Regeneration #82 Review (SPOILERS)

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:38 am

Wow, I haven't seen artwork that bad since, well, the 80's. Ugh.

Love the way IDW calls this "Dinobot Month!" just because a Dinobot appears in a couple panels here and there. I'm pretty sure Kup and Springer were in this more than Grimlock.

Anyway, overall it was okay, but felt on the lighter side. Grimlock visits Nebulos where the Headmasters were born, we find out the (gruesome) fate of Ratchet, Ultra Magnus punches a monitor cause he 'can't deal with Kup right now", and Megatron has turned his army into robot zombies.

There were some pretty silly moments like when Kup falls for Skywarp's tactic and then the old codger reminds us he's an idiot by not remembering Skywarp can...warp.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Ratbat's last moment getting tail-blasted by Skorponok during the Underbase saga? Guess he somehow made it back to Earth?

It will be interesting to see how Ratchet reached the lofty heights we find in him today as the hood ornament of Megatron's transport. I think the most fun part of this series will be what the fate of such characters as Galvatron, Shockwave, and Fortress Maximus are and how Megatron actually destroyed the entire planet after being a nutcase. Oh, and looks like another Con fav is on his way back. Should be interesting.

Give it a "C+". Enjoyed it overall. The "+" is for this still maintaining a very 80's vibe. Though I'm not looking forward to the intro of Circuit Smasher. Hated human characters back then, hate them still today.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:26 am

Now you're not feeling the art either? Dude. Andy!

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 3:00 am

Enjoyed issue 81. Enjoyed issue 82 even more. I dig the art and the story progression. 81 started with a few questions as to its place in the overall continuity. 82 sees us on more solid footing. Really feels like a continuation of Marvel G1.

Not suuuuuper happy that, after the end of the Marvel comic, we all died, though...

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:28 am

I did enjoy this, but it feels like it's still got to get going.

The art is good in my opinion (check out some of Kup's action panels - they are gorgeous) but let down by the heavy inking and shiny colouring. The actual storytelling in the pictures is still far better than a lot of modern artists.

Hopefully this new Headmaster tech that Grimlock is after can be used to restore Ratchet back to a body

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:18 pm

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the art this way. It's so 80's and really makes things seems like no time has past. Just wish we had the pixelated pages, but oh well.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:37 pm

After thinking the art was fairly solid (if not exactly rocking my socks) last issue it's absolutely abysmal here. Megatron has one of the simplest character models of any Transformer, how can it be possible for anyone to get his chest that wrong? Trailbreaker looked mighty odd as well.

Otherwise it was a mixture of some nice ideas (the zombie Decepticons and Megatron actually keeping Starscream on a leash for a change. Though even without having seen the Starscream/Megs/Ratchet Guido cover it would be 99% obvious he should have put Starscream fully under and that tiny bit of free will is going to bite Megs on the arse almost immediately).

And going back to the Headmaster heads is a great idea, even if it does leave the worrying possibility that Scorpy will return (and a pre-character development Scorpy at that) and bugger up one of the all time great deaths.

The Wreckers however were somewhat dull and oddly written in places (Rack'N'Ruin as the doctor? Hmmm) and Policeman Magnus continues to completely miss the point (as said before, there's very good reason why Roberts' has turned this interpretation into an out and out comedy character). And the whole thing still has a general sense of "Mhhhhggghhh" to it. You couldn't call it a terrible book (bar the art) but it's amazingly average.

As for the cliffhanger... OK, even knowing who Circuit Smasher is going to turn out to be- Did anyone actually want Circuit Breaker in this comic so badly a copyright dodging homage had to be included? It's actually odd how even in the Marvel days Furman seemed to like her more than the readers did by a considerable margin...

I'm also slightly puzzled, again, that the UK stuff is being ignored because it's too obscure for most of the readers but we're getting references to The Decepticon Powermasters Eat All The Pies On Nebulos, when I would say more Americans have read Target: 2006 in the last decade than have revisted that... classic.

