The Energon Pub

The Universe of the Transformers is vast, and populated by many characters. Their universe is a large tapestry, made up of the stories and points of view of countless experiences that serve the larger whole.

These are some of those stories. This is:



It should be noted that while this project has been recognized by IDW Publishing and Hasbro, none of the works presented have been commissioned or solicited by either company. The stories are not official canon, except where noted. These stories are the result of Transformers enthusiasts taking the time out of their busy days to contribute to a universe they love. No one has been paid for the production of these stories.

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PHANTOMS

Story, Art, Colors & Letters by;

Joel Lovins

Yeah, Hotrod, way to screw it up.

Oh, hey, wow, it's the 1986 movie the way everybody and their grandmother wishes it had been.

Oh please. Hot Rod was in on it with Megatron. The conspiracy theorists were right!

On a more on topic note, well done!

Bumblebeast wrote:Yeah, Hotrod, way to screw it up.

I have been telling people for decades that Hot Rod was the one that REALLY murdered Optimus....but NOOOOO! Everyone always says "Shaddup, Decepticon! It was Megatron....blah blah blah....."



I kinda liked this Mosaic!

Great mosaic, I can't tell which way I liked it better though, with Rodimus or Optimus. Hm, I did like the original Optimus super robot Cybertron thing though, that would've been TO awesome.

Nice story. You touched upon something that we all have wondered about at one time. I like the title too.

Optimus Prime was the bomb in Phantoms!

Pyrostrata wrote:

Bumblebeast wrote:Yeah, Hotrod, way to screw it up.

I have been telling people for decades that Hot Rod was the one that REALLY murdered Optimus....but NOOOOO! Everyone always says "Shaddup, Decepticon! It was Megatron....blah blah blah....."



I kinda liked this Mosaic!

ashe5k wrote:Oh please. Hot Rod was in on it with Megatron. The conspiracy theorists were right!

On a more on topic note, well done!

No no, see, Hot Rod was just the innocent scapegoat. It was REALLY Ultra Magnus behind it all. Who else had the clout to leave an entire Autobot City defenseless until the last moment? The chain of command to tell Perceptor not to try and repair Optimus? Was the next in line to receive the Matrix? Magnus wanted power, and there was a red and blue truck in his way who got to lead while he was stuck commanding a single city.

That was a very well told story. Bravo.

now
it all makes sense

I really liked this one. Fine Job! The best is the art in the last frame. It really captures the angst that Hot Rod must feel for being too cavalier (pun intended).

Again, excellent work!

ashe5k wrote:Oh please. Hot Rod was in on it with Megatron. The conspiracy theorists were right!

On a more on topic note, well done!

You heard it here first! Transformers the Movie was an inside job! Unicron was rigged to explode! The Battle of Autobot City was orchestrated to get humans to side with the Autobots! There are no WMD's on Cybertron! Galvatron presents no real threat! Rodimus is a member of the Skull and Cross-Servos Secret Society!

This one is really cool! For a second at the begining I thought maybe it was going to be some crazy 'alternate universe'/'what if' comic. Very nicely done....

I know no one will agree but Rodimus was a better "Character" than Optimus. He had real depth. He had doubts about himself. He lived in the shadow of the greatest Autobot ever.

Optimus was just this hero that rode in on his white horse and saved the day. Sure he had his "protection of sentient life" bit, but he was not as deep of a character. I am glad the Movie was made the way it was.

If Op doesn't die, there is no real loss, and hence no great sense of victory/struggle.

i dont get it. its titled phantoms wheres the phantoms?

great twist on the movie aspetc but i dont understand the prime death thing at the end though or is rodimus going through to what if he had not interviened in the fight with prime & megatron.

It's called Phantoms as Hot Rod / Rodimus is dealing with the "ghost" (i.e., phantom) of what "could" have been. He's wracked with guilt. Here he is, someone who other people look to in order to solve problems, and he feels like he is the cause of all the problems. He will always be haunted by the dream of what "might have been" if only he hadn't been so rash to help out.

That said--Hot Rod didn't cause Optimus Prime to die, as Prime never would have killed Megatron. He had opportunity after opportunity to do so in the past, but always let him go. He would have stood there for an hour lecturing Megatron on how good is good and bad is bad, all the while never realizing that Megatron was going for a gun.

Another awesome Mosaic!

gantzrunner wrote:Optimus Prime was the bomb in Phantoms!

*snickers* Great reference, man.

I think this was an excellent "What If...?" situation. If Hot Rod hadn't screwed it up and Megatron had made it to the gun unhindered, Prime already had his rifle leveled at Megatrons' head. Prime would have had zero time for conscious thought and just reflexively pulled the trigger. At that point it's not about good or bad intentions it's just survival instinct. Prime even would have had a decent chance if Hot Rod had just pointed and shouted "He's Still Armed!"
which would have been faster than jumping on Megs and probably caused Megs to draw the weapon on him first which still would have caused Prime to get the first shot off.
Yeah, Hot Rod screwed the pooch no matter how you look at it and now he has to live with his inner demons. That's worse than just the burden of leadership all on it's own.
Excellent story. This definitely will be on my top 5 list. Great Job!

dragons wrote:i dont get it. its titled phantoms wheres the phantoms?

great twist on the movie aspetc but i dont understand the prime death thing at the end though or is rodimus going through to what if he had not interviened in the fight with prime & megatron.

The "Phantoms" title is in reference to the proverbial spectre that hangs over Hot Rod for being partially responsible for Prime's death. It is a "What If?" story indeed... but from Roddy's perspective.

Thanks for the kind words, guys! As I said on DeviantArt, this is the first piece of finished sequential art that I've done, and it was a real challenge and learning experience! I finished it back in June, and I've learned a few tricks since then, so it is really interesting to look at, and there are a few things I would have done differently with some techniques I picked up, but I definitely put some blood, sweat, and tears into it! Can't wait to do more!

So the mosaic is not implying that Hotrod directly killed Prime, just that he must have always felt indirectly responsible? Or did he?

Only Unicron knows for sure... "You exaggerate."