Micromasters - Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics

With the animated series having finished, it fell to the Marvel Transformers comic to provide the background for the Micromasters. Here they were portrayed as regular Autobots and Decepticons who had downsized into smaller bodies due to fuel shortages. Their first appearance was in issue 54, where Optimus Prime summoned the Race Car Patrol and Off-Road Patrol from Cybertron in order to reinforce the Autobots on Earth (after the Underbase powered Starscream's rampage). They were immediately dispatched to investigate the Decepticon Pretenders' attempts to set up a device on top of the Empire State Building to produce power for the Decepticons' new base. The Micromasters eventually defeated them, proving their worth to the other Autobots.

Both patrols next appeared in New York City fighting crime, where Roadhandler managed to become a professional wrestler by accident. This backfired when Scorponok held his fans hostage, but he managed to defeat Storm Cloud of the Air Strike Patrol and save the humans.

When Marvel UK writer Simon Furman took over the US comic, the Micromaster played a big role in his first story arc. Working for the believed dead Megatron, the Sports Car Patrol kidnapped Ratchet by pretending to be Autobots, forcing him to create more Pretenders. Elsewhere, the Air Strike Patrol (also working for Megatron) sparked a confrontation between Optimus Prime's Autobots and Scorponok's Decepticons - luring them into perfect position to be wiped out by the resurrected Pretender Starscream. Predictably Ratchet betrayed Megatron, resurrecting Grimlock, Jazz and Bumblebee as Pretenders. The Sports Car Patrol battled them but were defeated, leaving Megatron to crush the three Pretenders on his own. After this, Micromasters disappeared entirely from the pages of the comic save for an appearance of Fixit (from the Rescue Patrol) in issue #71.