Ro-Busters: The Tax Man Cometh!, Part 3

NAME
Ro-Busters: The Tax Man Cometh!, Part 3

FIRST PUBLISHED
Starlord Issue 22

DATELINE
7 October 78

The last issue of Starlord bore a cover by Graham Cotton and also featured Strontium Dog, Mind Wars and Holocaust strips.

PAGE COUNT
8

REPRINTS
The Complete Ro-Busters.

SYNOPSIS
Ro-Jaws, Hammer-Stein, Aerials and Miss Marilyn to the rescue.

FIRSTS & LASTS
The last Ro-Busters in Starlord. Last work on Ro-Busters by Jack Adrian/Chris Lowder, Jose Luis Ferrar and Peter Knight

INFORMATION
(This part takes place two days after the first)

RO-JAWS
He, Hammer-Stein, Aerials and Miss Marilyn mount a rescue of Howard Quartz.

HAMMER-STEIN
He, Ro-Jaws, Aerials and Miss Marilyn mount a rescue of Howard Quartz.

OTHER CHARACTERS
HOWARD QUARTZ
His brother Ebenezer has a device planted into Howard that will destroy him within hours

EBENEZER QUARTZ
He has a bomb planted in his brother. He is presumably killed in the crash following Ro-Jaws and Hammer-Stein's rescue attempt.

AERIALS
He can pick locks. He, Ro-Jaws, Hammer-Stein and Miss Marilyn mount a rescue of Howard Quartz. He diffuses the bomb inside Howard Quartz.

MISS MARILYN
She, Ro-Jaws, Hammer-Stein and Aerials mount a rescue of Howard Quartz.

BULSTRODE, SNEED & GRADDLE
Howard's Quartz's robot steal Bulstrode's flying craft to mount their rescue. The three men are arrested and charged with conspiracy.

DEATHS
At least six. We see Mek-Quake finish off two robots, but Hammer-Stein says he has dealt with 36 more in the last two days. Ebenezer
Quartz and his crew presumably perish in the crash.

BEST LINES
Ro-Jaws: "When it's a question of sheer survival, mate. I can cringe with the best of 'em!"

WORST LINES
All of Sneed and Graddle's overheard exposition.

CATCHPHRASES
None.

CONTINUITY & CROSSOVERS
None.

INFLUENCES & REFERENCES
Unknown.

MISTAKES
Ferrer is incorrectly spelled Ferrar. Ebenezer is told the explosive device planted in Howard will destroy him in exactly two hours, which he then reports to his brother as six hours.

RETROSPECT
This is something of an end of an era for Ro-Busters, the transfer to 2000 A.D. inevitably alters the strip somewhat.

NOTES
None.

CREDITS
Script: Jack Adrian
Artist: Ferrar
Letters: P. Knight

Ferrar is Ferrer.

REVIEW
As with most Ro-Busters stories the last part feels rushed, but Starlord's absorption into 2000 A.D. is an obvious reason to rush. Ro-Jaws learning to cringe is nice, Aerials is great and our heroes rescue of Howard Quartz, only to abandon him moments later is brilliant.

And They Do - In Next Week's Merger With 2000 A.D. Don't Miss It!