Star Drive vs. Nemesis: name of the G1 'con ship

[Dominic]

I want to say it was Budiansky. But, do not quote me on that.

Either way, I always figured that the star drive was a piece/section of the ship that the Decepticons were looking for. Given how big the ship was, it would be worth finding the section of the ship one wanted before even chopping through the hull.

Fuck BNFs

?

I heard that Raksha had a kid. But, I also heard that she did not. I dunno. Most of it was toy-hackery. Some fans, including Raksha, actually treated Beast Wars like a smear on the hobby. Imagine the anger of conservative political or religious types at what they see as bad/wrong. Now, apply that to the hobby. (I am not being sarcastic with that comparison.)

Dom
-notes that naming ships is perfectly fine, and different from naming cars.

[Mako Crab]

The response here has been more civil, but on the Allspark and TFW I just wish I hadn't even brought it up.

Let that be a lesson to you. =3

...It was named the Ark in the comics first, guys. I don't have Omega Supreme's tech spec, but I'll believe Anderson... but still. Pretty darn sure Furman named it the Ark. Feel free to prove me wrong. Just can't imagine Budiansky giving it a name like that (read: a bit pretentious).

LOL, guess so. Along those lines, Furman also wrote the Nemesis 2-parter for BW, so if anyone's allowed to give the 'con ship an official name, it'd be him.

[138 Scourge]

That said, I don't think much of "Nemesis" either. Kinda like Hitler calling his personal car the "Skullcrusher". Bit on the nose.

True, but for a bunch of dudes that call themselves "The Decepticons", it sort of works.

[Gomess]

Fuck BNFs

?

"Big Name Fans". Raksha seems to qualify. I have never liked the idea of some fans being seen as authority figures within their fandom. Like a snake eating its own tail.

naming ships is perfectly fine, and different from naming cars.

Perhaps I wasn't clear; NAMING the Decepticon ship is totally understandable. It helps them to differentiate it from buildings, bathrooms, teapots and other everyday items. However, naming it something so *obviously evil* is just rubbish. If they really wanted to ramp up the cheese factor, they should've called the Decepticon ship "The Flood".

And Scourge raises a fair point, "Decepticons" is a cheesy name for an army / political party / whatever. But even then, "Nemesis" has little to do with deception. If they had to name it after a Greek deity, they should've called it Eris or Strife. Stryfe. Whatever.

[andersonh1]

The response here has been more civil, but on the Allspark and TFW I just wish I hadn't even brought it up.

Let that be a lesson to you. =3

...It was named the Ark in the comics first, guys. I don't have Omega Supreme's tech spec, but I'll believe Anderson... but still. Pretty darn sure Furman named it the Ark. Feel free to prove me wrong. Just can't imagine Budiansky giving it a name like that (read: a bit pretentious).

I can't remember if it was Christmas 85 or 86 that I got Omega Supreme... probably 85 since I was just about done with Transformers by 86. Here's the tech spec:

The ultimate defensive force. Great strength, even greater courage. Serious, even grim... last line of Autobot defense. Protects the Ark and all else vital to his cause. As robot, can shatter a mountainside, lift 300,000 tons with clawed arm, destroy 12' steel cube with plasma blaster arm... has head-mounted laser cannon. Can transform to laser cannon tank and launching pad with rocket. Rocket can achieve planetary orbit.

I remember reading that as a kid and having no clue what the Ark was. I don't know if the usage then predates any usage in the comics or not, since I haven't read a lot of the early Marvel Transformers issues. It does predate Furman's stint as writer though.

[Gomess]

Must be Budiansky, then! Weird. I guess we'll never know the TRUTH. But it seems safe to assume that Budiansky was the one who named it the Ark.

But the Decepticon ship never had a name in G1. No matter what snake-scaring Soundwave-boning BNF nutjobs say.

[Onslaught Six]

Yeah, Nemesis remained unnamed until BW, probably because it doesn't really exist in the comics. (In the cartoon, the Autobots are in the ship to find a new energy resource and the Decepticons follow them and board the ship. In the comics, the Autobots are in the ship to...clear away meteors that Cybertron is going to hit because Cybertron is hurling through space because the FORCE OF THE WAR caused it to leave orbit. Yes. Anyway, the Decepticons just kind of sneak in while it's still on Cybertron.)

And Budiansky didn't necessarily name the Ark--there was a lot of stuff about the basic plot in place before Budiansky came along. He's not the one who came up with the concept of them landing on Earth for four million years beforehand, or even the name "Optimus Prime." Trying to see right now where it came from...

In the mean time, here's a panel from the first issue, blatantly with the word "Ark" in it:


EDIT: Aha!
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/bc10/bc10bb.html

Looks like whoever wrote the treatment before was going to call the whole ship "Auntie," and Budiansky edited it to say "The Ark." (The handwriting are Budiansky's notes from way back when.) I'm guessing this is one of those edits that didn't make it to the cartoon bible, since the ship is never named in the cartoon (perhaps the writers thought "Aunty" was a dumb name for a spaceship and opted not to call it by name at all) and there are similar edits that Budiansky made that don't show up. (For example, whoever did the treatment prior came up with the name Spike Witwicky, and Budiansky renamed him Buster--but that didn't carry over into the show.)

Also Spike/Buster's girlfriend was supposed to be named...Worm?

[Ursus mellifera]

Y'know what I love about those few panels? The fact that you can see toy-accurate Ironhide in the background in all his craptastic glory.

[Gomess]

Worm is an awesome name for a female character in a kid's thing. Mindblowing.

[Dominic]

I suppose it might have been Shooter or Machio that named the ship "the Ark". AUNTIE was some piss poor attempt at whimsy. Good riddance to that name.

I know that the Nemesis showed up in the UK comics. Was it named there?

"Nemesis" is not a bad name for warship. At the very least, it is consistent with the conventions of sci-fi. If you read "Nemesis" to mean "scary thing that is going to kill you", it is wholly appropriate for the Decepticons to give that name to their ship.

"Big Name Fans". Raksha seems to qualify. I have never liked the idea of some fans being seen as authority figures within their fandom. Like a snake eating its own tail.

A fan being known is not a problem. Yee or DVD are also big name fans, and they generally avoid self-indulgent wankery. (Even Yee' lackluster showing on BW was less a case of injecting fanon and more a general lack of discipline.) Raksha is less an authority and more a sort of brand. Think of her as a literary theorist.

In the cartoon, the Autobots are in the ship to find a new energy resource and the Decepticons follow them and board the ship. In the comics, the Autobots are in the ship to...clear away meteors that Cybertron is going to hit because Cybertron is hurling through space because the FORCE OF THE WAR caused it to leave orbit. Yes. Anyway, the Decepticons just kind of sneak in while it's still on Cybertron.)

Actually, in the cartoon, the Autobots have to knock out some asteroids as well. But, I am not sure if Cybertron was off its orbit. (Searching for energy makes sense, but was not a given reason until "Beast Wars".) And, in the comic, the Decepticons attack the Ark while it is in space (after the Autobots have destroyed the asteroids). There is no indication that the Decepticons launch the attack from a ship. This actually makes more sense than the cartoon. (Why would the Decepticons risk a boarding action if they have a warship at their disposal?)

Y'know what I love about those few panels? The fact that you can see toy-accurate Ironhide in the background in all his craptastic glory.

Actually, you cannot see the sticker face in that panel.


Dom
-always wondered how Cybertron came off its orbit. I mean, what would it take?