All in all, this is the comic equivalent of McCartney's whizzy broken old man voice performance of Hey Jude at the Olympics. Yes, you were great and hugely important, and yes you're still not the worst, but you're definitely a long way past your best so maybe it's best not to?

EDIT: And it looks like the fact that Megatron and Starscream were doused in Nucleon before the Ark crashed (along with Ratchet-n though it could have affected him before his head was cut off- and the absent Shockwave) has been either forgotten or fudged. Unless those horrible side effects Kup mentioned last issue is why Megatron has that odd chest in some panels?

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:43 pm

I've been slacking off on some of of the outside the main lines IDW stuff. Is it possible that the UK Classics stuff that IDW included is included in the continuity of Regeneration 1?

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:54 pm

They've officially said the UK stuff isn't part of this book's continuity because of fear of confusing Americans (which I would say is slightly insulting myself).

But so far, if you want to assume the last Autobot brought various Wreckers back to life and Magnus' different personality is akin to how Blaster always acted differently on each side of the Atlantic, I don't think there's been anything that out and out contradicts the British stories (bar the always hard to fit Earthforce stuff).

Which is why an official announcement seems really odd, if they'd had the Survivors making up the new Wreckers this series would be exactly the same.

Post by **snarl** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:00 pm

The art (I'm assuming we're talking about the pencils here) is not abysmal you *******, ******* drama queens.

Some of it is hit and miss, granted.

I think Wildman's wide panels quite often were a bit scruffy, but imo a) it's in keeping with the way he draws TFs anyway and b) you weren't as drawn to it as you are now with the "shiny colouring" (tm Hound).

Pretty solid 7.5 out of 10 for me, enjoying it... I think some of you are ****** in the head to be honest.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:11 pm

snarl wrote:The art (I'm assuming we're talking about the pencils here) is not abysmal you *******, ******* drama queens.

No one's being a drama queen here (as said before, I'm reading this from a mildly curious viewpoint as the downloads are cheap enough to make it a disposable purchase, I don't have any particular personal investment in it either way) but, in my opinion, the art is incredibly poor, even in comparison to the last issue by the same artist.

I've no idea why that would be the case, maybe this month was more rushed, maybe Wildman put a bit more effort into the début. A few years ago I'd have baulked at the idea that the Alex Milne drawn book would have better art than the Wildman one, I'm still not sure how we've wound up in this Bizzaro world (though credit to Milne for raising his game over the last year, Megatron: Origin seems a distant memory now).

Though I do agree Wildman's art isn't well suited to digital colouring, but that doesn't excuse the odd perspectives and malformed bodies.

Post by **Best First** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:16 pm

The idea of using the heads from Nebulos is a nice one to bring a bunch of guys back.

Also enjoyed Grimlock still being just the right side of morally conflicted.

Earth... does feel a bit like the Autobots have totally failed doesn't it? Hard to see really how they can come back from that in terms of being the good guys. Its dramatic for sure but it's a pretty bleak note for the conclusion of G1. Bleaker than maybe reflects the original series. in my view, in fact... bit G2 ironically. Which is a shame as that was sooooo 90's man.

Megatron refferring to himself as a despot kind of irked me but i think recent versions of Megs have probably made me forget just what a twerp he was in G1. IDW Megs (Furman and Roberts wise) is a better villain i think.

Agree in the shiney colours - doesn't it well with the rough stylings of the pencils.

In short though, am i glad this exists? yes.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:29 pm

I'm curious to see where the Scorched Earth thing leads. Besters has a good point. It feels as if the Autobots failed. As far as pretty much every iteration of the franchise has been concerned, it's been "the age-old struggle makes its way to Earth." If Earth has become a casualty (as Cybertron has been is many recent incarnations) then...

As I hinted at in my earlier post: Apparently the answer to "what happened in between TF80 and TF81 is..."we all died."

