« Fight! Super Robot Lifeform Transformers: Zone »
(Tatakae! Chō Robot Seimeitai Transformers Zone)
Publisher	Kodansha
Published in	TV Magazine
First published	April1990
Cover date	April1990
Story	Masumi Kaneda
Art	Ban Magami
Continuity	TV Magazine continuity,Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity
Chronology	Late 2020s

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, demonicViolengiguar gathers together theDecepticonsDevastator,Menasor,Bruticus,Trypticon,Predaking,Abominus,King Poseidon,Overlord, andBlackZarak as hisNine Great Demon Generals. To remove the threat theAutobots pose to his goal, he has the generals devastate the planetFeminia, drawing the attention of AutobotSupreme CommanderVictory Saber and his troops, who arrive to save the planet's populace. Victory Saber saves the life of a young boy namedCain, 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 sourceEnergon Z, and theZodiac, 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 petEmusa are brought toPlanet Zone, the fortified defense base of the AutobotMicromasters, whereMoonradar andRabbicrater give him the lowdown on its history. Zone was created by thePowered Masters, early Transformer pioneers of space, and theZone 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 theSuper Car Patrol Team and theBattle Patrol Team in pursuit. Their way is barred by BlackZarak, who impedes their progress with an energy net. TheJet Patrol Team free their companions, andSunrunner 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 theRescue Patrol Team cleans up, the Powered MastersDai Atlas andSonic 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 namedAkira, 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

• TheZone manga contains exactly the same story as theZone OVA. It was released as part of the April 1990 issue ofTV Magazine and was illustrated byBan Magami. Three months later, in July, the OVA was released, which repeated the story in animated form.
• The fictional timeframe ofZone is not given, but presumably the story transpires betweenVictory in2025 andReturn of Convoy in2031.
• Themanga used different character designs for theNine Great Demon Generals. (The same character designs used in theTV Magazinestory pages.)

Continuity notes

• Storywise, one of the primary differences between the manga and the OVA is that none of theNine 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 theZone 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 becauseStar 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.
• TheFight! 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