Have to re-read the issue again, loved the art and the several plot lines already mentioned, but still kinda confused about Arcee's anger. I'm guessing it's what Jetfireinthesky already mentioned, plus the fact that "it" was forcibly experimented on to become a "she." Though, I wonder whether part of Arcee's angst is related to a possible idea that by introducing a "gender" to the TF race, that now there is some kind of inherent inequality created in terms of both social behavior and function?

 

That was a woefully inadequate comic, even for a 2 minute read (I'm still waiting for a non-Marvel TF comic that takes me more than 3 minutes to get from cover to cover).

Agreed. Jhiaxus, as he was in G2, was great. But to suddenly make him into a crazed inventor? I'd have preferred that Wheeljack did it for a laugh, frankly.

 

I'm definetly starting to get a Vibe of Furmans run on DW: TF Energon. I'm sure in his mind this is all going somewhere...but I can't see it and it's literally starting to feel like NOTHING is happening. we're just egtting a more convuluted mess as even more characters are heaped onto a story thats already not going anywhere.

 

I liked the issue but still can't figure out why....maybe just because of the pacing and some of the one liners. I never cared much for Arcee in the past, but it never got to the level of active hatred for her, so I was ambivalent about the issue. I like the characterization somewhat, I'm just not too sure why she would be chock full of whoopass just because Jhiaxus tinkered with some circutry and caused an infinte feedback loop of PMS.

 

G2 is god, and you will all bow down before its trippy color schemes.

That being said, loved the issue, still loving IDW as a whole. Can't wait for Grimlock.
DN

 

i. like many others was very impressed with the art work....mostly cause i think Milne figured out that in the megatron issues it was so over drawn that you couldnt make out a sword from an arm...Magnus looked awesome...but i digress

if someone asked me where female transformers came from yesturday....i wouldve had a couple of random plausible explanations that were not grounded in any fact whatsoever ( mostly cause the subject had never been adressed ) now when someone asks me today i have to tell them that female transformers used to look like "male" transformers and are the result of an experiment........that turned boys into girls.......

you know, when i was a kid.......for some reason i thought that Optimus Prime and Elita-1 having a prior serious realationship was the coolest thing ever....and this was at a point when on school grounds, i wouldnt go near girls due to cooties or whatever...

after reading this "explanation"............im going to disregard it as a -Furman Fumble-

in fact i think its the worst plot twist/ origin hes ever come up with

furman, if your reading this...dont do stuff like that again please, your making yourself look foolish

 

I thought it was great. Nice art, a badass take on Arcee, and a explanation for fembots I can get behind. Jhiaxus is a Dr. Menelev type - does experiments with no regard for cost. He made gender where the was none - not sex change, sex creation. Arcee was made on a whim, imperfectly - she is pissed, she is unstable. She is only 'she' in a relative way. She is not a woman like our mothers, in the same way Prime, Sunstreaker, anyone else is not a man like I am. She is Jhiaxus's take on 'female', forced on a genderless thing. Thats bound to fuck you up, and piss you off.

 

I decided to go back and re-read this one more time before posting.

For one, I'll admit, if you actually slow down while you read, and pay attention, it's a good read, with a ton of tiny little details. No comic book should be read in less than 5 minutes in the first go, you're just going to miss some of the little things.

The strange emphasis on Monstructor which has been built up since the Prime Spotlight continues, and now we start to understand why. It's how gestalts will be introduced to the mainstream TFs. Furthermore, we see where the flaws in the process are. Not only are the mechanics joined, but their sparks start to share bonds. This truly makes for an interesting read, realizing these gestalts have something like a conjoined twin syndrome.

Then you get to the meat and potatoes, Arcee. Slowly you start to realize *why* she's the way she is. She's been experimented on, but that's not what's done it. The fact is that she has never gotten used to having a female brain. She's seeing things from a female perspective, when before, there wasn't even a MALE perspective. It's left her jaded because, having once been GENDERLESS, she cannot truly adjust to *any* gender. Particularly one that is notably different physically than the rest of her genderless race.

However, Furman does a bad job at illustrating this with subtlety and grace. Instead of having her talk different, have emotional reactions as opposed to analytical ones, or any other stereotypical female personality traits, he writes her almost as he would write a highly educated grimlock.

It's hard for me to believe she's female in anything other than form. Of course, she was a *failed* experiment, so who knows.

Going back to that, it seems as though she's mostly upset that she was abandoned. The experiment itself is only a bit of her animosity. The rest is from the fact that when it went wrong, instead of fixing it, he cast her aside. Rejection, abandonment, a real chance to flesh out the emotional impact of her new gender status, but instead it gets put to the side to show off how much of a berserker fighter she is.

Nice idea, furman. Very poor delivery.

 

Me: Why are there girl transformers?
Furman: Because Jiaxus decided to experiment on Arcee and introduce gender.
Me: Okay, fair enough. Why did he do that, though?
Furman: Just because.
Me: .... I'm not gonna lie, that's a little lame.

