#BUT YES YES YES WHEN I WAS REREADING THE IDW COMICS THIS IS ALL I COULD TIHNGK OF

[blazehedgehog]

You need to reread Archie Sonic. I can assure you, it was not as nearly as good as you thought it was, and the IDW comic is not as nearly as bad as you think it is. Slow arcs doesn't mean bad arcs, and there's more character development than just "Surge attacks Sonic." And this arc clearly had an ending. Stop letting the metal plague arc overright your critical thinking skills. It was *years ago.*

My question to you is this: are you involved with the production of IDW Sonic? Because if you aren't, it sounds like you're taking something personally that was not directed at you and have saddled yourself with the responsibility of teaching me a lesson.

I'd like to point you to this post from six months ago, where I had nothing but nice things to say about IDW Sonic. I ran across it recently while digging through my blog for a different post (which I could not find, thanks Tumblr Search). Contrast that with the post where I say "the last six months have been kind of boring in retrospect."

I think I'm allowed to say that. I'm allowed to be bored. A story arc that amounts to "Eggman built a really big and scary city" feels weirdly low key and kind of bland (he's built a lot of cities), and none of the other story arcs feel like they've been paying off.

Coming at me from the angle of "WELL ARCHIE SUCKS TOO YOU JUST DON'T REMEMBER IT" is very strange to me, because that's just, like, your opinion, man. You even suggest the concept of opinion itself is fallible.

And maybe mine is. I dunno. Who I was yesterday is not who I will be tomorrow. But who I was when Archie was good thought it was great. I was practically counting the days for new issues. I was about to start a monthly comic review column for TSSZ just to have an excuse to get a subscription.

I was a different person back then. But also I was feelin' pretty high on IDW Sonic just six months ago and now it feels like they're stalling.

Yes, I said it's felt like something has been missing for a long time, and to some degree it has. The world of IDW Sonic revolves around six characters and four or five locations, and some of those locations don't have very strong identities outside of "it's like the place from the video games." The depth and the breadth of Archie isn't there.

But you at least had intent. Surge was interesting, Starline was interesting, Belle was interesting, Sonic jabbing Eggman about Mr. Tinker was interesting, everyone jabbing Sonic about letting villains go all the time was interesting, Tails was desperately trying to use the non-violent approach with Kitsunami. There was strong characterization for miles.

What have we had over the last six months?

Surge came back, and she repeated a longer, slower version of the same interaction she had with Sonic in issue #50.

It was revealed that Surge is having PTSD hallucinations of Dr. Starline.

Eggman built another city, but this builds and repairs itself, which doesn't actually mean anything given we've never drawn attention to how Eggman builds or repairs his cities before. The dude has a robot army, it's reasonable to assume he's always had cleanup and repair crews. Telling me it's "special" now isn't really exciting.

Tangle said the wrong thing, upset Whisper and they had a girlfriends moment about it. But given Tangle was just being the way Tangle always has been, this isn't exactly a major event.

We were introduced to Lanolin, who so far has very little backstory and barely established a personality besides "does not want to put up with Tangle's shenanigans." So like half the cast, then.

Team Dark was retconned back into existence, so Shadow gets to be part of stories again.

It doesn't feel like this is going anywhere right now, and the world around it isn't robust enough to pick up the slack and keep it interesting.

And you don't have to take it personally. You don't have to hit back. It isn't about you.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: October 2023

It's the scariest time of the year and I'm not talking about tax season. Here's how I spent the month of October!

……….FILM……….

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) Knowing practically nothing about Elvira's schtick, I was floored by how...utterly constant the jokes come at you. I later read a review that described Elvira's character as "Groucho Marx with boobs" and I couldn't put it any better. If this didn't end with a rap I'd give it a perfect score.

The Nice Guys (2016) So great. It really is a shame we didn't get more with this cast cause it's all just so great. The casual violence, the comedy, the setting, it's perfect. Between this and Barbie I'm now realizing just how perfect Ryan Gosling is at playing the beautiful idiot. "I think I'm invincible. It's the only thing that makes sense," is so good. Anyway go watch it if you haven't seen it.

Detroit Rock City (1999) Does a great job of setting the tone early and commits to it through to the very end. Fun and gross and problematic...just how KISS would want it.

……….TELEVISION……….

Poker Face (Episode 1.07 to 1.08) Love that I can watch an episode or two and just kinda enjoy the ride. More episodic mysteries, please. And with Detroit Rock City, this makes October a real Natasha Lyonne month.

