Regeneration #3 Review (SPOILERS)

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 2:25 am

If you told me I would be seeing G.B. Blackrock in an official TF comic over 25 years later, I would have laughed in your face. If you hadn't told me this, chances are I would still laugh in your face, as I enjoy laughing in peoples faces.

But this series continues to surprise me. When it was announced, I was excited, yet already cringing expecting it to underwhelm. I'm glad I was wrong. Three issues in, and I'm into it, I'm into the story and anticipating what happens next.

We get a little back story into what happened to the Ark and to Spike. It feels like a natural progression of the Marvel continuity.

One thing I wasn't clear about was that last panel. Was that Thunderwing? It wasn't clear. I thought we already saw the sillohuette of Thunderwing but fully constructed. If it was supposed to be Thunderwing, kinda lame to end with that OMG! kind of cliffhanger when he has already been revealed.

Give it a B+. Still really enjoying this. G.B!

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:23 am

I think this was my fave issues of Regeneration so far. Good pace and everything is starting to slot together again now.

My only moan was the lack of details regarding Fort Max dying. It was just 'he died'. Maybe this will follow but it felt pretty final as far as explanations go.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:09 am

After the Preview I was expecting a really bad issue, those first few pages are fairly terrible. Mainly thanks to "Circuit Smasher". A deeply stupid looking character,badly written (is he barely a husk of a man just relying on instinct or the sort of person who gives lengthy flowery speeches using phrases like "Flotsam and jetsam"?).

Throughout the issue you've got him giving exposition that's supposed to be tragic and horrifying, but is constantly undercut whenever we cut back to his silly face. No one actually liked Circuit Breaker, no one wanted a bonkers homage.

Frankly, this portrayal of Spike would make even Mike Costa go "Whoa, that's a silly way to write Spike".

The rest of the issue though is better. Prime is written like a bad Furman parody (the idea he thinks no one has noticed Marvel Optimus is a thoughtful, introspective and often self doubting character even before it was turned up to 11 is like something out of a wacky sitcom), Blackrock is trying to give Spike a run for his money in the silly outfit stakes and Hot Rod seems to have a permanent expression of wondering if he left the gas on.

But... I liked the straight up acknowledgement that Megatron shouldn't have been able to do half the stuff he has done- plot foreshadowing instead of random stuff being pulled out of the arse.

And the couple of pages with Bludgeon were great, almost out of a totally different comic (well, they were, G2). And showed Wildman's best art on the book to date, whatever general apathy he may or may not have towards drawing giant robots it's clear old skull head still has a close place to his heart. I even like Stranglehold's post diet look.

And whilst I wasn't especially keen on the ripping off the "Come and get Jazz" Target: 2006 cliffhanger I did appreciate the Wreckers being smart and going "Well, it's a trap, we'll turn that to our advantage".

Other random thoughts/niggles:

I think Spike's would have worked better if his viewpoint had been switched with the other human survivors. As they'd never met any Autobots before and only know the robots as the destroyers of their world they should have been the ones baying for blood whilst he should have been the one going "No, these are like what I used to be, they're are only hope".

Especially considering his responsibility would be just as great as the Autobots as he seems to have given up guarding the Ark after a very short time (coming right after his "I am Fortress Maximus and I will defend this planet!" epiphany in his last appearance. Mind, he kept having those and forgetting about them so I suppose that's consistent if nothing else).

Equally, I don't buy the Wreckers being so reasonable and chatty when attacked (especially after poor old Rack'N'Ruin fell). More and more I think the book would be better if Kup had just been in charge of a group of Steelhaven survivors- if nothing else it would have avoided all the "Is it UK continuity or not eh?" confusion.

We keep getting told how amazing and important Hot Rod is without him actually having done anything of special note (either in the original US series or to date here). A bad case of relying on other media to inform the characters.

Speaking of which: Thunderwing. Bleugh. Makes no sense in context of the Marvel series, where no one had any interest in him or what happened to him after either of his deaths.

