Ro-Busters: The Tax Man Cometh!, Part 2

NAME
Ro-Busters: The Tax Man Cometh!, Part 2

FIRST PUBLISHED
Starlord Issue 21

DATELINE
30 September 78

The penultimate issue of Starlord also featured Strontium Dog, Mind Wars and Holocaust strips, a Strontium Dog Pin Up and a cover by Jose Luis Ferrer.

PAGE COUNT
8

REPRINTS
The Complete Ro-Busters.

SYNOPSIS
The kidnapper of Howard Quartz is revealed to be his brother Ebenezer.

FIRSTS & LASTS
First eight page Ro-Busters, last work on Ro-Busters by Pino.

INFORMATION
In theory, an individual's brain transplanted into a robotic body could live forever.

RO-JAWS
He digs up a remote control timer device and presumes it was responsible for triggering a bomb that was used to destroy the Atom-Cracker.

HAMMER-STEIN
He presumes the remote control timer device that Ro-Jaws digs up was responsible for triggering a bomb that was used to destroy the Atom-Cracker.

OTHER CHARACTERS
HOWARD QUARTZ
He has a brother called Ebenezer.

EBENEZER QUARTZ
He is kept alive by a life support system and hover-chair. He has a brother called Howard, whom he has abducted, and he is responsible for his brother's current tax, nationalisation and explosive problems.

BULSTRODE
He takes command of the robots clearing up of the Atom-Cracker disaster site and fires Miss Marilyn.

SNEED AND GRADDLE
Tax Commissioners. They assist Bulstrode is commanding the robots clear up of the Atom-Cracker disaster site.

AERIALS
Robot with sensors that pick up radio signals. He detects the remote control timer device buried in the ground.

MISS MARILYN
Bulstrode fires her.

DEATHS
Two. Mek-Quake does Big Jobs on two robots.

BEST LINES
Robot: "Gee, er...Boss! That was my partner that just got ground up!"
Bulstrode: "I see -- in that case since you're now without a partner, that means you're redundant!...Mek-Quake!"

WORST LINES
Bulstrode: "You're fired, d'you hear? Fired!"

What is she again?

CATCHPHRASES
Mek-Quakes threatens to do "The Big Jobs".

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Ebenezer's name recalls Scrooge from A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens (1812-1870), while his appearance bears a resemblance to Davros, creator of the Daleks from Doctor Who, first seen in 1975's Genesis Of The Daleks.

MISTAKES
None.

RETROSPECT
None.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: Jack Adrian
Artist: Pino
Letters: P. Bensberg

REVIEW
Another good instalment. I'm glad that Ebenezer acknowledges that he is the mastermind behind Ro-Busters troubles as it saves everyone a lot of time. Miss Marilyn's worries about "the end of Ro-Busters", must have seemed genuinely final if readers were aware that this was the penultimate issue of Starlord.

Next Week: 'They Can't Do This To Us!'