Second Generation!

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...and he must let the world think that he is dead until he can find a way to control the raging spirit that dwells within him.
"Second Generation!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	Part 1: 24th May, 1986 Part 2: 31st May, 1986 Part 3: 7th June, 1986
Cover date	Part 1: 31st May, 1986 Part 2: 7th June, 1986 Part 3: 14th June 1986
Writer	Simon Furman
Art	John Stokes (Part 1), Barry Kitson & Tim Perkins (Part 2), Jeff Anderson (Part 3)
Colours	Josie Firmin (Part 1), Steve Whitaker & Stuart Place (Part 2), Tony Jozwiak (Part 3)
Lettering	Mike Scott (Parts 1-2), Annie Halfacree (Part 3)
Editor	Ian Rimmer
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

The Autobots and Decepticons learn the secrets of the next generation of combining Transformers due to a commercial message left in Buster's mind by the Creation Matrix.

Synopsis

Part 1

Optimus Prime: limbo dynamo.

Buster Witwicky dreams a terrible dream, in which he flees across a burning wasteland from the implacable Shockwave. The Autobots cannot help him; Shockwave cuts them down without mercy. Buster appears doomed... until a giant Autobot unknown to Buster suddenly appears and blasts Shockwave to scrap. The newcomer's victory is short-lived, however, as a giant, unfamiliar Decepticon appears to attack him. While the two strangers fight, Buster tries to get away, but finds his path blocked by five more Decepticons—five Decepticons who, as Buster watches in horrified awe, merge together to become another giant!

Buster awakes with a start in the Ark, where Jesse, his father Sparkplug, and the Autobots are all by his bedside. After they calm Buster down, Sparkplug rounds on the Autobots, blaming Optimus Prime for Buster's plight—a consequence of the Creation Matrix having been temporarily stored in his mind. But Optimus Prime is sure that Buster's "nightmare" is not an affliction, but a message from the Matrix itself, which he believes the Autobots can decipher if Buster will let them reach into his mind. Buster agrees, and he and Prime are hooked up to a machine that will let the Autobot leader join Buster in his dreams.

At the Wyoming coal mine that serves as Megatron's current hideaway, Soundwave brings news to the deposed Decepticon leader of the Matrix message within Buster's mind. Megatron quickly orders Soundwave to return to Shockwave so that he can learn the secrets of the message. Soundwave does so, arriving just in time to watch as Shockwave uses the machine he previously employed to drain the Matrix from Optimus Prime's mind to remotely tap into Buster's mind. The Decepticons observe as his dream unfolds...

Part 2: "Electric Dreams!"

Together in the dream-world, Buster and Optimus Prime watch as a group of five new Autobots named the Protectobots evacuate a power plant. When Blades spots what he believes to be a group of human vehicles heading towards the plant, the Protectobots move to head them off, only to find that they are not humans, but the Decepticon Stunticons. Through his holo-viewer, Shockwave marvels as the Stunticons combine into Menasor, the giant Decepticon from Buster's earlier dream—a combination Shockwave recognizes as superior to the Constructicons' Devastator. His elation at the notion the Decepticons will go on to master combiner technology even more efficiently in the future is cut short, however, when the Protectobots reveal that they too possess the same power, and merge into Defensor!

Menasor and Defensor grapple, but the Autobot combiner soon finds himself outnumbered when the Combaticons arrive and form Bruticus, the other Decepticon Buster had previously witnessed. Fortunately, the giant Autobot he previously saw defeat Menasor is soon to join the fray: Superion, combined form of the Aerialbots! The flaws of combiner technology prove to be the Decepticons' downfall: Menasor orders his arm to fire his gun, but the limb objects to being given orders, delaying in pulling the trigger just enough for Superion to dodge the blast, causing it to hit Bruticus. While Defensor stomps the fallen Bruticus into unconsciousness, Menasor tries to flee, but the ground beneath his feet crumbles away thanks to a blast from Superion's stress fracture cannon. Before the two victorious Autobot combiners can take the defeated Decepticons into custody, however, an emergency summons from Optimus Prime calls them back to the Ark, which is under attack. Forced to leave the Decepticons behind, they separate into their component Autobots and roll out, as Buster's dream comes to an end and he and Prime awake.

