Dinobots Strike Back
From MediaWiki
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 "Frenzy's using his package-art-disassembly ray! Quick Grimlock, switch to your toy design!" | |||||||||||||
| "Dinobots Strike Back" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Ballantine Books | ||||||||||||
| Imprint | Find Your Fate Junior | ||||||||||||
| First published | 1985 | ||||||||||||
| Writers | Casey Todd | ||||||||||||
| Illustrator | William Schmidt (interior pencils and cover painting) | ||||||||||||
| ISBN | ISBN 9780345341501 ISBN 0-345-34150-3 | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 73 | ||||||||||||
- Dinobots Strike Back is a multipath adventure in Generation 1.
Featured Characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
Synopsis
Bombshell attacks the Dinobots with his cerebro-shells, ordering them to go on a rampage. But Swoop escapes, bringing help from the Autobots.
Once rescued at Bandit's Bluff, Grimlock remembers overhearing Bombshell's thoughts, which leads Skids and Bumblebee to investigate Dolphin Bay, where Decepticon activity had been spotted recently. They uncover a hidden Decepticon base, and a sinister plan to convert the bay's black coral into superfuel for the Decepticons!
Can the Autobots destroy the power plant before it comes online and the Decepticons become unstoppable? The answer to that question... is up to you!
Errors
- Last line in the infamous ending where Windcharger accidentally tears the Dinobots apart with his magnetic field: "Except for Swoop, the once mighty Dinobots have met the same fate as the original dinosaurs -- they are now extinct!" Since pterosaurs aren't actually dinosaurs, that sentence ought to be abbreviated.
- After disabling Bumblebee, Frenzy wants to leave his body at the entrance to the Decepticons' base as a warning to other Autobots. Even though it's a secret base.
- On page 65, Skids worries that, "If the Decepticon computer was telling the truth, it won't be long before the Decepticons are super robots." He's right to worry, but...what "Decepticon computer"? He heard about Operation Black Coral from Bumblebee, who overheard Megaton talking about it. Skids does use the sub's computer to hack into the Decepticon computer, but not in this path.
- When Bumblebee breaks off a chunk of black coral, it triggers an explosion. Not because the coral was dangerously unstable, as one might expect of a substance the Decepticons can convert into a superfuel, but because, "the coral was booby-trapped". Yes, the Decepticons somehow rigged a booby-trap to trigger an explosion when any random piece of black coral was broken. The nature of this trap is never explained, leaving readers to speculate how the heck it could precisely target Bumblebee, and how an explosion that powerful wouldn't also destroy the precious coral before the 'Cons can use it.
- Bumblebee is typically the weakest Autobot in a given story, but how much do these pillars of red coral weigh that he can't move them, yet three large dolphins can?
- "Skids breathes a sigh of relief..." is probably just an excusable expression here. There's enough underwater action here that Transformers certainly aren't breathing air at least.
- Optimus ascends Mount Lomas "in a few strides". While it's possible there's a land route that near the summit, it's never mentioned, implying some pretty big strides.
- On page 62, "Optimus Prime evades the blast by splitting into three units: Optimus, the brain center, armed with a laser rifle; Roller, the spy; and Combat Deck, a fully armed artillery robot." While nice and accurate to his tech spec (though "Combat Deck" usually isn't a proper noun), this implies that after climbing the mountain, Optimus somehow transformed back into his full truck mode, stayed that way the whole time he and Megatron were squaring off, and only transformed back into robot mode to avoid his opponent's shot. My, that was a strange challenge!
Notes
- Autobot headquarters is the Ark.
- The Ark's computer, on the other hand, is never named.
- Bombshell uses his stinger to inject something into Swoop's wing which temporarily shrinks him down so small that he's in danger of being eaten by a passing lizard! This interesting weapon's not mentioned in Bombshell's Marvel TF Universe bio. If anything, it's usually the Insecticons themselves who have the ability to shrink in their alt-modes in various continuities.
- Bombshell does shrink when he transforms, but not down to actual Earth insect size. In Swoop's hand, he's roughly the size his original toy would be relative to an adult human hand.
- Seaspray is repeatedly described as transforming into either a destroyer or a battleship, but never a hovercraft. And he's freakin' huge!
- Unfortunately, we never see a picture of his warship mode, just several of the submarine piloted by Skids and Bumblebee.
- Skids is described as a red compact throughout this book. (Which was in fact one of his Diaclone color schemes.) This makes it one of the few times his altmode has been properly characterized, as opposed to being a minivan. He is depicted with his correct, more human-like head. In the picture where he's face to face with Bumblebee, he's clearly shorter than Bee, which also makes sense considering a Honda City Turbo is even smaller than a VW Beetle, a rare instance of real-life vehicle scale asserting itself in otherwise toy-accurate artwork
- Bumblebee's chosen for the sea mission because he performs better underwater than the other Autobots, an ability from his tech spec that's come up once in a coloring book, but not in the bigger continuities.
- A rare appearance by Topspin among the Autobot assault force, apparently because he's their only water vehicle besides Seaspray. His fellow Jumpstarter Twin Twist is therefore not in this book.
- The Dinobot story for which this book is named is little more than a prelude to the main plot. (Though some endings do never get beyond it.)
- When Sludge carries out his his tidal wave assault, Skids and Bumblebee hide in a "hut" on the beach. How many huts are on the American west coast, especially huts large enough to hold two Autobots? (Granted, they are the two smallest Autobots in this story).
- Frenzy gets washed out to sea, therefore Bumblebee recovers from his paralyzing sonic attack, after he's already been moved away from the Decepticon base. The paralysis apparently depends on Frenzy continuing to screech (or...something), regardless of his proximity to his victims. Huh.
- Scrapper's tech specs mention him using parts from Autobots to make his creations, but this is one of the only times he's actually done it in fiction. The Autobot throne in Triple Takeover wasn't nearly as horrific as the Autobot Memorial Power Plant, but that project also took advantage of one of Skids' rare appearances.
- While subsequent books in this series occasionally switch to second-person narration to berate you for choosing the wrong path, the only second person ending in this book is an Autobot victory outcome, praising you for putting Sludge on the mission with Skids and Bumblebee.
- In the illustration on page 63, Optimus's hand is a little too close to Megatron's...um...trigger. It's partly a perspective trick, but still unfortunate composition.
- This is also one illustration that blatantly copies box art: there are no toy-based pictures of Megatron in this book.
- Lots of victory parties in this one, including three in the same path! The Decepticons even build a mountaintop bonfire! No one gets drunk though. In another ending, Skids bets that the Decepticons will never forget the day Sludge crashed their party.
- This book was available individually, or as part of a six-book box set with the other five "pre-Movie era" books in the series.
Keywords
Autobot Memorial Power Plant, Hidden Valley, Star mini-submarine
External links
