Enjoyed the ride. Wow, it was a quick ride too.
It's really interesting to hear thoughts on the cartoon after someone has read the comics first.
So what's next? The G1 cartoon? The UK comic? Dreamwave? IDW?

 

There's a nice story with Unicron's head in the UK comics. It also explains how Cyclonus and Scourge end up in the past as Targetmasters under Scorponok's command.

Give it time.  

 

Well, whatever I do, I won't be giving an episode-by-episode review of it. As much as I liked sharing my thoughts as they were happening, having to stop every few sentences to switch windows and type is annoying as all Hell.

As for what I'm going to do, I think I'm going to read the Furman's "Alignment" novella so I can see what the deal is with Liege Maximo. After that, I'm going to be watching the Beast Wars and Beast Machines cartoons, which should bring me to the final end of the story (chronologically, anyway).

 

I can understand that it's annoying to switch windows to write your notes and all that so I definetly understand that you are done with that now.
I been reading all your thoughts/notes and it's been great! So thank you for that and hope you enjoy beast wars&machines.

 

I would assume that the alternate universe that Galvatron is pulled from is a third universe where Unicron appears as he does in the movie and reformats Megatron, but where a new timeline is created within those events and he is not defeated by Rodimus.

I've not seen the Grim Reaper or the Devil, but I'm fairly certain I could figure it out when the hell and brimstone part begins.

Absolutely nothing. The voice is provided by Scatman Crothers, jazz musician.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, don't get used to the quality.

He's not as fleshed out in the cartoon.

Not yet. The movie takes places between season 2 and 3.

Freed (Season 3).

It's sad that we all know exactly who you're talking about. The funny thing is that it's the same actor that provides the voice for Megatron and most of the Decepticons and about one out of every ten voices in 80's cartoons. (Frank Welker)

This one actually makes a lot of sense. If you keep "spacebridging" all your trash to one area of space, eventually it's going to collect and form its own gravity.

That's another possibility. The floating head is addressed in the series.

two solutions:
1) Reduce the size of each window. (I'm currently only using about 1/3 of this monitor for this window.) You won't miss much by shrinking the size of the window you watch the cartoon in.
2) Two monitors.

 

While I'm not providing the wonderful reviews per issue as jb3434 (nor am I reading through them as quickly), I've said that I have also been reading through the US Marvel run. I thought that perhaps Ratbat's character wouldn't bother me nearly as much as it did when I was a kid. Well, I'm a bit more numb to it now since I couldn't stand Ratbat in the comics as a kid. However, I still DO NOT like Ratbat in the comics, especially with his rank (Soundwave takes his orders? NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!)

Don't get me wrong, I liked the tiny characterization that Ravage and even the 'beaks enjoyed, but that's all I've ever wanted from Ratbat. I'll even say that I think the focus on him was too much that it overshadowed other opportunities to "flesh out" (would "wire out" be more appropriate?  ) other characters. Say what you will about the US cartoon, but often times the brief instances many characters had screen time, they were still characterized well.

This isn't to say that many of the characters in the comics weren't written well. That's another can of worms for me. I just feel that Ratbat was WAY overused and his importance overplayed.

Did I mention that I don't like the idea of Soundwave being subordinate to Ratbat?  

 

Absolutely not.    

 

1.) I'd still have to pause, which would involve switching windows. I tried doing this with the comics (you know, since they don't keep going if you stop reading), but then the text was too small to see.

2.) Do I look like I'm made of energon? Monitors are expensive.

 

Well now that you've read the entire series, you understand what a complicated mess G1 is.

There are crucial character developments, yet at the same time there is a "thowaway" attitude you'd expect from a comic only designed to sell toys.

Remember, no one at the time expected Transformers to become a huge hit.

But some of the BIGGEST mistakes in marketing history were acknoledged by this series too.

