ANNOTATIONS
APPENDIX:
THE ANNOTATED ALT2DAY.COM!
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to The Annotated AllSpark Almanc II
Did you think to type “Alt2day.com” into your browser when you found the address in the pages of the AllSpark Almanac II? Well, I didn’t! Not until I’d finished the annotations, anyway. So let’s take a look at the secrets this website holds!
We’ll skip over the main page, because everything on it appears on other pages. It’ll be immediately obvious that the articles here are the full-length versions of those trailed in the Almanac itself.
NEWS
Ulchtar was the preliminary name of Generation 1 Starscream, while his nickname, the “Red Spider”, is the literal translation of Starscream’s Cantonese name, “Hong Zhizhu”. He hails from Aurex 603.0 Kappa, the universe of “The Energon Within”, a video game included on the CD-ROM packaged with the first wave of Universe figures. The first paragraph of this article is essentially a summary of the events of the game and the characters featured in it.
It is suggested that Megatron obtained the technology to transport Ulchtar across the dimension from Sideways, the Unicron Trilogy’s notorious dimension-hopper. Ulchtar shrank the energon he stole with a transmat reduction beam, a miniaturizing device seen in the Generation 1 cartoon episode, “Microbots”. His Mini-Con partner is Spark Grid, which was the Japanese name of the powered-up form of Armada Starscream’s partner Swindle.
Ulchtar wound up in Primax 388.0 Gamma, the branching continuity of the various Japanese Transformers manga that splinters off from the regular cartoon timeline with the first issue of Super-God Masterforce. He evidently arrived some time into the future, post-2025, circa the events of Zone, since the members of the Micromaster Battle Patrol Team are named, Dai Atlas is the current Autobot Supreme Commander, and the planet Micro has been renamed Zone.
With the aid of Scrounge (an alternate version of the hapless Autobot surveillance expert from issue #17 of the Generation 1 Marvel comic), Ulchtar liberated the “Combatibots” from the Zone Satellite Penitentiary (first seen in the Victory episode “Rescue! Gaihawk”, when the planet it orbited was still known as Micro) in a parody of the G1 episode “Starscream’s Brigade”. The Combatibots are named in the Almanac, but not here; only their combined form Toxitron is name-checked, christened after an unreleased redeco of Generation 2 Laser Optimus Prime. The team is speculated to be fusilateral quintrocombiners, a complex term from issue #9 of the Generation 2 comic that refers to the standard five-bot “Scramble City” style of combination.
The whole “wanted” poster is a copy of the poster for Galvatron seen in the UK G1 comic story, “Wanted: Galvatron – Dead or Alive”, in which Shanix, the currency that the reward is offered in, first appeared. Those seeking it are advised to contact Rodimus Convoy (Rodimus Prime’s Japanese name) on New Cybertron, a reference to the unresolved story thread that saw Rodimus depart for space to look for a new homeworld for the Transformers in the Headmasters two-part episode, “Cybertron Is in Grave Danger”. Looks like he succeeded! Hurray!
The adverts on the left side of the screen are for:
Sleepfast Nightlights, telepathic lights from the UK G1 comic story, “The Living Nightlights”. There, they were a ploy of G1 Mindwipe’s, hence the appearance of Animated Mindwipe in the ad. The nightlight itself is recolored art lifted straight from the original comic.
Garbage-Os, the cereal showcased in the first AllSpark Almanac. Reference to Wreck-Gar’s voice actor Weird Al Yankovic are obvious: readers are instructed to “run and get some scissors”, referring to Al’s album “Running With Scissors”, while 27 box tops are needed for the promotion, 27 being a running gag in Al’s songs.
Wyatt Toys, the toy store mentioned in the first Almanac named for Animated Art Director Derrick J. Wyatt. The picture in the ad is from the cover of the second Almanac, of Bumblebee holding Roll-Out Command Optimus Prime.
Cybermatch.com, a thankfully non-existent website promoted with an image of Marissa Faireborn and Optimus Prime from the Kiss Players toyline.
TRAVEL
Aero-Bot and his four allies are Playskool Go-Bots (sometimes called “Go-Go-Gobots” by fans). The coverage of this story in the Almanac is the first time their continuity family has been given a designator; Yayayarst certainly seems intended to mimic the cadence of “Go-Go-Gobots”. Their point of origin is Yayayarst 201.11 Beta; since the Playskool Go-Bots line didn’t start until 2002, this designator seems to be signifying the starting point of this universe as the February 2001 release of the 1-2-3 Transformers toy, Rescue Roy, since he was sold alongside the Playskool Gobots in Japan as part of the combined Kid's Transformers Rescue Heroes Go-Bots line.
Aero-Bot was found in the Eshems Nebula, a region of space introduce in IDW’s live-action Transformers movie comics, in Tyran 609.22 Iota, which is….the…world of Burger King’s online Revenge of the Fallen promotion? Really?
