Transformers: Regeneration #89 Review (SPOILERS)

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:39 pm

Okay, so I guess we're about at the midway point, in the middle stages of this story.

Bored by the Hot Rod/Primus subplot. Bored by the Grimlock/Scorponok subplot. Intrigued by the Shockwave subplot. Intrigued by the Optimus subplot. So I guess there's some I like and some I don't.

Again the way the story is unfolding is painfully slow. I preferred the way Simon started this series, by just sticking with the whole Megatron subplot first, bringing it to conclusion whilst giving hints of other subplots to come. Now, we're just jumping around back a forth from subplot to subplot, a few panels of this one, a few panels of that. Shockwave...wakes up. Optimus...shoots a tree. Just really, really slow stuff.

It would be cool if Simon somehow ended this run by tying it into G2. But I guess that's not possible given Megatron never came back as a camouflaged G.I. tank. Still, I think it'd be nice if there was some sort of segway into G2. Then again, maybe it is possible Megatron could come back as that G2 tank?

While I want to see a Galvatron vs. Magnus battle, some of the retreading here kind of bores me. I really find the whole Primus origin thing old hat and the whole Grimlock not being accepted by his fellow Dinobots like in Maximum Dinobots a real bore. There's a lot to play with here, so it's kind of bothersome to not tap that potential to give us something new.

So yeah, some to like and some not to like. Oh, and I have no clue what happened there with Inferno and the Dinobots being freed of nucleon. Someone want to explain that to me?

Post by **snarl** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:53 am

I really liked this one, felt much more like it was in tune with the original run... I guess that could be because of the similarities with the end of of G1, i.e. it focussed on just few bots scampering around in the shadows trying to avoid getting a ******* shoeing.

Art more consistently good... colours... seem better. Don't know, can't put my finger on it, just liked them more.

I think one thing that might have been a problem for some with the art in the earlier issues is simply... how interesting can you make the ******* locations that the stories were set in?

One primary location: Nuclear baked Desert
Other primary location: Snow fields.

They're pretty ******* boring aren't they.

Death's Head · Post by **Death's Head** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:25 pm

The problem with the art for me is that it's got no sense of weight or solidity behind it. I'm a huge fan of Wildman's work from back in the day, especially with Baskerville on inks - I loved the detail he put into things. I know one of the criticisms of his work was that the robots came off looking a bit like men in suits, but for me his art was the closest we got at the time to 'realistic' TF art, as opposed to the (beautiful) stylisation of someone like Senior.

Particular highlights were the Shockwave/Scorponok brawl and the Fort Max/Galvatron fight, but really all of his work towards the end of the run was great. In fact, even going all the way back to Time Wars part 1 you can see a sharpness to his lines.

Now, though? The detail is gone. Everyone looks even more flimsy. Perspective and proportions are all over the shop. Looking at Wildman's website, he's clearly still got it so I have no idea why this work is coming out so sloppy. Right now Guido Guidi's covers do a better job of aping Wildman's latter-era work than Wildman himself!

And I haven't even mentioned the god-awful colouring. Is this the same IDW that is doing such a bang-up job with MTMTE's colours?

(Mind you, having got that rant out of the way, this issue was much, much better - even if Galvatron has been standing in front of a monitor for three issues, Starscream is...well, who knows? And Prime has spent several issues driving down a motorway...).

Post by **Kaylee** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:09 pm

I'd agree with you all on this. It is a step up, things are now happening and the art is better.

I still feel like the art is being phoned in badly in places- Sludge at one point looked like a badger!

The plot is still going round in circles IMO, though.

Skorpashnook is blah blah blahing about his moronic plan to turn everyone into baddies through the use of canyons and magic. Grimlock is trying to remember why he's in this story. Galvatron seems to be playing a very intense game of Tetris and Prime is driving round and round the same rocky hill, playing the world's smallest violin and staring intensely at his naval (or whatever USB socket he has there).

Oh and Starscream appears to have pissed off to start a family with the remains of Megatron.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:26 am

This series certainly isn't showcasing the best of Furman, for sure, which is what I was kind of hoping for. I'm trying to determine whether it's simply that I've grown since G1 was cancelled that it seems too slow and plodding, or that's it's simply not as good.