I liked Furman's original explanation where Arcee got made due to the whims of crazy feminazis and the Autobot's desire to be politically correct (which they still failed at doing). It makes more sense, and it's a lot funnier than crazy Mary Sue badass Arcee. Jiaxus just introduced gender to the Transformers because he felt like it? Come on Simon, you can put in more effort than that.

Also, I don't really feel Jiaxus belongs in the story. I'd rather see someone who got made into a toy and how many plot threads do we have here? Transformers IDW is starting to get extremely convoluted.

 

Great. Now the cons have combiner tech..Everything is Fubared now..

I hope the Autobots managed to study the tech long enought.

 

I enjoyed this issue. I think Furmans stuff is gonna pay off in the long run. He is writing with a much larger goal in mind. Its very uncompressed but I am loving the direction.

 

i read it the other day and i gotta say i pretty much agree 100%

Some really great ideas..the book had some sweet sci-fi kinda ideas and stuff in it but some reason the comics just cant get passed themselves...

ive really felt for a long time that Transformers has what it takes to become this huge space opera epic but it keeps tripping on itself on poor execution.


And i really wish these characters had "voices"

they all speak the same. There's no personality. Arcee is as deep and monotonous and "look at me and my huge vocabulary" as Optimus Prime is...who is the same just like megatron...who's like jetfire....who's like [insert everybody else]


they all just talk exactly the same and that really takes me out of it i have to say. There's no personality in their delivery.


some nice ideas! it was almost there. But just didnt quite cut it IMO... i think this would have been nice if it was a 2-part spotlight or something.

*shrug*

 

only thing i got this issue was that im warming up to milne, hes looking better here.

dont like the idea behind arcees origin. even if it was unnecessary, i dont like the execution. im just saying its creating more confusion than it actually tries to resolve. count me in the better off unexplained camp here.

and yeah, she comes off totally mary sue, bleh.

 

Uh...are you allowed to say that? Don't get me wrong, I'm on the same page as you and the others about a good idea and bad execution, and of people having the same voice. I'm certainly very impressed by your candor. But, uh, are you allowed to be that honest?

 

what? i cant have an opinion? xP

im speaking purely as a fan. i may work on some of these comics but i was a fan first.

Not like im doggin on it or anything. i think if Simon were here i'd tell him just the same. There's many times where his characters' dialogue lacks personality. Just a piece of criticism.

But so what? He's got some fantastic ideas. I totally love this continuity he's been creating. I love being a part of it. The artwork by Milne/Perez was stellar. Milne really shines here with a much roomier panel count per page.

Its all great stuff.. i just think this story could have used a little more tweaking.

But just because i work for them doesnt mean i cant have an opinion about the work they put out. Im sure you all do it in your own jobs  

But anyways. Like i said i'm a fan just as much as any of you. I read the books, i have opinions on what i like or dont like in regards to franchise i grew up with and love and dont think i should really be "afraid" to talk about some of these books [more-so ones i didnt work on or have any part of creating]

But i dunno. I could be wrong of course  

 

eh, its not like simon signs his paycheck, assigns the job or nuthin.

gotta remember, furman, even with the rep, is still a jobber.

 

I dont mind the entire idea of Jiaxus doing it on a lark. I get the idea they're shooting at making Jhiaxus the TF equivalent of Mengele.

On the other, the entire thing with Arcee was just Meh. Sure, she's the first female TF, but what does that MEAN? What makes a female TF female? I very much doubt Jhiaxus introduced sexual reproduction into the equation, so what exactly does gender MEAN in a TF? That's what it should have been exploring. What we get, instead, is "OMG! I'm a woman now! RAAAAAH!!!!"

I do rather like the redesign, but the unhinging jaw was just a bit too silly.

 

i agree.....theres very little individual personality to all the charcters.....the dialouge is way to streamlined with to much "star trek" talk in it

someone mentioned before that when they read the comics they hear the original voice actors in there heads....the inflections.....the language ....the pitch.........ironhide to perceptor , it all reads the same....and that is something that should deffinetly be fixxed

 

Finally got it tonight, read it moderately quickly (while eating dinner and read about 4 other comics) and quite enjoyed it. I get the feeling there's also more there to spill over into other, later, comics featuring Arcee (which, following the standard set by the other Spotlights, should be sometime in the next major story arc).

Looking back at the other spotlights, I've found this has had about as much of Arcee as the other Spotlights had on their major characters in the main, and was as more about tying her into the major arc, again like the other Spotlights. I look at them as ways of introducing the characters who will be introduced in the main books, but in ways that doesn't take up a page count in the main books.

That said, Magnus is really yet to make an appearance as more than a talking head  

Looking at the jaw thing, didn't bother me, quite liked it, it's keeping in with the other TF designs (a lot of the Earth crew particularly look like they have something similar going, and for obvious reasons the Headmasters more so). Also, was it just me, or was (what appeared to be) pre-experiment Arcee rather feminine-looking to start with?