The scientists who help him are two versions of the same ‘bot, Zebres, from Robot Masters, a repaint of G1 Cerebros and part of Cybertron Base, that line’s repaint of G1 Fortress Maximus. One Zebres is from Primax 1204.0 Alpha, the world of the brief DVD-exclusive Robot Masters cartoon; he is a Headmaster in the American sense, partnered to a Nebulon named Master by way of Brainstorm’s Headmaster process (invented in the G1 episode “The Rebirth, Part 1”). The other is from Primax 704.0 Beta, the world of the Robot Masters tech-specs; he is a Headmaster in the Japanese sense, a diminutive Cybertronian named Master who is bonded to a Transtector like Fortress of The Headmasters. His Transtector is noted to transform into an emissary mode, a reference to the character of the Emissary from Robots in Disguise, who was the intermediate component of that universe’s Fortress Maximus. It is also claimed for the first time anywhere that Master, Fortress and the other tiny Cybertronians are Micromasters.
The X-Dimension is a bit of a mystery, but was apparently intended to be an alternate dimension from which Takara’s series of X-Dimension Mini-Con repaints hail (it would have been the subject of the DVD pack-in comics that came with the Japanese Armada DVDs, but the idea was dropped in favour of doing the Linkage story instead). The mentions made here of “horrors” and “higher-level intelligences” that dwell in the X-Dimension call to mind the ancient gods that tormented Universe Ramjet when he was trapped outside of normal space; perhaps, then, the X-Dimension is another name for that non-existence bit of unreality that exists between dimensions, also known as transwarp and subspace.
Also referred to during the article are hyper-frames (the physical bodies of the Alternity), the Alternity’s “cousins from the Nexus stream” (referring to the TransTechs, who also safeguard the multiverse like the Alternity do), and Botropolis (home of the Playskool Go-Bots, explained for the first time here to be a comet).
New ads that appear on this page are:
Tyrest University, a facility mentioned in Shattered Glass Razorclaw’s bio. Classes include Ancient Malignus, continuing the Almanac’s joke that Malignus is an ancient language on Cybertron analogous to Earth’s Spanish, and Levitacan Crystal Sculpture, presumably in reference to councillor Levitacus from Dreamwave’s Energon comics.
Wheeljack Tires, named for the Autobot inventor and seen in the first Almanac. The image of a baby (in this case, Sari’s protoform) and the “so much is riding on you” slogan evoke the adverts of real-life tire company Michelin.
POLITICS
Hey, it’s Alexis from the Armada cartoon! As in the Almanac, she is here given the last name of Thi Dang for the first time, realizing the Vietnamese nationality that was originally intended for the character. The symbol writing in the headshot of her (depicting her in her adult years as she appeared in the Energon cartoon) is the language of the aliens from V; it translates as their signature line, “We are of peace”.
Gabriella Costanza was the president of the United States in the future depicted in the Animated “Be the Hero” storybook, Time-Quake. It is implied here that the Unicron Trilogy incarnation of Gabriella is the female president seen in the Cybertron cartoon; Alexis is noted to be her Secretary of State, in reference to a brief scene in the final episode of Cybertron in which a figure appearing to be Alexis is seen standing on a stage next to the president. Barbara Larkin, meanwhile, is a senator who appeared in Marvel’s original G.I. Joe vs the Transformers mini-series.
The new ad on this page is for the Cybertron Elite Guard, with a slogan that parallels the Marines’ famous recruiting campaign.
GOSSIP
This column is written by Freezon, the Decepticon car included with Tyco’s electronic Transformers race track set back in the 1980s. The first Almanac established that Freezon was a female gossip columnist.
The Rosanna covered in the first item hails not from Animated cartoon continuity, but from Malgus 1008.0 Gamma, the continuity of the UK’s short-lived Animated comic (TFWiki’s resource is a bit incomplete on its publication date, hence this universal stream designator is also; it should be 1008.23). Her “ware-drobe malfunction” appears to have involved her involuntarily changing into Decepticon colors; in addition to obviously homaging Janet Jackon’s own infamous slip from 2004, this furthers the Almanac’s implication that she is actually the Decepticon deep-cover agent, Flip Sides, in disguise. The concert took place in Speedia Stadium on Velocitron (the Speed Planet from Cybertron, known in Japan as “Speedia”).
The Slamdance of the second item comes from Primax -408.1 Epsilon, the continuity of the Fun Publication’s Shattered Glass April Fool’s “Shattered Expectations” comic. He writes for Venus magazine, seen in the first Almanac, and explained here via its universal stream designator (Nexus 809.19 Zeta) to be a publication from the TransTech continuity. Also mentioned is Ego of C-Kar industries, from the Fun Publications TransTech story, “I, Lowtech”.
Governor Riker appeared in the Victory cartoon episodes “Planet Micro – The Mysterious Warrior” and “Rescue! Gaihawk”. This version of the character is from Viron 724.8 Gamma; presumably, this is a typo, and it’s supposed to be 704.8, which would refer to the Dreamwave Robots in Disguise comic “Ultra Magnus… To the Rescue?”, published July 8, 2004 in their summer special. Because otherwise it’s a non-existent RiD comic from 1924!
