barricade643sg

[barricade643sg]

Dear Vector Prime,

Thanks for sharing their names! Keep up the good work!

Dear Vector Prime

Are there any additional mammoth and smilodon members among the combined members of Volcanicus?

Dear Prehistoric Plus,

Wheeljack once proposed creating new Dinobots based on smilodon and mastodon fossils, but Grimlock protested: "Wheeljack stupid! Those not dinosaurs at all!" Wheeljack's attempts to explain that Swoop was not technically a dinosaur either fell on deaf audio-receptors.

[barricade643sg]

Dear vector prime,

I saw a vision of the finished Dinobots that Wheeljack was going to build. However, I could not make out the name of the key. By what name were they going to be born?

Dear Vector Prime

Are there any additional mammoth and smilodon members among the combined members of Volcanicus?

Dear Prehistoric Plus,

Wheeljack once proposed creating new Dinobots based on smilodon and mastodon fossils, but Grimlock protested: "Wheeljack stupid! Those not dinosaurs at all!" Wheeljack's attempts to explain that Swoop was not technically a dinosaur either fell on deaf audio-receptors.

[barricade643sg]

Can you tell us more about Sentinel Prime? You implied he was a worthy enemy - what made him one?

Ah, Sentinel Prime. I remember battling him fondly; his tutelage is the reason why Optimus has survived against me for so long. In a way, he made both Prime and myself who we are today.

I was an up-and-coming warlord then, seeking only to make my name known as ruler of a few minor provinces. Simpler times… Back then, Sentinel Prime was leader of the High Council and Supreme Commander of Cybertron's army. He counted a young Optronix, Hot Rod, and Ariel among his subordinates. Rather than simply delegate his forces to "deal with me", he came himself in hopes of reaching an accord... and when I turned it back at him, he gave me my first defeat.

I thank him for that, for it was that first loss that truly lit the fire of my ambition. With the coming of the Mini-Cons, I recognized the opportunity to increase our powers and took Sentinel and his forces by surprise. Still, I was unable to conquer him, as other Mini-Cons themselves came to his aid. Beginning with himself and the Mini-Con Over-Run, more and more Autobots and Mini-Cons became partners, and our forces reached a standstill.

It wasn't until the battle at the Straits of Yuss that the tide turned. A skirmish between our forces became a one-on-one battle as Sentinel and I both took the field. First, I blasted his locomotive alternate form off its wheels, only for him to transform and blunt my cannon with his neutron hammer. I countered by Powerlinxing with Leader-1, but Sentinel used Over-Run to shoot my Mini-Con out of my hands. He attempted to finish me off with a Powerlinx-fueled punch, but I surprised him by deploying my hidden switchblade, dealing him a mortal wound. Still, he would not fall. In the end, I unleashed a rain of missiles upon him, and he died shielding his Mini-Con with his ruined body.

Sentinel forged me in fire, and for that, I will never forget him. Optimus claims it was his ideals that made Sentinel Prime great, but I know the truth. I saw the warrior he was—it was his weakness in protecting others that cost him his life, showing the true supremacy of my worldview. An ultimately inferior foe, but not an unworthy one.

[barricade643sg]

I had visions of “Skywheel,” “Grindtread,” and “The Governor,” so I drew them up.

Too bad the first two were not marketed as toys at Siege.

Dear Vector Prime, are there any more Double Pretenders to exist?

Dear Dichotomous Discusser,

In one universe, Flywheels obtained the power of the Matrix, which gave both of his alt-modes sentience, calling themselves Grindtread and Skywheel. Each of them held half of the Matrix, but could no longer combine into their original whole. Thus, they forced Scorponok to create a Double Pretender shell to incorporate them both. Once they both entered the shell, they fused into the Decepticon Emperor of Land and Sky, calling themself The Governor. Like the real-world device that is their namesake, The Governor can control the maximum speed of any mechanical entity, even setting it to zero and freezing an opponent in place.

[barricade643sg]

Dear, Vector Prime.

After a long time I had a vision of a distant universe. It may not be accurate, as it came to me dimly, but I painted Unicron Trilogy Sentinel Prime.

For some reason the colors looked exactly like the Energon Overload, did this mean he changed the paint in honor of the Sentinel?

Can you tell us more about Sentinel Prime? You implied he was a worthy enemy - what made him one?

