Transformers - ongoing series

[Onslaught Six]

Yes! Just look at All-Star Superman's very first page. Tells you everything you need to know, in as few words possible.

McCarthy was right to rip it off for AHM.

[Dominic]

I think what Furman and IDW wanted to do was show that alien robots invading was a big deal by showing how people reacted to it. They were likely trying to avoid the "oh, just big robots" problem that is common to the comics.

This is actually one of the things I like about the ongoing. The people react sensibly to the big robots. (Objectively, the guy who Jazz killed had a point, killing big robots might not be a bad move.)


Dom
-what would you do?

[Mako Crab]

Because we already know what's coming. The big reveal is pointless. It's been done too many times in Transformers and at this point it's boring and padantic. It's a bit like Superman. In a Superman reboot you don't need more than maybe one page of origin because everyone already knows it.

And even if you look at "More Than Meets the Eye part 1," the very first episode, we're introduced to the robots on their home planet first before a single human is ever shown. It's a full 16 minutes before we see our first human. The cartoon makes very sure that we know the show is about the Transformers first and foremost with the humans acting as supporting cast.

[Dominic]

Why should a comic be held to the same (lowish) standard as an 80s cartoon though?


Dom
-gonna google some Picasso in a minute.

[Shockwave]

Why should a comic be held to the same (lowish) standard as an 80s cartoon though?


Dom
-gonna google some Picasso in a minute.

No, that's not it. It's because the title is Transformers. We already know it's about giant transforming robots and that is, first and foremost what it should be about. I would agree that showing how humans react to them should be part of it, but that's not what Infiltration was. Infiltration was about suspense leading up to revealing the robots. TF isn't about that. The Blair Witch Project was all about that to the point where they never actually got to the big reveal (the fact that we never actually see the Blair Witch is what pisses me off about that movie). It was a lame ass attempt to shoehorn some Hitchcockian "the real fear is in what you don't see" tecnique. Bullshit. The real irritation is in what I don't see. Especially when I already know what it is I'm going to see. You can't build suspense where none exists. That's just annoying. And that right there is my entire problem with Infiltration. A perfect example is when Starscream is giving orders to Skywarp and Blitzwing. All we see is his mouth. Why? Why not just show Starscream giving the orders? What am I supposed to guess if it's Starscream of Megatron? Bullshit, I already know it's Starscream so don't half ass it, just show me Starscream.

[Dominic]

I can see what you are saying about Starscream's close-up.

But, I think the point of "Infiltration" was to make the TFs seem that much more "out there" by virtue of them not being everywhere. (When you stop and think about it, just the idea of a talking car than can drive itself should be pretty impressive, even discounting the car being able to change into a humanoid robot form.)


Dom

[Dominic]

OH MY GAWD I JUST GOOGLED PICASSO. I COULD DRAW BETTER THAN THAT!

[138 Scourge]

OH MY GAWD I JUST GOOGLED PICASSO. I COULD DRAW BETTER THAN THAT!

No you couldn't. Picasso could draw like a motherfuck when he damn well felt like it. I've checked out collections of his sketches and the like, dude was way talented. It's just his painting weren't about being representational.

[Mako Crab]

Why should a comic be held to the same (lowish) standard as an 80s cartoon though?

What Shockwave said.
Also, I find your comment about (lowish) standards perplexing. The means by which the cast was introduced in the G1 toon does not automatically equate to poor storytelling or adhere to some low standard. In fact, I might say that they went the preferred route by *showing* us the war on Cybertron instead of having Prime *tell* the kids about it.

HOWEVER! That out of the way, I do like the way Infiltration handled the setup. I didn't mind the human cast being introduced first, and I thought the slower pace worked. Showing things from the human perspective helps to show just how massive these robots are and bring some scale and scope to the battles. Both methods of introducing the Transformers can (and do) work. Neither way is particularly superior to the other. It was just the comment about low standards that made me raise an eyebrow.

[Onslaught Six]

What about the first live action film's buildup? We all know that these are Transformers, so why not just have them all show up in the first ten minutes transformerin' all over the place?

See why the argument doesn't work? I'd say the whole first live-action film does this really good. In the intro, we just see Blackout transform and attack the base--we don't know anything, we just get a mere taste, and it's over a half hour before we see another Transformer in robot mode.