Generation 2: Redux

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"Generation 2: Redux"
Publisher	Fun Publications
First published	BotCon 2010, June 24, 2010 November 24, 2010 (retail edition)
Writers	Greg Sepelak and Trent Troop
Pencils	Robby Musso
Inks	Robby Musso and Frank Milkovich
Colors	Evan Gauntt, Trent Troop, and Jesse Wittenrich
Letters	Jesse Wittenrich
Editor	Pete Sinclair
Continuity	Wings Universe

The Transformers fight over a powerful new substance called forestonite.

Synopsis

For 22 years, Earth was the main stage for the Transformers war. But after the Rebirth, where Cybertron was revitalized, Galvatron (G1) and Zarak took the Decepticons into deep space, with Optimus Prime and many other Autobots heading after them. Meanwhile, on Earth, a new generation of Transformers wasborn from Cyberfactories in conjunction with the humans and Nebulons using technology reverse-engineered from Vector Sigma. Considering themselves Earthlings rather than Cybertronians, these Transformers were intended to be factionless, but war soon reared up again, creating new factions of Autobots and Decepticons. Both Prime and Galvatron have sent troops back to investigate the new war...

The Autobots fare poorly in their latest battle; Clench's Decepticons have taken the Large Hadron Collider, and the Autobot leader, Pyro, has been captured. Pyro orders everyone to fall back as he's taken, and his troops fall back, regrouping 10 miles out. Streetwise, one of the few Autobots from the previous generation still on Earth, and the only functional Protectobot, notes he would have gotten out here sooner if he knew how bad it was. Meanwhile, Pyro's second in command Rapido gets into an argument with Scorch, Optimus Prime's envoy, who thinks of the mission as a failure and the new generation as being mere children. Streetwise stands up for Rapido, knowing he's no rookie, and Rapido notes the Decepticons had some new allies. Aquafend identifies them as Sharkticons, noting that reports from a shell-shocked survivor also indicated they were lead by a Predacon General. The Autobots aren't sure what Clench is up too, but Rapido managed to download the facilities specs, enabling them to get inside. Scorch is annoyed at Rapido pulling rank, but the young Autobot notes that in an emergency, he outranks everyone, authorized by Optimus himself. Streetwise wonders if Pyro will be okay, and Rapido notes that Pyro will be online for at least a little while to sate Clench's sadism...

Meanwhile at the LHC, Pyro is brought before Clench. The Autobot nonchalantly needles Clench, noting that he's stooping pretty low to be working with Quintessons. The Predacon General, the arrogant Sky-Byte, tells Pyro to watch himself. Sky-Byte proceeds to explain the plan: using the LHC, the Decepticons have refined forestonite, a fuel source found only on Earth. It can give Transformers astounding abilities...possibly with some unexpected mutagenic side-effects. Breakdown, last of the Stunticons, doesn't trust Sky-Byte and his science, worried what would happen if Galvatron were to find out. Clench reminds Breakdown that on Earth, he's in charge, but concedes that he's right about the forestonite possibly being dangerous. Clench grabs a container and throws it at Cindersaur, ignoring Sky-Byte's warnings that it's not meant to be taken orally; the Decepticon quickly chows down, but the mutagenic affects cause him great pain. Clench tells Sky-Byte and Breakdown that once the samples are stable, they're to be the next test subjects, followed by him...if they survive.

Outside the facility, the Decepticons have helped themselves to some oil. Double Punch attempts to make conversation with Calcar, but the former's accent makes him nigh-impossible to understand. Suddenly, Slicer is shot, as an Autobot group lead by Scorch engage the Decepticons. With Aquafend informing the others that the Go-Bots, their nearest reinforcements, are 15 minutes away, the situation doesn't look good, and soon the forestonite enhanced Decepticons join the battle. Clench sics the Firecons on them, and when Electo tries to cut them down, Clench demonstrates his new gravity powers on the unsuspecting Autobot. Motormouth manages to knock Clench away from his friend, but Electro is soon attacked by the heavily mutated Cindersaur. Slicer attacks Gobots and Windbreaker, Motormouth is chased by the Sharkticons, and Double Punch and Calcar knock Leadfoot and Scorch around.

