Transcendent: Part 1
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| "Transcendent: Part 1" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #19 | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Forest Lee | ||||||||||||
| Pencils by | Alex Milne | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Alex Milne | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Josh Perez | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Junemoon Studio | ||||||||||||
| Editor | Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | TransTech | ||||||||||||
Landquake, Skyfall, and Breakaway get sent to another dimension.
Synopsis
The glistening Cybertronian city of Axiom Nexus is a city like no other, as is explained to the baffled Landquake, Breakaway, and Skyfall, who find themselves among its towering buildings. Two bizarre mechanoids, Cheetor and Silverbolt, introduce themselves to the trio and direct them to "processing". Landquake isn't too happy about that notion, but the city's well-armed statuary doesn't seem to leave much option.
New Arrivals Coordinator Silverbolt explains that the city is a hub for cross-dimensional travelers, both accidental and purposeful. Skyfall realizes that Cliffjumper is not with them, which Cheetor pegs as the cause of an anomaly in the trio's arrival signal. His fate, however, is not known. Breakaway assures Skyfall that the alien mechs are telling the truth. They arrive at processing, a room full of Transformers of every make and description.
After proceeding through processing, the trio meets Alpha Trion, a Vector Prime-like robot who has been assigned to ease the newcomers into the "outworlder culture" of Axiom Nexus. Alpha Trion explains that this timeline has never suffered war. The inhabitants consider themselves advanced far beyond the rest of the Transformers, hence their name, Transcendent Technomorphs.
Alpha Trion promises to show them the true face of Axiom Nexus, where offworlders live. As they proceed down a corridor, a figure from the shadows orders his accomplices to seize Breakaway discreetly. Unseen by the others, the peaceful mech is quickly and quietly subdued, and Shockwave orders him to be brought to his laboratory.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots/Maximals | Decepticons/Predacons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Quotes
"If you will please follow me to Processing, I can explain everything. This way."
"I do not wish to be 'processed'."
- —Silverbolt's assurances mean little to Landquake.
Notes
- Characters mentioned include: Cliffjumper, the Caretaker, and Vector Prime.
Continuity notes
- Continuing from last year's storyline, Skyfall, Landquake, and Breakaway arrive in Axion Nexus. Cliffjumper's fate would be shown in the BotCon 2008 comic story "Shattered Glass".
- The G1 GoBots appear in the line for processing, indicating that this story takes place concurrently with the Axiom Nexus portion of "Withered Hope". Path Finder and Cosmos are looking at each other, probably feeling a little unnerved.
- Cy-Kill appears in the background of the Offworlder crowd. At the time this story was published, this was perceived as just an artist cameo, but almost a decade later, the "Renegade Rhetoric" incarnation of Ask Vector Prime retconned this was indeed an incarnation of GoBots Cy-Kill, hailing from a different universe than the GoBots of "Withered Hope".
- Repugnus is presumably the same Child of Primus seen in Revelations Part 2.
- The 1-page preview comic for "Gone Too Far" which follows this story has some additional captions, indicating that this story occurs concurrently with that one.
Transformers references
- The Club-based TransTech stories are based off the unrealized Transtech toyline. Intended as a follow up to Beast Machines (evident in its design philosophy of animal-like vehicle modes), Transtech would be abandoned in favor of porting over Car Robots to the US as Robots in Disguise. Evidently enough, the Club TransTech characters are completely separate from the Beast Era/G1 characters they were originally designed as.
- The Nemesis, the Ark, and the Revenge are seen in Axiom Nexus's sky, along with a few "tetrajet"-style Transformers, based on the Seeker Cybertronian alt-mode seen More than Meets the Eye, Part 1.
- Among the cameos in the processing scene include:
- Generation 1 Sunstorm.
- GoBots Cy-Kill.
- A generic in GoBots Night Ranger colors.
- A generic in Generation 1 Bumblebee's colors.
- A generic using the Generation 2 "desert Ramjet" colors.
- Generation One Cosmos.
- The e-Hobby "G1 Gobots".
- Robots in Disguise Sky-Byte.
- European-exclusive Action Master Charger, along with his partner Fire Beast.
- A generic yellow lizard man, inserted by Alex Milne to have an organic alien in Axiom Nexus.
- A generic in Generation 1 Smokescreen colors.
- Repugnus in his Universe body.
- Generation 1 Bumblebee in his Cybertronian alt-mode, as seen in More than Meets the Eye, Part 1.
- Alpha Trion makes his first appearance in this story, in his BotCon 2007 form. He seems nice!
Real-life references
- Transwarp's alternate name "The Bleed" is a reference to the DC/Wildstorm comics concept of the same name.
- One of the generics in processing uses the colors of Mega Man.
