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When Transformers meets Godspell.
"Insecticon Attack!"
Publisher	Marvel Books, Rh Value Publishing
First published	1985
Written by	Dana Rosenfeld
Art by	John Speirs
ISBN	ISBN 9780871350787 ISBN 0-87135-078-5
Page count	24pp

The Decepticons take control of Grapple, whose mad architecture skillz will allow them to infiltrate the power plant!

Synopsis

A peaceful scene, until you remember he's the size of a crane truck and so there's probablya few smooshed deer under him.

Optimus Prime and theAutobots are chilling out outside of their headquarters, whenBumblebee mentions he saw someDecepticons the other day in a mountain pass. This news stresses outBeachcomber, who drives off to his special secret place.

Meanwhile,Megatron is ranting at his troops. He needs power, and whoever can steal it from the power plant will be promoted to second in command.

Beachcomber is chilling out by his secret mountain pond, when he realizes thatGrapple is nearby, doing the same thing. Grapple wishes things were peaceful and stuff, but doesn't realize he's being spied on by theInsecticons, who think an architect can surely help them get into the power plant.Bombshell sendsKickback off to tell Megatron about this great news, but as soon as Kickback transforms he's spotted by Beachcomber. Bombshellcerebro-shells Grapple and makes him attack Beachcomber. Beachcomber beats a hasty retreat.

The thoroughly freaked-out Beachcomber reports the incident to Optimus Prime, who suspects the Decepticons.

Megatron thinks the whole thing is pretty funny, and has the captive Autobot look over the power plant plans. Unfortunately for him, the Autobots come marching up to his front door just then, and attack him in his meeting chambers. The battle scares Bombshell so badly that he forgets all about controlling Grapple, and soWindcharger is able to pull out the cerebro shell with his magnetic powers.

Megatron, unaware of this, gloats about his great victory, and summons his slave to his side. But Grapple kicks Megatron's legs out from under him, which makes him fall on top ofSkywarp andStarscream. The Autobots have won! They go home, fix Grapple, and celebrate their great victory.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"How many times do I have to tell you that I need a way to steal energy from the power plant? How else can I fuel my nuclear-powered fusion cannons and defeat the Autobots?"

—How CAN you fuel yournuclear-powered cannons,Megatron? How indeed?

"He has discovered my secret place," he sighed. "I'll just watch him for a while. Maybe he'll go away."

—Show us on the doll,Beachcomber.

Notes

• Beachcomber is pretty much wearing a burka.
• So, wait. The Decepticons already HAVE plans of the power plant. So they need Grapple... to read the plans for them? The super-advanced space robots can't read a floor plan?
• Seriously. "Megatron tumbled down and landed right on top of Skywarp and Starscream. By the time the dust cleared, the Autobots had won!" That's what it says.

Errors

• Grapple is (rather infamously) drawn with his own head atopHook's body through most of the book, though at times he has a windshield chest that makes him a little bit closer to his proper design. Despite being pretty much on-model inside the book, Grapple's head is drawn very off-model on the cover.
• Strangely, Bombshell is colored correctly on the cover but Kickback's black and purple have been replaced with white and additional yellow.
• The art in general doesn't always quite line up with the text. For example, the Autobots swarm into Megatron's "meeting chamber"... yet a second later, they're fighting outside in the mountains. On another page, Bombshell is shown brutally blasting Grapple in the back of the head, while the text says nothing about it.
• Despite the title, no Insecticons do any attacking within the story.

External links

• "Insecticon Attack!" at Insecticons.com