Article #46

 

Megatron on the Rampage!!!

 

OR…

 

Can’t you read?  Run!  Run for your lives!!!

 

Man, I don’t know how some people have the wherewithal to maintain a website every day.  They can write up huge, thoughtful entries almost out of thin air.  As for me?  Well, it takes me almost an hour to come up with a coherent sentence – and over a month and a half to come up with this entry…

 

Sad, isn’t it?  I know.  Ah well, scroll down faithful reader, scroll down… if you dare!

 

As a child of the 80s (well, some would say I’ve never actually matured, and that I’m still a child – I don’t know how anyone could say such a thing about someone who runs a site like this, do you?).  Okay, anyway, as a child of the 80s, it does my heart good to see so much of my childhood making a modern age comeback as crappy new cartoons and movies.  This deluge of 80s nostalgia exposes a whole new generation to stuff that now, as an adult, I’m trying to unload on eBay.  Yes!  My crap is still worth something!  I’ll actually be able to afford food AND shelter again!

 

One of these popular 80s items would be the Transformers.  It’s incredible how sentient robots that can change into cars and airplanes locked in a never ending war can really appeal to your average kid, but here we are over 20 years later and the franchise is still going strong.  One of the most endearing aspects of the Transformers is the strong dichotomy you have of Good vs. Evil, in this case an evil and sinister robot bent on human destruction named Megatron vs. the heroic blue and red good guy robot.  It’s now iconic imagery, and a brief perusal of the web gives you a multitude of images, including the one below:

 

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This is Megatron vs. Optimus Prime???  Am I on acid here???

And why am I just standing around here and talking when I should be running for my life???

 

 

What?  Were you expecting something else?  Maybe something like what I have below this sentence?

 

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Fun Fact #1:  The Transformer’s Megatron original color was supposed to be canary yellow, the most evil color known to man, but the folks at Hasbro had to reconsider after catching wind of Shogun Warriors #18.

 

The pulse pounding battle between the giant yellow monstrosity called Megatron and the heroic blue robot, dubbed Dangard Ace, could be found a full 4 years before the Transformers made their North American debut in the “historic” July 1980 Marvel comic, Shogun Warriors #18.  Thrill to the eye-catching cover below!

 

 

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OMG!!!  Doesn’t that sound like the Megatron we all know and love?

 

This cover sports a dynamic image and Megatron spouting violence that would make his Transformers counterpart green with envy!  My only complaint is that while both Dangard Ace and Raydeen are on the cover, the “female” robot of the team, Combatra, is nowhere to be seen.  In fact, she’s nowhere in the whole issue.

 

For those of you too young to remember the Shogun Warriors, well, simply put, it was a toy line issued by Mattel based on robot toys from Japan in the late 1970s… so in a way, Mattel originated Megatron.  Weird.  Personally, I never had any of the Shogun toys, though I did really want one.  I do remember watching the show as a kid, and I remember thinking how often they got beat up.  There was one in particular, Raider, a robot with a drill for one arm.  My memory isn’t what it once was, but I seem to recall that this particular robot always seemed to get its ass handed to it.  Gaiking was pretty cool though.

 

Speaking of asses being kicked, will Dangard Ace survive?

 

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Fun Fact #2:  This issue is illustrated by Herb Trimpe, well renowned comic artist who is well known for his work on giant robot inspired titles including the Incredible Hulk and G.I.Joe.

 

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Hmm… Shoguns are giant transforming robots… and Megatron obeys the “Primal One”… come on!

 

Yes, the Shoguns are giant transforming robots.  What, you think the Transformers were the first ones to enter this niche market?  Nah, they just cornered it.

 

And Megatron here (who eerily resembles Iron Man in his original gold colored armor) is a minion of someone/something called the “Primal One”.  Weirder…

 

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Do all Megatrons attend the same linguistics class, because this rant sounds eerily familiar!

 

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Megatron can transform his hand into a gun… interesting…

 

 

You get the feeling, reading this titanic issue, that Marvel somehow got tired of the Shogun Warriors.  Particularly in the way they’re letting their heroes get pummeled here.  Then again, this could just be the typical Shogun formula in action.

 

How can the great Shogun Warriors possibly survive this onslaught???

 

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That’s it?  Megatron can’t swim?  That’s how they beat the stupid thing?  Are you kidding me???

 

And what the hell is “sinke”?

 

So Megatron’s one weakness is exposed, his inability to swim!  Maybe Megatron got befuddled by the code talk Raydeen tossed around.  I know I’m not sure what “sinke” is.  Look, I’m no rocket scientist here, but if your giant robot can’t swim, then why on earth would you sic him on your enemies RIGHT BY THE OCEAN!?!  It just isn’t common sense.

 

And on that bombshell, I think I’ll call it a day.  Take care!

 

 

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