1.) Don't kill off your most Iconic character in a shamless attempt to sell another one.
1a.) Don't do it multiple times either (see the cartoon return of Optimus Prime & Dark Awakenings)

2.) The jump to the year 2005 for the movie was just,,, odd. It threw off the comic writers in both the US and UK and the cartoon writers in Japan. Since Japan had to wait a year before the movie was released over there (ahh the pre internet days) they made an ENTIRE season of the cartoon that never showed in the US (Scramble city) Notable for having Movie and Season 3 characters in the time between 1988 and 2005.

3.) Unicron was made for the Movie, it took untill issue 75 (US) to do the character justice. In the movie he was just,,, THERE. Furman basicly gave the character Motive and History. In retrospect he really WAS a Mary-Sue. (Destroying that first planet though makes me drop my popcorn.)

G2

Frankly this comic was doomed from the beginning, (Jhiaxus's name was supposedly an in-joke "Gee, Axe Us?") So by the time issue 2 hit the stands the creative team was told they'd only get 12 issues. The cliffhanger ending was a bit of a joke too, because doesn't every good movie end with "to be continued?" (I'm looking at YOU! Marty McFly!)

As for the original run, Furman was brought in around issue 50 to get more readers and, well, they didn't come. The deal was pretty much sealed by around issue 75, sales were plumetting, (which is why the Furman run is so rare, few people read it) and the decision came to kill the line. The last 5 issues were done as a sort of last minute reprieve, but they only had so much time to wrap up the story before it was killed. So there was a sort of abortive arc feel to it.

Remeber at the time, we thought "this is it, the story is over." I remeber being very choked up over the cover blurb "Issue 80 in a 4 issue limited series" summed it up pretty well, it had far excceeded it's original mission.

And to this day I'd say it still applies.

 

I don't think the movie really had much of an impact on the US run at the time - Buniansky left it alone entirely, so much so that even characters like Cyclonus and Scourge were seemingly just regular Decepticons in the Headmaster mini.

 

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...

...

Screw it. I'll do episode-by-episode reviews of the Beast Era cartoons. It'll be a pain in the ass, but I'll enjoy it too. Just give me a bit before I start.

 

Read 'Legacy of Unicron' if you haven't already. It at least shows how they came to be in the past.

 

Wait, I thought Scramble City was just an OVA, not an entire season. From what I read, the Japanese didn't start churning out entire seasons until after US Season 3.

 

Prepare to be surprised.

Beast Wars is an epic show. It starts off very 90's and a little simple, but relatively small details are fleshed out more as it goes on, and gets significantly epic by the time season 2 starts. Plus, most of Cheetor's corny dialogue evaporates.

 

Wrong. Scramble city was 1 episode (I guess making it an OVA) to link seasons 2 and 3 without showing the movie. Which wasn't released in Japan until 1989 or 1990. Which is why you see season 2 characters that clearly got ganked in the movie in Headmasters and Victory.

Yep. And what Takara had commissioned for a season 4 was shit-tonnes better than "The rebirth."

 

You will?!!  
Yay! Awesome! Looking forward to reading it when you get around to it.

 

One last thing before I start the Beast cartoons. Enjoy.

Alignment: Book 1 (August 25, 2001) by Simon Furman

Time to see where they were going with the G2 story.

"Several hundred years" since Unicron?! Damn. I wasn't expecting that kind of a time jump. So, assuming the G2 comic kept the real-time progression seen in the G1 comic, this can't take place earlier than 2291. I mean, damn. This means all of the human characters we know are dead. Sparkplug, Buster, Blackrock, all gone.

So, the peace at the end of G2 didn't last. Shocker. Apparently Galvatron survived his dip in the arctic waters (I called it!), and went on to lead a massive battle that resulted in his death and the incapacitation of Optimus Prime. And this all happened IN THE BACKSTORY. Unforgivable. That deserves a book of its own.

