Crater Critters

	; Hoooooobgoblins. Hoooooobgoblins. What do ya do with those hoooooobgoblins.
	"Crater Critters"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	February1987
Cover date	June 1987
Writer	Bob Budiansky
Breakdowns	Don Perlin
Finishes	Ian Akin&Brian Garvey
Colorist	Nel Yomtov
Letterer	Janice Chiang
Editor	Don Daley
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

A secret shipment from the Decepticons carries an infection that threatens Decepticon and Autobot alike.

Synopsis

Believing that they can better fight theDecepticonson their own, GoldbugandBlasterseek information fromG.B. Blackrockthat might lead them to Decepticon activity. After some torture, Blackrock tells them of a mysterious meteor that crash-landed in NorthernArizona.TheAutobotpair goes to investigate.

The meteor was actually a space freighter sent by the Decepticons fromCybertronas part of a secret scheme to stealEarth's energy, but thefreighter pilotdid not contact Cybertron upon arrival as planned.Ratbatsends theTriple Changers Astrotrain,Octane,andBlitzwingto investigate. They arrive on Earth near a crater caused by the crash, and frighten away a group of scientists who had planned to study the "meteor". The Decepticons find the freighter, but learn only too late why the freighter crashed: the pilot was infected withscraplets,a group of tinyTransformer-like robots who can change into innocent-looking nuts, bolts, screws and the like, but which attach themselves to mechanical lifeforms and replicate quickly, causing great damage to the larger robot.

One of the scientists,Charlie Fong,doesn't scare away easily, and when he meets Goldbug and Blaster, they work out a plan to get to the crater and find out what's going on. When they arrive, they are quickly attacked by the Decepticons, and Goldbug and Fong are separated from Blaster. Although Goldbug is able to escape infection from the Scraplets, Blaster is not so lucky.

Don't get them wet or feed them Autobots after midnight.

Blaster notes that the Triple Changers are weakened more by the Scraplets than he is, and wants to fight the Decepticons with Goldbug's help. But Goldbug is convinced by Fong that Blaster's only hope now is to find a cure for the Scraplets. Fong proposes taking a crushed Scraplet out of the crater for experimentation, and Goldbug reluctantly agrees. As Goldbug leaves the crater, Blaster, believing himself abandoned, swears revenge. Goldbug pauses out of guilt, only to become infected himself. Now he has no choice. He and Fongmustfind a cure, or they are all lost...

Featured characters

(Characters initalic textappear only in flashback.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
Goldbug(3) Blaster(4) Grimlock(8) Scrounge(9)	Astrotrain(10) Ratbat(11) Octane(12) Blitzwing(13)	G.B. Blackrock(5) Felicia(6) Jenkins(7) Charlie Fong(14) Walter Huddleston(15)	Freighter pilot(1) Scraplets(2)

Quotes

"So you guys are deserters."
"We prefer to think of our selves as" independent minded "."

—G.B. BlackrockandBlaster

"Scrounge wasn't much of a warrior, but he had a fuel pump as big as a planet. I had to watch Scroungedie-- all because defeating the Deceps was more important. No amount of Deceps I destroy'll ever bring my little buddy back... but it's the best I can do for him in the meantime. And it'sallI can do. It's all Iwantto do. "

—Blasteris touching and scary at the same time

"I'm not filling your tanks to listen to you talk!Go!Time is fuel! "

—Ratbatdismisses the Triple Changers and their plot exposition

"Legend has it that, thousands of vorns ago during an outbreak on Cybertron, a rare chemical was found that killed the scraplets! But I doubt any of us will livelongenough to rediscover it. "

—Octanedescribes theSUPER-RARE CHEMICAL

Notes

MONDAY FIRM AT THE LATEST! AND FOR THE LAST TIME, WE ARE *NOT* DOING A 'THIS MAN, THIS MAYONNAISE' GRAPHIC NOVEL SO *QUIT* *PITCHING* *IT*!