My conclusion is that it's just simply not as good. To have the Dinobots fight Grimlock again, because of Scorponok again, can only come across as lazy. Unless Simon's suffering a bout of amnesia and doesn't recall Maximum Dinobots.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:45 am

This is starting to feel like the hobbit to me.
It's making all the right noises in all the right places but something isn't quite right...

Hot Shot · Post by **Hot Shot** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:49 pm

Is it wrong that I really don't care about this anymore? I'm not in any rush to get the current issue, and I keep forgetting it even exists. I don't think it's much better than the last season of Prime, and I stopped watching that halfway through. And that was also free...

But I'd hate to drop the series. I supported the movement to get it made, after all. Then again, it isn't what I wanted anymore, and if I had to chose between this or G2 I'd pick G2.

Post by **Kaylee** » Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:18 pm

I think that this series biggest problem is MTMTE.

Simon is trying to re-hash a story he was writing 25 years ago that, at the time, was just a dayjob and has since turned into his only real success. Andrew has lot of stuff on the go, this is just like a running hobby to him. The colours are a throwback to how they used to look 25 years ago.

More than that, MTMTE has pushed the bar very, very high:

Believable, likable characters
Nods and in-jokes that only someone reading Simon's stuff from 1989 would know
Beautiful art that draws on 20 years of Manga, Gundam and profound evolutions in Western comics
A story that is written by not only a great writer, a young man who loves this franchise the same way we do.

It's almost the difference between letting a dedicated, talented Ghostbusters lover write a new movie, and getting Ramis, Ackroyd et al to do it.

It's not that we wouldn't love the original Egon, Ray, Winston and Peter... it's just we've had years of high expectations, maturing tastes and a bar consistently pushed higher. They'd be returning to continue something that they just can't continue any more because its time has passed.

In the same way, I feel bad about not loving Regen 1. It's everything we wanted... three years ago. It's not moved on in any way: the art is 25 years out of date, and not in a good way. The story is continuing a plodding, sporadic and conflicting set of characters. It's exactly a continuation of G1... and unfortunately... that... sort of... sucks.

I don't think that maybe makes a lot of sense... but then I have been drinking.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:52 pm

But I think there is inherent weakness in this, all things aside which you mentioned. The storytelling just isn't, I don't know...right? It's coming off as a bit boring, as Hot Shot states, not because it's a continuation of 1980's G1 but because the writing just isn't that exciting.

Focusing so much on Grimlock and the Dinobots IMO is a mistake, one that Simon finds nearly impossible not to make because of his extreme love of the characters. I mean we get it. Simon loves the Dinobots. And he got his chance to feature them in an entire miniseries! So far, there's been nothing new or interesting added to their characters, yet they've tended to get most of the screen time.

Let's face it, in the old Marvel run, the Decepticons were far, far more interesting and compelling than any of the Autobots. Scorponok was a favorite because of his inner conflict. Here, he's just a crazy bot with a crazy ass plan and shows no real relation to the "I done good" Scorpy. For most of this series, Starscream has been a zombie and Soundwave's done nothing of repute except cowtail to Bludgeon, Thunderwings in pieces, Shockwave's been catatonic, and Galvatron's been lurking in the shadows. And we're halfway done!

It's not boring because it's G1 continued. It's boring because the writing's not really taking off as expected. I think we're headed to some fine moments, but it's taken too long to get here and we've lost reader's interest along the way.

This may sound crazy, but I still think if they had gone with the old "pixelated dot" throwback coloring scheme, like they did in that RID annual, it'd be better received.

Post by **Kaylee** » Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:31 am

I'm sure you're right

Post by **snarl** » Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:20 pm

At times, it's really decompressed, e.g. Prime driving down that road, Galvy standing in front of the ******* telly etc.

It's not utter cock per se. The writing isn't bad (imo). Stuff does happen. But when these little detours occur, it seriously grates, and it makes it feel like it isn't.

