Blitzwing Bop

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Hey ho, let's go! Hey ho, let's go!
"Blitzwing Bop"
Publisher	Fun Publications
First published	November 17, 2009
Written by	Trent Troop and Greg Sepelak
Illustrations by	Chad Porter
Cover	Chad Porter
Continuity	Shattered Glass
Chronology	Current era (2009)
Page count	35pp

Blitzwing inadvertently becomes a musical countdown, and not the kind that sounds like Bluestreak.

Synopsis

In the asteroid belt, an alien vessel listens to the outpouring of signals coming from Earth. Reports of the heroic Decepticons and evil Autobots dominate the signal, and when the vessel comes across one specific report, it begins its journey to the small blue world. And on that small blue world below, Will is preforming maintenance on his Decepticon friend, the triple-changer Blitzwing. In the process of installing an oPod into the Decepticon, Will attempts to ask about Cybertron, but Blitzwing shows far more interest in Earth, his home having been a wasteland for a long time. Finishing up, the two go cruising, with Will trying to explain his interest in music to an uninterested Blitzwing. Meanwhile, in a small canyon nearby, the Autobot’s second-in-command Goldbug has begun a project under Rodimus Prime’s nose, having with Wheeljack and Side Burn create a stellar spanner with which to return to Cybertron. Goldbug attempts to use Side Burn as a test subject, but the odd Autobot weasels his way out of possibly getting stuck in space, pointing out that they’ll need him to fix it in case of any troubles. Meanwhile, on the road above, a bored Blitzwing notices a massive Autobot tech signature coming out of the canyon. Calling Soundwave, Blitzwing asks for back-up; with most of the Decepticons in Antarctica fishing out Astrotrain, they can only spare one soldier, and Heatwave is sent to help his comrade. Soon arriving at the canyon, the two watch the Autobots. Heatwave recognizes the stellar spanner’s purpose, and although he doubts Wheeljack could make it work, he is excited to go down and talk to it, ignoring Blitzwing’s protests. Heatwave nearly manages to sneak up on them, but trips on sandstone boulder, sending him toppling to the ground and causing the Autobots to notice him; recognizing the opportunity, Goldbug orders the others to kidnap the Decepticon so that he can use him as a test subject. Quickly transforming into vehicle mode, Heatwave’s missiles send Side Burn flying back, nearly ripping the Autobot in half. Unfortunately, the other Autobots grab onto Heatwave’s turret and force him to transform, binding up the struggling Decepticon. Blitzwing has Will get out of his cockpit, and rushes down, stealthily knocking out Wheeljack. Goldbug mocks Blitzwing, Heatwave having already been placed into the activated Stellar Spanner, and blasts the Decepticon’s sword. Undeterred, Blitzwing knocks out the Autobot by bashing his forehead into Goldbug, and rushes over to Heatwave. Having escaped his bonds, Heatwave tells that he can’t talk the spanner into letting him go, and that Blitzwing will have to do it manually. Directly accessing the spanner control console’s datastream, Blitzwing accesses the schematics, stealing Autobot comms codes in the process, but before he can free Heatwave, Wheeljack blasts him, only pretending to be unconscious. Violently separated from the datastream, Blitzwing can only watch as Heatwave ascends through a portal in the sky, the stellar spanner sending him across space. The Autobots laugh, but soon find that their emergency comm channel is blaring human music in their heads. Side Burn rushes up, claiming that his supposed demise was a trick of the light, and tries to press the advantage, but as the Decepticons arrive, Goldbug orders them to retreat, unable to form any strategies with rock music blaring in his head. Destroying the stellar spanner, the Autobots run off, Goldbug assured that he can build a new one.

