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THE TRANSFORMERS: COMICS, BOOKS AND MANGA

Marvel Comics
(1984-1994)
Japanese
Manga
Other Books
and Titles
Titan Books
(2001-2010)
Club/Con
(2001-2016)
Dreamwave
(2002-2004)
Devil's Due
(2003-2007)
IDW Publishing
(2005-now)

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS COMICS FROM IDW PUBLISHING

Club and Convention Comics

| Timelines #1 | Cybertron: Balancing Act | PREVIEWS |

(BotCon) Timelines #1: Dawn of Future's Past

Released in November 2006. $4.95 cover price. This isn't an IDW title, and we intend to build a separate con comics section.

Publisher solicitation: Before the BEAST WARS, Megatron and his crew of Predacons traveled deep within the inner chambers of Cybertron and stole one of the planets most guarded secrets.... The Golden Disk! The story that started it all is finally here in this awesome adventure that travels from Cybertron to the far reaches of space. Featuring Optimus Primal, Megatron and the Season 1 cast of Beast Wars, seen like they never have before in their pre-earth Cybertronian modes. With an amazing Diamond exclusive cover by Transformers artist Joe Ng and story contributions by Benson Yee and Beast Wars writer Bob Forward. This special Diamond edition also features exclusive content, including two new Beast Wars profiles and an inside look at the days before the Beast Wars. Be sure to check with your local comic shop and reserve your copy now!

Reviews & Commentary: Review by Denyer at OneShallStand.com (external link)

Cybertron: Balancing Act

Released on 25th April 2007.

Publisher solicitation: Collected for the first time ever, TRANSFORMERS adventures previously available only to members of the HASBRO TRANSFORMERS COLLECTORS' CLUB. This special full-color comic book features the prologue, "Vector Prime: In The Beginning," as well as the chapters "Balancing Act" and "Revelations," as VECTOR PRIME sets out to preserve the balance in PRIMUS' eternal war against UNICRON. Featuring 72 full pages of story and art, plus an all-new cover by interior artist Dan Khanna!

$9.99 cover price, 72 pages.

Written by Forest Lee and Dan Khanna
Art by Dan Khanna
Inks by Various
Colours by Various
Letters by Various
Edits by Marc Patten

Collects Balancing Act # 1-4 and Revelations # 1-6

SUMMARY
Vector Prime monologues about Cybertron, the Thirteen and Unicron, explaining that both Primus and Unicron exist throughout the multiverse and the existence of Unicron wreaks havoc on the very existence of space-time itself. After the destruction of Unicron in one of the battles against the transformers, the dark god was destroyed, turned into a Singularity. Vector Prime realized with horror that the balance is destroyed with Unicron's death, and returns to Cybertron.

Meanwhile, Ramjet, the herald of Unicron, also arrives on Unicron after having been freed from his interdimensional prison. He is followed by a quartet of evil Mini-Cons and Nemesis Prime, a corrupted Optimus Prime from another multiverse. Ramjet plans to destroy the dormant Primus with Nemesis Prime's Dead Matrix in order to plunge the multiverse into unending chaos. After trying to recruit two local Decepticons (and subsequently killing them), the heralds decide to take matters into their own hands.

Meanwhile, Vector Prime and Safeguard meet up with Alpha Trion, and are introduced to Sentinel Maximus, an Autobot champion displaced from his home dimension. Suddenly, Ramjet and his fellow heralds attack, and in the subsequent battle both Alpha Trion and the supercomputer Vector Sigma are both destroyed by Ramjet. As the heralds retreat, Vector Prime explains about their foes to Sentinel Maximus, while placing Alpha Trion in a CR chamber. Meanwhile, Unicron's essence in the singularity causes more anomalies to occur, such as reviving the dead body of Scorponok into a mindless, hungry zombie.

Skyfall lands on Cybertron from the Speed Planet in search for clues of his origin and mysterious energon-weilding powers, when Dark Scorponok attacks. Skyfall is able to defend himself with energon weapons and a force-field, but Dark Scorponok, in rage, buries Skyfall under a pile of debris. Ramjet and Nemesis Prime, meanwhile, had taken control of a few Scrapmetals, which they use to locate Primus' essence. Ramjet explains his plan to Nemesis Prime, which involves killing Primus, the stable axis of the Multiverse, with the Dead Matrix and feeding him into the Unicron Singularity. By feeding Primus into the Singularity, it would enable the Singularity to replicate itself in every dimension (as Cybertron is in every single dimension of the multiverse), thus replacing Cybertron at the center of nothingness.

