Mtmte #49

Discussion in 'Transformers Comics Discussion' started by SavedTabs, Feb 10, 2016.

  1. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

    Joined:
    May 13, 2006
    Posts:
    23,158
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    Robot Narnia, Quebec
    Likes:
    +9,478
    I know, right? :) 

    zmog
     
  2. RazorclawX

    RazorclawX Campaign Oracle

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2011
    Posts:
    2,564
    Trophy Points:
    262
    Likes:
    +1,927
    I haven't seen the preview yet, but that won't stop me from stenciling in "if at all possible, I mean."
     
  3. l0te

    l0te Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2015
    Posts:
    586
    Trophy Points:
    147
    Likes:
    +151
    Twitter:
    Tumblr:
    Also a good point.
     
  4. Autovolt 127

    Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2006
    Posts:
    83,294
    News Credits:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    462
    Likes:
    +2,907
    i can see that happening.

    I hope that's what he meant by that.

    It's cool he's taking a more commanding approach. He is a co-captain, he should be acting like one.

    Froid's whole deal was all over the place.

    and yeah that's kinda amusing.
     
  5. WilyMech

    WilyMech Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2013
    Posts:
    4,412
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    222
    Likes:
    +421
    I still think Skids will bite it in the end
     
  6. Prime_Directive

    Prime_Directive less than meets the eye

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2010
    Posts:
    1,174
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    212
    Likes:
    +115
    It actually reminds me a lot of that line from the annual:

    "You let WHIRL into my head?"
    "Don't worry, we told him not to shoot."
    "He's ARMED!?"
     
  7. gregles

    gregles quintesson

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2011
    Posts:
    3,663
    Trophy Points:
    262
    Likes:
    +1,078
    There seems to be quite a few annoying logic inconsistencies in the actions and motivations of both Froid and Sunder. Why let Sunder free? Why did sunder Suddenly turn on someone who had been so helpful to him? Why was Froid seem surprised at Sunders nasty actions? An obvious explanation for some of these could be that Sunder has messed with Froids memories heavily brainwashing him over time but currently it does feel pretty sloppy.
     
  8. optimusmegas

    optimusmegas Target-Power-Titan-Prime-Battle-Master

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2007
    Posts:
    10,913
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Likes:
    +13,594
    Ebay:
    i kinda can't....megatron is arguably the main character of the entire IDW universe. he's had about the most arcs the most growth the most character changes...as much as the sacrifice play would suit his newest role i just don't see him being taken out for it. maybe leaving him near death but recovering (off panel of course) but not permanent.

    pacifist or not it won't last. with threats like deathsaurus and tarn coming he can't sit this out. it's gonna be like old man logan all over again. trying so hard not to fight then enough is finally enough then it's a horrible bloody affair when he lets go.

    or the issue was rushed and the writing is not up to it's usual standards...which seems to be happening more and more...

    which is a shame from how tight the writing was for season one.
     
  9. Prime Noble

    Prime Noble Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2008
    Posts:
    13,527
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Location:
    Ireland
    Likes:
    +37,063
    Am I the only one who wants Tailgate to die?
     
  10. Prime Noble

    Prime Noble Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2008
    Posts:
    13,527
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Location:
    Ireland
    Likes:
    +37,063
    I agree. He also killed Countdown which i found very disappointing.
    I'm also fed up of the expressionless faceplate brigade Chromedome, Rewind and especially Tailgate and the comic only guys like Riptide, Rung, Nautica and the horribly designed Froid.
     
  11. SMOG

    SMOG Vocabchampion ArgueTitan

    Joined:
    May 13, 2006
    Posts:
    23,158
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    Robot Narnia, Quebec
    Likes:
    +9,478
    I'm going to use my vote to negate your faceplate complaint. Bring on the faceplates (which end up being surprisingly expressive, after all). Keep it real. Transformers have weird faces and often distorted body types. Always been this way. Always should be. :wink: 

    Rung has grown on me. Nautica is okayyyy... I agree on Riptide though. Really no reason to have a new character to fill that role.

    zmog
     
  12. gregles

    gregles quintesson

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2011
    Posts:
    3,663
    Trophy Points:
    262
    Likes:
    +1,078
    Taken in isolation it certainly does feel that way and I hope later issues come back to these characters add a little more.

    This whole season 1 = perfection, season 2 = trash concept is really getting a chore to read and oversimplifies critical discussion on the comics presented. I get the emotionally lazy motivations behind the 'had it, lost it' mentality and I have been just as guilty as anyone here of unfairly emotionally distancing myself from the later works of an artist so that the earlier work can be viewed as in some way perfect in my mind. The truth as always is a lot more complicated and uncomfortable than we would like it to be as take off rose tinted glasses for a second season 1 wasn't perfect, story threads like red alerts suicide attempt was confusingly dropped like a bad penny, issues like the Hedenia one was enjoyable but hardly essential reading, the overlord rampage was far from satisfactory and the prose ending left many cold. Season 1 also had the 'awe of the new' factor on its side with the expectations for a transformers comic in general being at an appalling low at the time.