Except for Circuit Breaker, apparently. Who, I believe, Marvel has allowed the use of. So Circuit Smasher isn't necessarily a copyright dodge.

Anybody else feel like the last 10+ years of this board (in all its iterations) has been killing time until (or at least priming for) the discussion of this series?

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:58 pm

Best First wrote:Also enjoyed Grimlock still being just the right side of morally conflicted.

I like what Grimlock is doing, but thought the lengthy scenes of him talking to himself for no reason were incredibly clummsy. At least in the similarly slightly awkward "As you know" scene on Hydrus 4 (which this actually felt something of a homage to) he had someone else to talk to for the first bit. Even something as obvious as him recording a log entry would have made it a bit less poorly handled.

Earth... does feel a bit like the Autobots have totally failed doesn't it? Hard to see really how they can come back from that in terms of being the good guys. Its dramatic for sure but it's a pretty bleak note for the conclusion of G1. Bleaker than maybe reflects the original series. in my view, in fact... bit G2 ironically. Which is a shame as that was sooooo 90's man.

It's one of the strange things about both this and G2 that the Autobots never put their house in order with regards to Earth during the period of peace. Hopefully, unlike G2, we'll at least get an explanation as to why Fort Max didn't send out a message to Cybertron at once telling them the Ark was there.

Megatron refferring to himself as a despot kind of irked me but i think recent versions of Megs have probably made me forget just what a twerp he was in G1. IDW Megs (Furman and Roberts wise) is a better villain i think.

I think Megatron can be considered unerstandably completely and utterly insane (or even moreso than he was before). His recent Marvel chronology goes: Had a breakdown after Prime died, blew himself (and his marbles) up on the space bridge, got stuck into Ratchet, had a medium sized planet hit him in the head and has now speant two decades with only corpses to talk too.

Except for Circuit Breaker, apparently. Who, I believe, Marvel has allowed the use of. So Circuit Smasher isn't necessarily a copyright dodge.

Ah, I hadn't heard that. I hope she's going to put some clothes on, I really don't want a saggy 50 year old flying about in a silver bikini...

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:23 pm

Best First wrote: In short though, am i glad this exists? yes.

My sentiments as well. In fact, I'm definitely enjoying it more than RID. If you ask me what happened last RID issue, I can't really recall.

MTMTE and Regeneration, on the other hand, I'm very much invested in the story.

Nobody answered my Ratbat question. When was he last seen in the Marvel continuity?

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:26 pm

Shot in the back by Scorponok on the Ark during Dark Star. I think all the over Zombie cons seen here are from Underbase as well. Presumably there was some sort of Decepticon mausoleum on Earth somewhere (at the New Jersey base?) rather than their corpses just being left about on the floor till Megatron came back.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:32 pm

inflatable dalek wrote:Shot in the back by Scorponok on the Ark during Dark Star. I think all the over Zombie cons seen here are from Underbase as well. Presumably there was some sort of Decepticon mausoleum on Earth somewhere (at the New Jersey base?) rather than their corpses just being left about on the floor till Megatron came back.

That's what I thought, so it makes sense. I wasn't sure he got sucker-zapped by Scorpy on the Ark or some other ship.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:38 pm

Yaya wrote:Nobody answered my Ratbat question. When was he last seen in the Marvel continuity?

Zapped by Scorpy aboard the Ark, during the Underbase saga.

dalek wrote:Hopefully, unlike G2, we'll at least get an explanation as to why Fort Max didn't send out a message to Cybertron at once telling them the Ark was there.

Considering he's one of the only Autobots to get a good look at Galvy - which was Furman's reasoning why Kup knows about him over on his blog - I'd hope that would be covered.

Besty wrote:Also enjoyed Grimlock still being just the right side of morally conflicted.

Yep, no-one writes Grimlock like Furman.

