The Good in the Bad

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri May 27, 2005 11:29 pm

Can you think of a really naff story that actually had some good elements in it? Could it have been a classic? How would you have changed it?

Speak to me baby.

Post by **Best First** » Sat May 28, 2005 12:08 am

I love Wheeljack in the Space Hikers stuff. But the rest is gash.

good topic punk.

Stormwolf · Post by **Stormwolf** » Sat May 28, 2005 8:53 am

Best First wrote:I love Wheeljack in the Space Hikers stuff. But the rest is gash.

good topic punk.

They should have explored the friendship between Sky Lynx and Wheeljack more IMO.

The kids and Grimlock were pretty horrible in that one though

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Sat May 28, 2005 9:33 am

There are some bits in Afterdeath, which amuse me, like dialogue between two Protectobots (I think it was First Aid and Streetwise). For the most of it, it's not bad, it's rather average, but the ending is quite stupid.

Now that I think of it, I could find some good elements in most of Budiansky's worse stories. For example, Club Con's general idea is very silly, but Blaster and Jessie's interaction saves it for me.

sprunkner · Post by **sprunkner** » Sat May 28, 2005 10:17 am

I never liked the way that 'End of the Road' wrapped up. The Last Autobot was a serious case of deus ex machina.

I wrote an alternate ending once, where instead of looking for the Last Autobot, HiQ was leading them around saying that they had to find 'the Child.' HiQ explained that although Unicron killed Primus' form and consciousness, he was still present in the planet Cybertron. The wash of matrix energy from Unicron's explosion would have recreated Primus, and Primus could save Cybertron. Only Primus, having been recreated, was now basically a blob of energy. A child.

Problem was, they got tired of carrying Circuit Breaker around, and so they left her somewhere while they looked. The Child found Circuit Breaker and the first consciousness it absorbed was hers. It saw her hatred of Transformers, espeically Shockwave. It reached out to where Shockwave was (fighting Galvatron and Megatron) and killed him.

The leftover energy from the Shockwave death was infused into Galvatron and Megatron. As two different versions of the same being, they fused into one super-Megatron who then could kill Ratchet without killing himself.

Having absorbed Circuit Breaker's hatred, the Child reached out to all the Transformers across the universe-- the Autobots and Decepticons on Klo and the now super-Megatron (who also killed Starscream.) The Child wanted to kill the TFs, but hesitated in realizing something familiar in them. In that moment, Megs tried to take over the Child to use its power. But HiQ got a spare blob of Matrix energy (there was a lot of it floating around) and turned into Prime and fought Megs, a big climactic battle. Megs won, and climbed into the Matrix energy of the child, displacing the will of Circuit Breaker's with his own. But Ratchet's personality was still in Meg's circuits, and the nobility of Ratchet's personality caused the child to realize what it really was. Everyone was happy and Cybertron was rebuilt.

Wow, that was long. Really long. Nobody ask me about my alternate plan for Buffy season 4.

jboyler · Post by **jboyler** » Sat May 28, 2005 11:16 am

I think we all agree that one of the worst TF comics ever was Longtooth's deranged whale hunt during the Matrix Quest. But despite it's ludicrous writing, overcomplicated flashbacks, and extremely contrived plot, it does have a single outstanding moment.

I absolutely love the idea of a mechanical whale swimming in a mercury ocean. I lived for a while in Monterey Bay, CA, and it just blows my mind to imagine an entire ocean of mercury. Just imagine what it would be like to look at an ocean, with waves breaking on the beach, where every single drop is as reflective as a mirror. And the page when the whale finally leaps up out of the water probably has the best art in the entire matrix quest.

I rank this up there with anything from Dune, the Metabarons, or Warhammer 40k in terms of sheer epic-scale mind-blowing sci-fi weirdness.

But just that one page, because the rest of the comic is stupid.

-J

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 3:06 pm

Ozz wrote:There are some bits in Afterdeath, which amuse me, like dialogue between two Protectobots (I think it was First Aid and Streetwise). For the most of it, it's not bad, it's rather average, but the ending is quite stupid.

The moment when Prime blows up, for me, was such an incredible surprise. I dont think I've ever known a bigger one in the comics other than Unicron's two comebacks (Legacy of Unicron Part 1 and the end of Primal Scream). The picture of Prime's demise is pretty nifty too I thought.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:36 pm

Warhammer 40k = whale hunt... hmm i like to thik W40ks huge universe is a bit more complex.
but anyhows.

I kinda like how the Mechanic gets all the Autobots trashed... and the bit where Ratched gets knee-capped is pretty twisted

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:39 am

jboyler wrote:I think we all agree that one of the worst TF comics ever was Longtooth's deranged whale hunt during the Matrix Quest. But despite it's ludicrous writing, overcomplicated flashbacks, and extremely contrived plot, it does have a single outstanding moment.

I absolutely love the idea of a mechanical whale swimming in a mercury ocean. I lived for a while in Monterey Bay, CA, and it just blows my mind to imagine an entire ocean of mercury. Just imagine what it would be like to look at an ocean, with waves breaking on the beach, where every single drop is as reflective as a mirror. And the page when the whale finally leaps up out of the water probably has the best art in the entire matrix quest.

I rank this up there with anything from Dune, the Metabarons, or Warhammer 40k in terms of sheer epic-scale mind-blowing sci-fi weirdness.

But just that one page, because the rest of the comic is stupid.

-J

Funny you should mention this, as I was just rereading the Matrix Quest for thinking about the fictional "TF Marvel cartoon" (yes I'm still working on it).

And actually, Kings of the Wild frontier isn't that bad... would have been quite good if Senior drew it.-

However, Deadly Obsession is just plain stupid. Just why does LOngtooth gets obsessed with the klud? Simon never really explains it, plus the art in that issue was really abysmal.

So my idea is to incorporate "LOngtooth's shame" into the story - Longtooth is the bravest warrior of Xaaron's group whom everyone admires for this, not realising that his legendary "sole survivor" status is the result of a matrix chunk he slowly used up through the millenia.

Realising the object he used for selfish gain would have been the only thing able to save his race, Longtooth decides in his shame to take real risks for once in his life by killing the Klud and saving the planet from it, even if it costs him his life...