Ah, Sentinel Prime. I remember battling him fondly; his tutelage is the reason why Optimus has survived against me for so long. In a way, he made both Prime and myself who we are today.

I was an up-and-coming warlord then, seeking only to make my name known as ruler of a few minor provinces. Simpler times… Back then, Sentinel Prime was leader of the High Council and Supreme Commander of Cybertron's army. He counted a young Optronix, Hot Rod, and Ariel among his subordinates. Rather than simply delegate his forces to "deal with me", he came himself in hopes of reaching an accord... and when I turned it back at him, he gave me my first defeat.

I thank him for that, for it was that first loss that truly lit the fire of my ambition. With the coming of the Mini-Cons, I recognized the opportunity to increase our powers and took Sentinel and his forces by surprise. Still, I was unable to conquer him, as other Mini-Cons themselves came to his aid. Beginning with himself and the Mini-Con Over-Run, more and more Autobots and Mini-Cons became partners, and our forces reached a standstill.

It wasn't until the battle at the Straits of Yuss that the tide turned. A skirmish between our forces became a one-on-one battle as Sentinel and I both took the field. First, I blasted his locomotive alternate form off its wheels, only for him to transform and blunt my cannon with his neutron hammer. I countered by Powerlinxing with Leader-1, but Sentinel used Over-Run to shoot my Mini-Con out of my hands. He attempted to finish me off with a Powerlinx-fueled punch, but I surprised him by deploying my hidden switchblade, dealing him a mortal wound. Still, he would not fall. In the end, I unleashed a rain of missiles upon him, and he died shielding his Mini-Con with his ruined body.

Sentinel forged me in fire, and for that, I will never forget him. Optimus claims it was his ideals that made Sentinel Prime great, but I know the truth. I saw the warrior he was—it was his weakness in protecting others that cost him his life, showing the true supremacy of my worldview. An ultimately inferior foe, but not an unworthy one.

[barricade643sg]

PROLOGUE

[barricade643sg]

Transformers: Mosaic #15 - “Business Lunch”

Originally posted on September 24th, 2007

Story, Art - Melissa DeHaan

deviantART | Seibertron | TFW2005 | TFArchive | BotTalk

wada sez: Melissa “Wayward Martian” DeHaan is the creator of Insecticomics, a classic photocomic which I have yet to get around to reading. This comic is set squarely in Marvel continuity, referencing two of Bob Budiansky’s best stories. Firstly, “the boss” is none other than Lord High Governor Straxus, and Bombshell complains about the smelting pool; these all debuting in issue #17. Meanwhile, the red monsters are Mecannibals, stars of the two-part story from issues #52-53. Melissa gives them spherical disguised forms in the earlier panels. She also gives Shrapnel his speech quirk from the cartoon, where he echoes the last words in each sentence. Finally, Kickback is seen springing around like a grasshopper. Seriously, though, look at the presentation of this strip, done up to look like a scan of an old copy of a late-era Marvel UK comic, right down to the credit byline! See below for a Japanese translation by Barricade 643.

さらに読む

[barricade643sg]

Dear Vector Prime,

Often I have visions. Recently I have been wondering what this phenomenon is called. And I have output some of them.

Dear Vector Prime,

Have there been any other Horrorcons besides Snapdragon and Apeface?

Dear Kaiju Kopf,

While I could mention the Horrorcons who fought in the Universe War—Leatherhide, Blackarachnia, Nightprowler and Waspinator—I assume you are speaking specifically of the triple-changing Headmaster Horrorcons binary-bonded with Nebulans. Though, now that I mention it, I did once hear of a Leatherhide who bonded himself to… ah, my apologies, I'm getting off-track.

I believe that in at least one universe, the Decepticon forces under Scorponok did indeed include a third Horrorcon by the name of Backbiter. Like her fellows, Backbiter was a powerhouse among the Headmasters; she transformed into both a Cybertronian "flying wing" stealth bomber and an enormous, heavily armored snapping turtle. Though not as fast as some Transformers, the difficulty of detecting her jet mode allowed her to get in close to her Autobot enemies before converting into turtle form, becoming a nigh-invulnerable mobile bastion; in robot mode, meanwhile, she wielded a Psyche-Out Blaster that disrupted the brain modules of enemy Transformers to cause vivid hallucinations—something that proved useful if she ever needed to retreat from a fight.

