Bumblebee mini-series

[andersonh1]

It kinda does, though that could suggest desperation. Like, he's that freaked out about being in such cramped quarters? Two days ago he could have been more like "Situation: Intolerable. Room to move required." and now he's just like "Look, just please lemmeout, okay?". I mean, more likely is that Cannon doesn't know for sure how Omega's s'posed to talk, but again, if there's a good story comin' out of this, I'm inclined to let it go.

Yeah, it's minor. I'm not gonna start screaming about how Cannon is a horrible writer who's violating everything Furman ever wrote, or something like that. Just an observation.

[Dominic]

I tend to agree with Scourge. Omega's size and mechanics are likely why him transforming would be so expensive in terms of fuel/energy costs. Still, the phrasing is awkward enough that I can see Sparky's confusion.

And, his odd speech patterns may well be the result of stress. Omega is not used to operating under duress, thus his less "professional" manner.


Of course, if all of this is true, IDW is asking a tremendous amount from the readers. Considering all of the changes to the series these past few months, (including the use of young/unknown writers), is it wise to ask readers to make so many leaps of faith?

Dom
-could see someone dropping the book.

[Onslaught Six]

Side fact: Remember The Secret Of Omega Supreme? Where Prime's all, "Alright, cut the bullshit," and Omega's all, "Aww, alright, I'll talk normal." Incidentally, according to the Wiki, the reason that was was because the writer (David Wise) was unaware that Omega was supposed to talk screwy.

[138 Scourge]

Yeah, it's minor. I'm not gonna start screaming about how Cannon is a horrible writer who's violating everything Furman ever wrote, or something like that. Just an observation.

Having read at least a lil' of the fella's stuff, I can tell you for sure that he's not a horrible writer. I kinda wish he was drawing this, too, actually, dude's not a bad artist at all.

And c'mon, anderson, I know you're not gonna go screaming and flippin' out about Cannon's stuff. This ain't the Allspark here or anything.

[Sparky Prime]

Maybe if you're Bumblebee and don't have all that many parts to change around transforming wouldn't take much energon. But if you're a robot the size of a skyscraper who turns into a small military base, then that's a lot more moving parts and a lot more weight on all of those parts to move. Not saying I'm right for sure, but I could see it. Kinda like it, too. Though now I'm curious as to what an Earth mode for Omega would be.

I don't see it personally. Sure, relatively Omega would take more energon than Bumblebee to transform, but transforming is a basic function of every Transformer. Even with a bot as big as Omega, they should still be able to do it at even their own relative minimal power levels. So as I see it, if Omega is that low on power, he should be nearly dead from a lack of energon, not merely uncomfortably cramped in a cave.

[andersonh1]

Having read at least a lil' of the fella's stuff, I can tell you for sure that he's not a horrible writer. I kinda wish he was drawing this, too, actually, dude's not a bad artist at all.

And c'mon, anderson, I know you're not gonna go screaming and flippin' out about Cannon's stuff. This ain't the Allspark here or anything.

IDW NEEDS TO LOSE THE LICENSE! I HATE MCCARTHY AND HE HATES ME! WHY CAN'T WE HAVE DREAMWAVE BACK??!



Phew... I don't know what came over me there.

[andersonh1]

Issue 1
Following the very unlikely event of Bumblebee being elected leader of the Autobots after Prime leaves, we get this mini-series exploring the idea in more depth. And it gets a lot right with regard to what would happen to the little guy if he were ever placed in that situation.

I’m not the world’s biggest Bumblebee fan. I don’t dislike the character by any means, but he’s far from my favorite. His prominence in Transformers fiction is hardly warranted. Far more interesting characters get much less page time, and that’s a shame. That being said, I had initially intended to skip this mini-series, but the premise of putting Bumblebee in command of the Autobots has actually captured my interest. And so far, it’s going about as I expected.

Bumblebee is a quiet, mild-mannered character. He doesn’t throw his weight around, and he’s not one to talk over others or insist on his own way. In other words, he’s not a dominant personality. Considering how many Autobots are, that puts him at a disadvantage right off the bat. He’s not commanding the respect he needs to lead, and others pretty much do what they want behind his back. And to be very blunt, Bumblebee is more than a little naïve.

Does anyone with an ounce of sense think that the Colonel is playing it straight with Bumblebee and the other Autobots? He’s clearly using the little guy to do his dirty work. If Frenzy is any indication, something isn’t quite right with the Decepticons that Skywatch is sending the Autobots after, and red flags ought to be going up in BB’s mind. And at the end when the Colonel puts Cliffjumper into stasis (temporarily of course….) and then sends Bumblebee after Blurr, even the most dense of readers should be clear that this situation is leading up to the most basic of double-cross outcomes. Skywatch will use Bumblebee and the Autobots, and then capture them in turn once their usefulness is done.

And all I have to say is, Starscream was pretty careless when he evacuated. How many Decepticons did he leave behind anyway? And would Soundwave really leave Frenzy behind?

Anyway, Bumblebee’s being played here, and at least one of the Autobots ought to have figured that out by now. A decent setup issue, but I’d better see the Autobots display some intelligence soon.

[Dominic]

I picked it up today, and will read it in a few hours.

The naive Bumblebee angle irks me. IDW Bumblebee was supposed to be a departure from that.

Dom
-recycled characters smell vaguely of trash.

[andersonh1]

Bumblebee issue #2
I almost skipped this issue. I’m really not very impressed with the quality of the art or the writing in this series. However, having read this issue, I’ll go ahead and put down my thoughts on it.

The writing: The main problem I have with the writing is that all the characters are too stupid to be believable. Let’s not beat around the bush here: the Autobots act like idiots, and the Skywatch general acts like one as well. Bumblebee finally figures out that the general will double-cross them when he has no further use for them, when that should have been evident from the start. Likewise, the general falls for Bumblebee and Ratchet’s little pantomime routine when it should be obvious that the two are putting on an act. It’s like a badly written sitcom, so obvious and fake is the double act.

Now I’ll give the author some credit for not waiting until issue 4 to have the Autobots realize that the ultimate double-cross is coming. That particular plot development is so obvious that there’s just no way to drag things out and spring it on the reader at the last minute. So why don’t the Autobots just take the control badges off? Since that’s what Skywatch is holding over their heads, why keep wearing them? And it’s awfully convenient that Blurr decides to shoot Bumblebee in such a way that BB’s badge is disabled, but the general never notices despite the fact that it’s sparking big blue sparks the whole time.

And how exactly does Blurr have an Earth mode over in the ongoing, but has his Cybertronian mode here? And does he have to revert back to his super fast talking characteristic that IDW had thankfully discarded up to this point?

The only real interesting tidbit this issue offers is Bumblebee's assertion to Scavenger that Transformers have as much right to live on Earth as humans do. What? Since when? And why would he believe that? This is the first we've seen that any Autobot is thinking of settling on Earth permanantly, and I'd like to see this idea explored further.

The art: I just don’t like Chee’s artistic style. I didn’t care for it in the AHM coda issues, and I didn’t really like it in issue #1. By itself it doesn’t make or break the series, but combine it with sub-par writing and it drags the issue down.

The verdict: I still think the idea of Bumblebee taking the leadership of the Autobots when he’s utterly unsuited for such a role is sound and interesting. But the art, characterization and dialogue don’t support the concept. I’m honestly thinking that this is the last issue of the mini that I’m going to buy, despite being interested in where the story goes. I guess I’ll see how I feel next month.

[Onslaught Six]

These are things that Costas should be fixing. Blurr does not talk like John Moschitta in IDW. This book is wrong.