MTMTE #13

[Shanti418]

Most things have been said already, so let me just G U S H for a second in the Hound/BF vein on the point Yaya had at the end of his post:

This comic is the bestest ever. I mean, we are (mostly) all here because we loved Furman TF. Yes, it was idealized because it was the past, because we were kids, and because there was little to no other TF going on as we got into the later years. Since DW, I read TF because I WANT a comic to touch me like that, to capture my imagination like that. We have all suffered through plenty of bad TF comics that we buy and read if only because reading a comic about Transformers is a connection to a place of nostalgia and pleasure.

So when you read comics about 20th century toy/child intellectual properties, you go into it with the idea that "Objectively, this is probably not attracting the talent of a non-toy comic book and subjectively, this will never actually replicate the feeling I had when I was the only kid I knew reading Transformers #75 and Scorponok's last words made me cry."

But it does....IT DOES!!! I feel like a kid again reading these things. It's such indescribable joy, but let me try: it's like falling in love for the first time again. It's recapturing something you thought was lost forever. It's wanting to send James Roberts a Christmas gift*** for all the happiness he's brought me. It's welling up when Tailgate breaks down and cracking up on Whirl's deadpan remarks on the couch next to your wife while she watches TV and feeling once more like I have this really, really, really strong telescope that sees out into space and lets me in on the world aboard the Lost Light. It's feeling like these 'bots really ARE out there somewhere, and Roberts is just a reporter.

This comic can be funny, it can be serious, it can have high stakes, it can have low stakes, and throughout Roberts has such a thorough handle on his character's voices that it always succeeds wildly. It seems WAY more likely that "TFs on a tourist planet/TFs with holo-avatars/TFs getting drunk" could go off the rails.

I'm just speechless that someone has made me feel this way about TF comics again. It's like, the bestest ever.

To engage just a couple of the points:

Worfclonus: It's not like Worf invented the archetype. And Worf likely would not have appreciated such a "dishonorable" move as lying about your actions during a time of war. I'm WAAAY into playing Skyrim these days, so I see Cyclonus as just this ancient figure from a bygone age who invests his self in the ancient ways/culture because that's what distinguishes him.

The 11th Skids: What exactly did that say to you, bumble? To me, I imagined the writers going "OK, so we don't know much about Skids, and we don't really want to reveal anything here, so who is someone defined by their mystery?," but not much past that.

Tailwhaaa?: I'm buying what MV's selling.

In sum, I am eternally grateful to everyone who allows this comic to be made. I feel like a kid who is part of a secret club every time I open the pages and it may be that Roberts > Furman when all is said and done.

*** - You know, we used to have a Secret Santa around here. Now we could always do that, but honestly, let's pool our money and send Roberts something nice. Something that lets him know that we appreciate the f*** out of him and the respect/love he has for this universe. Let he who is not a writer/poet/lover of Vincent and the Doctor cast the first stone upon the house of "letting artists know they are touching and moving people"

Gush over.

[snarl]

Re-reading, I've got a feeling Tailgate is gonna die.

[Best First]

*** - You know, we used to have a Secret Santa around here. Now we could always do that, but honestly, let's pool our money and send Roberts something nice. Something that lets him know that we appreciate the f*** out of him and the respect/love he has for this universe. Let he who is not a writer/poet/lover of Vincent and the Doctor cast the first stone upon the house of "letting artists know they are touching and moving people"

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[Yaya]

This comic is the bestest ever. I mean, we are (mostly) all here because we loved Furman TF. Yes, it was idealized because it was the past, because we were kids, and because there was little to no other TF going on as we got into the later years. Since DW, I read TF because I WANT a comic to touch me like that, to capture my imagination like that. We have all suffered through plenty of bad TF comics that we buy and read if only because reading a comic about Transformers is a connection to a place of nostalgia and pleasure.

So we all know this comic is better quality-wise than anything in TF we've ever read.

But in terms of pure pleasure, which would others say is better? Enjoying Roberts' MTMTE as a grown adult or enjoying Furman (in my case Budiansky) as a pre-teen wet-behind-the-ears child with a virgin imagination?

I'm still going to have to go with early Budiansky. Back then, it was my world, it was like greatest thing ever. I didn't read the comic. I read it and dreamed about it. I bought the toys because of it. I pretended I was Prime throwing Shockwave into that murky pond after getting his head back on straight. As a grown adult, having experienced so much up to this point in entertainment, MTMTE is like a fantastic moment in the day that, while lovely while reading it, doesn't linger.

Again, not saying Budiansky wrote a better comic. No way. None have ever topped what Roberts does now.

But in the end, I'd never trade those early days for anything, even Roberts masterpiece.

So how about you guys?

[Hound]

Those old stories will always have a place in my heart but MTMTE is the first series to come along and make the G1 comic feel old

[Metal Vendetta]

The thing is, while as an adult I can reread the Marvel stuff (and I do, often) and remember how ten year-old Emvee felt when reading them for the first time, if I sent MTMTE back through a time warp ten year-old Emvee would absolutely love it. Present-day Emvee wouldn't just have a Decepticon tattoo, he'd have a full backpiece of Cyclonus and would probably have spent much of the intervening time talking about how awesome Whirl is. Oh, and he would have adored Ratchet. Dammit, where's my time machine?

[Best First]

Those old stories will always have a place in my heart but MTMTE is the first series to come along and make the G1 comic feel old

Yep.

Just wish the ****er was weekly like in the old days.

[Death's Head]

James's stuff is a natural progression, for me, of growing up reading Furman and Budiansky' work. It's good precisely because James grew up reading all those same stories that we did and has had time to think about how he'd take it further.

tl;dr: It's not a competition. It's evolution!

[Metal Vendetta]

tl;dr: It's not a competition. It's evolution!

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