While outwardly the least unpleasant of the three Horrorcons to be around, Backbiter was in truth a cruel and spite-driven individual who—as her name suggests—would feign politeness to others' faces while spreading vicious rumors and mockery behind their backs, taking a perverse pleasure in breaking other Decepticons' spirits while masquerading as their friend. Perhaps her only ally that she didn't treat this way was her Headmaster partner Gemba, a scheming Nebulan socialite desperate for prestige and fame, who was more than happy to ride Backbiter's coattails to a position of power.

One notable adventure saw the Horrorcons lay an ambush for the Autobot Headmasters, Backbiter using her Psyche-Out Blaster to trap them in nightmarish visions. It was only thanks to their Nebulan partners being resistant to the effects that the Autobots were able to escape and defeat the Horrorcons—that, and Hardhead's legendary stubbornness, which helped him to push through! Backbiter and the others were forced to flee, swearing revenge against the Autobots and their Headmaster partners.

[barricade643sg]

Oh, Vector Prime, I saw visions again. Combatrons were talking about Bum-Ble. Starscream is speaking with great uncertainty about BB's namesake warrior, and Thrust points out that BB once dyed his body gold. Dirge is uninterested and dozing off.

You also adopted Heinrad's body here. You are thinking of "Bumblebee's" true form and want to tell Combatrons that he is not such a great warrior.

Dear Vector Prime, In Beast Wars ii, Galvatron's initial crew of predacons (himself included) all seemed to be named, or named themselves, after notable decepticons from the great war (Galvatron, Starscream, Dirge and Thrust, Megastorm got a little creative with his). But the exception to this is BB, so was there a notable decepticon from the great war called BB? What were they like?

Dear Roger Resolute,

After many millennia, details about the Great War had faded into legend more than fact, allowing for a number of errors to creep in. BB took his name after a feared Cybertronian warrior, whose visage was supposedly patterned after Unicron himself. For a while he even took his colors after that ancient villain.

BB would be rather surprised if he learned the true nature of Bumblebee.

[barricade643sg]

Dear, Vector Prime. I saw another version of SG Movie Megatron that you mentioned. Based on the dating of the vehicle mode, it seems to be a Megatron from a time line far beyond the positive universe TLK.

Dear, Vector Prime.

What does SG Tyran cluster Megatron look like and what does he transform into? Alien jet? Alien tank? Tanker track? or Stealth jet?

Dear Silver-Screen Shatterer,

There are, of course, many negative-polarity universes that mirror the realities you speak of. In one such universe, Megatron looked much the same as the Megatron that you know from the Transformers film series, albeit with blue eyes in place of his counterpart's red; this Megatron, who had allied with the repentant Sentinel Prime, was killed by Optimus Prime after a misguided attempt to convince the Autobot tyrant to follow his predecessor's example. Fortunately, he was rebuilt as Galvatron thanks to the intervention of the philanthropist scientist Joshua Joyce, and took the fight to Optimus once more with his new hypno-transformation abilities.

Another version of Megatron came to Earth in 1987 after recieving a message from Decepticon military police officers Shatter and Dropkick, who had discovered the Autobot scout Bumblebee rallying the Autobots' worst war criminals to the organic world. This Megatron was white and dark blue, and transformed into a M1 Abrams tank—I believe you have caught a glimpse of his body-type through the Tiny Turbo Changers toyline.

[barricade643sg]

Dear Vector Prime, have you ever spent time with and helped Nightbeat crack a big case?

Dear Sympathetic Sleuth,

Why yes, on many occasions. I've found that we are a most excellent team—though on occasion while assessing the evidence, he must remind me of important details such as "time flows from past to future" and "the culprit probably isn't a multiversal singularity".

Most recently, he asked for my support for the "Matter of the Missing Metroplex Messages" case. Hoist and Grapple had completed the blueprints to integrate Metroplex into Autobot City, but those plans had suddenly vanished from Teletraan-I without a trace. Optimus Prime put Nightbeat on the case, and he interviewed everyone who'd accessed Teletraan in the previous week, including Sideswipe ("I don't really know what a blueprint is. Is that a new kind of rubsign?"), Sparkplug (valid alibi—he’d been playing with young Daniel at the time), and Cliffjumper, who only noted in his paranoid way that some of Teletraan's keys felt "grimier" or "not smooth like usual".

