[IDW] MTMTE #1 Preview! Options

[Database]

So we've got a new TF Medical term: Rigor Morphis, and was that Dipstick from LSOTW standing next to Xaaron?

[Devcon]

Sure looked like Dipstick, yeah.

[Confuzor]

"Transformed to death" is a term I never really thought I'd ever hear O_O!

[TerraEsperZ]

I love Roche's art for this, and I'm really looking forward to some more exploration of Cybertronian society and *especially* interesting characters.

[Blacknife]

Rigor morphis...*groan*

I can't decide whether to love it or hate it because of the word play.

[Walky]

I want Roche to draw Transformers forever.

[G1MarvelBlaster]

Is this the first mention of Nominus 'the douche' Prime since Megatron: Origin?

[Walky]

Is this the first mention of Nominus 'the douche' Prime since Megatron: Origin?

Nominus first appeared in "Chaos Theory," which was a few months ago.

[Cattleprod]

Megatron: Origin prominently featured a senator named Decimus, is that who you're thinking of? He also had a cameo in Chaos Theory.

[Cyoti]

The TF timeline just keeps getting stretched further into absurdity. The Ironhide mini told us that the war started 4 million years ago, #31 gave us a peek at Transformer life 15 million years into the future, and now this tells us that the Ark-1 left 6 million years ago, and transformation was developed another 6 million years before that. So we've now got a 27-million-year-long history, with probably more behind it going back to the first Cybertronians' origin. Good lord. I always prefer it when a new continuity drops the "millions of years" thing, but maybe I should just shrug and grin at the parody-like outrageousness that it's being taken to here. I guess there's always the hope that the Aligned bible either confines things to centuries/millenia or leaves it all purposely vague.

The Autobots and Decepticons did fight a 4 million years long civil war. How we perceive time really doesn't apply to them when you have a population of immortal robots who don't die outside of murder or suicide.

This post has been edited by Cyoti: Jan 10 2012, 12:13 AM

[G1MarvelBlaster]

Is this the first mention of Nominus 'the douche' Prime since Megatron: Origin?

Nominus first appeared in "Chaos Theory," which was a few months ago.

The Energon rewatch must be screwing up my brain. Was a misreading of the wiki.

[Database]

The Energon rewatch must be screwing up my brain.

Yeah, Energon Poisoning is known to do that...

[Walky]

Is this the first mention of Nominus 'the douche' Prime since Megatron: Origin?

Nominus first appeared in "Chaos Theory," which was a few months ago.

The Energon rewatch must be screwing up my brain. Was a misreading of the wiki.

The wiki was dumb and included a storylink to Megatron Origin even though he didn't exist as a character when that was made. I removed it. Some folks like putting in storylinks for fiction that's relevant to the character, but I'm a firm believer in linking nothing in the fiction section to something that the character didn't appear in or wasn't mentioned. Your confusion is why.

[Guest_MagmatronPrime_*]

I'd like to point out that since this series will (eventually, given the pacing of the preview) deal with transformers in space, there is absolutely nothing "more than meets the eyes" about the series. Although I suppose it's better than "robots in disguise" where they are not in disguise on cybertron dealing with the 99%. Because IDW, like Batman, identifies with the 1%. They're job creators after all. And make more money in a day than you make in your lifetime. Because of their can-do attitude. Darned NAILS - why don't they love Iacon?

[Msol]

(IMG:http://smuj.home.comcast.net/~smuj/fark/quizzical_dog.jpg)

[Fenix Twilight]

That preview rocks. Chromedome getting air time and being special for his programming skill. Him being best friends with fellow nerd Rewind. Prowl being a dick.

This is what I want out of Transformers. Robots who are characters acting in character. Mystery, excitement, adventure. Can't wait for more.


-ZacWilliam, and I like Roche's cartoony art. It's fun and lively. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-hotrod.gif)

Yes, I also like that he's friends (or was) with Prowl, the smart bots hanging together.

"Transformed to death" is a term I never really thought I'd ever hear O_O!

Yeah, that reminds me of when Optimus asked Rodimus what the matrix felt like and Rodimus' response made it sound like transforming hurts them except for rare good days.

[Jackpot]

The Autobots and Decepticons did fight a 4 million years long civil war.

Not necessarily, if the creators of a new continuity don't want that to be the case. To the best of my knowledge, IDW actually kept the timeline vague for quite a while - Furman never gave dates of historical events, nor did other authors who even wrote stories set in the past (Megatron Origin, AHM, Spotlight: Blurr) until Costa, who finally dropped the "4 million years" bomb in Ironhide. Now that that's happened, I can't actually blame the new team for running with it, but I'm surprised how... enthusiastically they've embraced the concept.

How we perceive time really doesn't apply to them when you have a population of immortal robots who don't die outside of murder or suicide.

True, but only up to a point. Consider how much life changes on Earth over millions of years through natural-selection-driven adaptation, then consider that the TFs can reconfigure their bodies almost without limit anytime they want. They should've become entirely new species several times over by now! I don't actually have a problem with the idea of a millions-of-years-old race - I like Babylon 5 as much as the next guy - but the TFs' personalities and behavior are absurdly similar to decades-old humans if that's the case. Keeping within IDW, look at the character arcs we've seen, Optimus in particular. We've watched circumstances over an in-fiction five-year span change him from a distant, pragmatic commander to a sentimental protector to a baffled soul-searcher. After 4+ million years, how could he have not already made that journey in some form? Nothing should ever be a surprise to him or anyone else!

Now, all that having been said, I don't think it's impossible to do the concept justice within TF. I think having a human express astonishment at TF history could open the door to some interesting statements about human nature, about the stubbornness of individuals and the need for new generations to replace the old in order to overcome deep hatreds. Also our tendency to repeat cycles within our individual lives. But I've yet to actually see such a story. I've only really seen authors address the absurdity by introducing mitigating factors, like DW's concept of Cybertron having gone through a "Great Shutdown." And of course when the idea was first introduced in the G1 'toon pilot, the cast spent those millions of years comatose, and when they awoke, they quite reasonably wondered whether Cybertron even still existed. Then later, Rumble's lack of knowledge of Vector Sigma and everyone but Blitzwing's amnesia about the Quintessons suggested that TFs couldn't actually remember their whole lives, which could go some way towards explaining their lack of change. Like Memento on an astronomical scale. But that's dipping into fanon territory, and it's still essentially a dodge, not a true justification.

There are plenty of absurdities in TF that I find forgivable, even indispensable, but even when I was a kid I looked askance at this one. I honestly don't think the mythos would be any worse off - in fact, it would be better - if it quietly disappeared. Nevertheless, I'm sure this won't be its last occurrence in the canon, and I'll just have to keep living with it. But that doesn't mean I won't still sigh a little each time.

This post has been edited by Jackpot: Jan 10 2012, 03:10 AM

[C16]

I miss when IDW had good art. Consistently.

[Spectre]

It's a good thing they'll be having good art consistently moving forward, if this preview is anything to go by!

[The Phazer]

Story looks interesting.

Art sadly veering off into parody.

Phazer