    Of course the trilogy of self indulgent issues (personality ticks double and swearth issue) do stand out as a low for MTMTE but aside from them season 2 has had some really strong issues with Megatrons trial giving us all the moral ambiguity we could want from such a story, elegant chaos giving as much if not more complexity than Shadowplay as it had the courage to incorporate time travel and call backs to stories spanning back through years of IDW continuity without it becoming a plot hole ridden mess and also tagged in new mysteres for the ones it resolved. I'm also confident that the scavengers double issue, ten issue and the necrobot issue are all easily as confident as anything season 1 gave us.

    I will concede that there has been a slight tone change since it first started and between the seasons but that is what happens with any creative ongoing piece of work, it changes and evolves to avoid repetition and it could be argued that Idw is also slightly responsible for this disappointing 2nd album like reception as they divided it up like this in the first place to make room for that dark cybertron mess but things are very rarely as simple as a nice clean divide between 100% good then 100% crap with many criticisms and praise being true of both seasons it's just now more time has past and creative risks taken.

    Ok I didn't intend that to be as long of a rant as that and my grammar often sucks in rants so sorry if it's a difficult read. I shall return to my slumber now.
     
  13. optimusmegas

    optimusmegas Target-Power-Titan-Prime-Battle-Master

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2007
    Posts:
    10,913
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Likes:
    +13,594
    Ebay:


    yea i find riptide to be really useless....especially with all the reports about how bad roberts wanted to use bluestreak then he gets bluestreak then never uses him....what bluestreak couldn't fill in those "important" spots that got regulated to riptide?

    nautica though i really like...maybe because i like the quirky nerdy kinda girls...but still.
     
  14. optimusmegas

    optimusmegas Target-Power-Titan-Prime-Battle-Master

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2007
    Posts:
    10,913
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Likes:
    +13,594
    Ebay:
    i feel season two is lacking...i won't say it's trash because a lot of issues i really did like. the time travel issues the parallel lost light the scavengers the djd....stuff like that i did enjoy.

    i think it comes down to too many questionable choices in to little a time. the personality ticks and swearth were too close together and then the cyclonus fake out death and aftermath were all wrapped up neatly off panel as was tailgate's waking up. i mean he's shot to hell then a few pages in he's upright like nothing happened. that was rage inducing how that ended up...

    it just seems like too many problem areas in the book popping up to close to eachother maybe compounds the frustration many are having. i certainly wouldn't call this book trash and it is one of the books i still eagarly pick up when they come out and i guess that's why disappointment hits so hard. i want to get excited to read every issue like i did with season one. i want to get pissed off reading that small text in the lower corner that says "to be continued" because the issue ends and i have another month to go till then next one.

    it just sucks when i get to the end of this issue and see that preview page for the next issue and i'm glad because this stupid sunder story is done. i really couldn't stand froid being brought in and turning just like pharma and sunder being yet another op boogeyman. seriously this dude blows...i hope he never returns.

    again...not saying it's trash but there's clearly an issue of quality and how things wrap up now than from season one.
     
  15. gregles

    gregles quintesson

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2011
    Posts:
    3,663
    Trophy Points:
    262
    Likes:
    +1,078
    ^ great post. well made points and genuine conserns highlighted. Sorry if my rant seemed aimed at you or anyone as like most rants it was a little carried away and unfairly putting words in people's mouths.

    I personally don't mind the getaways capture and treatment being off panel as I quite liked the fandoms reaction of horror and shock. The tailgate and Cyclonus thing for me is less forgivable. Rereading the issue again for me the main issue remains the inconsistencies in sunder and Froid which I think could be solved with a few extra lines of dialogue or panels to explain things better.

    If there was one main factor that had impared season 2 it is the shorter page count. This story arc in a way invited comparisons to the overlord season 1 arc in that it's a pre season finale phsyco rampage and the limited content in these issues in comparison is huge and really feels like a squeeze. I know great writer should be able to adapt and whatnot but from a readers point of view I really miss how big each issue used to feel.
     