Love is Blind (Episode 5.01 to 5.11) Wild to discover an entire proposal/wedding got axed from the show and I'm constantly reminded that anyone who goes on a reality tv show will inevitably disappoint you.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Pop Science And The Limitations Of Infotainment by Coffee Break Really interesting breakdown of the dangers that go along with turning science into something more digestible and engaging. Well worth the watch. VIDEO

This is Financial Advice by Folding Ideas Yes I did watch a 2.5 hour dive into meme stocks. And I'd do it again in a heartbeat. VIDEO

yay, modern filmmaking... by CinemaStix and The Pirates Trilogy is Pure Bliss by Just Write Clearly I enjoy watching video essays about film and these two really stood out. Both channels tend to lean towards celebrating film and media but Cinemastix's...gentle deconstruction of why the faster pace of editing in modern films can be a disservice to the artform really left an impression with me. And I'm still a big fan of the original Pirates trilogy. VIDEO (Modern Filmmaking) VIDEO (Pirates)

……….READING……….

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (Complete) I love a good beefy novel but then you read something like this: something so lean and yet so rich, and you start to wonder why authors need hundreds of pages to tell a story. A Wizard of Earthsea didn't click with me when I first read it but I really should go back to it (as well as continue the Earthsea Cycle).

Take Ivy by Shosuke Ishizu, Teruyoshi Hayashida, and Toshiyuki Kurosu (Complete) Really great style-inspiration after listening to the podcast series dedicated to it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Vol. 11 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Damian Couceiro, and other talented illustrators and letterers (Complete) Went back to the TMNT comic after seeing Mutant Mayhem and this was such a great return to form! One of the strongest collection of stories I can remember in a while. Even the human-centric stuff (which tends to fall flat for me in this series) was interesting and just enough to work. Really great stuff.

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 10 (HC) by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, and many others (Complete) I admit I've always prefered Immonen's work to Bagley's so I'm excited to finally get into his run in this reread. The Ultimate Goblins never worked for me but this volume has a really great second arc that highlights the best of Spider-Man (blending highschool drama with superhero drama).

……….AUDIO……….

Destroyer by Kiss (1976) You know I never really got into KISS and I have no idea why. I love theatrics, I love rock opera, I love a gimmick. This has all of that in spades. Needless to say I'm now a big fan.

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Both of my groups are in Oz this month (it is Oztober, afterall). One crew is currently sorting out drama in Munchkin District and the other is still navigating the aftermath of some magically-caused domestic terrorism.

And that’s it. See you in November!

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #599

Top Ten Transformers Top Tens

We’re getting very close to a milestone in my Top Tens. I’ve very nearly been doing this for six hundred weeks. Blimey!

Because it’s a Big Deal that I’ve somehow managed to put off housework, parenting, and my career long enough to write six hundred of these stupid things, I wanted to celebrate. And, of course, there’ll be a proper celebratory list next week, but having done these for so long now I wanted to just take a moment to think about one of the most common topics of these lists. I speak, of course, about Transformers.

I’ve done well over thirty lists dedicated to Transformers, and whilst thirty out of six hundred isn’t that large a percentage, it’s still far and away the biggest single “thing” I’ve written about (the MCU is relatively close behind in the mid-twenties, and I’ll be honest I’ve not really counted further – I guess Star Wars is in the running). Considering I’ve been doing this for over a decade and one of my first lists was about Transformers, the quality is variable; I don’t think anyone really cares who my favourite characters are. But I do think I was able to put some funny spins on the topic, and that’s what this list celebrates. As part of me slapping myself on the back for the whole “six hundred weeks” thing, I think it’s fair to take stock and say, y’know what, some of these were quite funny and/or insightful.

So that’s all this week is: my ten favourite lists about my favourite franchise/story/comic/toyline/convention (oh, yeah, I guess I didn’t include lists about TFN here – that feels more like me talking about an event rather than Transformers itself; but that’s gotta be, what, at least another half dozen lists?). Anyway, onto the bit, and without me trying to make some kind of “roll out” gag.

Top Ten Violent Moments in Transformers (#496, September 2021): even when I was a kid, I used to marvel (no pun intended) at how much violence they’d get away with in Transformers, from the Insecticons’ heads getting crushed in the movie, to Galvatron getting his face ripped off in the comic. This list celebrates the grisliest, goriest moments of bot-on-bot ultraviolence, obsessing over ever leaking, dangling Andy Wildman wire, every sick-in-the-head moment of Nick Roche misery. But really it’s number one because I somehow found the best gif ever to go alongside it.