Besty wrote:Megatron refferring to himself as a despot kind of irked me

Mostly what inflatable dalek said regarding being insane, though I hoped I detected a tinge of sarcasm there too.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:40 pm

inflatable dalek wrote:Shot in the back by Scorponok on the Ark during Dark Star. I think all the over Zombie cons seen here are from Underbase as well. Presumably there was some sort of Decepticon mausoleum on Earth somewhere (at the New Jersey base?) rather than their corpses just being left about on the floor till Megatron came back.

Heh, everyone's posting at once tonight

Simon talks about where Megs got his zombie army over at his blog - it's not especially spoileriffic but it does explain why Ratbat is amongst them.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:47 pm

If, rather than the obvious Starscream, it's actually Ratbat who regains control of his mind and completely bitch slaps Megatron I will take back every negative thing I have ever said about this comic.

Despite my reservations, I'm actually looking forward to the Regeneration One panel at AA. I suspect the full backstory to the book happening is more interesting than a lot of what's in it...

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 9:47 pm

Damn, why is everyone hating on this comic? I have no problem with the art. It is what it is: Shiny Wildman Art. Wildman and Senior are like the Kirby of TF comics IMO, so I don't ever really see me complaining about the art. Listen, here's the deal: BOTH of these statements are true:

Professor Smooth wrote: Anybody else feel like the last 10+ years of this board (in all its iterations) has been killing time until (or at least priming for) the discussion of this series?

inflatable dalek wrote:All in all, this is the comic equivalent of McCartney's whizzy broken old man voice performance of Hey Jude at the Olympics. Yes, you were great and hugely important, and yes you're still not the worst, but you're definitely a long way past your best so maybe it's best not to?

So NO, you can't get the band back together again and get lightning in a jar like you're making cookies. But (to follow the Sir Paul analogy) we're all Beatles fans from way back in the day (although I supposed Simon is more John to Bob's Paul?), so even if it's a pale copy (and that's underestimating where this comic may go), it's still a copy dammit, and that's more than we thought we'd ever get before. And really ID, you undercut your whole grouchy, pessimist POV if all it takes is Ratbat instead of Starscream to make you go 180.

Another experiment in Paul McCartney/Regeneration analogies: See, it's not exactly like the Hey Jude thing, becuase really it's like hearing that the song Hey Jude, which you really loved as a kid, is actually a minute longer than anyone knew, and now you're going to hear the rest. Now if Regeneration IS Hey Jude, and we've waited decades for a whole bunch of blathering "Na na na, na na na na, na na na na, Hey Jude," then that sucks.

Plus, all the waiting has made it so I'm not sure there would ever actually be a comic that would satisfy us. I mean, if you told us in 1997 there was a continuation of the Marvel storyline and it featured both the Wreckers and Megatron ruling over a barren earth on a battle cycle with Ratchet's head as a hood ornament, I think many people here might have peed their pants. But now we're all old and more concerned with how Earth's destruction affects the Autobot's moral superiority.

Yaya wrote:There were some pretty silly moments like when Kup falls for Skywarp's tactic and then the old codger reminds us he's an idiot by not remembering Skywarp can...warp.

That's true, especially since they made it seem like he stays razor sharp with his combat sims and everything. I think the only way it could have been worse is if he was caught off guard by Soundwave spitting robots out of his chest.

Anyway, the point is this is cool, let's just accept it for what it is. It's not going to compare to Ulysses, but it IS a proper ending to the Marvel continuity written and drawn by original collaborators. It's not going to break the mold (as evidenced by the pic in the TF 81 thread that shows Op and Megs having a big battle - although I mean c'mon, if you thought Optimus was emo, guilt-ridden, and disliked Megatron BEFORE he eviscerated Earth.....), but it IS going to slide right on the mold like an extremely lubricated condom.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:01 pm

Hey, why all the negative talk about concluding the story Shantz? Hell, let's pull for ongoing on this. I want to see "#150 in a 4-issue limited series" someday.

