The Transformers (IDW, formerly "Robots in Disguise")

[Sparky Prime]

And hey, Alpha Bravo turns up, and he is a new character, separate from Slingshot! Who was that saying he was just a renamed version? Sparky? Pay up!

Hey! I was saying Hasbro probably only named him Alpha Bravo because they couldn't get the rights for the name Slingshot (which the TFwiki confirmed in a 2009 QandA with Hasbro), not that the comics couldn't decide to make him a different character. His robot mode still looks to me like it was mostly based on Slingshot.

[Dominic]

Ain't read the book yet.

But, in the absence of the book, it would make sense to assume that Slingshot was simply renamed (for copyright reasons) and given a new form for the sake of variety or mould economics.


Either way, so Alpha Bravo is a new character (with a really stupid name....First Applause? AB?), big deal. Reflexively marking out for new characters is as bad as reflexively marking out for established characters.

Sparky made a reasonable guess. Most people probably would have said the same thing. He was wrong. We can move on from this.

[BWprowl]

But, in the absence of the book, it would make sense to assume that Slingshot was simply renamed (for copyright reasons) and given a new form for the sake of variety or mould economics.

To be fair, Sparky was right about the Q&A, and I even acquiesced to that back in the Combiners thread. Hell, TFwiki is still even saying Wildrider and Off-Road are the same guy until further notice.

Granted, I still think that if you're going to say a new dude is a previous dude, they should probably have more in common than just a color scheme, but that's just me. Hasbro's tacked 'Autobot' prefixes and creative spelling changes on tons of copyright-challenged names before, why would they need to rename Slingshot whole-hog into something else?

Either way, so Alpha Bravo is a new character (with a really stupid name....First Applause? AB?), big deal. Reflexively marking out for new characters is as bad as reflexively marking out for established characters.

I just really like the idea of combiner team rosters being 'updated' as time goes on. I love Hightower from the Classics Devastator set for this same reason.

Sparky made a reasonable guess. Most people probably would have said the same thing. He was wrong. We can move on from this.

No, see, I was *right* on the internet. That is the highest form of victory one can attain.

[Sparky Prime]

Sparky made a reasonable guess. Most people probably would have said the same thing. He was wrong. We can move on from this.

Again, I was right that Hasbro couldn't get the rights to the name Slingshot necessitating the reason for them to choose another name, which was all I was saying at the time. I didn't say anything about what the fiction would do with that.

[JediTricks]

It's nice to return to Cybertron with RID, though it undermines the importance of the story on Earth even further by showing a much more compelling mission and singling that out as a small-scale thing compared to this. #33 feels like an extension of Windblade series since it's carrying those themes forward AND using Sarah Stone as the artist, which feels tighter here but still has that lack of inking which makes the rest of the art feel like it's just roughs that have been colored in. The story is just catching us up on events mainly, bringing Wheeljack back online in the same month as

Spoiler

Rewind

appears to be getting raised which is strange timing or intended coincidence meant to screw with the audience (leading me to believe one of the characters' raisings isn't going to stick). Wheeljack feels lonely, which is odd to me since he seems a bit like a loner most of the time. Windblade and Chromia seem to have next to no problems regarding what was revealed in Windblade #4 which pisses me off greatly. Starscream using an undetectable comm frequency is mentioned so it is in character for him, but it's a bit of a technobabble cheat. I don't think Stone's art works well for big splash reveals though, this needs to be rethought because it's too challenging sometimes. Overall, satisfied with the read, but not as re-engaged as MTMTE got me back on board.

[Dominic]

Spoiler

Raising Wheeljack and Rewind

at the same time might be about maintaining some kind of parity between the two books.

Of course, there could be a twist with one or both in the next few issues. (I really hope that is the

Spoiler

case with Rewind

, considering that

Spoiler

"back by virtue of an alternate timeline"

is one of my least favourite ways to

Spoiler

bring a character back

.

[Sparky Prime]

Of course, there could be a twist with one or both in the next few issues. (I really hope that is the

Spoiler

case with Rewind

, considering that

Spoiler

"back by virtue of an alternate timeline"

is one of my least favourite ways to

Spoiler

bring a character back

.

I think it's worth pointing out,

Spoiler

Rewind's return isn't the result of an alternate timeline, he (and the whole Lost Light) is a "quantum duplicate", no less the original from than the other one. The only difference is they ended up in different locations. To use a Star Trek example, it's sorta like the idea in an episode of TNG where a transporter accident created two Riker's, although that was obviously a very different technology and science involved.

[JediTricks]

LA LA LA, pretty sure I have to ignore Sparky's post because I haven't read MTMTE yet

[Dominic]

Nah, you talked about all of the stuff that Sparky references in the "More than Meets the Eye" thread. He was just being overly

Spoiler

cautious

with the

Spoiler

spoiler

text.

That being said

Spoiler

"quantum duplicate"

is almost as bad as a way to bring somebody back.

If you want to use a 'Trek example, what about the one where there were three Datas in a row and they had to figure out which was the "correct" Data? (Aside, I like how the three just kind of worked out which was the right one, rather than "we must fight for ratings".)

[Sparky Prime]

If you want to use a 'Trek example, what about the one where there were three Datas in a row and they had to figure out which was the "correct" Data? (Aside, I like how the three just kind of worked out which was the right one, rather than "we must fight for ratings".)

That was the result of a time distortion so I wouldn't say that works as an example of what happened to the Lost Lost. Each of those Data's represented a different point in the time continuum and merged back into the proper time period after they realized which one was at the correct point in time (that episode was in being worked on when the 1988 writer's strike happened, which clearly had an effect on the ending).

The Lost Light essentially just duplicated itself when the engine exploded.