Transformers!

[anarky]

TFRG1 #91:

Not much action here, but looks to be setting up something BIG. Rook looks very different; I actually prefer his look here. Jhiaxxus also looks pretty different in the neo-classic Wildman style. I like that the "advanced" Cybertronians are coming to Cybertron to eradicate their "primitive" forebears at the same time Hot Rod is trying to do the opposite with the Demons.

Right now, there's a big fucking collision course between Galvatron/Shockwave/Starscream, Bludgeon/Thunderwing, Soundwave, and Jhiaxxus/the Cybertronian 2.0's heading the Cybertron. Furman also said the issue of Fort Max would be addressed, so it's likely at least the Autobot part will be heading there, too. It's not been addressed yet if there are more Headmasters on Nebulos; I figure at least Mindwipe has been part of the fun. (It might be that Fort Max was an early experiment by Scorponok--it would fit for him to jack with the mind of the guy he chased across the galaxy, and also might explain why Spike was extra dickish.)

The cover of #92 is more proof that the UK stories are non-canon. One of those Pretenders became an Autobot, and I think the other should be dead. I'm not sure who the plane is--I remember the transformation, but thought it was Thunderwing (it's not).

[anarky]

#0 solicitation:

TRANSFORMERS REGENERATION ONE #0
Simon Furman (w), Jeff Anderson, Casey W. Coller, Jose Delbo, Nick Roche, Geoff Senior (a), Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi (c).
ZERO POINT! Adventure in the time stream, as HOT ROD desperately attempts to identify the rogue elements that are leading him, and the entire CYBERTRONIAN race, inexorably towards the catastrophic end of time itself. What hidden stories do the DEATHBRINGER, BOLTAX, BUSTER WITWICKY, and GALVATRON have to tell, and what--if any--solutions are there? Or is it already too late?
32 pages, $3.99.

Shit. Just. Got. Real.

Not that it wasn't real, but (likely) the fate of Buster, a lost Galvatron story, and the return of Boltax and the Deathbringer (meaning, perhaps, something to do with both the Underbase and the Dark Matrix)--plus confirmation that there is indeed something bad fucking with the timestream? Damnation.

Guess this means that Megatron, Scorponok, Springer, Ratchet, Grimlock, 99.9% of Earth's population, and a huge pile of zombie Transformers probably aren't really dead.

[Tom Foolery]

And...all those letters you sent them for the past 15 years finally paid off!

They're making you a PowderPuff Girls Comic!!

[anarky]

Powderpuff Girls? What's that?

Powerpuff Girls is a great show. Was. I'm iffy about comics; I'd want to see them first.

Speaking of the Cartoon Network comic, has anything been confirmed about the Samurai Jack comic? I'll be all over it if it's the official continuation/conclusion of the show and involves the original creators.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

I've been waiting to read the War Within books, because I'm still missing Dark Ages 2.
But I just realized, the rest of the issues are spread out in different locations anyway. Some of the issues are in my stuff from 10 years ago, some are over in the Cali storage, and the rest are at home. Oye.

Also, I was debating on whether to add the Armada/Energon series to my 'Find' list. Is it any good? I figure if I find 'em for a quarter apiece I might as well. There's quite a few series I've never bothered with and I'm curious if I should bother. Pretty much everything Movie related, prequels, sequels, etc is out(or at least, I'll only bother after everything else is found, bought, and read)

But here's what else I'm "missing"

TF Animated: Arrival(2008) 1-5
TF Armada/Energon (2002-04) 1-18/19-30
TF Beast Wars:Gathering (2006) 1-4
TF Beast Wars:Ascending (2007) 1-4. Never got into BW.
TF Evolutions (2006) 1-4. Bumblebee in the 1880s.
TF Generations (2006) 1-12. These look like straight up reprints of the US series. Pass. I have the originals.
TF/GiJoe: Divided Front 1. Never realized this got made.
TF Micromasters (2004) 1-4. Curious about this one.
TF Target 2006 (2007) 1-5. Says its reprints. I'm assuming reprints from the UK series?
TF Animated Movie (2006) 1-4. Sounds cool. How did I miss this?
TF More than Meets the Eye (2003) 1-8. These look like handbook style info books. Might be cool to have. They were $5.25 books, even back then when most books were still under $3.

