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Crankcase is a minor antagonist in Generation One of the Transformers franchise. He was based on a figure from the 1988 toyline.
Marvel Comics[]
Crankcase first appeared in Issue #48 of the Marvel US comic, in a flashback to events millions of years earlier on Cybertron. Crankcase and the other Triggercons accompanied Megatron as he tracked Optimus Prime and the Triggerbots, who were seeking the knowledge of the Underbase. The group attempted to acquire the Underbase's power themselves but Optimus Prime sent it hurtling into space.
His first present day appearance was in the UK-exclusive story "The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire". Crankcase was among the Decepticons who served the ruling Triumvirate, but was unhappy about their indolent lifestyle, watching gladiatorial games instead of fighting the Autobots. When Megatron arrived and attempted to galvanise the Decepticons into waging war again, Crankcase and the other Triggercons promptly assassinated the Triumvirate to stop them killing Megatron.
In "Rage", Crankcase was part of a team led by Ruckus who travelled to Earth in search of Thunderwing. They informed him that the Decepticon High Command had recalled him to Cybertron but Thunderwing wanted revenge for his recent defeat by the Autobots and co-opted Crankcase and the others into joining him in an attack on the Ark, although they were soon beaten back.
Crankcase didn't appear in the present day in the US comic until Issue #74, where he was among the Transformers gathered by Primus to battle Unicron. He was shown standing with Quake and Battletrap. Crankcase was among those who survived the battle and fell under the command of Bludgeon, joining him in his invasion of Klo. Their slaughter of the inhabitants, and the Autobots who came to their rescue, was halted by the arrival of Optimus Prime and the Neo Knights. Crankcase had his head caved in by Optimus Prime during the resulting melee, but was still functional enough to retreat with the other Decepticons.
The UK annual text story "Trigger-Happy" saw Crankcase operating under Megatron on Earth, transporting battle plans to him along with Ruckus. The Autobots planned to ambush them but failed when Backstreet accidentally gave the plan away after seeing the pair had Windsweeper, Spinister and Needlenose as air cover.
In another story, "Another Time and Place", Crankcase assisted Bludgeon with a plan to revive Megatron with nucleon. He was left to guard the captive Dinobots but was overpowered by Roadhandler.
The post-movie version of the character appeared in "Aspects of Evil", assisting Galvatron in wiping out an Autobot outpost on Cybertron.
Gallery[]
