Personal tools

Rock and Roll-Out!

From Transformers Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search
« The Transformers (US) #14 »
« The Transformers (UK) #53–54 »
MarvelUS-14.jpg
Special Olympians are the real heroes. I'm gonna give 'em everything I've got.
"Rock and Roll-Out!"
Publisher Marvel Comics
First published November 26, 1985 ("on sale" December 17, 1985)
Cover date March 1986
Writer Bob Budiansky
Penciler Don Perlin
Inker Al Gordon
Colorist Nel Yomtov
Letterer Janice Chiang
Editor Michael Carlin
Continuity Marvel Comics continuity

A new group of Autobots are born in the US, and must thwart the Decepticons' attempts to steal sound energy from a rock concert.

Contents

Synopsis

(thumbnail)
We'll help, Meatloaf! But how?

Jetfire has been brought to life by Optimus Prime and now undergoes the Rite of the Autobrand to become a full member of the Autobots. Optimus gives him a tour of the Ark, including a stop in the medical bay, where Ratchet is struggling to repair a large group of Autobots recently damaged in battle. Fortunately, Optimus Prime has a way to replenish his depleted forces: before the Ark left Cybertron four million years ago, five Autobots agreed to let Optimus copy their minds into crystalline containment vessels in the event that he needed new warriors on his mission. Now, Wheeljack installs those minds into new bodies constructed by the Ark—and Grapple, Hoist, Skids, Smokescreen, and Tracks live for a second time! Optimus Prime welcomes the new arrivals and instructs Bumblebee to take them out on the road to help them acclimate to their new home town—all save for Grapple, that is, who Prime requests stay behind and put his architectural expertise to work helping him on a secret project.

Off the coast of Portland, G.B. Blackrock is escorted by intelligence operative Walter Barnett to the naval fleet surrounding his oil-drilling platform, previously captured by the Decepticons, on which the leaderless Starscream, Skywarp, and Thundercracker—now find themselves trapped. Shockwave chooses that moment to make his dramatic return, flying through the barrage of human firepower and landing on the rig just in time to squelch the mewlings of Starscream. Shockwave unveils to the three jets the power siphon he has built in his absence—a device that can convert any source of energy into a form of fuel usable by Transformers known as energon cubes. Shockwave demonstrates by converting some of the platform's oil into cubes, then announces his plan to steal "a large release of sonic energy." The Decepticons take flight, evading the naval fleet by detonating one of the cubes in mid-air, blinding their attackers with the blast. But all is not lost; microphones planted in the oil platform's supports allowed the humans to overhear the Decepticons' plans, and the information is soon relayed by Blackrock to the Autobots.

RockandRollOut facsimilies.jpg

Bumblebee teaches the new Autobots the importance of following human road signs, and helps them test out the additional disguise provisions Wheeljack has equipped their vehicle modes with: panels to hide their Autobot insignia, and "Facsimile construct" mannequins that make it appear there are drivers behind their wheels. The group pulls into a Blackrock gas station to fuel up (by way of the arrangement they have with the owner), where Skids hears the music of Brick Springstern on the radio and learns from a station attendant about an upcoming concert at Municipal Stadium. Optimus Prime contacts the group to pass on Blackrock's intel and Skids puts two and two together, deducing that the Decepticons are planning to hit the concert.

Barnett, meanwhile, is summoned to Washington, D.C. to meet with his boss Forrest Forsythe, from whom he learns that a civilian couple witnessed Shockwave's departure for the rig from the mainland. Hysteria is spreading amongst humanity thanks to the presence of the Transformers, and, under pressure from the White House, Forsythe orders him to come up with some kind of cover story to explain the continued sightings of giant alien robots.