Meanwhile, Road Pig is knocked out by Streetwise, who has split from the others with Rapido and [[Meanstreak to rescue Pyro.

Featured characters

(Characters in italic text appear only in flashbacks.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Quintessons
Pyro (5) Scorch (12) Rapido (13) Streetwise (14) Defensor (15) Road Rocket (26) Motormouth (28) Windbreaker (29) Skram (30) Turbofire (31) Optimus Prime (38) Aquafend (39) Meanstreak (40) Leadfoot (45) Gobots (46) Electro (47) High Beam (49) Firecracker (50) Gearhead (51) Double Clutch (52) Blowout (53) Fizzle (54) Manta Ray (55) Beachcomber (56) Hubcap (57) Seaspray (58) Goldbug (59) Sideswipe (60) Jazz (61) Volt (62) Wheeljack (66) Rodimus (67)	Skyjack (2) Powerdive (3) Double Punch (4) Breakdown (7) Clench (8) Staxx (9) Cindersaur (10) Slicer (11) Cyclonus (16) Galvatron (17) Scourge (18) Zarak (19) Scorponok (20) Starscream (21) Menasor (22) Runabout (23) Runamuck (24) Dirtbag (25) Sizzle (27) Eagle Eye (32) Windrazor (33) Afterburner (34) Ransack (35) Terradive (36) Space Case (37) Roadblock (41) Flamefeather (42) Sparkstalker (43) Calcar (44) Road Pig (48) Deluge (63) Jetstorm (64) Jolt (65)	Sharkticons (1) Sky-Byte (6)

Quotes

"So I' sez to 'im, you fink I'm gonna tear off me head and let some squishy live n'it, you got another fink comin'."
"I don't know what you're saying."
"I was expressin' my disinterest i—"
"No, I mean I can't understand you."

—Double Punch has an accent that Calcar can't penetrate.

"Om nom nom nom nom!"

—Cindersaur eats a canister of forestonite.

"Well, this is embarrassing. This has never happened before, I swear."

—Rapido has impotent photon missiles.

"Fire and debris fall
ambition has been thwarted
we'll take our cut now."

—Sky-Byte departs with a haiku

"Then we'd best make it official then. Can't have enough star players on the team, after all. Thanks to the forestonite mutation, we're all experimental tech now. We truly are a new generation of Transformers. And there's going to be lots to do: Decepticons to thwart, villains to fight, a home to defend. Not to mention a case to solve... How are your detective skills, Streetstar?"
"Can't be beat, please don't call me that."

—Pyro and StreetWISE. The latter of which does not like his new name.

Notes

• Mentioned characters include: "Nexus-Whoever".
• Characters mentioned in Clench's profile include: Galvatron, Zarak, the Queen of England, and Pyro.
  • Clench is noted to be a U.S. citizen under the Non-Biological Entity Citizenship Amendment, referencing Sector Seven's designation for Transformers from the live-action movies. Clench's original toy has a license plate that indicates he's from Texas. He's number one on the FBI's Most Wanted list, and wanted by Interpol for numerous crimes.
  • Clench is knows as the "Colossus of Roads", referencing both the Colossus of Rhodes and Clench's alternative name.
  • Clench has rheanimum-enforced armor (a substance from the Marvel Generation 2 comics) and his riot shield is coated in electrum (from Transformers episodes "The Golden Lagoon").
• Characters mentioned in Rapido's profile include: Optimus Prime, the Concurrence, and Pyro.
  • Rapido was injured in a racing accident, preventing him from helping during the Battle of Autobot City seen in "The Transformers: The Movie".
  • Rapido helped save Optimus Prime from the Concurrence, a group of human villains from the Binaltech storyline.
  • Rapido's gun is called a "Axelerator Cannon", named for his sub-group.
• Characters mentioned in Slicer's profile include: Galvatron, Breakdown, and Clench.
  • Slicer's shotguns shoot Solitarium buckshot rounds; Solitarium is a substance from the Robotmasters series.
  • Slicer's motto paraphrases the French guard from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
• Characters mentioned in Scorch's profile include: Optimus Prime, Boss, Flash, Hurricane, and Double Punch.
  • Scorch is noted to have been with the Turbomasters in space while the other Autobots were on Earth.

