Trigger Warnings
The sixth story in the Beast Wars: Uprising prose series, "Trigger Warnings" was released on September 2, 2016, just over a week after the previous story "Intersectionality". It tells the story of hard-boiled detective Wolfang as he finds himself in a web of conspiracy after trying to track down the killer of a Builder. The entire story is done as a pulp-esque detective story, with first-person purple-prose style narration from Wolfang, something unique among Uprising stories, as the rest are almost all third-person.
For this story, Dave Bishop takes the driver's seat, writing the core of the story, with Jim Sorenson taking the back-seat and writing the background details. The cover is provided by Christopher "IKY" Colgin, who has quickly become the "main" artist for Beast Wars: Uprising, while the interior illustrations were provided by newcomer Dan Perico.
The story's protagonist, bitter detective Wolfang, was introduced back in "Burning Bridges", a member of the Maximal Command Security Force. The original Wolfang was a Maximal wolf sold in the first year of the Beast Wars toyline in 1996, and by all appearances, he was just a Maximal...but a flashback in the story related how, after having his leg cut off, it turned from it's normal blue into a red, the color of the robot-modes of the Predacon Wolfang, a redeco of the original sold in TakaraTomy's 2007 Beast Wars Telemocha Series toyline, an evil Predacon whose name was pronounced in the German way, as "Vol-fang." Combined with a post from earlier in 2015 about a connection between the two Wolfangs on Ask Vector Prime (to which the old bot replied to look forward to this story), and it became clear that the two Wolfangs are one and the same. Wolfang is, in reality, a Predacon Secret Police agent working undercover at the MCSF.
Wolfang's characterization in this story is inspired by Bigby Wolf, the de facto protagonist of the popular 2000s Vertigo Comics series, Fables and its 2013 video game prequel, The Wolf Among Us, created by Bill Willingham and Lan Medina. Originally the manifestation of the archetypal villainous "Big Bad Wolf" from stories like "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Three Little Pigs", Peter and the Wolf, and Aesop's Fables, when the characters of fairy tales and folklore were forced from their homes and into America in the hidden New York City locale of Fabletown, Bigby reformed and became the town's sheriff, spending his days as a human with a keen sense of smell and a smoking habit, whose trying to put his dark past behind him. Bishop notes this wasn't an intentional nod at first, but when he realized the similarity, he leaned into it. Wolfang's two robot modes are based on the shared molds of Universe Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, with Sunstreaker serving as his Maximal form, and Sideswipe as his Predacon form. This hearkens back to the 2010 Timelines Punch-Counterpunch toy, which also used the two toolings for two robot modes.
"Trigger warning" is a fairly recent phrase, with it's earliest known usage come from the 2000s on websites like LiveJournal as warnings prior to fan fiction, but is derived from the idea of "trauma triggers," an idea related to post-traumatic stress disorder that was slowly defined and developed over the course of World War I and II and the Vietnam War, with similar ideas extending well back throughout human history. For this story, it provides a double meaning; Wolfang is driven by the trauma Twirl experienced to avenger her death, and she is secretly a Targetmaster, a Transformer who turns into a gun...which is fired by a trigger.
The cover by Colgin is a homage to the cover of issue #1 of A Dame to Kill For, the 1993 comic mini-series from Frank Miller's Sin City stories; the original cover was done by Miller himself. It features Wolfang smoking a cy-gar-ette over the corpse of Twirl, with the cover in stark black and white aside from Twirl's pink. It's styled as an old pulp novel, with prominent creaks and other wear damage, and a 10 cent price sticker. Let's head on in!
Section 1: A "highly-boosted olfactory suite" means that Wolfang has a super-sense of smell. Cy-gar-ette's are Cybertronian cigarette, derived from the cy-gar, a Cybertronian version of a cigar introduced in IDW Publishing's All Hail Megatron series. Cy-gar-ette's first appeared in the 2010 Wings Universe prose story "A Team Effort" (where they were called "cy-garettes").
The dead bot here is Twirl. The original Twirl was a Mini-Con, a redeco of Armada Thunderwing, who transformed into a stealth bomber and a third shuriken-like mode. She was sold as a pack-in with the seventh volume of Micron Legend (the Japanese name for Armada) on DVD. A member of the Sonic Assault Team, she was an easy-going Mini-Con who loved to dance (specifically, Hirofumi Ichikawa, the writer and artist of the Linkage pack-in manga with the Micron Legend DVDs, based her Elle Woods as played by Reese Witherspoon in the 2001 comedy film Legally Blonde), and who generally didn't care much for combat, but who was a valued teammate nonetheless. Here, she is seemingly an unaligned Micromaster...but remember her third mode for later...