Incidentally, did anyone else notice Scorponoks spindly green legs in that panel where Grimlock's is down? Cause I didn't. When I said Scorpy is on his way back most likely, I was just speculating. Turns out the dude is actually in the issue, which I missed somehow. See, getting old. Can't read a Marvel TF comic like I could back in my younger years.

inflatable dalek · Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 10:40 pm

I want to do a proper lengthy thoughtful reply Shanti's post, so I'm going to need more than the phone keyboard I have here to do it on. If I haven't done so by Tuesday, someone kick me via this thread to remind me.

I may have forgotten what I was going to say by then and reduce it to "No... YOUR MAMMA!!!!!" levels though.

I was standing behind both Furman and Roberts at the bar earlier though. Who wants to touch me?

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:01 am

Yaya wrote:Incidentally, did anyone else notice Scorponoks spindly green legs in that panel where Grimlock's is down? Cause I didn't. When I said Scorpy is on his way back most likely, I was just speculating. Turns out the dude is actually in the issue, which I missed somehow. See, getting old. Can't read a Marvel TF comic like I could back in my younger years.

Argh! Can't believe I missed that! I've just had to go and fetch the comic from the other room, and yes, despite reading this thing four or five times, I didn't see that once. *slaps forehead*

inflatable dalek wrote:I was standing behind both Furman and Roberts at the bar earlier though. Who wants to touch me?

Pretty cool. I bought Simon a pint at FCBD, he's very good company

[edit] Just thought - if you get the chance, could you ask one of them to go on the record as to which one is Rack and which one is Ruin? I only ask as it's come up on the wiki lately and I can't find a canon source for it anywhere...

Post by **Kaylee** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:11 am

Snaffled and read

I thought Grimlock was pretty spot-on. I must confess that I've missed the great lemon over the years, it's great to have him back.

The artwork is... peculiar. Some of it is great, some of it is worse than amateurs on DeviantArt. I don't really know enough about it to comment what the cause is, although I think the colouring style may have a lot to answer for.

Again, the comic has managed to shock me by just how monstrous Megatron is to labotomise his own troops.

That said my biggest gripe is that the world has been destroyed and the Autobots... don't really care. Apart from feeling a bit "d'oh! We were in charge of that, weren't we?" they're basically breezing past it like they spilt red wine on their favourite shirt. Ho hum, we can always buy another!

Unless the grieving for Earth is going to happen when Prime finds out... he won't be pleased. Not. One. Bit.

Post by **Best First** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:15 am

ID is just channelling his inner Yaya.

I think the Mccca analgy is a bag of spanners myself - what? have Furman's writing chords become strained? It's more of what we loved, but some of our tastes have moved on or refined. In Macca's case he's faded. In this case some of us (not me i might add) seem to have moved on a bit.

Also it really is worth re-iterating, if it were 18 months ago and Costa was still churning out churn, we would be building cathedrals in praise of this.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:22 am

Karl wrote:That said my biggest gripe is that the world has been destroyed and the Autobots... don't really care. Apart from feeling a bit "d'oh! We were in charge of that, weren't we?" they're basically breezing past it like they spilt red wine on their favourite shirt. Ho hum, we can always buy another!

Unless the grieving for Earth is going to happen when Prime finds out... he won't be pleased. Not. One. Bit.

Well Kup got to do a bit of agonising in this issue, but as for the others - well, they're Wreckers, aren't they? Not the kind of bots to go in for soul-searching or self-loathing imo, and rightly more concerned with the immediate threat of Megatron and his zombie horde.

Plus, as far as we know, none of them have ever even been to Earth before - in US continuity we saw Broadside on the moon (edited to be a generic in the UK version) and Sandstorm did show up on the Ark once, to join Blaster's mutiny against Grimlock, but that was when it was in space. There's no reason to assume that any of them apart from Kup feel that much responsibility for the place.

