All Hail Megatron Discussion thread

[Dominic]

Thundercracker's original characterization was not a question of him not caring. it was a question of him not being entirely comfortable as a Decepticon. He was a soldier, (and a professional). But, he had private doubts. (Even as a kid, I wanted to see that used somewhere legitimate.) Thundercracker was arrogant, but he had problems with the messier side of being a Decepticon, as evidenced by the line on his old tech specs about him flinching when humans were hurt/endangered in Decepticon raids. I figure that is not unlike the foodie whose lunch is ruinded for them when they are reminded where it come from.

Dom
-just avoids eating certain species.

[Gomess]

as evidenced by the line on his old tech specs about him flinching when humans were hurt/endangered in Decepticon raids.

Sorry, what line is that? I've had Thundercracker's tech spec since I was about 4 years old and it says nothing of the sort.

My ideal depiction of Thundercracker would be based on the bio that came with his toy, pure and simple. And that, to me, says "uncaring" rather than "uncomfortable".

[Dominic]

Ah, lessee....

Just checked. The toy bio, (as shown on TFU), says that Thundercracker has doubts, (implying consideration but not agreement), about the Decepticons. I was referencing the full profile published in the old Marvel sourcebook. Either way, on the packaging, Thundercracker cares enough to think about it to the point where he has doubts.

[Gomess]

"Either way" nothing, I've got the tech spec right here. There's nothing that implies he's emotionally mature in any way. And I know Budiansky was behind the tech specs and the early Marvel comics, but I'm hesitant to conflate a Marvel-published sourcebook with a Hasbro-distributed toy package.

I know ignorance is never an excuse, but I've never heard of this Marvel sourcebook, so... *shrug*

[Dominic]

The tech specs on the packages were *heavily* edited down from Budiansky's character notes. Those notes were used for the sourebook entries. You guys got somewhat edited sourcebook entries in the fortnightly comics.

Unless you have a different profile than the one at TFU (which I am pretty sure is the text from the US entry), it specifically says that Thundercracker has doubts, which implies some deliberation on his part.

[Gomess]

Well, I can only go on what I got. The only reason I'd bother to look up these original character notes would be if I was intending to write a story about Thundercracker, and that ain't happening. I've gotta be honest with myself, and what I actually know of the character from growing up. For me, he'll always be an aimless, misplaced thug who'd rather bully those shorter than him with his buddy Skywarp than go to any real effort to help Megatron conquer the universe.

[Shockwave]

Sourebook is the general term, specifically, it was actually called "Transformers Universe", essentially a TF version of the Marvel Universe book at the time which was nothing but Marvel character profiles. The TF version only had four issues and is considered to be part of the main G1 run. At that point, the profiles were based on their appearances in the comic more than anything else.

[Gomess]

Yeah, see, I'm going on "toy continuity" here, and I don't wanna belabour the point or anything, but I'm sure most folks would agree a Marvel-published book with the same artwork as their comics- and even references to "first appearances" that only refer to the comics, rather than their toy's release date- probably has no bearing on toy continuity.

[Shockwave]

Yeah, see, I'm going on "toy continuity" here, and I don't wanna belabour the point or anything, but I'm sure most folks would agree a Marvel-published book with the same artwork as their comics- and even references to "first appearances" that only refer to the comics, rather than their toy's release date- probably has no bearing on toy continuity.

They are indeed vastly different. Thundercracker's is probably the closest but that's not saying much. But yeah, I've always wanted to see TF stories based primarily on the tech specs rather than anything else and IDW has delivered.

[Gomess]

Ah, so you're with Dom when it comes to the HONOURRRR then. =p I dunno, I'm cool with being the only guy here with this opinion, but... Well, actually I'm sure loads of people hear the cartoon voices when they read comics about these characters, and Thundercracker's lines... Ok, I won't hold it against the author, since they clearly didn't have Stephenson's performance in mind, but it just made me laugh.

Anyway, it's not like it ruined AHM for me, though I think that ending was the weakest part. Gonna wrap it up an' put a little bow on it for now...