Newsarama has just posted the full preview for Transformers: More than Meets the Eye #41!
Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #41“Dear RODIMUS and crew
It’s my funeral tomorrow and I’d love it if you could all be there. Refreshments will be provided. Please R.S.V.P.—THUNDERCLASH”
Check it out after the jump if you don’t mind some spoilers, and be sure to pick up the full issue when it’s released on Wednesday, May 27!
SMOG
Yeah, that's why I treat it as more of a "meta" plot device. The purple branding on Decepticons is superficial, but plays well on toy shelves and in marketing. The Purple/Con associations are probably stronger for us than for them… just as our history with the character of Cyclonus, and the traditionally binary Bot/Con distinction in the marketing of Transformers also associates him with the Decepticons.
But I'd still maintain that it's a stretch for the Bots to associate Cyclonus with the Decepticons… especially since he has been something stranger and scarier (undead warrior from the golden age of Cybertron, agent of an apocalyptic extradimensional entity, etc…). I think that trumps "decepticon".
Which is not to say that he might not be held accountable for Autobot lives (wasn't he part of the assault where several Autobots were eaten alive by Sweeps?), mistrusted and unforgiven. I can see Getaway holding a grudge for some of that… but I think the Decepticon misidentification is waaaay overstated, purely for comedic effect. It's not something that sustains a serious plot point. Nobody should be confused about him being a Decepticon.
Meanwhile, Megatron… THE Megatron… is the captain of the ship, so like… clearly there are more obvious targets available.
zmog
Meister5
I get what you're saying but in practice I didn't see the Autobots bothering to make much of a distinction between "threat" and "Decepticon threat" when it came to Cyclonus. He was responsible for Autobot deaths and the crew treated him accordingly, either shunning him or outright accusing him of murder in the case of Red Alert. He's definitely not a Con but I think they did treat him like one, or at the very least as "close enough" and that may be good enough for Getaway to hate him.
Maybe that's not the worst criteria. Don't see too many purple bots. Nautica hasn't been around long enough to know better
Hey, audience surrogate is an important job
Autovolt 127
I never realized it but now that Tailgate doesn't have a legitimate purpose being on The Lost Light other than to look cute and do cute things.
SMOG
I see where you're going with that, but I can't help feeling like the "Cyclonus is practically a Decepticon" thing is more meta than actually logical. In the context of the series, it really makes NO sense for anyone to treat Cyclonus like a Con. He has never been allied exclusively with Cons, has never declared any fealty to Con cause. He's very clearly some ancient dude, with more direct allegiance to the lineage of Primes (Nova) than anyone else. Every time that Cyke (and the other Dead Universe guys) appeared, it was always part of a faction-crossing threat. There are certainly enough neutrals and unaffiliated bots running around for the strictly binary perspective on factions to be questionable. He's certainly dangerous, and someone that the Bots should be uncertain about… but his "decepticonish" reputation is more of a running joke for the readers than anything.
Or maybe it's because he's purple?
zmog
Meister5
That's what I've been thinking. I think Tailgate is just the naive pawn in Getaway's game and Cyclonus is his real target. After all, Getaway is one was one of Prowl's secret operatives. A sneaky ulterior motive doesn't seem out of the question when it comes to him.
Even if Cyclonus didn't do anything to him personally, Getaway's an MTO made to kill Decepticons. While Cyclonus is not technically a Decepticon, he may be close enough to count in Getaway's eyes. We saw how he lashed out aggressively and punched the wall when they found out that Brainstorm was a Decepticon on the other Lost Light. It's not a stretch to think that he hates 'cons and is trying to hurt Cyclonus in some way because of it.
I wouldn't be surprised if he's revealed to be the one Whirl was talking to after he attacked Megatron either. And then there's the fake list that Atomizer gave Rodimus. It's a stretch, but I think all these things are linked and there's a group trying to get rid of any bots who aren't strictly anti-Decepticon. It definitely seems like there's some kind of conspiracy going on.
WilyMech
I admit I prefer certain characters that are not fan favorites. I must admit I prefer that Ravage has skill in stealth than Attention Deflectors. Nautica, she is not really a favorite of mine and I rather see her with some substance. I rather she was developed first and we see who Nautica is before she goes into relationships.
I love Ultra Magnus how he is portrayed. I admit Roberts made Megatron to be interesting. I love Ratchet in this series. I admire Perceptor how he is played off of Brainstorm. I admit I like Skids when he is interacting with Getaway.
SMOG
Yes, but we can probably assume that many attitudes that became institutionalized with Functionism had a long history of their own. Social biases and schisms obviously date back to war of the 13 tribes, and probably even further back than that (precipitating that war).
I guess I never thought of Attention Deflectors as foolproof. They don't make you actually invisible, but they certainly encourage you to pay attention to things in your field of vision. I could see how 'experts' like Ratchet or Hound might see through them, just based on their keener focus and attention to detail.
In gaming terminology, they just give you a +10 on your stealth roll, or whatever.
