Marvel US comic marathon

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:22 pm

Broken Glass includes lots of Nebulan soap opera. Galen and Llyra's love life isn't exactly gripping stuff. And why is Zarak so Machiavellian? All these sham protests, sabotaged meetings, and contacting the Decepticons...

I suppose he's a complex character. But what does he stand to gain? Does he want power or peace? I hope Budiansky knows his true motives even if we don't.

This is a much pacier issue though. It definitely livens up when Scorponok and his cronies enter the picture.

But it's got to be said... all this business with humanoids transforming into heads.... if you put out of your mind for a moment that this is a toyline... it just reads like the writer is on drugs. It's truly weird.

The actual practicalities of the Headmasters process is fudged too. Why do they become better fighters? Apparently the Autobots are "no longer in charge of their destinies but maintain radio control." What does that mean? Sometimes they talk to each other as Autobots, other times as Nebulans...

And why does Fort Max's head change design from one panel to the next. It's kinda confusing.

Cyclonus turns up too with an odd design. Where did Cyclonus and Scourge vanish to after the Headmasters comic in US continuity anyway?

bumblemusprime wrote:The truly sad part was that when Yaniger went down to just half of the G2 comic each month--and sometimes not even that--Senior didn't take up the other half, Galan did.

A Senior/Yaniger joint every month would have been amazing, and the only way to make G2 better. At least he showed up by the end, but by then Yaniger was gone.

Some of Yaniger's Tales of Earth stuff has to be the best TF art ever! That mangled G2 Megatron was something else...

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:05 am

Finished off the rest of the Headmasters saga. It had its moments, mainly around Zarak's character arc. There's the scene when Zarak and Scorponok make their evil pact. And the depiction of Zarak becoming more drunk with power which leads to brief redemption (he sets Galen free) but eventual breakdown. When he gives in to the call of battle it's a powerful moment.

Meanwhile the Targetmasters are introduced efficiently but the Decepticons seem to replicate the process too quickly and easily (same with the Headmasters process come to think of it).

But why do the Decepticons want to go to the trouble of making bubbles to send the Nebulans off into space when they could just squash them?

Why do the council accept a Zarak/Decepticon alliance and not a Galen/Autobot one?

Is Firebolt's US name Sparks?

Overall the 4 issue limited series feels cluttered and messy. Ultimately its story is built on shaky foundations, ie. Fort Max's mad plan to come to Nebulos plus the even madder idea of little people turning into Transformers' heads (you just know whoever thought up that at Hasbro got a big raise).

Along with at times indecipherable artwork and boring soap opera, this isn't the TF comic's finest hour. But hey, the Headmasters saga was a complete bonus for UK readers. It meant we got a TF back up strip (as opposed to Iron Man, Gi-Joe etc) and we definitely weren't complaining.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:32 pm

Yeah getting wall to wall TF's was quality - wasn't this around the time of Legacy of Unicton?

It felt great - we had the all star UK stuff in the main strip and then the so so US stuff at the back. LIKE IT SHOULD BE!

Even as a kid i thought Head Masters was mental - i could kind of see the benefit with Target Masters. But the idea that having a squishy for a head improves things - well, i struggle.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:53 pm

Even coming out of my mother's womb, I knew Headmasters was a ridiculous idea. But I do remember the excitement of getting another TF mini, especially one not involving the Earth TF. Kinda like the excitement I felt about the Return to Cybertron issues. It was something still very new at the time, having stories off Earth. IIRC, that was also around the time the Transformers Universe comics were coming out.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:28 pm

That's true - it was nice to see a load of new guys and more of Cybertron, altho equally i was a bit irked to see there was no real hint of the Return to Cybertron status quo. Would have been nice to reference it in some manner.

But then Fat Max had to pull his cowardice act.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 6:10 pm

Yeah, that was my main impression of the Headmasters mini: Fort Max is a douche, not only in leaving Cybertron, but also in the "How about if we give you our heads? Can we stay then?" line of thinking.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 7:03 pm

I remember respecting Fat Max (love that!) for his being so courageously cowardly.

I seriously mean that, I really did give the guy props.

Autobots: "What do we do!"
Fat Max: "Run away. Any of you ****s got a problem with that? No? Then get your asses on board, I'm tired. "

It was novel, really.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:25 pm

I 'get' headmasters more than targetmasters... HM: two heads are better than one?