Top Ten Things Transformers UK Gave Me (#501, October 2021): I’ve just realised this is another Transformers-related list written around a major milestone. This one was a bit more sentimental, as I wanted to highlight how my life was changed – genuinely – by the Marvel UK Transformers comic. So many things I love, things that I think of as being core to my personality (or at the very least my taste) were informed by TFUK. Basically, if I’m an arsehole, you can blame Simon Furman.

Top Ten Moments in the Transformers “Lost Light” Saga (#563, December 2022): I’d done various “best bits of” lists in the past, going over various comic book moments, or even moments in the wider IDW-verse. But having reread the entire More Than Meets the Eye/Lost Light series, I was filled with what those comics in particular gave me; the ones written by James Roberts, basically (with – obviously – very talented artists and colourists and everything else). So like my TFUK list above, this was really, truly, one from the heart – and not just because Roberts is very good at breaking them, the bugger.

Top Ten Transformers Gimmicks (#422, August 2020): this was a very good-natured and joyous one, with me just delightedly reminiscing about my favourite toy gimmicks. All those increasingly weird and sometimes a bit barrel-scrapey things Hasbro would trot out in order to maintain interest in the toyline. From Headmasters to Powermasters to – yes – Action Masters, it’s all here. No Micromasters though, they were a bit pants.

Top Ten Moments from The Transformers: The Movie, as Represented by a Line of Dialogue (#29, October 2012): one of the first lists I wrote, in my first year of writing lists; and I was fascinated by this concept of doing moments “represented by a line of dialogue”. I more or less stopped doing it because I found it really hard to remember dialogue from some moments; others were great moments dialogue-free (eg Darth Maul whipping out his two red ends). So this list is very sparse in terms of critique or analyses, but I do like the format. Don’t agree with any of the placings, mind, but that’s what a decade and change does to you.

Top Ten Transformers From the Comics (#597, August 2023): this list is just a fortnight old so maybe there’s a bit of recency bias at play, but I do like it. I’m always wanging on about how it’s the Transformers comics that are really my thing; so finally, after eleven years, I finally think to getting round to writing about the characters who debuted in the comics. Some of these are my favourite characters! From wily old buzzards to Autobots who died twice so that all may live to, well, god, it’s all here.

Top Ten Things You Never See Transformers Turn Into (#131, September 2014): another very short, old-fashioned list, with no explanations. “Why the heck not,” I asked nine years ago; why the heck not indeed? So this is just ten things that wouldn’t it be funny if a Transformer turned into them. I wonder – and I genuinely can’t remember – if this was inspired by those old Lew Sringer Robo Caper strips where he’d introduce a Transformer who was a pram or a milk float or even Robbie the Robot Pen (who can draw a pretty good hen).

Top Ten Humans in Transformers Comics (#140, November 2014): another old list and another one that sadly has next-to-zero insight behind its numbering. Which is a shame because I think if I did this now I’d really go to town on what I like about Verity, or the Neo Knights, or why I was so drawn to dark-haired guys with moustaches in the eighties (they’re all my dad, basically). I would also, nowadays, wax lyrical about how much I love humans in Transformers, and how much better I think the franchise is as a whole if there’s a human to interact with the bloody big robots. Is it too late to go back and add the Burns family to More Than Meets the Eye?

Top Ten Famous Vehicles That Should Become Transformers (#435, July 2020): I was a bit dismissive of this list until I reread it; was it just jumping on the “oh, here’s ECTO-1 as a Transformer” bandwagon? But actually I think my attempts to give names and personalities to each vehicle is actually quite funny (if I do say so myself – it was three years ago, I’d forgotten some of these jokes), and I tried to make little sly gags about the films they were referencing, too. And I did try very hard not just to pick all the obvious vehicles. Anyway, I thought I did alright.  

Top Ten Transformers to Turn Into Lego (#577, March 2023): I did um and ah about this last spot, torn between yet another very recent list full of, well, waffle; or a very old list (2015 vintage) that had no amusing examination. I went with this one, because I really did go on, writing exhaustively about my choices for characters to Lego-ify, and why they were the best ones, and even a little bit about how they’d work. As a huge fan of Transformers and of LEGO, this was a joy; it was also a bit of a tie-in to the TF Nation Mini-Con this year! Bonus!

