Marvel UK comics marathon

[Cliffjumper]

I always kind-of want to give Furman a good slapping for "Big Broadcast". I mean, yes, it's terrible, but it was blatantly written and drawn in a weekend due to Bob's scheduling problems, there's no need to be quite so harsh about it seeing as Marvel UK were still charging full price. It's like they're saying "Hey kids, isn't this rubbish? But we're not ripping you off because we're saying it's rubbish!"

It would have helped if "Space Pirates" wasn't terrible too.

The Quints take over Autobot City and kick the nuts out of the Decepticons incredibly easily before the tide is turned by the epic arrival of BLASTER'S CASSETTES! Take that, varying amount of Autobots hanging from the wall... The last we see of Future Grimlock is him being taken down by two of the same Quint troopers that Ramhorn turns into kebabs at will.

Metroplex appears to magically save the day, Dreamwave-style (I do like the way Blaster tries to activate him by pulling on a massive immobile lever, but Ghyrik shoots a random bit of wall in what looks like a different room and that does the trick... that's a good system, no wonder Red Alert is always so stressed).

The little squad who arrive at Autobot City with Rodimus just totally ignore him running off screaming about Arcee and getting mugged by the Matrix. Seriously, he's midway through a sentence.

Talking of Arcee, even her role as the Headmasters' secretary is more dignified than this. She wanders off because she's an airhead, allowing the Quintessons to invade (because obviously she would have totally turned the tide if she'd stayed standing on that there bridge). She's so stupid it's a lynchpin of Ghyrik's plan. And then she decides she can handle whatever knocked the whole damn city out (maybe she goes to the same gym as Ramhorn?) and gets shot, allowing Ghyrik to pick-pocket Rodimus. Good show, dear, we'll let you know...

[bumblemusprime]

Hey! What's this? It looks like the ghost of forums past.

I have a bit of a quandary at this point, since much of the supplementary material that I couldn't access in my Titan trades is now available in the Classics UK trades. Letters pages! Commentary from Roberts! However, said Classics UK trades have lousier print quality, and are on matte 8.5x11 stock instead of glossy newsprint like many of the Titan books. Also, I'm not made of money, guys. Jeebus Cripes. So until I change the rules, this will be Titan-fueled.

Firebug!

With a script by Dan Abnett! He should have stuck to firebugs. Heart of Firebug... yeah, I'd have bought that.

You know, I forget that Sandstorm is a Triple-Changer due to his incredible dumbness. Had a good laugh at Broadside's line "...if Xaaron asks, you were certain you saw Galvatron there, okay?" Not all missions can be glorious.

"Understand this, Firebug... smoking is not permitted!" Oh, 80s, how I loved your one-liners. This was dumb. And fun. Will we ever get the likes of Scraplets, Firebugs, and the Mechanic again? Now that James has been drafted into writing one-off Spotlights, to accompany toys, will Spotlight: Next Toy feature a peculiar creature that once melted an ice world? Mmm... I don't know, I kind of like Firebug, but I wouldn't pay 3.99$ for it. I suppose we will see more and more cool stories of cool guys doing cool things, and less about creatures with Wolverine haircuts who get taken out by foamy white stuff.

[bumblemusprime]

Dry Run!

Well. James Roberts has learned from Simon's characterization of Cyclonus. Because this Cyclonus is pretty ******* stupid. "Why should we listen to someone who we will kill and succeed in twenty years?"

Also, silly Shockwave. They've already killed you. Killing these versions won't stop your death in the future. You need to kill Bombshell and Thundercracker and... other random Insecticon... or whoever... in order to stop Scourge and Cyclonus from killing you. Clear? Clear.

Megatron kills Nightstick with a nice sound effect. "Krikt!" Some of that sound... that's bones, y'all. Nebulan squishes in the hand like Charmin!

Nice close up of the sweat on Scourge and Cyclonus. I don't know how the sweat works, but I've always loved human features on the robots, ever since Andy gave us a close-up of Galvatron's teeth.

Tom Frame has some fun with the letters as Cyclonus whimpers, in lowercase, "Scourse, hel-help me..." Off with his head, and open the time rift!

This is a great, violent little story that sows the seed for Time Wars It feeds off the tension sown from years of time travel stories. With Galvatron. Cyclonus, Scourge and Death's Head traipsing about the timeline, one feels that a reckoning is due. I don't understand why Cyclonus can't die in the past--as I said, it seems like killing off a past self would be more effective--but I accept it for the sake of that dramatic tension.

