Wings of Honor

« Transformers Timelines#4 » « Wings Universe »
The origin of Two-Face!...wait, no.
"Wings of Honor"
Publisher	Fun Publications
First published	May 28,2009 (BotCon 2009) December 9,2009 (Diamond Edition)
Story	Rik Alvarez
Writers	Forest Leeand Rik Alvarez
Pencils	Guido Guidi(flashback) andDan Khanna(shuttle attack)
Inks	Guido Guidi (flashback) andJosh Warner(shuttle attack)
Colors	Thomas Deer(flashback) andJosh Perez(shuttle attack)
Letters	Jesse Wittenrich
Managing editor	Pete Sinclair
Editor in chief
Continuity	Wings Universe
Price	$4.95 US

Kup tells a story about one of his earliest missions at the beginning of the war.

Synopsis

In space,Cyclonus,Scourge,and theSweepsassault anAutobot shuttle,the sheer number of Sweeps outweighing any losses they incur. On board the damaged ship,Hot Rodshifts course, and begins to head for a nearby nebula, whileKupis reminded of the battle ofBeta-Nine.TheDinobotsdemand to hear the story, but Hot Rod tells them that it's not the time, and Kup, noticing that they have thirty-seven Decepticons on them, agrees to wait until they reach the nebula. The Autobots manage to get themselves inside, but the Decepticons, while sensor blind, still follow them in...'

On board,Grimlockwants to know if he can hear Kup's story now. Hot Rod tells him to wait, knowing that repairs are necessary, but the Dinobot intimidates him with his flame-breath. Kup begin his tale of the original Autobots to earn the "Wings of Honor".

Back before the Great War, the young Autobot Kup was the newest member of the crew of theEight Track.The ship is on patrol for any signs of the new Decepticon malcontents, with no signs of even non-Decepticon life. The ship's captain,Thunderclash,has Kup transmit the ship's log back home.Flaktells the eager young Autobot to calm down, knowing that he should enjoy the peace while he can, but his advice goes ignored. The ship's pilot, an elder Autobot namedLandshark,tells Kup to stick with him if he wants to fight Decepticons, causing the excited Autobot to nearly miss a priority transmission from High Command.Magnumgreets Thunderclash, telling him that they've received his latest logs, and that their mission is being cut short due to events worsening back on Cybertron. The Decepticons have a new, unknownleader;with more resources and organization than intelligence had indicated, war is imminent. An Autobot ship, theVan De Graaff,was carrying a classified cargo that could change the war's course. Unfortunately, the ship was lost on Beta-Nine, and with no distress beacon activated, it's likely the Decepticons crashed the ship, killing everyone on board. As their ship is closer to the planet than the nearest recovery team, they are given the top-secret mission of retrieving this cargo and keeping it out of Decepticon hands at all costs. Soon, theEight Trackis in orbit above Beta-Nine. Unfortunately, their ship is suddenly fired on by the Decepticons; Thunderclash has Flak find the coordinates of theVan De Graaff,and tells Landshark to get them as close as possible. With the ship's steering system destroyed, Landshark does the best he can, landing 22 klicks east of theVan De Graaff.Kup wonders if the Decepticons have already gotten to the cargo, and Landshark, having lost his earlier bravado, agrees, worried about how they'll get off the planet. Thunderclash tells him to stow it; theywillfind this cargo before the Decepticons. With no further protests, the group rolls out to ship...but the Decepticons suddenly appear again, blasting Kup off a nearby ravine. The three Decepticons-Skyquake,Leozack,andHooligan-unleash their payload on the Autobots. Thunderclash pushes the Decepticons back with his own firepower, giving, him, Flak, and Landshark time to evacuate to a nearby forest.

At the bottom of the ravine, Kup wonders how he's going to get back up to the top, but his thoughts are interrupted whenBanzai-Tronerupts from the water beneath him, unleashing his arsenal on the young bot. Kup manages to kick the Decepticon back, but is assaulted by two more Decepticon jets,HellbatandGuyhawk.Kup refuses to surrender, and Banzai-Tron sends forth Hellbat, who uses his hypnotist powers to put Kup to sleep and have him come forth. Luckily for the Autobot, a large draconian creature chooses that moment to emerge from the water, biting down on Hellbat before he can do anything to Kup. Distracted, the Decepticons do not notice Kup escaping until he's already made some headway. In the forest, the other Decepticons search for the Autobots. Thunderclash orders the others to radio Kup and have him meet him at theVan De Graaff.Thunderclash transforms, and draws Skyquake's attention, who leaves Leozack and Hooligan to deal with the others. Kup, already at theVan De Graaff,tells the others that he's gonna scout the wreckage for the crate. On board, Kup finds dozens of dead Autobots, along with the corpse of an odd, tentacledcreature.Disturbed, Kup quickly grabs the case and heads on out.

