“Yesterday’s” Comic> Transformers Timelines vol 2 #4

Kup’s half the bot he used to be.

Transformers Timelines vol. 2 #4

Fun Publications (2009)

“Wings Of Honor”

STORY: Rik Alvarez

WRITERS: Forest Lee & Rik Alvarez

PENCILERS: Guido Guidi & Dan Khanna

PROFILES PENCILERS: Dan Khanna, Don Figueroa, Evan Guantt, Jesse Wittenrich, & Greg Sepelak

INKERS: Guido Guidi & Josh Warner

PROFILES INKERS: Josh Warner, Don Figueroa, Jesse Wittenrich, Evan Guanti, & Greg Sepelak

COLORISTS: Thomas Deer & Josh Perez

PROFILES COLORISTS: Josh Perez, Drew Eiden, Jesse Wittenrich, Evan Guanti, & Greg Sepelak

DIAMOND EDITION COVER: Guido Guidi & Thomas Deer

LETTERER: Jesse Wittenrich

MANAGING EDITOR: Pete Sinclair

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Brian Savage

TIMELINES CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Lanny Lathem

Trapped in a nebula by the Sweeps, Kup, Hot Rod, and the Dinobots, are in their usual trouble. To pass the time Kup tells a tale from the early days of the war, when he was a rookie. Asked to secure an unknown package from a crashed Autobot ship, Kup and his team–Landshark, Flak, and team leader Thunderclash–run right into the Decepticon patrol also trying to retrieve the item. Thanks to a bit of luck and a clever plan by Kup, the Autobots escape with the item, which turns out to be the Autobot Matrix Of Leadership, and become the first members of the Elite Guard. In the present the Sweeps board the Autobot shuttle, but they weren’t expecting the Dinobots, who hate having their story interrupted.

What they got right: As an early tale of the TV show version of Kup it works very well. The characters could be better defined, mind you, but seeing them in action is still satisfying enough to keep it out of the “got wrong” list. The art is also very good.

What they got wrong: I couldn’t tell if Thunderclash was supposed to have a Southern or British accent. (Thunderclash was based on the UK-exclusive toy character but that doesn’t mean anything, even in a fan convention comic.) And we got season 3 Dinobots, which means they’re kind of stupid. Maybe fixing the ship should take priority over telling the story? Especially when in the story Magnum, their superior who sent them on the mission, says that nobody should ever know about the incident. That means Kup just told the child-like version of the Dinobots (I guess their brains degraded between 1985 and 2005) about a top-secret mission. And why was the Autobot Matrix not already in Alpha-Trion’s custody?

Recommendation: Despite my complaints I really enjoyed the story and it’s one worth checking out.