Robo Machines (comics)
The Robo Machines was a British comic serial which ran in Eagle from 10 November 1984 to 27 July 1985. Although it was titled after the Bandai-owned Robo Machine toyline, it primarily used the Tonka-owned names of the Gobots (which were later incorporated into Hasbro's Transformers). The characterizations, however, were original, and the plot wildly diverges from the American-made "Challenge of the GoBots". Background. In Europe, Bandai, rather than Tonka, distributed the action figures from the Robo Machine line, and with the "Challenge of the Gobots" cartoon yet to arrive in the UK , they engaged Fleetway Publishing to create a comic to help promote the line. Tom Tully, an experienced writer whose work included "Roy of the Rovers" and "The Steel Claw", would script the series. The art was initially handled by Mario Capaldi, with Kim Raymond taking over midway through the first of the two arcs. The comic was set in a different continuity to the Gobots cartoon, with the characters hailing from the planet Robotron, and some character names reflecting the European line (for example, the Renegade Twin Spin appeared as the Guardian Carry-All, and the Renegade Vamp was named  Casmodon). Storyline. First arc (10 November 1984 – 15 March 1985). The first arc begins on Robotron, which is a planet in the Proxima System where the organic inhabitants are very scientifically advanced people who through cybernetics are now 99% machines themselves, and robots are used in every walk of life. There, a power-hungry scientist named "Stron-Domez the Master Renegade" has modified two criminal Robo Machines, Cy-Kill and Tank, so they can transform into vehicles. After an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the President of Robotron, Stron-Domez takes his creations to Earth, which he had identified as being  rich in minerals to build more transforming Robo Machines. The Robotron Guardian Security Forces dispatch Ex-El the Last Engineer and a group of volunteers in pursuit aboard the Command Centre. Ex-El has studied Stron-Domez's blueprints for Tank and Cy-Kill, and plans to modify his volunteers in the same fashion. Meanwhile, Stron-Domez dispatches Cy-Kill, Tank and new creation Fitor to the town of Cholkham in East Anglia, England, which they begin to destroy. The Security Forces, in the shape of Ex-El's creations, which are Leader-1, Hans-Cuff and Dozer, arrive in time  to drive them off, but the town has suffered many casualties, including the deaths of the parents of Charlie Bampton, a young boy who possesses ESP. This skill makes him useful to the Security Forces, and the chance to end Stron-Domez's threat gives Charlie a reason to help them. After a botched contact with the British Army, the Security Forces track Stron-Domez to an electronics factory in Birmingham, where Stron-Domez has taken the workforce hostage and forced them to build more Robo Machines for him. The Security Force robot Truck and Charlie are able to free  the humans, and the Security Forces move in and rout Stron-Domez' forces. Stron-Domez is able to escape on Cy-Kill when the police arrive on the scene, though all his other troops are captured and disabled by the Security Forces. Second arc (29 March 1985 – 29 July 1985). With most of his Robo Machines deactivated by the Security Forces, Stron-Domez experiments upon himself, and is able to modify his body so he becomes the massive robot Zod. This attracts the Security Forces, but Zod is able to attack the Command Centre, and force it into retreat. However , the Security Forces robot Carry-All accidentally tracks them to their junkyard base, only to be mortally wounded by Zod. At the junkyard, Zod and Cy-Kill have recruited a group of destitute humans to build them more Robo Machines – Zod's planned Devil Invaders. Carry-All's signals attract the Security Forces with just one Devil Invader, Casmodon, built. The Security Forces leave one of their numbers, Scooter, with Charlie on board the Command Centre, but the human has a premonition of great danger and persuades Scooter to follow them. The premonition is correct – the massive Casmodon is incredibly  powerful, and in a pitched battle on the edge of London easily holds off the Security Forces attack, inflicting heavy losses on both them and the human population. Casmodon also captures Charlie, but while inside the Robo Machine, he is able to destroy vital circuitry, temporarily disabling his captor. The Security Forces then retreat to the Command Centre, and withdraw to Robotron to regroup, taking Charlie (whose parents were the only family he had, and thus has nothing to stay on Earth for) with them. Cy-Kill swears to build an army and invade the planet himself. Ending. The serial  was obviously curtailed before Tully had intended, as the ending, with Cy-Kill, Casmodon and Zod unopposed on Earth and the Security Forces in retreat, is highly unusual. It seems likely Zod or Cy-Kill would have built more Devil Machines (two more, Falgos and Zarios, are seen in Zod's vision in an episode midway through the second arc), and the Security Forces would have returned to Earth with reinforcements (most likely modelled on newer toys). Inconsistencies. Several inconsistencies appear over the two arcs: