| Protectobot Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 1,242 News Credits: 1 | Quote:
Originally Posted by TJ Duckett  Nice. Looks like I'm going to be starting MTME tonight, then. | they are both great. MTMTE i think is an easier sell cause Roberts has more freedom (dealing with a ship that can move around) rather than the slower build up of RID (dealing with a lot of pre-established characters politicking)
It is worth noting that Barber, the writer of RID is also the editor of MTMTE.
I really liked this issue- it's nice to see wheeljack so well-portrayed. Barber has a great grasp on Wheeljack, and i think the reason why he is so much in the spotlight in RID is because Hasbro the recent fan choice induction to the hall of fame to be prominent in TF fiction... in fact- im going to repost something from another thread - a rant that was destined for this forum but got sidetracked along the way: Im concerned with the relationship between Hasbro, barber, and Roberts. Quote: look at the inside cover of RID 7--- who does Barber thank? first person - Aaron Archer- my aligned continuity himself. and a bunch of other people im willing to bet are from Hasbro.
I think the reason Hasbro is pushing the Aligned Continuity is essentially to make the Transformer brand more recognizable and easier to market in the long run. The actual plot in different media is not as important as the characters remaining consistent across media - for example - Ratchet in both TFP and MTMTE is old, world-weary, caring but taciturn, haunted by his 'demons' - what have you, this is not by accident, this is by design. Both Autocracy and TFP have made mention of the effect the Matrix has on its bearer, making them all super serious cause they are a Prime now (hey Optimus, want to see something funny? --No")
Really- i think Archer, Roberts and Barber, the artists, etc, have consulted a lot on character designs, characterization, themes, certain plot arcs, and world building. I think that they are continuing to do so, without tipping their hat at exactly how contrived it all is. IMO part of the reason RID character designs are lifted straight fromthe WFC/FOC aaesthetic is because it makes the transformer brand more recognizable (all those people playin FOC might actually pick up MTMTE and RID when they see Bee, Ironhide, Starscream etc on the cover of a TPB looking EXACTLY like they do in the video games.) In fact, this week they are shipping the FOC deluxes with the comics.. unless im reading this wrong :
O- and its Dinobot month at IDW a month before FOC is released- coincidence? It's called marketing. This is the aligned continuity at work.. It wasnt invented to make a perfect, error-free, consistent plot arc between video games, novels, tv shows, and comics--- it was refined as a marketing strategy. Make character designs recognizable. Ratchet is Ratchet is Ratchet. Ratchet might be doing different things in TFP and the comics, but he still looks like, and acts like, world-weary supermedic Ratchet. I wouldnt be suprised if the new character designs for the TF4 movie were more Prime/IDW/FOC - ie- i bet Ratchet will have his head crest.
In 7 issues of RID Wheeljack has been the protagonist in 2 of them, and is an essential character in the new administration. He was just inducted to the hall of fame, and im willing to be he will continue to be an important character throughout the series.
The only really jarring exception i can think of is Bumblebee, given that IDW had him as volkwagen bumblebee before beepboop movie/Prime style bumblebee existed, they kind of had to stick with his design and character.
Remember that interview with Roberts way back - just a refresher :
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Roberts: Well, John Barber and I would be comparing notes and swapping scripts even if he was 'just' the writer of Robots in Disguise, but given that he edits More Than Meets The Eye as well, there are plenty of opportunities to talk about who's doing what to whom, and when, and why. John and I both care about continuity and have a real interest in making sense of what has, at times, been a complicated branch of Transformers continuity.
I take enormous satisfaction from world-building, which I think can be done on a micro- and a macro- level: you can use a mini-series to introduce a hitherto unknown offshoot of the Cybertronian race, or you can have a character make a casual, passing reference to an event that's never been mentioned before. Both serve to further scope out the nature of the fictional universe. Through my stories — and I didn't set out to do this — I'm constructing a sort of 'unseen war' full of epic battles and events that are only ever alluded to — stuff like Simanzi and the Battle for Hell's Point. It's like the Time War in Doctor Who — maybe one day we'll witness these events; maybe they'll forever remain 'off-screen'.
Ultimately, I want every issue of MTMTE to reveal something new about IDW's Transformers Universe; more than that, about the Transformers themselves: their society, their biology, their beliefs. The mythology of the Transformers — by which I mean the concepts and the backstory and the characters — is so compelling, and it has the potential to grow and grow. And I genuinely believe that creators and fans can make the IDW Transformers Universe as rich and involved and rewarding as any other fictional universe. Hmm... it sounds like I'm being interviewed for a job that I've already been given. But I mean it!
CraveOnline: How did you and John Barber divvy up the characters for your separate titles? Did you draw straws, throw darts at names, or are you really a long-standing Swerve fan?
Roberts: 'Divvy' - good word. I threw darts at John until he let me have Swerve, yeah. And while I wasn't looking he swiped every character your casual Transformers fan has ever heard of. (Shakes fist at John)
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CraveOnline: How much input does Hasbro have with your creative direction? Do they suggest full-on arcs, or just little spots here and there, like Optimus invents the term 'Autobots' and, I assume, 'change Hot Rod to Rodimus?'
Roberts: Hasbro are wonderfully receptive to IDW trying out new things, whilst at the same time knowing when it's necessary to remind us creatives what it is about Transformers that made then popular in the first place: they guard the purity of the central concepts. They take an active interest in everything from script to art to coloring, and they have the ultimate say-so as to what's acceptable within the comics - as well they might, given that they own the property - but they don't take an interventionist approach just for the sake of it.
CraveOnline: The digital-only Autocracy miniseries seems to be building on the foundations you laid in 'Chaos Theory.' Are Chris Metzen and Flint Dille coming to you for advice on how to add to your established world-build with their flashback story of the Decepticons as insurgents, or is John Barber well-versed enough in how you think that he can field any questions they might have for you?
Roberts: The latter. I was chuffed to hear that the springboard for Autocracy would be 'Chaos Theory,' but John knows his Transformers well enough to field any questions. Autocracy started brilliantly and is going to get even brillianter. You can tell I'm a writer, yeah?
| food for though, and bonus points if anyone actually reads through all that....
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Originally Posted by TylerMirage TerANSFORM-U! Sheroobimus Convoy-uh!!!!!! | Quote:
Originally Posted by LCDR Blindside No child let Shroobimus shoot off in face, hazard under three. Hasbrotomy subsidiary contact phone 2345-123. | |
07-10-2012, 01:24 AM