Cybertonium is a crystalline element used in the construction of Transformer bodies, seen in the two-part episode "Desertion of the Dinobots" from the original Sunbow The Transformers cartoon. Nuke-head is slang for those who have a nucleon addiction; nucleon was a substance introduced as part of the 1990 range of non-transforming Action Masters in the final year of the original toyline, which supercharged Transformers, but robbed them of their ability to transform. In the years since, it's been used in various stories from IDW Publishing and Fun Publications as a street drug, including in the aforementioned "Burning Bridges".Â
As a reminder, MCSF stands for Maximal Command Security Force, the police force of the Maximals introduced in BotCon 2006's "Dawn of Future's Past" storyline and related materials. Lidar and Sitrep are brand new characters created for this story by Bishop and Sorenson. Both share the same body-type; they are virtual redecoes of Armada Thrust. Lidar (the white and silver one) takes his name from a method of measuring distances using a laser, similar to the radio wave-based ranging technique known as radar. Sitrep (the gold and blue one) takes his name from military slang, a shortening for "situation report". Exo-frame is a fairly generic term, but it might be a reference to the battlesuits from the 90s animated television series Exosquad, and saw previous use in The AllSpark Almanac II. Sawtooth was a Predacon seen in the Collectors' Club Beast Wars prose story "The Razor's Edge", who was created by Ben Yee. He was based on the Destructor of the same name from the 80s Tomy toyline Starriors. A rust rash was a type of infection mentioned in issue #17 of the Marvel The Transformers comic.
Gumshoe is American slang for a detective. There's an illustration on page two of Wolfang studying the body of Twirl, with her faceplate shattered and energon leaking from her mouth. The term "great reformatting" here refers to the creation of the Maximals and Decepticons. Plasma grenades are generic enough sci-fi weapons; you might know them best from the Halo video game series. A hint at the revelation of the story with those first images Wolfang sees in Twirl's memory. I don't think Twirl being green previously is a reference to anything. Primus, God of Light, creator of the Transformers, you know the score. Engex was an alcoholic beverage first seen in the prose story "Bullets", from the trade collection for IDW Publishing's Last Stand of the Wreckers mini-series. Electrum is a real thing, but the term is most famous for being a golden liquid that bonds at the touch to metal, rendering it indestructible, seen in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "The Golden Lagoon". It's posited here as a Cybertronian version of marijuana.
At the end, we have our first section break. It takes the form of Wolfang's HUD, showing him his leads and messages in both Maximal and Predacon Cybertronix, a cipher language introduced in the Beast Wars cartoon. Normally I would wait until the end to go through them all, but this time they are closely associated with the sections they follow, so I'll go through them at the end of each section. On the top left, it says "leads: Body mod" in Maximal Cybertronix, referring to Twirl's new paint job. On the bottom left, it reads "MSG: 2," meaning Wolfang has two messages from MCSF headquarters. Over on the the bottom right it reads "Mandala: 10 msg" in Predacon Cybertronix, meaning he has 10 messages from the Mandala, the headquarters of the Predacon Secret Police.
Section 2: Hotwire was the Powermaster partner of the Autobot Joyride from the fifth year of the original toyline in 1988, transforming into his partner's larger engine. Hotwire was characterized as a former thief and a skilled mechanic, from the planet of Nebulos; the Beast Wars: Uprising version of the character is a Cyberdroid and female, with a similar shady background. "Leaking lubricant" was a phrase uttered by Ironhide in the first episode of the original Sunbow The Transformers cartoon. The term "conjunx" (or more properly, "conjunx endura") is the Cybertronian equivalent of a significant other, first introduced in IDW Publishing's More than Meets the Eye comic.
