I'm excited for these two titles. I was never on board for the IDW ongoing, but I recently purchased all the TPB from the beginning just to be up to date for these new titles. Call me crazy, but I'm set now.
I like the comics, a totally fresh take on my favourites. Yes some designs are great, some are so so but overall good. Now if only we can get more toys in that style.
Sounds like a lot of drama and adventure, with the potential for meaningful, intelligent dialog. Count me in. What did you think of the James Roberts, 2-parter a few months back? That was a lot of talk, but most fans agree that it's one of the best TF comic stories ever told. Your mileage may vary, of course... It remains to be see whether these series will deliver the goods, but Costa's run had a lot of empty dialog AND action, and I'm hoping this will at least be an improvement on that dreary stretch. Claiming logical consistency with anything in the Bayformers movies is a doomed exercise. The ONLY sensible explanation is "because it looks cool". I don't buy it, but maybe I'll accept it on a "looks cool" basis. We'll see.... zmog
Why not, it's a faceplate not a whole leg. A face place should have minimal relavence in him changing back to his Cybertronian alt form. Besides...Dr. Shockwave problably advised him to leave the faceplate be so the scab could heal. (or he might be fitting him for braces) So as long as they don't pull that TF: Prime crap and have him as another muted idiot. I can except the look for now.
As always, this is the explanation for EVERYTHING, but it also is consistent. Transformers don't heal by assuming a new altmode, and they never change their features. If they could, then why doesn't Megatron just scan Optimus and waltz into the Autobot base (just to pick a silly example)? You shut your lying mouth. Or else Predator Soundwave will make you yield.
Because megatron would rather build a clone that commands with his mind and challenge Optimus to a series of challanges to prove that prime is the fake. As for the Rodimus design, I've found a single positive IMO. He's magenta. That may just get me through it... and if they could please just give him his proper head back (NO YELLOW CREST!!!!!!!)
Predator huh....? Why even call him Soundwave at all? I would've had more respect if TF: Prime producers would've made that thing an all new character instead of bastardizing a lovable iconic one.
So he monitors all transmissions on Earth; scans, records and downloads data about Cybertron and Cybertronians; speaks by playing back recordings, adding a familiar vocoder effect; has a triangular head based on the Decepticon sigil; is one of Megatron's oldest followers, who goes out of his way to protect him; and secretly spies on the other Decepticons on Megatron's behalf? Oh, and he has a minion who lives on his chest. If they had dared name this character anything other than Soundwave, I would have been a little pissed myself!
Heh. I should clarify that I don't buy that "magic reformat", and so far at least, it seems like IDW isn't either. So far, any characters that have pointedly changed their form (rather than just being art errors) have had to actually undergo a surgical process of having their bodies physically modified (as it should be). That said, why would they go through the trouble of totally remodeling Soundwave, and leave a gaping hold in his face? Sigh... Well, because the whole idea of Transformers being able to alter their alt-modes at will through the magic of nano-technology is implausible, stupid, and inconsistent. Sooooo sick of the laser-reformat power that went from animation shortcut to actual practice. We need to put a stop to that nonsense... now. I mean, it's not like Soundwave lost a complex, critical piece of equipment that might be hard to replace, like an eye, or an internal energy signature wavelength scanner, or whatever... it's a piece of metal that covers his face (and in theory, should protect it from further damage). There's no reason for him to be "scarred", especially if the rest of him got fixed. It's just silly. Predator Soundwave, eh? That's pretty sweet. "... over here... over here... you're wan AH-gly motherf-- HOHOHOHOHOHO!... " Agreed. Considering that Prime is a whole new continuity (anyone who mentions the "aligned" continuity with WFC gets an e-slap), it's actually pretty amazing that Soundwave is so damn consistent with his G1 portrayal. If someone really wanted to complain about characters who aren't "G1 enough", I'd go with Bumblebee or Wheeljack before Soundwave. zmog
Eh, it's silly but I actually like it for some reason. It's not done well in Prime because they don't have the money for Cybertronian modes, but I don't mind protoforms being "primed" to assume an alt-mode like in the movies. And I actually like the idea that it's hard to modify or repair the Transformer's head, since there's a brain in there.
I just don't like the idea that all a TF has to do is look at something, and the molecular structure of their entire body can just spontaneous reshape itself into that configuration at will, without actual mechanical intervention. TF's are living machines... solid-state, not magic morphers. As for the head thing, yeah... that's what I was saying earlier. I could see how certain delicate, essential components might be too difficult to make radical changes too... but the outer housing at least, should be something easy to patch up. zmog
Soundwave's battle damage makes little sense here, considering this is the era of peace, he would have had plenty of time to fix it. The only lasting damage that made sense was in Wildman's TF comics (he was a master at showing consistent battle damage - by the end of some lengthy battles the Tfs looked like real wrecks, see poor Bludgeon by the end of "End of the Road" or PM Optimus after he blew up Unicron), stuff like Megatron having half his face missing after "Gone but not Forgotten" - he was after all, an amnesiac wandering the streets- and lastly, IDW's Bludgeon - who looks the way he does most likely to shock his enemies - they would consider him an undead wreck at first sight. We have Bayformers to 'thank' for this idiocy. Scanning was present in BW too, but the TFs had to be in a protoform mode and inside a CR chamber, and it was a lenghty process (see the Fuzors, or Airrazor, or Inferno...) Magical shapeshifting is why I just call the Bayformers "Transmorphers". Look at how they transform! They don't transform - they transmorph. They actually shift and change their body parts. (Best demonstration is Optimus's transformation from truck when he battles Bonecrusher...)
A-nope. Transformers have been individually scanning and reformatting for nearly full decade prior to the live-action movies, starting with Beast Wars II, all the way up through Beast Machines (where the change in technology from stasis pods was explained), RiD and the Unicron Trilogy.
That's what they should do. Get rid of this idea of a "creation matrix" and make it a "transformation matrix". Give Prime/Magnus/Rodiumus/Fortress a transformation matrix as the only way 'bots can reformat and find alt modes. Give Megatron/Galvatron a "Decepticon transformation matrix" to reformat all this troups. United they reformat Unicron. Avoid all the mysticism in a sci-fi series.
As loathe as I am to admit it, even the first episode of the G1 cartoon had Teletran-1's magic repair ray... which is almost as bad. Also, apparently installing a Decepticon personality chip into a piece of 40-year-old rotted out junk gets you a shiny new Combaticon. Gotta love those crappy old cartoon animation/story shortcuts. zmog
