Broken Glass!
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 To me, Spa—errr, Firebolt! | |||||||||||||
| "Broken Glass" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| First published | May 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | September 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Bob Budiansky | ||||||||||||
| Penciler | Frank Springer | ||||||||||||
| Inker | Ian Akin & Brian Garvey | ||||||||||||
| Colorist | Nelson Yomtov | ||||||||||||
| Letterer | Pat Brosseau | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Don Daley | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
While the Autobots seek to prove their peaceful intentions to the Nebulans, Zarak summons the Decepticons.
Synopsis
The presence of giant f*cking robots threatens the 10,000-year peace of the planet Nebulos, as the citizens gather in protest demonstrations, and Galen, a member of the ruling "Council of Peers" on Nebulos, looks for a solution to the escalating tensions. Lord Zarak, a rival member of the council, seeks to use the situation to further his own political position, and sends a message to Cybertron to seek the help of the Decepticons in ridding Nebulos of the Autobots.
The Decepticons arrive and quickly attack a major city in hopes of getting the citizens of Nebulos to surrender the Autobots to them. Realizing that they have no choice but to fight back, but unwilling to hand over control of their destinies to the Autobots, a group of Nebulans binary bond with the Autobots who had sacrificed their heads earlier. These five Nebulans are bio-engineered to actually become the heads of the captive Autobots, creating the first Headmasters. While the Nebulans control the Autobots' bodies, the original Autobots maintain contact with the Nebulans they now carry, and the result is a group of highly effective warriors, which quickly dispatch the attacking Decepticons.
Unfortunately, the Nebulans find themselves in danger of becoming the very kind of warriors they had hoped to avoid introducing to their peaceful world.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Nebulans |
|---|---|---|
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Errors
- Even as the narration describes the Nebulans transforming to "look like the heads of" their new Autobot partners, Fortress Maximus' new head (i.e., Galen transformed) is actually the animation model for Cerebros' head. Fort Max randomly changes to his own head design as the Autobots engage the Decepticons... then suddenly changes back to Cerebros' head as the Headmasters prepare to transform back to humanoid form at the battle's end. The Cerebros head would show up a couple more times in future issues.
- On page 10, a giant sized version of Cyclonus's future Targetmaster partner Nightstick is referred to as Cyclonus, even though he looks nothing like him. In an attempt to repair this error when the story was published in the UK comic, the character name was changed to Krunix.
- On the same page, Mindwipe is drawn as a Nebulan Headmaster partner.
- When the Decepticons prepare to attack the city, a miscolored Misfire identifies himself as Mindwipe, while Slugslinger is drawn as a giant Caliburst.
- The Autobot Headmasters' relative proportions are all out of whack when the Nebulans connect to them for the first time. Fortress Maximus is the same size as the other four, when he should be a couple of heads taller. Hardhead is the smallest, while Brainstorm is swollen up like a weightlifter.
- While not a direct error as such, the Nebulans' decision to binary-bond with the Autobots rather than fully restoring them seems very much based on the letter, rather than the spirit, of the conditions under which the Autobots remained.
- Several Decepticons who show up in this issue are never seen again, including Battletrap, Flywheels, and Sixshot.
Items of note
- Advertised as part 2 in a 4-issue limited series.
- Although it is explained that the Nebulans turn into heads that only resemble the original heads of the Headmaster Autobots, and that the original heads maintain radio contact with their Nebulan partners, the original miniseries never mentions what becomes of the original heads. However, "The Final Conflict" in the 1988 UK annual showed that Fortress Maximus, at least, stored his original head in a chest compartment.
Covers (5)
- Headmasters #2 cover: Scorponok, with Zarak captive, fires on the Nebulans, by Frank Springer.
- UK issue #134 cover: Cyclonus and Scourge, by Lee Sullivan.
- UK issue #135 cover: Divebomb vs Swoop, by Jeff Anderson.
- UK issue #136 cover: Grimlock about to crush Divebomb, by Robin Smith.
- UK issue #137 cover: Susan Hoffman discovers Ultra Magnus, by Lee Sullivan.
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Headmasters #2 -
UK issue #134 -
UK issue #135
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UK issue #136 -
UK issue #137
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