The Robot Buster suits would have been a nice background touch, but there's the worrying implication they're going to be a major part of Springer's plan. As well as Mecha never working very well in Transformers (hi Mike Costa!) it makes the human survivors look really stupid if they've had these suits hanging on the wall for twenty years and never thought to use them.

All in all, this has been a very strange book to date. Hard to out and out hate, but full of very strange creative decisions that seem to be working against what the book is trying to be. There's some potential here that could be turned around into something good, but it could just as easily go into a full on train wreck.

Either would be preferable to another 17 issues of "Hmmmm... meh it's OK I suppose". At least if it goes off the edge, it'll be comedy gold.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 1:06 pm

It's hard to read you posts with anything other than the impression that you actively look to not enjoy these comics.

It's also a bit annoying when you make statements on behalf of the entire world "no one cared", "no one wanted this" - i can tell you catagorically that you are incorrect in terms of your assertions - given the resurrectional abilities of the Last Autobo i have always ben curious about the fate of those who died on Cybertron rather than Klo and Circuit Smasher feels like a reasonably logical conclusion of a GB Blackrock (yay) and Spike alliance.

Best issue so far for me, especially enjoyed Prime who i thought was very in Marvel character, felt like a really meaty issue, lot of information, lot of moving parts. Good stuff.

I do agree that it's a bit hard to tell who that is supposed to be at the end but TW was my conclusion.

On Max... given what happened to Hi Q - is he really dead?

But yeah if he is - damp squib, especially given his last appearance was so hardcore.

Post by **snarl** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 1:47 pm

I also thought this issue was good, but then I'm really enjoying the series anyway.

ID, you're not one of those Spurs fans that goes down the lane purely to tell everybody how much of a **** Defoe, Jenas AVB and Levy are are you, and then to boo and tell everybody to [composite word including 'f*ck'] off when they turn round and call you a ****?

You sound like you might enjoy it if you're not.

Post by **snarl** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 2:18 pm

I'm assuming there will be some sort of Fort Max flash back.

Also, I imagine a resurrection via heads on nebulos.

Love the pacing, lots of plot strands all moving along nicely.

Think it's pretty obvious that last panel was T-Wing. It was clear - for me.

The "silhouette" in the first issue I thought we decided was actually a thunderwing shaped indent into a wall... presumably Bludgeon is going to stick him in it and bring him back to life on some convoluted manner and ID will say something like "it was so stupid I wish I had AIDS" or something.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 3:11 pm

I rather liked this one. The Op/Megs big fight is alluded to three issues in. That's a significant improvement over Infiltration, where we had to wait until the third limited series to get the epic battle.

I think Kup and the Scraplets was easily my fave. Didn't make the connection to T: 2006, either, which might be related to the fact that I first read that story at the age of 22.

ID has good points, but as with all Furman's stories except Furmanation, I am just charmed by the old skoolyness of it all. It's got flaws, but nothing that ruins the story for me. Also, I rather appreciated the labored explanation of what happened to Circuit Breaker, even her semi-cameo.

Only thing that was a bit disconcerting to this longtime fan: Bludgeon's master plan is to revive Thunderwing? It seems to me I've heard that before...

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:02 pm

I thought this was really good and am looking forward to learning more in the next issue- always a good sign

Frankly I really liked Prime's overpompous, rambling philosophy lesson. It made me smile.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:10 pm

Best First wrote:It's hard to read you posts with anything other than the impression that you actively look to not enjoy these comics.

If that was the case wouldn't the whole issue have wound up following up on the lack of promise in the preview?

It's also a bit annoying when you make statements on behalf of the entire world "no one cared", "no one wanted this" - i can tell you catagorically that you are incorrect in terms of your assertions - given the resurrectional abilities of the Last Autobo i have always ben curious about the fate of those who died on Cybertron rather than Klo and Circuit Smasher feels like a reasonably logical conclusion of a GB Blackrock (yay) and Spike alliance.