Back at the forest, Flak splits up from Landshark, telling him to come running when he hears firing. Flak proceeds to shut off his comms, cutting off Landshark's protests, and confronts the two Decepticons with his oversized missile launchers. Meanwhile, Kup radios Thunderclash to tell him that he's retrieved the case, and that he doesn't think the Decepticons were behind theVan De Graaff'scrash-landing. Unfortunately, his report is cut off when Banzai-Tron and Guyhawk find him. As Kup rushes to cover, Banzai-Tron remarks that he won't be saved by chance now...when Thunderclash suddenly rams through the two in truck mode. Thunderclash transforms and greets his subordinate, as Skyquake prepares his assault. With his commander out of ideas, Kup isn't sure what to do, until he spies a container belonging to one of the dead Autobots...

The fallen Flak is about to be dismembered by Leozack, but Thunderclash manages to surprise the two, knocking them out with his oversized fists. Meanwhile, Banzai-Tron demands the Autobots to surrender. Stepping out of the smoke, Kup offers to give up the cargo if he lets them go. Taking the container, Banzai-Tron is warned by Skyquake of the trap he senses, but the Decepticon mercenary ignores him, considering victory within the Decepticon's grasp now. Unfortunately, Skyquake turns out to be right, as the container holds a pistol set to overload, which blasts right in the Decepticon's face. Thunderclash orders the Decepticons to surrender...

Suddenly, Kup's story is interrupted, the Decepticons having tracked down the Autobot's ship. With the engines too low on power, the Decepticons blow a hole in the ship and board...only to find five Dinobots, angry that their story has been interrupted. The Autobots quickly tear into the Sweeps, and Scourge attempts to scurry away. Kup confronts the Decepticon, but when his gun jams, Scourge laughs, calling his gun an antique. Kup simply does the same thing he did millions of years ago, and throws his overloading gun at Scourge, a massive explosion going off right in the Decepticon's face. As Cyclonus quickly flees, Grimlock asks Kup to finish his story.

Back on Cybertron, Magnum tells the Autobots how proud he is of the quartet. With the Council having announced the breakdown of relations, Magnum notes the irony that the first battle of the war will be unknown, and tells the four that the Autobots will need soldiers like them. The present-day Kup reflects that while what happened next lead down a path of death and destruction, they were honored to be a part of something new, as Magnum welcomes Thunderclash and his men into the Elite Guard!Hot Rod, meanwhile, wonders about the cargo; Kup never knew where it went, but just hopes it did what it was supposed to.And millions of years in the past,Alpha Trion,having created designs for a new Autobotsoldier,opens the crate, as a brilliantglowerupts from within...

Featured characters

(Characters initalic textappear only in the present day.)
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"There was a time, back in the day, when Landshark was recognized as one of the finest pilots in the Autobot Guard. No matter how damaged a ship was, he'd put it down as delicate as a filament.
"I'm not one hundred percent on where he got that reputation."

—Kuphas not-so-fond memories of Landshark's landing skills.

"Your plansucks,Flak. We'll never pull this off. "
"Shut up and get into position when you hear firing. And hurry up, unless you brought a box to carry home Flak pieces in."

—LandsharkandFlakdiscuss tactics.

"You boys call those missile launchers?Theseare missile launchers. "

—Flakis up on his pop culture references.

