Comics are awesome.

[Gomess]

Nobody knows what it is or what it does and it's changed hands quite a few times. I think there definately is a plan for it, but I think there's been so much other stuff going on that it just hasn't seen fruition yet.

Read: The writers haven't decided yet, but they know people like mystery. ;p I think the same guys might have worked on Lost.

[Dominic]

So no, it was his fault for not being consistent when he said he knew what had happened previously. And in my view, his "idea based story" was only halfway formed ideas, as everything pretty much fell flat (Prime's condition, the plot behind the Matrix, Megatron's plans and so on).

By "idea" I meant the concepts of lost leadership and direction along with "how bad it can get", the important stuff.

Giant robots having a brawl caught on video using technology clearly beyond our level that our military launched an attack on... It may not be a lot of information, but it's enough to come to a few pretty safe conclusions.

Look at any conspiracy theory relative to what is known about any news story. Look at levels of ignorance about "common" information. (This is probably getting into "Sparky was a crazy positive view of humanity" territory.)

look at Continuum.

No.

I'm still a bit incredulous that Andy Schmidt, who seems like a nice, concientious guy, thought letting each artist draw whichever character model they liked and not bother to be consistent with the character models of other artists was a good idea.

That may likely have come from a higher level than Schmidt though. If Hasbro wants IDW to be an incubator, then varying character models makes sense.

[andersonh1]

look at Continuum.

No.

I guess that was asking a bit much.

[Sparky Prime]

Not really. "Giant robots having a brawl" I agree with you on, but "technology clearly beyond our level"... the Machination know that, but they've had firsthand experience thanks to Scorponok. The military have some video to analyze. They really don't know very much at all, and "alien robots" is not going to be their first assumption. It just isn't.

The Transformers have energy based weapons and the Autobots escaped using their "orbital jump" transporter thing in that situation. Both are clearly beyond human technology. Not to mention the sophistication it would take to build giant robots that can move and transform like that.

By "idea" I meant the concepts of lost leadership and direction along with "how bad it can get", the important stuff.

How is that the "important stuff"? Do the Autobots really loose leadership? Doesn't seem like it to me, with Kup, Prowl and Jazz making up for it until Prime returns. And the Decepticons have Megatron until the end in which Starscream takes over. Direction? It's clear the Autobots can't do much of anything, save to hang on and hope for some sort of rescue. While the Decepticons we find out are actually directionless by design which actually means Megatron does have direction. I'll grant you "how bad can it get" but even this really falls flat with how the story plays out.

Look at any conspiracy theory relative to what is known about any news story. Look at levels of ignorance about "common" information. (This is probably getting into "Sparky was a crazy positive view of humanity" territory.)

Undoubtedly there would be a degree of conspiracy theories, especially with how little humans would know about the Transformers. But you don't give people enough credit, it's not reasonable to assume everyone would be so ignorant.

[Dominic]

I have met people who were unsure about who was running for president/veep in 2008. ("So, who is Palin? She is from Alaska, right?" I swear that I am not making this up.) Similarly, I know somebody who steadfastly refuses to believe in the possible degrees of human ignorance. I talk to him reguarly on this forum.

How is that the "important stuff"? Do the Autobots really loose leadership? Doesn't seem like it to me, with Kup, Prowl and Jazz making up for it until Prime returns. And the Decepticons have Megatron until the end in which Starscream takes over.

The events of a story are secondary to what the story is actually about. As I have said before, I do not care enough about real life events to follow them in detail. But, i care about what the big stuff means. (To use a current example: The exact location of North Korea's attack on the South is less important than what North Korea is actually trying to do. Are they posturing, or has the country lost it mind?)

Prowl and Jazz are not bad guys. And, they are good at their jobs. But, nobody listens to Prowl despite his intelligence. And, Jazz is a hell of a nice guy and a great tactician. But, he does not seem able to sell big ideas. Prime can do all of that and more. Starscream is not at all ready for leadership.

[Sparky Prime]

I have met people who were unsure about who was running for president/veep in 2008. ("So, who is Palin? She is from Alaska, right?" I swear that I am not making this up.) Similarly, I know somebody who steadfastly refuses to believe in the possible degrees of human ignorance. I talk to him reguarly on this forum.

Just because you personally know some people not up on political events, it does not speak for the degree of human ignorance as a whole. I mean really, there are plenty of people out there who hate and avoid politics. That doesn't mean they don't keep up with *other* current events.

The events of a story are secondary to what the story is actually about.

The events of the story is what the story is actually about.

Prowl and Jazz are not bad guys. And, they are good at their jobs. But, nobody listens to Prowl despite his intelligence. And, Jazz is a hell of a nice guy and a great tactician. But, he does not seem able to sell big ideas. Prime can do all of that and more.

Prowl, Kup and Jazz don't need to all of that here though. They just need to keep the Autobots from falling apart in a desperate situation, which they handle quite well given the circumstances.

Starscream is not at all ready for leadership.

Clearly, but that doesn't happen until the very end of AHM where it doesn't really matter to this story at all.

[Dominic]

Based on their poor showing in AHM, I would argue that Jazz, Prowl and Kup cannot keep the Autobots together under the circumstances. Keeping an eye on the long view, while safely navigating immediate situations and inspiring toops is exactly what a leader should be doing. None of the characters listed here can do all 3 of those things well enough to pick up the slack for Prime.

[Sparky Prime]

Based on their poor showing in AHM, I would argue that Jazz, Prowl and Kup cannot keep the Autobots together under the circumstances. Keeping an eye on the long view, while safely navigating immediate situations and inspiring toops is exactly what a leader should be doing. None of the characters listed here can do all 3 of those things well enough to pick up the slack for Prime.

Again, they didn't need to "pick up the slack for Prime". They were just trying to keep things together in a difficult situation as best they could until they could get Prime back on his feet. Which they did exactly that. Under the circumstances, they didn't do that bad.

[Dominic]

Ironhide beat the crap out of Mirage when they were in charge. That does not look like things were being held together. Kup even pointed out that things were going to get worse if they did not do something.

The events of the story is what the story is actually about.

But,the events serve to illustrate what the premise of the story is. For example, the important thing is not that Ironhide beat the crap out of Mirage, but what it shows about the Autobots' situation.

[Sparky Prime]

Ironhide beat the crap out of Mirage when they were in charge. That does not look like things were being held together. Kup even pointed out that things were going to get worse if they did not do something.

As I said, it was a difficult situation. There was bound to be short tempers that would boil over. But despite this, they held it together long enough for Prime to return and rally the troops. That's all they had to do.

But,the events serve to illustrate what the premise of the story is. For example, the important thing is not that Ironhide beat the crap out of Mirage, but what it shows about the Autobots' situation.

Events serve to tell the story in the first place not just a premise. You wouldn't have a story what so ever if nothing happened.