MTMTE #38

[Professor Smooth]

...

****. Yes.

[Computron]

This issue really deserved to be released much more promptly after 37 came out.

In any case, this is yet another issue that demands several re-readings in concert with earlier issues. It's packed with so many call-backs, references, and hints both subtle and overt.

But what really makes it brilliant is that it is a climax that doesn't fall back on the trope of "Epic final battle." Instead it was a character study (which is true to the series to be fair) in why things happen(ed).

We get Brainstorm arguably committing a highly self-less act to save billions of lives, while Whirl gets his vengeance knowing that it will be at a cost that is almost incalculable.

Interestingly, Megatron's body is made at a Con' facility, but technically speaking, isn't a Con himself.

Then of course that whole business with Rung at the end.

Mysteries that yet remain:

Cyberutopia - We still don't know where exactly Skids went to back during Tyrests' rampage.

Rung - Obvious questions remain.

So good. All of it.

[Metal Vendetta]

I've really enjoyed this issue. I can't help thinking that it went one coincidence too many - perhaps when Cyclonus created the Sparkeater, or when Rodimus created the Lost Light's legendary quantum engines simply as a by-product of trying to return to their own time - but I suppose Roberts is only going to do one great epic time-travelling through established history and I can understand him wanting to squeeze in as many nods as he can.

Loved that Brainstorm being a Decepticon was basically irrelevant. Not sure I'm entirely sold on Rewind's motivation though, I mean, yeah DJD and all that but he's the one who knew most about the Functionist universe and... yeah now I think about it he got to spend four million years with Dominus Ambus even if it did end tragically, I can see why he'd choose that over being forced to record Domey and everyone he knew being horrifically slaughtered. Be interesting to see if he knows that Magnus is his former brother-in-endura or whatever they call it once all the dust settles. Can't say that I've ever noticed them interact much before... damn, another reason to reread everything again.

Whirl's just great in this, not only is he screwed up because he's responsible for turning Megatron to the dark side, he's now also the one who saved his life and gave him superpowers. He also saved the universe, or at least our version of it, which means Megatron has always been from the future. No wonder his insides are a mess of black holes. I still wonder what happened to Whirl's arm and whether we'll see it again at some point.

Tailgate being the origin of the message was maybe another case of perhaps tying everything up a bit too neatly but it was nicely handled - I liked the way everyone chipped in with a "don't" and Cyclonus's reaction was perfect. Cyclonus throughout was kind of awesome, though I wouldn't have thought of him as a Back to the Future fan before now. I sometimes have trouble getting a handle on Cyclonus as he seems to have some odd mood swings but I do find it helps if I think of him as basically Worf and it all makes sense. Which is more than I can say about Riptide. What's the deal with Riptide, anyway? He's like this character who's been just offscreen throughout all of G1, he would even have been a big part of the first series of MTMTE if only he hadn't got into that fight and everyone seems familiar with him, but in terms of character I just keep drawing a blank. He seems cool but he hasn't really done much of anything yet, so I can't tell if he's just a redshirt or vital to the plot, or what. He's there, there's no denying that, but I'm still not sure quite where he fits into it all.

And now we have another clue as to Rung's altmode... gah, I'm going to have to reread everything again again...

[Best First]

i bought about 20 comics yesterday.

And then just reread this over and over again.

Agree about the abundamce of tidyness, which felt very unusual for MTMTE - to be fair some of these threads, such as the origin of the spark eater, were not that consequential and as said this is Roberts one chance to tie these things up.

Absolutely loved Brainstorm. And Megatron. And Cyclonus. And Perceptor. And etc.

My only slight chide would be that everyone seemed to accept Whirl's actions verry readily having previoulsy come to the conclusion that Rewind's arguement was sound.

Best bit - next time someone mentions the words Megatron and Origins in the same breath this is the story i will think of.

Now if we can just get a less angst inducing release schedule...

[Impactor returns 2.0]

Can someone explain the rung bit, I'm soo confused.

And elated, God this is an awesome comic.

