Factions in the Beast era

[Dominic]

Are you thinking of the Bi-Partate Council mentioned in the US Beast Wars comics O6? In the old show, the Elders ran the Maximals and the Tripredacus Council ran the Predacons.

Bringing in the Japanese series hardly disambiguates anything. If anything, they make things more complicated as BWII was largely written before US BW seasons 2 and 3. As much as some fans want them to, they do not fit well together.

The recent comics only make things worse. In addition to the time-line changes, that make little sense, Gaea is no longer a future Earth, it is just some other planet.

I agree that BW/BMac would have been more interesting if there were non-criminal Predacons in the mix, such as a Predacon functionary who was charged with bringing in Megatron and co through political means, despite agreeing with them on some level. During Beast Machines, I was waiting for a Predacon ship to return to Cybertron and find things as they were. Botanica was likely a Maximal. But, imagine a Predacon coming back, and realizing that one of "his" guys caused all the trouble. I know Nightscream may have been a Predacon, but I was thinking more along the lines of a Predacon merchant ship returning to the planet after Megatron had taken over.

Dom
-almost missing the Beast era.

[Mako Crab]

The Beast Wars comic was bad on so many levels, that I refuse to accept it into my own personal canon.
The same is true of all Beast Wars related comics from the BotCon and OTFCC conventions.
Both put on display an obscene amount of fanwanking and managed to get wrong everything that the show did right.

But back on topic:
The absense of any Predacons in Beast Machines is something I too regret. They weren't even mentioned, and seeing that it was alright to reference characters and events from G1, I can hardly imagine the problem with referencing an entire faction that made up half of the cast in Beast Wars. Assuming that someone did stumble upon Beast Machines without having ever seen Beast Wars, how hard would it be to introduce Predacons as a third power in the struggle for Cybertron? Beast Wars did fine with the Maximals, Predacons, and the Vok while also mentioning the Autobots and Decepticons. I think perhaps this may be a classic case of the writers and/or Hasbro underestimating the intelligence of their audience.

[andersonh1]

I think so. I think the audience buying to toys could have done fine with three factions... just look at Armada, two years later.

Predacons did get name-checked by Rattrap in one episode. That's it, as far as I can remember.

[BWprowl]

Well technically, Waspinator was still around...

[Dominic]

The Beast Wars comic was bad on so many levels, that I refuse to accept it into my own personal canon.
The same is true of all Beast Wars related comics from the BotCon and OTFCC conventions.
Both put on display an obscene amount of fanwanking and managed to get wrong everything that the show did right.

Nah, it is official. You cannot deny it. You do not have to like it, but you have to accept it. Razorbeast is stupid enough to tie up a guy with sharp and pointy limbs with rope. Deal with it.

But back on topic:
The absense of any Predacons in Beast Machines is something I too regret. They weren't even mentioned, and seeing that it was alright to reference characters and events from G1, I can hardly imagine the problem with referencing an entire faction that made up half of the cast in Beast Wars. Assuming that someone did stumble upon Beast Machines without having ever seen Beast Wars, how hard would it be to introduce Predacons as a third power in the struggle for Cybertron? Beast Wars did fine with the Maximals, Predacons, and the Vok while also mentioning the Autobots and Decepticons. I think perhaps this may be a classic case of the writers and/or Hasbro underestimating the intelligence of their audience.

I recall Hasbro's driving goal at the time was to move the franchise forward. (My, how things have changed.) I assume they saw Predacons as the past, and Vehicons as the future.



Dom
-sad that "Wreckers" never delivered.

[BWprowl]

Nah, it is official. You cannot deny it. You do not have to like it, but you have to accept it. Razorbeast is stupid enough to tie up a guy with sharp and pointy limbs with rope. Deal with it.

God, I was already thinking about this earlier today too. It *still* pisses me off. That issue of The Ascending is lucky that Spotlight: Galvatron came out just a little while earlier, or it easily could've been deigned my Worst Comic Book of the year. As it is, The Ascending will just have to settle for Worst Series.

[onslaught86]

I liked Spotlight: Galvatron more, just for being a dorky series of action sequences with Whee Epic Simon Furman Alternate Universe Plot tacked in. The sequence where Galvatron pretends to die and then WOW HE'S ALIVE was fun. In a fairly sarcastic fashion, mind, but fun none the less.

Nah, it is official. You cannot deny it. You do not have to like it, but you have to accept it. Razorbeast is stupid enough to tie up a guy with sharp and pointy limbs with rope. Deal with it.

When there's the better alternatives of BW2 and Neo? Why?

[Onslaught Six]

When there's the better alternatives of BW2 and Neo? Why?

Because SIMON FURMAN THE GOD OF TRANSFORMERS says so.

[Dominic]

O6 nailed it. Furman works for Hasbro, and thus he can make that call. BW2 and Neo are out, and his Ass-Ending is in.

God, I was already thinking about this earlier today too. It *still* pisses me off. That issue of The Ascending is lucky that Spotlight: Galvatron came out just a little while earlier, or it easily could've been deigned my Worst Comic Book of the year. As it is, The Ascending will just have to settle for Worst Series.

Dude, that is way too limited a view. In TF alone there is also the BW sourcebook. (Ah, just like old times, bashing the sourcebook.) And, unless you read "Countdown", you have absolutely no right at all to complain about bad comics. (Well, I guess if you read "Civil War" I can give it to you, or "One More Day".)

Dom
-wonders why the hell he reads comics.

[Sparky Prime]

(Well, I guess if you read "Civil War" I can give it to you, or "One More Day".)

"One More Day" would get my vote for worst series. It was by far the worst story I've ever read in comics.

Although I would have to agree "The Ascending" just wasn't what it should or could have been. Same with the BW "Sourcebook", if you can even call it that. IDW did a poor job with both of those series.