A special thing about the new Transformers comics is that several of the artists and colorists are ordinary
TransFans that have managed to get jobs on Dreamwave's Transformers comics. This is the case for e.g. Don
Figueroa who drew The War Within and Guido Guidi from Italy who drew Transformers Armada
from #8 (8/2003 in the Nordic countries) up to #13. A few issues of Armada plus Volume 2
of Transformers Generation 1 have even had a colorist from Norway, Espen Grundetjern!
These guys are new in the comic book business, but are well-known to Transformers fans on the Internet, who
have been able to see their artwork for years. Now that they have started working on the comics it happens
that they insert "easter eggs" in the stories – secret greetings in the form of various obscure
references that only the most hardcore fans can recognize and understand. Don Figueroa in particular has
included lots of such "easter eggs" in The War Within.
Listed below are the ones we have discovered. Do you know of any other? If you do, send an e-mail to groundsplitter@ntfa.net, so I can include them on the list.
| The War Within #1 (Transformers Armada 7/2003) |
Page:panel
American edition |
Page:panel
Nordic edition |
Easter egg |
| 2:1 |
4:1 |
One of the buildings carry the Japanese Transformers logotype. Two other symbols are similar to the
insignias worn by Vehicons and Maximals, two groups present in Beast Machines and Beast Wars. |
 |
| 2:2 |
4:2 |
In the background you can see a small flying robot, modelled after the "Diagnostic Drone",
Megatron's helper in the Beast Machines cartoon. |
| 8-9:3 |
10-11:3 |
Wheeljack (the second of the fleeing vehicles) has basically the same vehicle mode as he
had on Cybertron in the first episode of the Transformers cartoon. |
| 10-11:3 |
12-13:3 |
The writing on the back wall reads "Til all are one", which is a line from
Transformers: The Movie. |
| 15:1 |
17:1 |
The Oracle tank is guarded by two Omega Sentinels, based on Omega Supreme and the Guardian
robots from the cartoon episode War Dawn. |
| 17:1 |
19:1 |
One of the Elders is holding an object with a strong resemblance to the Key to Vector
Sigma, from the cartoon episode The Key to Vector Sigma. |
 |
| 22:3 |
24:3 |
On the assassin's leg you can find the logotype for the Japanese Microman series, one of
the two toylines from which the first Transformers toys were fetched. |
The War Within #2 (Transformers Armada 8/2003) |
Page:panel
American edition |
Page:panel
Nordic edition |
Easter egg |
| 1:1 |
3:1 |
Many obscure Transformers in the gallery on this page. The second robot in the top row is one
of two Microchange robots that transform into locks. The first robot on the second row looks like
Cy-Kill from Challenge of the Gobots, a series which competed with Transformers in the
early eighties, and beneath him you can see Watch Robo, another Microchange robot which transformed
into a wristwatch. On the right in the second row there is a small robot, who is based on Microchange's
Metal Man, a toy from the Meteor Robo subgroup. Metal Man was also released in the Japanese Beast
Wars II series, as Eggbot and Dark Eggbot. In the lower row there is a robot which resembles
Wheeljack - this is a slightly remoulded version of Wheeljack from the Diaclone toyline often referred
to as "Marlboro Wheeljack", with a different face
and different colour scheme. To the right of him is a triple
changer from the Diaclone toyline who transformed from robot to helicopter to airplane. |
 |
| 5:1 |
7:1 |
The platform behind Hound has the text "FIRRIB" on the side. The cassette
Transformers Frenzy and Rumble had switched colour schemes in the cartoon and the comics, and
TransFans on the Internet have discussed for years which colour schemes are the "right" ones.
FIRRIB stands for "Frenzy Is Red, Rumble Is Blue"
(which is their colours in the cartoon). Those who are of the opposite opinion use the abbreviation
FIBRIR. |
| 5:3 |
7:3 |
There's some sort of figure on Ironhide's dashboard. This is bound to be a reference
to something, but unfortunately I have no idea what it could be... :-p |
| 6:1 |
8:1 |
The container Brawn's holding has the Japanese text "Dinosaur Robo", which was
the name for the Diaclone figures which would eventually become the Dinobots. |
| 11:5 |
13:5 |
The robot in the foreground looks like it must be based on an actual robot toy. It has some
similarities to Diaclone's Multiforce 14
robot, but it's not a perfect match so I'm not sure if this is actually the right robot... |
 |
| 22:1 |
24:1 |
The Autobots' defence centre is called "The Decagon". Compare to the USA's
"Pentagon", the headquarters of the Unites States' Department of Defense. |
The War Within #3 (Transformers Armada 9/2003) |
Page:panel
American edition |
Page:panel
Nordic edition |
Easter egg |
| 11:2 |
13:2 |
On the wall behind Blitzwing you can see the inscription "are all dead". This inscription
was first seen on the cover of Marvel's Transformers
# 5, from June 1985. |
 |
| 23:4 |
25:4 |
Megatron's sword is not made up for this comic, but is the sword that came with the Microchange
Walther P-38 robot that eventually became Megatron in
the Transformers toyline. The very first Japanese version of Megatron also came with this sword, before
he was repackaged with the same accessories he came with in the rest of the world. |
The War Within #4 (not published in the Nordic countries) |
Page:panel
American edition |
Easter egg |
| 9:2 |
The streetlamps are the same type of streetlamp that Soundwave transformed into on
Cybertron in the first episode of the original cartoon. |
 |
| 10:2 |
The blue and grey robot is Broadside or a robot of the same design (the colours don't match
the real Broadside). |
| 10:3 |
The yellow and black robot on the Autobot transport ship appears to be based on the
Jumpstarter Topspin, and is coloured like Salt-Man Z, the Argentinean repaint of Topspin's
"brother" Twin Twist, who had almost the same design. |
| 17:1 |
Optimus Prime has a silhouette of Elita One on his left mudguard. Elita One was Optimus
Prime's girlfriend in the original cartoon (she appeared in the episode The Search for Alpha
Trion). |
 |
The War Within #5 (not published in the Nordic countries) |
Page:panel
American edition |
Easter egg |
| 6:4 |
The turbo engine in the foreground has a star-shaped insignia which is the same as the one
logotype used by the website The Allspark. |
| 9:1 |
The future vision observed by Optimus Prime and Megatron is taken from the second episode
of the original Transformers cartoon, where they fight on top of Sherman Dam with energy weapons. |
| 10:2 |
The guardhouse has the letters BBTS over the door. BBTS is the acronym for "Big Bad
Toy Store", which is an online toy store which sells Transformers, among other things. |
The War Within #6 (not published in the Nordic countries) |
 |
Page:panel
American edition |
Easter egg |
| 19:4 |
Bumblebee is holding a battle mask which, when he puts it on, would make him look more like
his toy. A nice
way by Don Figueroa of explaining why Bumblebee's toy differs from his cartoon/comics appearance. |