Brickspringhornandthetenthavenueband.jpg

Bumblebee's team arrive at the concert stadium, but fail to observe the sign that instructs them to pay for parking, leading to some security guards chasing after them through the parking lot. Realizing their mistake but unable to do anything about it, the 'bots simply retract their facsimile "drivers," leaving the guards flummoxed. They listen in as the concert begins, but soon detect a disruption in the sound of the music. They spot a strange cable hanging in the rigging above the stage, but in order to investigate, they need to enter a backstage area marked with a sign that forbids "unauthorized vehicles"... so Bumblebee decides the "sign-reading" portion of his curriculum is a little too advanced for his class, and smashes the gate down so they can get inside. The cable turns out to be leading underground, and when Hoist severs it, Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp burst out of the ground. Despite Optimus's order not to engage before he arrives with reinforcements, Bumblebee orders the new Autobots to open fire. The resultant exchange of blasts damages the rigging, and while Skids, Tracks, and Smokescreen battle the jets, Hoist gets to work repairing the structure before it collapses, urging the shocked Springstern and his band to keep playing and act like it's all part of the show to keep the crowd from panicking. Bumblebee, meanwhile, discovers the power siphon underground and wrecks it; furious, a vengeance-seeking Shockwave decides to incinerate the audience, but Bumblebee stops him by hurling an energon cube into his barrel just as he fires. The cube detonates, hurling the helpless Shockwave off into the distance, the jets fleeing after him. Unfortunately, though they have won the battle, the Autobots find themselves immediate objects of suspicion from the crowd, who lump them in with the Decepticons. The group quickly pull out and head back home, running into Optimus Prime and his reinforcements on the way. Bumblebee is prepared to accept a reprimand, but Prime is impressed with his team's performance and trusts that Bumblebee did what he felt was best. Bumblebee affirms that he did, having learned that "the show must go on!"

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots Decepticons Humans

Quotes

"To quote the old Cybertronic proverb, Jetfire -- 'May your luster never dull, and your wires never cross!'"

— Optimus Prime welcomes the newest addition to the Autobot ranks


"...Understand that only common cause and mutual agreement bind one Autobot to another. By commanding, it is I who serve -- for that is what the other Autobots ask of me. If ever they should want me to step down, I will. If ever you want to leave, you may. That is the right of every Autobot."

—Optimus Prime's noble speech was forgotten later on. Even by himself.


"Wait! Another sign! Remember Optimus' instructions!"
"But 80,000 humans were looking forward to this concert -- and the Decepticons are possibly ruining it!"
"Y'know, Skids... I think sign-reading is too advanced for this training session. We haven't once gotten it right yet." BONK

—Bumblebee and Skids

Notes

Continuity notes

(thumbnail)
By returning this coupon today!
  • Jetfire has been brought online using the Creation Matrix at some point between this issue and his last appearance in issue #12. The UK series inserted the exclusive story "Dinobot Hunt!" between these two stories which also featured Jetfire as a living 'bot.
  • The Autobots in the repair bay were all injured during the events of issue #12. The UK series had to massage this point a little; it was not immediately obvious in issue #12 that these characters had been injured to such a serious extent, and several subsequent UK stories showed them all to still be functional. So it was the aforementioned UK-exclusive story "Dinobot Hunt!" featured many of the Autobots receiving serious injuries under different circumstances, thereby creating a "new" reason that would explain to UK readers why they were in the repair bay.
    • That said, of the 'bots actually shown in this issue, only Cliffjumper, Gears, Jazz, Huffer, and Sideswipe were injured in "Dinobot Hunt!"; Prowl was unhurt at the end of the story, while Hound never appeared in "Dinobot Hunt" at all but was shown to be active in "The Icarus Theory". Their presence on the injured list is essentially ignored by the UK series going forward, as they, and several other characters injured in the US storyline but not in "Dinobot Hunt!", will continue to appear in future UK stories.
  • Thundercracker and Skywarp were last seen in issue #6. They have apparently been on the captured Blackrock oil platform ever since then, having been joined by Starscream following his last appearance in issue #9. This isn't true for the UK continuity, though; the UK series inserted the story "Crisis of Command!" into the narrative, which showed the trio active on the mainland.
  • Shockwave returns after a brief absence, following the events of issue #12 in which he sank into a swamp. The UK series inserted multiple stories between these two, making Shockwave's disappearance a more protracted one.
  • Bot Roster:
    • Autobots: 17 active as Jetfire, Skids, Tracks, Hoist, Grapple, and Smokescreen join the ranks; 12 offline (29 total)
    • Decepticons: All 17 active (albeit scattered) as Shockwave returns