[bumblemusprime]

Cold Comfort and Joy!

First World Problem: I am often very frustrated when I read the UK stories. They're great stories, and I'm glad I got the chance to read them, but I really wanted them when I was a kid! Case in point: this story starts with a nice reflective moment for Prime. It's a bit of a dramatic payoff from his time as a video game character, and a payoff that went missing in favor of "Big Broadcast" and "Monstercon From Mars."

The story is mostly cheese. Sandstorm and Broadside got drunk and fell on some buildings? THE [composite word including 'f*ck']? However, it's a nice moment for Prime, especially as he summons his ever-present religious guilt. "...and the sins of the Autobots!"

Note: HiQ has apparently never heard of snow on Nebulos? I guess this explains why their chief fashion was the V-neck unitard, accompanied by flared boots.

Eight-year-old Bumblemus is disappointed in this issue, but thirty-three year old Bumblemus likes having a moment for Prime to reassume his mantle and his deep guilt. You'll discover misplaced guilt, young Bumblemus. Plenty of it.

[bumblemusprime]

Altered Image!/All In The Minds! Both within the Time Wars trade.

A glance back through this thread reminds me: I am supposed to be taking this 22 pages at a time, and young Spencer has been traumatized by cyber-apes. So, without further ado, Alternate US Comic Issue Whatever:

Altered Image is a gem. Galvatron fights Megatron (or Straxatron, if I remember right), pulling his punches and winning through his own cold deliberation. This story was quite satisfying when I first read it, given that the only Galv/Megs fight in US continuity was the deranged sloppy drunken brawl of "Vicious Circle," in which neither character is at their best. In "Vicious Circle," Megatron is still connected to Ratchet and woozy; Galvatron's therapist says he needs to kill Megatron to get over his past. In "Altered Image," on the other hand, Galvatron is in control at all times, and his stroke for winning Megatron over is brilliant. "What would you have done?"

Sullivan's art is mind-blowingly good here. I can't believe you Brits lost Senior, then got this guy as a replacement, THEN got Senior back again in the US imports.

All In The Minds is a bit more mundane, though it's not so bad. The chase scene through the forest is pretty cool, as Highbrow nearly escapes through some quick flying, and is then caught in the gaze of Snapdragon. This has all sorts of interesting repercussions, though. If the Nebulan has final say in Headmaster activities, isn't that some kind of slavery? What if the Nebulan head wants... well, what it wants?

Additionally from this annual: No reprints yet of "Prime Bomb!" or "Peace." They appear to but due for a future IDW collection.

[Best First]

Firebug!

I have a strange nostalgia for this issue which has always stayed with me; it's a tiny tale of loss, fortune and tragedy.

Basically we moved house and, continuity of TF comics being high on my parent’s agenda, i missed this very issue. However, when i went to the (new) local news agent to set up my new standing order, what joy to behold that they had this in stock from the week before. What luck. However my luck turned with my stomach a night later and, as i vomited out of the side of my bed, what did my tummy expulsions land on? This very issue.

Easy come, easy go. Like my lunch that day.

[bumblemusprime]

There's a firebug... in your tummy.

[bumblemusprime]

Time Wars! Parts 1 & 2

Going 22 pages at a time! SUPAH SIZE ME

Time Wars has a special place in my heart. I don't know why, but when I first discovered and read the UK stories, either Andy's art, or something with the plot, or the circumstances of reading the issues made this my favorite of the UK arcs.

The beginning, with the glorious futuristic 2009 clothes (thanks, Obama!) is pure vintage Andy. There's some spark in his art here that is missing from ReGen. I can't say it. Edges are rounder, faces and features and movements are more idiosyncratic.

As we move on to Robin Smith, and the first appearance of Ravage since Skids sent him down dat ole mineshaft, the potential action piles up. This is all buildup, but it build up to a great big clusterf*ck. Giant Time Rip! (There's a crack in the wall, raggedy man.) Autobots must go back in time, Decepticons must follow them back in time, and now the 1988 Autobot leadership has disappeared! ****, it will, it will go down. 8-year-old Spence can't wait for next month. He passes the time by soaking mice in gasoline, lighting them on fire, and throwing them at passing cars.

[bumblemusprime]

Stellar trivia from the Wiki. Love this:

During the first issue when humans are fleeing from the Terrorcons on New Year's Day 2009, a dropped copy of Dragon's Claws can be seen. This prediction of the title's longevity was optimistic as the real Dragon's Claws comic folded a few months into 1989; however just a few months before the real New Year's Day 2009 a trade paperback of Dragon's Claws was published.

