Legends Comic: Bonus Edition Vol. 53 - Transformers Wiki

When the giant Broadside comes to the Legends World to protect it, his size ends up being used for evil.

Synopsis

In the 2030s of the G1 World, Grand Scourge has interrupted a battle between the Autobots and Decepticons by taking the Stunticons as his limbs and defeating Superion, and is now going after Optimus Prime's Matrix. Prime is saved when Broadside comes leaping out of a gigantic jet, freeing the Aerialbots from Scourge's grasp before transforming into a head and combining with the jet—actually a city-sized transtector that dwarfs the villain. One blast from his 80,000 volt plasma pulse gun sends Scourge flying straight out of their dimension, and the Decepticons flee. Broadside explains that his past seasickness, fear of heights, and frail constitution has led him to repeatedly remodel himself in pursuit of self-improvement, and his latest body is that of a gigantic Headmaster.

Broadside and the Aerialbots are later deployed to the current era of the Legends World to guard the dimension against future threats. Impressed by his power, Armada Thrust tries to convince Broadside to conquer the world with him, and when the Triple Changer refuses, he and Trickdiamond take matters into their own hands and steal the transtector. Broadside can only watch as Thrust defeats Metroplex and Trypticon, and is lamenting that the power he got to protect people is now being used for conquest when Brawn and Repugnus show up and offer their help through use of their armor suits. They recognize that while a regular transtector would be of no use to Broadside, they can use Blowpipe's clone beam to create a larger duplicate of Repugnus's suit that Broadside can pilot.

Using the suit's flight mode, Broadside flies into his transtector and confronts Thrust, who pleads for forgiveness, claiming he only wanted to prove the power of his intellect. Broadside understands his feelings, having made poor decisions in the past because he felt weak and sought power, including working with the Decepticons. He tells Thrust that everyone makes mistakes, and what's important is realizing they were mistakes and changing for the better, using Megatron's current peaceful attitude as an example. Furthermore, Broadside believes that while he himself has trained his body to become powerful, Thrust's strength lies in his trained brain, and he encourages the Decepticon to use his intellect for something good. Thrust takes his words to heart and decides to stay with him and the Aerialbots, though he doesn't particularly get along with the other fliers. They're all shocked when Broadside decides to rest and reveals that the bridge of his aircraft carrier serves as a chair for him.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• The opening battle with Grand Scourge is a continuation of "Decepticon Dark Commander Grand Scourge". At the time of publication that story appeared to take place in its own unique universe, but it is here folded into Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity, taking place sometime after the G-2 wars, "over ten years" after the black hole battle of 2021.
• As he calls for retreat, Megatron makes plans to target the energy of the Legends World next, placing the battle shortly before Vol. 23 of the webcomic.
• In the same panel, Drag Strip laments that he just wanted to enjoy a demolition race, meaning the battle takes place just after the Stunticon chapter of Unite Warriors Offshot, which saw the Aerialbots coming to attack the Stunticons.
• The panel of Broadside leaping down from the cockpit of his jet mode Transtector is a direct homage to Optimus Prime leaping down from the Last Autobot's cockpit in Marvel US #80.
• The retrospective of Broadside's previous bodies includes his prototype toy/1986 mural design, his pre-final cartoon character model as it appeared in "Carnage in C-Minor", and his later cartoon character model but with the red visor of his original toy.
• In reference to their own Unite Warriors Offshot chapter, the Aerialbots mention having brought Hassan along and are looking forward to hosting a barbecue party in another dimension.
• Broadside admits to having worked with the Decepticons in an apparent reference to and continuity patchjob of "The Killing Jar", in which Cyclonus inexplicably trusts a Quintesson disguised as Broadside.

References