Talkback: IDW-verse Transformers

[Dark Silver]

So this one will be a late start....but screw it.

Those of you keepign up, Comics publisher IDW picked up the Transformers Liscence from Hasbro after Dreamwave folded back in '06.

Since then, Simon Fur(hrer!)man has been the pretty much sole word on all things in TF in that verse. Admittedly, he's given some pretty good ideas, but hes come up with some utter crap..... (Read: Spotlight Arcee for a example of utter crap....).


Anyway, The primary story comes out of the "-ation" series: Infiltration, Escalation, Devestation. Those three arcs (along with the Stormbringer arc) are the "main' story, which will conclude in Transformers: Revelation starting in June (it looks like). Revelation will be different in format, as it will only 4 four issues long, and start with Revelations Spotlight: Cyclonus.

The story has been added and convoluted in the "Spotlight" series, which focuses on a story focusing on one Transformer. Some of these have been good, some great, and some...utter crap. For example, I hold "Spotlight Arcee" as soem of Furman's worst work. He HATES the idea of 'female Transformers', yet he loves the idea of them having a DNA analogue (CNA) and pretty much made Arcee a Transgendered Cybertronian against her will. Her spotlight..just didn't do her character justice in the slightest.


Anyway....with pretty much the next several months being a slow period, I figured we could talk about what's been done, and what is expected.

Also, IDW released it's solicitation listing for July...

Transformers Spotlight: Hardhead
Transformers Movie Sequel: Reign of Starscream #4
Transformers Movie Prequel UK #1
The Transformers: All Hail Megatron #1
The Transformers: The Ark, Volume 2
Classic Transformers, Volume 2
Transformers Animated, Volume 4
Transformers Best of the UK: Space Pirates #5

So, while we wait...let's discuss and talk.

[frigidmagi]

Spotlight Arcee was bullshit!

That is all.

[Dark Silver]

Yeah...Spotlight Arcee sucked big donkey balls - of course if you call Furman on it on his blog, you're jumped by his loyal lackies and then by the "author" himself.



So, topic of dicussion.....

Spotlight:Arcee

Summary:
[spoilers]Arcee is a female Autobot. Infact, she's the very first female Autobot. Experimented on, her CNA and exostructure twisted, Arcee has gone insane from the torment she has inflicted on her. She seeks out the one who exprimented upon her, the Cybertronian Scientist Jhiaxus, to end him and his twisted experimentations. This issue also ties into the earlier Spotlight: Optimus Prime and Spotlight: Hot Rod(imus)[/spoilers]

So, highlight to read the blacked out spoiler, and discuss.

[LadyTevar]

I have it. It made me throw a hissy that had Nitram's head spinning. The only -good- thing about it was showing Arcee as such a dangerous opponent that even UltraMagnus had trouble with her.


Now, the Mirage Spotlight, on the other hand... Very interesting way of doing it.

[frigidmagi]

What the fuck is CNA anyways?

[Cynical Cat]

Robots with gender are silly, but that got stuck into the Transformer mythos a long time ago. So a Transformer writer needs to suck it up and soldier. There are a few good ways of dealing with issue. This isn't one of them.

DNA analogs for robots is even sillier than gender. The stupid burns with the force of a million suns.

You don't write crappy stories out of spite. You might kill characters out of spite, but you write crappy stories because you're a hack.

[frigidmagi]

. The only -good- thing about it was showing Arcee as such a dangerous opponent that even UltraMagnus had trouble with her.

Actually Arcee the manic berserker that all fear and cringe from did not strike me as a good thing. A dangerous combatant yes, she should be one. She has in all continuities survived literally millions of years of combat. Only dangerous beings get to do that.

Wolverine style manic? Fuck that shit.

[Dark Silver]

CNA is a hold over from when Furman was writing GenTwo for the original Marvel liscence of Transformers. It's Cybertronian version of DNA which is how the original Transformers of Marvel-verse could reproduce by "budding" off some of themselves (asexual reproduction).

It's fucking retarded....and it's one of Furman's additions to the TF mythos...


To be honest, Spotlight Arcee, and most of GenTwo was one of the reasons I hate Furman as a TF writer...aside from the fact he thinks he and he alone has full and unabashed knowledge of all things Transformers and his view is how it shall and should be forever more.

[frigidmagi]

What the hell? They're robots! They reproduce by building new robots!

[Dark Silver]

not in the Marvel "Generation Two" series.

Ask B4 about it, or Nitram, they read those runs more than I did.

Infact, I had little to do with the Marvel comics run of Transformers from then, aside from a odd issue or two.

[SirNitram]

I never read Gen-2. I'm glad, again.

I'm fine with female cybertronians. I grew up with the idea and the idea that 'They shouldn't, they're robots!' also implies they shouldn't have souls. Or Optimus Christ. Primus is a God. He's the God of Creation, IIRC, and thus he can do as he damn well likes.

I always preferred the 'Metallic goo -> Protoform -> Transformer' lifecycle to factory-stamped. But I'm not sure the goo ever appeared in an American comic.