Unless I've missed something when just rereading my post, the only place I make any such assertion is with the character of Circuit Breaker. And as far as I'm aware, one of the few things virtually all of fandom does agree on is Circuit Breaker was a bit ****. If there was some sort of sizeable group of CB fans who were desperately hoping for a proxy to dodge the copyright issues then they've been very quiet on the subject up till now.

And how does GB doing this again feel like a logical progression for him? "Hey, this worked out really, really badly for the last person this happened to... lets do it again!".

But yeah if he is - damp squib, especially given his last appearance was so hardcore.

The problem I have with Marvel Fort Max is his last three appearances (including G2)are exactly the same. "I don't wanna be Fort Max!!!! No, wait, this is actually my destiny which I fully accept" *Forgets by the next time he shows up*. At least this a new take on him (well, the Adventures of He-Man look is anyway. The "Spike is really, really pissed at the Autobots" thing is akin to the first Dreamwave mini).

ID, you're not one of those Spurs fans that goes down the lane purely to tell everybody how much of a **** Defoe, Jenas AVB and Levy are are you, and then to boo and tell everybody to **** off when they turn round and call you a ****?

You sound like you might enjoy it if you're not.

I've no idea about football so I'll just have to take your word for it. Is there a type of fan who is so defensive of the team they respond to any attempt at well reasoned criticism with lazy strawman insults because they can't think of any actual way to refute the points raised? Because if summing up with "It's OKish but very flawed" is your idea of calling everyone involved in this comic a "****" your being far to sensitive on their behalf.

And where am I doing the equivalent of calling people who disagree with on this comic (without resorting to insults first) a **** for doing so? I have no problem with the idea of different strokes for different folks and just about everyone is arguing their points well apart from you with your hilarious AIDS jokes.

Post by **snarl** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:26 pm

Hahahaha!

Btw, when you said the art was abysmal without giving any reasons, was that you giving well reasoned criticism?

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:39 pm

snarl wrote:Hahahaha!

Btw, when you said the art was abysmal without giving any reasons, was that you giving well reasoned criticism?

IIRC Didn't I point out the problems I had with Megatron's chest as a specific example of what I didn't like about it? Or in other words, I rationalised that comment more than I did in my first post in this thread when I said I really liked his Bludgeon here.

Indeed, despite two bad design choices in Blackrock and GB (where did he get a super futuristic wheelchair in a post apocalyptic landscape?) Wildman generally seemed a bit more on form here. The colouring still isn't helping but, for whatever reason- issue 2 seems have have been a blip rather than a sign of steady decline.

According to the Wiki the base is adorned with the live action film GI Joe logo, so presumably they're the group behind it rather than RAAT as I first thought. Now you know ect...

Post by **snarl** » Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:47 pm

Oh, in all the excitement I forgot to mention that megsy doing all that clever stuff... You'd assume that was something to do with shockers. and if that is the case, it has me wondering is he complicit or is he just a ******* head on a stalk or something...

Post by **Best First** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:42 pm

inflatable dalek wrote: Unless I've missed something when just rereading my post,

You have. You do it twice.

the only place I make any such assertion is with the character of Circuit Breaker. And as far as I'm aware, one of the few things virtually all of fandom does agree on is Circuit Breaker was a bit ****. If there was some sort of sizeable group of CB fans who were desperately hoping for a proxy to dodge the copyright issues then they've been very quiet on the subject up till now.

Don't care. Stop speaking on behalf of everyone - it's grating, as is then ACTUALLY trying to justify speaking on behalf of everyone. Jeez. Stop it.

And how does GB doing this again feel like a logical progression for him? "Hey, this worked out really, really badly for the last person this happened to... lets do it again!".

The reason it went badly previously was due to Josie Beller's mental state. Your argument is like saying you should ban CPR because the last person that got resuscitated turned out to be a rapist.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 5:10 pm

Best First wrote:
inflatable dalek wrote: Unless I've missed something when just rereading my post,
You have. You do it twice.

You'll have to point out the non-Curcuit Breaker related one then as I'm missing it completely.

Don't care. Stop speaking on behalf of everyone - it's grating, as is then ACTUALLY trying to justify speaking on behalf of everyone.