TM: err... Why does a squishy make a gun more powerful?

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:56 pm

Spidey wrote:Is Firebolt's US name Sparks?

Early concept name, which also made it through to the UK choose-your-own-adventure books. Except there he's Professor Sparks, and a robot, as are all Nebulans. Who are miners that drink a lot and listen to extremely loud and fast techno music. Weirdwolf eats people and Skullcruncher eats hoverjeeps. It's a weird little microcontinuity.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:08 am

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:I 'get' headmasters more than targetmasters... HM: two heads are better than one?

TM: err... Why does a squishy make a gun more powerful?

For the same reason you can plug a squishy in your torso for juice a la Powermasters.......?

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:17 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:
Spidey wrote:Is Firebolt's US name Sparks?
Early concept name, which also made it through to the UK choose-your-own-adventure books. Except there he's Professor Sparks, and a robot, as are all Nebulans. Who are miners that drink a lot and listen to extremely loud and fast techno music. Weirdwolf eats people and Skullcruncher eats hoverjeeps. It's a weird little microcontinuity.

I have a few of these books I keep meaning to review them!

So both TM and PM produce extra energy?... Maybe it's a matrix human energy harvest?

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:46 am

With Trial by Fire the main title gets a new lease of life. It was getting a little tired of late but Budiansky seems fired up as he brings the Headmasters to Earth.

It's an action filled issue, and dare I say exciting at times. And I like the way that in the final battle Scorponok and Fort Max revert to smaller and smaller modes as if they were Russian nesting dolls. Scorponok is becoming the badass 'con we know and love although yet another story ends with him running off with his (scorpion) tail between his legs.

It's funny how it's essentially an adventure deep inside Mount St Hilary (which blows up at the end). It's been the location of the Ark for many years but till now nothing exciting really happened there.

Galen acts like a prick throughout, making the same mistakes as Fort Max before him, bringing war to another planet. But he does realise this by the end and dies nobly. It's quite right he dies too, as there was nowhere else for the character to go. Spike's upcoming arc will be much more interesting.

And doesn't Spike do well? In the space of one issue the cartoon character makes his comic debut and ends it as the new head of Fortress Maximus!

Metal Vendetta wrote:Early concept name, which also made it through to the UK choose-your-own-adventure books. Except there he's Professor Sparks, and a robot, as are all Nebulans. Who are miners that drink a lot and listen to extremely loud and fast techno music. Weirdwolf eats people and Skullcruncher eats hoverjeeps. It's a weird little microcontinuity.

Cool, I did not know that. I had a few TF Choose Your Own Adventure books. One with Beachcomber on an island. Another with time travelling and Dinobots. And a Megatron vs Optimus Prime smackdown. And I did not cheat!

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:41 am

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:
Metal Vendetta wrote:Early concept name, which also made it through to the UK choose-your-own-adventure books. Except there he's Professor Sparks, and a robot, as are all Nebulans. Who are miners that drink a lot and listen to extremely loud and fast techno music. Weirdwolf eats people and Skullcruncher eats hoverjeeps. It's a weird little microcontinuity.
I have a few of these books I keep meaning to review them!

I wrote up a couple of them for the wiki not long back:
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Dinobot_War
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Island_of_Fear
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Desert_of_Danger

Peril from the Stars is online and I keep meaning to get around to writing that one up, but I don't have Highway Clash or Swamp of the Scorpion

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:55 pm

The Desert Island of Space is another engaging issue, benefiting from the comic's new cast of characters. Seeing how these new factions interact with the old brings welcome new dynamics.

Shame then that the cover gives away the twist about the island. The fact that the island turns into a rocket should be really stupid but it's actually quite trippy. It's also an awesome moment when it actually takes off.

I've missed Shockwave. He gets a rough time in this story... basically he does all the work and Ratbat just goads him on to his 'death'. It's surprising Shockwave has lasted in the comic this long. Most of his contemporaries are long dead. I guess Budiansky liked him - he certainly wrote him out in a blaze of glory.

Spike Witwicky revealing his new bio-mechanical body to his father is kind of horrific. I like the way Kup mistrusts him... can't blame him for doubting a college kid can lead the Autobots. Do we assume the Headmaster process is irreversible and Max can't get back his own head?

Spike and Buster's face to face moment, seperated by glass, is cute. This doesn't feel like the same writer that just wrote 4 stodgy Headmasters issues.

