Ro-Busters: Midpoint, Part 2

NAME
Ro-Busters: Midpoint, Part 2

FIRST PUBLISHED
Starlord Issue 6

DATELINE
17 June 78

This issue bore a cover by Ron Embleton, Strontium Dog, Timequake, Mind Wars and Planet Of The Damned strips and the third part of the Hell Planet game.

PAGE COUNT
5

REPRINTS
The Complete Ro-Busters.

SYNOPSIS
Ro-Jaws and Hammer-Stein enlist a cleaner-'droid to help them prevent an explosion that would spread nuclear waste across Europe.

FIRSTS & LASTS
First Ro-Busters letters by Tony Jacob. First Ro-Busters two parter.

INFORMATION
(The year is 2078)

Operation Leper is the codename for the US government method of nuclear waste disposal in space. Black Capsule Cooling Systems present nuclear waste

Ro-Busters successfully prevent an explosion that would spread nuclear waste across Europe.

RO-JAWS
He bites through the missile's casing to get to the black capsule control-circuits.

HAMMER-STEIN
He is familiar with black capsule cooling systems, but his fingers are too big to rewire it. He talks Percy through it.

OTHER CHARACTERS
HOWARD QUARTZ
He volunteers Ro-Jaws, Hammer-Stein and four more robots to fix the black capsule cooling system.

HIGGINS
Midpoint's janitor. He likes to sleep inside Percy's 'stomach', climbs half way up the building and nearly falls to his death. He faints a lot.

PERCY
Cleaner-'Droid. Higgins likes to sleep in his 'stomach'. He is equipped with sux-pads on his feet and can walk up and down a vertical surface. Percy can also spray soapy-water and has a vid-screen. Hammer-Stein talks him through rewiring the black capsule cooling system control-circuits.

DEATHS
None.

BEST LINES
Percy: "Gosh, this sounds terrific! Are we really in the middle of a real disaster?"

WORST LINES
Percy: "Gosh, d-did you say 'hero'? Quuiiirk"

CATCHPHRASES
"Don't Panic!"

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
"Don't Panic!" was Lance-Corporal Jones from Dad's Army (1968 to 1977) and recently it played a prominent part in The Hitchhiker's Guide To Galaxy (1978).

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: Bill Henry
Artist: Ian Kennedy
Letters: Tony Jacob

REVIEW
After the carnage of Part 1, the tone of this is odd. There is little of the interaction between Ro-Jaws and Hammer-Stein that is such a highlight of the strip, nor do we get enough of Quartz's reaction to his own life being threatened. Instead an excited Percy comes to fore, while Higgins' constant fainting elicits very little from the other characters.

Next Week: 'It's Instant Destruction For Any Robot Involved In A Hume Killing!'