Steeljaw Volume

Old acquaintance in a new form.

Synopsis

Visiting the future once again, Teletraan 15 finds herself knocked out, with Steeljaw protecting her. She awakens with a huge jet-former kneeling over her. Steeljaw recognizes the scent of his old colleague Jetfire, even though he doesn't recognize this bodyform.

Jetfire warns the pair that the area is about to become a battlefield, and offers to take them to his commander for their safety. Scooping them up, he shifts to jet mode and flies away... unaware that a pair of Decepticons are lurking in the forest below, waiting for the perfect chance to sneak-attack an unwary Autobot...

15 Memo

15 comments that while Steeljaw is better known for his bite, he's also an effective tracker. However, he likes smells a bit much and is obsessed with certain scents when he's not on a tracking mission.

Teletraan 10 is more than perturbed by Steeljaw's fondness for the smell of young women, and threatens to reveal publicly his embarrassing tendency to rust before realizing she just did.

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Notes

• This volume's featured toy is the Transformers Collection reissue of Steeljaw, who was packed in with Blaster (featured two installments prior).
• Teletraan 10 returns to providing commentary on 15's memos.
• Though the story is ostensibly about the past reissue ("padding" during gaps in the reissue schedule by having pages focusing on individual characters within a single reissue toy set), it's mostly a setup for the next reissue in the series, Battle Convoy (aka Laser Rod Optimus Prime).
• It's also an excuse for Ohshima to indulge his penchant for poking continuity issues with a stick. In the Japanese G-2 series, no effort was made to directly tie the Autobot Cyberjets to their Generation 1 namesakes. In fact, they were given the seemingly-contradictory origin of being Decepticons who defected to the Autobot side during the G-2 story (which takes place at the tail-end of the Japanese Generation 1 cartoon continuity). And so, Steeljaw "recognizes" his old teammate, and a more direct link between the Jetfires is established. Of course, the question becomes why Jetfire was a Decepticon again... though the G-2 series does begin with a joint Autobot/Decepticon alliance, so there's some wiggle room.