Metal Vendetta wrote:I wrote up a couple of them for the wiki not long back:
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Dinobot_War
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Island_of_Fear
http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Desert_of_Danger

The write ups just reminded me of that weird TF comic advert with a toy-centric Jetfire. It looked rubbish.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:40 pm

spiderfrommars wrote:Do we assume the Headmaster process is irreversible and Max can't get back his own head?

The canon is really hazy on this. One of the UK Annual text stories suggests that they carry their old heads around with them in a compartment of their body, which is frankly no less weird than any of the alternatives. Taking the US comics at face value, the headmasters' original heads are presumably still on Nebulos?

spiderfrommars wrote:The write ups just reminded me of that weird TF comic advert with a toy-centric Jetfire. It looked rubbish.

Yeah, I linked the artwork (with Dutch text) from the articles. It always fascinated me as a kid, trying to work out who the generics in the background were. Plus toy-model Jetfire was and still is a rare sight.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:21 pm

Metal Vendetta wrote: Taking the US comics at face value, the headmasters' original heads are presumably still on Nebulos?

Then they should have gone and fetched it after Spike quit!

Or maybe no one liked Maxie enough to bother.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 6:01 pm

Pretender to the Throne

Ugh. Pretenders. Nasty. Quite possibly a step too far. I mean, for a start, the Decepticon Pretenders just look bloody awful. No artist could make them look good. (in fact the only Pretender that ever looked cool was Bludgeon, but you can't go wrong with a skeletal Samurai warrior).

However, whilst the practical advantages of the Pretenders have been ridiculed in the past, you can see why they would be an asset. Sure, it's a trick that would only fool an enemy once, but could prove handy in ventures requiring a more long term subterfuge. Though a giant bug monster would probably stick out like a sore thumb in most situations.

Scorponok's sceme of mixing flesh and metal is pretty diabolical though. Someone should give that 'con a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The issue's a letdown anyway because of Optimus Prime's 'return'. You realise he hasn't been missed that much actually whilst at the same time being reminded of the good old days.

We discover that Prime's real body was apparently fired into the sun. Did they miss?

We never see Groundbreaker, Splashdown and Sky High again after this issue, if I'm not mistaken (unless they cameo in the next one).

The whole battle between the Pretenders is pretty lame. We're meant to be convinced that Prime is a military genius merely because he gives orders like "launch your final offensive."

The Tron style battle in the computer is pretty boring as well and not altogether logical.

The one good idea of the story is Prime thinking everything is just a game. The story gets a good punchline because of it and we're left hanging as to if (or most likely when) Optimus Prime will return.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:48 pm

Pretenders. The bottom of the barrel for Transformers, really. Even Action Masters were better.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 4:34 pm

Well, Furman was doing something interesting with Action Masters. Who knows what Budiansky would have done.

It's interesting that Furman got Headmasters and Pretenders into the IDW continuity when really, they are ***** concepts. Headmasters he did well with. He kinda pulled off Pretenders, although it was squeezed into a few bare panels in Revelations. I think we could have lived without any more Pretenders, but at least there was a good reason for it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:52 pm

bumblemusprime wrote:He kinda pulled off Pretenders, although it was squeezed into a few bare panels in Revelations.

And the whole point to Stormbringer.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:34 pm

Where I liked it better as a crappy concept that didn't work.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:20 am

the Stormbringer concept was still pretty BS to be honest;

"Well, our own TF bodies can't survive, so i propose making suits out of, er, other people's TF bodies - they will be fine"

Plus, it's basically a skin coat - ew.

I did like that Jetfire cracked it, before he became an earth dwelling incompetent like everyone else.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 1:48 pm

It was ballsy for Simon to tackle, of all things, the Pretender concept with Stormbringer.

But see, here's a good point. Despite Pretenders being a crap concept, I thoroughly enjoyed Stormbringer (up til the lame ending, anyway), to the point where it really didn't matter how lame the idea was. Costa, on the other hand, is unable to distract us from the humans and the TF's being stuck on Earth. No matter what's going on, we just keep getting pulled back to that silly basic premise. As readers, we're basically trapped like the Transformers are.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:41 pm

Word, Yaya. Word. (Word.)

I also enjoyed Stormbringer but I wasn't a fan of the ending. I would have loved to see Cybertron actually blow all to hell. Did anyone else think that was a better natural ending? The whole thing was dark and moody and I wanted the ending to suit that.