  16. optimusmegas

    optimusmegas Target-Power-Titan-Prime-Battle-Master

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2007
    Posts:
    10,913
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    362
    Likes:
    +13,594
    Ebay:
    ^^^^oh i didn't feel it was aimed at me or anything we're just talking back and forth......geez are we really all on eggshells around here this bad we have to announce intent towards every post?? man....anyways...

    well i think the punishment reveal was handled fine i just think the capture after cyclonus's take down should have been done better. i wanted to SEE how magnus kicked their asses and dragged them in front of megs. not get a brief action panel and told it's all wrapped up.

    yea the page limit thing sucks but if you cut out a few things it can work out. i know it keeps getting brought up but....if you cut out the entire swearth issue which really amounted to nothing that's a whole fresh book you could have used to expand on certain things instead of rushing it all along.

    swearth would've been a great tie in spotlight issue but with how things are quickly wrapped up now it's seems like a waste of an issue who's page count could have been used to flesh out the aftermath of what happened and given us more about the sunder stuff....so that didn't abruptly end as well.

    frankly if he cuts out the self indulgent stuff i think this comic could get back on track....here's hoping dying of the light is the start to that.
     
  17. Murasame

    Murasame 村雨

    Joined:
    Oct 9, 2008
    Posts:
    25,366
    News Credits:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    412
    Location:
    The Lost Light
    Likes:
    +13,350
    Yes
     
  18. Starscream Gaga

    Starscream Gaga Protoformed This Way

    Joined:
    May 19, 2011
    Posts:
    9,615
    News Credits:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    287
    Likes:
    +5,848
    Riptide is MTMTE's biggest mystery. What is his purpose? Why was a character needed to be made from scratch to fill his role? Was it just for that Aquabat joke in the first issue?

    Strictly speaking, he stinks of a DJD casualty. Introduce a new character, have them be involved in all of Season 2's adventures whilst contributing exactly nothing, kill him off in the series finale to give the illusion of killing a main character without changing the status quo in any way. We all know Roberts is terrible when it comes to letting go of any of the main cast, yet a big confrontation with the DJD almost promises deaths... Riptide seem like the perfect "out" of the situation.
     
  19. Pumpkin latte

    Pumpkin latte Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2015
    Posts:
    69
    News Credits:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    47
    Likes:
    +10
    I am not a good writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I can't help but feel the Froid and Sunder plotline would have been improved if Roberts had brought him in during the personality tics two-parter and toned he and Sunder down a bit. This is a badly conceptualized synopsis. It is long and rambling and certainly not clever. You deserve a warning, if you choose to read it.

    Froid could be introduced as someone who had arrived on board to mourn Thunderclash. Instead of an unknown dynamic trio upstaging Nightbeat, it could be Froid and Sunder. Sunder could explain that he had a talent for remote mnemosurgery and could sense them, perhaps make a disparaging comment about the satellite dish in his head. Have Megatron immediately react to it. Later have someone mention that they've joined the Lost Light 'out of concern' for Thunderclash and that they're staying in the ships hold out of respect for Megatron. We all would know they're up to no good but it wouldn't need to be blatant.

    Have Froid appear in group shots. Definitely show him trying to get Rung's attention while the other tries to avoid him. Maybe have a few security guards comment that Sunder in the docking bay and Froid is seen at least once at Swerve's requesting something expensive to-go for Sunder. It would be great if Froid at least tried to help Swerve during the holomatter issue. If Sunder is going to refer to Froid as "caring" we need evidence of it.

    Then have the Getaway thing happen. We see Sunder bent over Tailgate, and Ultra Magnus leaving to confront Getaway and Cyclonus ordering the mnemosurgeon away. Rodimus excuses Sunder who leaves the room, a dark shadow crossing over his face. Rodimus defends Sunder, and mentions to Cyclonus he'd wanted Chromedome reading Tailgate's mind, but with Rewind's insistence he refused off-panel. Sunder was the only option available. Sunder had apparently seemed reluctant to help without Froid but he agreed(off panel). Velocity helps a wounded Cyclonus back into a cg chamber he'd left when he'd noticed Sunder and she announces he'll be fine before examining Tailgate. Close up panel of Velocity reacting in surprise when she finds a crack in TG's cg chamber.

    Meanwhile Froid interrupts Skids&Rung and comments that Rung is late visiting him for energon tea and Skids leaves. We see a security team rushing past him saying Atomizer is attempting to prevent Ultra Magnus from detaining the suspect. Skids looks curious but not enough to ask. Froid is not after the patient files but he has lied. Rung hasn't agreed to visit him. Froid comments that he has no intention to stop harassing Rung until he stops avoiding him. He wants to catch up. That's all and just once he'd like Rung to hear him out and he promises to leave him alone. Reluctantly Rung agrees. They open the door and a security team rushes by who mention that they have Getaway and Atomizer in custody but they need to find a way to incarcerate an escapologist because they don't have anything suitable to contain him. It's not as good as actually seeing Getaway get taken down, but we still get a sense that something is happening in real-time. It also means we have less questions about when Getaway is finally revealed but it doesn't lessen the "horror reveal" feel to the scene.