The Mayhemists, as we'll see later in the story, are a modern day Predacon supremacist group. They have derived their name from the Mayhem Attack Squad, the Decepticon answer to the Wreckers first introduced in Marvel UK's The Transformers comic. Ptero (misspelt as "Petro" here) was the Titan Master version of the Dinobot Swoop from the Titans Return toyline, who was revealed shortly before this story was published. He's treated in this universe as the Headmaster partner for Swoop, who has survived to the day of the Maximals and Predacons. The Firestormers were a group of Autobots seemingly lead by Grimlock from Marvel's Generation 2 comic. Gnashteeth is an interesting one. The story published after this one, "Identity Politics", was originally meant to be published before it, and as such, this gives away the reveal of that story. Megatron is obviously the Beast Wars Predacon leader; it was established that Megatron was a name he took on in the original cartoon, after a figure in the Covenant of Primus, but this is the first time he's ever been given a name before that: Gnashteeth. Gnashteeth was a Mini-Con Tyrannosaurus rex sold in the fifth range of Micron Boosters in Japan, a redeco of Classics Terrorsaur in the colors of Beast Wars Megatron's original T. Rex-mode body. The Darksyders, meanwhile, were first mentioned all the way back in Beast Wars: Uprising Blackarachnia's profile in issue #25 of the Collectors' Club magazine, before being named in "Alone Together: Prologue".
The term Cyberdroid refers to those who were or are Headmaster or Powermasters (and formerly Targetmasters), the smallest and least privileged members of Builder society, looked down upon by both full-sized Macromasters and Micromasters for their seemingly useless alternate modes. See previous annotations for a more in-depth explanation of the term. A microhic is a unit of measurement roughly equivalent to a micrometer; hics were a unit of measurement mentioned in the Marvel UK Transformers Annual 1991 story "The Magnificent Six!", which were roughly equivalent to the kilometer.
Lube was another Powermaster partner from 1988, this time with Slapdash. The original Lube was characterized as a meticulous fuel specialist on the planet of Nebulos; this version is a Cyberdroid, and is far more laid back, perhaps suggesting without his partner he had no one to focus his energies on. The Maximal getting his tattoo removed has a date with his ex-endura's batch-twin; the term "batch proto-initiator" was first mentioned in issue #3 of IDW Publishing's Infiltration mini-series, as a stand in for "mother." Energon goodies were seen in 1986's The Transformers: The Movie. We'll get into The Way of All Things in just a second. Wolfang's HUD has been updated; now in the top-left corner it reads "leads: way of all things."
Section 3: We'll get to Aura later. The Way of All Things fills in the "seedy bar" trope from old pulp stories. Iacon having docks is probably influenced by the Sunbow The Transformers episode "War Dawn", although I don't think the dockyard in that episode is specifically said to be in Iacon. The Way of All Things constantly plays the same "Hyper-Music disk"; Hyper Music (or in full, Beast Wars II Super Lifeform Transformers: Hyper Music ~Original Soundtrack Vol. 2~) was the second soundtrack album for the Beast Wars II cartoon.
The original Monzo was the Headmaster partner for the 1988 Decepticon Weirdwolf. He was characterized as a former Nebulan hyperwrestler, before becoming a nightclub owner, to which the Cyberdroid version from Beast Wars: Uprising owes his position as an owner of a seedy bar. He uses the name "Monxo," the trademark-friendly name used on his and Weirdwolf (now Wolfwire's) Titans Return toy.
Wolfang mentions "keys"; in the Beast Wars: Uprising universe, Cyber Planet Key are the modern day currency of Cybertron, based on the power enhancing objects from Cybertron. The Predacon, as we will learn, is Fennec. He is the Beast Wars: Uprising version of the Laser Beast Battlefennec from the Transformers-adjacent Beastformers toyline, following a trend of turning characters from that franchise into Maximals and Predacons begun in "Burning Bridges" with Sea Panic and Sledgehammer. The Maximal, meanwhile, is Blackarachnia, as we eventually learn, though it becomes fairly obvious pretty fast. Old Corroder was a beverage seen in IDW's More than Meets the Eye comic. Our first hint at what has become of the Targetmasters in Monxo's nervous response here; they're all gone, having been wiped out.
