Balancing Act
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| "Balancing Act" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Fun Publications | ||||||||||||
| Published in | Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #2 | ||||||||||||
| Story | Forest Lee, Dan Khanna | ||||||||||||
| Writer | Forest Lee | ||||||||||||
| Pencils | Dan Khanna | ||||||||||||
| Inks | Terry Pallot, Chuck Gibson | ||||||||||||
| Colors | Blond | ||||||||||||
| Letters | Junemoon Studio | ||||||||||||
| Editorial consultant | Destination Entertainment's Marc Patten | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Cybertron cartoon | ||||||||||||
As Vector Prime summons for help against the Unicron Singularity, the Chaos Bringer's Minions arrive, prepared to tip the balance in their favor.
Synopsis
Some time after Cybertron has been abandoned, a portal opens up near the black hole that threatens the Universe, from which several of Unicron's heralds emerge; Ramjet, who has returned from his prison from beyond, his Mini-Con partners, and Nemesis Prime, evil clone of Optimus Prime and wielder of the Dead Matrix. Ramjet observes that though Unicron's physical body is dead, collapsed into the black hole, his evil presences still remain. Heading down to Cybertron, they plan to assist their lord tip the balance in chaos' favor... by destroying Primus!
On the planet below, a few Transformers remain, such as Jackhammer and Crush Groove, who have raided the abandoned Maccadam's Old Oil House for its energon and oil, now that there is no one to stop them. However, they are approached by Ramjet and Prime, who proclaim that they will prove themselves as warrior slaves or die. The jumpy Jackhammer tells them to back off their turf, and lays a threatening finger on Ramjet's chest...which reacts with the anti-matter making up the Herald's body, destroying him instantly! Crush Groove cries out, but is immediately cut down by Nemesis Prime's scythes. Proclaiming the remaining Cybertronians useless, the pair intend to make a visit to Alpha Trion...
At the same time, the old sage is visited by Vector Prime, whom he informs that he can no longer contact Primus, who is using up most of his energy to resist the pull of the singularity, while Vector informs him of the progress in the search for the Cyber Planet Keys. Trion, using the waning power of Vector Sigma, has managed to use a few of the space-time distortions to his advantage, and has brought Sentinel Maximus over to help. Disoriented, Sentinel does not notice until it is too late that Nemesis Prime and Ramjet have arrived, and is blasted. While Vector Prime draws his swords and attacks Ramjet, Alpha Trion begs Sentinel Maximus to get back up, but Nemesis throws the sage into Vector Sigma, drawing his gun on the prone Sentinel. But Sentinel has a few tricks up his sleave, and uses his abilities to download a massive gun into the real world, stopping Nemesis in his tracks. Ramjet, meanwhile, professes that he and Vector both have the same goal: to return the balance to the universe. Vector, however, refuses to accept Ramjet's way, and the Herald blasts Vector Sigma and Alpha Trion with an antimatter wave, escaping with Nemesis, though not before the later promises to kill Sentinel Maximus the next time they meet. While the battle is over, the cost proves high, as Vector kneels down next to the heavily damaged Alpha Trion.....
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons | Mini-Cons |
|---|---|---|
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Notes
- Characters mentioned but not seen: Unicron, Primus, Optimus Prime, and Optimus Prime.
Continuity notes
- Cybertron was abandoned in "Fallen".
- Vector Prime states the Autobots have found one planet, placing this sometime after "Landmine" where Hot Shot and Red Alert arrived on Velocitron, but before "Search" where Overhaul was lost on the Jungle Planet.
- Sentinel Maximus has arrived from the conclusion of the 3H Productions Wreckers comics, which at this time had not seen release, due to the loss of 3H's license. We would later see how he got here in "Wreckers: Finale Part II", released 2 years later.
Transformers references
- Ramjet, Gunbarrel, Terradive, Thunderwing and Thunderclash were sold as a Toys"R"Us Universe exclusive "Spring Value Pack". Nemesis Prime, meanwhile, was a Target-exclusive Universe toy.
- Jackhammer is based on the Generation 1 Decepticon tapes Rumble and Frenzy. Crush Groove doesn't seem to be a homage to anyone.
- Maccadam's Old Oil House originates from the Marvel UK Transformers comics.
- Jackhammer calls Ramjet a "refugee from the Junk Planet," after the planet introduced in The Transformers: The Movie.
- Alpha Trion originally appeared in the Dreamwave Energon comic, where he was called "Sig-Omega". Vector Sigma makes its first appearance in the Unicron Trilogy continuity family here.
- Nemesis Prime's systems recognize Sentinel Maximus as a Matrix-bearer, but without an actual Matrix. The Primal Prime half of Sentinel Maximus was called the "living Matrix" several times in the various Universe comics, and Sentinel himself would be called by this app elation later in the storyline.
Real-world references
- Sentinel Maximus calls Nemesis Prime "Jumbo", after the real-life elephant.
Other trivia
- Vector Prime's Mini-Con, Safeguard has a little sword of his own. It's adorable.