Then on the one hand you've got stuff taking place at break neck speed on Cybertron, where a lot seems to be happening off panel...

Which exacerbates the decompressed other parts... you jump to the Ark where Galvatron is watching Coronation street, inner monologuing about Michael Le Vell being a nonce...

Anyway, dare I say it, sometimes I find the writing is a bit self indulgent.

There are good ideas, but I think the execution could be better, starting with the pacing issues (which I find somewhat jarring). I don't have a problem jumping to Galvatron for a page or two per se, but there needs to be more than just him standing around mumbling the same stuff.

Shanti418 · Post by **Shanti418** » Tue Mar 19, 2013 6:07 pm

I think everyone is right, but mostly Karl.

The main problem is the melodrama and plodding of Simon. It would be OK, but......

Before, the Scorpy story might have been done in a few months. Now it's a plot of varying importance stretching out over the requiste 6+ issues. Simon's scripting has never been Bendisy - even the Matrix Quest was like several small stories tangentially related - and now he hasn't changed his pacing at all despite now being in the TPB era

There is absolutely no characterization, IMO. Everything works because we already "know" Grimlock, Starscream, Shockwave, Optimus, etc. It works, but it still comes off as superficial and leads the reader to focus on how the pieces are being moved around instead of the pieces themselves. And as we've mentioned, the movement of the pieces is cliche and clunky.

I really don't think the art has much to do with it. Sure, something a bit more retro would have been nice, but to me, I'm just not feeling the scale of these things. Underbase/Matrix Quest/Unicron/even #80 felt bigger, more important. That's why Megatron and Earth was initially interesting, but then it was just a handful of zombiebots fighting a handful of Autobots in "random desert scenery" I mean, wouldn't have it been more cool to directly echo Rhythms of Darkness?

In sum, it's too bad Inflatable Dalek doesn't post anymore, because I think NOW we've finally taken off our rose-colored glasses, have given up on this thing ever picking up steam, and are ready to be coldly objective and detached about ReGen. And yes, MTMTE makes it looks worse and it would look better if it was coming out next to Costaformers, but even comparing ReGen to G2 and Marvel 70-80, it's just not up to snuff.

Yaya · Post by **Yaya** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:57 pm

Well said, I find that analysis three-fourths right. Karl is two-thirds right. I'm half-right and Snarlz is never wrong.

Post by **snarl** » Wed Mar 20, 2013 3:25 pm

Shanti418 wrote:I'm just not feeling the scale of these things. Underbase/Matrix Quest/Unicron/even #80 felt bigger, more important. That's why Megatron and Earth was initially interesting, but then it was just a handful of zombiebots fighting a handful of Autobots in "random desert scenery" I mean, wouldn't have it been more cool to directly echo Rhythms of Darkness?

In sum, it's too bad Inflatable Dalek doesn't post anymore, because I think NOW we've finally taken off our rose-colored glasses, have given up on this thing ever picking up steam, and are ready to be coldly objective and detached about ReGen. And yes, MTMTE makes it looks worse and it would look better if it was coming out next to Costaformers, but even comparing ReGen to G2 and Marvel 70-80, it's just not up to snuff.

Scale point is I think one I was trying to make earlier. I fully agree. In fact i was actually thinking about Rhythms as well.

ID left? Oh well. Thing is, don't think there was rose tinting really. He just used to say the book was crap every week and people took issue with this as it clearly isn't... It's a case of "we like it, we think it could be better, but we like it..." which I'm sticking too, although as many have already pointed out, with MTMTE out there and really hitting highs, it both makes this look worse than it is as well as makes it a bit forgettable the longer it continues to not be amazing.

G2 was mustard though, and imo is somewhat better than Regen - That comparison for me is a bigger problem than how it stacks up to MTMTE.

Death's Head · Post by **Death's Head** » Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:20 am

G2 had energy to it, though. It brought new things to the table, unlike Regen which just seems to be treading water. A shame, as there was so much goodwill in the fandom towards, not just the comic, but Furman himself - especially after his work for IDW's own continuity was practically ripped up and thrown away (bar references from Nick and James).