Back at Decepticon base, Blitzwing jolts awake, and sadly informs the others of what happened to Heatwave. Cliffjumper wonders why the Autobots didn’t kill or capture him, and Soundwave realizes that the oPod, now plugged into Blitzwing’s nervous system, is broadcasting on the stolen Autobot emergency communications channel. Blitzwing asks for them to remove the device from his body, but Starscream, realizing the offensive capabilities of Blitzwing’s new ability, has an idea. Meanwhile, at Autobot base, Goldbug tries to convince Rodimus that the stellar spanner was a surprise, so that they could get reinforcements from Cybertron. Rodimus threatens him into submission, pointing out that Optimus Prime is still in command back at home, and would have killed them all for betraying him. Elita-One reports that the AR Chamber has mysteriously stopped working, and so Rodimus gives his second-in-command an alternative punishment: salvage duty with Seaspray. As Goldbug storms off, Rodimus tells Elita-One and Blaster that he has special jobs for them…

Elsewhere, friendly Dinobot Swoop and massive loser Star Saber have taken a restaurant and its customers hostage, placing them on-top of massive oil drill. Starscream, Blitzwing, and Slugslinger arrive on the scene, and Starscream orders for Blitzwing to stay back while he and Slugslinger lure the Decepticons away from the hostages. Starscream engages Swoop, while Slugslinger takes on Star Saber, the Autobot jet getting the spear shot out of his hands several times. As soon as both are lured away, Starscream tells Blitzwing to hit it, and the Autobots tumble, buckling one of the drill station’s legs and fleeing. Starscream is excited at the prospect of the Decepticon’s new non-lethal weapon, but Blitzwing interrupts him as he struggles to hold up the tower. Later, Blitzwing joins Bombshell and Sideswipe in fighting cars modified to become drones by the Autobots. While Sideswipe deals with the drones, Blitzwing and Bombshell head to the origin of the disturbance, a Roll-N-Wash. The Decepticons spot Autobots Brawn and Elite-One in the parking lot and go to engage them. Brawn transforms, launching cars at Bombshell, and the Decepticon psychologist tries to calm him down by launching an anestho-shell at him. Brawn’s nucleon shock gauntlets disintegrates the shell, but before he can attack further, Blitzwing’s broadcast immobilizes the Autobot jeep, and Bombshell launches a second, successful shell. Bombshell heads off to assist Sideswipe, while Blitzwing heads after Elita-One, transforming into tank mode and destroying the interior of the car wash. Finding Elita-One, Blitzwing turns back to robot mode, but his gun has been rendered inoperable by the foam from the wash. Elita prepares her shot, but Blitzwing quickly changes his broadcast to a pop song, breaking through Elita’s resolve. Before she can do anything else, a car bursts through the side of the wall, and Elita-One drives off, Brawn draped over her. Bombshell and Sideswipe are happy that the job is done, but suddenly, the two begin to hear Blitzwing’s broadcast. Blitzwing is horrified to find that not only has his attack expanded to the Decepticon frequency, he’s unable to shut it off!

Sometime later at Decepticon HQ, Starscream has scanned Blitzwing, finding that his powers are now growing in intensity and range. Soundwave appears to be the only Decepticon besides Blitzwing able to handle the constant broadcast, which Professor Arkeville theorizes is due to his function as a communications officer/device. Arkeville postulates that if Blitzwing’s broadcast isn’t stopped soon, the Decepticons will suffer severe memory loss and catastrophic data corruption. Sent to find Blitzwing, Soundwave goes to the hangar where the Triple Changer’s friend, Astrotrain, is currently being unfrozen in, and finds a message left by Blitzwing. Meanwhile, at the Ark, the Autobots are still affected by Blitzwing’s broadcast. Rodimus tries to have Ratchet do something about it, but has second guesses when Ratchet pulls out his tools for brain surgery. Blaster, however, is unaffected by the broadcast, even if he does find the compositions of the songs lacking. Blaster suggest that with Rodimus incapacitated, he should "temporarily" take over as commander, but Rodimus knocks him into a wall, discouraging him and any other Autobots from a coup. Rodimus and Blaster notice that Beachcomber also appears unaffected, his harddrive already so fragmented as to be immune to the broadcast. Rodimus smashes his head against a wall to clear his mind and asks Teletraan-X what the Decepticons are up to. When the computer reports that only one Decepticon signature can be detected, Rodimus realizes that the they’re susceptible too, and tells Blaster and Beachcomber that he has jobs for them both…