This is more than a bit OTT, the only possible way you could seriously be thinking I'm genuinely trying to speak on behalf of everyone would be if you're assuming I'm being completely 100% literal. Does that seem very likely to you?

Or is everyone in this thread being completely literal and It's just gone whoosh over my head? In that case shouldn't I take Snarl using his tortuous football analogy to effectively call me a **** more personally?

Jeez. Stop it.

Is someone forcing you to read what I write against your will? If you really do have some deep rooted problem with my writing style just ignore me. But, unless there's been something I've written here that has actively broken the rules of this forum please don't dictate what turns of phrase I can and can not use.

I must admit to being somewhat baffled by what feels like a very defensive attitude towards this comic from yourself and Snarl. Again, my overall reaction was it's decidedly average. More niggles than out and out great bits but both are swamped by- what is to me and entirely in my opinion- a lot of OKishness.

Now, in general terms I've been much harsher on the last two issues of RID. And- relative to the previous issues of the series- More Than Meets the Eye has had a bit of a kicking the last two months. I'm sure there's a lot of generalisations in many of my posts in other threads that if taken literally could be seen as completely untrue. But no one seems to be rushing forward there to suggest ulterior motives, a secret hatred of Barber or to pick apart every bit of off hand phraseology. Or even to suggest I'm a ****. All despite the posting style being exactly the same. If one is deeply flawed/stupid then it all is.

So what is it about this comic that seems to be turning this into a monthly thing? People disagree with me and want to debate it- great. People think my points aren't worth considering at all, fair enough (and indeed, just ignoring them would kill them more effectively than ranting at them, that's the true democracy of a forum, stuff of no interest just gets passed over).

But don't assume there's some agenda here, or that Furman and Wildman need some sort of special defence. There isn't and they don't. Or at the very least be consistent and go over to the RID thread and lay into what I've written there equally (after all, I admit there to have totally misunderstood a plot point on first reading, that's a gift for anyone wanting to argue I don't really understand the book).

Because this has got to be getting dull for everyone surely?

Apologies for the rant, but the oddities of this have surprisingly gotten to me (which I fully admit is a very silly thing, the puzzlement even act as the lead in to this weeks blog), as generally I regard this forum as a much cooler place than that. And apologies to the others in this thread who, despite all enjoying the book don't seem to have any particular issue with me not liking it (or at least don't care), assuming your eyes haven't glazed over by this point.

And again, just to be clear (or entirely literal if you will), not for disagreeing with me, just for the specific attitude this specific title seems to be bringing out in some people.

Anyways:

My monies on Jhiaxus as being behind Megatron's new skills. With Magnus and (seemingly) Thunderwing being written in the IDW style the mad scientist with a zombie-ish associtation would fit the MO of what Megatron's been doing perfectly. Shockwave I'd rule out as it would seem to be beyond the capabilities he showed in the Marvel stuff.

Post by **snarl** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 6:14 pm

To me, I got from reading your initial post the implication that you believe nobody cared about Thunderwing in the Marvel run, and you aren't keen on seeing him return.

I could be reading it wrong.

and tbf you did justify the art being abysmal by saying that you didn't like the way Wildman drew Megatron's tits in a few panels - I forgot that.

Post by **snarl** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 6:21 pm

I wasn't calling you a **** earlier btw.

I was drawing a parallel to other people I have experience of who indulge in the odd act of paying money to moan about stuff when they could simply [composite word including 'f*ck'] the thing they're paying money to moan about off, and do something they enjoy instead...

It's food for thought.

Unless... they actually like the moaning, the rows and drama etc - hows about that then!

(I think everyone secretly loves an argument)

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 7:57 pm

(No we don't, ****er.)

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:16 pm

snarl wrote:I wasn't calling you a **** earlier btw.

Then I apologise. In retrospect, even in the few hours since my last post (and indeed the aforementioned blog, which I'm cringing a bit at now even if the intent was it just reflects what I'm feeling as I write it) I think a lot of wires have gotten crossed here and I'm just as much to blame as anyone I was ranting at earlier, for continuing the "argument" needlessly. Which I'm doing now as well, so I'll reply to the following quote and leave it be.