Post by **Kaylee** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:55 pm

May I just say that this is one of the most interesting threads I have read in ages!

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:08 pm

Totalled was a good 'un. It doesn't start well though. Optimus Prime blows up in a picture that seems a deliberate homage to Afterdeath. Delbo's rendering isn't a patch on Perlin's though.

But the Headmasters' ship finally gets a name: Steelhaven. I like it.

And Soundwave has a mouth. Why does this feel so very wrong?

Grimlock is at his very worst in this issue. He doesn't care what happens to Earth, he's torturing Blaster and the first thing he does when meeting Fort Max is start a ruck. At least he comes good in the end.

The most notable thing about the issue is its massive cast of characters. It's a lot of fun playing 'spot the Transformer'. There's Broadside! (where the heck did he come from?) There's Sunstreaker! (once thought a long lost cause) There's Skids! (shouldn't he be in Limbo? Oops, wrong continuity). I guess Ratchet has been very busy getting the 'bots back on their feet.

Quite a few TFs get comprehensively trashed by the end of the issue though, such as Brawn and Blitzwing. It's a right royal rumble when the Decepticons turn up, and a lot of fun.

It also ends with Fort Max sending another bunch of Autobots to the peaceful planet of Nebulos.

Yaya wrote:Pretenders. The bottom of the barrel for Transformers, really. Even Action Masters were better.

Yep, the Pretenders feel like a new low. The toy lines from here on in were a bit hit and miss weren't they? Pretenders, nay. Powermasters, yay. Actionmasters, nay. Micromasters, yay. Firecons? Moving on...

Karl wrote:May I just say that this is one of the most interesting threads I have read in ages!

We're talking about Transformers! Well, proper Transformers anyway.

It's like old times!

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:20 pm

bumblemusprime wrote:Word, Yaya. Word. (Word.)

I also enjoyed Stormbringer but I wasn't a fan of the ending. I would have loved to see Cybertron actually blow all to hell. Did anyone else think that was a better natural ending? The whole thing was dark and moody and I wanted the ending to suit that.

I think that would have been a much more suitable ending. Perhaps Hasbro mandate stayed Simon's hand. Instead, we are left with a large round metal husk.

I miss Cybertron. With the past two years of events so damn Earth focused, I really miss that place. Imagine all the things that could be happening had it still been in play.

Grimlock is at his very worst in this issue. He doesn't care what happens to Earth, he's torturing Blaster and the first thing he does when meeting Fort Max is start a ruck. At least he comes good in the end.

This was Grimlock at his dumbest. Even dumber than "Kup, tell me a bedtime story" Grimlock. Then again, maybe he was privy to Uncle Bob falling off his rocker way before we were and just said "[composite word including 'f*ck'] this, I'm living out the rest of my life the way I want."

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:55 am

Once my schedule calms down, I want to do this with the Titan UK reprints. I didn't read any of those stories till I was ******* 22, and I can't remember the last time I reread them.

Sunyavadin · Post by **Sunyavadin** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:45 am

spiderfrommars wrote: And why is Zarak so Machiavellian? All these sham protests, sabotaged meetings, and contacting the Decepticons...

And this is why if I did a live action TF movie I'd cast Zarak in a Koch Brothers sort of role - and have the tea party be a Decepticon front...

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 9:36 am

People Power sees the debut of Dreadwind and Darkwing. I always had a soft spot for Dreadwind, what with him being the longest-running letter answerer in the UK comics. I loved the toy too.

How serendipitous that all the Nebulans in this issue just happen to have been christened names that make for apt Powermaster companion handles. Though poor Lube must have had a rough time at school. Shame they bottled it with Kari - she could have been the first female to become binary bonded to a Transformer. (is the reason why girls don't volunteer for the process sexism or medical?)

Still, the crux of this issue is that the Decepticons are raiding restaurants on Nebulos so Hi-Test and Throttle can have lunch. Riveting.

And that statue of Nebulos gets knocked around like a bowling ball in practically every story it's in!

Powermaster Prime enters the fray in this issue and it's the start of another new era. It's funny to think how this design became ubiquitous for comic readers. Optimus spent more time in this body in the G1 comic than in his original classic form.

HiQ didn't pack before leaving. Maybe the Steelhaven has a handy Tescos onboard for Nebulans.