Through the eyes of the outside world...

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:21 am

I urge you to read this blog here. It's by J.Caleb Mozzocco, a blogger at Newsarama. He starts out waxing nostalgic (but in a negative way) about DW TF after seeing the movie, and decides to dig a bit deeper into the comic mythos, even though he's never been that big for a fan. He somehow gets ahold of some comics, and they're all Bob B, and he's like, "What crap!" and proceeds to deconstruct "Cosmic Carnival" in a rather fun way. But seriously though, read it AND check out the comments. Also go here for another comic blogger stumbling upon "Afterdeath" and tearing it a new one as well.

It's funny, but in a slightly sad way. I want to mail all of these people Furman issues, but it still wouldn't involve a lot of transforming, so I guess it wouldn't do much.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:18 pm

It's kind of depressing reading the comments and seeing (a) that people are still wrestling with the same kind of issues with Transformers that most of us have thrashed out, but as if it's some new discovery, and more importantly, (b) that people are recommending All Hail Megatron to someone who demands that Transformers make sense. What.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:50 pm

I'm not sure that Stormbringer is the best introduction to the Furman oeuvre, and that's the only one that is really mentioned.

And quite honestly, if any of us think this stuff is high art, we're pretty much kidding ourselves. That said, I'm going to write something for Fantasy that gives a guide to good TF comics.

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:13 pm

...but the invincible super-blog is awesome.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sun Aug 23, 2009 2:02 pm

The Marvel UK annual that collects the Survivors stories is quite a nice entry-level introduction to Furman, I find. That and T:2006, though not my copy which has the rubbish back to front page order at the end

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:58 pm

Apparently he just did Perchance to Dream, and liked it. So go Marvel UK reprints!

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 9:57 am

I always thought the conclusion to Perchance to Dream was a real let down. Galvatron was such a wimp!

Still, it's not everyday you get quotations from Hamlet in Transformers.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 11:32 am

spiderfrommars wrote:I always thought the conclusion to Perchance to Dream was a real let down. Galvatron was such a wimp!

So true. The same guy who once laughed while Autobots were shooting him gets stuffed by the same thing. And his chin falls off.

I see our erstwhile blogger also liked Infiltration overall.

Maybe starting off with dumbass Prime videogame suicide wasn't such a bad idea.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:35 pm

Best First wrote:
spiderfrommars wrote:I always thought the conclusion to Perchance to Dream was a real let down. Galvatron was such a wimp!

So true. The same guy who once laughed while Autobots were shooting him gets stuffed by the same thing. And his chin falls off.

Wasn't that "a different Galvatron"?

Sunyavadin · Post by **Sunyavadin** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 1:46 pm

Rebis wrote:
Best First wrote:
spiderfrommars wrote:I always thought the conclusion to Perchance to Dream was a real let down. Galvatron was such a wimp!

So true. The same guy who once laughed while Autobots were shooting him gets stuffed by the same thing. And his chin falls off.
Wasn't that "a different Galvatron"?

Too many Galvatrons spoil the TPBs?

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:33 pm

Who would win in a fight: T:2006 Galvatron, Rhythms of Darkness Galvatron, Worlds Collide Galvatron, or IDW Galvatron?

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 3:49 pm

My TF summation is up at Fantasy:

http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/?p=4738

Paul, Yaya, yours are both going up soon. I have been sick.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:49 pm

bumblemusprime wrote:I have been suck.

i agree

Post by **Best First** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 4:49 pm

bumblemusprime wrote:Who would win in a fight: T:2006 Galvatron, Rhythms of Darkness Galvatron, Worlds Collide Galvatron, or IDW Galvatron?

T2006 Galvatron, no contest.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 7:04 pm

bumblemusprime wrote:http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/?p=4738

Sorry, We Couldn't Find That
No Posts Were Found That Matched Your Selection
Perhaps you have lost your trail of breadcrumbs.
Beware, this forest has eyes.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:06 pm

seems to be working now - if not go to the main page and clicky clicky

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:45 pm

bumblemusprime wrote:My TF summation is up at Fantasy:

http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/?p=4738

Paul, Yaya, yours are both going up soon. I have been sick.

Nice article. It got me thinking on where Matrix Quest would go in your catagorization. On one hand, the Nightbeat story is awesome and the idea that the Matrix "'wanted" to be evil after all that do goodering was something that I was surprised by at the time. At the same time, Thunderwing in the Old West and that Moby Dick story are arguably as random as Skullgrin the Movie Star and Micromaster Wrestlers.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:54 pm

I much prefer the Longtooth one but i think that is purely down to the ker-azy Dan Reed art.

Klud!

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 8:42 am

Your're a bit hard on the Dark Ages - though I suppose it's a bit more for the fans.

BB Shockwave · Post by **BB Shockwave** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:41 pm

I always figured Galvatron was more powerful while Unicron lived and he was powered by a dark (demi)god. After the big U bit the Matrix, Galvy had to resort to the Volcano-power syphon trick to pump his powers up again, but could not finish the process due UM intervention.

So IMHO, Target 2006 Galvy and Galvatron II (guy from alternate future) should be on the same power level. Makes you wonder, though, how did Unicron's death in the past influence Galvy II... time travel theories hurt.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:44 pm

BB Shockwave wrote:Makes you wonder, though, how did Unicron's death in the past influence Galvy II... time travel theories hurt.

He became vulnerable to Megatron, then to Spike. And finally to water.

