Recipe for Disaster!

	; She also cut off his arm so as to unobstruct our view of her metal brazier. (Y'know, to light a small fire in.)
	"Recipe for Disaster!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First published	February 1989
Cover date	June 1989
Writer	Bob Budiansky
Penciler	José Delbo
Inker	Dave Hunt
Colorist	Nel Yomtov
Letterer	Jade Moede
Editor	Don Daley
Continuity	Marvel Comics continuity

The Pretenders must avoid becoming the Mecannibals' next meal... by providing them with proper seasoning?

Synopsis

Landmine and Cloudburst are about to become the Mecannibals' next meal. But although the Mecannibals forcibly yank the Autobots from their shells via an electro-magnet, the Autobots are able to fight for their lives by radio-controlling their shells. All this does is buy the Autobots some time, so Cloudburst suggests that the Mecannibals not eat them just yet... because they'll taste so much better if they can get the proper seasonings! So they make a deal: the Pretenders will get the proper seasonings in exchange for their freedom. Naturally, the hungry Mecannibals let the Autobots go to fetch the seasonings, but they do hold Berko prisoner in order to ensure that the Autobots return to make good on their culinary skills once their mission is complete.

And so, the Autobots travel to Femax, a world led by female warriors, and where men are treated as slaves. Because men on Femax are seen as feeble and weak, the Femaxian "First One" challenges Cloudburst to a series of trials designed to prove that he is an able fighter. Cloudburst passes these trials, proving not only his warrior skills, but also his viability to the "First One" as a potential mate. This makes matters awkward for Cloudburst, and he reveals to the First One that he isn't even a biological being. The First One promptly responds by lopping off Cloudburst's head. This leaves Landmine alone to reason with the First One, which he does despite his general inclinations, and the First One actually listens, agreeing to give the Autobots the crystals they need to season the Mecannibals' food and to restore Cloudburst's head atop his shoulders.

When the Autobots attempt to leave the planet, they are stopped by Darkwing and Dreadwind, but this delay is short-lived, as Sky Lynx shows up out of nowhere to take out the two Decepticons. Sky Lynx informs the Pretenders that the humans they have been dealing with are in fact binary bonded to these Decepticons, which gives them some interesting information to share with the Mecannibals upon their return to the Mecannibals' ship.

Upon their return, the Autobots change the terms of their deal. Rather than fixing a meal for the Mecannibals using the special seasonings they've just retrieved, the Autobots insist on having all the robots eaten by them restored using the parts recycled through their digestive tracts. If the Mecannibals don't agree, Sky Lynx gets to go primal on Hi-Test and Throttle, who the Mecannibals have apparently found indispensable in finding new sources of food for them. As they leave, the Autobots reveal that Hi-Test and Throttle are actually robots (they say), and to "have a nice day".

The Pretenders return to the Ark, their mission to get microchips unfulfilled, and Hi-Test, Throttle, and their Powermaster partners are pursued by the Mecannibals.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Nebulans	Others
Cloudburst (2) Landmine (3) Sky Lynx (7)	Dreadwing (9) Darkwing (11) Dreadwind (12)	Berko (4)	Hi-Test (5) Throttle (6)	Master Mouth (1) Cruncher (8) Shandikar (10) First One (13)

Quotes

"Wait! Before you take that first bit, Master Mouth, consider -- is this truly the best fare you can provide your faithful crew?"
"What're you talkin' about, food?!"
"As presently served, we are doomed to be just another forgettable snack. But marinate us in savory mercury sauce, garnish us with succulent lead sulfide crystals, sprinkle us with flavorful iron filings... and we become a dining experience!"

— Cloudburst (who knows WAY too much about this) attempts to reach Master Mouth through his stomach

"We must reason with them -- show them we're not a threat!"
"Reason's gonna be the death of me yet!"

— Cloudburst and Landmine

"Look, your Firstness, Cloudburst and I don't want any trouble, but if you want to play rough, we--"
"--humbly apologize for our intrusion, your grace."
"Apologize? To them?!"
"You see, Landmine agrees."

— Landmine and Cloudburst

"But you... you are different. You are strong and clever. Handsome. Fearless. I've never met a man like you. You can be my people's Second One."
"What's a Second One?"
[going in for the kiss] "My mate."
"Y-you don't understand! Where I come from, there are no women, no men... no mates!"

— the First One and Cloudburst have a lil' heart-to-fuel pump chat.

"Y'know, for a human she's not bad."
"Yes, she is a very compassionate, caring woman."
"No, I mean anyone who can lop your head off with one blow is okay by me!"

— Landmine and Cloudburst: comic and straight man

Notes

Sex

Cloudburst says that his people have no males or females, and certainly no mating. (Aunty? Who's that?) So what's up with Arcee, who shows up in the movie adaptation and Marvel UK's future strips? Simon Furman would later get around this by having Arcee being built by the Autobots to appease human feminists. Fun Publications would get around this with Elita One by not caring.