Soon after, Soundwave reports the news of the "Special Teams" to Megatron. Galvanized by this new discovery, Megatron instructs Soundwave to let Shockwave know his whereabouts, so that he can reclaim the title of Decepticon leader from him once and for all!

Part 3: "Return Bout!"

WE HAVE TO TAKE A BREAK BUT YOU WON'T MISS A SECOND OF THE TITLE MATCH IN PICTURE-IN-PICTURE!!

The meeting between Megatron and Shockwave at the coal mine immediately descends into an out-and-out one-on-one battle for leadership, which Robot-Master televises for one of his pirate broadcasts. The fight is seen over the airwaves by the Autobots, but Optimus Prime decides there is little they can do about it, and opts to have the Autobots focus their energies into realizing Buster's vision of the future by designing and constructing the Aerialbots and Protectobots. Preparations are interrupted by an alarm that sounds in the medical bay, alerting Prime and Ratchet to a change in the condition of the comatose Dinobots. Fortunately, it's good news—the five prehistoric Autobots have finally awoken, and are back to their old cranky selves.

Soundwave watches Megatron and Shockwave's battle on the sidelines with Robot-Master, despairing at the fact that a peaceful Decepticon co-existence seems impossible. Despair, however, slowly gives way to frustration; the two combatants are so evenly matched, and are both so conceited as to not accept it, that their continued in-fighting is only making the Decepticons look like a laughingstock. Soundwave steps into the middle of the battle and impertinently orders them to stop. Both equally outraged to be spoken to in this way by a subordinate, Megatron and Shockwave turn as one to reprimand him—an action that proves Soundwave's point for him, highlighting how alike Megatron and Shockwave really are. The pair relucantly agree to a joint leadership of the Decepticons for the greater good.

Meanwhile, in the far reaches of space, an electronic signal beamed into the void months earlier finally arrives at its destination: the distant world of Cybertron!

Featured Characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

Buster: "Wow! These guys are neat!"

— A dreaming Buster thinks everyone should go out and buy the Protectobots!

"I had hoped that a peaceful and profitable alliance could be arrived at between the two of them."

—Soundwave is overly optimistic.

"Grimlock! Speak to me - are you alright?"
"Get your clammy paws away from me, Ratchet! Since when have you or any other Autobots cared what happens to us Dinobots?!"
"Yes - they're alright."

—Ratchet checks on a just awakened Grimlock.

Notes

Production notes

• "Second Generation!" was written at the express request of Hasbro, to promote the Special Teams toys that were hitting shelves in the UK at the time. The problem was, the characters were still months away from being introduced in the US stories, necessitating the "dream sequence"/"vision of the future" plot hook as a way of featuring the characters chronologically ahead of time.^[1] To its credit, the comic commits to the idea, with heavy advance promotion, free gifts, and special features (see "back-up material," below) to sell kids on the new characters.
• Readers had already received a "trailer" for "Second Generation!" in the mini-comic "The Special Teams Have Arrived", included with issue #54 a couple of months prior, which was retold (and expanded to add an ending after its cliffhanger) as the "dream sequence" for "Second Generation!", with some panels and dialogue directly lifted (right, and see "Other trivia" below for more). The story was also adapted to become the UK audio cassette adventure, "The Special Teams," though we don't know the exact sequence of real-life events: was the short story conceived first, then used as the basis of the mini-comic, "Second Generation!", and the audio cassette independently, or did each of these works precipitate the other?
• With finished character models for the Special Teams obviously unavailable to the comic's artists, all twenty-four of the new arrivals are consistently drawn based on their toys and package art.
• "Second Generation!" and its lead-in were historically overlooked by fans, being a blatant to sell toys happening between more popular stories. James Roberts would call for its reappraisal in The Transformers Classics UK Volume 2, writing that the story is significant as the time the cast becomes unwieldy for Marvel UK as well as Marvel US; and that it's the "last of the "old school" Generation 1 stories" as elements like the buried Ark, the dustbowl, and Jessie and the Witwickies would be seen less and less.