The next item refers to Shattered Glass Wheeljack and Ravage travelling to the real world. This happened in David Willis’s webcomic Shortpacked!, in reference to toys of the pair being available at BotCon 2010; Ravage went back, but Wheeljack stayed. “Slice” was the name that the Wheeljack toy was sold under, pulling double-duty as a new version of the European-exclusive Action Master, Slicer.
Optimus Prime of Nexus 208.0 Epsilon is TransTech Optimus. Atechnogenesis is the belief that Transformer life evolved naturally (introduced in the first issue of the Marvel G1 comic, named in Dreamwave’s More Than Meets The Eye guidebook), while swearing by Primacron, rather than Primus, was first seen in IDW’s Stormbringer series. Outside of these Transformer references, the whole article, referring to Prime’s reliance on a teleprompter and making claims about where he was born, are typical questions that opponents raise about Barack Obama, on whose personality TransTech Prime’s was based.
Armada Sideways might be Beast Wars Tarantulas? Well, they are both purple and yellow minions of Unicron who have had motorcycle alternate modes!
New ads on this page:
A mobile phone ad featuring live-action movie Frenzy.
Maccadam’s Old Oil House, the Transformer watering hole that’s appeared in most continuity families. Artwork is reused from the Almanac itself, featuring Victory’s Clipper and Stampy from Beast Wars Neo.
ENTERTAINMENT
This page takes the form of an interview with the actor who played Shockwave in Sentinel Prime’s propaganda movie from the Animated episode “This Is Why I Hate Machines”. As noted in the Almanac, he’s an Animated version of Hoist, in reference to G1 Hoist’s brief tenure as an actor in the G1 episode “Hoist Goes Hollywood”. He comes from Tyger Pax, a region of Cybertron introduced in Dreamwave’s The War Within: The Age of Wrath mini-series. Hoist is being interviewed by Bishop, the journalist who hosts the “Wings of Honor” version of the Around Cybertron news programme published in the Official Transformers Collectors’ Club magazine in 2010.
Real movies parodied include the Police Academy series (Autobot Academy) and The Man Without a Face (The Quintesson Without a Face). Also mentioned is the horror Night Over Kalis, which Hoist claims is based on a true story: a reference to the UK G1 comic story “City of Fear”, in which Kalis was overrun by zombies. Quint’s plot features a Paradron nurse (medical robots seen in the G1 episode “Fight or Flee”, more popularity known as Paradron Medics).
When he slips at the end of the interview, Hoist mentions ultra-energon (the super-charged brand of the Transformers’ regular fuel introduce in IDW’s Infiltration series) and pleasure-drones from Monacus (a den of iniquity featured in the G1 episode “The Gambler”).
TECHNOLOGY
Most of this article is covered in the main Almanac, and details the evil deeds of Robots in Disguise Dreadwind and Smokejumper (whose universal stream of origin is traced to the release of their toy in April 2003), who have “locked the Lunar Battle of 2011 in a repeated time loop”, prompting the Autobots to invent the Challenge Blaster to intervene.
The Challenge Blaster was a real light-gun style toy available in the late 1980s, which allowed kids to interact with their televisions by shooting at images the gun could detect. Among the television programmes who engaged in a co-promotion for the Challenge Blaster was the Headmaster cartoon series, which even had Daniel Witwicky regularly wielding the gun in battle in-show. Starting with the show’s fourteenth episode (broadcast on October 9, 1987, hence the universal stream Primax 1087.90 Alpha), the opening sequence (the aforementioned “lunar battle”) was modified so that the Decepticons emitted the flickering visual signal for the Challenge Blaster to pick up. This flickering, then, is presented as the work of Dreadwind and Smokejumper, who have encoded a MegaWing Beacon into the Decepticons (named for the fan-made combination of Dreadwing and Armada Megatron detailed in the first and only issue of 3H’s Collectors’ Club Magazine) that is the source of the time loop.
Scientists fear that if not stopped, the destructive effects of this time loop could erase Jazz from reality, a reference to the fact that this was, in fact, the last episode of Headmasters that Jazz appeared in. Dreadwing and Smokejumper are also blamed for the destruction of Primax 704.31 Epsilon, the world featured in the Official Transformers Collectors’ Convention 2004 live script-reading. It is noted that the Decepticon commander that they “found refuge” with disappeared; given that the pair have appeared in absolutely no fiction before now, this appears to refer to the above-mentioned set of fan-made instructions, which put them as subordinates of Armada Megatron, despite their origins as Robots in Disguise characters. Megatron, of course, disappeared at the end of the Armada series.
The sold new ad on this page is for Swindle, Swindle & Swindle, the business run by three versions of G1 Swindle from Fun Publications’ TransTech stories. They offer a free liquid shrapnel missile, a kind of weapon mentioned in issue #15 of IDW’s All Hail Megatron.
AND THE REST
“Disciples of Botax” links to Jim Sorenson’s blog. “The Arts” links to Bill Forster’s deviantart page. “Comics” links to David Willis’s Shortpacked! “Arkives” links to TFWiki’s page on Sorenson and Forster’s Ark books.
