FNF: Bumblebee Vs. the Undead

OK, that title may be a bit overdramatic, since at the time Jetfire wasn’t so much “undead” as an AI drone created by Shockwave. He had hoped to give his creation life, but Optimus had transferred the Creation Matrix, a computer program which granted life to Transformers (and was not a Matrix of Leadership knockoff in those days), to the mind of a human, Buster Witwicky. Both sides have learned of this (now that the Autobots are awake), and interim commander Prowl (who isn’t a overemotional moron–Furman again!) sends Bumblebee and Silverstreak Bluestreak to retrieve and protect him. Let’s see how that works out.

Round 3 of 12

The Battlefield: The Transformers #11, “Brainstorm”. (Marvel Comics, December 1985)

The Promoters: Bob Budiansky (writer), Herb Trimpe (penciler), Tom Palmer (inker), Diana Albers (letterer), Neo Yomtov (I’ll be colorist all series), and Michael Carlin (editor)

After Bluestreak takes out Laserbeak, our heroes along with Sparkplug, Buster, and his girlfriend Jessie have a new visitor.

Bumblebee doesn't make friends easily.

Jetfire easily dodges the boulder Bumblebee throws at him, which is strangely enough for Bluestreak to oil himself.

"And I was going to be on 'Dancing with the Stars' this season."

And Bumblebee pays the price. Way to go, Bluestreak! As a bonus, his missile doesn’t do any damage to Jetfire. So our heroes must turn to a young Witwicky to save them, and luckily his name isn’t Sam.

Sing it with me, Transfans. "You've got the touch, you've got the poweerrrrrrr...."

So just how powerful is the Creation Matrix in the head of a human?

So powerful that I’m not risking my future by making a lame caption joke about it. So yet again Bumblebee doesn’t live up to his future nature as ‘Da Bee, but we do see some hints that he’s on his way. He keeps his cool while the more powerful Bluestreak flips out and he comes up with a plan to rescue Optimus Prime!

Someday I'll show you that even properly written Prowl doesn't have a better rescue plan.

Next time we get to see Bumblebee in some real action as he takes on Shockwave to the tune of 80’s pop…what? I already did that fight? Well scrap! So what’s next. Issue 15 just has him being shot at along with the other Autobots. Then in issue 16…wait, issue #16? The comic that made Bumblebee my favorite Transformer? Slag yeah, that deserves a “Scanning My Collection” on Thursday, and then more Bumblebee tailpipe kicking in the Friday Night Fights!

click to vote in this week's tournament

And remember, readers, you don’t have to be a participant or join the forums to vote in the tournament. Just check out all the entries, vote for your favorite of the round, and go make a sandwich*. It’s that easy. However, if you have a blog, join us on the field of battle! We need to feed Spacebooger’s craving or even Bumblebee won’t be able to save us!

*sandwich optional

Related Articles

• The Bumblebee Bug (chicagonow.com)
• Interview with Transformers voice actor Mark Ryan (chicagonow.com)