Continuity notes

• This story takes place a few years after the fourth season of the Transformers cartoon, with most of the first generation Autobot forces chasing after Galvatron and Zarak's Decepticons in space, while the second generation Autobots and Decepticons duke it out on Earth.
• Breakdown and Streetwise were last seen in Transformers episodes "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1" and "The Rebirth, Part 3", respectively.
• The volcanic eruption that awoke the Autobots and Decepticons in "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1" is among the events flashed back during the "Cybernet Space Cube" montage.
• Streetwise tries using the universal greeting and energon goodie trick on the Sharkticons, first seen in "The Transformers: The Movie".
• Jazz, Beachcomber, and Seaspray all last showed up at various points in the third season of the Transformers cartoon. Goldbug last appeared in "The Rebirth", while Sideswipe hasn't been seen since the second season of the cartoon.
• Aquafend notes that Jetstorm has returned from Cybertron; he and Deluge were seen in "The Coming Storm: Part 1" harrasing and eventually getting their butts kicked by Nexus Prime.
• Wheeljack's apperance here places him as having come at some point after "Transhuman", released a year later. While he's working for Rodimus here, at some point he'll depart from his forces, joining up with Ultra Magnus' faction. He has also been looking for Nexus Prime, noting that he was in this timeline some time before, as seen in the aforementioned "Coming Storm".

Transformers references

• Nearly every Generation 2 original character gets to make an appearance in this story. Aside from toys released at BotCon 2010, these include:
  • The Decepticon Cyberjets, minus Hooligan, who appeared in "Wings of Honor" as part of the early Skyraider Decepticons. Skyjack, specifically, is in his Universe toy form (which was called "Skyfall" due to trademark reasons).
  • Meanstreak and Staxx of the Power Masters.
  • The Rotor Force toys.
  • The Laser Rod toys
  • The Laser Cycles.
  • The new Go-Bot Autobots.
  • The Axelerators.
  • The Skyscorchers.
  • The Auto Rollers.
  • The Color Changers (with Aquafend replacing Drench, who was implied in "Flames of Yesterday" to be the Decepticon Drench after defecting to the Autobots).
  • Calcar.
• Additionally, a few of the Generation 1 characters released in the Generation 2 toyline appear, including:
  • The Generation 2 releases of Sparkstalker and Flamefeather, who are joined by Cindersaur here.
  • Fizzle, who would be shown in later stories to have changed his name to "Blaze", the name of his Generation 2 release.
  • Beachcomber, Bumblebee (who first shows up as Goldbug; the forestonite turns him back into Bumblebee, albeit more toy-accurate than before), Hubcap, and Seaspray.
  • Sideswipe and Jazz.
• For the first half of the story, Breakdown and Streetwise are in virtual redecoes of their BotCon 2010 toys using their Generation 1 colors.
• Streetwise and Rapido are drawn with their door wings folded folded against their backs, helping them better resemble their original toys.
• Breakdown being the only functional Stunticon is a reference to the fact that his Generation 2 toy was the only one of the Stunticons that saw release, as an exclusive at BotCon 1994. None of the Protectobots had their toys released either.
• The panels in the flashback are lined with patterns like those of the Cybernet Space Cube, a scene-transition added to Transformers episodes for their release as the Generation 2 cartoon.
• Galvatron is drawn based on his Universe Deluxe-class toy.
• Optimus Prime's headcrest is drawn as silver, as it was erroneously in the "Rebirth" three-parter.
• Several Second Generation Transformers (including Rapido) are noted to have been built in the '90s, a reference to how some of the early Generation 2 toys were originally released at the tail end of the European Transformers toyline.
• Aquafend notes that the new Sharkticons were first encountered when they destroyed an Autobot outpost near Zegris, a planet introduced in "Gone Too Far".
• Sky-Byte is noted to be a Predacon General; Japanese media would indicate that the Predacons were created by the Quintessons.
• Rapido says that "in an emergency, I outrank everybody," referencing Rapido's original tech specs, where he had a rank of 10. (Optimus Prime's rank was only 9 that year!)
• Forestonite was originally introduced in the Comic Bom Bom G-2 manga, "The New Battle!!"
• The...bright coloration of Generation 2 toys is explained here to be part of the mutagenic side effects of forestonite exposure.
• Sky-Byte, like his Robots in Disguise cartoon incarnation, likes to make haikus. Additionally, his exposure to forestonite gives him the ability to shoot a "Tsunami Blaster" from his chest, named for the special attack of RID Sky-Byte.
• Aquafend and Jetstorm are brothers, in reference to their shared mold.
• Rapido jokes that Clench takes after his predecessors when he retreats as the fight gets more fair, poking fun at the Transformers cartoon's habit of having the Decepticons retreat at the slightest inconvenience to their plans.
• Pyro insists on calling Streetwise "Streetstar", much to his consternation. Streetstar was the name given to his BotCon 2010 toy, as the name Streetwise was not available.
• Sideswipe gives himself spiked wheels, based of his counterpart in the Marvel Generation 2 comics.
• The Ninja Gladiator game first appeared in the Transformers Animated episode "Where Is Thy Sting?".