Transformers references

Energoncubesrockandrollout.jpg
  • Energon cubes, the preferred form of energy used by the Decepticons in the Generation 1 cartoon, make their first appearance in comic continuity with this issue (right), as elements of the franchise begin to converge towards the end of its second year.

Real-life references

Continuity and plotting errors

  • If Ratchet is having so much trouble fixing the damaged bodies of the existing Autobots, how is it that the Ark can construct bodies for new Autobots from scratch so easily?

Artwork and technical errors

(thumbnail)
For these panels, Hoist is suddenly drawn using his toy for reference, likely because his rear-view character model (top left) was not available.
  • Blackrock is missing his mustache again this issue, as previously occurred in issues #7, 8 and 10.
  • Hoist's character model doesn't seem to have been quite ready for this issue. A frontal-view model was evidently good to go, as he looks okay throughout most of the issue, but on page 19, when his back needs to be visible, both it and Hoist's head have clearly been drawn using the toy itself as reference (right). Further, Hoist spends the entire issue in an incorrect "early" color scheme that makes his left hand green and his right forearm and gun silver-white (both toy accurate, but per his finalized Marvel colors they should be blue-black) and his legs above the ankle solid orange (there should be sections of silver-white in there)
  • Page 2:
    • Panel 1: Bluestreak is colored as Prowl; he's also toting his gun around for no reason.
    • Panel 5: Prime's first speech balloon points to Jetfire.
  • Page 3, panel 1: Hound's shoulder cannon is colored as if it is part of the background.
  • Page 7:
    • Panel 6: For just this panel, Shockwave has got his early-color-scheme dark blue shoulders again. The power siphon is colored a yellowish-green, as opposed to the greyish-green of later pages.
  • Page 12, panel 2: Optimus Prime says "I overheard Skid's idea", in an error making the possessive form out of "Skids".
  • Page 12, panel 5: Tracks has covered up the flame decal on his hood to hide his Autobot symbol at this point, but the colourist doesn't seem to get this and colors a "u"-shape on his hood yellow anyway.
  • Page 14, panel 6: Tracks's hood is miscolored again; no yellow this time, just the central vent panel colored solid red.
  • Page 15, panel 6: Springstern's surname is given as "Springhorn" by the narrator.
  • Page 16, panel 2: Tracks has the red panel on his hood again.
  • Page 17, panel 5: Starscream's head is white, and his chest intakes are a blue-white-red pattern, instead of solid blue.
  • Page 20, panel 3: Shockwave says, "I take what what I want from them", using the word what twice.
  • Page 20, panel 7: Smokescreen's arms are red instead of blue, and his thighs are red instead of white.
  • Page 21, panel 3: Tracks's feet are red instead of blue as they fold up while he transforms.
  • Page 22:
    • Panel 3: One more red panel on Tracks's hood for good measure. Vehicle-mode Wheeljack is colored in Bluestreak-grey.
    • Panel 4: Optimus Prime's truck mode has been drawn using the toy as reference for this page for some reason. It should have a blank red section of cab between the silver stripe and the headlight; this is colored correctly in panel 3, but in this panel, the stripe and blank section's colors are swapped.

UK printing

(thumbnail)
The Special Teams Have Arrived... early.

