Transformers!

comics rock. talk about them here. now. or just go to the "corn" section and wack off. i'll understand. i'll just sit here and read my spider-man comics.

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anarky
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Re: Transformers!

Post by anarky »

True that.

There have been a fair number of villainous Autobots (a couple of Japanese characters making their American debut in More Than Meets the Eye were big doozies in that respect, and I understand the recent Punishment one-shot is along the same lines with a character far more familiar to American readers), and the Decepticons started as a noble rebellion against a corrupt regime, but went way off the rails. Soundwave in particular is an opportunistic schemer, but about as noble (if misguided) as possible deep in his spark.

Hell, you look at the earliest-set stories about the philosopher/poet Megatron and his good friend, lawman Orion Pax, and, if you didn't know anything about Transformers lore, you'd assume the stories set in the present would be about heroic Megatron against the evil Optimus Prime.

Seriously, check out either More Than Meets the Eye Vol. 1 or Vol. 5 of the previous ongoing Transformers series (entitled "Chaos Theory"). It's amazing what happens when you get insanely talented creators writing about characters we grew up with, but with little or no Hasbro meddling.

I'd say to start with "Shadowplay," which is a downright motherfucking masterpiece, but I'm not sure it's the best place to jump in. "Chaos Theory" in particular needs to come before it for the full effect of that final panel.
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Re: Transformers!

Post by vynsane »

thanks for the recap - i doubt i'll start collecting - my comics budget is basically 0 due to LEGO and Disney Infinity (they hooked me) and if i do buy any comics it will be to get back on track with Spidey and Atomic Robo.
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Re: Transformers!

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Does you library have comics? They might be willing to order some if you ask them. Provided they actually carry them; some still have the old taboo on books with speech bubbles.
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Re: Transformers!

Post by vynsane »

that's not a bad idea, not sure if they do...
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Re: Transformers!

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Probably goes without saying, but I've found it works better to find out which librarian(s) like comics, and mention "I've heard ____ is awesome" while checking out a graphic novel or two, rather than just request it. If one of the staff wants to read it, they're more likely to order it.
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Re: Transformers!

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The IDW press release for Combiner Wars promises a new Combiner that will "melt the internet."

Given that we know the toys will have a gestalt made of Optimus Prime and G1 cars (including Prowl), Rodimus as the chest plate of a gestalt that includes a white Optimus repaint, and Cyclonus as the torso of a Decepticon gestalt, I'm more than slightly worried that this internet melter will be one of these fanwank shitballs.
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Re: Transformers!

Post by anarky »

Oh.

My.

Fucking.

God.

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Re: Transformers!

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That's pretty sweet. I wish I had money to spend on toys.
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Re: Transformers!

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I went back and have been re-reading some of the most important older IDW TF comics. With Chaos and Chaos Theory (both co-written by Roberts), I was floored. I'm not sure if he's been planting seeds for these current stories all along, or is damned good at picking up on random lines and building off of them.

Things like...

Ultra Magnus's response to no one knowing if Tyrest can still be contacted.

Megatron being asked if he's forged or constructed cold, and being offended by the question.

Megatron's lack of a batch number.

The "lifeboat" from Kimia containing (among others) Brainstorm, Chromedome, Rung, Rewind, and Swerve. Brainstorm and Chromedome are already kinda buddy-buddy. And, when Arcee rescues the bunch, either BS or CD says that no one should make a single comment about Jhiaxus, even jokingly, and finishes with, "I'm talking to you, Swerve!"

Trailbreaker seeming to be close with Rodimus, and not entirely sure of himself.

I know the unnamed Senator who befriends Orion (and sits on a bench outside the Ark-1 memorial!) was always intended to be Shockwave, but there's so much more. Seriously, these older stories take on new life when you look at these characters through the MTME filter.
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Re: Transformers!

Post by Tom Foolery »

I'm finally catching up on all my TF books. It's the last five months worth of issues from all 4 series.

TF vs GIJoe is just...one man's stream of consciousness recollection about what little he remembers of toys from his childhood. Or something. I could care less. And even though I buy it every month, it's $4 I regret spending and hope it ends soon in favor of a more regular TF ongoing.