So my just-bubbling-under one was a list of favourite Transformers comics covers; I liked it because I linked to images of them, and it’s always fun to show off some art. But without an insight into why the covers moved me, it felt a bit less of a big deal.

[heliianth]

here’s another ask for you: talk abt whatever you want!!!

WAUGH thank u for a new one!!!!! ilysm!!!!!

rambling abt sonic and character foils and the IDW comics below the cut this is aimless enough for me to want it be an opt-in experience LOL

i was gonna talk abt this last night but it was 11 AnyWay. i saw a criticism of the IDW comics on reddit a long time ago and its got me thinking recently. someone said they didn't quite enjoy the way the comic was tackling sonic as a character not because of the inconsistencies in his pre-established beliefs (which are present) per se but because IDW keeps challenging them in ways that don't feel, from what i remember the comment saying, "good-spirited"? i hadnt heard that critique before so it was unique enough to catch my interest but not actually think much until now. but theres a reason for that hold on ok

so. to preface this whole thing. some of the most beloved stories in the series are ones that Do challenge sonic's beliefs. thats the reason why, when the series wants to tackle more mature content, they make foil characters. sa2 which reddit largely considers as having the best story has foil characters everywhere but specifically it spends a lot of energy on it's themes of identity and growth by making sonic and shadow clash not just physically but ideologically. that talk they have after final rush/chase basically spells it out and its framed as shadow hearing sonic out and then dismissing him ("what are you/i'm me/i see, well, i'm gonna beat your ass" <- basically). and then later on sonic's viewpoint is reinforced when shadow (airquotes) dies, but not before sonic himself is visibly impacted in the credits sequence. that whole story right there was, at least thematically, one about sonic having his beliefs challenged. SatBK does this as well, a game which is applauded within the general community as having the most accurate sonic characterization. stories that do adjacent things, like the OVA, s3&k, sa1, where character foils are a prominent part of the theming (though maybe not presented in a way where sonic himself necessarily feels ideologically Challenged), are often very popular as well

the time i saw the criticism was about when the surge saga was coming to an end, but i was new at that point so i really dismissed the whole discussion. sonics allowed to be challenged, thats what happens when you have a static character as a protagonist. but now that ive reread IDW a few times and have identified some of my own issues with the run so far i've been thinking about that reddit comment more often. why is the way IDW challenges sonic so different from the way stories like SatBK or sa2 challenge him? why is one intriguing and the other not "good-spirited?" nowadays i think the issue is less with tone or intent like the wording of the original comment implies, but the conclusion of those stories. all of those previous examples i gave culimate in sonic succeeding, yes bc hes the title character, but moreso bc hes the vehicle through which the themes of the series are delivered. SatBK wasn't going to have merlina win because the story was trying to tell the audience that life is only worth living when its finite. sa2 killed off shadow because it was about how being unable to move on eats someone from the inside out. these are broad overarching themes that are present in the whole series and its generally agreed that sonic at his best is representative of those themes, which is why hes static

but IDW kind of has a messy history with conclusions. or, at least, conclusions that feel like they are trying to Say something in the way i've been talking about. after everything is done and the threat of the week is defeated, it all kind of returns back to a status quo, which im very sure is not the fault of the writers. long-running series are supposed to have a status quo that keeps stuff the same so that new audiences wont be alienated by huge character histories and lore timelines and things to catch up on (The Most Intimidating thing abt like archie for example). its partially why u see almost no fleshed out arcs that span multiple games after 06 (man the word partially is doing some legwork there but if i talked abt why sonic games changed so drastically after the mid 2000's i would be here all fucking day). and there are conversations to be held about that status quo and its place in the games and whether its beneficial or not but imo when talking about IDW, a comic which is supposed to have continuity, it kind of obliterates the potential of having meaningful conclusions and the themes that come along with them. because IDW always approaches "sonic feels ideoloically challenged" and it never goes beyond it. it nudges and hints at criticism of IDW sonic's beliefs, actions, and philosophy, but it doesn't do anything with it. the status quo says sonic can't change that much, which is good when the conclusion of stories have themes that prove he's already got it figured out, and bad when there's a big gaping question mark where a lesson should be. the surge saga i think is the glaring example of this precisely because its so conclusionless (theres also how sonic himself engages with her but thats a convo for another day).

so when that redditor said they thought the surge saga lacked a "good-spiritedness" that stories with a similar concept like SatBK or sa2 had i think they were picking up the vibes of the story being kind of... pointless at least in terms of themes and actual impact on the characters, rather than a lack of earnestness, a tone blunder, or strange intent on the part of the writers

im really curious how the urban warfare saga is resolved now precisely bc this lack of meaningful conclusion problem is so prevalent . depending on how passionate i am i may make a more formal analysis post abt it or something, but probably not considering i read IDW very very casually . which feels like a contradiction after writing all this but . yanno

[true-blue-sonic]

Silver generally has a problem with being too OP that the writers feel like they have to nerf him. Forces is I feel even worse in this regard than the comics are.

