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

[Dominic]

The upper bodies of the robots were visible in the panel that Prowl and I are talking about.

Good point about ther trades though. I think that IDW changed the naming conventions on the Joe books mid-stream. (I would need to double check to be sure though.) The reasoning was probably that the Joe books were incomprehensibly numbered and named

After they got renumbered, it was "Title #___ volume __". (Remember, the numbering on "Cobra" was already cocked up because the second miniseries ended up becoming an ongoing.) That would mean that the compilations, also typically numbered by volume, would have two volume numbers. And, compiling a book with a multi-part title gets dicey when each compilation has its own title. And, if that title is similar to the title of the series being compiled.......

"GI Joe: Cobra: volume 2, vol 2, Cobra Command".


Dom
-not kidding about that.

[BWprowl]

Sweet, comic books are now on the level of stupidly stacking video game titles like 'Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2', 'Half-Life 2: Episode 2', and of course insane fighting game monikers like 'Guilty Gear XX #reload: The Midnight Carnival' or 'Melty Blood Act Cadenza Version B Correction Edition PC Version'.

[Onslaught Six]

CoD dropped the "4" as soon as MW2 came out. And HL2E2 made sense!

[Dominic]

Robots in Disguise #8:

The obligatory Dinobot appearance feels less forced than it could have been. Barber nicely justifies why they and Ironhide are going off alone in a way that if thematically consistent with the series. Barber blurs the line between the Autobots and the Decepticons in this issue, and some of Prowl's antics are likely to come back to haunt him and Bumblebee. Of course, the inevitable fall-out is likely to be a return to the Autobot v/s Decepticon status quo, which is a problem.

Grade: B

-late edit/note: Ironhide describes turbo-foxes as being slightly above the level of plants. I am wondering if this is IDW trying to santize characters like Mirage having been established as sport-hunting turbo-foxes, of if it is a question of Barber establshing that Ironhide holds a no/low-status view of turbo-foxes similar to how many people regard animals.

Dom
-guessing that they are looking for Metroplex...

[Shockwave]

Ironhide describes turbo-foxes as being slightly above the level of plants. I am wondering if this is IDW trying to santize characters like Mirage having been established as sport-hunting turbo-foxes, of if it is a question of Barber establshing that Ironhide holds a no/low-status view of turbo-foxes similar to how many people regard animals.

I'm guessing neither. It's establishing the setting. It's far more likely that Barber needed to have "something" in the wilderness and turbofoxes were just a convenient already established thing that could be used. I'm more interested in what took apart the Arialbots.

[Onslaught Six]

Turbofoxes have actually had their first canonical appearance in...one of these damn books.

[Dominic]

Yes, obviously, Barber needed to have "something in the wild".

However, I was posting about what Ironhide said about turbofox intelligence. Should it be taken as Barber using Ironhide as a mouthpiece to say "ah, no sweat that Mirage used to hunt these because they are just smarter plants" or is it a question of just assuming that Ironhide assumes the low/no-status theory for turbofoxes that many people take for animals?


Dom
-and it turns in to "one of those" threads.

[Onslaught Six]

I don't think Mirage's turbofox hunting habit (which hasn't been mentioned in IDW, I don't think, so that makes your argument for him moot) was ever meant to portray him as being flippant about his concern for the sanctity of life. I think it's more like the way rich-ass white dudes go hunt quails in sanctioned places where they specifically raise quails to be hunted. Mirage would rather be off doing Important Fun Rich-Guy Things than fighting against Decepticons.

I also don't think Barber is trying to make a commentary on Ironhide's personality, either.

I think the intent here is to worldbuild turbofoxes as not having sparks. Barber is establishing them as not being Sentient Transformer Beings in order to specifically make sure that nobody thinks they're...of the Cybertronian race.

[Shockwave]

Yeah I understood that but I don't really believe it was anything beyond "something wild on Cybertron". I really don't believe there was any more "commentary" beyond that.

[Dominic]

Mirage being a sport hunter was definitely a "he is rich" thing. And, it would have been more acceptable in the 80s. But, as O6 pointed out, it has not been brought up in IDW.

But, I stand by the question of how "alive" turbofoxes are supposed to be in context. Is Ironhide taking the no/low-status stance supposed to be Barber doing "the word of god" on the question or is it "just what Ironhide says". It is just a point of idle curiosity, not a question that needs to be restated and refines and defined and.....