Spotlight:

[BWprowl]

No. A big fat, HUGE no. NO! This has always annoyed me since the franchise started. You have a small army of toys and characters that haven't been used for anything and instead you decide to make your own? Bullshit. There's really never been any need for TF writers to come up with their own characters since there have always been characters awaiting use. I have absolutely never understood why the unused characters get swepped aside for guys like Impactor or Emirate Xaaron or Macabre... the list goes on really. Centurion would be an exception because of his origin, but you get my point. This practice is borderline fanfic level unforgiveable.

Just to thank you for your support by turning the grill onto you for a second: So how do you feel about Roberts's inclusion of guys like Rung, Fulcrum, Ambulon, and the Decepticon Justice Division in MTMTE? Do you find what he's doing there 'unforgiveable'?

I can understand the inclusion of original characters if it is absolutely necessary. In the case of Xaaron and Impactor, there were at least reasons for them to be the guys they had to. Impactor's role was one where he had to die at the end of the story, and Furman couldn't fill that with an 'actual' character because all the ones at the time had toys on the shelf that Hasbro needed to sell. With Xaaron it was because his role was to just be a politician/beaurocrat, something Hasbro might not appreciate one of their supposedly cool, action-oriented toys to be advertised as.

I'll also admit that I was wrong when I called out Fulcrum on this, in that his entire story was one that called for a newly-minted character, and that story depended on us, the audience, not being able to guess what his alt-mode was based on the fact that we didn't already 'know' him.

Generally though, I agree with you, and I've complained about it multiple times. It especially extends to that Mega Man comic, thing's just driving me crazy. I think the latest issue had something like 50% of the page count taken up by original characters talking to original characters about fighting other original characters because of their shared back-story with those original characters.

[Shockwave]

Well that and Xaaron and Impactor were probably written before Furman had even seen any of the new toys that were out. That's kind of how it went back in G1. New toys would come out and the comic and cartoon would take for ever to catch up and start using them.

As for the rest, yeah I think you're right about Fulcrum. But in general, Roberts kind of gets a pass from me on this mostly because most of the cast that he's using are characters that have had little to no development outside of RID anyway. Plus, at this point most of the G1 toys have had some characterization at some point over the years so it's less offensive now. Now it's just showing some other part of Cybertron away from where the other stuff is happening. Like Rung. He's Red Alert's shrink. That's not the kind of story that would have been told in G1. But it can be told now and that's a role that would almost have to be someone new. I know I'm not explaining this right and it probably sounds hipocritical... actually I think it just depends on a case by case basis. Like the DJD, for all we know they could be guys we're familiar with. Or maybe the previous bots to hold those titles were. We don't know.

[Onslaught Six]

Roberts has actually hinted that the identities of at least some of the DJD are "major spoilers," indicating that they were at one point characters we already knew. (Hell, Shockwave just got revealed as having formerly been that....senator...guy! I don't know, there were too fucking many original dudes to try and keep track of in that issue, on a first read.)

I'll also admit that I was wrong when I called out Fulcrum on this, in that his entire story was one that called for a newly-minted character, and that story depended on us, the audience, not being able to guess what his alt-mode was based on the fact that we didn't already 'know' him.

You're thinking of Ambulon, which is funny because that's the entire thing. We think he's named Ambulon because it sounds like Ambulance, and he's working at a med clinic. He even says it right there in the comic: "I turn into a leg. Ambulon. From the verb; 'to ambulate.' To walk."

[BWprowl]

You're thinking of Ambulon, which is funny because that's the entire thing. We think he's named Ambulon because it sounds like Ambulance, and he's working at a med clinic. He even says it right there in the comic: "I turn into a leg. Ambulon. From the verb; 'to ambulate.' To walk."