    Skids still has his flashbacks.

    Skip to Rung and Froid in the ship, there is something wrong with the place. Rung feels like he's "in a coffin", hinting about the true nature of the setting. They've restarted their old argument over mnemosurgery and whether it's acceptable to use on patients. Rung gets frustrated as he did in canon and decides to leave when Froid accuses him of avoiding him because Rung didn't want Froid to know he's been crossing boundaries with patients again. He brings up Skids' nickname. This is when Sunder arrives. He looks them over, and Froid mentions their debate. He avoids using Skids' name, but refers to him as an amnesiac patient who has been repressing his memories as an example of a patient that would be helped with mnemosurgery. Sunder freezes at Froid's words and then a dark smile goes over his face and he agrees with his partner. Sunder starts reverting Mortilus speech. This is when Rung calls Skids. Sunder wants to know who he's referring to and when Froid doesn't immediately tell him(instead orders Rung not to look at him and calm Sunder down). Not having any of that, Sunder orders him to 'open up'. Froid is balled(or lumped as some suggested) and Sunder now knows his target is Skids.

    Rung wants to know what's going on and we see Sunder caressing Ball-Froid and mentions he'd been bad once. He'd once killed people he'd balled. Had killed so so many. A serial killer they'd called him. He'd just wanted to savor how other people's minds worked. It had ended when he'd been put on trial and his brother died while they were attempting to escape. Froid told him he'd come to help him and he had "convinced"(used mnemosurgery) the 'good' doctor to help him properly. He hadn't wanted to be caught again, not for death's sake but because of what that had taken from him; his brother. So he'd helped Froid with patients and tried so hard not to kill again, had tried to behave himself and help the doctor tend to patients instead. Being with Froid had helped calm his cravings but working on Tailgate had reminded him how good it felt to rummage around in another mech's head until they passed out unconscious and how much he enjoyed being there when their minds gave out and they died. He wanted to do it a few more times. He'd been good for so long, he deserved a treat. When Rung asks, he mentions that he didn't kill Froid, he's just punishing him for misbehaving. Froid was lucky he was so patient with him. Skids arrives and the flashbacks start.

    Issue two starts with much more space given to the issue. I think if he murdered the guards it would give Rung's heartwarming and desperate attempts to protect Skids more legitimacy. Sunder tells them he's going to finish off Skids and then he'll leave with Froid. The doctor will be angry with him but he's sure with some "convincing" he'd forgive him. Then they'd go back to working with patients again because progress had always made his partner happy. It would help a little to show their relationship as "dangerous Co-dependent" instead of the confusion canon gave us.

    Everything else plays out the same as canon, except
    Something heavy almost falls on top of someone's balled form while they're attempting to escape Sunder and Tailgate is able to catch it and throw it away easily to protect them. Thus showing another hint that he has super strength and it would lessen the dissociation from the story some experienced until the later reveal. Rung could mention that people are known to tap into unknown strength in times of panic. Tailgate could respond with "Yeah, but that much?" Rung(shrugging): "It has been known to happen."

    Since I took this part as him admitting defeat anyway(when a bad guy dons the ultimate form that has nothing to do with their special ability it almost always means they're about to die). Sunder is blinded and he uses his brother's corpse for protection and then uses the ship's sensor to detect the Froid-ball, before attempting to escape with him. It's not out fear for himself, but concern that history will repeat itself and his partner will die. They'll find someplace to get him fixed and be back to their practice in no time. The autobots aren't giving him an opportunity to have another relapse where the innocent victims won't have an opportunity to overwhelm him and they defeat Sunder when someone runs him over with the Rodpod(instead of throwing it at him). Either we see Froid-ball intact and fine in Sunder's hand or if Roberts wanted him dead smashed along with the mnemosurgeon(who I think is dead, but maybe not?). Tailgate begs for a quick ride for fun after all the drama everyone just went through and accidentally knocks it sideways, causes the ship to roll, cue confusion from everyone there. Later, Rodimus tells Megatron about Tailgate's new abilities


    It's not going to stop complaints(especially about the fallout for mtmte #47) but if we'd eased the development more slowly and lessened the impact of Tailgate's super strength on the plot a little, I think it would have helped.
     
  20. Focksbot

    Focksbot Skeleton Detective

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2015
    Posts:
    1,392
    Trophy Points:
    192
    Likes:
    +3,058
    Ahh, you're probably right! Thanks for (potentially) solving the mystery of Riptide. My best theory until now was that his very lack of purpose/presence would turn out to be a plot point - like everyone suddenly realises that they don't know who he is or where he came from, and he's actually a mole of some sort.