I was drawing a parallel to other people I have experience of who indulge in the odd act of paying money to moan about stuff when they could simply **** the thing they're paying money to moan about off, and do something they enjoy instead...

It's food for thought.

And just to clarify my personal position in terms of paying for something it may seem I'm not enjoying- If I were buying the physical comic I'd probably be a lot more annoyed with it. Because- at least if I were getting it the same way as I'm getting MTMTE and RID- the postage and the cover price would come close to £4 an issue. And this wouldn't feel good enough to justify that price (for me). Frankly after the Free Comic Book Day preview I probably wouldn't have bothered with the series at all (which, in fairness, might have been better all round).

But, on my phone, it's about half the price. That comes into cheap, disposable income range for me. An average-ish comic... that's cheap enough to follow until it becomes clear which side of out and out good or bad it's going to fall on. And I do, genuinely hope it winds up a good comic.

As said, a full on bad comic might be more entertaining that the first three issues, but being able to go "Hey, I was wrong at the start, this is actually paying off properly now!" by the midpoint would be the ideal result.

I think issue 84 stands a good chance of being the make or break one in terms of seeing if Reg1 turns the tide for me or not. Because there's one, very obvious way in which it could fail.

All the PR and covers we've seen already have made it very clear 85 is the big important issue, with the big epic fight between Prime and Megs. So it would be very easy for 84 to just be treading water until that happens. 22 pages of the Wreckers trying something that fails utterly in the face of Megatron before a cliffhanger of Prime facing off opposite him with "One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall" style proclamations.

For 84 to work in a satisfying way... I want to come away from it feeling whatever the Wreckers do during it matters in terms of advancing the overall story beyond an action scene. That whatever we see the other characters and plots achieve is more than just going "Well come on, BIG FIGHT NEXT ISSUE". It manages that, it'll get full props from me.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 3:26 pm

Well, I just got around to getting this issue. Sorry I missed the fight: unlike bumble, I DO like it when we fight. Gets the blood going, builds character. Usually however, we fight over silly things like the nature of man, gender roles, or JPGs of the Twin Towers. Not a lot of fights in the deadly serious world of comic book criticism, although Truck not Monkey still haunts us all.....

I thought this comic was cool.

Circuit Smasher is needed. To ID's points regarding this: Once you've made a story decision to bring back Megatron (Not a bad idea at all, but what about Galvatron? Wasn't he on the Ark too? And I take it the Wreckers and Spike are in the dark about Ratchatron, which explains why Megs and the Ark are cuddle buddies?), then there's a logical progression. "Megatron would take over the Earth. What would happen to Fort Max? He would die. What about Spike? Well, what if he was saved? That way we'd have a POV character to talk to when the Autobots get there. How was he saved? Hey, what about GB Blackrock? He'd have the familiarity with Autobots to deal with that AND he made Circuit Breaker." This is not the Neo-Knights or Vanity what's-her-name. This is an interpretation of where the Spike character logically might have gone and services the story by having a POV character with enough memory of the Marvel conflicts/power to not run away and hide from Autobots. Although the wheelchair was a bit too Professor X for me.

Again to ID: Fort Max, from "You Shall Not Pass into the Ark!!!" to "Eh, I tried to get up there on vacation, but it got kind of annoying" is certainly wishy-washy, but that's Fort Max. When has he NOT been wishy-washy? He's been that way since he started using fleshlings for heads, I'll tell you that much.

But yeah, Fort Max is wishy washy, Megatron has gone crazy from dying so many times, and Optimus Prime is a verbose, emo self-doubter. Just like Marvel continuity should be.

As I was saying earlier, I think a large amount of Megatron's ability will be explained through his psychic mashup with Ratchet. Jhaxius I wouldn't really understand. The only thing that's a bit odd is the random reanimations. And almost nothing will surprise me on that: Liege Maximo, a "Last Decepticon" who is the truly Ultimate Warrior predicted by metallilkato, etc.