Real-world references

• Most of the action takes place within and about the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. It's real! And it didn't end the universe.
• Streetwise's personality is based on Shaft, referencing his TFWiki article's opening, itself based off of Shaft's theme song.
• Rapido's mannerisms are based off The Most Interesting Man in the World, from the Dos Equis advertising campaign of the same name.
• Clench's mannerisms are based on character actor Jack Palance. His claim to have "core-dumped bigger than you" is a reference to a line from Palance's film City Slickers. His quip "Believe it... or not!" refers to Ripley's Believe It or Not!, a television show which Palance hosted.
• Pyro's mannerisms are based on David Tennant's portrayal of the Tenth Doctor.
• When Cindersaur downs the forestonite, he goes "om nom nom", in reference to the internet meme. Fun fact, the phrase itself originates from Cookie Monster.
• Pyro notes in the end that humanity can go back to "hunting the Higgs boson."

Errors

• In the flashback, Zarak should be drawn like American "The Rebirth" Zarak, not Japanese Headmasters Scorponok. This was corrected for the Diamond Edition.
• Streetwise is consistently drawn with Rapido's helmet.

Other Trivia

• The Diamond Edition includes an exclusive epilogue (featuring Slicer and Shattered Glass Wheeljack) and profile pages for Clench, Rapido, Slicer, and Scorch.
• Powers granted by Forestonite include:
  • Firecons: enhanced flame attacks
  • Clench: can create localized gravity wells.
  • Breakdown: Concussive sonic blasts
  • Sky-Byte: "Tsunami Blaster" chest-beam attack
  • Rapido: superspeed
  • Pyro: premonition of imminent future
  • Bumblebee: floats like a butterfly
  • Sideswipe: shape shifting
  • Beachcomber: plant life blossoms where he stands
  • Streetwise: intangibility
  • Windbreaker: air blasts
  • Motormouth: energy lasso
  • Aquafend: ice attacks
  • Meanstreak: pain-inducing energy surge
  • Electro: Electricity-enhanced sword
  • Most characters do not showcase their powers, but some will get to show them off in later stories.

Covers

• BotCon Edition: Spark and the other G2 Redux Autobots pushing "City Commander" Ultra Magnus out of the way to rush to a situation, and closeups of Breakdown and Clench; art by Nick Roche and colors by Thomas Deer.
• Diamond Edition: G2 Autobots by Alex Milne and colors by Evan Gauntt.

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