TF Views

Orange?

Dominic wrote:Okay, I really need to get back to stuff. But, real quick:

You keep trying, we'll just suck you back in. You know you can't stay away for long, baby.

The thing is that tactics in the comic do not come across as being all that bad. Would Cybertronians have social or legal "rules" against trickery and subterfuge in battle? (All evidence, sarcastic and earnest, points to "no".)

Exactly. Hell, they use 'underhanded' subterfuge and trickery in their *very first appearance* in the show, in a manner similar to the comic, IE: to motivate their opponent to underestimate the threat they pose. It's almost as if they're being portrayed *gasp!* consistently!

Aside from "Universe", Stryka and Obsidian were portrayed as "loyal to Cybertron" and its rulers. They were loyal to institutions, not principles.

Universe Obsidian always struck me as a spiritual successor to Shockwave, down to the color scheme: He deposed Megatron not out of ambition, but because he saw Megatron as flawed and himself as a more logical choice for ruling and 'protecting' Cybertron. That he was paired up with Tankorr, who came to that same conclusion in the proper Beast Machines cartoon continuity, only reinforces that. So even in that situation, Obsidian would still be considered 'loyal to an insitution', to the point that his loyalty to Cybertron usurped even Megatron's ownership of it.

That alternate BM timeline was one of the only interesting things to come out of Universe, I would've loved to see them explore it more, somehow. How does Nemesis Strika fit in there, was she just, like, an enforcer for Tankorr and Obsidian or something?

Fun Publications is getting that much right. And, again, they were not shown doing anything *that* awful. Walky is just being a complaining complainer who likes to complain.

Walky (to what little credit I can give him) did point out that there are decent real-world reasons to not dress up like noncombatants to get the jump on your enemy; specifically so that said enemy doesn't start shooting random civilians under the assumption they might be you. However, this handily ignores two things: The Decepticons are already acknowleged as being wont to attack civilians (from what I understand, Obsidian expresses surprise that Thundercracker lets the group get as close to him as he does without attacking them), and that Obsidian and Strika, pragmatic and devoted to military success that they are, probably don't give two squirts about the wellbeing of civilians. Which again, is kind of the point of their portrayal.

But yeah, what's really going on here is that Walky saw an opportunity to loudly whore for attention, and took it. And here we are, part of the problem!

And, in Walky's personal canon, Blastcharge is a Decepticon, not an Autobot and.... Yeah, Walky's Blastcharge is a waste of a perfectly good customizing figure. (Granted, those are less scarce this year, but.....)

From what I understand, there *is* apparently some alternative canonical basis for Blastcharge having originally been a Decepticon, but who knows.

Shockwave wrote:Orange?

Part of Willis's carefully-crafted marketable public persona is his fetishization of the color orange.

I wonder if there's any clear line anymore where David Willis ends and 'Walky' begins...

Apparently, he is buying in to the idea that the RiD Combaticons were the Wreckers (based on the colours used for the current "Fall of Cybertron" Wreckers being a reference to 2001 Ruination).

*sigh* You know...

I mean, just...I get it. They used to be Autobots. That much is true. But then, who the fuck is Scourge?

I mean, okay. I did this once. I had fanon that Scourge was, in actuality, the original G1 Optimus Prime, having timetravelled or dimension hopped in a ship with five other dudes who I don't remember who they were, and that was why he ended up the way he did. The difference between me and Walky is, I was 12. When you're 12, that's an acceptable viewpoint. When you're 35? Not so much.

Prowl wrote:That alternate BM timeline was one of the only interesting things to come out of Universe, I would've loved to see them explore it more, somehow. How does Nemesis Strika fit in there, was she just, like, an enforcer for Tankorr and Obsidian or something?

I think she's from an unrelated universe, the "Nemesis" being that part of it. (Speaking of fanon, I had decided that every character with "Nemesis" in their name was controlled by a cyber-virus that was Unicron-originated. They were zombies. It made sense. I was 14.)

Part of Willis's carefully-crafted marketable public persona is his fetishization of the color orange.

I wonder if there's any clear line anymore where David Willis ends and 'Walky' begins...

Hey, it's like me!

Universe Obsidian always struck me as a spiritual successor to Shockwave...

Was it even that well thought out? I am pretty sure all we know is that Obsidian and Tankorr ousted Megatron and....not much else. "Universe" Stryka may or may not have been from their timeline.

*sigh* You know...

I mean, just...I get it. They used to be Autobots. That much is true. But then, who the fuck is Scourge?

I have a TF2K Ruination that I am thinking of getting rid of, just to be ahead of the curve when Walky or somebody else at Fun Publications makes it official that they are/were Wreckers.


Dom

Lewis' BotCon haul shipped this week, and I had a chance to read through his copy of the comic last night.


Transformers Timelines #8 (Machine Wars: Termination):

This comic is better than average for Fun Publications, even putting aside two incidental (if very amusing) things. The first is the fact that "Machine Wars: Termination" provoked a fantrum from David Willis. That *is* pretty funny.

But, even funnier is the ad on the back cover. The main image in the add is a "crowd scene" consisting of many toys. More than a few of those toys are "third party" items of the sort that Hasbro tries to block the sale of, specifically at BotCon. In other words, an official "Transformers" comic, licensed and approved by Hasbro, has a prominent add that features items that are illegally competing with Hasbro.

On to the comic....

The art is a weird bastardization of Roche and G2. The line art (by Burcham) is very much influenced by Roche (or maybe "Animated"). But, the colouring and inking (done by guys whose names elude me) are more evokative of "Generation 2" or some of the darker UK books. The two styles do not mesh well and the end result does not fit well with the tone of the comic over-all. The robots look too organic and cartoony over-all. And, it is especially out of place given that the comic itself focuses on characters fighting a battle they are going to lose.

The writing is a mixed bag. Wittenrich has grown as a writer in the last few years. I recall seeing his name on a few things that were lacking a few years ago. But, if this issue is anything to go by, he has improved. The plot is pretty straight-forward (Autobots and Decepticons have to team up against a common foe). But, Wittenrich carries it off well enough. The biggest real problem with the writing is that this book is not at all self-contained. It continues out of the last year's newsletter comics, and ends with a pretty blatant "to be continued".

Normally, I am fine with comics that are not "done in one". But, in real terms, when this comes out as a mass market edition through Diamond, there will be no practical way for a new reader to get the rest of the comics. It is not reasonable to assume that a new/casual reader that picks "Machine Wars: Termination" up at a comic shop will go through the trouble and expense of joining the Fan Club and ordering back-issues. Similarly, it is not reasonable to expect a modern comic reader to subscribe to a newsletter to get a continuation of a story in a comic that effectively comes out once a year.


Willis's reaction to the scene with Obsidian was not only childish, it was based on a (likely deliberate) misreading. More than one Autobot is shown to be visibly squeamish about Styka and Obsidian's tactics. Wittenrich does a good job of portraying Obsidian as being an effective, albeit ruthless, General. At one point, Obsidian goes so far as to use prisoners (and his own troops) as bait. (He specifically mentions that the "Second Generation" Decepticons seem to care enough about their comrades to make such a tactic viable.) In "Beast Machines", Stryka and Obsidian were shown to be loyal to Cybertron. At the time the story is set (after the Autobots have retaken Cybertron), it makes sense for Obsidian to fight for the Autobots (who are more or less in charge).



Grade: C Far from perfect, but much better than average for Fun Publications.