This is the first time Ultra Magnus has appeared in the mainstream Marvel US timeline. Considering there's nothing by way of introduction, he must have been featured in the UK comics.

And the Liege Maximo has been waiting all this time? Man.

And Grimlock gets the action he craves. I don't know why he'd need the magnetic boots after the first few seconds, though. Once the air was completely drained from the room, he could gently push himself over to the tactical console in the vacuum.

And then Perceptor walks in and makes my previous paragraph meaningless.

A fortress that covers a continent? What is it with TF writers and having no sense of fucking scale?

The Decepticons having a debate? I'd pay money to see that.

Speaking of Decepticons, where has Megatron been all this time?

The thought of Grimlock actually saying something like that first message had me in stitches.

A cloaking device over an entire sector of space? Again, no sense of scale.

So this unfathomable web of planets is the Hub? An impressive idea. Too bad it's just text.

So Grimlock, Blaster, Perceptor, all the Autobots on that ship are dead? I expected them to make it out somehow.

Of course they're not dead! How could I be so stupid?

And now Liege Maximo targets the Decepticons, even though he was found by an Autobot ship. Why? Because he can.

So Direwolf was "an acolyte of Unicron"? Does that mean he was one of those goofy-looking cultists that Optimus and Scorponok fought in issue 74?

So their response to this threat is to hatch an egg? What's in there, Unicron's lovechild?

Wait, why does Megatron need to be reborn? He was just fine at the end of the G2 comic. In fact, he was better than ever thanks to the Rheanimum.

So, that was a weird cliffhanger.


Alignment: Book 2 (August 10, 2002) by Simon Furman

Okay, so Megatron fought Galvatron and lost. When did this happen? I'm seriously confused now. Was there another novella published before this that contained all this backstory? This is skimming over events that are really fucking important like we should already know about them.

See, this is the kind of writing I don't like. It says Megatron knew something like the Liege Maximo has been out there plotting the destruction of the Cybertronian race, but there's been NOTHING to ever suggest this in any of the comics or, Hell, even the first half of this one story!

Of course Ultra Magnus is always calm. He's voiced by Robert Stack. Talking into a camera about heinous crimes for 15 years will do that to you.

One thing I didn't talk about in the first book was that the Autobots were using Jhiaxus' technology to create mini-Cybertrons in their renewed war against the Decepticons. Doesn't this go against the entire message of the G2 comic: that the TFs weren't meant to expand like this?

I'm going to have to side with Prowl on this. If the legions of death were bearing down on our positions like that, I'd be creeped the Hell out if my commanding officer seemed so aloof about the situation.

 ! "Several light years"?!?!?!?!?! Goddamn it Furman, think before you write something! An artificial web of planets that covers light-years of space? That is utterly fucking ridiculous, even in a universe with planet-sized robots! Since we're talking about a network of planets, I could have bought AUs, or even some stupid made up unit of distance, but light years, the single largest unit of distance we have? Ugh.

So this Liege Maximo has dreams of genuine godhood. Considering what happened to both Unicron and Primus, I wouldn't be too eager to make that many enemies.

So Megatron disintegrated the entire Decepticon counsil. Cool, but why?

No security at a crucial juncture in the Hub? Oh, yeah. This is going to get ugly real quick.

"Size of a small galaxy"?! FURMAN! Are you TRYING to piss me off?

"Why are we still alive?" Because comic writers have no balls whatsoever.

As soon as they mentioned the asteroids prior to this, I knew it was some sort of trap.

Liege Maximo just got knocked down a few pegs. Most enjoyable.

Somehow, I doubt Megatron just committed suicide. But how do you get several light years away in such a short time?

And so Autobot and Decepticon team up, or at least pursue the same goal, for one last time. It's just now hitting me that this story is basically goodbye to all the G1 characters, what with the Beast Era being the next set of stories.

Knowing Grimlock, he's going to try and take the Liege Maximo head on.

...I wasn't being serious! Man, he does have a death wish.

