Monstercon from Mars!

...and weirder.

=Marvel US issue #45= (Story also appears in: Marvel UK issues #190-191)

Writer: Bob Budiansky Pencil Art: Jose Delbo and Dave Hunt Letterer: Bill Oakley Colorist: Nelson Yomtov Editor: Don Daley Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco Cover: Bob Budiansky


 * Major Characters (in order of appearance): Sky Lynx, Skullgrin, Scorponok (in flashback), Circuit Breaker


 * Originally published: October, 1988

Synopsis
On the set of a really, really bad alien-monster movie, the FX monster suddenly shorts out and explodes. Director Rollie Friendly isn't far behind, as this set-back will cost him weeks of filming. In a meeting with his PR expert Mitch Keno later that day, Rollie is looking for new ideas when Keno tunes him into a local broadcast relating to the Transformers.

The Autobot Sky Lynx is finally returning to Earth with his passengers, the human children nick-named the Spacehikers. After setting down at a pre-arranged landing site, Sky Lynx releases his friends to their waiting parents. At first, Sky Lynx is willing to stick around, answer a few questions and pose for pictures. But the anti-robot hysteria of some members in the crowd quickly turns it into a mob, and he is chased away into the sky.

Keno's public relations standpoint is that, even as the villain, robot monsters will not be good for business in movies anytime soon. Instead, he suggest Rollie check out a mysterious Bigfoot sighting from the Inquisitor. With nothing to do until his Creepozoid prop is fixed, Rollie enlists a camera crew and his two stars, Jake Colton and Carissa Carr, to go creature hunting. After grabbing a local guide in North Carolina and slipping past the National Guard, Rollie and company run right into the giant Skullgrin, inside his organic shell.

After a brief "fight", Rollie gets to talking with Skullgrin and offers to pay him in exchange for a movie deal. Thinking back, Skullgrin remembers that he was sent to Earth alone by his commander to establish a secret fuel depot for his Decepticon comrades. With this in mind, he makes the arrangement with Rollie to be paid in fuel for his time. After squaring things over with the National Guard, Rollie and company bring Skullgrin back to Hollywood for his big break.

Skullgrin mania sweeps the country!

As he adjusts to his new role, Skullgrin prepares for his first live press conference. Things go a little crazy when the fleshlings actually ask him questions, but Carissa manages to calm him down in a classic King Kong / Beauty in the Beast moment. After the show, Carissa happens across a wheelchair-bound woman who is depressed about not seeing more of Skullgrin, so Carissa lets her in on a little secret: they'll be travelling to the Grand Canyon for more filming.

As the shooting continues at the Grand Canyon, Rollie calls a break and Skullgrin goes off to talk with Carissa. Once she confesses the sheer horror of her real name, Ethal Stankiewicz, Skullgrin feels the need to confide in her as well, and removes his Pretender shell for the first time. Unfortunately, the "poor woman in the wheelchair" has followed them to the Grand Canyon, and reveals herself as the robot-hating Circuit Breaker.

As Skullgrin and Circuit Breaker begin to spar with one another, Rollie catches sight of the battle and begins setting up cameras to catch it all on film. Skullgrin swipes his fleshling foe with his vibro saber, and prepares to shrapnel-blast her into oblivion until she manages to radio-override his shell and turn it against Skullgrin. The shell's strike knocks his cannons off-target, shattering the cliffside under Carissa's feet. While Rollie just continues to roll film, the poor actress is about to fall to her death. Skullgrin is willing to let her, as he feels betrayed by Carissa telling Circuit Breaker where to find him, but Josie does her good deed for the millennium and tells him Carissa never did anything to harm him.

As Skullgrin moves the actress to safety, Circuit Breaker overwhelms him with her electro-bolts and is ready to move in for the kill when Rollie yells that he'll pay her double bucks to kill Skullgrin on film for him. Momentarily more disgusted with her own race rather than the Transformers, Circuit Breaker fries Rollie's equipment and takes off, leaving Skullgrin alive but injured at the bottom of the canyon.

Errors

 * Scorponok sent Skullgrin to Earth because, as a giant skeletal minotaur-thing, he'd "arouse less suspicion" than a normal Decepticon. Yup, works for me.