MTMTE #34 (Spoilers)

[bumblemusprime]

We REALLY need a new Rodimus.

Ya--you'd have to host your own pic. Internet pics, use the img button, like so.

"This Rodimus doesn't have a nearly big enough head."



On that subject, Animated Rodimus would look a lot like the LL one with a nice head mod and a couple of add-ons.

[Hound]

How about a Kaon figure, guys?

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... -kaon.html

[Professor Smooth]

How about a Kaon figure, guys?

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... -kaon.html

Ho. Lee. ****!

[Computron]

How about a Kaon figure, guys?

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transform ... -kaon.html

That. Is. Incredible.

[Best First]

After this issue i am tempted to buy it just so i can smasg him up...

[Yaya]

I can't bring myself to want to own any DJD member. For the first time ever. Well played James Roberts. Well played.

[Professor Smooth]

Normally, I consider third-party figures to be a victimless bit of fun. Not my cup of tea, but I don't take any major issue with the flagrant copyright violation.

But James Roberts created that character. He created that character in the course of writing the best comic (ongoing or otherwise) that I've read in AGES.

And he's not gonna see a dime from this. And that's just a bit offputting.

[Hound]

He wouldn't get a penny if Hasbro made it either. Nick Roche didn't get anything for his Springer designs, not even a free figure

[bumblemusprime]

Nor Figueroa for the B-2 Megatron.

[Professor Smooth]

That does, admittedly, take a bit of the sting off.

At a guess, though, their contracts with IDW/Hasbro said that their designs may wind up being used for figures (if for no other reason than Hasbro owns the characters, outright).

Instead, this is a third party who saw what he'd created and said, "Yeah! I can profit off of that!"

All that said, if it turns out that he's cool with it...it will be mine. Oh, yes. It will be mine.

[Death's Head]

Normally, I consider third-party figures to be a victimless bit of fun. Not my cup of tea, but I don't take any major issue with the flagrant copyright violation.

But James Roberts created that character. He created that character in the course of writing the best comic (ongoing or otherwise) that I've read in AGES.

And he's not gonna see a dime from this. And that's just a bit offputting.

It's weird isn't it? I'm fully in favour of creator's rights in comics, and basically agree with everything Alan Moore's ever said about how these companies treat their creators, and yet the history of Transformers runs right against that. I mean, look at all the things Simon Furman has created for the franchise that are now part and parcel of Transformers - Primus, Unicron as a dark god, the Wreckers - not to mention Death's Head, where Marvel UK thanked Furman for not letting Hasbro get their mitts on him by killing the character and never letting him write for him again.

In a just world, Furman should never have to go hungry for the rest of his life.

So yeah.

(The counter-argument - that you know what you're getting into when you write licensed comics - is understandable, but still...)

[inflatable dalek]

For what it's worth, when I showed him and Nick my Ironfist (not a euphemism) at AA they weren't upset at Third Party versions of their characters, they were hugely excited that these things are happening because of their work and were only jealous that they didn't have their (free gift apparently) ones yet.

[Professor Smooth]

That's how it starts. You're young and excited to be a part of something that you love. Only later do you realize that the higher-ups use that to make themselves richer at your expense.

I'm dealing with that now, and trying not sound like a crotchety old grandpa when explaining it to new teachers.

[bumblemusprime]

Around here, we call that "your 30s."

[Yaya]

The saddest thing I see in the entertainment industry in general is how shamelessly people steal the ideas of others, and how aggressive they are in doing so. They are the very same kind of people that, upon hearing about a natural disaster or any other kind of disaster, immediately lick their lips and think 'okay, how can I make money off of this?" No sense of remorse whatsoever. And there are many, many people like this in entertainment.

If you have an idea, for God's sake, don't let anyone know about it until you've taken every legal avenue to protect it. And even then, there's a chance that before you actually get into a position to capitalize on your great idea, someone else will find a way to benefit from it at your expense through legally legit channels solely because they are "better connected".

I'm glad I'm not feeling negative today

[bumblemusprime]

Just reread the text page, after getting the trade for vol 6 and wanting to keep going.

Did anyone notice how Megatron is kinda Marx? This is a rather spot-on critique of capitalism.