No, I'm talking about Fulcrum. The guy from the Scavengers arc where I loudly complained about how Roberts wasn't using the 'transforming' concept enough in the story, and that Fulcrum could've been anybody with as much as we learned about him, when it turned out that his function as a member of that special Decepticon group, and the fact that he and all members of that group turned out to transform into bombs, was a huge reveal in that story and specifically only worked because we didn't already 'know' Fulcrum, what he turned into, or what his function/job was. I had to give credit to Roberts on that one.

The Ambulon thing was stupid on comparison, in that he went on for nearly a whole goddamn page about how he turned into a leg instead of just having us shown that 'hey, this guy turns into a leg'. It was actually a clever twist, and I generally liked that arc otherwise, but it was executed stupidly.

[Onslaught Six]

Ah, hm. I guess you're right, I forgot all about Fulcrum.

For as much as I like this book, it's not like I sit around rereading it constantly, either. I've read each issue 'maybe' twice. I suck. (I think part of me is trade waiting, and then not buying the trades...)

[Dominic]

I like seeing obscure characters show up because there's a chance they'll have some life breathed into them by an author, and we'll get to explore another corner of the Transformers universe. That's one reason I enjoy Dreamwave's Micromasters series, despite the flaws. They actually did something with the Micromaster characters (other than have them wrestle!).

Exactly. You and I are two of the only people who liked that series. But, yeah, it was damned good for that reason.

Come on Dom, you know damn well what Prowl is saying and you understand it (even if only on an intellectual level). At this point, it seems like you're just trying to burst his bubble just for the hell of it.

What I am saying is that there is a difference between using an obscure character meaningfully and just throwing them in to use them. The "Miromasters" series that Anderson references is a good example. That series used the Micromasters, but it was not an excuse to show the Micromasters, ya know? I did not read that series thinking "oh, look, DW is using those obscure characters that have never mattered". I read it thinking "what is DW doing here?" Similarly, I am not giving IDW points for using an obscure character in the background of a scene.



Dom
-just wants good comics. Is that so wrong?

[Shockwave]

Really? Cause I kinda thought that about Micromasters. I'll read it again, but I don't remember thinking it was that good and I recall also thinking that DW was doing it "just to use the characters".

But I really just think this comes down to enjoying seeing favorite characters that had little or no facetime get any facetime because they are decent characters who have just been shoved aside in favor of more popular/well known characters.

Shockwave
-Likes both good comics and the use of obscure characters. Is THAT so wrong?

[BWprowl]

Dom
-just wants good comics. Is that so wrong?

I like good comics too. And Spotlight Thundercracker was a good comic. And as a bonus, that good comic happened to include characters I have a fondness for. I never said it was anything more.

Seriously, the way you've been making it out, I went on for paragraphs about how including the Deluxe Insecticons was the best part of this book and made it worth reading for everyone and you should go out and buy it right now! When really, all I said was:

Oh yeah, the Deluxe Insecticons were in this. That was another thing I liked about it.

That was it, just something *I* liked about it. I liked seeing that a writer I enjoy likes the same lesser-known toys that I do. I thought that was cool, even if it had nothing to do with the overall quality of the story.

[Dominic]

Really? Cause I kinda thought that about Micromasters. I'll read it again, but I don't remember thinking it was that good and I recall also thinking that DW was doing it "just to use the characters".

The Micromasters were used, but the point was not "to use them". DW was answering the question about where the factions got new recruits after most everyone has either joined a faction, fled the planet or died. And, they used the Micromasters as the "new" guys in that story. (The Micromasters had little context before that, most of them lacking even individual character profiles.

Seriously, the way you've been making it out, I went on for paragraphs about how including the Deluxe Insecticons was the best part of this book and made it worth reading for everyone and you should go out and buy it right now! When really, all I said was:

Yeah, this did turn in to "one of those" discussions.


Dom

[Onslaught Six]

It's like when you're talking to a dude you respect, and then suddenly he brings up that he really likes All Hail Megatron. You get that moment where you're like, "Finally, my bretheren! I have found you!"