The Transformers issue 21/The Chromobots

« The Chromobots »
The Chromobots (issue 21)
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Published in	The Transformers issue 21
First published	29th June, 1985
Script	Mike Kazybrid
Art	Mike Kazybrid

"Reporting back to base!"

Synopsis

Drifting through space towards the ship, Shield considers the beauty of Earth... as well as his duty in protecting the planet from the schemes of escaped prisoner Predator. With Transmute patrolling around Dudley's home and Mikros reading his comics, Shield activates the ship's communications array and hails Chromos Five Central Control.

After a delay, the transmission is picked up by Cygnet. Shield reports in that his team ran into Predator, and the Chromatic criminal has escaped with a human female abductee. Cygnet reads a report from Mikros, and she is impressed by their human ally, Dudley, and his knowledge of extraterrestrials gained from a powerful influence called "Marvel". She tells Shield that the Chromatic Star Federation has discovered that Predator's apparent teleportation leaves behind a pattern or vibration that they have detected twice more in the area surrounding their Earth base of operations... but Cygnet's explanation is interrupted before she can properly warn Shield that the most recent pattern appeared to shift in time to the Earth date of 2535!

Featured characters

Regular cast	Others
Dudley (on screen) Shield Mikros	Cygnet

Quotes

"I see that according to information received from Mikros, you've received aid from a human named Dudley! It appears that he is already quite familiar with the existence of mutants, aliens, and robotic life-forms! – Something to do with a powerful influence called......... ....Marvel!"

—Cygnet proves that the key to comedy is......... ....timing.

Notes

Artwork and technical errors

• The patterns of Predator's "teleportation" are self-evidently dated to 1985. "But.. it's like they've had a shift in time! I don't understand how, but if my reading's right, the last pattern showed up in Earth's time of 2535 AD!!" How do the C.S.F.'s detectors defy linear time?

Continuity errors

• Shield wanders off from the communication before Cygnet has the chance to mention the time shift plot point for no clear reason other than to tip off the audience and still allow the Chromobots to be surprised in the next issue. In said issue, he paraphrases Cygnet's explanation about the patterns and vibrations, so he must have ducked out on the conversation a) pretty late and/or b) at rapid speed between sentences.

Continuity notes

• Along with issue 18, this is one of two strips in which Dudley is not present. Unlike that time, in this strip he at least appears pictured on Cygnet's console.
• Cygnet operates from the transmission unit of Chromos Five Central Control.
• Cygnet confirms that The Chromobots takes place in 1985, the year of its publication.

Real-life references

• Mikros reads a comic with Spider-Man on the back. Other comics surrounding him feature Captain America vs an unknown assailant, Humph, and what appears to be Mister Fantastic.
• The report Cygnet receives says that Dudley has been clued up by Marvel, and while "aliens and robotic life-forms" are pretty generic as references go, she does also mention "mutants", a more specific shout-out to homo superior.