Post by **Kaylee** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 8:39 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:
Karl wrote:That said my biggest gripe is that the world has been destroyed and the Autobots... don't really care. Apart from feeling a bit "d'oh! We were in charge of that, weren't we?" they're basically breezing past it like they spilt red wine on their favourite shirt. Ho hum, we can always buy another!

Unless the grieving for Earth is going to happen when Prime finds out... he won't be pleased. Not. One. Bit.
Well Kup got to do a bit of agonising in this issue, but as for the others - well, they're Wreckers, aren't they? Not the kind of bots to go in for soul-searching or self-loathing imo, and rightly more concerned with the immediate threat of Megatron and his zombie horde.

Plus, as far as we know, none of them have ever even been to Earth before - in US continuity we saw Broadside on the moon (edited to be a generic in the UK version) and Sandstorm did show up on the Ark once, to join Blaster's mutiny against Grimlock, but that was when it was in space. There's no reason to assume that any of them apart from Kup feel that much responsibility for the place.

Hm, I understand what you're saying but I'm not feeling it: before Megsyboo attacked they had just landed on a planet which used to have 4,000,000,000 inhabitants and find it a dead mudball. They've seen learnt it was tortured by Megatron for over 20 years.

I accept they're all SpecialOps equivalent, ie double-hard bastards, but they're also the Autobots who, in theory, are meant to value life. I'd think 4 billion deaths would mean something to them.

I've little doubt you're absolutely right about their motivations, but it makes the characters seem colder to me. I don't really like that Earth has gone byebye at all, but a little empathy from the main characters would make it feel more balanced.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 9:10 am

Karl wrote:I accept they're all SpecialOps equivalent, ie double-hard bastards, but they're also the Autobots who, in theory, are meant to value life. I'd think 4 billion deaths would mean something to them.

There's no denying the shocked/horrified expressions on their faces when they sent to probes down in issue #1, it's just that they don't get much time to even think about it before events overtake them. They're still Autobots, but as soldiers surviving the immediate situation (Megs, nukes, zombies) surely must take precedent.

Karl wrote:I've little doubt you're absolutely right about their motivations, but it makes the characters seem colder to me. I don't really like that Earth has gone byebye at all, but a little empathy from the main characters would make it feel more balanced.

Hence the Springer/Kup scene - Kup's mind is obviously reeling from the horror of it all, while Springer's basically blocked it out so that he can concentrate on the task in hand. I'm sure once Circuit Smasher gets to tell his story and OP gets his arse off Nova Point there'll be plenty of time for more agonising, guilt and grief

Post by **Kaylee** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 9:38 am

Metal Vendetta wrote:Hence the Springer/Kup scene - Kup's mind is obviously reeling from the horror of it all, while Springer's basically blocked it out so that he can concentrate on the task in hand. I'm sure once Circuit Smasher gets to tell his story and OP gets his arse off Nova Point there'll be plenty of time for more agonising, guilt and grief

I'm guessing that's where it's going. Prime is moralizer-in-chief, after all

Post by **snarl** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:02 pm

Karl wrote: I thought Grimlock was pretty spot-on. I must confess that I've missed the great lemon over the years, it's great to have him back.

The artwork is... peculiar. Some of it is great, some of it is worse than amateurs on DeviantArt. I don't really know enough about it to comment what the cause is, although I think the colouring style may have a lot to answer for.

This.

[composite word including 'f*ck'] me.

The "abysmal" / "haven't seen artwork this bad..." comments are for me ******* ridiculous. You might have noticed they've really got on my tits!

Go back and look at the old Wildman issues. The close ups were always mustard (I personally love the scruffy TF look) but often the wide angles did leave a bit to be desired.

I personally can overlook it, I often find the hyper detail in all panels a bit distracting. Case in point, Milne's stuff now he's toned it down is a lot less distracting. It's quality.

By coincidence I had a little look at TWW preview by Don, he hits it spot on there with the background / wide angle shots.