Also, really perceptive thoughts about Fort Max re: Hi Q BF, that would be awesome.

In fact, the only things that I really didn't like was the whole Bludgeon thing. If Bludgeon and co are still just running around killing things from their ship, seems like Grimlock's "We Won!" from #80 is only slightly better than Dubya Bush's "Mission Accomplished!" banner. I'm not saying their heads need to be on a spit before the gates of Cybertron, I'm just saying apparently allowing them to get on ship and go on pillaging the galaxy isn't an end to the battle: I can tell why Optimus was so down on himself for pretending it was so.

RE: Overall Response to ID

When I saw how the thread went down, I had two things in mind:

1. ID, we're (we being ALL OF US, EVERY SINGLE ONE...just kidding BF!) coming at this comic book with only the guise of objectivity. Yes, we can be critical, but this comic isn't held to the same kind of standard as say, Avengers #138 or something. This comic was ace for us as kids, and this comic, these characterizations, this writer, that pompous Optimus dialogue, THIS IS THE STUFF of why we are sitting here talking about toy fiction whilst managing kids, children, and careers. As bumble said, we're easily charmed by the old skooliness of it.

To me, what you're trying to do akin to complaining about Sam Wise being too one dimensional and worried about Frodo in the middle of Return of the King or pointing out plot holes in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You could be 100% correct. But to think that plot leaps of faith, in your opinion poor characterization, or "boringness" is going to meet people who have waited decades to see/read the end of the stories of their childhood with anything other than deaf ears is silly. (and this is why this is received differently from your RiD/MTMTE opinions)

I mean, I imagine you've already got a fiction that you give wide latitude for in terms of plot holes, clunky dialogue, and all around cheesiness: It's called Doctor Who. Just move your Doctor Who fan eye over to Transformers.

2. So just for the record ID, exactly what comics do you like? Fill in the Blank: "For me, my favorite era of TF comics was __________" That was one of the questions I had. Because if you don't like Marvel Furman or Furmination, and you don't like Costa...what does that leave us with? Marvel Bob? Dreamwave? Where/when are the TF comics that got it right, in your opinion?

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 3:42 pm

Shanti, you are required to post here more often. Report tomorrow morning at [composite word including 'f*ck'] o'clock, and give me twenty pushups and a vigorous dissection of cultural preference as artistic critique.

Your last question is funny, because I would say "now." Furmanation was really good, and probably would be my favorite era as seen through adult eyes, but the last eight months of comics have just pushed the TFs so much farther, in so many different directions, while remaining fun and explodey (although RiD is still wavering). In that sense, the overall gist of the last eight months has been everything I wanted from Furmanation, but with the one missing piece Furman couldn't provide: strange twists on the concepts of the TFs.

But G2 is still my favorite, just cuz

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:35 pm

EDITED TO ADD AT THE START: That Senior art. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Oh Mr. G2 editor, why didn't you have him do the whole thing? Even if he didn't want to (I get the impression what he did do on that book was more a favour to Furman than out of any burning desire to do it); you should have just kidnapped his family or something.

Shanti418 wrote: Circuit Smasher is needed. To ID's points regarding this: Once you've made a story decision to bring back Megatron (Not a bad idea at all, but what about Galvatron? Wasn't he on the Ark too? And I take it the Wreckers and Spike are in the dark about Ratchatron, which explains why Megs and the Ark are cuddle buddies?), then there's a logical progression. "Megatron would take over the Earth. What would happen to Fort Max? He would die. What about Spike? Well, what if he was saved? That way we'd have a POV character to talk to when the Autobots get there. How was he saved? Hey, what about GB Blackrock? He'd have the familiarity with Autobots to deal with that AND he made Circuit Breaker." This is not the Neo-Knights or Vanity what's-her-name. This is an interpretation of where the Spike character logically might have gone and services the story by having a POV character with enough memory of the Marvel conflicts/power to not run away and hide from Autobots. Although the wheelchair was a bit too Professor X for me.

