Issue 59, 3 May 1986.
Written by: Simon Furman (story), Barry Kitson (plot idea)
Art by: Barry Kitson
Colours by: Josie Firmin
Letters by: Annie Halfacree
Cover art: Geoff Senior
Plot: Ratchet and Wheeljack build a Transformer-sized exo-suit for Buster. Optimus Prime is really mad: not only were the two supposed to be doing other work, but this will only encourage Buster to get involved in their battles and risk his life further. He doesn't agree with any of their reasoning, and orders the suit destroyed. That night, though, Buster decides that Optimus would change his mind if the suit did something useful. He takes the suit and flies to Fortress Sinister, to find Frenzy cleaning the place out. Apparently Shockwave's trying to excise any Megatron-centricity from the Decepticons (nope, he still doesn't know, poor bastard). He attacks and defeats Frenzy, mostly by accident, then Shockwave appears
Cor!: Optimus utterly loses his rag with Ratchet and Wheeljack over building the suit, something we don't get to see very often. They've got better things to do, and Buster shouldn't be involved in their fighting! It's made all the more memorable when Buster - currently wearing a Transformer body the size of Prime himself - turns on Optimus and points out that he's already involved, whether any of them like it or not.
Wicked dialogue: Buster: 'If it took an accident to defeat one of the less powerful Decepticons, I'd sure hate to meet--' Shockwave: 'Human!' Buster: 'Heck... was that ever a stupid thing to say!'
Inadvertantly embarrassing dialogue: 'You have earned the right... to die at the hands of Shockwave!' Silly! You've only got one hand!
International Interest: Fortress Sinister is here declared an ex-Decepticon base, and they'll have moved by the time the US strips come back. At the moment, though, the Cons are still getting their stuff out.
First appearances: Exo-suit technology. Not a character, but machines like the one Buster tries out here will still be in use by the time of The Movie, as well as bearing a passing resemblance to the concept of Headmasters (Cerebros in particular).
Miserable glitches: Shockwave says that humans' affairs are usually 'beneath his notice'. So, in denial about trying to steal energy from a rock concert? Or just didn't notice it was there?
Tech specs: Building a new Transformer body evidently isn't too much trouble for Ratchet and Wheeljack. They fair slapped together the five 'new' Autobots from issue 53 without much trouble, and here it obviously didn't take them that long to build Buster's suit, either. A gruesome thought: Maybe some Autobots didn't make it when the Ark crashed, and the boys have been using them as spares ever since! Waste not, want not!
This might beg the question: Why not just build new bodies for the increasing pile of damaged Autobots? But given the circumstances, it's probably not as simple as that. Maybe a brain module can only be safely removed under rare circumstances. There's a reason they pay Ratchet and Wheeljack to know this stuff for us, right?
The suit has an 'echo cell' which can somehow counter Frenzy's audio attacks. Frenzy seems to be resistant to this power of his when he's creating the effect, but not from the receiving end.
Back-up strip: Rocket Raccoon.
Notes: The picture of Optimus Prime's face on page would soon occupy the corner-box on the front cover of the comic, alternating with a picture of Megatron's visage.
Comments: Well, Optimus is right. And Wheeljack and Ratchet are right, too. Personally, I'd not have gone on about how battle-useful the suit made buster. After all, what about everyday interaction? Buster only comes up to the ankle/knee/waist/toe (depending on who's drawing) of these guys. Surely a to-scale suit would be useful? Of course, Buster proves Optimus' point for him by racing off and getting into trouble that very night! Guess the wisdom of the Matrix isn't a lasting effect, yes? Prime, on the other hand, seemed really stressed out. Maybe he's wondering what got into Bumblebee a couple of issues ago, and is scared it's spreading to everyone. Ahem. But I don't think we've even seen him lose him temper like that with the Decepticons, which just goes to show how important innocent lives are to the guy.