I wouldn't mind that.
Well that does make me hopeful they won't do what I'm expecting.
Energon Universe - ongoing Transformers and G.I. Joe comics from Skybound
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'Killing' Bumblebee served two purposes:
1) Show how evil Starscream is shooting a defenseless Bumblebee.
2) REALLY show how evil and dick-ish Starscream is for shooting the LEAST THREATENING Autobot. I see it as even when all the Autobots are out, he's still picking on the weakest one.
1) Show how evil Starscream is shooting a defenseless Bumblebee.
2) REALLY show how evil and dick-ish Starscream is for shooting the LEAST THREATENING Autobot. I see it as even when all the Autobots are out, he's still picking on the weakest one.
What concerns me tone-wise is that they're not showing Starscream to be super-eeeeeevil for maximum contrast, but so that Autobots can be pretty horrible too while still being better than the Decepticons. The contrast will still be as narrow as in the IDW days, but shifted several notches eviller.
---Dave
---Dave
That seems highly speculative based on nothing after one issue.
Like don't get be wrong, I grew to be annoyed by how muddled IDW1 made the faction divide, but I'm not going to slam a new comic/continuity for that until I see it happen.
And there is backstory. The bits where Optimus talks about Jetfire leaving to try and find something to save Cybertron, how Optimus was so "young" when Jetfire left, how Jetfire didn't know Optimus was "the new Prime" and Optimus trying and failing to use the Matrix to save Jetfire all hint at a mythology and backstory that informs these characters and their actions, but we're not being overloaded with it from GO. Ideally it's fed to us naturally as the story progresses.
January Solicitations are out today!
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There's a *little* bit to discuss with some of the stuff in these solicitations.
New Releases
PREVIEWSworld | Comic Book, Graphic Novel and Pop-Culture Merchandise News, Previews, Release Dates and More
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TRANSFORMERS #4 CVR B MYERS (NOV230442)
"DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON is full of surprises." - ComicsOnline When the Decepticons attack the Autobots at their weakest moment, an unlikely new hero joins the battle! With human and Transformer robots lives at stake, can Optimus Prime unlock the true power behind the Matrix of Leadership to...
www.previewsworld.com
DUKE #2 (OF 5) CVR A REILLY (NOV230367)
"Codename G.I. Joe" continues! Conrad Hauser, aka "Duke," is on the run from the very government he trusted, investigating secrets that may be More Than Meets The Eye. Now, he's about to meet the last person any G.I. JOE fan ever expected! Are they friend, foe, or in it for themselves?
www.previewsworld.com
COBRA COMMANDER #1 (OF 5) CVR A MILANA & LEONI (RES) (NOV230295)
Mini-Series Premiere. The Rise of Cobra begins here. In a world where the Cobra organization hasn't formed, one man's sinister plans to utilize the mysterious alien substance known as Energon sends shockwaves across the globe. Who is Cobra Commander? Where does he come from? And what horrors is...
www.previewsworld.com
There's a *little* bit to discuss with some of the stuff in these solicitations.
Of note, there's NO Void Rivals solicited for January. They did say they were taking a break, but I don't know how long it'll last. They might be trying not to flood the market with Energon Universe books, so it might not come back until Duke and Cobra Commander's miniseries are over.
The Transformers issue mentions Optimus using the Matrix, already. I guess the Matrix is going to play a bigger part earlier on in this run than it usually does. And...maybe it has slightly different powers, here? Because, it's usually not that helpful in fights with anyone not named "Unicron".
Duke is apparently investigating secrets that are "More Than Meets the Eye". And he's going to meet someone Joe fans wouldn't expect. I'm really not sure who that could be? The Original GI Joe, Joe Colton? Robo Joe? Someone from the future? One of the Visionaries or someone from MASK? But, it kind of sounds like these GI Joe minis are going to be more important than I thought...*SIGH*
Energon is apparently a part of how Cobra forms in this universe. And this Cobra Commander mini sounds like a origin story for Cobra in general.
The Transformers issue mentions Optimus using the Matrix, already. I guess the Matrix is going to play a bigger part earlier on in this run than it usually does. And...maybe it has slightly different powers, here? Because, it's usually not that helpful in fights with anyone not named "Unicron".