Though now that I think about it, the comics do seem to nerf most everyone besides maybe the villains. Even Sonic seems to be weaker than he should be at points.

Though Silver is definitely the worst off considering we see him almost singlehandedly take care of the Metal Virus after they got the Chaos Emeralds.

In Forces, it is indeed highly strange that Silver just... does not try to grab Infinite or throw anything at him or the like, yes. Especially since the former then is seen in the final battle! And similarly, Infinite never tries to death-beam Silver to hell like he did with the Avatar's companions in one flashback. Infinite is a powerful foe for sure, but I feel that the battle between him and Silver did not really show that very well. Still, I find it impressive Silver managed to last so long against him! With a diss against what Infinite is preaching on top, nice.

As for the comics, I haven't thoroughly reread any in some time, so I cannot say with certainty how nerfed everybody has gotten. I do think it's stupid that, when Eggman crashed their victory party at the end of the Metal Virus arc, NOBODY could defeat him until Sonic came along and did it in like... seconds. But in the same vein, Forces suffered that exact problem with the Resistance over the 6 months Sonic was captured, though there they have as defense that they were with less people and the entire world was overrun, not just one party. Still, I think the franchise at large might have an issue that Sonic and friends alike indeed are just so powerful, it becomes difficult to write a story wherein any of them really struggle with what Eggman throws at them. There is nothing wrong with powerful characters because Eggman can match that power, but I feel that making everybody suddenly struggle with what is, for all intents and purposes, a menial little dozen-people-against-one-robot fight amidst many others in their daily lives is not the way.

And indeed, in IDW Silver is powerful when the plot needs him to be and not powerful also when the plot needs him to be. I'd forgotten about the Metal Virus resolution for a second, where he indeed just changes people on a molecular level despite never having given any indication he can do anything like that, haha. And then for an entire planet at basically once! It's a creative solution for sure, but then indeed it becomes a bit baffling that Silver in his base form struggles with catching ten people in freefall, holding up a handful of tools simultaneously, or catching someone stuck within a whole slew of other items Silver was holding up already (if he telekinetically placed Duo on the chair, wasn't he already holding him in a grasp?). So yeah, I dunno. All I can say is that to me, it lacks consistency between the various issues of the comic itself and the franchise at large both.

[soundwavereporting]

Do you think that idw Rumble and Frenzy resent Megatron/Soundwave in some way because they had to be reformatted? Would love to know what you think of their relationship with SW is post-war.

TAKE TWO

tl;dr, yes, I think they probably do (especially Soundwave) and I wish that had been explored in the comic!

The only time I can remember offhand Rumble and Frenzy ever explicitly acknowledging their relationship with Soundwave is in the OP comic, where one of them essentially tells Cosmos ‘we used to like [Soundwave] BEFORE he started hanging out with Autobots’, and weirdly, Cosmos doesn’t seem to take it that personally--they even call him ‘Cosmey’--which leads me to believe it’s Soundwave’s new alliance with Optimus that they’re bitter about (and rightfully so!), and Cosmos has picked up on that.

Of course there might be times in Phase 1 that I’m forgetting about, but most of the time, it’s the birds or Ravage who are hyping up Soundwave or actually talking to him. Rumble and Frenzy barely get a mention in Soundwave’s first flashback issue, and iirc they don’t show up in his flashbacks during the OP comic. Soundwave’s only real interaction with them during phase 1 is during that very ‘‘‘interesting’‘ time when Frenzy was ‘crazy’, but that was thankfully short lived, and a lot of Frenzy’s tendencies towards hearing too much/overstimulation were passed on to Soundwave when phase 2 started, anyway. But from that, Soundwave did care about Frenzy.