[LadyTevar]

I do have to wonder where the Lasercore/Spark whatever you want to call it comes from, and how it gets into the Protoform.

[B4UTRUST]

God of Light and Order technically. Or at least according to Marvel-verse at any rate. Unicron was the Dark God and the Chaos God. In some continuities within marvel and others they were part of a pantheon of gods in others they were the only gods.

But the main bit was Primus got his ass kicked more or less and used the last bit of his energy to bind Unicron to the physical world in an asteroid. Unicron slowly began to gather power and altered the physical form to what we now know as Unicron. Yes, this directly contridicts the Primacon origin story of Unicron. Primus pretty much did something similar and went into a state of hibernation to restore his strength. The Transformers were, in some continuities manufatured by the Quintessions, in others they were the evolutionary spawning of Primus' sleeping mind in physical form to fight Unicron.

As for Gen2, yeah there was a lot of nonsense thrown about but there were a few interesting points. But yes, the lets breed transformers bit was kinda dumb. Though I can't place all blame on Furman for that. It started with the Lithonians from the original 86 movie, not in Gen2. It just wasn't retconned into the cybertronians until then.

[frigidmagi]

Meh, Primacon was a silly story.

[rhoenix]

It sounds like a bunch of asshats are in charge of TF continuity, which is sad. If they'd get their shit straight, it would likely become more popular.


...CNA? Really?

[Cynical Cat]

The warring, contradictory Transformer origin stories are mostly amusingly bad.

[LadyTevar]

Is there a way to pull the Primus and the Quintession origins together in a useful whole?

1. Primus is sleeping. Quintessions find him, settle, create the Cybertronians as slaves. Primus, in his dream, senses the new life, and begins to mold them subconsciously into a defense against Unicron. Subtly manipulated, a Cybertronian finds the Matrix and then leads the overthrow of the Quintession masters.

2. Primus slept, but created primative life on his surface. The Quintessions, when they arrived, took these primative life-forms enslaved them, modifying them into the Cybertronians. Primus slowly realizes what's going on, and splinters off the Matrix to free and guide his creations.

[Cynical Cat]

I would give you my version, but that would be spoilers for the story I'm going to write.

[LadyTevar]

I would give you my version, but that would be spoilers for the story I'm going to write.

I've been waiting for you to start on that one ;)

Wednesday I have to call the comic shop and see if the new IDW is in. I'm waiting to see how the HeadMasters work out.

What do you guys think of how they're handing them?

[Dark Silver]

It's a interesting how they handled the Headmaster concept in the IDW-verse - it's similar to how I handled it in the game.

Though for all intents and purposes, they still left Sunstreaker in the Machination's hands - and a shitload of Sunstreaker clones everywhere on Earth.

I more want to know how'd Magnus fucked Skorponok up so badly to make him just a head....

[LadyTevar]

All the Sunstreaker clones are being controlled through Sunstreaker's head, right?

[Cynical Cat]

I would give you my version, but that would be spoilers for the story I'm going to write.

I've been waiting for you to start on that one ;)

After I finish "The Warrior's Tale."

[Dark Silver]

Spotlight: Grimlock

[spoilers]In response to the escalation of the Transformers war on Earth, Skywatch attempts to activate Thunderlizard-01, the Dynobot Grimlock! When their control schemes fail, Grimlock breaks free, stranded, lost, and attacked by humans on all sides. Enter Skorponok, in all his HeadMaster glory, offering Grimlock the chance of a lifetime......join him, and rule Earth together, or go back to the Autobots, a wanted rouge element hunted by Ultra Magnus himself.[/spoilers]

So I managed to FINALLY get a copy of Spotlight Grimlock, and I must say, I'm happy with it.

We see the Machination again, and find out more of Skorponok's plans. We discover some of Grimlock's motivation, and we evenget a idea of why he's got his speech impediment problem.

Art in this issue was fantastic, very well done, and I liked the detail they went into Grimlock's faceplate on some of the closeups.

I'm still iffy on how I like the idea of Furman's Headmasters.....basically humans whose minds have a direct feed into a disembodied Transformer's head, who got modified so they can transform into the head of a drone body.


Still, it looks like Skorponok's headmaster has osme troubles figuring out if hes two heads in one, or their still seperate beings.......

[frigidmagi]

All the Sunstreaker clones are being controlled through Sunstreaker's head, right?

I would say Yes and No. Sunstreaker's head definitely makes them more effective as a unit and individuals but the humans can still control their transformer clone bodies without it, just not very well.

This makes sense when you think about, a human brain is not geared towards controlling a massive high speed metal machine. Not without some processing help.

[LadyTevar]

Spotlight: Grimlock
We discover some of Grimlock's motivation, and we even get a idea of why he's got his speech impediment problem.

It seemed he only had the problem when in Beast mode. When Scorponok was making his spiel, Grimlock had no problems at all talking.

"I was thinking about that warehouse of Sol-emusifers we were guarding that you stole from us..."
"What?! That?!"
"Yeah.. it's a good excuse... *WHAM!!!!!*"