After many frustrating, fruitless days of searching, Nightbeat called me in, hoping that my time powers might help resolve the puzzle. Borrowing Nightbeat's magnifying glass and his fedora, I went back in time to when the data was last known to be present on the computer, and I saw nothing out of the ordinary—except for tiny red and blue smudges on Teletraan's keys. Empty-handed and feeling insecure about my detective skills, I returned to the present and showed Nightbeat the photograph I took.

Nightbeat's optics flared behind his visor, and with a big grin, he told me that he'd solved the case. Walking over to Teletraan, he bonked the console firmly—and the console winced! It detached from the rest of the Ark, transforming into Mainframe, who had spray-painted himself with a nice (and cheap, as Cliffjumper later noted) golden sheen to match Teletraan-I. For all the good he was at being a computer, he was not adept at spray-painting himself at first. I had helped after all!

Mainframe explained that he didn't want to leave the Ark; it was quieter than the bustling Autobot City and wanted all of his friends to stay too. Optimus, who was both kind and just, sentenced Mainframe to six months of community service at Metroplex in assistance to Hoist and Grapple, in addition to six months of daily maintenance of Teletraan-I, which he had hidden away in storage. In the end, everyone won: Mainframe learned to appreciate Metroplex while being allowed to live at the Ark, Nightbeat got to brag about solving one more case, and as thanks, I got to keep his fedora!

[barricade643sg]

Dear Vector Prime,

Again I had a vision. It clearly showed you and Nightbeat unmasking the Teletraan-I-Mainframe. But for some reason, your body looked a lot like BWN Heinrad. Why is this?

Dear Vector Prime, have you ever spent time with and helped Nightbeat crack a big case?

Dear Sympathetic Sleuth,

Why yes, on many occasions. I've found that we are a most excellent team—though on occasion while assessing the evidence, he must remind me of important details such as "time flows from past to future" and "the culprit probably isn't a multiversal singularity".

Most recently, he asked for my support for the "Matter of the Missing Metroplex Messages" case. Hoist and Grapple had completed the blueprints to integrate Metroplex into Autobot City, but those plans had suddenly vanished from Teletraan-I without a trace. Optimus Prime put Nightbeat on the case, and he interviewed everyone who'd accessed Teletraan in the previous week, including Sideswipe ("I don't really know what a blueprint is. Is that a new kind of rubsign?"), Sparkplug (valid alibi—he’d been playing with young Daniel at the time), and Cliffjumper, who only noted in his paranoid way that some of Teletraan's keys felt "grimier" or "not smooth like usual".

After many frustrating, fruitless days of searching, Nightbeat called me in, hoping that my time powers might help resolve the puzzle. Borrowing Nightbeat's magnifying glass and his fedora, I went back in time to when the data was last known to be present on the computer, and I saw nothing out of the ordinary—except for tiny red and blue smudges on Teletraan's keys. Empty-handed and feeling insecure about my detective skills, I returned to the present and showed Nightbeat the photograph I took.

Nightbeat's optics flared behind his visor, and with a big grin, he told me that he'd solved the case. Walking over to Teletraan, he bonked the console firmly—and the console winced! It detached from the rest of the Ark, transforming into Mainframe, who had spray-painted himself with a nice (and cheap, as Cliffjumper later noted) golden sheen to match Teletraan-I. For all the good he was at being a computer, he was not adept at spray-painting himself at first. I had helped after all!

Mainframe explained that he didn't want to leave the Ark; it was quieter than the bustling Autobot City and wanted all of his friends to stay too. Optimus, who was both kind and just, sentenced Mainframe to six months of community service at Metroplex in assistance to Hoist and Grapple, in addition to six months of daily maintenance of Teletraan-I, which he had hidden away in storage. In the end, everyone won: Mainframe learned to appreciate Metroplex while being allowed to live at the Ark, Nightbeat got to brag about solving one more case, and as thanks, I got to keep his fedora!

[barricade643sg]

Thanks!

Transformers: Shattered Glass Comics - “Birth Of The Sixchangers”

Originally posted on May 14th, 2012

Story - Wout Jut Art - Kei Tomoe Edits - King Wrench

deviantART

wada sez: I think First Aid has been given a Constructicon color scheme here, because the Shattered Glass Constructicons share a white/red medical color scheme? The color schemes for Quickswitch and Sixshot appear to have been created by simply inverting their usual color schemes. Possibly entirely coincidentally, almost ten years later, John-Paul Bove would take exactly the same approach with Sixshot for the official IDW Shattered Glass comic series, arriving at an identical color scheme. I suppose it’s possible Bove just Googled “Shattered Glass Sixshot”, but it seems unlikely he’d lie about doing so! See below for the clean inks and colors for this strip, along with a Japanese translation by Barricade 643!

