Monstrosity #2

Discussion in 'Transformers Comics Discussion' started by Mechafire, Mar 13, 2013.

  1. Kraken

    Kraken Is a vegiesaurus, Lex. Veteran

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    The point you're missing is over yonder >>>>>
     
  2. Pravus Prime

    Pravus Prime Wields Mjolnir!

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    Blech. As an aside, I didn't like the art in Autocracy and I still haven't really warmed to it.

    This story continues to do nothing for me except remind me of better stories that this one isn't. The Dinobots need to get offworld because (likely because 'deh be teh dinzaurs!!!1!!') is just tiring and repetative. Scorponok being leader is a joke because we all know that he's the guy who's going to get the beatdown from Megs later. Megs story is uninteresting because all it will be is a diatribe about his power.

    The Terrorcons were refreshing, but since they're all sound and fury, it'll be likely that they'll end up just being a plug for the upcoming Legends Abominus and providing Megatron with his transportation home.

    Ugh.
     
  3. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    I'm not sure why Scorpinok's leadership is so weird though. He was rocking that shit back in Marvel, and in IDW, definitely has demonstrated that he has both the muscle and the ambition to step up to that position. I mean, it's not like the Decepticons practice democratic leadership. :) 

    zmog
     
  4. edgs2099

    edgs2099 Optimistically realistic. Moderator

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    Starscream won the popular vote, but Megatron actually won having the majority of the Electoral votes. I say, one Decepticon, one vote.
     
  5. SG Roadbuster

    SG Roadbuster SG Wrecker

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    I'm wondering about the Dynobot's Temper problem/loss of control in alt mode:this is the idw g1 continuity, the dinobots don't get their dinosaur modes until spotlight Shockwave which takes place on earth, after the war really kicks off. so the Dynobots lose their shit when they tf into tanks and a jet?



    also, Junkions in the idwverse, finally!!!!
     
  6. Sockie

    Sockie Veteran

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    Judging by some comments from Ramondelli, it sounds like the Dynobots have non-terran beast modes right now. I'm guessing it's going to be something like the Terrorcons.
     
  7. rung for life

    rung for life designer

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    the terrorcons were cool, actually even as a kid i never liked the dinobots, i just don't undrestand why anyone would love a stupid robot with a massive brute force... atleast bulkhead talks right, anyway, anything with dinobots in it is just way too overrated and i don't really pay attention to it and roll my eyes, "those guys again!" maximum dinobots was the only comic i was interested in them.

    junkions... why do they talk like wheelie?

    Hasbro where you're meddling, please leave MTME and RID alone. let us enjoy our comics.

    and then megatron goes on a rampage and suddenly he's got claws and stuff 0.0 ... the junkions remade him? i mean they saw what he did and they still rebuilt him? ... now we know who to blame for war... not whirl...THE JUNKIONS!
     
  8. Bass X0

    Bass X0 Captain Commando

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    Livio said this on the IDW boards.

     
  9. Mechafire

    Mechafire Shadow Broker Moderator News Staff

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    No, I took it as he just took random junk lying around and attached it to himself.
     
  10. Kraken

    Kraken Is a vegiesaurus, Lex. Veteran

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    Technically I think he's as good a choice as any. We know that in the IDWverse he's a plotter and likes the power, and he's Machiavellian enough. It's just the way he's come from no-where, and even the Cons seemingly don't know how he became boss man is a bit 'Huh?'

    I'd rather instead of that line about 'How'd he get in charge?' There was a comment like 'Wow that fight between him and (For example) Shockwave about taking charge was epic!' Or something like that. Wouldn't take any more space and would feel a lot more comfortable. Plus it plants a little seed that one day we might see that fight for Decepticon leader ship, and it might create a little bit of emnity for future reference. World building. Not happening just for the sake of it because he happens to a Scorpion.
     
  11. Anguirus

    Anguirus Well-Known Member

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    ARGH ARGH ARGH.

    Sorry, I'm just very frustrated by a statement like this from the creative team.

    The entire premise of Transformers hinges upon the idea that when they came to Earth, they became something else. They were rebuilt. They were transformed. In Hearts of Steel they became locomotives. Some of them can't fly on their own, but a non-flying Autobot could still disguise himself as a plane. He just wouldn't be able to fly, or maybe fly poorly only in alt-mode.

    So far we've had three cases in three different "G1" continuities of Transformers giving themselves pseudo-organic beast disguises. At no point did any of these guys (particularly the Dynobots) say "gee golly, good thing we are all pre-disposed to have beast alt-modes!" Nope. It was just something they learned how to do, with the help of their ship and technology. They find the right disguise.

    The Dinobots in Marvel were never "special" Transformers till they were rebuilt in dinosaur modes by the Ark. Because that was the form that fit the mission.

    To me, declaring that the Dynobots must have these monstrous alt-modes because they're the Dinobots (note my choices of spelling) betrays a fundamental misconception. When you get right down to it, a Transformer is NOT its alt-mode. A Transformer is its CHARACTER.

    Grimlock can turn into a Mustang and still be Grimlock. Snarl can turn into nothing and still be Snarl. And a good writer/artist should be able to let you tell the difference anyway, trivially.

    Who wants to BET that "Monstrosity" Grimlock has sharp teeth, Snarl has plates, Slag has horns, etc.? I guess Primus works in mysterious ways, amirite?
     