Meanwhile, Ramjet's Mini-Con minions recruit the hungry Dark Scorponok, and direct him towards the Kalis energon reserves control. Safeguard and Sentinel Maximus try to hold the mindless monster off, while Ramjet and his troops accidentally discover Skyfall. Ramjet is decidedly startled at Skyfall's appearance, mistaking the Autobot as someone else, before recognizing Skyfall, claiming that it had been millions of stellar cycles since they last met. Skyfall, having little memory of his past, tries to force Ramjet to tell him about his past, but Ramjet tells Skyfall he would only answer his questions if the Autobot helps Ramjet achieve their objective.

Dark Scorponok, meanwhile, injected Sentinel Maximus with his mech-venom and was about to eat his spark when the autoguns suddenly went online, obliterating the zombie. Vector Prime claims he had nothing to do with the autoguns as he rushed out of the refinery. Meanwhile, the Autobots receive a distress call from Downshift, who was the spark core access tunnels. Ramjet's team had struck there, on their way to Primus' core. Vector Prime, Sentinel Maximus and Safeguard teleport there and a battle ensues. Ramjet and Vector Prime battle, both with swords and harsh words. Meanwhile, Sentinel Maximus pursues Nemesis Prime, trying to prevent the herald from reaching the spark core. Skyfall, having wandered away from Ramjet's group, helps Downshift from his predicament.

As the battle between Vector Prime and Ramjet grow fiercer, Ramjet tries to convince Vector Prime that either killing Primus or reviving Unicron is the only way to save the other dimensions. Vector Prime, obviously, is not convinced. Meanwhile, Nemesis Prime had trapped Sentinel Maximus with a roadblock, preventing the Autobot from chasing him into the core of Cybertron. Nemesis Prime takes out his Dead Matrix and opens it, in an attempt to kill Primus. However, although victory seemed to be on hand for the heralds, unexpected help comes when Omega Prime (from the Robots in Disguise continuity) arrives, attacking Nemesis Prime. Meanwhile, Vector Prime, determined to destroy Ramjet, uses his Cyber Key Power to attack Ramjet, gaining an upper hand over his enemy. As Vector Prime was about to trap Ramjet in the Singularity, Skyfall flies in, using his energon forcefield to block Vector Prime's Cyber Key attack. Skyfall wants Ramjet to tell him about his past, but one of Ramjet's tendrils came into contact with Skyfall's energon forcefield, causing an explosion that throws Ramjet and his Mini-Cons into the Singularity anyway.

Meanwhile, in Cybertron's core, RiD Optimus Prime (I'll refer to him here as Fire Convoy to avoid confusion) uses his Matrix to reverse the effects of the Dead Matrix, while Ultra Magnus gives Nemesis Prime a beat-up. As all the Autobots regroup, Fire Convoy and Ultra Magnus told them what happened to them: they were with Optimus Primal's group, fighting against Unicron's spawn when Unicron disappeared. In an attempt to escape through a portal, Omega Prime somehow appeared in that universe instead of their own. Vector Prime tells the Autobot that Skyfall needs to be protected, stating that 'he must have returned for a reason', before blinking out of existence.

The Mini-Con Over-Run, now networked into Cybertron itself, reveals himself to the Autobots. He was the one who helped to turn on the Autoguns against Dark Scorponok earlier on, and had redirected Fire Convoy and Ultra Magnus into that dimension due to circumstances. Over-Run sent Vector Prime to Earth, where his work is most essential.

Meanwhile, the Autobots place the Dead Matrix in the archives, but another herald of Unicron, Soundwave, sent Laserbeak to infiltrate the archives and steal the Dead Matrix. After retrieving the Dead Matrix, Soundwave throws it into the Unicron Singularit, freeing Unicron's essence. Unicron's essence flies to the planet Yst, causing everyone on the planet to go intto mindless rages, before being reborn in a new body.