The but where perceptor is explains to roddy the risks of his plan, roddy I'd like Yeah whatever..

[Metal Vendetta]

Can someone explain the rung bit, I'm soo confused.

No-one knows what Rung turns into. Or at least they know that he turns into something, but they don't know what it's for. In the past, this proved problematic for the Functionists and so they created a whole new category just for Rung - that of "ornament" (all established in MTMTE #22, "Little Victories"). In the Functionist Universe, Rung has obviously become some kind of figurehead for rebellion against their oppressive order - we saw a female protester cosplaying as Rung in MTMTE #35, "The Custom-Made Now", where she tore out her own Transformation Cog and shouted "All hail the Useless One!" before being killed by a Functionary. As it turns out, in this universe the Functionist Council have had Rung locked up for the past two million years, torturing him every day while they try to work out what he turns into. As we saw this issue, the janitor figured it out while cleaning Rung's cell and it's the last thing the Functionists want, so One-of-Twelve was going to shoot Rung, but Rung told him that killing him would just be the beginning of the end.

[Optimus Prime Rib]

Rung turns into the Matrix

[Yaya]

Nice issue, but over my head a bit, mainly because to get the full impact and understanding of it all, you would have had to reread most of MTMTE six times over. That, or be MV, who seems to have a waaaaaaaay better handle on things than I do. And this bothers me. I don't like to think of MV as having some sort of intellectual superiority over me, so I'm just going to chalk it up to his just loving this **** more than I do.

Also, trying to sort through the whole space-time physics of time travel has always given me a headache, and this is no different.

Despite all that, I was hooked from start to finish. Whether I got it all or not, the fact that I enjoyed it speaks volumes as to what MTMTE has to offer. If you want something that pushes the bounderies of scientific understanding, it's there. If you want a story that feels epic, it's there. If you want good characterization, it's there. If you want humor, it's (definitely) there. The whole Back to the Future scene and the crews comments about it were hilarious.

I will admit though I'd be happy to movie away now from the time travel thing now. I'm not too keen on there being another continuity in play either because, when you think about it, it takes away from the weight of events in the primary continuity. For example, if a character dies, now there's always going to be the chance he can be swiped from the alternate reality.

Looking forward to getting back to those bastards DJD and I've been waiting for the Scavengers and Grimlock for ages it seems like.

Speaking of Grimlock, I just finished Monstrosity and thought it was great! Autocracy, not at all. But Monstrosity was actually quite a fun read, and relevent in history building of important characters like Prime, Dai Atlast, Megatron, Scorponok, and Grimlock. I recommend it for those who want a bit more handle on important events, like the departure of the Circle of Light and Prime's antagonistic relationship with Dai Atlas, and Prime's first interaction with Grimlock and the Dynobots.

[Impactor returns 2.0]

Cheers MV that sorted out all the odds and ends in my head nicely.

And if rung does turn into the matrix, that would be awesome.

That or unicorn.

[Computron]

The Functionists fear self-determination over "assigned" jobs.

Thus, whatever Rung turns into, has to threaten that directly.

I think OPRib is on the right track, but I don't think it is the Matrix. Rather, Rung is probably a key. As in a Key to Vector Sigma. Or something that can fundamentally change what a TF is or does.

We already know there are "load-bearer" sparks. What if Rung turns into a transformation cog of sorts? Someone who can transform others?

[Metal Vendetta]

Rung transforms into hope.

[Metal Vendetta]

I don't like to think of MV as having some sort of intellectual superiority over me, so I'm just going to chalk it up to his just loving this **** more than I do.

Heh, it's mainly because I write a lot of this stuff up for tfwiki so I tend to read each issue over and over searching for references to Functionist classes, pop culture references and the many, many, many, minor characters that Roberts creates for each issue. Someone's got to keep track of it all. Did you know when Zulu appeared in MTMTE it was almost exactly 50 years since its first screening? I had no idea, and I don't know if Roberts does either, so I left it out :/ But yeah, I'm kind of all over this ****.