O_O Grimlock... dead? He has to be. This must be for real. He was reduced to atoms. Hard to believe.

And now Perceptor. Damn.

Blaster was such an awesome character and he dies offscreen? Weak.

And now Megatron?! That's it. I take back what I said about comic writers having no balls.

This whole battle really didn't pack as much punch as the one with Unicron. I know I keep making that comparison, but Unicron's attack was the highest point in the series for me. The biggest problem here is that no one knows who the Liege Maximo is. Yes, they know he's a threat, but Unicron was anticipated for months and had an entire history lesson behind his motives. Liege Maximo attacked them out of nowhere, only to be destroyed shortly afterward with no questions answered (from the TF's perspective, of course). It was all so... impersonal.


Well, with that, I finally close the book on the Autobots and the Decepticons. Now onto the next generation: the Maximals and the Predacons.

 

Oh I have - but none of that was on Budiansky's mind when he wrote Headmasters. Simon Furman had to explain all that in the UK comic because he was using the movie characters and concepts, but Budiansky just had them there as regular Transformers, because that was really all they were in the US comic at the time.

 

Beast Wars: Part 1 (September 16, 1996) by Bob Forward

Right into the action I see. Why did they launch all the pods if no one was on them?

There's something I like about primitive CGI. It has a feeling of... nostalgia, almost.

So too much energon is deadly? This is new.

At least we get right to the prolonged ground war, instead of having everyone be unconscious for four million years.

So if TFs adapt new forms, they have to change their names? I know it happened with Goldbug, but I thought that was a one-time thing.

They don't seem to notice that all the lifeforms they copied are from Earth? What other planet could it be?

Oh, so there were TFs in the pods.

I'm assuming this is another Megatron, what with the original being blasted to pieces by Liege Maximo.

Man, Dinobot has serious balls talking to ANY Megatron like that. I think we have our new Starscream.

Owned! Again, I'm assuming this is a different Scorponok, since the original got taken out by Unicron.

Aw, man. Terrorsaur's wings were clipping each other something awful. How did that get by quality control?

Rattrap really needs to shut up.

So this must be prehistoric Earth, then? The wildlife is consistent, but the Predacons' computer says that the readings were inconsistent with what was expected, which is probably due to the time travel.

An ape riding a rhinocerous. That is Chuck Norris levels of awesome.

So it's been centuries since the end of the Great War. Assuming that happened soon after Alignment, then these robots came from the year 2491 at the earliest.

The whole "Maximize" and "Terrorize" battle calls are getting old already, and I've only heard them twice.

Do they WANT us to hate Rattrap?

Why in the world would Primal agree to a challenge like that?


Beast Wars: Part 2 (September 17, 1996) by Bob Forward

Why does Dinobot think the Maximals would follow him, again?

Well that was over fast.

"Without honor"? You just tried to usurp command of the Predacons! What honor is there in that?

Am I the only one who thinks Rhinox looks like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh?

I guess I made the wrong call. Dinobot is nothing like Starscream.

Okay, now I just want to punch Rattrap.

Yeah, I'm thinking robot mode is a waste of time on this planet.

I couldn't keep my mind off the fact that the music in one scene had a beat that matched Megatron's footsteps.

Ruins? Maybe this isn't as long ago as I thought. It must be after primitive man learned decent construction techniques.

I say they toss Rattrap off the cliff and let Dinobot take his place.

I don't understand. If they just want to keep Megatron away from the energon, why not just fire their own weapons at a distance and detonate it?

The one thing I don't like about old CGI is that it can't handle the subtle motions needed for a good fight scene. It seems really stiff and unnatural.

That explosion... did not look good at all. Still, for a 1996 TV series, it was awesome.

"Unknown planet"? It's Earth, you dunce!


Well, I don't think much of the series so far. But they've still got 76 more episodes to improve, so I'm not going to make any sweeping judgments just yet.