It could be just for the sake of a joke, but the fact that Rewind was folded into her patronizing attitude suggests that there's more to it.
And frankly, I'm for anything that adds some personality flaws to Nautica. Time for a full disclosure, one that will tear the fandom asunder… I frickin' hate her.
That sounds harsh, but the rapidity with which she has become "everone's favourite character" irks me, because for the most part, it feels like a very calculated and superficial appeal… an "adorkable" new girl, but without a firm grounding as a character. She still hasn't "landed" for me, despite being overexposed in the series. I hope we see a bit more "going on" with her soon to add weight to her popularity. So far, she feels like she's all about flirting with the reader, but little substance yet.
I'd feel the same way about Riptide if he'd somehow garnered a massive following, but now, at least a year after his introduction, I'm still sort of wondering why he's there. He's definitely a case of "oh, here's a new character! What, you want him to actually play a role, instead of just BE there?" His sole function seems to be delivering snarky lines (well, that's everybody's function) that seem less intelligent than most of the rest of the cast.
I like an ensemble cast, but this season, it feels like there are a few more seat-fillers.
You deserve a Ravage swipe for that. Two. Rowr.
I didn't like him with the "Barber voice" but I didn't mind his arrogant attitude.
Like any of these characters, there's a bit of fluctuation based on the artist (and what they had for breakfast that morning) but no… he hasn't changed much. It gets tricky when we often see him in the company of larger bots like Megatron or Soundwave. I kind of feel like, compared to your "average sized bot" he should at least be the size of your average labrador retriever… not a tomcat.
I'm curious about this too… what are his actual goals ? I could see this feeding back into the isolation of Cyclonus that you mention, which would facilitate Hasbro's new marketing of him for Combiner Wars… which I'm not thrilled about. But in terms of Getaway's real motivations for all of this… undermining… no clue.
zmog
Nocturne
Yeah, and luckily it looks like Skids didn't fall for it on the slightest. You don't mess with Eyebrows when Skids is about.
You bring up an interesting point though and something that hadn't occurred to me till now.
We all know Getaway is shady as feck and is using all the moves to emotionally manipulate Tailgate but is Tailgate his real target? I love you Tailgate but he serves no acutal purpose on the Lost Light and is one step away from being a living marshmallow.
The only big thing about hom (apart from the Tyrest thing) is that he's the only person to form a real bond with Cyclonus. Maybe Getaway's plan is to isolate Cyclonus For whatever reason. Separate him abd Tailgate, and Cyclonus will probably revert back to the depressed loner he was at the start of the series. Cut off from the nly dupport system he has.
But it makes me wonder why Getaway would single out Rung. Unless Rung and Skids is something Getaway disapproves of. Or as Scaldron said, it's part of a larger scheme.
Kraken
I figured with Hound that it was just that age old ability of a tracker or scout to just know that something is wrong or out of place, and he was able to pinpoint it and flush Ravage out, plus G1 throwback as well.
I have no problem with Ravage being small, certainly helps with the steathy, and worth remembering that he's small to other bots, but he's still a honking great cat from the human perspective, he towered over that kid in Maximum Dinobots. Without going back over all his appearences, I don't think that he's significantly shrunk in MTMTE from his previous IDW appearences.
Anguirus
I realize this isn't usually possible, but we might actually be reading too much into Nautica-Ravage interactions.
While the "reason" might indeed be given at some point as a throwaway line about Caminian class relationships, the humor really comes from the fact that Nautica is the only one who doesn't know enough about Ravage to be afraid of him.
Essentially, it's the only opportunity anyone will ever have to make kitty jokes about Ravage without it seeming too much of a stretch, and by god when you see that opportunity you take it. Particularly since Milne draws him so cute.
I'd rather have cute-but-philosophical Ravage than…whatever Barber was trying to do with him. No offense but…no. Ravage can't sound like Rumble.
soundwaverulls
Actually, while I initially really liked the idea that Nautica and Caminus as a whole still held functionist beliefs, I've since realized they'd have never had them to begin with. IIRC, the colonies were formed by the 13, after they fled Cybertron, and in notRID, we saw it was just after they left that Nova formed Functionism.
Edit:
It would be cool if he simply didn't have any deflectors. However, if he does have them, I still find it odd that Hound spotted him despite not looking for him, no matter what Hound's specialty is. Although, I guess it's possible that, with the entire Lost Light disappearing, Hound was on the lookout for anything that could've been causing it.
That's an interesting idea. I was assuming Getaway just wanted Tailgate's affection all to himself, but he was one of Prowl's agents. It would be cool if this was him setting up some plot.
WilyMech
Nautica also is not part of the Cybertronian war where Ravage played a role in. As SMOG said she may have prejudices to disposable class and be a bit dismissive of Ravage's skill as spy. Brainstorm is more well aware of certain Decepticons so yeah.
I would like to see Ravage to grow beyond Soundwave's shadow.
