The Chromobots

The Chromobots
Format	Two page, full size strip
First TFUK appearance	Issue 12
Final TFUK appearance	Issue 26

"Chromobots" redirects here. For the titular species, see Chromobot.

Transmute isn't just any kind of robot. He's a Chromobot. A chromium man whose metallic compounds produce the most beautiful effect...

History

First appearing in issue 12, The Chromobots was a light-hearted action strip by Mychailo "Mike" Kazybrid. With its cast of mechanical lifeforms, The Chromobots fulfilled the brief that back-up material in The Transformers generally had to feature a robot or someone in an iron suit. Where the incorporation of various robots in Kazybrid's other creation, Matt and the Cat, allowed him to stretch his artistic skills more than his daily newspaper strip work, The Chromobots was a full foray into Marvel-styled superheroics, though retaining the author's eccentric sense of humour. The comic was printed wholly in black and white, and instalments were generally two pages long.

The Chromobots told the story of a normal (if geeky) boy named Dudley, whose dreams of adventuring like his comic book heroes came unexpectedly true when he fell in with a trio of alien Chromobots who were pursuing a criminal that had escaped from their homeworld. Dudley's adventures with mechanoids, mutants, and time travellers were short-lived, however, and ended after 15 issues, coinciding The Transformers becoming a full-colour weekly comic under new editor Ian Rimmer (a revamp that also saw Planet Terry get the axe and Machine Man transition into its second volume).

Unlike with the cast of Matt and the Cat, Mychailo does not appear to have published any further stories in the The Chromobots canon. At time of writing, it is uncertain whether he retains the rights (as with Matt and the Cat, or Lew Stringer's Combat Colin) or if The Chromobots belongs to Marvel (as with Stringer's Robo-Capers).

The Chromobots strips in TFUK

• issue 12
• issue 13
• issue 14
• issue 15
• issue 16
• issue 17
• issue 18
• issue 19
• issue 20
• issue 21
• issue 22
• issue 23
• issue 24
• issue 25
• issue 26

Reception

• Issue 16's Openers features a drawing of Mikros by David Playle of Swindon, Wiltshire.
• The "More Readers' Favourites" section of Openers in issue 20 has David Cook of Maidenhead, Berks., list The Chromobots as his "best cartoon strip". Meanwhile, Lewis Mills of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, notes in a P.S. that The Chromobots "aren't much better" than Planet Terry, which he considers babyish.
• In issue 21's Openers, Simon Keeling (aged 14) of Littleover, Derby, writes in with a list of bests and worsts: "Worst Things Ever Done in The Transformers: 1. Putting the price up 2. Matt And The Cat 3. The Chromobots 4. Machine Man". He also offers some constructive criticism: "Best Thing That Could Be Done In The Transformers: More of Planet Terry and The Transformers and no Matt And The Cat, Chromobots and Machine Man."
• In issue 25's Soundwaves, Jason Morris of Virginia, U.S.A. says he's "not too keen on Machine Man, Matt and the Cat, and Chromobots".

Notes

• The "Next issue" preview of The Chromobots from issue 11, pictured above, is not actually an extract from any of the strips. It is possible that this was part of Mychailo's pitch to editor Sheila Cranna. 
• In 2011, Mychailo posted artwork of a decidedly different interpretation of The Chromobots to his blog, featuring an older Dudley. Its provenance otherwise is unknown.