Several gigacycles after those incidents, Skyfall and Downshift had both been repaired, and Over-Run had discovered an ancient glyph, nearly as old as Vector Prime, that showed Skyfall and another transformer, adding to Skyfall's confusion about his mysterious identity. Meanwhile, Mini-Con Council member Anti-Blaze seeks to recruit the Autobots against a Mini-Con uprising on Cybertron's Moons. Seeing that they had nothing better to do, the Autobots head out and rendezvous with the remaining 'good' Mini-Cons. Battle ensues, where Skyfall met the Decepticon Landquake, who is an exact match with the other transformer in the ancient drawing Over-Run showed him.

Meanwhile, as the battle rages, Unicron and Soundwave, apparently behind the uprising, are pleased to see that another anomaly had arrived. Unicron tells Soundwave to kill all the Mini-Cons, but leave Skyfall and Landquake alive. Unicron and Soundwave enter the fray, massacring many of the Mini-Con insurgents, before battling the Autobots. Soundwave faces off with Downshift and Anti-Blaze's Mini-Cons, while Unicron rumbles with Sentinel Maximus and Omega Prime.

A stray shot hits the energon container near Skyfall and Landquake. The duo decides to work together in order to save their skins. Skyfall creates a forcefield to cover the rupture, while Landquake uses his own energon-weilding powers to turn energon into raw matter. Meanwhile, Cybertron begins to transform. Stray shots from The scuffle between Schyte and Soundwave slam into a spot on the energon container not protected by Skyfall's forcefield, causing a massive explosion, leaving no trace of Skyfall and Landquake.

Primus, meanwhile, had completed his transformation into robot mode, and as the combatants look in awe at him, Unicron makes good his escape.

A few days later, after Cybertron has been returned to normal, the Autobots decide to work together with the Autobots from that universe to hunt down Unicron. Meanwhile, Anti-Blaze and Optimus Prime forge a new alliance between the Autobots and the Mini-Cons.

Elsewhere, Skyfall and Landquake find themselves teleported on Earth, but it is not the Earth of their dimension. A certain gray-coloured Decepticon with a massive fusion cannon on his right hand looms over them...

Featured Characters: Primus, Vector Prime, Unicron, Safeguard, Ramjet (imprisoned for all time, Universe version), Gunbarrel (killed), Terradive (killed), Thunderclash (killed), Thunderwing (killed), Nemesis Prime, Crush Groove (killed), Jackhammer (killed), Alpha Trion, Sentinel Maximus, Dark Scorponok (killed), Skyfall, Scrapmetal, Downshift, Quickslinger, RiD Optimus Prime, RiD Ultra Magnus, Over-Run, Bud, Lori, Coby, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Anti-Blaze, 'Leader-1', Wind Sheer, Landquake, Perceptor, Schyte, Checkpoint, Monocle (possibly killed), Scrap Iron, (possibly killed), Blastcharge (possibly killed), Backblast (possibly killed),Thrust (killed), Sunstorm (killed), Ramjet (the Minicon, killed), Ascentor (possibly killed), Landslide (possibly killed), Scattorbrain (possibly killed), Payload (possibly killed), Kobushi (possibly killed), lots of generic Minicons (a lot of them killed), Skyblast-type generics (killed), Cybertron Optimus Prime, Jetfire, Override, Red Alert, Scattorshot, (Classics) Megatron

Characters in flashbacks: (because there's just too much) from flashbacks to G1 and BW: Optimus Prime (G1), Cyclonus (G1), Galvatron (G1), Scourge (G1), Shockwave (G1), Buster Witwicky (G1), Megatron (Beast Wars), Grimlock (G1), Octopunch (G1), Bumblebee (G1), Jazz (G1)
from flashback to Universe comics: Optimus Primal, Reptillion, Razorclaw, Gunbarrel (atomized by Razorclaw), Cheetor, Tap-Out, Ramulus or Longhorn, Rhinox, Tankor (shot real bad by Rhinox), Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Skywarp, Fireflight, Whirl, Repugnus, Silverbolt, Blackarachnia, Trailbreaker, Roulette, King Atlas, Side Burn, Prowl (RiD), Repugnus, Nemesis Strika (fell into gooey stuff), Obsidian (fell into gooey stuff), Tarantulas (maybe)
from flashback to Dreamwave's Armada: Starscream (Energon)

Reviews & Commentary: Reviewed by Blackjack

 

| IDW Comics Guide |

 
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