Continuity notes

• Footnotes remind us that Buster's current condition has come about after the events of the previous two stories, "Robot Buster!" and "Devastation Derby!".
• Sparkplug mentions his previous attempt to get Buster to stay away from the Autobots, as seen in US issue #5.
• Buster recalls his first meeting with Bumblebee (from US issue #1), Optimus Prime transferring the Matrix to him (from US issue #6), and him transferring the Matrix back to Prime (from US issue #12), all complete with recreations of panels from those stories.

• As in the preceding story, Shockwave's Decepticons are based out of a "fortress," but it's not clear which one; is it the "makeshift fortress" the last US story oddly described Shockwave's forces as using, or is it the Decepticons' original fortress, recently re-introduced to UK continuity in "Robot Buster!," or did the UK comic intend for them to be one and the same?
• It probably doesn't mean anything in regard to the above question, but the "holograph display unit" Shockwave uses to view Buster's dreams is based on the design of a piece of machinery seen in the "makeshift fortress" (right).
• We have to assume that Buster's dream is not a literal vision of the future, as it doesn't appear to fit into future continuity. When they are eventually introduced in US issue #24, the Protectobots and Combaticons appear to be meeting for the first time, after which Optimus Prime dies at the end of the story. That would mean the events seen here—in which the teams have a separate encounter while Prime is still alive—doesn't fit. You could argue there's a little wiggle-room in issue #24's dialogue to handwave it and fit the events of the story between issue #23 and #24, but the "dream" setting means there's little need.
• Optimus Prime is really gung-ho to build these new super-Autobots for a guy who not so long ago in "Crisis of Command!" decreed he would never use the Matrix to build Ultimate Autobots. This continuity sticking point was simply unavoidable given the demands of Hasbro and the US stories, and would be smoothed over in the story "The Return of the Transformers," published in that year's Transformers annual.
• Speaking of the annual, readers are directed by a footnote to check it out for more details on the plight of the Dinobots (right), who have been comatose since the events of "Dinobot Hunt!". The annual contains the one-shot story "Victory!", which bridges the gap between "Dinobot Hunt!" and "Second Generation!", but it would not actually be published for another three months.
• This story sees Megatron and Shockwave enter into a joint leadership ahead of when the US reprints will show them doing the same, in US issue #19. Dialogue in that story will be edited for the UK reprint to reflect this change.
• The signal shown reaching Cybertron on the final page of this story was sent by Soundwave back in US issue #10. The inclusion of this scene is another rare example of the UK comic directly setting up the next US story.

Transformers references

Just in case you didn't think this comic was enough of a commercial already, here's a literal commercial inside your commercial.

• The brief battle between Superion and Menasor seen in part 1 ends with Superion hurling the Decepticon into a rocky overhang, which collapses on top of him as the Aerialbot combiner raises his arms in triumph. This is directly based on the short animated segment from the television advert for the Aerialbot and Stunticon toys (right). This even extends to artist John Stokes copying a screengrab directly, which is why Menasor's legs are attached "backwards" for one panel—because the commercial used an early character model with alternate limb configuration.

Real-life references

• The title for part 2 (given in the "next issue" box at the end of part 1), "Electric Dreams!", is taken from the title of the 1984 movie of the same name, though probably indirectly; the reference was more likely specifically to the film's theme song, "Together in Electric Dreams," which far eclipsed the actual film in popularity and notability in 1980s UK.

