Monstercon from Mars!

	; Shouldn't this magazine be wrapped in brown paper, and be behind the cash register?
	"Monstercon from Mars!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Shipping date	June 28, 1988
On-sale date	July 19, 1988
Cover date	October 1988
Writer	Bob Budiansky
Breakdowns	José Delbo
Finished art	Dave Hunt
Colorist	Nelson Yomtov
Letterer	Bill Oakley
Editor	Don Daley
Editor-in-chief	Tom DeFalco
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

...and weirder!

Synopsis

On the set of a really, really bad alien-monster movie, the FX monster suddenly shorts out and explodes. Director Rollie Friendly isn't far behind, as this set-back will cost him weeks of filming. In a meeting with his PR expert Mitch Keno later that day, Rollie is looking for new ideas when Keno tunes him into a local broadcast by reporter Brad Emory relating to the Transformers.

The Autobot Sky Lynx is finally returning to Earth with his passengers, the human children nicknamed the Spacehikers. After setting down at a pre-arranged landing site, Sky Lynx releases his friends to their waiting parents. At first, Sky Lynx is willing to stick around, answer a few questions and pose for pictures. But the anti-robot hysteria of some members in the crowd quickly turns it into a mob, and he is chased away into the sky.

Keno's public relations standpoint is that, even as the villain, robot monsters will not be good for business in movies anytime soon. Instead, he suggests that Rollie check out a mysterious Bigfoot sighting from The Inquisitor. With nothing to do until his Creepozoid prop is fixed, Rollie enlists a camera crew and his two stars, Jake Colton and Carissa Carr, to go creature hunting. After grabbing a local guide in North Carolina and slipping past the National Guard, Rollie and company run right into the giant Skullgrin, inside his organic shell.

After a brief "fight", Rollie gets to talking with Skullgrin and offers to pay him in exchange for a movie deal. Thinking back, Skullgrin remembers that he was sent to Earth alone by his commander to establish a secret fuel depot for his Decepticon comrades. With this in mind, he makes the arrangement with Rollie to be paid in fuel for his time. After squaring things over with the National Guard, Rollie and company bring Skullgrin back to Hollywood for his big break.

Bigger than Optimus!

Skullgrin mania sweeps the country, and as he adjusts to his new role, Skullgrin prepares for his first live press conference. Things go a little crazy when the fleshlings actually ask him questions, but Carissa manages to calm him down in a classic King Kong/Beauty and the Beast moment. After the show, Carissa happens across a wheelchair-bound woman who is depressed about not seeing more of Skullgrin, so Carissa lets her in on a little secret: they'll be traveling to the Grand Canyon for more filming.

As the shooting continues at the Grand Canyon, Rollie calls a break and Skullgrin goes off to talk with Carissa. Once she confesses the sheer horror of her real name, Ethel Stankiewicz, Skullgrin feels the need to confide in her as well, and removes his Pretender shell for the first time. Unfortunately, the "poor woman in the wheelchair" has followed them to the Grand Canyon, and reveals herself as the robot-hating Circuit Breaker.

As Skullgrin and Circuit Breaker begin to spar with one another, Rollie catches sight of the battle and begins setting up cameras to catch it all on film. Skullgrin swipes his fleshling foe with his vibro saber, and prepares to shrapnel-blast her into oblivion until she manages to radio-override his shell and turn it against Skullgrin. The shell's strike knocks his cannons off-target, shattering the cliffside under Carissa's feet. While Rollie just continues to roll film, the poor actress is about to fall to her death. Skullgrin is willing to let her, as he feels betrayed by Carissa telling Circuit Breaker where to find him, but Josie does her good deed for the millennium and tells him Carissa never did anything to harm him.

As Skullgrin moves the actress to safety, Circuit Breaker overwhelms him with her electro-bolts and is ready to move in for the kill when Rollie yells that he'll pay her double bucks to kill Skullgrin on film for him. Momentarily more disgusted with her own race rather than the Transformers, Circuit Breaker fries Rollie's equipment and takes off, leaving Skullgrin alive but injured at the bottom of the canyon.

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Sky Lynx (6)	Shockwave (13) Skullgrin (14) Scorponok (17)	Carissa Carr (1) Jake Colton (2) Rollie Friendly (3) Mitch Keno (4) Brad Emory (5) Robin Lindley (8) Jed Lindley (9) Samuel Wainwright (10) Allan Silver (11) Circuit Breaker (12) Ralph (15) Fred (16) Herb (18)	Daisy (7)

Quotes

"You can't even believe the page numbers in this rag, Mitch!"

—Rollie Friendly doesn't have a high opinion of The Inquisitor

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

Skullgrin never once shuts his mouth.

Continuity errors

Skullgrin travels from the Decepticons' ship to Earth by just sort of floating out the door in his pretender shell. This carries on the bizarre trend of Fortress Maximus and Scorponok's crews flying to and from planetary surfaces without shuttle craft.