I'm halfway thru MTMTE. I don't know how anarky reads these in trade. Binging on this much awesome all at once makes my fingers all tingly and I see spots. I could barely handle one issue per month and now I have five in a row.

Combiner Wars. The crossover with (formerly) RID and Windblade. Less of a "War" and more of a skirmish. There were only a few Combiners in it. Moved the political plots forward nicely though with the introduction of the lost colonies. Starscream and Optimus and other making power plays. And the confrontation between Optimus and Prowl was gut wrenching. That's been slow boiling for..well, damn near the entire IDW saga.

I love how my childhood was defined as good vs evil; USA vs USSR, Autobots vs Decepticons, GIJoe vs Cobra, etc
And now I'm an adult and things are more gray and complicated...and yet stuff like Transformers grew up right alongside me and it's about individuals each with their own motivations and agendas and there's no 'good' and 'evil' anymore and Arcee can be aligned with Galvatron and Soundwave and sell his cause to Cosmos and Starscream can end up doing good even against his own interests and Optimus and Prowl can have ideological arguments manifested violently and Megratron can renounce Decepticonism.

These books are fucking fantastic.
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Re: Transformers!

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I just got Combiner Wars in the mail and read it. I'm not understanding the hate it seems to have gotten, though maybe that's because I was able to read it all in one sitting. Like you said, more a skirmish than a war. I personally loved the political intrigue and interpersonal relationships here. The clear new direction with the colonies could be either gold or shit, and I'm willing to bet on gold based on prior experience. That evil, possibly insane Elita-One looks like she'll be particularly interesting.

Thoughts:

I'd bet a million shanix that Swindle ain't dead, and I'm not only saying that because I know he has a forthcoming figure. Rattrap is no longer on Starscream's side and is clearly keeping Swindle's status secret. Which means that once he gets his old gang back, Swindle is going to get that Enigma and Bruticus will be a wildcard. I don't see Rattrap taking Starscream's place, but I sure see him trying for it.

Optimus Maximus was handled far better than I would've expected. I love that three of his limbs were "chosen" because they had had visions, and it was good to see Spotlight: Mirage finally have some meaning. I expect we've seen the last of him, though.

Since presumably Ironhide, Mirage, Sunstreaker, and Prime shared a mind with Prowl, does that mean some of his secrets are no longer secret? Or at least that he'll suspect they're no longer secret?

Menasor.... First, Blackjack wasn't explained well. He's presumably a different Blackjack from the Gorlam Prime Micromaster who died. But he looks the same, only taller. That needed something more to it. Menasor (and Superion, and Devastator) clearly think more clearly than they have in the past, probably because of the Enigma of Combination. But why do Starscream's agents (Blackjack and Scoop) seem to exert more influence over the shared mind, particularly when they're both new to existing teams who've shared a mind before?

Speaking of Scoop, hoooooo boy. I like that Starscream repainted him, allowing the classic Devastator to appear without resurrecting Scrapper. And that he was forced on the Constructicons. I'm assuming that the Enigma detected an existing configuration and that Scoop physically resembled Scrapper, and just popped them into that formation. I did get the impression from Dev's dialogue that the Constructicons kinda hate Scoop's guts and, though jealous, would prefer Prowl as the sixth, so that door remains open. I've really grown to love "Prowlstator."

It was kind of a cop out to have a shuttle of reinforcements from the Lost Light show up to get the Protectobots and Mirage to Cybertron, and I already know they're returning next issue. But the origin of the team name for a bunch of guys who haven't been shown to work together was fun. I'd like to know where the hell Rook showed up from, though; was he on Cybertron, and just happened to be standing in the wrong place? Because he wasn't mentioned as being on the shuttle.

Another thing I really hope gets addressed: personalities for Rook, Offroad, Blackjack II, and Alpha Bravo. These guys were given the barest bios by Hasbro, and have appeared nowhere else. It's up to IDW to make them proper characters, and that hasn't really happened yet. (I'm going to guess Roberts will build on Rook; I read somewhere he didn't even know the character existed until asked at a convention, where he seemed to find it interesting that there's a new Protectobot. But Barber's had plenty of time to develop Alpha Bravo, and the guy's less defined than Fat Tankor.)