The only other indication of their relationship is during the Prowlstator arc, and even that’s up to interpretation: when everyone gets reformatted, that would’ve been the perfect time for Rumble and Frenzy to get new, non-cassette bodies if they were so inclined. Having two extra full-sized soldiers could only have helped the attempted takeover but for whatever reason, they ended up staying with Soundwave, and later in the series they pull the same ‘all the cassettes hide in Soundwave and then pull a sneak attack’ that they did in Megatron: Origin.

From the start of Phase 1 to the end of Phase 3, both Soundwave and Optimus’s close friends/officers/coworkers/support systems radically change (or in Soundwave’s change, just get whittled down); While Ratbat and Bumblebee both die and Ravage, Rodimus, and Ratchet go over to MTMTE/LL, Jazz, Prowl, Rumble, and Frenzy all end up leaving distancing themselves specifically because of decisions Optimus and Soundwave make, respectively.

And it’s the similarities between Jazz + Rumble & Frenzy that really get me! This all goes down in within a few issues! We get more insight into Jazz’s motives than Rumble and Frenzy, but I think it’s safe to assume the twins’ motives for not staying close with Soundwave are similar enough to why Jazz didn’t go back to Optimus, albeit in a far more blasè manner (”We’re trying to be good but it’s hard.”)

EDIT: having reread the issue in question, they did go back to Sanctuary, then promptly started taking weapons from the station and selling them on Earth, which almost makes it funnier because I absolutely refuse to believe Soundwave was so oblivious he didn’t know that was happening. Looking at this from the POV of Soundwave being an Optimus stan, he knew and didn’t care, because Earth was gonna become a part of the Council of Worlds. From the POV of Soundwave not being an Optimus stan......maybe he hoped it’d sabotage Earth’s acceptance into the Council somehow?

EDIT 2: having now checked the wiki, they were doing this before and after the junkion arc, but tbh my point still stands. 

Plus--finding Rumble and Frenzy on Earth--a place populated by beings Soundwave has to actually focus to hear--should’ve been easy, if Soundwave felt so inclined to go to them and stop the gunrunning. But he didn’t--aside from plot reasons, it’s likely he knew how they felt and was giving them space. I find it hard to believe that the colonists didn’t tell OP what happened between them and Jazz. Like Soundwave, Optimus leaves Jazz and doesn’t seek him out until they happen to meet up later in the series. 

I also can’t help but think about the fact that Rumble and Frenzy are probably the ones who’ve known Megatron + stuck with him the longest! Impactor went to the Autobots, Terminus...happened. The Constructicons were with him almost as long, and they explicitly wanted to go! I imagine maybe Rumble and Frenzy wanted to go as well, and like Prowl, Soundwave was like ‘no way’. Maybe that was the start of the end for them, and him joining up with Optimus was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Essentially, I think they didn’t like it at first, got used to it--enough to want to stick around with Soundwave & the other cassettes (even when they had the chance to get reformatted!), but once Soundwave changed, they decided to split.

[megadoomingir]

I’m rereading stop me and just noticed a line that made me laugh “Don't you dare post that selfie on Instagram, Knockout'!” When did he have time to learn about Instagram and other social media’s.

Eee~! I love when someone points out the little details~! ^^

The Decepticons have been on Earth for a long time! As have the Autobots! Here, look, look!

I have, in my possession, the Transformers: Prime IDW comics from January 2011 (this is relevant, I swear!) and in the #3 issue, we have this LOVELY picture I just took of my copy:

(Sorry for the poor quality!)

If you haven’t had the chance to read these, it’s basically a comic version of TF:P season 2 episode 17 ‘Out of the Past’ where Arcee remembers back to when she first met Cliffjumper- yes! I swear, the relevancy- Anyway, the page! Starscream! What he says! He’s BACK, baby! On Earth! And his judgmental digit pointing at that ENORMOUS RABBIT (I said I owned a set of the comics, I never said they were well done XD)- What I’m basically trying to say, in so many useless tangents and words, is that Cybertronians are not unfamiliar with Earth. And not just from this moment, but before when stores of energon and priceless relics were cast to the planet. And what do you do when you’re in foreign lands? You learn about it. What can hurt you? What is something well enough to be avoided? Why did both the Autobots and Decepticons have this strange understanding that getting humans involved was against best insterest? I know! Another tanget! But I WILL get to the core of your question! I promise!