Back at Decepticon HQ, Soundwave has some bad news; Blitzwing has left to hide and protect the others, not realizing the increasing strength of the signal. With Soundwave the only one able to enter the field, the other Decepticons are forced to go into emergency stasis lock; even Cliffjumper is affected, the frequency for the Decepticon’s emergency comm being identical to his universe’s Autobots. Starscream is worried about leaving the base unguarded in case the Autobots have anyone unaffected, but the humans offer to helped. Hard-pressed for options, Starscream agrees, and sends Soundwave into the field. Out in Tucson, Blaster investigates reports of a "big tank of savings" at Big Steve’s Honest Deals. Big Steve Ludwig bumbles his way into revealing that he’s let Blitzwing stay, and the Decepticon threatens to fire on Blaster. The Autobot calls his bluff, so Blitzwing does something he can’t: fly away, leaving the Autobot to run back to the city. Sometime later, Soundwave drives to Wyatt's Roadsideaganza, where reports have come in of Monstroso, the Robot Horror from Beyond, has returned. Soundwave knows something is up, because he used to be Monstroso, his stasis pod having landed at Wyatt’s. Greeting his old captor and briefly terrifying him, Soundwave tells him that Monstroso is his friend, but before long, Blitzwing flies off before Soundwave can even say hello. Meanwhile, back at base, Rick tries to convince Sephie that they can handle whatever the Autobots can throw…but before long, the alarms go off, as Beachcomber invades the base…

Out in the city, Blitzwing hides in a narrow alleyway, thinking of where else he could hide out. It isn’t long, however, until a taxi cab drives up to him, with Blaster jumping out and confronting Blitzwing. Having found his location via Yatter, Blaster prepares to attack…only for Soundwave to jump between the two, a friend of his having found Blitzwing on Yatter as well! The two communications bots begin to duke it out, Soundwave using his speakers against Blaster and his sonic baton. Initially dumbfounded, Blitzwing also tries to join the fight, but the battle is stopped before he can, as a meteorite crashes into the street, knocking the three back. From the crater emerges Decepticon Elite Guardsman Thunderwing, who announces that he is here to take in a fugitive; initially elated, Soundwave is shocked to find that he’s the fugitive. Blaster takes his chance and stealthily knocks out Blitzwing, carrying him off. Soundwave is charged with piracy and indecency by Thunderwing, who plays a recording of Soundwave accidentally broadcasting onto a military comm channel, and orders him to return with him to Cybertron. Quickly thinking, Soundwave points out that he would have to report to his commanding officer before leaving, but he cannot bring him out of stasis lock until he’s rescued Blitzwing. Suitably convinced, Thunderwing allows him to chase after Blaster, but warns him that he will not help, and to not even think about running…