  12. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    :lol 

    I totally agree. In the Decepticons, you get ahead because you prove yourself to the others, by being bigger, stronger or smarter than everyone else. Scorpinok has almost always been presented in the fiction as a conniving, ambitious warlord... it would make perfect sense for him to have publicly crushed some other Con's head to take the top spot, and that the other Decepticons would still be talking about that.

    Of course, this early in the Decepticon movement, you'd think that there would still be a lot of freedom fighters and idealists who joined up because they thought the Cons were going somewhere positive. I'd like to see that aspect of the war emphasized more often... that these factions were not exactly the same 4 million years ago as they are now.

    I had the same thought... though, correct me if I'm wrong, but have we even SEEN the IDW Dinobots old pre-Earth alt-modes? I supposed it's possible that they had beastlike modes even back then.

    That's because your exposure to them was limited to the 80s Cartoon version. To be fair, that was (to my knowledge) the only version of the fiction wherein the Dinobots were unstoppable imbeciles, or something "special" (wait, no... I forgot about Animated). Generally speaking, they're just a hard-as-nails squad of surly badasses. The fact that they at some point were given dinosaur based modes is almost irrelevant.

    However, it IS true that they aren't exactly intellectuals, and they're all a bit stubborn. They're a team of soldiers with attitude problems who would probably be in the brig if they weren't on the front lines.They are thugs, no question... but they aren't monsters.

    I totally agree with you, in principal.

    However, considering that there are so many beast-derived alt-modes in Transformers (which often do have some correlation with their personalities), it may be fair to say that Cybertron DOES have some kind of mechanical fauna, and a tradition of using these as inspiration for alt-modes. Add to that the tradition of beast-themed Cybertronians right from the beginning (Ravage, Buzzsaw, Lazerbeak, Ratbat, etc), and it gets more complicated. Were those guys built that way as design experiments? By choice? Were they being punished, Empurata-style for some crime (as seen happening to Ratbat in Megatron Origin)?

    And if Grimlock & co had "beast-like" alt-modes on Cybertron, I could see them pointedly choosing dinosaur modes that most resembled their original morphology when they came to Earth. There are certain narrative conceits that have been entrenched in Transformers from the beginning, so I don't think we need to sweep all of that away. However, we have seen the Predacons on Cybertron in IDW, and they weren't using beast-modes...

    I do agree that this needs some development as a concept. In IDW, we have the Functionists... we have Turbofoxes... we have Monstructor being the "first combiner"... we have Scorponok... but we have no actual explanations or discussions of where the "beast mode" thing came from. I really hope that once they dig into this with Monstrosity, they will have taken the time to discuss some of this stuff with James Roberts, because he's the guy over at IDW that I really trust when it comes to exploring these kinds of world-building ideas. I'm sure he already had some thoughts on the matter.

    But you're right... I too fear that Monstrosity will amount mostly to being a beast-themed "gimmick" series... which would be too bad.

    zmog
     
  13. Pravus Prime

    Pravus Prime Wields Mjolnir!

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    But we don't. We have a "fresh" Scorponok who has come out of no where, claimed leadership for no reason other then because, is being accepted as leader (at the moment) by the Decepticon movement because, and has put Megatron essentially in Monopoly Jail.

    If they really do try to tie this in to the prior stories, then we further know that Scorponok will survive and become an outside the cons operator.

    Where's the incentive to care? Because doesn't work for me. You can't rely on his portrayals in other non-related fictions to curry favor or interest in a character.
     
  14. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

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    I see where you're coming from, but aren't we being too harsh? I mean, it's entirely possible that during the interim between Autocracy and Monstrosity, another Decepticon leader would seize the reins in Megatron's absence. We don't need a whole miniseries charting the rise from obscurity of Scorponok. He's a known quantity, yes... but that's why he works. He's exactly one of those guys who would assert himself in this case (though you'd think there would be indications of a power struggle... that much is true).

    As for the fact that we "already know where it's going" for him, in fairness I think that's just kind of looking something else to throw on the pile of complaints. Flashback stories always work this way, seeing characters we already know, and seeing how they ended up where they are today. If Monstrosity ends up being the story of Scorponok's almost rise-to-power, and his fall into shame as the rogue science criminal he is now, then that's not exactly a bad idea. He's had a significant and enduring presence in the Transformers canon in the past, so he makes for a more interesting and congruous villain than Zeta Prime, at least... the Guy Voted Most Likely To Become an Utterly Generic and Disposable Evil Despot. ;) 

    zmog
     
  15. Captain

    Captain Trust me, I’m the best.

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    I wanted to buy the trade but all 3 covers are tempting to buy all three for just the covers! WOW, Livo! you're killing my pockets!!
     
  16. QLRformer

    QLRformer Seeker

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    Is that Megatron and Igor I see?
     
  17. Grimwing

    Grimwing Scientist Supreme

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    I think its a quintesson. But I get your reference.
     
  18. tusko

    tusko Well-Known Member

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    I liked this comic.
    If only for the science team at the end.
     
  19. VRDUBZAK

    VRDUBZAK Titan

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    Sorry conspiracy theorists,
    the Dynobots, the non combatives, and Dai Atlas leave Cybertron in print issue #4 (or issues 9-10 in digital exclusive) and their story does not continue until Spoghtlight Shockwave