Transformers

[Ran]

I caught an episode of the Transformers yesterday. It's the first time I've seen this version. I'm waaaaay behind on Transformers. I used to watch Beastwars once in a while, then I caught a couple of some really Japanese looking TF cartoons. The show I caught yesterday looked more CGI than traditional animation. What the hell is going on? Is it based off the first Transformers movie? It seemed like there was a gigantic Starscream fighting the Autobots, but he wasn't teamed up with the rest of the Decepticons, then some other army was attacking Cybertron.

[anarky]

The current show is called Cybertron. Despite what JT might tell you, TF has become a huge joke lately. First there was the original, which is now called "Generation 1," though we never called it that. It was followed in Japan by Headmasters, which continued the 2006 stories for a few years. These are supposed to be awesome, but I've never seen them.

Then came Beast Wars/Beast Machines, which looked cool and was more or less set in the same timeline, but I never really got into.

Now it's like Power Rangers, with a total toy/toon reset every year or so. There's always a character named Optimus Prime, always a Megatron, always a Starscream, and (in the last couple of incarnations) always a Unicron. The stories are laughable, they make more use of stock footage than Voltron, and there are stupid details (like the characters have to loudly yell "Optimus Prime: Transform!!" to change modes).

Hopefully the movie will set things right next year.

[Dell Rusk]

transformers r kewl but i do not no why they turn into cars and stuff now, that is gay like u rogue 11. they should be aminals.

[Eternal Padawan]

I love G1. But more than that, I got my kids hooked on it now. I have the entire series on DVD. All four sets. Great stuff. I was dissapointed in the RID version of the show ( except the Black Convoy episode, that was a cool idea)and haven't watched anything since.

[Ran]

I'll bring this over from the Star Wars saga thread.

KH, I'll tell you right now: I'll probably find them around here, but if not, I want those War Within Transformers Titaniums. I may get the other G1 ones as well, but I really want Prime and Megatron from the old days, before they were a truck and a gun.

Megatron and Optimus were something before they were a gun and semi?

Is there any sort of history or timeline for transformers anywhere? G4TV has a show called "action blast" where they were showing Beast Wars until last week...never saw how the series ended, but I know it takes place after Generation 1 because Starscream possesed the wasp in one episode, and Ravage came back as Decepticon Intelligence to arrest the T-Rex Megatron. It was funny how Ravage appeared to be more of a humanoid looking panther, but still transformed into a cassette tape to fly his ship.

Starting this week, G4TV switched to some newer version and they talked about planet keys. I only saw the last half of what I believe was the first episode because they just arrived on Earth. Optimus Prime was a truck, but changed into a...flying truck, then had some other sort of second, more powerful robot mode. Very Voltron/Power Rangers like as you said, but I'm not sure if it was the same as the any of the versions mentioned above. So confused.

Maybe I don't want to know if they are going to reset the whole Transformers universe again with the movie.

[anarky]

Beast Wars didn't happen. Period.

Supposedly, it starts in the far, far future, where the descendants of the 'Bots and 'Cons end up in a time warp and land on Earth about 1-2 million years ago. There's an episode where BW Megatron finds the Ark, all strewn with dead G1 Transformers.

The War Within was a semi-ongoing comic series from Dreamwave, and the only good TF comic they produced. It was about the early days of Prime's career and (with only a few minor contradictions), gelled pretty well with the cartoon and the Marvel series. Prime was a tank, as was Megatron, though they were very different looking tanks.

This series also contained the revelation that a certain big guy who would soon be a robot Tyrannosaurus was originally built as a Decepticon but joined the Autobots early on.

[Starscream]

I should always be a giant monster trying to destroy the Transformers. But I should be drawn better than by the likes of Jose Delbo. Primus, that guy sucks! I'm prettier than his meager fleshling talents could possibly capture.

Note to self: Kick Bob Budiansky's tiny fleshling sex organs for killing me off in that Underbase Saga piece of exhaust. And send Simon Furman some more of those carbon-based "flowers" that humans are so fond of for being kind enough to restore me to life less than a year later.

[emperordaddypants]

TRANSFORMERS ARE DOOMED!!!

[The Cow]

MOOOOOOOOO!!

[Eternal Padawan]

Bob Budainsky was allowed near a typewriter/word processor/computer keyboard to write the NEW Comic Adaptation of the TF Movie for it's 20th anniversary.

As I recall, he will write Starscream's Death once again.

Cheers.

[anarky]

Here's a preview.

I have to say, weird as it may sound, I think this actually looks kinda cool. Definitely better than the movie. Some potential there, with a nice mix of G1 and movie elements mixed in. I normally loathe the cheap-ass, pseudo-anime look that this sports, but it doesn't bother me here.

Here's another clip, from Comic-Con, showing a really fucking cool character who doesn't appear in the clip above.

[anarky]

Fuck me.

I just watched this. While it isn't quite the classic series, and it certainly isn't one of Mr Furman's epic Cybertronian war stories, it's easily the best incarnation since Beast Wars, if not the original. (I'm giving BW the benefit of the doubt, since I never watched it, but everyone who has tells me it was good.)

Lots and lots of old-school TF nods. I think all the sound effects were classic, Ultra Magnus seemed to be based on Robert Stack, Teletraan 1 scanning the new alt modes, and--of course--the dude voicing Starscream. I'd swear it was Mr Latta, if I didn't know he was dead. He was channeling the classic sonovabitch Starscream quite well. Fuck, I even think this version was more Starscreamish, since he didn't just prance around like a pussy the whole time.

Some elements from later incarnations worked pretty well, like the Allspark replacing the Matrix, and Blackarachnia from Beast Wars.

It's pretty pathetic, though, that this cartoon--clearly geared more toward kids than adults (albeit far better done than most kids' toons from the past several years)--had more story development in the first five minutes than the entire live action movie.

The human designs really irked me, though. The crazy designs worked well on robots, but tended to make the human characters a bit too juvenile. The kids especially looked weird.

All in all, pretty fucking cool.

[jjreason]

I watched about 13 seconds of it today, and couldn't get into it. For some reason, me and animation just can't jive anymore - I tried and failed to watch the GI Joe movie yesterday, couldn't stand Samurai Jack and had a helluva time getting through the Clone Wars shorts. Not sure what's up with me and cartoons anymore.

[Ran]

I've watch most of 2 episodes now. Megatron is just a head and I have yet to see another Decepticon. Today they brought back 3 Dinobots. They do pay homage to G1, but I don't like the art that much.

[Sleazer]

no lie, when I saw this title thread at first I thought it said "New Transformers blow"