At Decepticon headquarters, the Professor and his students rush to fortify the bases, while the defense cannons attempt to deal with Beachcomber. The insane Autobot quickly destroys the guns and enters the base. The humans confront him, blinding him and letting loose barrels of ball bearings across the floor, toppling the Autobot. Unfortunately for the quartet, all they’ve managed to do is make him angry. Rushing after them, Beachcomber finds Will and Rick in a hallway, armed with a fire extinguisher. Missing with the foam, Rick throws it at the Autobot’s face, startling him long enough for them to escape. The pair lead him on into the Decepticon’s decontamination room, trapping him in the chemical spray for a little while. Meanwhile, Blitzwing awakens, finding himself in a mountain with Blaster. The Autobot comms officer begins to explain to him his plan; using a broadcast signal amplifier, Blaster will amplify Blitzwing sonic assault to lethal, global levels, and reveals that all the odd and silly plots were merely a distraction. With a dramatic twirl, Blaster reveals that the Autobots have built a second stellar spanner! Using it, Blitzwing, and the amplifier, Blaster will create a makeshift bomb, wiping out every Autobot and Decepticon neuro-circuit on Cybertron, allowing for the Earthbound Autobots to return home, grab up all the weapons left, and destroy the Decepticons once and for all! Blitzwing claims that Soundwave and Thunderwing will stop him, but Blaster doubts it; judging by his faction symbol and lack of reaction to Blitzwing’s broadcast, Thunderwing has been gone long before the war began. Fortunately for Blitzwing, this isn’t the case; having followed his signal, Soundwave engages Blaster, while Thunderwing observes. Too evenly matched, Soundwave tries another tactic, telling Blaster that he’s never done anything without Optimus Prime ordering him to. Incensed, Blaster reveals that before the war, he stole 30 kilotons from the Altihex Protoform Rehabilitation Complex, which causes Thunderwing to step in to arrest him. While the lawmech deals with Blaster, Soundwave rushes to the stellar spanner, and frees Blitzwing, attaching a dampener device to block his signal and carrying him off in his van mode as space warps around the two. Blaster takes his chance and jumps into the stellar spanner, but as it closes, Blitzwing blasts the control panel, destroying and disrupting the portal. Blaster finds himself stuck on Earth’s moon, unable to even scream his frustrations.

Back at Decepticon base, Beachcomber has finally tracked down the humans to the med-bay. Beachcomber prepares for the kill, only to find the Decepticons re-activated with their guns drawn. Deciding that he isn’t that crazy, Beachcomber flees back to Autobot base. Sometime later, Starscream has removed the oPod from a grateful Blitzwing’s head. The Decepticons looks on the bright side of things, having one less Autobot to deal with and blueprints for a stellar spanner of their own. Sephie offers Blitzwing a portable music player that won’t fuse with his systems, but Blitzwing politely tells her that he’ll stick to radio for a while, eliciting a laugh from everyone in the room but her. The fun’s cut short when Thunderwing starts to haul off Soundwave, and the communications mech decides to go for a guilty plea. Thunderwing gives him 500 hours of community service, knocking off two and a half hours for saving Cybertron, and directs him to a littered highway.

Meanwhile, millions of light years away, Heatwave awakens on Cybertron. The aching Decepticon activates his distress signal, and before long, Micromaster Decepticon Whisper arrives to bring him back to base. Heatwave tells his comrade about the Autobot’s stellar spanner, and the two head back to base. But all the while, Heatwave can’t shake off the sensation of a rainbow hue of emotions while he was being transported…

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"So tell me about Cybertron."
"Why?"
"I've never been there, Blitzwing. Thought it'd be interesting."
"Okay. Imagine a junk yard. Now make it the size of a planet, and set big patches of it on fire. I suppose that's interesting in a horrible sort of way, but there's nothing appealing about it."

—Will finds out from Blitzwing that Cybertron is not a good tourist destination.

"If my examination of Starscream's systems is accurate, unless we can stop the subspace transmission, Blitzwing's signal will eventually cause permanent memory damage... possibly even catastrophic data corruption."
"Whoah, that means-"
"If it's not stopped, this 'rock and roll' assault will rapidly become... death metal."

—Arkeville and Soundwave engage in bad puns.

"Right now, I gots two idiot humans yammerin' 'bout venting exhaust stuck in my head. They will not shut up. An' I can still bend your fenders in a knot an' stick 'em in your reactor linkage! So up your tube with an energon cube! Capiche?!"

—Rodimus lets Blaster know who's the boss.

Beachcomber had survived the decon bath, the optic calibration process, the hallway filled with zero-friction lubricant and three chemical explosions since breaching the outer defenses of the Decepticon base. He had been thrown about, smashed and lit on fire by four puddles of organic waste.
He was not happy.
Now, however, the enemy was out of tricks, and out of places to run.
That made him happy. Insanely happy.