Artwork and technical errors

Halfway through this issue, Goldbug is finally drawn mostly correct (still with Bumblebee's feet), where previously he was Bumblebee with Goldbug's head. After the switch, Goldbug's windows on his chest randomly appear and reappear. Barring the windows and feet, the error was even mentioned inTransformers: Classics.
ThoughNel Yomtovconsistently coloring Goldbug (whether incorrectly drawn with Bumblebee's original body or with his correct Goldbug design) in Bumblebee's original color scheme (a mostly yellow body with blue wheels, thighs, forarms and hands, but with a yellow head), contrary to the toy and cartoon color scheme (an entirely golden body with a blue head), can be considered an artistic choice, this causes a discrepancy in this issue when G.B. Blackrock wonders whether the Volkswagen Beetle that's approaching him might be Bumblebee, even though "his color is different"... when he's given theexact same color scheme as Bumblebee.

Continuity errors

Goldbug resorts to searching for Blackrock at a random expensive Portland restaurant... but he knows where Blackrock lives! He picked him up at home back inissue #15.Why not find him there?

Continuity notes

This issue features the debut appearance of the Decepticon Triple Changers.
In an unusual mixture of standard sci-fi faster-than light technologies, the freighter in this story can "warp" into "hyper-light speed".
Bumblebee sees through his headlights in car form.
Flashbacks:
- Blaster and Goldbug recall getting chewed out by Grimlock, seen last issue.
- Blaster remembers the sacrifice of his friend Scrounge, from "The Smelting Pool!";in flashback, Scrounge is shown carrying a rifle, though he never used a gun in his original appearance.
Blackrock mentions "some suspicious activity in theCaribbeanlately, "no doubt the Decepticons at their new base of operations, where they relocated to in"Gone but Not Forgotten!";in a couple of issues from now, we'll see that the Decepticons are hijacking oil tankers in the area.
Scraplets would be mentioned a time or two more in the Marvel comics, and would go on to appear in many later Transformer stories.
While this was the Triple Changers' debut story for the US market, the Decepticon and Autobot Triple-changers were both introduced way back in "Target: 2006"in the UK.

Real-life references

The action is set in northernArizona,while GB Blackrock's date is inPortland.Blackrock also mentions ship disappearances in theCaribbean.

UK printing

Issue #123

Back-up strips:Iron Man- "Man of the Year" andRobo-Capers

Issue #124

Back-up strips:Iron Man- "Man of the Year" andRobo-Capers
AtoZ:BuzzsawandCliffjumper.

Other trivia

Do I have something on my face?

The corner box image ofOptimus Prime,first used on the cover of issue#5,makes its last appearance on the US covers for a while; the next issue replaces it withGrimlock'salt-modecharacter model.It does appear next month onHeadmastersissue#1,before going away completely; Prime would return to the corner box with issue#50.
This issue was reprinted byIDW PublishingasGenerations#10. It featured a new cover byNick Roche.

Bot Roster

Autobots: 32 active including Blaster and Goldbug; 14 in repair bay. (46 total)
Decepticons: 34 active as the Triple Changers come to Earth; 9 offline. (43 total)

Courtesy of my...

Blaster'selectro-scrambler,as usual.

Covers (3)

US cover:Scraplets attacking Blaster, byBob Budiansky,Ian Akin,andBrian Garvey.
UK issue #123 cover:Triple Changers, byLee Sullivan.
UK issue #124 cover:Blaster being eaten by Scraplets, byWill Simpson.

US issue #29- In Japan, this is afetish.
UK issue #123- Octane's the camp one...
UK issue #124- He looks SO happy!

Reprints

Transformers: BreakdownTPB cover:Predaking,Megatron,Ratchetand half ofRatbat,byAndrew Wildman.
Breakdownhardback cover:GrimlockfightingTrypticon,byKev Walker,Simon ColebyandChris Blythe.
The Transformers: Generations#10 cover A:a new version of the US cover, byNick Roche.
Generations#10 cover B:line-art version of cover A.
Generations#10 incentive cover:reuse of a panel from this issue.
GenerationsTPB cover:reuse of the Nick Roche cover toGenerationsissue #1.