Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone (manga)

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戦え!超ロボット生命体 トランスフォーマーZ (Tatakae! Chō Robot Seimeitai Transformers Zone)
Publisher	Kodansha
Published in	TV Magazine
First published	April 1990
Cover date	April 1990
Story	Masumi Kaneda
Art	Ban Magami
Continuity	TV Magazine continuity, Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Chronology	2025–2030

When nine of the most powerful Decepticons are gathered together under the rule of Violengiguar, Autobot Powered Master Dai Atlas must step forward to prevent them from acquiring the power of the mystical Zodiac.

Synopsis

Seeking to conquer the universe, the mysterious, demonic Violengiguar gathers together the Decepticons Devastator, Menasor, Bruticus, Trypticon, Predaking, Abominus, King Poseidon, Overlord, and BlackZarak as his Nine Great Demon Generals. To remove the threat the Autobots pose to his goal, he has the generals devastate the planet Feminia, drawing the attention of Autobot Supreme Commander Victory Saber and his troops, who arrive to save the planet's populace. Victory Saber saves the life of a young boy named Cain, but is unable to escape the planet's destruction himself and is left missing in action when Feminia explodes.

With the Autobots in disarray following the loss of Victory Saber, Violengiguar charges his generals with obtaining the Autobots' new energy source Energon Z, and the Zodiac, the enigmatic energy force responsible for the creation of the universe, which he intends to fuse together to create the super-energy that will fuel his dreams of conquest.

Meanwhile, Cain and his pet Emusa are brought to Planet Zone, the fortified defense base of the Autobot Micromasters, where Moonradar and Rabbicrater give him the lowdown on its history. Zone was created by the Powered Masters, early Transformer pioneers of space, and the Zone Base is powered by Energon Z—which makes the planet the next target for the Demon Generals. Overlord, Menasor, Bruticus, and Abominus attack the planet and steal the Energon Z, escaping into space as Moonradar leads the Super Car Patrol Team and the Battle Patrol Team in pursuit. Their way is barred by BlackZarak, who impedes their progress with an energy net. The Jet Patrol Team free their companions, and Sunrunner tracks the Generals with his radar, discovering that the capsule of Energon Z has been handed off to the other half of the group, who are on their way to Earth.

Back on Zone, as the Rescue Patrol Team cleans up, the Powered Masters Dai Atlas and Sonic Bomber return from their search for Victory Saber, bringing the wounded commander back safely. The two Powered Masters immediately set out for Earth, where Devastator, King Poseidon, Trypticon and Predaking are already wreaking havoc. The Micromasters, meanwhile, have already arrived on the planet, just in time to save a young boy named Akira, who... befriends... Cain as the Micromasters do the best they can to hold off the Generals. In the nick of time, Dai Atlas and Sonic Bomber arrive, and the battle goes underground as Devastator and Dai Atlas race to find the Zodiac, buried in a cavern beneath the Earth's surface. As Devastator is dispatched by a river of lava, King Poseidon attempts to escape with the Zodiac, but is stopped by Sonic Bomber, and tosses it to his fellow Generals. Dai Atlas is able to snatch it from their grasp, but the enraged Trypticon then unleashes a beam of Energon Z from the capsule directly at him. Sonic Bomber valiantly takes the hit for Dai Atlas and is nearly killed by the beam, but Trypticon simply fires off another shot. In desperation, Dai Atlas holds aloft the Zodiac and petitions it for help, and as the Energon Z washes over it, its power is unleashed. Dai Atlas and Sonic Bomber are transformed into "Zone Modes", heavily armed base forms that dispense with King Poseidon and Trypticon. Attempting to flee, Predaking is stopped by the Zone Mode Attack and the Zodiac is retrieved.

Back on Zone, the injured Victory Saber appoints Dai Atlas as the new Supreme Commander of the Autobots, to serve while he is unable.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• The Zone manga contains exactly the same story as the Zone OVA. It was released as part of the April 1990 issue of TV Magazine and was illustrated by Ban Magami. Three months later, in July, the OVA was released, which repeated the story in animated form.
• The fictional timeframe of Zone is not given, but presumably the story transpires between Victory in 2025 and Return of Convoy in 2031.
• The manga used different character designs for the Nine Great Demon Generals. (The same character designs used in the TV Magazine story pages.)

Continuity notes

• Storywise, one of the primary differences between the manga and the OVA is that none of the Nine Great Demon Generals are killed at the end of the story. Instead, they are defeated and driven off, allowing them to return in future installments of the Zone story pages.
• The Decepticon Generals' personalities appear to be the same as they were pre-Zone, which is not as clear in the OVA.
• It's indicated here that Dai Atlas becomes leader of the Autobots because Star Saber is too wounded to carry on his duties. The OVA isn't as clear about why Dai Atlas succeeds Star Saber as the new leader (other than because he's the new toy).

Other notes

• Despite being released exclusively in Japan, this manga reads from left to right like a Western comic book.
• The Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Comics graphic novel collection mistakenly prints this issue backward, with the last page first and the first page last, possibly due to confusion caused by the issue reading "backward".

Reprints

• 2002 — Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: The Comics
• 2020 — Transformers: The Manga Volume 3