Human interference would have been problematic. Not just for the Decepticons but the Autobots as well. For the Cons, it meant that humans aren’t as frail as most of the faction sees them. They are capable of so much damage. This is well noticed. For the Bots, it was the guilt of dragging another species into their fight. The loss of life on their conscience. This, too, is well noticed. Humans, at least the ones who knew, also had a voice on the matter. They didn’t want to get the planet riled up in an alien war. The key here? Humans, and all that they are, are noticed. And they worth studying and watching and keeping tabs on, aren’t they? Which, by some miraculous miracle of my mumbled and jumbled mind, brings us back to the question you asked: When did [Knockout] have time to learn about Instagram and social media? Well, I’ll tell you~

It’s already canonly seen that KO and BD immersed themselves into human culture, albeit in disguise. Knockout would race with them. He would actively drive around cities and from town to town looking for his next thrill. He spent actual amounts of time with humans. Breakdown’s note on ‘time spent’ isn’t well catalogued, but it can easily be assumed that he stuck close by with Knockout. This would have begun their interests in ‘researching’ humans further.

Not everyone needs a doctor on the Nemesis. Most of his patients are actually without the need of his expertise as they are corpses on the battlefield. Harsh? Yes. But true. This would have given Knockout so much ‘research’ time. We also have to take note that some episodes span a couple of days, sometimes weeks- or months, as seen in the episodes ‘Orion Pax 1-3’ which had Optimus gone for over two months. Some days, Knockout would have nothing to do... but dedicate his time to the ‘gram.

I’ve seen other people interpret Cybertronians as ‘human illiterate’; unable to understand basic to complex metaphors or sayings, unable to understand basic human needs, unable to understand certain words pertaining specifically human attributes, unable to- I suppose continuing the explanation would be redundant. But why do people think this? Why do they believe Cybertronians don’t have a basic level of common sense and intelligence? Cybertronians have met other organic life. They’ve been to Earth before. They have the resources to more intricately monitor the inhabitants of the planet... and download a few apps for purely research purposes! And how could Megatron dare to tell Knockout not to share his beauty online?

In summary, Knockout would already have had a basic interest in humans as a whole. He’s a very intelligent mech; flirty, too. He would have been interested in knowing more about the world he races through. He would definitely have a small datapad modeled after a smartphone to handle those small human apps. He would expertly create an email address to achieve this. Most of the posts he likes are of cars.

But I ask you now, what else does this mean? My brain has come to this conclusion: with the Bots and Cons having been on Earth multiple times, taking note of the humans as something worth keeping an optic on, needing to be watched and observed and monitored closely, this would be best achieved by having access to the human’s archives, known as the ‘Internet’. And they have seen things. All the things. All. Of. Them. Cybertronians aren’t human illiterate. They don’t want to talk about those things. And Knockout deserves to be able to post his wonderful selfie. Megatron just lacks taste.

[writingtoomuchtrash]

So from what I’ve gotten out of mtmte/LL Optimus is that (from what I can tell) the power he has has kinda gone to his head??? So, if that true, maybe his s/o kinda tells him off on how he’s been treating other people and ‘abusing’ his power???

That makes sense! I need to reread the IDW comics again to hopefully get a better understanding of him. He was one that kept confusing me so this does help! Thank you and I hope you like this! - Mod Shy

You couldn’t believe Optimus! He told off some bot just doing their job and scared them senseless. It was awful how the bot was disrespected and you had already had enough. When he came back that night, you didn’t even want to see him, but someone had to set him straight. He may have been a leader but that didn’t mean he needed to abuse his power.

“Optimus.” you’re voice was low and a frown permanently glued to your face. The masked bot raised a brow, confused. “We need to talk.”

“Talk about what?” he was as clueless as ever.

“About how you treat those bots below you. I had heard horrible things about you yelling at bots and acting as if they don’t matter! I just saw you today calling off a cleaner bot who was just doing his job!” your voice raised as you explained the mech. He seemed cold to it all but Optimus was one who could cover their emotions well.

“It’s disgusting and you need to get your act together. Apologize and treat the mechs who believe in you better. Be the mech I fell for.” That got him. 

His helm tilted down, brows furrowed up before sighing heavily. 

“Have I really been that detached?” his voice was barely audible.

“Yes. You can’t let power overrun the good bot inside you.” placing a servo on his shoulder, he looked up at you. You could tell he was frowning himself under that mask as his optics spoke volumes of regret.

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t say it to me. Say it to the ones that need it.”

