Transformers!

[anarky]

Heads-up: good-sized spoiler in the solicits for #86. Not that the cover wouldn't spoil it, and you probably figured it out anyway, but be warned.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

The MTMTE Annual was supposed to come out today. I didn't see it. But the RID Annual came out late also, so I'm hoping it shows up next week.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

I have no idea how they're going to package the two TF annuals in the TPB format, because it's two chapters of the same story. If they put each annual in with its respective series, they'll be assuming that people who buy one ongoing in Trades also buys the other?

But these two Annuals are brilliant. The flashbacks are deliberately done in a 4-color dot matrix style that's meant to evoke pre-digital coloring. The writer even states he wanted to emulate the first issue of the first Marvel series where everything seems disjointed and all the characters insist on akwardly referring to themselves in their word balloons. It's a grand winking homage and also serves the story perfectly.

'nark, it's almost worth tracking these down and paying the $8 apiece so you can experience them now rather than waiting. Nova Prime, Dai Atlas, Jhiaxus, and Galvatron as a pre-war unit rendered in a nostalgic 80s looking comic is just genius.

THIS continuity is now the official one in my book. All that Marvel kerfuffle is just a practice run to me now.

[anarky]

Not sure if I can go that far. There needs to be another year or so of this caliber of comics to make up for the All Hail Megatron clusterfuck.

It might be cool if, post-RG1, they have Furman wrap up the -Ation series like he intended.

[anarky]

Do you know if #84 comes out Wednesday? Diamond doesn't currently list it, but their site lacks the apparently not-quite-as-bloody-obviously-necessary-as-I-thought info as to which Wednesday the list is for. Given how few copies seem to make it into the wild, I need to be at the store at 10 to get it.

[anarky]

I love how MTMTE Vol. 2 turned Grimlock into a moron in a way that actually makes sense.

And I might be an issue behind still, but my bet for #85 is Megatron crushing Prime and Prime finally killing Ratchet (and, by extension, Megatron) with his final "breath." They've done a spectacular job keeping both out of the future solicitations if one of them does survive.

[Tom Foolery]

Did you ever think the day would come when a Furman TF ongoing was the "weakest" of the three ongoing TF books? And don't mishear me, Furman's book is awesome. It's just that the other two are even MORE awesome.
It'll be a sad and wonderful day when James Roberts and John Barber get stolen by Marvel.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Transformers ReGen One 85. I won't spoil it, but a couple major characters die.

Thanks for not spoiling it.

I'd almost be willing to put my mortgage up on a bet about who two of those characters are.

Speaking of which, maybe I'm wrong, but didn't Ratchet fight Megatron more often than Prime did in the classic series? I know he actually beat him more (three times, all of which Megatron was presumed dead).

I remember Meg's beat Optimus in 24(or rather Prime beat himself because he killed some CGI characters in a video game and then committed suicide. What a dipshit). Then Megatron tripped into the space ridge the following issue.
Prime showed up again in issue 42, but Megatron didn't show up again for a VERY LONG time.

Again, it's been so long since I read the last third of the series. I really should dig those out and sit down with them. Perhaps synopse them here for posterity.

[anarky]

I'm not sure there was actually a one-on-one between the two. In one of the very early issues, they get in a fight during a small battle, and Prime throws (I think) a muffler at Megatron. I guess you could count him crashing the Ark.

Then there's the infamous video game.

A flashback in #47 (IIRC), but, again, I don't think it's just the two, and is inconclusive.

I'm not sure you can count Prime chasing Ratchetron and deciding not to kill him.

Ratchet, however, tried to sacrifice himself three times to beat Megatron, and, each time, it seemed to work. After Megatron made short work of the Dinobots, Ratchet tried to knock him off a cliff, and the cliff broke and Megatron fell and damaged his noggin. He tackled Megatron when he tried to escape the exploding castle (Polyhex?), and both were believed dead for a while. Then he re-crashed the Ark to kill Megatron and several other Decepticons.

Fuck Optimus Prime. Ratchet should be the Autobot leader. He would sure as hell throw better parties.

[anarky]

Damn, thinking about them, Optimus Prime and Megatron both suck ass as leaders.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Damn, thinking about them, Optimus Prime and Megatron both suck ass as leaders.

I swear we've come to that conclusion previously. I think we made a thread at The other site a long time ago.

[anarky]

Maybe.

An interesting alternate world (that IDW would never touch) would be a remake of the Marvel series. Only thing is, the Autobots are led by the ruthless Grimlock Prime, and the Decepticons are led from the beginning by Shockwave, with Bludgeon, Ratbat, Starscream, and Scorponok as his most trusted generals. (He'd considered Straxxus, Megatron, and Thunderwing, but they were all just a bit too loony for his tastes.)

I'd say it would be a short series, with Grimlock Prime just killing the Decepticons from the beginning, but Shockwave is a lot nastier than Megatron.

[anarky]

Here's something really pathetic.

I got TF Classics Vol. 4 in the mail today. It goes up through #50. There are a lot more notes on the issues than in previous volumes, like pointing out that Goldbug couldn't have seen Prime's body shot into space. Most aren't necessary.

There's one for #47, though, that says, in part:

Unfortunately, from a continuity perspective in "The Underbase Saga," the sub-plot involving the Autobot Cassettes, Grand Slam and Raindance, is particularly riddled with errors, such as when Buster relates his anecdote of how an average-sized Defensor, Beachcomber, Sunstreaker (the robot in the background, far right), and another unknown Autobot were working on Cybertron "a few hundred years ago" and they possessed intimate knowledge of the location of the crashed Ark on Earth (see p. 13, pane #16) before the ship's crew awakened.

Really? This is from a supposed TF "expert" who, presumably, was paid to write these notes.

Why's it a problem? Because the panel in question clearly shows Beachcomber seated, with Fortress Maximus (not Defensor) standing behind him, and Perceptor is beside Fort Max. A fourth Autobot might be Sunstreaker, but it could be just about anyone. It makes sense that Fort Max would be with the others; Headmasters said he'd left Cybertron in the past, but not the distant past. Also, even if they presume the folks on the Ark to be dead, they know what planet it was close to when it crashed.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Did the Dinobots and Shockwave arrive on Earth before or after the Ark?

[anarky]

The Dinobots were on the Ark. They were sort of retconned in around #6 or so, but the Ark revived just them earlier when Shockwave showed up, and Auntie gave them robotic dinosaur forms. (Never mind this is a HUGE plot hole given that the Ark doesn't even recognize organic life at all a couple million years later.) I guess they were among the shit-tons of unnamed characters seen during the space battle and unaccounted for (and, apparently, not missed) when everyone's revived. (Seriously, if I was any Decepticon, I'd wonder what happened to the guy who looks like Nemesis Prime, in that he's just an evil Optimus.)

Shockwave was on the Nemesis, but stayed behind to "coordinate." Megatron realized this wasn't his real purpose, and intended to deal with him once the Autobots were killed. Of course, Prime had other plans and, when next they met, Megatron was barely alive and Shockwave in wonderful shape. He'd come to Earth looking for the Decepticons, was ambushed by the Dinobots, and trapped under a mountain for just shy of four million years.