#47 - "Club Con"

The Underbase Saga, part 1

Information provided by Robert E. Powers.

Credits

Writer - Bob Budiansky / Penciler - Jose Delbo / Inker - Dave Hunt / Lettering - Bill Oakley / Colors - Nel Yomtov

Story

This doesn't help stop those "Starscream is gay" rumors...

A television commercial shows Starscream flying a family of humans to "Club 'Con," a new Carribean island vacation resort. As if that's not enough, the Autobots on the Ark are further surprised to learn that the island's king is Buster Witwicky. Sent by Optimus Prime to investigate the matter, Blaster uses a flying capsule to go to Portland, Oregon, where he finds Sparkplug Witwicky and Jessie, Buster's girlfriend. Blaster asks Sparkplug's help to investigate the island; Jessie suggests that her youth makes her a better choice to play tourist, and Sparkplug reluctantly approves.

After arriving at Club 'Con and escaping the attention of Starscream the "manager," Jessie goes snorkeling in a nearby reef. There, she sees the Seacons swimming from a shipwreck and entering the island via an underwater tunnel. Quickly surfacing, she grabs Blaster over his protests, then takes him with her into the tunnel. They soon find Buster, chained inside a human-sized cell, but there isn't enough room for Blaster to transform and rescue him.

Buster explains the Decepticons' mission: several hundred years ago, the Autobots of Cybertron detected something that was headed towards Earth, due to arrive two hundred years later. Raindance and Grand Slam were sent to Earth to warn the Autobots there, but their ship malfunctioned and crashed. The two cassettes ended up in a pirate's treasure chest, whose ship sank in a storm. The Decepticons are now exploring the shipwreck in hopes of finding the Autobot cassettes. To cover up their work, Ratbat has declared the island to be a sovereign nation for the Decepticons, with Buster as a figurehead king to prevent retaliation from other nations.

So much for that 'tropical vacation getaway' disguise.

After saying goodbye, Jessie and Blaster leave just as the Seacons return with the treasure chest. Unspotted, Jessie takes Raindance and Grand Slam from the chest while the Seacons are reporting to Ratbat, then makes her escape with the Autobots. They soon return to the beach, but it's too late; finding her tracks, the Seacons followed Jessie to the surface. They start to attack the tourists on the beach, demanding the return of the Autobot cassettes. Blaster transforms and fights the Seacons, but soon realizes that he cannot distract them all and protect the humans.

In desperation, Blaster ejects the cassettes back into the ocean; the Seacons break off the fight to pursue them, and Blaster transforms back to his tape deck mode and hides in the crowd. Jessie apologizes for her impulsiveness, but Blaster comforts her about the information they've found. The two take the next flight off the island, and Blaster vows to return soon.

Notes and Comments

• Story-wise, this issue ranks as one of the lowest points in the American comic book series. Not only is the idea of the Decepticons running a vacation resort ludicrous, but the plot holes are big enough for Trypticon to walk through. How does having a human "king" prevent the other world powers (or the United Nations) from taking action? Why would the Autobots of Cybertron send Raindance and Grand Slam to Earth several hundred years ago, when the Ark's crew has been presumed lost for millions of years? Heck, why bother reporting about the danger -- which wasn't due to arrive for two hundred years anyway -- when they could intercept or stop it themselves?
• In the story's defense, Tim Roll-Pickering notes that the idea of an artificial island with a self-appointed human monarch might have been based on the real-world Sealand. A former sea fort built off the coast of England, Roughs Tower was claimed by pirate radio operator Paddy Roy Bates, who then declared it the sovereign nation of Sealand in 1967. Sealand reappeared in the news in 1987 when the United Kingdom extended its territorial sea to twelve nautical miles, thus possibly providing an idea to writer Bob Budiansky at the time...
• It is not mentioned where the Seacons came from, though presumably they were sent from Cybertron, since Blaster recognizes them.
• In this issue, a number of characters are randomly inserted into background scenes, even though they should not be present. For example, one panel shows Outback, who was never introduced in the American comic book series and is never seen again. More incredulous appearances are made by the Battlechargers, who were last seen plunging into the Atlantic Ocean in issue #23 -- one of them appears in the Decepticon's base, while another is shown aboard the Ark(!)...