—Beachcomber deals with getting the "Home Alone" treatment from the humans.

Notes

• Characters mentioned but not seen include: Arachnolord, Congressman Shore, Crasher, Abdul Fakkadi, Optimus Prime, the Scrounges, the Old One, Seaspray, Huffer, Brad White, Stormbringer99, Pikapikaninja, Beta, and Megatron.

Continuity notes

• Crasher is mentioned as being granted honorary Ottoman citizenship after saving President Fakkadi; President Fakkadi was mentioned in the previous prose story "Eye in the Sky".
• Wheeljack notes his exile from the Autobots, established in "Dungeons & Dinobots".
• Astrotrain crashed on Earth sometime after the events of "Do Over".
• Only one stellar spanner was ever made before the story by the "Old One"; rumors state that before he finished it, Optimus Prime killed him. The "Reunification" storyline outright confirmed him to be Alpha Trion; it's likely that Trion actually did finish the spanner, only for Prime to force him into it, sending him to the TransTech Cybertron.
• Swoop was evidently among those brought to Omega Terminus by Grimlock to be given an ember, as seen in the end of "Dungeons & Dinobots".
• Slugslinger first appeared as a nameless cameo in the original "Shattered Glass" comic. Bombshell was mentioned in "Dungeons & Dinobots" and "Do Over"; he appears in-story for the first time here. Ratchet first appeared in "Dungeons & Dinobots".
• Wyatt’s Roadsideagazna first appeared in "The Desert Heat!".
• Will and Rick try to use on Beachcomber the same fire extinguisher trick they used on Goldbug in "Eye in the Sky". Sadly, it doesn't work nearly as well this time around.
• As noted in "Errors", when Heatwave gets sent through the stellar spanner, part of his trip involves the sensations of joy, happiness, compassion, love, and satisfaction, as well as a rainbow hue, no doubt coinciding with Aquarius activating the recall program that also summoned the rest of the Nexus Prime gestalt to Cybertron, as reflected in the coinciding club storyline "Reunification".