Continuity notes

Ridiculous as it sounds, it's entirely possible that Skullgrin mania swept the country without the Autobots knowing about it. As of US issue #44, all the Autobots of Earth were still trapped on the moon following the departure of Steelhaven for Nebulos.
The Spacehikers joined the Transformers cast in "Child's Play" and began their return journey to earth in "The Cosmic Carnival".
Placards brought to protest Sky Lynx's landing include, "Let 'em Rust", "DOWN with the ROBOT" and "DIE, Robots!" There was also the slightly more creative "Reck the Robots", with the r of 'Reck' also serving as the r for robots.
In the previous issue, Berko was a passenger on Sky Lynx along with the Spacehikers, and he expressed some interest in returning to Earth. When we next encounter Berko, he and Sky Lynx are working as partners, and Berko is contemptuous of humans. It's safe to assume he's on board Sky Lynx during this issue (and just chooses to stay there). One might speculate that the abuse Sky Lynx receives here convinces Berko not to stay on Earth, but this is not explicitly supported by the text.
Sky Lynx leaving Earth was very fortunate for him, since it means he doesn't get offed during the imminent Underbase Saga.
This story is recalled in "King Con!" when Iguanus makes fun of Skullgrin for his time as a movie star and calls him a "fleshling-lover" over and over.
Instead of a regular Transmissions letters page, this issue listed the names of a bunch of contestants from the Bot Roster and Spot Shingo contests. The list started last issue and continued into the next issue.
Circuit Breaker's flashback references events primarily from issues #6 ("The Worse of Two Evils!") and #9 ("DIS-Integrated Circuits!"); the art is copied from issues #6, #8, #9, and #22.
For some reason, Circuit Breaker rolls around in her wheelchair without her "costume" on - meaning she can only move her head and (partially) one arm. Then when she dons the circuit-tape costume and bursts out of her trenchcoat... there's no other clothes there! Was she just running around in nothing but a trenchcoat like a quadriplegic flasher?
Sky Lynx mentions scraplets.
Skullgrin is paid in Blackrock oil.
The story ends pretty abruptly, with no real resolution for Skullgrin's career or the human cast. Though since Skullgrin ends the story alive, pissed, and within firing range of Friendly, it probably didn't end well for that guy.

Real-life references

This must've been the comic book Wreck-Gar read before retelling it to the Quintessons.

A soldier suggests that a farmer take his complaints to Frank Perdue, a real-life CEO of a chicken business.
Skullgrin is the cover star of Time, Newsweek, and People.
One of the reporters at Skullgrin's press conference is reading #43, "The Big Broadcast of 2006," the issue 2 months prior. The reporter may be Bob Budiansky himself.
Sky Lynx returns the children at an unspecified location in California; the movie crew finds Skullgrin in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina; the battle with Circuit Breaker occurs at the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
The implication is that Ethel Stankiewicz, like a number of real-world actors (and Marvel comic creators), has changed her name because it was Jewish and you're not going to get ahead with a name like that...
Mr. Friendly hopes his movie will be bigger than something called "Star Wars".

UK printing

Issue #190

Back-up strips: Visionaries - "Wings" and Combat Colin
AtoZ: Kickback and Laserbeak
In Dread Tidings, Dreadwind clears up confusion about who is named who in the Powermasters' ad in the UK comics, as well as answering the question of whether Transformers go to sleep.
An editorial note was added to Circuit Breaker's flashback.
Several lines of dialog in this issue were changed from the US version for the UK audience. "Nix the close-ups" became "FORGET close-ups" and references to Skullgrin being paid "points" was changed to "bonuses" for the UK version.

Issue #191

Back-up strips: Action Force - "Unmaskings" and Combat Colin
In Dread Tidings, Dreadwind covered that Metroplex's lack of UK appearances had been rectified since the letter was written plus stated the citybot was mentioned in the 1987 annual story "Ark Duty" and continued to tease about the upcoming "Time Wars".
This issue includes an ad for Death's Head #1 that includes a summary of Death's Head's career before he got his own solo series. The ad is worthy of note because it is one of the few times after his leaving its pages that direct reference is made to his adventures in Transformers.

Courtesy of my...

Skullgrin's Pretender shell attacks Circuit Breaker with his vibro-sword, then he moves in to finish her off with his alt mode's shrapnel blasters.

Other trivia

This story was originally solicited to run in issue #44, but was moved back to #45 when the fill-in story "The Big Broadcast of 2006" was printed in issue #43, bumped the story that was meant to run in that issue, "The Cosmic Carnival," into issue #44.

Covers (3)

US issue #45 cover: Circuit Breaker vs Skullgrin, by Bob Budiansky and Dave Hunt.
UK issue #190 cover: Circuit Breaker and a Skullgrin poster, by Stephen Baskerville.
UK issue #191 cover: Skullgrin's shell fighting his inner robot, by Art Wetherell and Stephen Baskerville.

US issue #45 - If this was made in Japan, it could have gone horribly wrong...
UK issue #190 - The only thing worse than robots — B movies.
UK issue #191 - We always hurt the ones we are.

Reprints

Transformers: Maximum Force TPB: Scorponok, a Targetmaster gun, the Steelhaven and half of Skullgrin's head, by Andrew Wildman.
Maximum Force HC: Skullgrin, by Peter Snejbjerg.
Classic Transformers Volume 3: Panels from this issue and US issues #35 and #36. Art and pencils by José Delbo, pencils by Don Perlin, finishes by Dave Hunt & Don Hudson, inks by Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, colours by Nel Yomtov.
The Transformers Classics, Vol. 4: Starscream, by Guido Guidi.
Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 12: Cosmic Carnival: Skullgrin and the Cosmic Carnival by Don Figueroa, Frank Springer and Danny Bulanadi

Maximum Force TPB (Titan Books, 2004)
Maximum Force HC
(Titan Books, 2004)
Classic Transformers Volume 3
(IDW Publishing, 2009)
The Transformers Classics, Vol. 4
(IDW Publishing, 2012)
The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 12: Cosmic Carnival (Hachette Partworks, 2018)

Personal tools

Views

Monstercon from Mars!

From Transformers Wiki

Contents