Monxo swears by the Oracle, the evolved form of Vector Sigma from Beast Machines. A brief hint at Wolfang's true identity at the top of page 10. "Main drag" is an informal term in North America referring to the main street of a town or suburb. Empties were first seen in issue #17 of the Marvel The Transformers comic, Cybertronians so low on energy that they can barely move or transform. Blackarachnia plays the role of the femme fatale in this detective story. Nitro-ice appears to be a new thing. Blackarachnia's alias, "Venus," is derived from Venus Terzo, the actress who played her in Beast Wars and Beast Machines. Vos was a city-state first introduced in the story "State Games" from Marvel UK's Transformers Annual 1986. Crystal City (from the Sunbow The Transformers episode "The Secret of Omega Supreme") was mentioned as having been destroyed by a Resistance bomber back in "Burning Bridges". And here, in a proper werewolf-esque transformation, we learn Wolfang is secretly a Predacon. The transformation cog was introduced in the 5-part opening to the third season of the Sunbow The Transformers cartoon, "Five Faces of Darkness". The brain module comes all the way back from the earliest arc of the Marvel The Transformers comic. Spiderbots were mentioned back in "Burning Bridges", derived from the Japanese name for Tarantulas' Arachnoid drones from the Beast Wars cartoon.
Changes on Wolfang's HUD this time include an updated evidence bit with "leads: "Venus" virus sig Assailant"; another message from MCSF headquarters with "MSG: 3"; and several of the PSP messages have been read through, with it now reading "Mandala: 2 msg." Additionally, in the center is a no sign with "ERROR ERROR" in Predacon Cybertronix, the result of the virus working its way through Wolfang's systems.
Section 4: Stasis lock as an idea comes from the Beast Wars cartoon. Visco was a beverage mentioned in the Transformers: Exodus novel. Aura we'll talk about just in a bit. Vampire was a Predacon therapist and mnemosurgeon who served as part of the Predacon Secret Police, previously seen in "Burning Bridges". He was created by Jim Sorenson, David Bishop, and Josh Burcham, and was based on the Vampire vehicle from M.A.S.K., another toyline owned by Hasbro involving transforming vehicles. We'll get to Onyx Primal when he shows up in-person. The Mandala is the headquarters of the Predacon Secret Police, previously seen in "Burning Bridges".
Aura was also previously seen in "Burning Bridges", serving as the chief of the Maximal Command Security Force, and was created by Jim Sorenson and David Bishop. Like Vampire, she is based on concepts from M.A.S.K.; in her case, her name comes from the mask used by Gloria Baker, while her vehicle mode is based on the Shark vehicle, which Gloria Baker used in the cartoon. The Pit is the Cybertronian version of Hell, first mentioned in the Beast Wars cartoon. I think there's an error here; she's described as red-and-yellow, but to look like the Shark she should be white-and-yellow. Recharge slabs are essentially beds, and come from IDW's More than Meets the Eye comic.
Strongarm is a continuity import of the 2015 Robots in Disguise Stronarm, a young Autobot police cadet with a police SUV alternate mode, who constantly stuck by even the most minor regulations in the lawbooks. In this universe where she's a veteran of the Great War, she's the Autobot Builder who commands the Maximal Command Security Force. Wolfang's hand retracting to use his miniature cryogenic sprayer calls to mind scenes of various characters replacing their hands with gadgets by retracting them in the Sunbow The Transformers cartoon. At the bottom of page 18, we get an image of Wolfang looking over the dying Sitrep. Innermost energon is yet another concept from IDW's More than Meets the Eye comic, the energon that surrounds a Transformer's spark core.
The evidence section on Wolfang's HUD now reads "leads: "exter" "Venus" virus sig Assailant." The message section reads "MSG: 10," while the PSP section of his HUD reads "Mandala: no msg."
Section 5: The Predacon Secret Police was first mentioned in the Beast Wars episode "The Agenda (Part 1)". Wolfang's Predacon-mode face resembles his original toy's mutant mask, with his normal green eyes being replaced by the red eyes of the mask, and the lupine shape and fangs.
I'm sure you know who Soundwave is. The Decepticon Justice Division, a group of Decepticons tasked with hunting down and torturing traitors to the Decepticon cause, were briefly mentioned in IDW Publishing's Last Stand of the Wreckers, before appearing full on in More than Meets the Eye; they were created by James Roberts and Alex Milne. Two of the members are represented here by statues: Kaon (who turned into an electric chair, and whose codenamed was derived from the Decepticon-controlled city in Dreamwave Productions The War Within comic) and Tesarus (who turned into a giant shredding machine, and whose codename was derived from a Decepticon controlled city first mentioned in More than Meets the Eye).
