MTMTE #14

Post by **Best First** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:18 am

Auntie Slag wrote:But if Shockwave has deactivated the killswitch (and he must’ve done, otherwise Overlord wouldn’t have let him leave Garrus 9), then there’s no purpose in Overlord leaving Chromedome alive, seeing as he’d have no further use for Mnemonics.

He left him alive out of malice.

Doesn't mean he won't kill him later - but in the meanwhile he has aching seconds to get to the door knowing that in all liklihood by the time he does everyone, incluing his best friend, will be dead, and it's all his fault.

Which is exactly why Overlord is such a brillinat bad guy - because he's a total sh*t.

On the indestructability bit - it's his endo-skeleton (as aclearly shown) that is coated, not his entire exo-structure, which are the bits that got blown up in LSOTW - i sincrely doubt he has indestructable metal over his eyes because you know... seeing matters.

So i don't think there is anything funny going on in either of these cases.

Agree with MV that Red Alert was the trigger for the DJD.

And ooooooh! Drift... swords... beheading... oh my!

Can't wait to read this on something bigger than an iphone...

Death's Head · Post by **Death's Head** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 12:46 pm

On the indestructability bit - it's his endo-skeleton (as aclearly shown) that is coated, not his entire exo-structure, which are the bits that got blown up in LSOTW - i sincrely doubt he has indestructable metal over his eyes because you know... seeing matters

Prowl states in one of the flashbacks that "we can't even get at his spark", so presumably that was the primary function of the ununtium-infusion (reminiscent of Wolverine being Weapon X-d, no?). It seems his brain module doesn't benefit from similar shielding, however.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:04 pm

Riveting issue. Intriguing. Or should I say ... cerebral?

I particularly like the fact that all of Prowl's erraticism in RiD can now be explained away as the result of Chromedome's sloppy work. He broke one of the Autobots' keenest minds good and proper.

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:04 pm

What, Prowl with the head spikes and the cruel mouth... and cold! Ultra Magnus without the warmth and people skills?

I love this series.

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:59 pm

I can't get over how bloody good MTMTE is - it's not just the best TF comic available since forever, it's actually better than all the other comics I'm currently reading.

Creatively Roberts is just head and shoulders above anything this brand has seen before - Furman sowed the seeds with some neat ideas but Robert's is taking it all to the next level.

In a way I'm sort of glad that Costa and McCarthy had their stints - it makes MTMTE even sweeter when you see the improvement in quality, and if Furman hadn't been replaced in all likelihood Roberts may never have got his shot with LSOTW.

On the issue - it was brilliant. I was surprised Chromedome survived the encounter, and EVEN BETTER it proved me right in an argument I had on IDW forums many moons a go before I quit (where I tried to *persuade* a fellow fan that Six Shot was tougher than Prime. I KNEW I WAS RIGHT

).

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:33 pm

Oh yeah, it's gorgeousness on a stick. I'm so glad I've gone monthly (since Shadowplay), as waiting for the TPS's to come out was too painful. This is the first comic I'm regularly subcribing to since I stopped getting the Marvel comics back in '88. I reckon MTMTE trounces all other TF titles, but it wouldn't exist without the stuff that's gone before yada yada...

And I love how new reveals in the latest issues increase the fun in going back to previous one's and going "Aaaah that's why he said that" etc. It's like getting even more value. In 25 years time i'll look back so fondly on this.

Death's Head · Post by **Death's Head** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:49 pm

Some folks on the Allspark have just made some interesting observations regarding the repetition of the phrase "Till All are One" in Overlord's first two flashbacks (his defeat by Ironfist, and the training with Megatron) - they think it may have something to do with the killswitch Shockwave programmed in, and of course what is Rodimus' favourite phrase, which he says at absolutely any opportunity...?

Post by **Computron** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 9:19 pm

I finally caught up to this issue. Everything has been brilliant. Like nany have said, this isnt just a great TF comic, its a great comic period.

Riveting stuff. Reminds me a lot of Firefly.

If Rewind ever dies I'll be truly gutted.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:26 pm

Death's Head wrote:Some folks on the Allspark have just made some interesting observations regarding the repetition of the phrase "Till All are One" in Overlord's first two flashbacks (his defeat by Ironfist, and the training with Megatron) - they think it may have something to do with the killswitch Shockwave programmed in, and of course what is Rodimus' favourite phrase, which he says at absolutely any opportunity...?

Oh that's good!

Hi Compy! :-)

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:03 pm

There was a throwaway line in one of the Shadowplay issues where Rewind startles Ratchet slightly when he (Rewind) mentions that he'd been talking to Pax/Prime about writing Pax's memoirs.

What was interesting was that Ratchet was startled, as if he'd never known Pax and Rewind had met, and it made me wonder if Rewind is.... Roller? I've got nowt to base this on, other than Rewind's past could be completely made up with a bit of Chromedome-inspired shadowplay (referring to Prowl's comment in this issue, of Chromedome's as yet unrevealed guilt that may be directed at Rewind).