Continuity and plotting errors

• Robot-Master introduces his broadcast at the start of part 3 by explaining for the audience that Megatron and Shockwave are fighting for Decepticon leadership. This doesn't make any sense; he's supposed to be pretending to be their master, and telling the public otherwise destroys the whole cover-story he's supposed to be perpetrating for Triple-I.
• Cybertron is described as residing in "a galaxy far, far beyond our own." Given that it used to orbit Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our own Sun at 4.37 lightyears' distance, that's extraordinarily unlikely; this was probably supposed to say that it is a solar system far beyond our own, given the high frequency with which "solar system" and "galaxy" are confused in Transformers fiction.
• The wallchart included with issue #63 identifies Blades's alternate mode as a "police helicopter", an error repeated from "The Special Teams Have Arrived!"

Artwork and technical errors

I've heard of not being able to tell your left from your right, but...

• Shockwave has the blue shoulders of his outdated early color scheme throughout parts 1 and 2.
• Throughout part 1, Ratchet has red boots and shoulders instead of white, and a white helmet with a red forehead crest, instead of the inverse.
• Part 1, page 7, panel 1: Both of Menasor's legs are red; one should be grey, the other white. As noted above, he is largely drawn in this panel to the specifications of the early character model used in the Aerialbots and Stunticons television commercial, instead of being based on toy package art like in the rest of the comic.
• Part 1, page 9: Megatron's helmet is oddly green here; the two subsequent issues render it more blue.
• Part 1, page 9, panel 2: Megatron is missing his fusion cannon.
• Part 2, page 4, panel 2: Buster says "These guy's are neat" when it should be "guys".
• Part 2, page 6, panel 2: Vortex is coloured like Blades. Soundwave cooked up an "explanation" for this in the letters page of issue #71, claiming Vortex had special "camouflage circuits" that let him disguise himself as Blades, but he was pretty open about the fact he was making it up on the spot.^[2]
• Part 2, page 6, panel 5: As in "The Special Teams Have Arrived," Menasor orders Dead End (his left arm) to shoot Superion, but in this story, the art incorrectly shows Drag Strip (Menasor's right arm) carrying out the deed (right). Soundwave also "explained" this error by characterising Menasor as being so surprised by Superion's arrival that he forgot which Stunticon formed which arm.^[2] The error was corrected for the Collected Comics reprint of the story by changing the name of the offending Stunticon, but subsequent reprints use the original, unaltered page.
• Throughout part 3:
  • Soundwave's shoulder cannon disappears and reappears, and when it does appear, it's miscoloured silver-white instead of blue.
  • Wheeljack is missing his shoulder cannon and fins.
  • Optimus Prime's shoulder exhaust pipes are consistently colored red instead of silver-white.
• Part 3, page 2: Perspective and proportion on Shockwave's legs haven taken a holiday here.
• Part 3, page 6, panel 4: Optimus Prime's lower legs are grey instead of blue.

Other trivia

On a single page, you can find three John Stokes panels (above) swiped from panels from a single page of Herb Trimpe's work in "Prime Time!".

And no, it's not clear how he can spit without a mouth.