SMOG
He talked a fair bit, and got his own voice-overs and stuff, though he also had panther-like behaviours that played up his "animal" characteristics.
I feel like the Nautica thing actually suggests something deeper about her (and Caminus)… that the Camiens might still hold on to certain cultural biases about "disposable classes" that were changed on Cybertron due to Megatron's revolution. However, it has already been a recurring joke with her (twice), and Ravage's appearances lately seem to increasingly foreground his tiny size. When he slashes Megatron's face as well, the gesture is rather like a swat from an ill-tempered cat. Just generally it feels like it contributes to a slight denigration of Ravage's status. Obviously he's been getting some nice development as well, so there's a push-and-pull there.
I liked that very much. But he's still tiny.
Or, well… he's building a better mousetrap. Obviously Ravage is an un-recanted Decepticon, so it pays to know what he's up to, especially since Ravage is now back to lurking (and, of course, stealing briefcases).
Took me a moment to register who he was. Then it was like "Oh, cool!".
I especially like that in context with Overkill's old G1 bio weakness… that sometimes his mass-shifting malfunctions, and he gets stuck as a cassette-sized dinosaur by mistake.
zmog
Coffee
I much prefer our talking Ravage over the growling cat from G1, so I know where you're coming from. Though I do recall Ravage was a bit of an angry cat back in marvel UK as well (or maybe an angry jaguar), even if he was much cooler then than he ever really was under Barber's pen. I can see the whole "cute kitty" thing becoming an issue but that was only really a one-time joke with Nautica: someone who seemed to be completely new to the concept of animal cassettes. I think Megatron's "Ravage is no pet," right after kind of cemented the fact that Ravage is, well, not a pet, and that Nautica was being naive. The fact that we know Ravage is this dangerous threat, and that Nautica isn't aware of this, is where that comic effect comes from.
While it's been a while since we've seen him interacting with anybody, I thought his scene with Megatron showed him to be much more than the stealth-cat from sunbow, and that he was to be the embodiment of any possible doubts Megatron might have. If anything, the fact that Brainstorm is doing something to make Ravage less of a threat shows that he thinks precautions should be taken over a dangerous Decepticon.
And yeah, Overkill was badass in that panel.
Knightsword
I'm pretty sure a hound sniffing out a cat was nothing more then a joke and a play on Hound's name.
SMOG
No, but I think it runs to a certain narrative that tends to relegate the cassette beasts to subordinate roles as "Soundwave's pets", rather than being independant and significant characters in their own right. While I like that Ravage has gotten more voice and characterization in this series than he's gotten in a long while, the fact that he's also just a 'cute little kitty' (which is played to comic effect with Nautica, but also leads to a certain diminuation of his powers) is quite a departure from his (for example) Marvel depiction as a full-sized Decepticon whose abilities are respected beyond simply being a "stealth kitty".
I know that some fans bonded with Ravage on the old G1 cartoon, where he was basically a pet, but I always hated that depiction. Roberts and Barber seem to be straddling his two main depictions in the TF media… and I'd just like to see Ravage as more of a "jaguar" than "angry cat", y'know?
(and accordingly, Steeljaw and Ramhorn not as an adorable "mini-safari". It's worth noting that back in issue #12 that Overkill (also a cassette) was ENORMOUS in his robot mode, which I thought was awesome. )
Yeah, I totally got that. Seeing how he plays Tailgate really casts anything else he says and does in a certain suspcious light. And really… it's unusual for Roberts to broach a seemingly incidental topic for NO reason… he's getting at something.
As far as I'm aware, Hound has no special scent-based abilities (despite his name). He has an infra-red array he uses for tracking, and as a scout, is probably pretty perceptive, but he doesn't have super-senses like Red Alert (who has all of his senses augmented, not just hearing).
Unless one of the writers has changed that, and I didn't notice/remember?
zmog
WilyMech
Ravage is more of stealth than attention deflectors. Hound can smell anyone on the board of Lost Light. I think Hound just detected Ravage's scent on board. Brainstorm it is more of how many Decepticons know he has ties with that faction even Megatron was surprise.
QLRformer
It's nice to see the crew loosen up after a big ordeal. Of course, now there's a new ordeal incoming…
Prime_Directive
Well, it's probable that Ravage isn't decked out in attention deflectors like Brainstorm is theorizing, and Brainstorm is just overthinking Ravage's skill and experience in going unseen. Furthermore, isn't it Hound's specialty to find people who don't want to be found?
Scaldron
does anyone think that Getaway's digs at Rung are in a similar vein to his manipulation of Tailgate from last issue? just more subtle, though?
like, it was pretty obvious to us that he was manipulating Tailgate, but since Tailgate's a pretty naive & insecure guy, he starts to believe Getaway. but with Skids, he's got to try a different tack. 'cause while Nautica is the one that mentions Rung, Getaway turns to face Skids and basically says "you know how Rung is kinda boring?"
i dunno, i get the feeling he's potentially trying to isolate certain people so they're more likely to serve whatever ends Getaway wants them to.