さらに読む

[barricade643sg]

Thanks!

Transformers: Mosaic #227 - “The Gladiator”

Originally posted on August 15th, 2008

Story - Eli Navarro Art - Kent Lin Colours - Drew Eiden Letters - Sean Moore

deviantART | TFW2005 | BotTalk

wada sez: Commenters REALLY didn’t like that the writer of this strip gave precedence to the movie, which referred to the tank characters as “Devastator”—while basically every Hasbro source called it Brawl, a name classically associated with a green tank Decepticon. With a combining Devastator appearing in the sequel, Brawl evidently won out, but this strip predates that. It’s a cool strip! I’m unsure whether his Cybertronian mode is the same as that depicted in the Titan magazine, or whether it just draws common inspiration in its adaptation of the Earth-form design cues. See below for a Japanese translation by reader Barricade 643!

さらに読む

[barricade643sg]

Thanks for all the great answers! I have another new vision!

It is Menasor formed by Malgus Stunticons! Unfortunately I could not see what he did, but I am happy to see another Combiner in the Malgus cluster!

Dear Vector Prime, we already know of one universe where there was a Combiner Wars, which was Primax, but what other Clusters did they have their own Combiner Wars?

Dear Combiner Combatant,

Although historians have not always termed the battle for combiner technology and the subsequent fallout as “Combiner Wars”, many universes across the multiverse have experienced devastating clashes between multiple combiner teams. In one universe, for instance, Rail Racer and X-Landfill battled Ruination and Overlord when the Predacon Council turned their sights upon Earth. The four faced off in the Metro City rail yard, and the Autobots only won thanks to the last-minute intervention of Koji Onishi, who baited the Council’s combined form into the path of an oncoming freight train.

Meanwhile, in another universe, the Autobots are hard at work developing a new generation of “Aerialbots”, the Constructicon Dirt Boss has ambitious plans for creating a Devastator, and the Stunticons have recently made themselves a known quantity. Although Megatron is now in Autobot custody, I fear that a new arms race may be taking off...

[barricade643sg]

Hi, Vector. I had a vision of Shadow Striker transforming into a black cat. She has a "MAD M-AXE" Battle Master as her partner, who transforms into a guitar shaped axe.

Dear, Vector Prime.

Who is the most attractive Shadow Striker in the dimension you observed?

Dear Attraction Aggrieved,

I recall one time when Shadow Striker borrowed Shockwave's Magnetic Mangler in her attempts to destroy Bumblebee, ambushing him in the Cobalt Caverns. Unfortunately for her, Bumblebee had taken Wheeljack's Mega Magnetizer out for a spin, using it to search for any raw energon that might be in the caverns.

The interaction of their magnetic munitions created a massive electromagnetic pulse, disabling their weaponry and knocking them out… and when they came back online, to their horror they discovered they were now magnetically charged. Shadow Striker was positively charged, with every loose screw, gear, or piece of ore ending up stuck to her chassis. By comparison, Bumblebee was negatively charged, finding his own weaponry trying to escape his grasp. Attempting to resume their battle was futile, as no matter what they tried nothing seemed to find its mark… except for the insults and barbed comments. (Shadow Striker was quick to say that she'd always found Bumblebee repulsive.)

In the end, the only way out for them was to call a truce and work together—something neither was particularly happy about, but by leveraging their alternate charges, they were able to escape the Cobalt Caverns. Bumblebee, overjoyed to have escaped, forgot who he was with and offered Shadow Striker a high four. And despite herself, she obliged.

The two opposing charges colliding outside the caverns unleashed another pulse, but this time one that dissipated their charges. Bumblebee was still unarmed, and Shadow Striker immediately drew her weaponry… and paused. Announcing that their truce was still in effect, she transformed and sped off, claiming that next time they fought, he wouldn't be so lucky.

[barricade643sg]

“Commission Opened!”

I'll draw your favorite Transformers or your OC arts. I'm waiting for your request! (I am now addicted to Tokusatsu x TF!)

“Price Setting”

Recommended Price: 5000 JPY/33.97$

Lowest Price: 1000 JPY/6.79$

If you have a request…enter here!