Give the guy a sterile bubble. He needs it.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 12:18 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:Your're a bit hard on the Dark Ages - though I suppose it's a bit more for the fans.

For me, Dark Ages was Furman being crushed by the weight of Dreamwave, writing an obscure story alluding to some sort of cool thing supposedly happening in the future with a very vague climax. I swear Mad Brick ghostwrote the thing. Always thought Wildman's pencils looked good on it, though.

Warcry · Post by **Warcry** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:35 am

I dunno...I kinda think Dark Ages was a small-scale encapsulation of everything that's wrong with Furman's work recently. Instead of trying to tell one story and do it well, there's about four or five crammed in there vying for attention. We have the Fallen, Grimlock's grudge against Jetfire, the Wrecker/Ultracon rivalry, the Protectobots trying to come to terms with their role as a superweapon, the creation of the first citycon...and all of that on top of the factions breaking apart, which could have been fodder for lots of different stories on its' own.

But because he crammed all of that into six issues instead of concentrating on one or two plots at a time and then moving onto the others later, none of the stories had enough room to breathe. Most of them were just left hanging, and the Fallen plot (the only one, IMO, that actually went anywhere) was totally unsatisfying because it was treated like a B-plot for the first 2/3 of the series.

When I look at his IDW work I see the same thing, except spread out over forty or so issues instead of just six. The man has no shortage of good ideas, but he really needs someone to tell him "No, you can't do all of this at once."

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:33 am

Remember the controversy surrounding Wildman's artwork when Dark Ages came out? We haven't seen much of him since have we? Give the man a Spotlight!

For better or worse, Dark Ages did give a certain movie sequel a certain big bad guy.

bumblemusprime wrote:My TF summation is up at Fantasy:

http://www.darkfantasy.org/fantasy/?p=4738

Me likey, though the 'Cybertron Redux' TPB should come with a government health warning. It does include Rock and Roll Out and I, Robot Master after all.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:09 pm

spiderfrommars wrote:For better or worse, Dark Ages did give a certain movie sequel a certain big bad guy.

Beats the hell out of another Unicron iteration.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:19 pm

Warcry wrote:I dunno...I kinda think Dark Ages was a small-scale encapsulation of everything that's wrong with Furman's work recently. Instead of trying to tell one story and do it well, there's about four or five crammed in there vying for attention. We have the Fallen, Grimlock's grudge against Jetfire, the Wrecker/Ultracon rivalry, the Protectobots trying to come to terms with their role as a superweapon, the creation of the first citycon...and all of that on top of the factions breaking apart, which could have been fodder for lots of different stories on its' own.

But because he crammed all of that into six issues instead of concentrating on one or two plots at a time and then moving onto the others later, none of the stories had enough room to breathe. Most of them were just left hanging, and the Fallen plot (the only one, IMO, that actually went anywhere) was totally unsatisfying because it was treated like a B-plot for the first 2/3 of the series.

When I look at his IDW work I see the same thing, except spread out over forty or so issues instead of just six. The man has no shortage of good ideas, but he really needs someone to tell him "No, you can't do all of this at once."

That's actually what I like about Furman's work, and why I hated the way Revelation got squeezed down. I love the way he can throw out a million different subplots and leave you wondering, "what about this?" and "I wonder how this fits in?" This would be why he really works better as an ongoing writer, though.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:33 am

spiderfrommars wrote:Remember the controversy surrounding Wildman's artwork when Dark Ages came out? We haven't seen much of him since have we?

I was one of those who flamed him. Then I saw his pencils, and realized it was the colorist who mucked things up. Still feel bad about that.

But you know, even colored, for some reason I like the art now in Dark Ages when I didn't before. It was kind of pastel, but it grew on me. Strange.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 5:02 am

He had a far better sense of placement and clarity than anyone else at Dreamwave.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:19 pm

bumblemusprime wrote:For me, Dark Ages was Furman being crushed by the weight of Dreamwave, writing an obscure story alluding to some sort of cool thing supposedly happening in the future with a very vague climax. I swear Mad Brick ghostwrote the thing. Always thought Wildman's pencils looked good on it, though.

I reread it last night, and really think it's one of the better TF stories out there - I see it more as a snapshot of Cybertronian life at the time, with lots of stuff happenning all at once, some of which is relevant, some not. Grimlock and Jetfire's animosity is set up quickly and without fuss and it serves the story well, Swoop used to be called Divebomb, Ratbat is awesome etc. It takes a while for the Fallen's true threat to be revealed and even then it's almost too late for anyone to do anything about it. Great use of such a diverse cast, too - the spotlight shifts all over the place and everyone (even Skywarp, who never gets to do anything) gets their chance to shine. Sure, the ending doesn't make much sense without knowing a bit of TF lore, but well, it worked for me.

I know it's not perfect, but there's lots there to like.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:28 pm

I'm middle ground about Dark Ages. On the one hand, the balance of different storylines is done really well, and it works as a whole story. For me, though, it suffered in the same way as the first War Within series did - from all that mysticism. Since mysticism is, by its nature, vague and insubstantial, it can't help but lead to unsatisfying moments/developments in the story. If Dark Ages had been about a Decepticon scientist (Thunderwing?) tracking down experimental subjects for some kind of bonkers bad guy ultra-weapon development, the whole thing would have worked nicely. Instead, we did get an awful lot of painfully dithery musings and mutterings from Jetfire and The Fallen.

The art? Bit shabby but at least I could follow it.