Notes

• Characters mentioned but not seen include:The One.
• Characters mentioned in Kup's profile include: Thunderclash, Landshark, and Flak.
  • Kup is noted to be able to detach and reattach his limbs without permanent damage, presumably in reference to how he survived dismemberment inThe Transformers: The Movie.
  • Kup's kinetic energy hammer can crush a three-square feet cube oftironium,a tough metal mentioned inBeast Warsepisode "Power Surge".
  • Kup is a "protie", Autobot military slang for an inexperienced young bot, taken from the first stage of a Transformer's life cycle, theprotoform.
• Characters mentioned in Banzai-Tron's bio include: Megatron.
  • Banzai-Tron's practice ofcrystalocutionis mentioned.
• Characters mentioned in Flak's bio include: Thunderclash.
• Characters mentioned in Leozack's bio include: Skyquake and Megatron.
• Characters mentioned in Dion's bio include: Megatron andMetalhawk.
  • Dion's near-death at Megatron's hands occurred in "War Dawn".
  • The docks that Dion used to work at is noted to bestorage yard 67;67 was his and Orion Pax'se-Hobbytoys' I.D. Number.
  • Dion's flame launchers use aReverse-Higgs mechanism,the opposite of the real lifeHiggs Mechanism.

Continuity notes

• This story, and subsequent stories in the "Wingsverse", take place in a slightly modified version of the originalThe Transformerscartoon.
• The framing sequence takes place post- "The Rebirth",with Cyclonus having Nightstick as his Targetmaster partner, and Hot Rod in his" original "form.
• The majority of the comic, meanwhile, takes place prior to "War Dawn",with Megatron being an unknown, and Alpha Trion only having designed specs for the body that would become Optimus Prime's.
• The Matrix was last seen being given to Trion by the previousPrimein "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4";presumably, Alpha Trion had it hidden off-planet.
• The tentacle Kup finds belongs to a Quintesson, the creators of the Transformers in the original cartoon.

Transformers references

• The Elite Guard–the Autobots' "best of the best" –was introduced in theAnimatedcartoon.
• Several characters appear in bodies based on recent toys; Cyclonus and Nightstick (who only shows up one panel in gun mode) are based off theirUniverseDeluxe Class toy; Hot Rod is based off hisUniverseLegends Class toy; and Grimlock is based off hisMasterpiecetoy. Aside from the toys sold atBotCon 2009,everyone else shows up in their cartoon character models, including modern-day Kup.
• The framing sequence owes inspiration to the space battles seen inThe Transformers: The Movie.
• When Grimlock bumps his nose, it glows red, like it did whenWheelieused his slingshot on him inThe Transformers: The Movie.
• Grimlock holds a green, stuffed rabbit; presumably, this is aPetro-rabbit.originally mentioned inThe Transformers: The Movie(See where we're going with this?).
• Landquake thanks the One, a mysterious entity originally mentioned in3H Productions'Primeval Dawncomic, who would go on to be revealed as the creator ofPrimusandUnicron.Here, the One apparently stands in for Primus as the main Cybertronian deity.
• Magnum's design is heavily based onUltra Magnus.
• Aside from Skyquake and Leozack, a few more Decepticon jets (noted to be Skyraiders elsewhere, taking their name from the EuropeanGeneration 2release ofStarscreamandRamjet) have their ranks bolstered by"virtual" redecosofEnergonStarscreamasGeneration 2Cyberjet Hooligan, and Leozack's fellowVictoryBreastforce members Hellbat and Guyhawk.
• Magnum's office contains a picture of a female Autobot (presumably Magnum's partner), who looks to beCybertronOverridein teal.

Real-world references

• TheEight Trackis named for the8-track tape,the precursor to cassettes. TheVan De Graff,meanwhile, takes its name from theVan de Graaff generator.
• Landshark's personality is based on American comedianChevy Chase,and his name is taken from theSaturday Night Live"Land Shark"skit, whose titular character was voiced by Chase.
• Leozack is portrayed with a slew of cheesy manga stereotypes, including a giant broadsword, punctuation marks over his head,sweatdropping,calling his attacks, and bold Asian-style fonts in his speech bubbles.
• Flak's "missile launchers" line is paraphrased from the 1986 action-comedy filmCrocodile Dundee:"That's not a knife." [draws Bowie knife] "That'sa knife. "

Other trivia

• The wide-release version (released onDecember 9,2009) of this comic book included profiles forKup,Banzai-Tron,Flak,Leozack,andDion.
• Kup's narration over the flashback tends to paint a decidedly different and more favorable (to Kup) picture than what we see actually happening.

Covers

• BotCon Edition:Battle scene of Kup facing off against Skyquake and Banzai-Tron; art byAlex Milneand colors byJosh Perez
• Diamond Edition:Battle scene featuring Kup; art byGuido Guidiand colors byThomas Deer.