Duke is apparently investigating secrets that are "More Than Meets the Eye". And he's going to meet someone Joe fans wouldn't expect. I'm really not sure who that could be? The Original GI Joe, Joe Colton? Robo Joe? Someone from the future? One of the Visionaries or someone from MASK? But, it kind of sounds like these GI Joe minis are going to be more important than I thought...*SIGH*
Energon is apparently a part of how Cobra forms in this universe. And this Cobra Commander mini sounds like a origin story for Cobra in general.
That Cobra Commander teaser hits a lot of the right buttons for me.
Considering all the little bits Teletraan was rebuilding everyone out of, it won't surprise me if Teletraan is just able to rebuild Bumblebee. That's assuming they get Teletraan working again, of course, which I'm not sure how they'd do. That's actually the hook I'm most interested in: how are the other Bots and Cons getting revived without Teletraan?
Preview from next month answered that
Ratchet is just going to fix them the old fashioned way, as soon as they get the energon to do it. They've already fixed Cliffjumper by the start of issue #2.
Who's got time for character and world building? Narration is overrated. And they needed the time to remind everyone of Vietnam. Because of all the conflicts in human history to juxtapose with a war between two facts of aliens based on a children's toy line, Vietnam was one of the options.
As transformers fans have aged; they've become increasingly dismissive of Generation 1, but MTMTE did it right. You knew who the good guys were. You knew who the bad guys were.
There are ways to improve MTMTE's setup and world building. This isn't one of them.
I still remember them questioning whether Cybertron still existed, and Megatron tells them "It must." It's a chilling line.
I also remember when Ratbat recalled Trypticon because of spreadsheets. The Ark can rebuild characters from scrap, but can't be bothered to fill up their gas tank? The latter takes energon; but what about the former? Does Auntie operate on faith and love of robo-puppies?
He's fixed Cliffjumper... and given him a local alt mode?
That's a problem. If Ratchet can just give people new alt modes; why doesn't he make everyone a jetplane? The Ark rebuilding transformers might seem mundane as children; but it serves an important narrative function - demonstrating that while it's possible to change alt modes, it's not something that can normally be done by anyone with a little energon and a lot of luck.
If Hasbro's Go-Bots cartoon recongized the practicality of changing alt modes on the fly; I have a hard time imagining the writers of your adult comic book can't figure it out. But they can't implement it w/o violating nostalgia, putting them in between [narrative consistency] and [market viability].
So I guess your the fan that demands that the he always needs to see the pearls dropping in a Batman film, otherwise he doesn't get why Bruce is doing all this; yes?
Void Rivals #5 is out!
It sure is another issue of Void Rivals, all right. It continues to be fine, but not mind-blowing. I'm expecting some sort of crazy twist in the 6th issue before our break. As I've said before, Kirkman likes his twists. If we DON'T get a twist...then I'm really not sure about the future of this book. But this is just going how you might imagine it's going. There's a LITTLE bit of new intrigue as we learn a little more about one of the character's pasts. And we get another look at a different part of the Transformers cosmos this issue...for 3 whole pages this time!
It's fine. I'm more along for the ride out of curiosity, rather than emotional or narrative investment right now, though. I just want to see where they're going with all this.
It sure is another issue of Void Rivals, all right. It continues to be fine, but not mind-blowing. I'm expecting some sort of crazy twist in the 6th issue before our break. As I've said before, Kirkman likes his twists. If we DON'T get a twist...then I'm really not sure about the future of this book. But this is just going how you might imagine it's going. There's a LITTLE bit of new intrigue as we learn a little more about one of the character's pasts. And we get another look at a different part of the Transformers cosmos this issue...for 3 whole pages this time!
It's fine. I'm more along for the ride out of curiosity, rather than emotional or narrative investment right now, though. I just want to see where they're going with all this.
Our Transformers moment for this issue is showing off MORE Quintessons. A proper Quintesson Judge, anyway. The Skuxxoid is still trying to find SOMEONE who's willing to pay him for this Quintesson Prosecutor. So...I guess the Quintessons are relatively easy to find, too, if some random bounty hunter freelance peacekeeping agent can track them down. And the Judge seems VERY interested when he mentions our Void Rivals aliens. So..I'm guessing the Quintessons WILL be invading at some point.