• In addition to the above-mentioned copying of a television commercial, artist John Stokes continues the form he established in the Transformers Annual 1985 story "And There Shall Come...a Leader!," by littering his work on part 1 of "Second Generation!" with "swipes" from previous US issues, copying and adapting poses and panel-staging. These include:
  • Shockwave's pose on page 2, panel 1, is copied from US issue #7, page 20, panel 2.
  • On page 2, all three panels swipe from somewhere:
    • Panel 1: Optimus Prime is from the cover of "Power Play!!
    • Panel 2: Shockwave is from the "like a buncha hex nuts" panel from page 8 of "Repeat Performance!"
    • Panel 3: Shockwave's torso is from panel 2 of "Repeat Performance!" again.
  • Several panels of Optimus Prime and the humans on page 8 are copied from US issue #12, page 22 (right).
  • Megatron's pose on page 9, panel 2, is copied from US issue #15, page 20, panel 4.
  • Also on page 9, the layout of panel 4 is swiped from US issue #15, page 21, panel 2.
  • Shockwave on page 16, panel 5 is swiped from his stroll with Megatron in US issue #8, page 5, panel 2.
  • As seen above, page 11, panel 1, showing Shockwave striding toward the holo-viewer, is swiped from US issue #16, page 2, panel 3.
  • The shot of Soundwave in the doorway on page 10, panel 6, seems to be composited from US issue #10, page 14, panel 7, and page 21, panel 2, explaining the odd way Soundwave is holding his gun sideways and at the ready.
• Similarly, part 2 features several panels and figures copied from "The Special Teams Have Arrived"—but in this case, it's artist Barry Kitson copying himself, since he drew both of them. Replicated scenes include:
  • The inset panel of Hot Spot and Optimus Prime on page 1 is a mirror-flip of "The Special Teams Have Arrived" page 1, panel 2.
  • The Protectobots transforming on page 2, panel 2 is copied from the "The Special Teams Have Arrived" page 2, panel 1 (see "Production notes," above).
  • The figures of Menasor (with Hot Spot looking up at him aghast) on page 4, panel 3, and Defensor on page 5, panel 6 come from panels 3 and 5 of page 2 of the mini-comic.
  • Lastly, the Aerialbots combing in mid-air as the other combiners fight in the foreground is copied from "The Special Teams Have Arrived" page 3, panel 1.
• The colourists on issue #64 are credited rather cryptically as "W & P," they're Steve Whitaker and Stuart Place, who have both worked on the series already.^[3]
• Throughout his tenure as host of the letters page, Soundwave would often use the word "Puttup!" (an onomatopoeic sound effect intended to represent spitting in disgust) to express dislike of things. With part 3 of "Second Generation!", it makes the jump into the comic strip itself, as he spits at Robot-Master in response to the offer of a cigarette (right).

Courtesy of my...

• In the dream sequence, Superion defeats Menasor using his stress fracture cannon.

Back-up material

Issue #63:

• Back-up strips: Rocket Raccoon ("The Book of Revelations," Part 2). Robo-Capers this issue features an appearance from Optimus Prime. The fifth and final instalment of the Biggles advert-comic runs this issue, causing Matt and the Cat to be left out again.
• Free Gift: The "Special Teams Special Collection Wallchart," a fold-out poster profiling all twenty members of the Special Teams and their combined forms (below). The spots for the four leaders and the four combined robots were left blank; the illustrations to fill these spots were included as free "collector cards" with the next seven issues, which buyers would stick in place on the chart. This issue came with Onslaught's card.
• Kicking off this issue is "Robot War III", the third (and as it would turn out, final) in an irregular series of text features summarising the events of the comic so far.

Issue #64:

• Back-up strips: Rocket Raccoon ("The Book of Revelations," Part 3), Robo-Capers and Matt and the Cat
• Free Gift: Hot Spot collector card for the Special Teams Special Collection Wallchart

Issue #65:

• Back-up strips: Rocket Raccoon ("The Book of Revelations," Part 4), Robo-Capers and Matt and the Cat
• Fact File Interface: Blaster and Soundwave
• Free Gift: Silverbolt collector card for the Special Teams Special Collection Wallchart

The Special Teams wallchart with all collector cards in place. For unknown reasons, Defensor and Bruticus use new Barry Kitson art instead of toy package art like the others. The Onslaught, Silverbolt, and Menasor cards were printed at the wrong orientation, in portrait format instead of landscape, requiring you to trim off the top and bottom to fit them inside the provided spaces.

Covers (3)

• Issue #63: Superion & Menasor package art; cover design by Alan Stevens.
• Issue #64: Buster and Prime share a vision of the Special Teams, by Geoff Senior.
• Issue #65: Megatron vs. Shockwave with commentary from Robot-Master, by Robin Smith.

• 

  Issue #63

• 

  Issue #64

• 

  Issue #65

Reprints

• 

  Collected Comics #10; cover by Bryan Hitch (Marvel UK, 1988)

• 

  Transformers: Second Generation (Titan Books, 2004)

• 

  The Transformers Classics UK Volume 2 (IDW Publishing, 2012)

• 

  The Definitive G1 Collection, Vol. 4: Second Generation (Hachette Partworks, Ltd., 2018)

References