Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Ancillary, non-main-line stuff. Star Wars TF, Speed Stars, Titanium Series, Robot Heroes, that sort of thing. They're kinda neat, but we all know they're not really that important. Admit it, you know it's true.
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BWprowl
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by BWprowl »

Sparky Prime wrote:Apparently Alpha Trizer is Cheetor in the "Wings" universe, after he's all grown up and takes on the role of Alpha Trion. Can't say that's what I had expected at all...
You know, that's actually kind of neat. I've always been interested in What Happened To Cheetor after Beast Machines, what kind of leadership role he grew into and if he became a Prime or anything like that (Rodimus Primal?), so seeing this as the end-result of the character is kind of a cool-

Wait a minute. Are they, is FunPub trying to make their stupid Wings Universe THE G1 continuity that Beast Wars/Beast Machines officially follows?

Never mind. Fuck them and every stupid idea they've ever had.
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by Onslaught Six »

I don't think that applies. I think BW conceivably follows from "any" G1, and by extension, "all" G1s.

They've also said the Wings universe basically exists because then they can put whatever trash they want in.
BWprowl wrote:The internet having this many different words to describe nerdy folks is akin to the whole eskimos/ice situation, I would presume.
People spend so much time worrying about whether a figure is "mint" or not that they never stop to consider other flavours.
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by JediTricks »

Onslaught Six wrote:I don't think that applies. I think BW conceivably follows from "any" G1, and by extension, "all" G1s.

They've also said the Wings universe basically exists because then they can put whatever trash they want in.
BW as it stands can't follow ReG1, which is why ReG1 kinda made a left turn at the end to state something else related to it, as I understand it.
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by Dominic »

"ReGeneration One" specifically rules out BW by virtue of establishing that every Cybertronian is dead by the end. Botanica arguably shows up as a post-Cybertronian in a way that would rule out any permutation of "Beast Wars" or "Beast Machines" that has been shown before.
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by Dominic »

Lewis got his "Pirates v/s Knights" set last week. And, as usual, I read his copy of the comic.

I was not even able to get through the comic. Stylistically, it was a failed attempt at being "More than Meets the Eye" in terms of writing and art. But, nobody at Fun Publications has the talent/skill to pull it off. The art is muddled and the characters have obnoxious quirks for the sake of having obnoxious quirks. (Why is Tornado a mental defective? I dunno.) Besides Cheetor being revealed as Alpha Trion/Trizer/Shizer/whatever, the McGuffin is the Dark Matrix from....Omega Point. (Does this imply that Fun Publications is going to be wiping out their "Wings of Honour" timeline? Does anybody care?)

Let me restate: I was not able to get through this comic. I read "Countdown" from start to finish. I got through both of IDW's "Beast Wars" series. I have read most every other BotCon comic, aside from '05 and one or two of the 3H books.

"Pirates v/s Knights" is bad enought that I was unable to get through it. It is also likely to be the first BotCon comic I skip when it ships from Diamond in Q4. (As BotCon comics only come out once a year I generally order them out of a lingering completist reflex.) I am definitely not going to make a point of ordering it. If the shop orders it automatically and puts it in my pull-file, I will buy it out of obligation.


Grade:
Well, it is not fair to grade something that I could not get through. But, the fact I could not get through it should probably be a pretty good indicator of how bad it is.
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by BWprowl »

Having already heard about how bad this thing was, I've been eagerly looking forward to reading it, so thanks for reinforcing my interest, Dom! Can't seem to find a download for it anywhere either, so I might actually be going in for the Diamond edition when it comes out (whenever that is, I can't recall how their schedule works).

I'm impressed you didn't mention FP's hilarious indulgence of legacy numbering on this one, given I know how much of a pet-peeve that is for you.

I mainly want it after hearing about the ridiculous art throughout. Jiggling metal!
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by Dominic »

The "legacy numbering" is more a problem with comics than with any particular comic (even a bad one). It is so endemic to the industry, that there is hardly any reason to taking off points for it. I would prefer it be used consistently. But, I do not think anybody could come up with a book that is more than 5 years old that is using natural/legacy numbering.

Fun Publications is also milking the "legacy" angle for the convention as a whole, calling this the 20th Anniversary, despite the much hyped change in ownership in '04 (after Hallit lost the license). Technically, BotCon has been through several owners. The Hartmans were '94, '95 and '96 (with outside help from Raksha and MIB in the latter two years). Hallit joined up (creating 3H) in '97. Hallit's coup followed the '02 convention, leaving him in charge for '03 and the disaster of '04.

On paper, Fun Publications is actually the fourth owner of Botcon (following the Hartmans, 3H and Hallit solo).


As for the comic, a friend of mine is planning to get it post scans in the next week or so (assuming nobody beats him to it).
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by BWprowl »

So what was so bad about it, anyway? In your 'review' you don't even say what the comic was about, let alone what made it so problematic that you couldn't finish it, save for the fact that you, uh, couldn't.
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Re: Botcon 2014 discussion - Pirates vs Knights

Post by Dominic »

Both the writing and the art are terrible. Worse than average dialogue (likely a result of a failed attempt at duplicating "More then Meets the Eye") and art made it more difficult to read than it was worth.

As I said in my text (which most people here obviously would not have seen), I actually got through Scioli's comic, and we all know how bad that is.
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