Optimus Primal vs Megatron!

Beast Wars: Transformers
Before they were famous...
"Optimus Primal vs Megatron!"
Publisher	Hasbro
Continuity	Beast Wars early bio continuity
Packaged with	Optimus Primal vs Megatron!

Optimus Primal and Megatron battle over the secrets of a Predacon genetics lab.

Synopsis

"Megs! How've you been, man?"
"Been great! Gimme a hug, dude!"

A bat, a cheetah, and a wild boar prowl the jungle, seeking something. Suddenly, the bat speaks, revealing that he has found the Fusion Building through thermal emissions and fusion activity. He detects an crocodile, concluding it to be a "harmless Earth creature". Suddenly, the crocodile attacks! With the bat, Optimus Primal, down, the crocodile transforms into a robot, revealing himself to be Megatron! He refuses to allow the Maximals into the Predacons' genetic lab and subsequently orders the Predacons to attack. A wasp and a spider arrive to assist against the bat, cheetah, and wild boar. All transform once entering battle.

Optimus Primal points out that the Maximals' bio-genetic morphing allowed them to create the perfect fusion of organic musculature and Transformers technology. Megatron states that the Predacons have done so, too, but used the DNA of Earth's "most vicious life forms!" Suddenly, Optimus informs Megatron that the Predacons are weakening. A sore loser, Megatron remotely blows up Fusion Building. The Maximals may have won this battle, but the Beast Wars have only just begun.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Maximals	Predacons
Optimus Primal (1) Cheetor (2) Razorbeast (3)	Megatron (4) Tarantulas (5) Waspinator (6)

Notes

• This comic depicts both Tarantulas and Cheetor more like their prototypes than their production toys. Specifically, Tarantulas is colored like the photos in early catalogs and not the final release of the toy while Cheetor holds his tail weapon by a peg that is not present on the toy.
• Released at the beginning of the Beast Wars multimedia project, this story was probably written in mind with Optimus Primal and Megatron being the original Optimus and Megatron fighting a new phase of the Autobot-Decepticon war. It becomes a matter of personal interpretation whether the yet-released cartoon premise of Optimus the younger and Megatron the younger applies to this comic.

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• Beast Wars toys ("Collect them all!")
  • Basic Class
    • Terrorsaur
    • Iguanus
    • Razorbeast
    • Rattrap
  • Deluxe Class
    • Tarantulas (using orange instead of purple)
    • Waspinator
    • Cheetor
    • Dinobot
  • Mega Class (art)
    • Grizzly-1 (Polar Claw was released instead)
    • Scorponok (in a tan-orange coloration)

Reprints

• Transformers: The Definitive G1 Collection Volume 93: Beast Wars: The Gathering (June 17, 2020)

• Collects Beast Wars: The Gathering and material from the Beast Wars Sourcebook.
• Bonus content is extensive. In additional to the normal Simon Furman introduction and cover gallery, included is an introduction by Ben Yee, a 2-page "Unleash the Beast Wars" feature detailing the origins of the show and toyline, a 3-page "Creating the BW-Verse" interview with Bob Forward, a 2-page "The (G1) roots of the Beast Wars" feature detailing the G1 elements in the show, 4 pages of Don Figueroa's design sketches, and a reprint of the "Optimus Primal vs Megatron!" toy pack-in comic.

• Transformers: Best of the Beasts

• Reprints The Gathering #4, The Transformers: Windblade (vol.2) #6, "Of Flying and Falling" (from the Synergy anthology), Transformers: Beast Wars #9: "Thicker Skin", The Transformers: Sins of the Wreckers #3, and the Beast Wars: Transformers video game advertising comic.

• 
  Definitive G1 Collection Volume 93: Beast Wars: The Gathering; cover art by Don Figueroa and Josh Burcham
• 
  Transformers: Best of the Beasts; cover art by James Biggie