We also find out what that scorpion robot was a few issues ago. It's a Scorpia. I assume a reference to the old transforming watch toys. It really didn't look like one, but it's artistic license, I suppose.
tfwiki.net
Anyway, one of our Void Rivals cast gets tortured, and then saved and recruited by a underground rebellion. Apparently, there are some rebels who KNOW that this conflict between their races are artificial and that they have the same faces. That...kind of takes away a *little* of the drama, but I guess it gets us more supporting characters. So...fine...I guess.
And the OTHER main character gets to meet up with her old boss. I guess she was part of the..."clergy" of this world? It sounds like she had a position within the more "religious" wing of the government, dealing with their "god". They're likely also assassins.
She also ends up getting some sort of key that reminds me of the Key to Vector Sigma. It's not exactly that, but I think it's supposed to be reminiscent of that. This character will probably have a little meeting with their "god", eventually.
Over in the letters page, they also mention that the Void Rivals cast probably won't be crossing over with the other Transformers and GI Joe books...anytime soon, at least. But...probably WILL be making their way to Earth someday. Vague, but not unexpected.
We also find out what that scorpion robot was a few issues ago. It's a Scorpia. I assume a reference to the old transforming watch toys. It really didn't look like one, but it's artistic license, I suppose.
Scorpia (G2) - Transformers Wiki
Anyway, one of our Void Rivals cast gets tortured, and then saved and recruited by a underground rebellion. Apparently, there are some rebels who KNOW that this conflict between their races are artificial and that they have the same faces. That...kind of takes away a *little* of the drama, but I guess it gets us more supporting characters. So...fine...I guess.
And the OTHER main character gets to meet up with her old boss. I guess she was part of the..."clergy" of this world? It sounds like she had a position within the more "religious" wing of the government, dealing with their "god". They're likely also assassins.
She also ends up getting some sort of key that reminds me of the Key to Vector Sigma. It's not exactly that, but I think it's supposed to be reminiscent of that. This character will probably have a little meeting with their "god", eventually.
Over in the letters page, they also mention that the Void Rivals cast probably won't be crossing over with the other Transformers and GI Joe books...anytime soon, at least. But...probably WILL be making their way to Earth someday. Vague, but not unexpected.
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I kinda liked this issue more then the last one, the TF interlude in this one actually feels relevant rather then forced. But the whole thing continues to be a very big slow burn. Will be curious to see where this goes before its big break. That will probably determine if I keep up with this book or not.
Furman's Infiltration did away with all of that and it worked.
The question you need to ask yourself is who knows what when. MTMTE is a kid's cartoon and it told you everything. Infiltration is a comic book set in a new universe and did something different; so the POV characters were human and they learned about a grand war.
Who is our POV here? What do they know? I think our POV is "80s fans" who know everything already so killing Bumblebee and Jetfire can be "edgy" But that's not a character, that's the reader. The book assumes we know everything. And it assumes it has a consistent death metaphysics; but you don't need to be Spiderman to know that characters don't need to stay dead in Transformers.
Is our POV character Jetfire? No. He knows less of the war than, arguably, Spike and Carly. And he dies.
Is it Optimus? No. He comes out of nowhere.
Is it Ratchet? No. He does things in the background.
Is it Spike and Carly? No. They see two robots fighting and they push a gun to help the friendlier looking robot. You know, like when you see Godzilla and Kong so naturally you just give Kong a weapon so he can shoot Godzilla?
Is it Sparkplug? No! If we opened on this drunk seeing his friend being squished; it would be Sparkplug. It would be a grotesque, stupid, and lazy version of Infiltration... no mystery, no ambiguity, just an evil robot squishing humans for fun.
Is it Bumblebee? You know, the guy shot while in stasis lock?
