Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Battlestars (story page)
 |
| |||||||||||||||
The Battlestars story pages were published in TV Magazine from February 1991 to February 1992. They acted as the primary source of fiction for the Return of Convoy franchise, with only a single manga special to accompany them. They followed the events of the Zone story pages, which ended with a preview for this series in its twelfth chapter.
The story was written by Masumi Kaneda and the art was provided by Ban Magami.
Issues
Part 1
- I'm the Leader of the Battlestars, Sky Garry!
The new Decepticon Emperor, Dark Nova, has unleashed his forces of Galaman soldiers upon the universe. Autobot Supreme Commander Dai Atlas realizes that only Optimus Prime has the power to stop this new threat. The problem is... he's dead. Dai Atlas then selects Sky Garry and Grandus to form the Battlestars, a subgroup representing the finest warriors in the Autobot ranks. He then annoints Sky Garry as temporary Supreme Commander and passes the Zodiac on to him, as it is the only power capable of bringing Optimus Prime back.
Part 2
- Great Six Combination Warrior Sixliner!
The youthful Micromaster Combiner Sixliner joins Sky Garry as the youngest member of the Battlstars. The Galaman warriors are also introduced. They are powerful drones who have traveled to Earth en masse to plunder its energy.
Part 3
- Go Forth, Grandus of Justice!
Dark Nova has stolen the body of Optimus Prime. Cloning it, he creates an evil duplicate called False Convoy. False Convoy poses as the real Optimus Prime just long enough to catch the Battlestars off-guard, attacking them and using their love for Optimus Prime to his advantage. False Convoy takes Sixliner hostage, but is eventually defeated by Grandus and his Micromaster partner, Spinner.
Part 4
- Resurrect the Legendary Hero, Optimus Prime!
The Battlestars travel to the Decepticon planet Lucifer and battle their way past hordes of Novaroid drones. After a long fight, they rescue the lifeless body of Optimus Prime. Sky Garry then places the Zodiac in Prime's Matrix compartment and the cosmic energies of the strange artifact bring Prime back to life. More powerful than ever before, Optimus Prime has now become the incredible Star Convoy.
- It's the Supreme Commander Star Convoy!
Star Convoy is featured in all his resurrected glory, describing his new powers and transformation.
Part 5
- Star Convoy's New Strategy!
Dark Nova has upgraded his Novaroid forces into the more powerful Great Novaroids. Star Convoy and Sixliner take on the Great Novaroids, with Star Convoy's Microcarrier battle platform giving them the edge to win the fight.
Part 6
- Decepticon Emperor of Destruction Super Megatron had Appeared!
To ensure victory, Dark Nova beams a blast of crazy energy down into the arctic, resurrecting the frozen corpse of Galvatron and upgrading him into Super Megatron. Super Megatron rises from his icy tomb, horrifying eskimos and polar bears alike. Now with a new "gunjet" mode, the revived Emperor of Destruction will ensure Decepticon supremecy of the universe.
The Battlestars manga
The events of The Battlestars manga special take place next, with Super Megatron and Star Convoy having their first encounter in a battle at the North Pole.
Part 7
- Triple Combination, Battlestar Attack!
The Battlestars take on Super Megatron and his upgraded soldiers, the Great Galaman warriors in an epic space battle. Star Convoy, Sky Garry and Grandus combine into the Triple Combination Battlestar Attack and blast Super Megatron away.
Part 8
- Arrival! Strongest Emperor of Destruction Ultra Megatron
Dark Nova isn't about to accept defeat and immediately upgrades the defeated Super Megatron into the even more powerful Ultra Megatron. Dark Nova at last comes out of the shadows and joins Ultra Megatron in his attack on the Battlestars.
Part 9
- The Battlestars Final Battle!
Sensing defeat, Dark Nova merges with Ultra Megatron, the pair combining into the massive and unstoppable Star Giant. Ultra Megatron has been mostly disassembled in the process; his body stored in Star Giant's head. The Battlestars approach their towering enemy and prepare for their final battle.
Part 10
- You Did It, Battlestars!
With the Star Giant proving to be pretty much unstoppable on the outside, the Battlestars decide to take it apart from within. Star Convoy holds the monster's mouth open and the Battlestars fly into its belly. Inside, they battle the creature's defense systems while taking it apart from the inside-out. They succeed and narrowly escape the Star Giant just as it explodes. All of the Star Giant is destroyed in the explosion, save its head, which just so happens to contain Ultra Megatron.
Other story pages
A pair of additional story pages recapping the events of the TV Magazine series were published in the toy catalogs. Due to some slight alterations to the storyline, it is unlikely these story pages can be considered canon with the main series.
Catalog 1
- And Now, the Legendary Hero is Resurrected!!
Faced with the menace of Dark Nova, Dai Atlas sends for the Battlestars to collect Optimus Prime's coffin and resurrect him with the Zodiac. Upon doing so, Prime becomes Star Convoy and faces down Dark Nova.
These pages feature a spectral version of Unicron in place of Dark Nova. Since the name "Unicron" is not mentioned once in the entire page, and any connection between the two characters is never even hinted at in the TV Magazine story pages, it is unclear whether Dark Nova is actually Unicron, a servent of Unicron or if the artists were just using Unicron as a place-holder image. Additionally, the Battlestars retrieve Optimus Prime's corpse from a glass coffin floating in space, which is not how it happened in the TV Magazine series at all.
Catalog 2
- Transformer Story: "Take Down Dark Nova!"
Upon defeating Super Megatron, the Battlestars then take on Dark Nova-himself. After a harrowing battle, Star Convoy defeats the fiend by transforming to truck mode and then driving through space fast enough to become a fireball, ripping Dark Nova in two.
Oddities featured in this page include the one and only appearance of Dark Nova's robot mode (he was never even hinted at being able to transform in the TV Magazine series). On top of that, Star Convoy defeats Dark Nova in an entirely different manner
