Binaltech Is... (Chapter 1)
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| Published in | September 2003 | ||||||||||||
| Story | Hirofumi Ichikawa | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity | ||||||||||||
| Packaged with | Smokescreen, Lambor | ||||||||||||
In the year 2003, the next evolution in Transformer technology arrives!
Synopsis
Less than two decades have passed since the Transformers arrived on Earth, but the changes that the planet has undergone thanks to their influence has been great. From the construction of Autobot City to the formation of the Earth Defense Command to humanity's perfection of space travel, both Autobots and humans have adapted to one another and are working together toward the future.
Alas, the threat of the Decepticons is still ever-present, but at this point in time, Megatron is focusing the majority of his efforts on fully conquering Cybertron, so Earth is in little danger. Perhaps because of this, then, the Autobots and their human allies are unprepared for a duplicitous attack by the Combaticon, Swindle, who unleashes a plague of Cosmic Rust upon the heroic robots, corroding their bodies and leaving Earth almost entirely devoid of Autobot defenders. With their supply lines from Cybertron cut off thanks to Megatron's war effort, the Earth-bound Autobots seem doomed, until the EDC devise a last-gasp plan to repair the wounded warriors: the "Binaltech Project". Coordinated by Teletraan I, the world's biggest automotive companies and technological institutes are brought together to create new and powerful "Binaltech" bodies for the infected Autobots into which their sparks are transferred.
Notes
- This chapter of the Binaltech story was printed in the pack-in booklet included with the Binaltech toys of Smokscreen and Sideswipe.
- The story of Binaltech takes place (initially, at least; it gets confusing later on) in the twenty-year gap between the conclusion of the second season of the Generation 1 cartoon and The Transformers: The Movie. Being written by noted fan Hirofumi Ichikawa, it consequently contains lots of references to technologies, characters and concepts from the cartoon series (and sometimes other things too!). For instance, this chapter notes the accomplishment of certain feats made by humans and Transformers that would be on display without fanfare in the movie and the third season, including:
- Autobot City, the Autobots' new Earth headquarters, first seen in The Transformers: The Movie.
- The Earth Defense Command, Earth's chief protection against alien threats, which debuted in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1".
- Humanity's first steps into space, which by the time of season 3 include a lunar colony (mentioned in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 2"), a base on Mars and a space station near Pluto (both in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3").
- Cosmic Rust previously appeared in the Generation 1 episode of the same name.
- Other references made in the pack-in booklets include the Binaltech warriors being powered by electro-cells (from the Generation 1 cartoon episode "Traitor") and Sideswipe's new body operating on a TORQ 3000 processor (a newer model of the TORQ III from the episode "Day of the Machines"). Sideswipe's booklet includes the second-ever mention of the Transformer race's set of seven standard senses, which were originally listed in Streetwise's The Transformers Universe profile.