The Autobot Doublespy Punch, who disguised himself as the Decepticon Counterpunch, was part of the 1987 range of figures in the original toyline. He transformed into a Pontiac Fiero. Helex was first introduced in issue #213 of the Marvel UK The Transformers comic, where it was ruled by a Triumvirate of Decepticons after the death of the Cybertron-based Decepticon leader, Lord Straxus. Consisting of Octus, Legonis, and Seizar, the Triumvirate was created by Simon Furman and Lee Sullivan, and were soon killed off after Megatron made his way back to Cybertron. Presumably, Octus was not a part of their number in the Beast Wars: Uprising version of events, as he serves on the Builder Assembly in modern times, as seen in "Broken Windshields". Wolfang notes his physiology owes to Punch's cyberbiology, rather than a standard triple changer; aside from the obvious, as previously mentioned Punch's Timelines toy was also a redeco and retool of Universe Sunstreaker/Sideswipe, which took advantage of the two robot configurations.
Onyx Primal is an interesting story. A redeco of the Beast Wars basic-class Optimus Primal toy, he was a Predacon assassin with a bat mode sold at BotCon 1996, an ill-fated convention ran by Men in Black. With colors based on DC Comics superhero Batman, and a "bio" that was just a paraphrased quote of Jules Winnfield from the 1994 neo-noire film Pulp Fiction, he wouldn't really recieve any real characterization until a few years later, when new BotCon showrunners 3H Productions gave him a bio, which made him a Maximal instead, due to Hasbro/Kenner wanting him to share the faction of the original toy he was redecoed from; he was a talented spy, but stubborn, having fallen out with the Tripredacus Council and defected to the Maximals, a position he wasn't entirely keen on. This story goes with Onyx Primal's original faction, making him the chief of the Predacon Secret Police. His behavior here is vaguely Batman-esque.
Wolfang hails from Polyhex, introduced in issue #17 of the Marvel The Transformers comic, where it served as capital for the Decepticons on Cybertron. Scraplets are metal-eating parasites first seen in issue #29 of the Marvel The Transformers comic. Tarantulas was revealed to be a member of the Predacon Secret Police in the aforementioned "The Agenda (Part 1)". He's depicted in this story with his BotCon 2016 toy body, a redeco and retool of Combiner Wars Protectobot Rook.
Wolfang's HUD is updated to replaced "Assailant" with "Fennec - Res" (for "Resistance"); he now has 3 messages.
Section 6: No Bot's Land comes from the term "no man's land," which has an interesting etymology; originally used for a contested area in 11th-century English fiefdoms, the term came to be used in World War I to describe the area between two enemy trenches, which neither side was willing to cross in case the other fired. Sparks of Genius doesn't appear to be named after anything.
Updates to Wolfang's HUD this time around include: "Spark of G" replacing "virus sig" in the leads; the addition of "autopsy note" in the leads; and his messages are down to 1.
Section 7: Hyenabots were mentioned in the Cyber Key Code bio for Cybertron Swindle. Dexi-squirrels were first seen in The Complete AllSpark Almanac, noted to be the species to which new Animated characters Nook and Night Watch belonged to. The term "Titans" was the name given to the city-bot Transformers by IDW Publishing in their comics books, starting with the comic series More than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise; those like Metroplex or Trypticon.
Overrun is another continuity import; he is a Micromaster version of the Mini-Con Over-Run from Armada, the partner Mini-Con of the smaller Optimus Prime toy. He transformed into a jet and a gun (remember that for later), and was depicted in Dreamwave's Armada and Energon comics as being a brilliant Mini-Con from an alternate dimension, responsible for technological innovations like dimensional travel and the evolution of the Omnicons. Here, that brilliance is translated into him being good with software design. His name is spelt as "Overrun," indicating that someone else has the Over-Run name; presumably, that would be the Autobot Action Master from the 1990 range of the original toyline.
The alias Blackarachnia gave to Overrun was "Elita"; the Animated version of Blackarachnia began life as the Autobot Elita-1.
Updates to Wolfang's HUD: "Venus" has been replaced with "Track Venus - Elita," and "Spark of G" is removed from the leads.
Section 8: Wolfang's Terran Confederacy saying is essentially a sci-fi jargon version of "you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs." A Eutychus Vessel is a part of the Eutychus Project, humanities' ongoing endeavor to bring all of mankind back to life, introduced back in the Cybertronix section of "Micro-Aggressions". Another Empty. "Cool your ramjets" = "cool your jets." On top of page 28, we have an illustration of Wolfang and Monxo at The Way of All Things; Monxo is drawn heavily based on his original toy. Here we have our first proper explanation of what the Mayhem Attack Squad is in this universe.