[Professor Smooth]

If Minimus Ambus can bear the load of another Minimus Ambus *and* the Magnus armor...

And Rung spotted that right away...

And a lowly janitor recognized the thing that Rung turn into, straight off, but the "elite" missed it for millions of years...

You know, I can't imagine the elites are paying tribute to their fallen friends with that innermost emerging ritual. So they may not be all that familiar with things like spark casings.

Prediction: Rung turns into the very center of Unicron's spark casing.

[Computron]

If Minimus Ambus can bear the load of another Minimus Ambus *and* the Magnus armor...

And Rung spotted that right away...

And a lowly janitor recognized the thing that Rung turn into, straight off, but the "elite" missed it for millions of years...

You know, I can't imagine the elites are paying tribute to their fallen friends with that innermost emerging ritual. So they may not be all that familiar with things like spark casings.

Prediction: Rung turns into the very center of Unicron's spark casing.

I dont think Roberts would do a Unicron story tho. Its been done so many times.

[Optimus Prime Rib]

I was actually kidding, but that is usually when I am at my smartest.

Other ideas:

Roller is to Tarn as Rung is to Kaon

[bumblemusprime]

Unicron would be cool as a kind of virus, or apocalyptic cult. If IDW ever does Unicron it needs to be Grant Morrison levels of different.

[Professor Smooth]

Everyone gets Rung's name wrong. How about "Ring", as one the thing surrounding Unicron?

[Bumblebot]

Rung turns into a unicorn. And any TFs feeling a bit down get to chase him until they feel better.

[Yaya]

I don't like to think of MV as having some sort of intellectual superiority over me, so I'm just going to chalk it up to his just loving this **** more than I do.

Heh, it's mainly because I write a lot of this stuff up for tfwiki so I tend to read each issue over and over searching for references to Functionist classes, pop culture references and the many, many, many, minor characters that Roberts creates for each issue. Someone's got to keep track of it all. Did you know when Zulu appeared in MTMTE it was almost exactly 50 years since its first screening? I had no idea, and I don't know if Roberts does either, so I left it out :/ But yeah, I'm kind of all over this ****.

You write the TFWiki? Then I'm your big fan, cause I've been all over that site this week trying to brush up on everything. It's a HUGE help In keeping it all together. In fact, it's so helpful I found myself thinking Roberts might be the one to himself updating it.

[Metal Vendetta]

You write the TFWiki? Then I'm your big fan, cause I've been all over that site this week trying to brush up on everything. It's a HUGE help In keeping it all together. In fact, it's so helpful I found myself thinking Roberts might be the one to himself updating it.

Well I'm just one of many contributors, there are people out there who do a lot more than me... but chances are, if you find yourself on a page about a minor MTMTE character, it's one of mine

[Impactor returns 2.0]

Rung can't be primus can he?

[Professor Smooth]

Rung can't be primus can he?

Maybe a piece of a larger whole...

Drift would have a FIT.

[Yaya]

Rung turns into the Matrix

That'd be pretty cool actually. Or the key to Vector Sigma.

[Metal Vendetta]

Well I've been speculating that he's the key to something for ages, but Vector Sigma seems a bit obvious, plus it doesn't really have any history within the IDWverse.

I'm fairly sure that whatever it is, it's got to be relevant to MTMTE or at least something that's already established as part of the status quo, otherwise when the big reveal comes it won't have that forehead-slapping "How did I not see that?" moment.

[Bumblebot]

Rung turns into a briefcase.

[Metal Vendetta]

There's a really good thread on Rung's altmode here... have to say I think Paulbot's pretty close on this.

[bumblemusprime]

Rung turns into a briefcase.

What was in the case?

I never asked.

[Impactor returns 2.0]

I think paulbot might have it!

Same colour and all....

[Professor Smooth]

What issue did Brainstorm get the spark in?

[bumblemusprime]

What issue did Brainstorm get the spark in?

19?

Someone pointed out to James on Twitter that Brainstorm carried it for... ready for this... nine months.

That can't be in real time, though. It would have to be in the comic.