It will bring cookies. All good things bring cookies. DOH! Fixed. Good catch. Thanks. ☺ We’ve got a few more new faces to meet along the way. Some will be bit players, and some will become key characters. Cookies. It will bring cookies. Honest. Watching Doctor Who? What’s that? Oh, right, you mean the Amy Pond show! Yep, I’ve been watching the Amy Pond show a lot. Just wish they’d focus less on that bizarre side character with the bow-tie and focus more on The Pond. And yeah, most of the Autobots are dead. With the exception of a few dudes left in the stasis chamber who we’ll be meeting over the next few updates, the guys walking around in New Iacon are all that’s left. Wheelie is indeed dead. My first draft of the script, which was a bit more light hearted and goofy, explained that Wheelie appeared, hit Grimlock on the nose with that little catapult…and Grimlock promptly ate him! I dropped that idea pretty quick as it wouldn’t fit OOTDL Grimlock’s character, and the Autobot’s wouldn’t allow one of their own to murder another bot for something so trivial, but it stems from me seeing the 86 movie as a nipper, and being unable to believe that G1 Season 1 and 2 Grimlock wouldn’t simply chow down on some upstart little punk who catapulted his nose. Then came Season 3 Grimlock and everything made a lot more sense. I am shamelessly throwing in lens flare in heaps at the moment. I’m hoping that if I throw enough in, I might be able to summon JJ like some kind of eldritch spectre and thank him profusely for Alias seasons 1-3. And then kick his ass for Alias season 5. Ah, you suspect that Prowl has brought death upon himself by means of being a traitor? Interesting… Pah! Mirage is offended that you think a mere prison cell could contain his will. If he desires to dispose of this common rabble by means of rethinking his alliances, then he shall do so, imprisonment or no. Or maybe it’s SO obvious that it’s the perfect choice that no-one would ever suspect… Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Thanks ☺ I’ve spent my downtime rethinking and reworking a lot of the visuals, sets and fonts. I’ll keep revising it as we go along to get the most out of it. You guess correctly. I do indeed have extensive experience of the Amy Pond show, although my main period of fandom was pre-Pond, during the Old Who era. New Who doesn’t quite hit the same buttons for me, but that’s just a personal thing and there are still some New-Who episodes that are cracking good Television. Army of Ghosts was indeed one of the inspirations for the way this Season opened. It’s a little bit that, a little bit American Beauty, and a host of other stories and movies that have opened with the protagonist being dead and telling the Audience “Okay, so this is how I got here.” As you point out, the idea has been used many times in fiction, and I tend to steal as much as I can. It’s simpler that way. That is some detailed analysis. Perceptor approves. Well, he would approve, if he wasn’t dead. I can’t comment on too much, but I can say that Cliffjumper is certainly going to make an appearance. He made an acceptance speech on behalf of the strip during this years funnies, and is currently in Stasis awaiting revival. Hot Rod will also feature, as he’s been seen in the stasis chamber in this shot. Arcee will feature if I can afford to grab Perfect Effect Arcee. I did consider doing something like Vegabond Elf has done in Transformers: Regenesis, and gave the BT Arcee a facelift (Seriously, check out that strip, it’s new but it’s off to a flying start and has some sweet Alt/BT customs front and centre) but I’m not great at sculpting or painting, and the only other Arcee I’ve seen who fits the Alt asthetic and scale is PE Arcee. Fireball got killed so hard he actually died twice. Seriously. It’s in no way an error on my part. Not at all. I don’t make mistakes…. I’m fooling no-one, am I? As for the rest…only time will tell…. Me Grimlock say: Kicking down sandcastles is best part of building them. Me Grimlock been banned from a lot of beaches. Yep. Alt Hot Rod was one of the best Alternators released, in my opinion anyway. The Kissplay version is the nicer of the two, with a better paint scheme, but the regular one is not to be sniffed at. Next: Cookies. I wondered why Prowl kept trying to speak in an east London accent. And that blonde pony tail he’s glued to his head just looks damn creepy… Heh heh. Part of me would love to go back and reshoot the previous seasons with the new sets, but I’d never have the time, and I’d be kinda scared that once you start down the George Lucas path, forever will you tinker with your old work. Consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s creator… And it brings cookies. Cool, glad the new look is going down well. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and I finally got the time, and money, and methods available to do it. As for Grapple, I’m thinking you might be right. Heh heh heh. Never say never… Me Grimlock say: Human’s never play music loud enough. If major rock formations not crumbling, you need to turn up music. Me Grimlock glad Mrs A approve. At least, me assume that is approval, and not horrific jaw injury. Thank you. ☺ Me Grimlock say: Coolhand not above lifting concepts from anyone. Him tried to base Season 5 on a Mcdonalds Advert him see. It pathetic. You mean my Red Herrings might Red Herrings? That the wheels within wheels have wheels in them? I certainly do. When Grapple next appears, Superquad7 is going to find something rather familiar about him. Incidentally, if you haven’t checked out Superquad7’s custom work, click here. He’s got some insanely nice Alt/BT work on display, as well as figures from other lines, all ready for you to drool over. I’m bringing cookies. Cookies are the main theme of Season 4. LOL! It is now! I’m re-writing as we speak! Fun and depressing. Funpressing? I like that. I guess Funpressing, like a clown running around on fire. The shrieking and the burning smell are kind of a bummer, but then you hear the frantic honk-honk of those joke-shoes as he runs to and fro, and you get a wistful little grin on your face and a chuckle. “Man, that clown inferno was kinda funpressing, know what I mean?” With cookies! And cookies! Thanks. ☺ Yeah I think the new look works well. It’s going to take more effort to do, especially when we go outside the bases and built structures, but I think it’ll be worth it, and my GIMP skills have reached the point where I can try outdoor environments without it looking awful. I hope. Me Grimlock say: You might want to up the Kleenex order. This season gets a bit grimdark. On plus side, it also have lots of killing in it, and that always hilarious. Ah paddles. Of all the souls, I have met in my travels, his was the most….obsucre. And poor Prowl. Apparently, someone dropped a house on him, or threw water on him or something. Good catch. That’s vader’s TIE Advanced from the Death Star Trench Run 2 pack, which has the Tie and the new X-Wing. It costs £120 in the UK, whish is something like $250, and IS NOT WORTH THE MONEY, but I managed to catch it discounted down in TRU to a more modest £60. My original plan was to keep the X-Wing and ebay the TIE, but then Skids said he wanted a cool desk to work on, and my DVD cases just weren’t cutting the mustard anymore so… This won’t be the last Star Wars item we see masquerading as furniture or a prop. Mwa-Ha-haHA! Thanks. Thanks you. The Cons are coming….