Simultronics were mind-altering drugs introduced in IDW Publishing's Spotlight: Blurr. The purple Builder with gold teeth on his chest on Fennec's Mayhem holo-card is Carnivac, one of the 1988 Decepticon Pretender Beasts, who transformed into a wolf; he was the leader of the original Mayhem Attack Squad in Marvel UK's comics. I believe this is the first story to say Vos outright borders Iacon; in "State Games" it was only indicated to be close to Iacon. Wolfang gives Monxo 50-CPK Prowl coins, which reveals that the CPKs are based on the collectors coins sold with the Hasbro Asia releases of Masterpiece toys; in this case, the coin included with Masterpiece Prowl. According to Jim and Dave, the other coins are 1 CPK Ironhides, 5 CPK Shockwaves, 10 CPK Optimus Primes, 25 CPK Starscreams, and 100 CPK Soundwaves.
Stopgap was a member of the MCSF introduced in the Diamond Edition of "Dawn of Future's Past" and Theft of the Golden Disk, categorized by his online profile as a forensic scientist who often got so wrapped up in the details that he would ignore events around him. Created by Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak, he was depicted as a "virtual retool" of Cybertron Clocker, with a head modified from Machine Wars Skywarp and Thundercracker, and a color scheme loosely based on Beast Wars II Diver. He mentions how Lio Convoy killed a Builder; the Maximal killed Supersonic back in "Broken Windshields". Manifest destiny was a belief in 19th-century America that American settlers were destined by God to spread across North America, a term coined by columnist John L. O'Sullivan. Stasis cuffs come from the Animated cartoon.
Updates to Wolfang's HUD include: "Fennec - Res" has been replaced for with "Mayhem - loc" (for "location"); and now he has two messages.
Section 9: Acid rain previously appeared in other stories like "Burning Bridges", ultimately derived from artificial acid rain seen in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "Divide and Conquer". "Shoot two Builders with one laser" = "kill two birds with one stone." Targetmasters were establish to draw on the power of their partners in Dreamwave Productions' More than Meets the Eye guidebook, and it's taken to it's logical extreme here by making them extremely powerful weapons of mass destruction. The Targetmaster Extirpation was mentioned in passing back in "Burning Bridges". And so Twirl's secret is revealed: she was originally a Targetmaster. Funnily, unlike her toy, where her plane mode was almost certainly the main alt-mode in mind when she was designed, here her original alt-mode was her weapon mode. Transformers being made of living metal dates back to the Marvel The Transformers comic.
Updates to Wolfang's HUD: "exter" and "autopsy note" are replaced with "TargetMaster angle"; "Mayhem - loc" is shortened to "Mayhem"; "Track Venus - Elita" has been replaced with "BA Resist"; and he has 6 messages.
Section 10: None of the Mayhemists here appear to be anyone identifiable. Tarantulas working with the Mayhemists MIGHT seem like a reference to IDW Publishing's Sins of the Wreckers mini-series, in which Tarantulas provided Carnivac and his Mayhem faction technology in exchange for their assistance, but Dave Bishop explained he hadn't read the comic before writing this story. Tightbeaming is a sci-fi idea of sending communications through beams. Blackarachnia and Tarantulas face off, fitting given their history in the Beast Wars cartoon. On page 38 we have an illustration of Tarantulas laughing.
Metallikato is a Cybertronian martial art, first mentioned in 1989 Decepticon Pretender Bludgeon's tech specs. The Cyber-Ninja Corps was seen in flashbacks in the Animated episode "Five Servos of Doom". Tarantulas' dissection equipment is based on his (and Rook's) clamp weapon accessory. "Spider-web pattern" on Tarantulas' head; funny, that. Wolfang uses Tarantulas' full name, "Tarantulas of Iacon"; the idea of a Transformer's full name being "[name] of [city]" originates from IDW Publishing's comics. The Pax Cybertronia was the post-Great War peace treaty that governed the politics of modern Cybertron, mentioned in the Beast Wars cartoon. Tarantulas not caring for either Maximals or Predacons homages his original cartoon counterpart's mysterious origin, secretly descended from a third source, rather than Autobot or Decepticon. Turbofoxes are one of the earliest Cybertronian animals mentioned in the franchise, originating from first year Autobot Mirage's tech specs.
Our last update to Wolfang's HUD: the lead section now has "Targetmaster Overrun connection," and he has 4 messages from the Mandala.
