Transformers I.Q. issue 14

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Publisher	Fun Publications
Published in	Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club #56
First published	April/May 2014
Script	Jesse Wittenrich
Art	various
Continuity	TransTech

I-QUEUE goes over pirates, and one the most famous pirates of all: Cannonball!

Synopsis

No matter where they are in the multiverse, Transformers have had to deal with hordes of pirates. I-QUEUE will go over with you some of the pirates encountered by Cybertronians.

1. Which of the following was not a member of the Seacon pirates that Lio Convoy and his Maximals fought on the Beast Wars of Gaea? A. Halfshell B. Sea Phantom C. Submarauder D. Terrormander

2. What happened to the "Pirate Planet" that made it into the barren wasteland it is today? A. An all out war between rival factions B. A Decepticon attack C. Mutiny D. Exposure to highly unstable proton energy.

3. Which moon did Malgus 1207.26 Alpha's Swindle originally misidentify as the Pirate Planet? A. Barbarossa B. Ilyas C. Shirahama D. Regulon One

4. Hidden from prying human eyes in Death Valley, what was the name of the lake used by Aurex 1107.23 Beta's Cannonball as a staging ground for his crew's raids? A. Skull Cove B. Pirate Oasis C. Fratellis Wake D. Darkwater Deep

5. In universe Primax 509.28 Epsilon, what was the name of the crew of Cannonball the First? A. The Star Seekers B. The Maraudicons C. The Pyrite Privateers D. The Sea Slags

I-QUEUE goes on to look at the various Cannonball's in the multiverse. With few minor exceptions, the name "Cannonball" refers not to a singular robot, but a lineage of pirate captains using the same name. Using the legend of Cannonball, these various pirates spread fear and intimidation, seemingly immortal foes. Some Cannonball's extensively modify their appearance to the previous bearer of the name, while others simply change their paint job and pass it off as an upgrade. Whatever the case, all Cannonballs are ruthless and bloodthirsty, not to be trusted. Various Cannonballs include Cannonball the 10th of Aurex 1107.23 Beta, Cannonball the 5th of Primax 509.28 Epsilon, and Cannonball the 8th of Viron 901.8 Alpha.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

TransTech A.I.
I-QUEUE (1)

Notes

Transformers references

• This installment ties into BotCon 2014's "Pirates vs Knights" theme.
• The first question goes over the Seacons from Beast Wars II; Submarauder is the odd one out, being a Decepticon Pretender from the original toyline. The question is illustrated with art of the Seacons from a Beast Wars II guidebook.
• D is the correct answer for question two; this question goes over the events of Headmasters episode "Mystery of the Space Pirate Ship". The question is illustrated with a screencap of Shouki and Yukikaze removing the skull emitter from the space pirate ship in that episode.
• A is the correct answer for the question three; the question refers to Animated Swindle's stellar chart from The AllSpark Almanac. On the map, Barbarossa was originally labeled as the Pirate Planet, until "Planet" was crossed out and replaced with "Moon", referring to the Universe two-pack of Cannonball and Downshift called the "Search for the Priate Moon". The question is illustrated with Swindle's character model.
• B is the correct answer for question four; the events and universal stream refers to the bio on the aforementioned "Search for the Pirate Moon" two-pack, available on Black Friday. The question is illustrated with Cybertron Cannonball's packaging art (art by Marcelo Matere).
• The correct answer for question five is B; Cannonball the First and the Maraudicons were seen in "A Team Effort". The Aligned version of Cannonball was a member of the Star Seekers, and BotCon 2014's Wings Universe Cannonball leads the Star Seekers of that universe. The Sea Slag is Cannonball's ship, mentioned in his Cyber Key Code bio. The question is illustrated with the Star Seeker faction insignia.
• The idea that "Cannonball" is a name passed down from captain to captain comes from Cybertron Cannonball's Cyber Key Code bio. The question is illustrated with Cybertron Cannonball's box art (again); BotCon 2014 Cannonball's tech specs art (art by Dan Khanna); and new art of Cannonball from the universe of the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon. The basis of the picture comes from the art of Sprocket in his profile in issue #41 (art by Casey Coller) of the Club Magazine; his lower legs have been replaced with Starscream's from his profile in issue #37 (art by Casey Coller), with Starscream's wings on his leg and null-rays pointing up on his shoulders. His "crotch" has been replaced with a piece of Classics Mirage's chest, taken from his profile in issue #13 (art by Marcelo Matere). Additionally Mirage's gun attached to his left forearm, and Mirage's chest "vents" replace Sprocket's. On top of all this, he has a new smug expression on his face.

Real-world references

• Ilyas is the Arabic form of the given name "Elijah," and was the name of one of the sons of Ottoman seaman Oruç Reis, known in the western world as "Barbarossa". Shirahama, meanwhile, is a town in Japan, location of the Sandanbeki cliffs, whose caverns are believed to have once been inhabited by pirates.
• "Fratellis Wake" probably refers to the Fratelli crime family from The Goonies (which was about a group of kids looking for the long lost treasure of a pirate). "Darkwater Deep" probably refers to fantasy cartoon The Pirates of Dark Water. Skull Cove, meanwhile, sounds fairly generic, but might be reference to video game Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat, which was originally known under the working title of Pirates of Skull Cove.
• "Pyrite Privateers" refers to English privateer Martin Frobisher, who smuggled tons of iron ore to England, only for it to turn out to be useless iron pyrite.

Errors

• Lio Convoy's name is spelled "Lioconvoy".