Transformers: Headmasters #3 - Video Review by 80s Comics

Welcome back to 80’s Comics Pro for the review of Transformers Headmasters issue number three, the third in a four‑part limited series, which makes me sad because I’m really enjoying these and it’s coming to an end. So let’s take our time with issue three because it’s a lot of fun and much better than one might expect. And by one I mean you, obviously, because I totally expected this to be good, but you underestimate the Headmasters. Don’t underestimate robots with human heads that transform into robots. They look like soccer balls, which can then be kicked around by the robots.

Welcome back to 80s Comics for the review of Transformers Headmasters issue number three from November of 1987, the third issue in this four‑part limited series featuring these ridiculous Headmasters, Transformers with human heads that transform into robot heads controlling the Transformers. It makes about as much sense as that. It’s a fun series. Marvel brought their A‑game for this silly spinoff.

Take away two things from this issue. One, humans are awful. Humans are more evil than the most evil diabolical robot. And two, you need to immediately run out to Toys R Us and buy a whole bunch of new Transformers toys. This is like one catalog filled with Transformers. Frank Springer does an incredible job with the pencils. And just the opening couple lines here really set the stage. For untold centuries, Splendora, a resort city on the planet Nibulos, knew only peace, beauty, and prosperity. Crush them, crush them, let none of the fleshlings escape. Stupid humans. They’re talking about squashing them and eating them. Dumbass humans.

So these are the Terrorcons. I love that shot. It’s like Godzilla with a robot shark head stomping on humans. It’s great. The Terrorcons are attacking the city, but then who shows up? The Autobots. But not just any Autobots, the Technobots. Terrorcons and Technobots. I like that they were starting to run out of ideas by 1987, but to their credit they do sound pretty cool.

The Terrorcons form Abominus. Did anyone have Abominus? I never had any of these things. You really can’t go wrong with a bunch of robots that combine to form one other giant robot that can stomp on people. The Technobots combine to form Computron. The dialogue’s great here. Bronze without brains ill becomes a warrior, Decepticon. You’re too data deficient to even comprehend what this acid pellet gun is doing to you. That’s an insult. I forgot to point out how great the Terrorcon names are. We’ve got Apeface, Cutthroat, Snapdragon, Rippersnapper, Hun‑Grrr — that’s my favorite — Sinnertwin and Blot. Hun‑Grrr. This issue has not one but two giant battle scenes.

Then we cut away to Scorponok, who’s torturing a bunch of humans in captivity in his lair and for some reason testing this weaponized bubble blower on them. This bubble machine makes the humans float away and I’m not sure they ever actually explain why they’re doing this, but it is pretty funny. And as you might imagine, if the Autobots have Headmasters, the Decepticons are also going to have to have Headmasters.

But before we get there, we get some of the human drama. Galen, who’s like the hero of the series, encounters his very angry girlfriend, who’s mad at him from issue two when he starts fighting. Even though he’s fighting for good, she’s mad that he’s fighting at all. And I love that she shows up in a negligee and a see‑through raincoat. That’s some style right there. She brings a video matrix that her father sent them, calling for help on a video matrix. It’s like Betamax, but better.

One thing leads to another. Though the characters, the plot, and the concept are thoroughly absurd and completely ridiculous, and this is not the Transformers’ finest hour, it is a lot of fun, and the artwork is great. The battle scenes are really good. I love the fight scenes here with the humans getting in the way. They show up in the Millennium Falcon or something and some of the humans spill out. Lyra gets captured in her negligee and locked into a bubble where she’s eventually freed, but she’s also brainwashed. And that leads to some drama in the next issue as the Decepticons seem to have an advantage because their Headmasters are better than the Autobots’ Headmasters.

How will it end in issue four? Who wins? You’ll have to collect the series and read for yourself. Transformers Headmasters. It’s ridiculous, but they do look like cool toys. I have to admit, I’m not familiar with these other combiner Transformers. I like Devastator. I like Predaking. Kind of Computron. There you have it, another fantastic issue of Transformers Headmasters. The toys do look really cool. I’m not familiar with some of these. Look at that one. Did you know they made one of those? I didn’t know that. I still like this guy.

You know what? It’s silly. Maybe it’s not the best Transformers comic, but it’s still pretty good and a lot of fun. Very well made. Anything with Frank Springer doing the pencils has got to be good. Transformers Headmasters issue number three recommended by 80sComics.com. Transformers Headmasters. This whole series is great. This is actually my favorite kind of 80s comic book to review because nobody takes it seriously but it’s a lot of fun. That’s one of my biggest problems with video game reviews over the years. Everyone took them so seriously. Nobody takes the Transformers seriously and that’s a shame because the artwork is really good.

And I think it shows a lot of creativity. They just packed this issue, jam‑packed it, filled with cool toys that you need to run out and buy. It’s nothing but a glorified commercial. But these look really cool. They must have made a lot of money on the combiner Transformers because there’s a whole bunch of them shoved in here. They don’t even have human heads. They’re not even Headmasters. They’re just working alongside the Headmasters.

One of the things that really gets me about this issue is the forced tension between Galen and Lyra. Because Lyra is Zarak’s daughter. Zarak is the sad guy who turns into one of the Decepticon Headmasters. They’re the bad humans. They don’t trust the robots. And obviously they end up teaming up with the bad robots because they’re idiots and they just need some kind of conflict in this series. It makes no sense. I have no idea why they made the bubble gun. The bubble gun is on the cover. That’s what they lock the humans in. It’s like they’re experimenting on them. That guy floats away and they pop the bubble and he’s about to fall to his death, but it’s a kid’s comic so they save him before he splatters all over the ground. I guess they’re testing it for the next issue. To be fair, I haven’t read the next one yet, but Hot Rod is on the cover.

Hot Rod’s great. I’m really digging this series. If you like the Transformers and you’re looking for something different, these are not as good as the early Transformers comic books, but look at these murderous Decepticons annihilating the Autobots, the dumbass Autobots. And at the end, Lyra, who is almost killed by her father but doesn’t know it because she was brainwashed in the magic floaty bubble, is misled into thinking that Galen is actually the enemy. So this should be a very interesting issue four. I love this part where Fortress Maximus tosses one Transformer into the other Transformers. It’s a great series. Transformers Headmasters doesn’t cost much, really cheap, totally absurd, and a lot of fun. If this was done by a lesser artist, they would be terrible. But because Frank Springer does the art on all of them, they’re not terrible. They’re really good and they’re worth owning.

Transformers Headmasters issues 1 through 4, highly recommended by 80sComics.com. Pro professional.