See, I'd agree Spike is needed (true, both Furman and Bob seemed to have run out of things for him to do long before the comic ended, but he was always going to be an intregal part of dealing with how Megatron came back)- But this whole Circuit Smasher thing is just... silly. I can't see any reason for him not to just be himself.

It just seems really odd Furman seems determined to have Circuit Breaker involved in the book in some form when Edge of Extinction provided a nice ironic endpoint for the character and there was no clamour for her return.

Smasher also seems at odds with the stated intent of the book. Furman doesn't want to be retro and was dismissive of G2 for being "Too 90's". He wants something accesible for modern comic book readers. OK, but how does that square with this intentional Rob Liefield homage in Wildman's Smasher design?

As I was saying earlier, I think a large amount of Megatron's ability will be explained through his psychic mashup with Ratchet. Jhaxius I wouldn't really understand. The only thing that's a bit odd is the random reanimations. And almost nothing will surprise me on that: Liege Maximo, a "Last Decepticon" who is the truly Ultimate Warrior predicted by metallilkato, etc.

Not a bad theory on Ratchet actually.

In fact, the only things that I really didn't like was the whole Bludgeon thing. If Bludgeon and co are still just running around killing things from their ship, seems like Grimlock's "We Won!" from #80 is only slightly better than Dubya Bush's "Mission Accomplished!" banner.

Bludgeon I don't mind so much, but the whole Thunderwing thing is something I find worrying. Thunderwing got a perfectly good end in the Marvel series, it seems really pointless to be bringing him back in a Stormbringer runabout. Especially as, again, the stated intent of the series is to definitively end the Marvel Universe rather than kickstart a new longrunning series.

Though it mainly worries me because if we're getting Thunderwing the odds of those legs last isse being a double bluff as I'd hopped feel like they're shrinking and he's really going to do Scorponok as well. Which will be a full face palm moment.

Another good point on the lack of follow up on Bludgeon (which is one thing G2 did do, Grimlock just wound up stumbling on the Cybertronian Empire instead and got distracted by bigger fish).

Maybe setting it closer to the end of the Marvel run would have helped? There's already an alternate past for Earth going on so having all this happen in 1995 wouldn't affect the overall story and would deal with things like Prime being depressed over his death for that long (and the Autobots letting him stay leader when he's apparently not doing any leading).

I mean, I imagine you've already got a fiction that you give wide latitude for in terms of plot holes, clunky dialogue, and all around cheesiness: It's called Doctor Who. Just move your Doctor Who fan eye over to Transformers.

Ask for my opinions of the Pertwee years if you want to see how much latitude Who gets

2. So just for the record ID, exactly what comics do you like? Fill in the Blank: "For me, my favorite era of TF comics was __________" That was one of the questions I had. Because if you don't like Marvel Furman or Furmination, and you don't like Costa...what does that leave us with? Marvel Bob? Dreamwave? Where/when are the TF comics that got it right, in your opinion?

Likes (as if genuinely great stuff with no provisos):

Large chunks of the Marvel run (not perfect by any means, but large chunks of greatness in there);
Most of Beast Wars and a respect for Beast Machines even if I don't think it quite works;
Escalation (easily the best thing Furman has done in the modern era and for six issues it feels like the whole IDW thing is going to work);
Wreckers;
More Than Meets the Eye (with RID being generally solid despite a couple of very weak issues the last two months);
Eugenesis (some rough edges but enough good stuff to outstrip most official fiction);
What I've seen of Prime (the pilot is fantastic and the three or four episodes I've seen after that are very solid).

Big Dumb Fun I Enjoy Despite the Flaws:

The original cartoon (I used to be very down on that, but in the last few years I've given up on the whole "Things from my childhood are pretty damn childish when revisited as an adult" cynicsm. It's a daft show for small children made by people who didn't care. As such it's amazing it's that harmless and fun when drunk);
All four films;
Most of the sillier Marvel stuff;
A lot of the IDW and Dreamwave stuff (Like Spotlight Shockwave or most of the Armada comic);
Battle Beneath the Ice (Ravage Vs an army of Patrick Stewart robots!)
Megan Fox's bottom.

