Bigger robots, bigger conflict.
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After a brief sojourn to the Transformers' homeworld of Cybertron, in 'TheSmelting Pool' and 'The Bridge to Nowhere' (published in 'CybertronRedux'), events return to Earth as 'Showdown' gets underway. This is onevolume which really lives up to its title, as each story features ashowdown of some sort or another - Omega Supreme versus severalDecepticons, Skids versus Ravage, Optimus Prime versus Megatron...
Allowing the Transformers stranded on Earth to make contact with thosestill on Cybertron allows for Bob Budianski to shift the emphasis awayfrom the robots' interaction with the humans - although Circuit Breaker'sprominent presence in these stories shows that such concerns are stillpressing - and having to cope on an alien world, and onto instead a muchbigger canvas - the conflict becomes intergalactic. In quick succession,various new Transformers arrive on Earth from their homeworld - amongstthem the Insecticons, the Battlechargers and three new Decepticon jets -and make their presence known.
At this point in the comic's run, Bob Budianski was still riding quitehigh. True, this volume never threatens to reach the highs of his earlieststories or the trip back to Cybertron, but things here still come acrossas fresh, exciting and, in their way, believable. The motivations given tohuman characters such as Circuit Breaker, Donny Finkleberg and EthanZachary are plausible, and Optimus Prime remains noble and honourablethroughout.
Overall, however, this volume marks the end of the first phase of theTransformers comic evolution. The contact made with Cybertron, the debutof the Special Teams - seen in the UK comic as a 'Second Generation' ofTransformers - and, in particular, the final few pages of this collection,shows that things will never be the same as they were for the first coupleof years...
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