#30 - "The Cure!"

Information provided by Patricia "Vulcana" Wright and Jim H. Lee.

Credits

Writer - Bob Budiansky / Penciler - Don Perlin / Inker - Ian Akin & Brian Garvey / Letterer - Janice Chiang / Colorist - Nel Yomtov

Story

On Cybertron, the Throttlebots are captured after a failed attempt to raid a Decepticon outpost. They are taken to Ratbat, who has a dilemma: the Decepticon Triple-Changers on Earth (last issue) can't complete their assignment until they are cured of the Scraplets. Unfortunately, the chemical cure is so rare as to be practically nonexistent, and Ratbat doesn't want the infestation to spread. He gives the Throttlebots a choice -- either they travel to Earth and bury the contaminated crater and Transformers with acid, or he will destroy the planet. The Throttlebots agree to the assignment, and Ratbat gives them a ten-hour deadline.

In the Arizona desert, Charlie Fong is pushing the infected Goldbug through the desert, ignoring his dying pleas to abandon him and find a cure for Blaster. They find a Blackrock gas station, where the attendants give Charlie a glass of water. He spills some on Goldbug, and the Scraplets are repelled by it. Unfortunately, the attendants won't let Charlie wash Goldbug because their supply is scarce.

Using the Space Bridge, the Throttlebots arrive at the crater. However, before the acid bath can start, they notice Goldbug's tracks. Rollbar and Wideload are sent to eliminate Goldbug, and the bath is delayed until their return.

They reach the gas station, where the attendants are restraining Charlie from washing Goldbug. Charlie stops the Throttlebots from killing Goldbug by saying a cure exists. The Throttlebots are skeptical, but are convinced after Charlie infects Wideload and uses water to cure him. After Goldbug is cured, he says they can't use the acid bath because Blaster is also in the crater. Unfortunately, the deadline is drawing near; where can they find water in the middle of a desert?

Other Transformers fight world-shattering menaces. The Throttlebots risk their lives against a big purple blob.

Goldbug calls G.B. Blackrock, and soon everyone unites at the crater, where Blackrock arrives with two water trucks. Blaster, captured by the Decepticons, tells Goldbug to use the acid instead, because a water cure would also save the Decepticons. Goldbug reluctantly agrees; the Scraplets, aware of the danger, combine into a gigantic monster. The Scraplet-beast eludes the Throttlebots' water attacks and destroys one of the trucks. Goldbug, realizing firepower is needed, sprays water into the crater. The remaining Transformers are cured; Blaster breaks his bonds, and everyone attacks the monster.

The Scraplets are soon destroyed. Goldbug cures the Throttlebots infected during the fight, while Blaster uses the acid to obliterate the remains of the Scraplets. Among the confusion, Astrotrain overhears that Blackrock is an important person, and uses a flashing-strobe device from Ratbat to hypnotize him. The Decepticons then grab onto the meteor-spaceship and escape.

Goldbug explains to Blaster why he left before, and apologizes for saving the Decepticons. Blaster forgives him, saying that he was angrier at being deserted, and is glad to learn Goldbug was not a traitor and a coward as he had thought.

Notes and Comments

• The "miracle cure" against the Scraplets is water? The rare, almost legendary chemical solution is water? Anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry knows that water is one of the most common molecules in the universe; having Ratbat and the Throttlebots treat it as an extraordinary and mythical substance is laughably ridiculous.
• Blaster's portrayal in this story is rather disturbing. He denounces Goldbug for appearing to abandon him (last issue), and would rather die than let the Decepticons share the cure. This is a grim, almost militant Blaster, who is in sharp contrast to the friendly and carefree Blaster described in the toy's tech-spec profile and the Transformers animated series. Blaster's condemnation of Goldbug's "desertion" seems especially hypocritical, given that he abandoned Scrounge in the Smelting Pool (in issue #17).
• The white Throttlebot is identified as Chase, even though the toy is Searchlight.
• Sean Koury points out that Dr. Charlie Fong turns up later in another one of Bob Budiansky's comic books -- specifically, Sleepwalker, Marvel Comic's "action-oriented" variation of DC's Sandman title. Another argument that the Transformers shared the same continuity as the other Marvel titles, or just convenient recycling by Bob? You decide.