I'm going off my Overstreet Guide from 2010-2011. So there might be more recent stuff, like the TF Prime minis. But I think I have everything else.

[anarky]

Armada actually had a pretty cool sort-of crossover with G1, where Spinister from a destroyed G1-esque world shows up, then a dead Optimus Prime, then Galvatron, Bludgeon, Dirge, and Thunderwing, functioning as Unicron's heralds. They're just like the G1 versions, only nastier. Always cool to see Furman writing the unholy trinity of Bludgeon, Thunderwing, and Galvatron.

[anarky]

RE: TFRG1 #95 solicitation.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

[anarky]

MTMTE may be the best non-Atomic Robot comic out there.

Also, Foolery, you should read the TF Classics UK. It stomps the American stuff even more than I expected.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

I assume I would have to read those in Trade? Is there a uniform collection of TPBs that has the entire series? Or would I have to sully my bookcase with a flotsam of piecemeal books that cobble together a semblance of a run?

And I think I might enjoy MTMTE more than Robo. With books of that caliber, I realize its like arguing rubies vs emeralds, and you can't go wrong with either. But I believe my scale tips ever so slightly in favor of MTMTE.

[anarky]

IDW finally wised up and is doing a series of trades, appropriately called Transformers Classics UK. They're up to Vol. 4, with each reprinting roughly a year's worth of the UK-only material (though I suspect later issues may cover more time, as there's less stuff later). They're massive tomes, about 300 pages apiece, retailing so far for $29.99 each (though, obviously, it's not hard to get them cheaper--I think the most I've paid has been about $21. I have all of them so far; was going to read back and forth US and UK stories but finally just started.

There's a ton of "bonus material," including a behind-the-scenes history and notes on where each story fits into US continuity (all written by James Roberts, no less).

[anarky]

Gorram, Target: 2006 was fucking AWESOME SHITBALLS IN FUCKTASTIC SAUCE!!!

Limeys definitely had better TF comics, and it's criminal their guys didn't take over the US book until years later when it was dying.

[anarky]

Check out #6.

Not sure how to feel about the preview for RG1 #94. I've never been keen on this ridiculous "there's only one Primus and one Unicron throughout all the different TF universes" bit, and Primus explicitly stating it in the true G1 universe worries me a bit.

Still, it looks like a certain big metal lug might not be entirely dead after all. I think Grimlock in exchange for everything else I've ever held sacred in the TF universe is a worthy tradeoff.

[anarky]

This thread is just me talking to myself.

I was straightening up, trying to get my paperbacks organized, and came across Last Stand of the Wreckers. I recalled it as being just okay, maybe pretty good at best. But it's by Roberts, and MTMTE has had a lot of callbacks to it. So I re-read it.

Holy fucking shit.

This came out around the time the ongoing first launched. Roberts only wrote a few issues of the ongoing, about two years later.

Was everything in this issue intended to be a throwaway, and the man has godlike powers of building on details? I'm not sure that can be the case. The paperback mentions Tyrest is in shadow for a reason--isn't he the subject of the current storyline in MTMTE? Did IDW plan for the ongoing to falter for about two years, then pick up plot threads from an older miniseries? That can't be the case, either.

Factor in details like Chaos Theory featuring an unnamed Shockwave in his pre-empurata form, and, holy shit, he's been dropping hints for years with no definitive indication he'd have an ongoing. I'm not sure how it's happened, but, damn, I've got to give him credit--the guy is fucking good.

[Tom Foolery]

Ultra Magnus has been mentioning the Tyrest Accord since he started showing up. When was that? I always thought Tyrest was a place (kinda like the Geneva Accords) but the name has been around awhile.

But yeah, Roberts can pull obscure stuff from earlier crap and make it gold.

[anarky]

No, I mean the notes in the collection actually state that Tyrest's face is obscured for a reason.