Homecoming (Universe)

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Prosecution charges the defendant is not a truck, but a monkey!
"Homecoming"
Publisher	3H Productions
First published	Summer 2004
Script	Simon Furman
Pencils	James Raiz, Makoto Ono, and Marcelo Matere
Inks	Ted Pertzborn, Chuck Gibson, Glass House Graphics
Colors	Glass House Graphics, Krista Ward
Lettering	Simon Bowland
Continuity	3H Beast Wars continuity

Optimus Primal begins to assemble his army, but one of his chosen isn't so willing.

Synopsis

On Cybertron, Optimus Primal appears before the Maximal High Council. Despite the warnings of Snarl, he speaks in prophetically purple prose of the Chaos Bringer's return. The Council find his claims to be more than a bit outlandish and presumptuous, and confine him to quarters.

Within Unicron, Tarantulas sends Blackarachnia on a mission to Cybertron, with a horde of Piranacons at her command.

At the Oasis Research and Development Facility on Cybertron, Striker and Ratchet are trying to remove Unicron's corruption from Sideswipe, while Rattrap and Cheetor argue about Primal's return and his state of mind. Ratchet grouses about the distraction; Trailbreaker ushers the two out the door, while voicing his vote of confidence for Primal, a position that Rattrap backs whole-heartedly.

Blackarachnia and her crew arrive via a teleportation bubble; she sends the Piranacons ahead to the Vector Sigma chamber, accessible via a once-sealed tunnel whose protection is now weakened by the corrosive action of the Rust Sea. Their mission: to bring back the head of Alpha Trion.

Alpha Trion reports to Primus on the latest (though expected) setbacks to their plans, as Snarl frees Optimus Primal and returns him to the Vector Sigma chamber. Alpha Trion explains their two-fold plans: a cloaked orbital platform, "from which to guide and guard the planet", as well as a cover infiltration unit to gather intelligence. Both projects have hit snags, and so Primal is allowed to choose any two Transformers from anywhere, any time... even from "beyond the veil".

Rattrap, needing to blow off steam, takes a noisemaker to the Undercity, firing the pistol off at nothing while Blackarachnia observes...

Primal had made his choices: Depth Charge, and Rhinox. Depth Charge, however, isn't happy about it; he'd found his peace after a long spiral down a path he didn't like. Unwilling to force his hand, Alpha Trion sends him off with his blessings. Rhinox, by contrast, is grateful for the chance to atone for his actions as Tankor.

On the surface, Depth Charge takes stock of the changed planet. Nearby, Blackarachnia attacks Rattrap, and is on the verge of delivering a killing strike when Depth Charge arrives and knocks her out. Rattrap realizes something big is up, but Depth Charge is still unwilling to help any further. He leaves as Rattrap, still weak from the attack, passes out.

Below, Primal is upset that he chose so poorly, but Alpha Trion reassures him that there is still one more hand to play, as a dimensional portal opens, admitting the massive form of Omega Prime.

Depth Charge transforms and swims off into the Rust Sea... and runs right into Blackarachnia's Piranacons.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• Characters mentioned but not seen include: Unicron, Ratchet, Rampage, and Tankor.
• Characters mentioned in the profiles but not seen include: King Atlas.
• This was the final issue of the Universe comic, as 3H subsequently lost the Transformers license.
• The events of the OTFCC 2004 Live-Action Script Reading are set some time after this issue.
• Depth Charge's bio in this issue gives some hint of events planned for the remaining issues, stating that Depth Charge volunteers to work with King Atlas in running a refugee network within Unicron's own body.
• The subsequent final battle within Unicron is briefly described in an issue of the Fun Publications fan club magazine comic. A host of Children of Primus are seen battling Unicron's generals within the Pit, led by Optimus Primal. Unicron abruptly disappears, taking his generals with him, and leaving the rest to escape via a dimensional portal.
• As before, the inside front cover includes a fannishly-detailed summary of previous issues.
• In last issue's escape, a Jhiaxus with his original Generation 2 body was shown. In this issue's flashback depicting the same scene, Jhiaxus appears in his Robots in Disguise body. It may be possible that Jhiaxus shifted into a new body by escaping Unicron's corrupting influence (which is not impossible) or that there were two Jhiaxuses (which is also not impossible). In 2015, the Facebook version of Ask Vector Prime utilized this art error to establish the latter possibility and that there is a Robots in Disguise/Viron iteration of Jhiaxus.
• The issue includes Dreamwave-style profiles for Depth Charge and Ratchet.

Continuity notes

• Rhinox and Depth Charge died in Fallout and Nemesis Part 1, respectively.
• The Omega Prime here seems to be the same one seen in the Cauldron last issue.

Transformers references

• The High Council includes Beast Wars characters Magnaboss, Air Hammer, Torca, and Bantor, Beast Wars Neo character Colada, and Beast Machines character Battle Unicorn.
• On the viewscreens for Primal's selection are: Generation 1 Grimlock's alt-mode feet, Robots in Disguise Omega Prime, Generation 1 Jazz's(?) chest, unknown, Beast Wars Depth Charge, Generation 1 Ratchet, The War Within Grimlock, Beast Machines Primal Prime, unknown, Thunder Clash, Robots in Disguise Optimus Prime, Headmasters Ricochet, Beast Wars season 1 Rattrap, Generation 2 Volt, Energon Hot Shot, (possibly) Beast Wars Rhinox, Robots in Disguise Side Burn, unknown, and unknown.
• The Sea of Rust was originally mentioned in the Marvel UK The Transformers letters pages.

Errors

• Jhiaxus is colored like Ransack, who appears in the previous issue. However, this could be rationalized by the fact that the Unicron virus inside the Cauldron is known to alter colors.

Covers (4)

• Direct market cover: Optimus Primal in chains, by Marcelo Matere.
• Fan club cover: Depth Charge aiming his weapon into a toothy mouth, by Dan Khanna.
• Convention cover: Depth Charge and Rhinox, by Guido Guidi.
• Platinum Pass cover: Depth Charge by Marcelo Matere.