Issue #53:

Issue #54:

Other trivia

Burger Shed.jpg
  • Following fluctuating appearances in past issues, both Jetfire and Wheeljack settle down into their finalized Marvel color schemes this issue.
  • This issue introduces the new Autobot Cars from the 1985 toy range, but for reasons unknown, Inferno and Red Alert are not included. In fact, Red will never appear in the US series, while Inferno will only show up in an alternate future timeline in issue #67, and in a non-speaking cameo in issue #78. This frees the pair up to get a little more face time in various UK-exclusive stories, but why they wound up being excluded from the US series in the first place is a total mystery.
  • The new Autobots are explicitly said to be created from copies of the minds of Autobots made on Cybertron before the Ark left the planet four million years ago. So... does this mean the original Tracks, Skids, et al., could still be running around on Cybertron or somewhere? (Budiansky was asked that decades later, and cheerfully admitted he has no idea.[1])
  • Businesses visible in the background include Gloria & Roz's Diner, Sam's Moving, Fred & Manny's Garage, and Burger Shed.
  • At some point, CardsOne, a company that deals in vintage comics, trading cards, and collectibles, acquired a large stock of unsold copies of IDW Publishing's Generations reprint of this issue (see "Reprints," below). These copies were bagged with a second random comic book and a random trading card, then sold via Dollar Tree stores around Easter of 2012.

Courtesy of my...

Covers (3)

  • US issue #14: Hoist repairing Brick's scaffolding, by Bob Budiansky and Mike Esposito.
  • UK issue #53: the new Autobots receiving life, by Robin Smith.
  • UK issue #54: reuse of art from US cover.
  • (thumbnail)

    US issue #14 - C'mon Hoist, the music isn't that bad...

  • (thumbnail)

    UK issue #53 - And you thought that shooting into their faces kills people.

  • (thumbnail)

    UK issue #54 - If you believe in Hoist, just cla- oh

Reprints

IDW Transformers Classics edits

For The Transformers Classics series of trade paperbacks, IDW Publishing "remastered" the coloring of the series with varying degrees of success. These changes were sometimes to fix errors, but often to alter characters' color schemes to make them resemble their toy and/or cartoon selves, and were rarely applied with consistency. IDW's recolored version was also used for Hachette's Definitive G1 Collection. (n.b. not all the changes made in IDW's The Transformers Classics are present in the Definitive G1 Collection in this instance. Where they differ, a note has been made below.)

  • Page 4, panel 5: Smokescreen's nose is now incorrectly colored blue.
  • Page 7: in both the panels in which it appears, the power siphon is recolored greyish-green to match its later appearances.
  • Page 9, panel 2: Skywarp's cockpit is now miscolored blue instead of the correct orange from the original.
  • Page 12, panel 5: The yellow on Tracks's hood is changed to red; this still isn't right. (change not present in Hachette edition)
  • Page 15, panel 6: "Springhorn" is corrected to "Springstern" to match the rest of the issue. (change not present in Hachette edition)
  • Page 17, panel 5: The brownish-orange of the rubble has been shifted to a more yellowish hue, there's a weird pinkish-orange shadow under Starscream's chin, and Skywarp's white eye is now incorrectly colored the same blue as his head.
  • Page 22: Rather than correct panel 4 to move Prime's silver stripe, panel 3 is altered to match the incorrect panel 4. (change not present in Hachette edition)

Advertisements

  • Marvel Christmas poster bonanza (Inside front)
  • Nestlé Quik Challenge of the GoBots contest (between pages 4 & 5)
  • Captain America musical audition notice - no, really (between pages 5 & 6)
  • Assorted want ads (2 pages on either side of page 8)
  • Mile High Comics (2 pages on either side of page 17)
  • Garden City comic book convention / assorted want ads (follows page 19)
  • Star comics holiday subscription form (follows page 20)
  • Transmissions / G.I. Joe Yearbook #2 (bottom right corner of Transmissions letter page)
  • Marvel subscriptions
  • Bullpen Bulletins (inside back cover)
  • Questprobe Adventures computer games featuring The Hulk (back cover)

References

  1. ↑ Interview at Rusting Carcass
Retrieved from "https://tfwiki.net/mediawiki/index.php?title=Rock_and_Roll-Out!&oldid=1752076"
Advertisement
TFsource.com - Your Source for Everything Transformers!