Transformer references

• In general, the entire story is a pastiche of the original The Transformers cartoon.
• As standard, many new characters are introduced, with the Transformers being repurposed from/are "virtual" redecos of pre-existing toys.
  • Blitzwing uses his positive-universe counterpart’s body in the colors of Generation 1 Warpath.
  • Elita One is repurposed from Cybertron Override GTS. Her romantic interests lie with Rodimus instead of Optimus, unlike her positive-universe counterpart.
  • Star Saber is repurposed from live-action movie toy Skyblast. Unlike his beloved positive-universe counterpart, everybody hates Star Saber.
  • Bombshell is repurposed from e-HOBBY exclusive Salvo, who is a redeco of Bombshell’s positive-universe counterpart. He has anestho-shells, mirroring his counterpart’s cerebro-shells.
  • Thunderwing is a virtual redeco of Universe Ultra-class Silverbolt, with a new head based on his positive-universe counterpart.
• One of the broadcasts in the beginning of the story indicates that the Decepticons saved 39 employees of Blackrock Oil; Blackrock Enterprises was a company from the original Marvel The Transformers comics owned by the Autobot’s ally, G.B. Blackrock. The Shattered Glass version of Blackrock will show up in the next prose story, Transhuman.
• Astrotrain landed in Antarctica, homaging how Skyfire crash-landed in the Arctic in The Transformers episode "Fire in the Sky".
• As noted in errors, the stellar spanner is near identical to the The Transformers cartoon space bridge, being the "ring with three pylons" design rather than the "suspension bridge" design from the Marvel The Transformers comics, and opening a hole in the sky instead of existing in two places at once.
• The stellar spanner is built in a small canyon, like the original space bridge was in "Transport to Oblivion".
• Blitzwing (a jet) uses some jet judo to take out Wheeljack; the positive-universe jet judo was used by Sideswipe and Sunstreaker in an attempt to take out the Decepticon jets in The Transformers episode "Roll for It".
• Starscream notes that any non-living metal or plastics introduced to Cybertronian systems is broken down and remade into living technomatter; technomatter is a term introduced in the Beast Machines cartoon as one of the many names for the "living metal" that most Transformers are made of.
• Slugslinger is obsessed with fair play, unlike his backstabbing positive-universe counterpart.
• One of the Autobots' schemes involves creating drone cars at a "Roll-N-Wash", referencing the Decepticon’s Wash and Roll from the Marvel The Transformers comic issue #31, where they hypnotized the human drives who passed through the carwash.
• Brawn is a practitioner of Tekkaido, a Cybertronian martial art originally mentioned in BotCon 2001 Arcee’s toy bio.
• Brawn has nucleon shock gauntlets, weapons first seen in the Cybertron prose story "Force of Habit". They also reference his positive counterpart's planned OTFCC 2005 toy, which would have had snap-on energon gauntlets.
• Astrotrain and Blitzwing are friends, in reference to their positive-universe counterparts being the first-ever Triple Changers in Transformers history.
• The positive-universe Big Steve Ludwig appeared in Marvel’s The Transformers comic issue #32; he was a stereotypical dishonest used-cars salesman, unlike Shattered Glass Ludwig, an honest guy who sells new cars.
• Rick's little sister fawns over Brad White, the "dreamy" punk-ass counterpart to Rad White, one of the Autobot’s human allies from the Armada series.
• Sephie communicates via e-mail with someone who has the username "Stormbringer99"; it may seem to be Thunderwing, due to his positive-universe counterpart being the main bad guy of the IDW Stormbringer mini-series, but "Transhuman" would reveal him to be someone else entirely…
• Thunerwing is a member of the Cybertron Elite Guard, a group who originate from the Animated cartoon. The Elite Guard that Thunderwing belongs to is a pre-war organization; the modern Elite Guard is composed entirely of Autobots as seen in Shattered Glass Thunderclash’s toy bio.
• Thunderwing mentions that one of the criminals he's been chasing is a crime boss named Beta; Beta’s positive-universe counterpart was a freedom fighter who appeared in The Transformers episode "Forever Is a Long Time Coming".
• Soundwave mentions having gone through primary programming (an education system mentioned in the Cybertron cartoon) four million stellar cycles ago.
• Thunderwing orders Soundwave to return to "atmospheric entry mode"; referring to the "asteroid" alt-modes used by the base protoform bodies in the live action movies.
• Blaster compares the destruction Blitzwing will unleash to the popping of "Insecticons on a hot engine block!"
• Soundwave and Blaster's throwdown evokes their positive-universe counterparts' final battle from The Headmasters episode "The Mystery of Planet Master", including Soundwave's chest being shattered, and Blaster's threat that only Soundwave's head will remain by the time he's done with him.
• Soundwave tells Blaster his hiding spot couldn’t have been more obvious if they had carved it into an Autobot faction symbol; the positive-universe counterparts of the Decepticons had a base just like this in The Transformers episode "Enter the Nightbird".
• Altihex is a city introduced in the Dreamwave War Within mini-series.
• Blaster on the Moon is a reference to The Transformers episode "Blaster Blues".
• The Decepticon Graffiti (a font created by Jim Sorenson based on letters drawn by the Battlechargers in issue #23 of Marvel's The Transformers) on the box that Ravage lays his head on reads "FRAGILE"

