The Coming Storm: Part 5
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| "The Coming Storm: Part 5" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #35 | ||||||||||||
| Story | Rik Alvarez & Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Writers | Pete Sinclair & Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Pencils by | Dan Khanna | ||||||||||||
| Inks by | Josh Warner | ||||||||||||
| Colors by | Thomas Deer | ||||||||||||
| Letters by | Jesse Wittenrich | ||||||||||||
| Managing editor | Pete Sinclair | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Wings Universe | ||||||||||||
The Elite Guard comes under fire as Deathsaurus makes his move.
Synopsis
Dion has grown impatient as he believes that his Elite Guard team has been sent on a fool's errand, searching the wastelands for Decepticons who may or may not be there. His commander, Metalhawk, agrees, but they've been given their orders. Suddenly, an Empty approaches them, and the delirious wreck spouts a creepy mixture of prophesy and nonsense. When the Empty speaks of a coming storm that will remove the Elite Guard from the picture, Over-Run rushes him in anger, but the Empty merely collapses in maniacal laughter. No longer amused, the team moves on.
A distress signal from Elite Guard headquarters quickly gets their attention. Sentinel Major calls for help as he is under attack. The team transforms and heads back to headquarters. The situation when they arrive is dire. A very busy (yet still suspiciously boastful) Ricochet greets them and tries to get them up to speed, as bodies fall all around them. Ricochet hands the team a viewscreen, which shows Sentinel attempting and failing to put the Combaticons, who now brandish Decepticon symbols, under arrest. The team watches the screen helpessly as the Combaticons merge, for the first time, into the super robot Bruticus, while crushing Sentinel Major to death in its mighty fist. The surrounding Elite Guard rush in for vengeance.
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Others |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
Continuity notes
- This story takes place a week after the previous chapter.
- Starscream can be very briefly glimpsed in one panel, setting up next year's "Battle Lines" storyline.
- A ruined statue of Vector Sigma is seen among the wreckage of the Elite Guard base.
Transformers references
- With this chapter, almost every Elite Guardsman shows up, although some are not as easily identifiable as others. While most had shown up in the two prose stories released the same year ("Flames of Yesterday" and "A Team Effort"), and there's still some who do not appear, we'll list them all out here to make it more simple. Aside from Elite Guardsman previously appearing in this storyline (including, Magnum, Sentinel Major, and the squads of Thunderclash, Metalhawk, and Onslaught), these include:
- Big Bang, based on an unused Return of Convoy design.
- The Stealth Team, whose members include Powerflash, Sprocket, Rumbler, and Tap-Out. Powerflash was a European exclusive Action Master from the original Transformers toyline. Sprocket was another Action Master, one of those that were released in America, and he would be redecoed for Europe as Rumbler. Tap-Out, meanwhile, was an exclusive toy from BotCon 2002, a redeco of the keychain Generation 1 Cliffjumper toy.
- The Artillery Team, whose members include Halonix Maximus, Windsail, Clear Out, and Padlock. Of the four, only Halonix Maximus (or Halo, for short) is based on a pre-existing Transformer; the giant Autobot hologram seen in Transformers episode Heavy Metal War. All of the colors of the other three were created by colorist Josh Perez; Windsail's is based on Perez's character Alan, a duck/penguin hybrid; the other two are based on Perez's non-Transformers toys, with Clear Out based on the Red Dragon Thunderzord from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, while Padlock is based on Fly Trap from GoBots.
- The Fast Attack Team, whose members include Ranger, Blacker, Braver, and Laster. Ranger is a Godmaster from Masterforce, while the others are all Brainmasters from Victory.
- The Recon Team, whose members include Roadfire, Delta Seeker, Crosscut, and Rest-Q. Roadfire was one of the Powered Masters from Zone, while Delta Seeker was a Cyberjet from the Robotmasters series. Crosscut was an e-HOBBY exclusive redeco/remold of Skids, based on the Diaclone version of the toy. Rest-Q, meanwhile, takes his name from the Gobots Guardian, and his based on an early coloration of Hubcap seen in the Toy Fair 1986 catalogue.
- Empties originally appeared in the Marvel Transformers comics, Cybertronians so low on fuel they couldn't even transform.
- Among Deathsaurus' forces include Supersonic, a Micromaster from the Operation Combination series. Originally sold as an Autobot, he was turned into a Decepticon for the Japanese Micromaster series.
- Sentinel's companion, R-Third (previously seen in "A Team Effort"), has the unique insignia from the First Transformers toyline on his chest.
Real-world references
- Dion notes he and Orion Pax used to deal with the empty seen this chapter at Galleon, a location named for the Chinese Dragon/pirate galleon mecha from Dennō Bōkenki Webdiver.
- R-Third is based on the Tick's companion Arthur. Sentinel Major's inspiration, Animated Sentinel Prime, was designed to look like the Tick.
Errors
- On page 4, Ironfist is miscolored as Swindle.