Section 11: The Robo-smasher (or "Robosmasher," according to the original script) was a creation of Megatron's that reprogrammed Cybertronians into Decepticons, seen in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "The Secret of Omega Supreme". Overrun is also revealed to have been a former Targetmaster. "Robots in Disguise" was one of the original taglines for the original toyline and franchise. Overrun's original name, Surge ,was Armada Over-Run's Japanese name. Hearkening back to Armada Over-Run's status as Optimus Prime's Mini-Con partner, Overrun was the Targetmaster partner of the "Autobot leader." Originally Optimus Prime was meant to have his name outright said, but thanks to the Beast Wars: Uprising "origin" screencap comic "A Change to the Agenda" (go see "Micro-Aggressions" for more on that) where he died (despite previous stories contradicting that), his name was removed from this story, Hyperfire was the Titan Master partner of Titans Return Blurr. He was a new version of Haywire, Blurr's 1987 Targetmaster partner also mentioned here, but this story makes them separate characters. Like Hotwire, Lube, and Monxo, the original Haywire was a Nebulan, while Hyperfire is just a normal Headmaster. Offshoot was the name given to the new version of Targetmaster Firebolt included with the Hasbro release of Masterpiece Rodimus Prime, also presumably separate from Firebolt like Hyperfire and Haywire.
The first mention of Thunderwing, the 1989 Ultra Pretender who briefly lead the Cybertron-based Decepticons in the Marvel The Transformers comic, in Beast Wars: Uprising. We will learn more about his role in later stories. Thunderwing's scientific abilities are derived from IDW Publishing's version of the character, introduced in the Stormbringer mini-series. Again, Sorenson and Bishop take Dreamwave's take on the Targetmasters to the extreme. Overrun mentions how Thunderwing "went all Grand Mal" on Cybertron; the Grand Mal was the head-shaped fortress that Megatron's spark used as a body in the second season of Beast Machines. We'll learn more about it in later stories as well. Three centuries; the time since Galvatron's Great Push, as mentioned in "Micro-Aggressions" and "Intersectionality".
Onyx Primal turns into a stealth bomber, fitting given his original toy's bat mode. Arachnotrons are Cybertron's equivalents to scorpions; their name comes from the enemy type from the 1994 video game Doom II. Plasma grenades are generic as far as sci-fi weapons go, but they're prominent in the Halo series of video games. Wolfang begins dying as his innermost energon leaks. On the bottom of page 48, we have an illustration of Overrun ready for the mortar fire to hit as Wolfang watches; the art gives him a mouth here, contradicting what was said earlier in the story. Overrun mentions Optimus Prime's other partners, Apex and Hi-Q. Hi-Q was the Powermaster partner of 1988's Powermaster Optimus Prime; he was re-imagined as the Titan Master Apex for the Titans Return Powermaster Optimus Prime toy. Like Hyperfire and Haywire, they are separate characters here. Hi-Q is a Cyberdroid rather than a Nebulan, while Apex is a normal Headmaster. The term "snowcrash" comes from American writer Neal Stephenson, who describe a software failure on the early Macintosh computer this way, similar to the static on a television without a signal. He used the term as the title for his 1992 novel Snow Crash. Glitch mice were mentioned in the Sunbow The Transformers episode "S.O.S. Dinobots". And the story ends with Wolfang's HUD crashing into static.
In full, Wolfang's HUD goes like this:
leads:
Body mod
MSG: 2
Mandala: 10 msg
leads:
way of all
things
MSG: 2
Mandala: 10 msg
leads:
"Venus"
virus sig
Assailant
MSG: 3
ERROR ERROR
Mandala: 2 msg
leads:
"exter"
"Venus"
virus sig
Assailant
MSG: 10
Mandala: no msg
leads:
"exter"
"Venus"
virus sig
Fennec - Res
MSG: 3
Mandala: no msg
leads:
"exter"
"Venus"
Spark of G
Fennec - Res
autopsy note
MSG: 1
Mandala: no msg
leads:
"exter"
Track Ven-
us - Elita
Fennec - Res
autopsy note
MSG: 1
Mandala: no msg
leads:
"exter"
Track Ven-
us - Elita
Mayhem - loc
autopsy note
MSG: 2
Mandala: no msg
leads:
Mayhem
BA Resist
TargetMaster angle
MSG: 6
Mandala: no msg
leads:
Target-
Master
Overrun
connection
MSG: 6
Mandala: 4 msg