"Spotlight" discussion thread

[Gomess]

Exactly!

But your potential leaders are more fun to watch than ours.

Aww, no, now that Dubyah and Blair are out of the picture, is... is this the end of our... Special Relationship??

[Dominic]

"Animated" is too much a rarity to be a theme setter though. Since '01, the good:bad ratio of writing has been maybe 1:2, or even 3:7, with much of the good being one-shots and comics.

As for the US, I find that it is not so much a question being out of people's hands, as it is being over their heads. The UK/US dynamic is more than just leaders. Yeah, it helps to have Bush/Blair, or Thatcher/Reagan. But, the countries have so many common interests to casually split.

Dom
-got the AHM UK variant.

[Sparky Prime]

-still needs to review this in more detail, along with "Spotlight: Blurr"

I have a few comments about "Blurr" I really want to talk about... First, I do have to say I enjoyed this issue. The basic plot is that it gives us a look at the celebrity life of Blurr before the war and how he became an Autobot when the war begins. We even see a Pre-Prime Optimus who helps convince Blurr to pick a side. It works nicely as a self contained character Spotlight. What I don't like about this issue however, is that it doesn't mesh with established IDW continuity (namely "Megatron: Origin"). The Autobot's are apparently a new faction rather than a police force on Cybertron. And a "Zeta Prime" is mentioned rather than Sentinel Prime.

[Dominic]

I assumed that "Megatron: Origins" was depicted the early days of the Decepticon uprising, and Zeta Prime replaced Sentinel Prime before Optimus. (Remember, "War Within" does not necessarily count here.)

Dom
-one more thing to review in detail later.

[Sparky Prime]

I assumed that "Megatron: Origins" was depicted the early days of the Decepticon uprising, and Zeta Prime replaced Sentinel Prime before Optimus. (Remember, "War Within" does not necessarily count here.)

Right, 'Origins' was the very start of the Decepticons as well as the war. And assuredly 'War Within' doesn't count here. But you forget 'Spotlight Optimus Prime' showed us the lineage of Primes, two in shadow followed by Nova, Sentinel and Optimus. They didn't show any Prime being between Sentinel and Optimus. And there is nothing to explain why Blurr had never heard of the Autobots before, while 'Origins' establishes the Autobots as already being a major security force on Cybertron before the Decepticons ever came into being.

[Dominic]

Good catch on the "Spotlight: Prime". But, I will say this much. For all of the times Furman has ignored pretty much anything he has not written, it is a nice change of pace to see something *Furman* has written be ignored.


As far as Blurr not knowing who the Autobots are, that is an easy one. Blurr is, as shown in "Spotlight", an insufferably ignorant twit. He is the guy who never picks up a newspaper, never watches the news, and does not talk about anything beyond entertainment. Note his reaction when the club is just closed. He cannot seem to understand that it is closed....because of the war. Before that, it was unreal to him, which is why he was so pleased with his racing. It was the only thing he could think of that mattered.

Dom

[Sparky Prime]

Good catch on the "Spotlight: Prime". But, I will say this much. For all of the times Furman has ignored pretty much anything he has not written, it is a nice change of pace to see something *Furman* has written be ignored.

I wouldn't say that ignored is the right word here because it's more that a new Prime was wedged into the story which doesn't actually contradict anything in IDW's story other than that one image from Spotlight: Optimus.

As far as Blurr not knowing who the Autobots are, that is an easy one. Blurr is, as shown in "Spotlight", an insufferably ignorant twit. He is the guy who never picks up a newspaper, never watches the news, and does not talk about anything beyond entertainment. Note his reaction when the club is just closed. He cannot seem to understand that it is closed....because of the war. Before that, it was unreal to him, which is why he was so pleased with his racing. It was the only thing he could think of that mattered.

I suppose, but I find it hard to believe that even a clueless celebrity wouldn't know who the security forces are. That'd be like one of our clueless celebrities not knowing who or what the police are. And It's not all that uncommon to see clueless celebrities having run-ins with the law. With Blurr I'd kinda think he could have had a run-in with them during a victory party, or perhaps would be in need of some security for a public appearance. No matter how ignorant he is, he should be somewhat aware of who the Autobots are.

[Dominic]

Dude, you are way too optimistic about what people know and do not know.

Most celebrities have private security. They are not hiring Blackwater or KBR. But, companies like Wackenhut or Securitas do not survive by posting guys at wharehouses alone.

As for the ignorance question.......

You would be amazed at what people do not know. Celebrities can afford to be ignorant. They can be kept from the world and its workings by a wall of handlers and such. I have met normal people, who in theory cannot afford to be that ignorant, who do not know how security and such works. Putting aside obscure knowledge, such as the Department of Energy or Agriculture jurisdictions, or deliberately opaque boondoggles like the Department of Homeland Security, there is still plenty of ignorance about who handles what in this country-where we have plenty of access to information.