I doubt I can say anythin' that hadn't been said... but liked the setting, showin' how everything seems to be fallin' in place... then he finishes it by tellin' how he died.
And there's probably a bit player who was key all along, amiright? So what''s this? You plan on discontinuing the use of your livingroom to represent "the Dead Land?" Did I read that right? It almost seems heretical. I'm just gonna call it right now and guess that none other than Prowl himself is the betrayer. It's so covert, it's overt.
The traitor will be someone right under our noses. Someone whom we will suspect, but will somehow have us apologizing for that thought, only to find ourselves stabbed in the back while we a hugging him in friendship.
Pretty much this. Just because they're dead, doesn't mean they won't be involved in the plot twist. That said, I don't think it's Windcharger. It could be, but I doubt it.
Personally, I think one of the twins will be the traitor. Or quite possibly Ratchet (so unlikely, but thats what makes me think this)
Is it weird in any way that I missed Coolhand's replies to his feedback almost as much as I did the actual comic?
So basically Ravage's role here is what Soundwave's role has traditionally been in Megatron's empire? Interesting. And I have to say, while I only have a handful of Alternators, Ravage is now at the top of my list, based on how awesome he looks in this comic. I'm really enjoying this series, Coolhand. I recently got into it, and it has me hooked. Congrats, man, "Out of the Dead Land" is every bit as good as Polenicus' "Warring at Play".
Wow. Just read the sequence involving the standoff with Sunstreaker, Mirage, and Silverstreak. POWERFUL stuff. I especially loved Silverstreak's speech. It contained the single best origin of the Autobot symbol I've ever encountered in TF fiction. The face of Praxus, I love it. And there's an extra layer when you consider the real-life explanation: the Autobot symbol design was inspired by Prowl's face. And since Bluestreak shared a design with Prowl in G1 and continues to have a similar-looking head in Alternators. In a roundabout way, Silverstreak is the face of the Autobots, and that scene highlighted it perfectly. He's been a relatable chatterbox in earlier installments, an everyman who's just doing his job. He had a down-to-Earth personality in a series full of eccentrics. Even his frequent stream-of-consciousness freakouts were understandable, and pretty much what the audience might be thinking in that situation. But when the scrap gets real, so does he. I love how passionate he was about defending the Autobot ideal, to the point of standing up to Grimlock and The Sunstreaker, the two Autobots most likely to rearrange his parts. I love this guy. Keep up the amazing work, Coolhand.
Couldn't agree more. That is one of the most amazing lines I've ever read: poetic and disturbing at the same time.
I'm now up to Jazz's shootout with Shockwave in his lab. Not only have I been enjoying the ride, I've even set it to TF: Dark of the Moon soundtrack. The music works really well with the action scenes. Case in point: the Jazz vs. Shockwave scenes are being set to Shockwave's Revenge.
"Things were going so well. Until everything got utterly killified." Yep, that's the plan. In some ways it's going to be a lot harder because the shots will take more time to set up and more time in post production, but I'm hoping that the upgrade in terms of the quality of the visuals will be worth it. I will kinda miss having my Alts take cover behind whiskey boxes and Battlestar DVD's though... So covert it's overt. I like that, that's an awesome line! Could I steal it? Ah Clowns. Only truly funny when they're a stumbling human inferno or when they're making pencils disappear... Aw you. (Huggles) Me Grimlock like sad pandas. They chewy and taste of ennui. Thank you. Yeah Ravage and Soundwave had a very entwined existence in the OOTDL backstory. The thing with Ravage is that he's happiest when pulling strings in the shadows, and often does his best work when no-one realises he was even involved. So other bots often focused their attention on the big blue and silver Decepticon with the synthesised voice and the creepy face, and paid little attention to the slinking, unimportant "minion" who lived in his chest. Which was just the way Ravage wanted it... And dude, you gotta get a JagRavage. Every house needs a sleek, smirking kitteh prowling low on the collection shelves. His cat mode is great and his alt mode is gorgeous. Thanks man, glad you like him. Streak is a fun character to have around, and he's very much the idealist of the Autobots. Those principles are what helped him deal with the horrors and the dark choices he faced during the war, and it's why he was prepared to face down Sunny and Grim; if the Autobots discard the principles they fought for, then all of that hell and suffering was for naught. That's the way Streak sees it, anyhow. It won't be the last time we see that side of him. Ah Steve Jablonsky. That dude sure knows how to compose music. I do tend to write to music and the TF Movie soundtracks got a LOT of play during the script-writing sessions on OOTDL. The scores to those films are genuinely fantastic, evocative pieces of audio chocolate.