Maybe it's Starscream? Sure, he still knows a lot about the war we don't, but he has agency - he kills 2 robots, including the one who just maybe saved his life. He fights a third. He watches as his friend's pet gets punched. Then his friends ask him to do hero's journey stuff because he's the best there is at not starving to death. (If the Ark can rebuild transformers, it needs to have some energon to power it, so the starving plot is nonsense). Heck; Starscream's the only character who learns things - he learns humans get in the way, and he learns humans can be squished! Did the writers want our POV character to be Starscream? That would be interesting if it wasn't so poorly executed!
As I note above, this feels like it was written by the same guys who wrote the Beast Wars ongoing. Copy and Paste what came before and switch up some things. And that's sloppy.
Of course the POV is Spike (with Carly)! The entirety of the issue follows Spike dealing with his dad, discussing his future with Carly, stumbling across the Ark, witnessing the revival of the Transformers and deciding to help out the clearly-less-homicidal robot, and then guiding the Autobots to a place they can lay low and regroup.
I love how Bumblebee is "killed" and so we suddenly get all this righteous indignation that this is some trashy edgelord comic. Meanwhile, by issue #5 the old Marvel comic had killed every Autobot but two, hung them all up from the ceiling in various stages of decapitation/dismemberment, and left one of the "survivors" as a captive, disembodied head...
Oh god Yes. I mentioned it before; and I'm sure they'll be some "but they didnt do it in the first issue" BS, no becuase those first 4 issues were ment to ONLY be those 4 issues. to ONLY sell toys. Marvel did a lot of those in the 80's, most of them never took off as anything more. Issue #5, aka the first issue of the series being an actual ongoing narrative, Buddansky just nukes the majority of the Autobots and we're left dealing with Headimus Prime and Ratchet trying to just survive and find a way to fix this. These are the issues that basically made Ratchet and Shockwave the beloved characters that they are. And it just took wiping out 45% of the cast.
This.
Also, like I said, IDW1 is beloved and one of its breakout characters Hasbro recently made toy of to sell to children was Commandant of Space Auschwitz, complete with a "prisoners to the ovens" parallel.
I don't want to hear how shooting Bumblebee in the face is "edgelord" material ever again.
Nobody here said the comic is bad or "trash." I said shooting Bumblebee in the face was edgelordy, but that's just one element; it doesn't mean the rest of the comic bad. Personally I found it pretty average overall, but it's issue #1, give it time to cook.
If you want something positive about the comic, I like how the human characters have been portrayed so far, and definitely like giving Spike a little extra something to connect him to the Transformers, without outright giving him a direct connection. (Like Sam's ancestor finding Megatron in the movies)
Also, do you really want me to go over why the Bumblebee thing is different than other forms of Transformers ultraviolance, or can we just move on from this conversation? I was fine dropping it, but you guys seem keen on discussing it again, despite your statements to the contrary, so I'll leave it up to you.
Here's a random thought I had.
Since the Transformers side of this shared universe is drawing SO much from the Sunbow cartoon, does that mean they'll be doing the same thing for the GI Joe side of things, too? And if that's the case, does that mean we're getting the "Snake-Man Scientist" origin for Cobra Commander? I don't think any GI Joe media has really used the Movie origin since...well, the Movie and cartoon, itself. I'm not sure about that though, since I'm not as much a GI Joe fan as I am a Transformers fan.
Since the Transformers side of this shared universe is drawing SO much from the Sunbow cartoon, does that mean they'll be doing the same thing for the GI Joe side of things, too? And if that's the case, does that mean we're getting the "Snake-Man Scientist" origin for Cobra Commander? I don't think any GI Joe media has really used the Movie origin since...well, the Movie and cartoon, itself. I'm not sure about that though, since I'm not as much a GI Joe fan as I am a Transformers fan.
Spoilers for the Energon Universe Cobra and GI Joe
Also, and this is unrelated to my point, but wasn't Cobra Commander origianlly a used car salesman in the comics or something?
They've pretty explicitly said that Joe/Cobra origins will be tied into the Transformers arriving on Earth, so who knows how close it'll hew to preestablished continuities, especially since Larry Hama getting to continue the series he had going from IDW, which itself was a contination of the Marvel run. (So there's going to be two different Joe continuities at Skybound, the Hama run and the new Energon Universe run
Also, and this is unrelated to my point, but wasn't Cobra Commander origianlly a used car salesman in the comics or something?