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Time_Wars

[Bumblebot]

the first appearance of Ratchet since Skids sent him down dat ole mineshaft

Ravage?

[bumblemusprime]

the first appearance of Ratchet since Skids sent him down dat ole mineshaft

Ravage?

Hahahaha, yeah.

[bumblemusprime]

Time Wars! Parts 3 & 4

Slugfest, with a break for commentary by Optimus Prime. Generally a good issue, highlighted by Galvatron's memory problems. "No! That's what we did last time--we go after them now--" Galvatron's little flashbacks make a nice crack in his personality. Galvy's degradation holds the issue together despite the over-explaining from Prime to the 4 groups of Autobots/Decepticons and the extended sequences of the Wreckers explaining why they teamed up with Carnivac, and Carny's many, many "Then I will destroy them!" mini-logues.

I see Time Wars return to the theme of fate that was strong in Target: 2006. This time it is addressed much more directly. Galvatron himself has screwed with the timeline, and since fat is inexorable, the stuff of the very universe is coming apart. Not that Galvy will listen, because "Nothing can stop me! Nothing!" Also, he has some wicked cleats on when he jumps down at the end of Part 3.

[Sunyavadin]

Best I can put together on the Cyclonus front was that by killing him it basically removed the potential for him to make a conscious decision to return to his own time. As a result you have a universe which is more likely than not to remain top heavy by a few octillion atoms, a problem which causes an exponential butterfly effect reaching to the end of the universe. Or somesuch.

[bumblemusprime]

Aaaaand Time Wars: THE EPIC DOUBLE-SIZED CONCLUSION!

I ate ice cream, cookies, and half a chocolate bar today. I'm feeling epic double-sized. Eight-year-old Spencer is jealous. He'll be jealous until he dies of diabetes at 55.

I also wrote this post already and lost it to the vagaries of the Internet. Or my own stupidity in turning off the Internet.

When I first read Time Wars, it was my favorite of the UK arcs, perhaps because of Lee's art on the epic conclusion, or perhaps because of the way things got wrapped up after years of a time-lost, mad Galvatron.

We start out with some killer stuff. A mad Shockwave who has strung up the corpse of Cyclonus, driven mad by the knowledge of his own death. I like to think that this Shockers really informed the story of Shadowplay. Simon has always written Shockwave as a 'bot of great schemes, whose schemes show an underlying passion that can burn worlds. Senator Shockwave fits right in, with his goals to create a greater Transformer race through careful manipulation of future leaders.

I can imagine that for such a schemer, the knowledge of his death twenty years hence would be crushing. Twenty years when you have had millennia to prepare for the fulfillment of your plans? When you should have millennia more, give or take a few oil changes?

The full action of the story goes down from there, though. We have a potentially awesome slugfest, starting with Fort Max's attack on Rodimus, but we spend time educating the four divisions of Autobot and Decepticon, only to have the future Decepticons completely [composite word including 'f*ck'] off. We start Part 2 with an amazing shot of Galvatron taking down all the Wreckers, but neither Springer nor Ultra Magnus makes a difference in the end. In fact, Magnus seems to have lost his mojo in the last twenty years. "I... I didn't mean to..." Who is this guy? What happened in those twenty years? Maybe we'll say that his death in the movie unhinged him as well. Perhaps Time Wars is a metaphor for mental illness.

Good thing we can take comfort in ReGen One's last issue.

I do love Galvatron's false memories, best exemplified by the awesome fake-out at the beginning of Part 3. He's seen this through Megatron's eyes (possibly proving that this Megatron is Straxatron) and he's confident of his victory. I wonder how clear this all is to him. Given the events of Vicious Circle, Galvatron's memory of being Megatron is hardly clear. I like to imagine that the memories here are a red herring he creates for himself, coming more sharply and representing more self-delusion as Galvy pictures himself winning.

In the end, though, despite the desire for one more knock-down drag-out, the weather wins the battle for Optimus Prime. It's a very direct return to Simon's theme of fate and consequence in Target: 2006. And I think that the problem here is thus: it's too direct. Fate itself comes along and punishes Galvatron directly. We've had these fantastic meditations on fate between Shocker's madness and Galvatron's false memories, and the ending could be stronger. Fate itself could turn out to be a greater trick. Time Wars could say more than it does.

All things considered, it's nice to have one huge battle to send us off into the wasteland of 5-page stories that is coming. And damn, Lee's art. I can't believe you lucky folks lost Geoff and got this guy.