Lee Sullivan.
- The Transformers Classics UK Volume 2 cover: Centurion, Professor Morris and his neural relay link, Soundwave, Shockwave, Megatron, Buster's battlesuit, the Overlord and Nightstalker, by Andrew Wildman.
