new "Transformers '84" series announced

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Shockwave
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by Shockwave »

Just read issue 3 and it was a frustrating read. None of this was necessary and this one actually directly contradicts things already established by Furman himself. I dunno, I'm giving this one more issue but if that turns out as bad as this, I might be out.
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by Dominic »

Even of Furman "needs" to fill in (non-existing) gaps, he could do so without over-writing or as much back-writing.

He could have done something quick and simple about why Red Alert never showed up in the US comic, rather than the fanfic-grade scat-fight he wrote in issue 3.
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by Dominic »

Even of Furman "needs" to fill in (non-existing) gaps, he could do so without over-writing or as much back-writing.

He could have done something quick and simple about why Red Alert never showed up in the US comic, rather than the fanfic-grade scat-fight he wrote in issue 3.
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by Ursus mellifera »

So I just caught up with this series, and it bothers me, and I figured out that's because it reads like a fan-fic to me; particularly the kind of convoluted, gritty fan-fic that a teenager would write about a series he enjoyed when he was younger, but has grown out of, and is trying to make "kewl." It comes across as forced to me. Forced, and awkward.

The art is still killer, though. Amazing art.
Check it out, a honey bear! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by Shockwave »

In the latest issue, I mostly object to the retcon for Ultra Magnus. Did he really need Ultra Magnus there? I agree with Honey Bear, it's fanficy. He's there because it's kewl to have those three Autobot leaders squaring off against those three Decepticons. :roll: Then, he mentions a continuity error with Cyclonus and Scourge being Decepticons prior to the events of Transformers: The Movie. This isn't a contradition, since it's a different continuity. And, even though the UK Continuity does reference the events of the movie, there's so much time travel that it could still be explained by "different continuity". Again, I'm giving this one more issue and after that we'll see.
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by Dominic »

It turns out that "Transformers '84" is a four issue series, which was enough to convince me to pick up issue 3.

The thing that jumps out (beyond my previous flip-through) is Star Saber retreating, less than a page after promising to fight to the end.

Furman is not even trying anymore. Frankly, I hope this series is his swan-song. He has had over 30 years and more chances to come back than most people get to start.

He needs to stop writing. He is embarrassing himself and bringing the hobby down.
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issue 4

Post by Dominic »

Transformers '84 #4:

Over the previous 4 issues (0-3), this series has gotten consistently worse. And, in that respect, Furman meets expectations.

Furman's ending to this series is a bit more offensively stupid that the comics leading up to it.

The opening page is Punch (as narrator) promising that not all stories have real endings, and the closing page is...an ending. It is not a purposeful or graceful ending. But, it is an ending.

The ending actually manages to fail on multiple levels. As bad as the rest of the series has been, Furman managed to contrive ways for it to "fit" with the original series (similar to the old UK filler comics). But, Furman does not even try to do the work of a competent hack with the last page. He does not even manage basic clarity about what happens. (Figuring it out would require more effort than Furman was willing to put into this series.)

As ever, Furman's self-congratulatory end notes are the best part.

One gem was his dismissal of questions about Scourge and Cyclonus appearing in the third issue by drawing distinctions between the US and UK runs, right after he justified/bragged about mixing US and UK elements in the fourth issue.

But, the real diamond-hard turd of a gem in this barbed-wire crown of a series was Furman bragging about how he resolved his sub-plot with the conehead Decepticons, when it was his idea to include them in a story that did not need to be told.

Let me restate the above: Furman actually bragged about planning the end of a sub-plot that he wrote. This does not account for that sub-plot being utterly pointless, or the other dangling threads Furman neglected to account for. But, yeah, he planned an ending (however ineptly).


But, the art is really pretty. Not just the pencils, colors and inks. The breakdowns. In all seriousness, I want to give points for that.

The visuals for this series were brilliant, every badly written issue.
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by Ursus mellifera »

I read this whole series, because the art is beautiful. It's everything I want in the current ongoing series, except with better colors.

I couldn't bring myself to read Furman's notes. Are you telling me that he wants credit for ending a story he began? Is this what it's come to?
Check it out, a honey bear! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by andersonh1 »

I put this on my pull list, STILL have never seen anything in my local comic shop other than the 1st issue (and there are still copies of issue #1 on the shelf, but nothing else). Guess when it's collected at some point I may get to read it and form an opinion....
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Re: new "Transformers '84" series announced

Post by Shockwave »

For me, the biggest thing I feel about this is the same way I feel about the Star Wars Story movies: They're unnecessary. I didn't need a movie explaining how the Rebels got the Death Star plans. I didn't need a movie explaining Han Solo's Kessel run. But, they were entertaining movies. This series is exactly that, but not nearly as entertaining and the self congratulatory and referential notes read like bad fanfic. The art is beautiful, but this is one of the worst TF comics I've ever read, and one of the few that I was actually going to drop if it continued to be an ongoing series. And if I'M going to drop a TF book, you know you done fucked it up.
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