However, the letters page for this very issue already had an answer! It said that Transformers have "no need" for gender as they don't reproduce sexually, and that describing themselves in gender terms "is a convention the Transformers probably picked up from hanging around Earthlings too long." "Most have characteristics that are commonly associated with males, so they are referred to as “he’s”. On a rare occasion, one might come across as female and is referred to as a “she”. Arcee fits into this latter category." (We can be nice and assume when Transformers that haven't met humans are saying "he" or "him", it's a translation of the local lingo)

Continuity errors

So robots who have been messily bitten apart, chewed up, and "digested" into their basic components, not counting their cast-off "robot skeletons", can somehow be reassembled and magically brought back to life. Riiiiiight. This surely has nothing to do with backpedaling on the kid-unfriendly horror of robo-cannibalism.
The Mecannibals give up on their wares and large parts of their ship to get their robot-spotters back unharmed. Yet upon finding out they themselves are robots, they decide to eat them rather than utilize them as before to replace everything they have lost to get them back.

Continuity notes

Or maybe Cloudburst is just very scared of commitment.

Apparently, the Autobots possess the ability to translate alien languages, but it doesn't kick in with new languages instantly, requiring some time to decipher.
Landmine claims to have fought 50 Sharkticons at once.
As Cloudburst heads back to Earth at the issue's end, Sky Lynx is alongside him, but apparently heads elsewhere as he never appears in the series again.

Real-life references

Courtesy of my...

Landmine once again busts out his astro blaster, this time to shoot through a door.

UK Printing

Issue #217

Additional Transformers story: "Race with the Devil"
Back-up strips: Visionaries - "The Balance of Power" and Combat Colin

Issue #218

Additional Transformers story: "Race with the Devil"
Back-up strips: Visionaries - "The Balance of Power" and Combat Colin

Issue #219

Additional Transformers story: "Survivors!"
Back-up strips: Visionaries - "The Balance of Power" and Combat Colin

Issue #220

Additional Transformers story: "Survivors!"
Back-up strips: Visionaries - "The Balance of Power" and Combat Colin
AtoZ: Omega Supreme
Classic Covers Calendar: The sixth(?) in a series of monthly calendars that showcased inks from covers of yesteryear with new colours. This May edition used Robin Smith's inks from issue 136, and was published far foo late to actually be useful for May, with the June edition accidentally taking its slot back in issue 216. The Combat Colin strip this issue lays the blame for this gaffe on evil genius Professor Madprof.

Covers (5)

US issue #53 cover: First One beheading Cloudburst, by Jim Lee.
UK issue #217 cover: Dreadwind over a defeated Darkwing, by Jez Hall.
UK issue #218 cover: Sky Lynx and Dogfight, by Lee Sullivan.
UK issue #219 cover: Skids and monsters, by John Stokes.
UK issue #220 cover: First One holding Cloudburst's severed head, by John Stokes.

US issue #53 - A wonderful work of artistic merit. That lives under my mattress.
UK issue #217 - Yes, and I'd do it again if I could!
UK issue #218 - Thanks Sky Lynx. We'll let you know.
UK issue #219 - Skids, you suck.
UK issue #220 - ...of course the BRITISH are allowed to show beheadings on covers.

Reprints

Transformers: Last Stand TPB cover: Swindler, Rippersnapper, Snarler, Astrotrain and half a Mecannibal, by Andrew Wildman.
Transformers: Last Stand Hardback cover: A damaged Fortress Maximus battling Snarler and Carnivac, by Frank Quitely.
Classic Transformers Volume 4 cover: Panels from US issues #59 and #60, pencils by José Delbo, inks by Dave Hunt and colours by Nel Yomtov.
The Transformers Classics, Vol. 5 cover: Prowl by Guido Guidi.
Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection:Volume 15: Time Wars: Highbrow profile pic over Galvatron blasting the Wreckers from issue #204; art by Lee Sullivan (pencils #204), Stephen Baskerville (inks, #204) and Don Figueroa? (Highbrow).

Transformers: Last Stand TPB (Titan Books, 2005)
Transformers: Last Stand HC (Titan Books, 2005)
Classic Transformers Volume 4 (IDW Publishing, 2009)
The Transformers Classics, Vol. 5
(IDW Publishing, 2012)
The Definitive G1 Collection: Volume 15: Time Wars
(Hachette Partworks, 2019)

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Recipe for Disaster!

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Contents

Synopsis

Featured characters

Quotes

Notes

Sex

Continuity errors

Continuity notes

Real-life references

Courtesy of my...

UK Printing

Covers (5)

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