Real-world references

• The title of the story is a reference to the song "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones.
• The broadcasts on at the beginning of the story indicate that Starscream, at some point before the story begins, fights a super-criminal known as "Arachnolord", a Shattered Glass version of the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man. Spider-Man memorably teamed up with Gears in issue #3 of the Marvel The Transformers comic.
• Another broadcast talks about how a Congressman Shore reassured American citizens that the Transformers are unconnected to the subterranean monsters from the late 80s. Shore’s counterpart, Blackthorne Shore, was the main human villain of the Inhumanoids cartoon, and the subterrestrial monsters are the titular characters from the show.
• The broadcast that draws Thunderwing to Earth is about Soundwave (having been knighted recently) appearing at a joint Cold Slither/Misfits concerts in Dublin (the bands were mentioned in "Eye in the Sky" and are from G.I. Joe and Jem and the Holograms, respectively).
• Lyrics for an inverted version of Cold Slither’s titular song appear both in story and in the liner notes on the final page (see below for more information). Notably, the lyrics indicate the United States Constitution has been altered or outright discarded at some point.
• Will listens to "The Pale Lines" on his O-Pod, a Shattered Glass version of rock duo "The White Stripes".
• The stellar spanner is labeled with Autobot letters, which translates to "CWP274," the initials of artist’s Chad Porter’s full name and last three letters of his Yahoo e-mail username.
• Arkeville notes that humans can use sterile coral to make new bones; while this may seem like a weird mirror-universe deal, it’s theoretically possible.
• Ratchet thinks the lyrics to "Zydrate Anatomy" from cult comedy horror film Repo! The Genetic Opera are catchy.
• Rodimus complains about being stuck listening to "Jim-Bob and Willy", a reference to obnoxious southern-US morning show deejays John Boy and Billy.
• Rodimus threatens to blast someone with a phazon charge if they don’t stop the signal; phazon is a substance from the Metroid franchise.
• Rodimus' line, "So up your tube with an energon cube!" is based on Vinnie Barbarino's famous line, "Up your nose with a rubber hose!". Barbarino’s been the main inspiration for Rodimus’ speech patterns in the Sepelak and Troop-written Shattered Glass stories.
• Beachcomber's dialogue in the story is full of paraphrased song lyric snippets:
  • "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who
  • "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas
  • "Bound for the Floor" by Local H
  • "Transmaniacon MC" by Blue Öyster Cult
  • "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf
  • "PDA" by Interpol
  • "Fire Poem" by Arthur Brown
  • "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult
  • "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen
  • "Helter Skelter" by The Beatles
  • "Nowhere to Run (Vapor Trail)" by The Crystal Method
  • "One Way or Another" by Blondie
  • "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads
  • "Ace of Spades" by Motörhead
  • "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum
• Pikapikaninja (the Yatter user who posted that Blitzwing was hiding in an alley) is likely named for the Pokémon character Pikachu.
• Thunderwing’s personality is based on Joe Friday from Dragnet.
• Blaster uses weaponized versions of Mozart’s music against Soundwave.
• Aquarius leaves a message for Heatwave to "Keep on Truckin'", referencing the comic by underground artist Robert Crumb.
• The Cold Slither album liner notes for Thunder Hammer (noted by Will early on in the story as his favorite of Cold Slither’s albums) at the back of the story have a number of references:
  • One of the album's producers is "Synergy Music Ltd.", a reference to the supercomputer Synergy from Jem and the Holograms.
  • Some of the song writer credits reference various members of Cobra: Buzzer and Torch from the Dreadnoks and Destro, using their last names of Blinken-Smythe, Wilken, and McCullan. Other writers credited are Yellen (Jack Yellen, writer of the "Battle Song of Liberty"), Bigelow (FE Bigelow, writer of "Our Director", the music to which the Battle Song of Liberty is set), and Key (Francis Scott Key, writer of the poem that would be used as the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner").
  • The songs "The Battle Song of Liberty" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" are on the album.

Errors

• Heatwave's feelings of "joy, serenity, compassion, love, and satisfaction" should probably be "joy, peace, compassion, love, and satisfaction" to be a completely accurate reference to Aquarius.
• While Cliffjumper in-character almost calls the stellar spanner a space bridge, at one point the narration itself also calls it a "spacebridge".
• Not an error: Soundwave mentions that Astrotrain crashed in the Arctic instead of the Antarctic, but it's Soundwave's mistake, not the story's.^[1]

External links

• "Blitzwing Bop" at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club

References