I'm sure I've missed things off both lists and if asked next week I'd give slightly different answers (because these things always depend on our moods at the time) but that's the gist of it.

The Last Autobot · Post by **The Last Autobot** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 6:59 am

My two cents:

I love almost everything that has happened so far (with the exception of my fast and almost instant forgotten death).

First of all this is the Megatron we were promised way back issue 1. In all G1 US continuity Megatron has been a joke, a parody of the supposed leader of the Decepticons. One could say that the Megatron that started and almost secured victory for his faction couldn´t impossibly be the one that we had in the whole US run. NO WAY! But now we have him as he should. Although he is a crazy mofo, he just obliterated Earth like it was crap (tough luck for us). But it was the logical thing for someone with his power and potential. This reminds me of the time in the first Tfs mini when the military fired with all they got, and it was like a minor nuisance to him. That´s how a being built for war and doing that for countless millenia should act (and Im seeing you Movieverse Megatron!!! You are a shame!).

I know at the end there will be an explanation that he didn´t do it all by himself, but the point is that either way he almost erradicated all humankind. No talks of doing something. He simply did.

Spike being a bizarre cross of Circuitbreaker and an Xman is a good way of giving him powers and a 20/30 year old appearance without being a transformer partner.

I find a little ironic that Kup was training and defeating the big cons like it was simple, and at the end being defeated by a zombie Skywarp. But is like a paralel when in Operation Volcano the wreckers were training to destroy the decepticon elite warriors and at the end it didn´t end that way (with Impactor dying and all). Reality is a lot of times harder than what we expect to.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 6:33 pm

Yeah, Megatron is one of the highlights. Whilst I'm all in favour of shades of grey I do think recently things have swung a bit too far in the direction of making the Autobots seem as bad as the Decepticons (especially in Autocracy with completed a hat trick of every pre-Optimus Prime we've met in IDW being at best a dick or at worst a loon). So having an unashamedly complete and utter bastard Megatron is actually refreshing.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:46 pm

inflatable dalek wrote:Yeah, Megatron is one of the highlights. Whilst I'm all in favour of shades of grey I do think recently things have swung a bit too far in the direction of making the Autobots seem as bad as the Decepticons (especially in Autocracy with completed a hat trick of every pre-Optimus Prime we've met in IDW being at best a dick or at worst a loon). So having an unashamedly complete and utter bastard Megatron is actually refreshing.

And that's really where they left him at. Megatron was your standard villan until Optimus's death drove him a bit crazy and he blew himself up with the Space Bridge. Then he came back and was a bit more crazy and made the Classic Pretenders. Then he came back as Ratchatron and we didn't really see him again until Grimlock pumps the Nucleon into the Ark. Then in #78 (or is that #79? The one with Galvatron vs. Megatron), that's where we get the clearest picture of Simon's view that Megatron is the batshit crazy one and Galvatron is the cunning, calculating one. That's why I hope Galvy gets worked back into the picture.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:09 am

So are Rack 'n' Ruin dead?

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:18 am

Though I didn't spot them till the underbase podcast pointed it out they are walking alongside the other Wreckers in at least one panel as Spike takes them to the base. I don't think we see them again after though.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 3:43 pm

Ah yeah, I see him now.

On a related note, this guy on the Underbase sounds like me.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Wed Sep 19, 2012 7:52 pm

And by an a amazing coincidence, I sound exactly like the American woman.

I do like that podcast though, considering they've close ties with IDW and they're always (rightly, there's no point doing a two hour show every week if you're not enjoying it) generally positive about the comics it would be very easy for it to seem like a bunch of sycophantic brown-nosers, but it never does. Always smart and well thought out and will usually point out things I hadn't noticed.

Only flaw is they could probably do with scoring issues in relation to their series as a whole, I think they gave five issue of MTMTE in a row five out of five with each being better than the last, which just made me think "You're going to need a bigger scale".