He's either done the dirty on Rewind or Dominus Ambus.

Jack Cade · Post by **Jack Cade** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:26 am

Suppose Rewind found out what happened to Dominus and it broke him so badly that Chromedome removed the memory as an act of mercy?

Post by **Best First** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:12 pm

So many goddamn possibilities. Love it.

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 6:57 pm

@Jack Cade: That would be a thing! Especially if Prowl were the one to break it to Rewind, possibly dredging up a tape of Chromedome doing it too. That would be the first heartbreak story in a TF comic!

Cue Erasures' 'I love to hate you' in James' music choice for that episode!

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:00 am

Perhaps this is all a double bluff by chromedome. Ala inception.
Overlord thinks he's escaped and is killing everyone, including Magnus but actually he's still in his cell dismantled etc...

Post by **snarl** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:51 am

That's interesting, but NO... there is going to be **** load of DEATH!

I like the Skids / somebody called Crosscut is in the DJD / Crosscut was a skids recolour / the weirdness with his gun means it could be the binary gun = he is agent 113 idea too, it all makes logical sense...

which is exactly what James wants. I think it's a curve ball.

Post by **Kaylee** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:41 pm

And then Karl woke up, and discovered Yaya, alive and well, in the shower.

*fade to black*

*sex scene*

*fade to black*

Death's Head · Post by **Death's Head** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 3:54 pm

I like the Skids / somebody called Crosscut is in the DJD / Crosscut was a skids recolour / the weirdness with his gun means it could be the binary gun = he is agent 113 idea too, it all makes logical sense...

which is exactly what James wants. I think it's a curve ball.

I think what seals it for me is the music Chromedome found in Skids's head - The Empyrean Suite - and its link to 'Tarn'.

And while it might seem all quite pat, don't forgot we still don't know what's up with 'The Legislators' or the precise nature of 'thought warfare' - although I suspect it has something to with shadowplay, and thus the 'New' Institute (and thus Chromedome and Brainstorm).

In fact, given that the spoilerific cover for an upcoming issue indicates that the Legislators are due to return very soon, I reckon all the various plot threads (Overlord, Skids, the DJD, Red Alert, Chromedome, Rewind etc) will be revealed to be tightly intertwined, with the Institute at the heart of it all.

That's given me a thought, actually - do we know if the Institute is still out there? Maybe they're a kind of Autobot equivalent to the DJD in the sense that they can't see that the war is over, and are taking necessary steps using the 'Legislators' as their enforcers?

Oh, my giddy aunt!

Post by **Best First** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:02 am

Why can't this come out every week?

I mean day?

Death's Head · Post by **Death's Head** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:22 am

I just want it funnelled into my eyeballs twenty-four hours a day, like a kind of comic-based eyewash.

Post by **snarl** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:24 am

Read Eugenesis again you pussy! I've started it again this morning.

Oh man, Brompton Rhodes is right about that Skids mind probe stuff. I still think Red herring but the evidence is all there. There are so many layers to MTMTE, I end up forgetting a lot. Maybe I've got Alzheimers? I find the TF wiki reviews are ******* essential.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 2:45 pm

snarl wrote: I find the TF wiki reviews are ******* essential.

You and me both. At the IDW boards, a couple members posted questions that haven't been answered yet and I didn't understand or recall half of them. The TF wiki got me up to speed.

If Roberts has a flaw, it's that he introduces too many variables too quickly and a reader like myself tends to forget them a month later. The genius is that despite forgetting half of these things, the reader still enjoys the heck out of it just understanding the other half.

Death's Head · Post by **Death's Head** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 3:08 pm

The TF wiki articles are great - I've trained myself to look very closely at each issue, but they always mention something I've missed. I think most of the MTMTE articles are edited by Chris McFeely, who's somewhat known in the fandom.

As for re-reading Eugenesis - I'm sorely tempted, even though I only finished my last runthrough a couple of months back!

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:41 pm

McFeely's really quick at getting the issue articles up, but the problem is that each James Roberts story introduces at least four or five new things or concepts (some of which may or may not be the same as previously-introduced things or concepts) that require a new article for themselves. That's where the rest of us come in - I'm quite pleased with my latest addition, for example: http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Thumb_Quest

Death's Head · Post by **Death's Head** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:34 am

You wiki editors are my heroes (even if you are all responsible for one of the worst time-sinks since TV Tropes!). My sole contribution is on the talk page for "Eco-structuring/cyberforming".

Loving the Thumb Quest.

Post by **snarl** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:33 pm

So whilst I read Eugenesis and wait for 15, I was sure we must have reviewed JR at some stage, and we had (6 ******* years ago!).

It's interesting, so read it again:

http://transfans.co.uk/interviews_roberts.php