Child's Play (issue)
| This article is about issue #35 of the Marvel US comic. For the episode of the Generation 1 cartoon, see Child's Play (episode). |
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 When a problem comes along, you must whip it! | |||||||||||||
| Child's Play | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||||||||||||
| Cover date | December, 1987 | ||||||||||||
| Script | Bob Budiansky | ||||||||||||
| Pencils | Don Perlin | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Ian Akin and Brian Garvey | ||||||||||||
| Colors | Nelson Yomtov | ||||||||||||
| Lettering | Jack Morelli | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Don Daley | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Marvel Comics continuity | ||||||||||||
A group of children stumble into the middle of a Transformers battle.
Synopsis
A group of four small children are playing in a rail yard, but their play is interrupted when one of them sees a police car: the Protectobot Streetwise. The Protectobots are transporting Blaster to the Ark to be tried and executed for treason. The grim task is likewise interrupted when Blades discovers that the Combaticons are nearby. Groove transports Blaster to a safe hiding place while the other Protectobots investigate.
While the Protectobots and Combaticons battle, one of the children discovers Blaster. As the nearby battle threatens the children, Blaster convinces one of them to remove a mode lock that prevents him from transforming out of his tape deck mode, so that he may be able to protect them.
When Bruticus stuns Defensor, Blaster steps in to confront Bruticus himself, telling the giant robot that he no longer has allegiance to the Protectobots, who are holding him prisoner. Bruticus forces Blaster to prove his loyalty by killing one of the human children. Blaster points his rifle, and pulls the trigger. The child immediately cries out in pain, and collapses.
As Bruticus examines the child's fallen form, Blaster knocks him out with a massive electrical shock from a downed powerline. The child then gets up, having only played dead, knowing that Blaster would not really have hurt him, but understanding Blaster's need to convince Bruticus that Blaster had no loyalty to the humans.
Hot Spot chooses not to arrest Blaster, realizing that to do so would be to go against his own principles. The mode lock is instead attached to the Combaticon Blast Off, enabling Blaster to treat the children to a ride in space. No sooner do they achieve orbit than Blaster and the children find themselves fired upon. The Ark is spaceworthy once again, and Grimlock is using it to make sure Blaster is brought to justice!
Major characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Humans |
|---|---|---|
|
Guests |
Errors
- Though set in the 1980s, the story depicts a rail yard with steam locomotives and wooden boxcars—both items that disappeared from common use decades earlier.
- The third panel on page 4 has an asterisk with no corresponding footnote. Presumably this would have been to remind readers about events in issue #32.
- On page fourteen, Defensor taunts himself about the ineffectiveness of his fireball cannon. Obviously, this dialogue box should have pointed to Bruticus instead.
- The checklist for Marvel comics released has the description for this issue as "Hey, look! British Transformers!" This would have described the previous 2 issues.
Items of note
- References to other Transformers continuities/issues: Blaster was arrested in "Used Autobots".
- The US cover for this issue makes a radical stylistic choice in colouring the two merge groups in block colours. The result is very striking, but has been criticised for being 'lazy'. The UK cover for issue #142, similarly depicts Bruticus hitting Defensor with a train but renders the two of them in full colour.
- In Grim Grams for issue #142, Grimlock attempts to clear up the confusing timeline between the main UK series and the Headmasters backup stories and that those accursed mistake-prone stubbies also infected the producers of The Transformers: The Movie.
Covers (3)
-
US issue #35 - Crack that whip! -
UK issue #141 - Brawl doesn't understand the concept of going around things -
UK issue #142 - When a problem comes along...
- U.S. issue 35 cover: Bruticus whipping Defensor with a train by Frank Springer
- UK issue 141 cover: Brawl by Lee Sullivan
- UK issue 142 cover: Bruticus whipping Defensor with a train by Dan Reed and Robin Bouttell
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- None yet identified.