Yes, the Secret Service has the high-profile job of guarding the President. But, they are also accountants, responsible for the financial security of the nation. (Many people assume the FBI would be responsible for tracking counter-fitters.) How many people understand the basic distinctions between CIA and FBI? The ATF has a high-profile flub about 15 years back. But even at the time, many people just lumped them in with some vague "black helicopter" militia. I have seen people in court-houses, (many of them are already in trouble), ignore clearly posted (and verbally stated) directives to dress and conduct themselves in a certain way-because they do not seem to know there is a penalty for deviating from those rules. It is amazing what people miss when they do not pay attention.

Blurr could easily not have had any direct run-ins with the cops. Even assuming one of his victory parties got a bit out of hand, there is no guarantee that Blurr himself would have any direct contact with the police. (Assuming of course that the Autotbots would enforce local ordinances.) One of Blurr's hangers-on would field the complaints and his lawyers and accountants would pay the fines (or even bribes) and handle court filings.

Hell, I have met well-read and well-informed people who did not know things that I took for granted. (Mind you, I am almost certainly ignorant of things they would assume to be common knowledge.) The best example of this I can think of is a friend of mine who grew up, (as he put it), near "one of the most expensive zip-codes in the Pacific, not even being aware that poor urban neighborhoods existed, let alone what they looked like. (I talked to him, about 20 minutes after his first walk through an American housing project. He was stunned for about 2 hours. He tells me that many of his friends back home would think he was kidding if he were to describe it to them.)

Bottom line, I can totally buy somebody, especially a cloistered celebrity, being as ignorant as Blurr was shown to be.



All Hail Megatron #4: When IDW announced this series, it was clearly intended to be a "bold new direction" for the franchise. The premise of this series is pretty much "Decepticons take over Earth". Normally, I am wary of this sort of story. But, IDW has, for the most part, been even in its handling of TF. Additionally, this is the first time since the original 1986 movie that a franchise changing "event" has happened to TF. (Most of the other stories that could have been either happened at the end of a run, were used to define a run early on, or were simply self-contained.) After the rather timid and meandering "-ion" arcs, ("Revelation" being the most recent), "All Hail Megatron" is a welcome change. And, Shane McCarthy seems to be the new blood the franchise needs. The pacing for this arc is a bit more even this issue, showing both factions, and having a demonstrable idea beyond "Decepticons stomping around". McCarthy does a good job of conveying why Optimus Prime is needed for the Autobots, and showing the Decepticons as something other than a pack of bandits. Several readers, over at the IDW forums, correctly anticipated that Megatron's reason for attacking Earth was to give the Decepticons an easy enemy, (humans), to unite against.
Grade: B It is getting easier to be optimistic about this book, and IDW's handling of the franchise.


Spotlight Blurr: IDW's strongest "Transformers" offerings have tended to be the "Spotlight" books. This outing is no exception. The basic premise is "Blurr grows up". Blurr is presented as an ignorant celebrity searching for meaning. It may or may not be intentional, but the story comes off as a commentary on American culture.
Grade: B




Dom
-changing the listing on this thread to include "Spotlight: Blurr" because *somebody*, (cought Sparky cough), brought it up here.

[Onslaught Six]

Bottom line, I can totally buy somebody, especially a cloistered celebrity, being as ignorant as Blurr was shown to be.

I hate to use The Dark Knight as an example for anything, because it's going to sound cliche, but there was a bit in it that showed this really well. Sort of, anyway.

It's the bit after Joker puts the hit out on the dude working for Bruce Wayne, and Wayne proceeds to drive his lamborghini in front of a truck to save the guy. He then proceeds to be all "You think I should go to a hospital?" and is clearly unaware that all hospitals have been evacuated due to another part of Joker's plan.

(Of course, Wayne was clearly feigning the ignorance here, but he did so because it's 'believable' that Bruce Wayne isn't following what the latest supervillain is planning.)

Additionally, this is the first time since the original 1986 movie that a franchise changing "event" has happened to TF. (Most of the other stories that could have been either happened at the end of a run, were used to define a run early on, or were simply self-contained.)

Bees Wus?

-changing the listing on this thread to include "Spotlight: Blurr" because *somebody*, (cought Sparky cough), brought it up here.

Technically, you mentioned it first. Plus, it's still vaguely related to the Current IDW Comics topic, so what the hell. It's not like we haven't had topics get derailed entirely before.

[Dominic]

I mentioned it, but Sparky discussed it.



"Beast Wars" was a radical change, but it was a radical change at the beginning of the series. All of the other changes were more progression than changes in direction for the series. Bob and Larry initially hedged their bets about the planet being pre-historic Earth, (should the series have ended early on), but the plan was always for the characters to have travelled back in time. Dips in quality not withstanding, BW stayed on one track from start to finish.

"All Hail Megatron" is a new direction for IDW''s franchise, one that was not initially planned (back in '05).

Dom