Malt Shop Menace

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Planet Terry in Malt Shop Menace (Part IV)
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Published in	The Transformers issue 19
First published	1st June, 1985
Writer	Lennie Herman (uncredited)
Pencils	Warren Kremer (uncredited)
Inks	Vince Colletta (uncredited)
Colours	Peter Kremer (uncredited)
Letterer	Grace Kremer (uncredited)
Editor	Sid Jacobson (uncredited)
Executive editor	Tom DeFalco (uncredited)
Editor-in-chief	Jim Shooter (uncredited)

"Following up clues"

Featured characters

Planet Terry's crew	Antagonists	Milk Toast Malt Shop occupants	Fauna
Planet Terry Robota	Omnus Boss bartender Morthrott Grmbil	Snout-nosed alien Elephant alien Wide-mouthed amphibian alien Three-mouthed alien Thick shakes alien Fish person bartender Burping demon Fourth-wall breaking demon Skinny alien Horned joker Bumpy-spine alien Quilled alien Squink Blue lizard Wide-nosed background alien	Crocogaters Gnork hog

Notes

Planet Terry issue 1 on Marvel Database, an external wiki

Original printing

• Planet Terry issue 1, 25 December 1984

As originally published, each issue of Planet Terry contained four separately-titled but interconnected chapters. "Malt Shop Menace" is the fourth and final chapter of the first issue.

As it was originally published in the same book as "The Search", "Malt Shop Menace" carries no credits for its creative team, meaning they are uncredited by The Transformers.

Edits

• A new recap of "Some Answers" is lettered into the top gutter on the first page.
• On the final page, Terry's use of the word "mom" is edited to "mum".

Artwork and technical errors

• The drinking establishment is referred to as the "Milktoast Malt Shop" in dialogue in both this story and "Some Answers", but the sign as actually seen on the building spells it "Milk Toast Malt Shop".
• If "Crocogater" is a portmanteau of "crocodile" and "alligator" – and the shortening of the word to "gator" suggests it is – then it's spelled wrong.
• In the second panel of page three, Robota's face is the same colour as the pink background.
• On the fifth page, the boss bartender alternates whether he's across the counter from Squink or not during the course of their conversation. It's decent of Squink to let him go back around the bar before throwing his sundae dish at him.
• Whichever one of the bouncers is the rabbit, his eyes are yellow in the fifth panel of page five but red everywhere else.
• In the sixth panel of page five, Terry's gloves and belt are white instead of yellow.

Continuity notes

• A Gxyzpldberry is a type of fruit one might expect to get in a sundae.
• One of the bartenders is the same species as the mother and daughter fish people seen on Bznko in "The Search".
• An alien with horns starts telling a joke about a Gwork, an Arterian, and an Earthling. The skinny alien's response suggests that the Earthling is the usual butt of the joke.

Real-life references

• The Milk Toast Malt Shop is a subsidiary of Cadence Industries – at the time, this was the real world parent company of Marvel Comics.

Other notes

• This story and "The Saga of Princess Ugly" are the only Planet Terry strips to be printed entirely in colour.
• As with "The Search", the majority of the weird background aliens introduced in this story go on to appear in the 2009-2010 miniseries X-Babies,  with the boss bartender, elephant alien, and snout-nosed alien all appearing in the first issue,  being joined by the wide-mouthed amphibian alien, the three-mouthed alien, the thick shakes alien, the fish person bartender, the burping demon, the fourth-wall breaking demon, the skinny alien, the horned joker, the quilled alien, and the blue lizard in the second issue.