I guess maybe Blackjack II could be said to be the G1 character, and the previously-seen IDW character just shared a name and looked like him. Which is farfetched but not unprecedented (Bombshell's new origin in All Hail Megatron requiring a retcon that the identical character in Spotlight: Blaster wasn't the G1 guy). Of course, if that's the case, maybe the denizens of Gorlam Prime were unknowingly duplicates of a sort of Cybertronians, which could mean Big Daddy and others could show up as proper Transformers in the future.

Also, since Hasbro and IDW have already differed (Cyclonus is not a combiner, Rodimus isn't the chestplate of Optimus Maximus, Scrapper is still dead), I really, really hope the Sky Lynx combiner doesn't come to pass in IDW. Or Computron; I love the guy, but he's half dead and resurrecting victims of Kimia would be kinda wrong in this continuity. And for fuck's sake, Shockwave had motherfucking better not return from the dead to be Bruticus's pistol.

Eh, too late for more thought right now. I'll laugh at Defensor's tittygun some more.
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Re: Transformers!

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Brought up a few of these points and questions at the other site.

Yup, everyone just hates this story.

I don't get it. All TF fans can agree on Roberts. Why do so many hate Barber so damn much?

(Of course, the Furman hate makes less sense. And so many TF fans seem like they wouldn't piss on him if he were engulfed in flames.)
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Re: Transformers!

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I'd never have thought an image of Megatron standing in a field of flowers would be so poignant and thought provoking and melancholy.

I'm amazed this book manages to top itself every month. You'd think a plateau is inevitable at some point. But nope.
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Re: Transformers!

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Looking at Hasbro's announcements from NYCC, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned about the comics going forward.

Combiner Wars is apparently the first in a "trilogy" called "Prime Wars." The second part will be called "Titans Return." No word on the third part yet.

Toys, comics, videogames, and supposed animation are supposed to link together in these lines. I'm worried that the mystique of the Titans could be fucked up badly if they "return" and it's a rush job that doesn't happen organically.

All toys going forward in this subline are Titan Masters. They have mini-figures that turn into the heads of any robot, regardless of size (not sure how that works) and apparently can be guns as well.

Confirmed toys include Skullcruncher, Hardhead, Galvatron (with a head that looks like Megatron in robot mode), and Blaster (with a head that looks like Blaster, called Twincast) as basic figures, along with some "Titan Masters" that only turn into heads. A few mixed-up names, but they appear to be Siren, Nightbeat, Horri-Bull, and Squeezeplay.

Also confirmed are cassette triple changers of Rewind and Stripes, who was either a fan club exclusive or Japan-only character, neither of whom appear to be Titan Masters from what we've seen. As well as Sentinel Prime, who is a Head--I mean, Titan Master as well, and looks like he's begging to be repainted as Astrotrain.

Titan-Class Fortress Maximus has been rumored, but not revealed yet.

So....

First, all these dudes being Headmasters. Fuck the name; they're Headmasters. I'm going to assume we're going to get a big ol' ignore on that from IDW, at least partly. Galvatron is a particularly big problem; the guy loathes Combiners, and Headmasters in particular. Plus a head that turns into Baby Megatron doesn't fit here. Oh, yeah, and Horri-Bull's fucking dead. Not to mention Sunstreaker would have a really big reason to hate Blaster going forward.

Fort Max as a Titan, really odd. No idea how that could be pulled off.

Sentinel Prime; it's already too crowded with Primes. Two is enough.

Hasbro also confirmed the Matrix would be important going forward. So I guess it has to be revived somehow.

Like I said, it reeks of unnecessary Hasbro tampering. Hasbro has really fucked things up in some of their licensed titles before. Hama, Budiansky, and Furman were able to run with some of their bullshit, and I don't doubt Roberts and Barber will, but this still worries me a tad.
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Re: Transformers!

Post by anarky »

Tom Foolery wrote:I'd never have thought an image of Megatron standing in a field of flowers would be so poignant and thought provoking and melancholy.
Good freaking Lord yes.

He is probably my current favorite. IDW's version, specifically. As good as MTMTE was, his personal arc toward redemption is so powerful that nothing else in the book compares.

Also, unrelated, but there's something about Bluestreak and Ravage palling around in a bar that's just sublime. Somewhere, that little guy is going to have to choose between Megs and Soundwave.
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