[blacknpurplewarpster]

[IDW Skywarp Headcanon]

More about his awful comments/attitude towards others

I know I’ve written about this before but I cant seem to find it anywhere on my blog. I was rereading the original comic series and thought I’d elaborate a little bit more than what I had previously wrote. I was going to include a snippet from Unicron #2 

Skywarp: “Among others. Could you try bumbling into trouble a little closer to the mainland next time? This was decidedly inconvenient.”  Helix: “I think he means ‘Glad you guys are okay. Sorry it took so long to reach you.’ Isn’t that right, Skywarp?” Skywarp: “I suppose. I would have been more annoyed if we had come all this way and they were already dead.” Helix: “Do you actually know when you’re being awful?” Skywarp: “Almost always. Fortunately, showing up and being remarkable are more important to being a G.I. Joe than unnecessary human pleasantries.” 

Skywarp mentions that he knows when he is being awful with his comments and just overall to others when Helix calls him out on it after just saving part of his team. This team he has been with for a few years and is close to them, even Rock. Going through the comments, he makes snarky ass comments towards Rock and doesn’t give a shit about what his friend thinks either. I’ll come back to Rock in a bit here. Some of his comments towards Rock are rather hilarious in the way Skywarp is portrayed doing them. Not to say Rock deserves his shitty attitude. But later on, they become better and closer friends. 

Even though he is no longer a Decepticon, he still puts duty above everything else, even if it means stepping on others toes or hurting others feelings. Thing is, Skywarp doesn’t care. He feels being blunt is better than beating around the bush or sugarcoating things. He will tell others straight up what he feels and doesn’t give a shit about what it might do. 

Another example is he even says this to Thundercracker, whom he hasn’t seen in a decade or more. 

Thundercracker: “Last time I saw you, you shot me in the face.” Skywarp: “Eh, you deserved it.” 

Like jeezus straight to his face. I think it was like the second sentence he said to Thundercracker after not seeing him for YEARS. Like harsh much? 

So pretty much no one can hide from this. The one thing I have noticed, his snarky comments seem to back off once there’s a tighter bond between himself and whomever else. This happens once Skywarp has a change of heart once he realized how Rock and himself are a lot more similar than he thought. Rock repeatedly tells Skywarp about being alone but he finally realizes this at one important moment. Rock decides to own up to his mistakes of paralyzing Grand Slam and wants to sacrifice his life to blow up the Fatal Fluffies in hopes to get rid of his guilt but its also a sense of pride from him. Skywarp decides to stay back with Rock and decides to stay even when the detonator goes off--surprise surprise, he saves Rock and their bond grows close. 

Here’s some of their conversations between one another just to show you: You can skip all the way down to see my final thoughts. 

---------------------------------------------------------------- GI Joe #1: Rock: Hey, uhh, Skywarp… I was wondering… seeing as we’re teammates… you think I could ride back with you? Skywarp: Are you asking me…to open up my cockpit… and allow you to climb inside of me? Rock: Umm.. yes? Skywarp: Jets off Rock: Looks like I’m with you again.

GI Joe #4

Skywarp: “Look at them. Squabbling in the dirt like… like insects! They can’t do anything. They can accomplish nothing… without me!” Rock: “Hey Skywarp… Instead of waiting for transpo, I was thinking that if you don’t mind, maybe we could.. you know.” Skywarp: Squints hard and jets off Rock: “Jerk.”

Gi Joe #5 Skywarp: “Tell me… you geeks got your data…?” Skywarp: “This isn’t working! I’m tired of you insects leaning on me! Why am I the only one— GAAAH!” Covergirl: “Don’t worry, Skywarp…the calvary’s arrived!” Skywarp: “Now you cowards show up, after sending me ahead.” Rock: “Hey now… I offered to ride with you.” Skywarp: “You know my feelings on that.” Skywarp: “Are you even helping at all?!” Rock: “Honestly? Not really. But if you’d let me ride with—ooofh-!” Skywarp: “Gahhh!” Covergirl: “Skywarp! Come in! Do you read us?!” Skywarp: Khhkkthhhkkt Rock: “Skywarp! Are… are you ok?” Skywarp: “kkhkt No…But I will be there once we will that thing. Were you getting emotional, you sentimental insect?” Rock: “What? I was… No…”

GI Joe #6 Skywarp: “Hrmph. I’ll be the judge of that. Crude ugly thing. If this is the best you can do, no wonder you can’t fix me.” Roadblock: “Four Joes. Skywarp counts.” 

Rock: Turns into this monster from the Fatal Fluffies Skywarp: “I know what this is really about...” Rock: “Hunh?” Skywarp: “...You’re sad I wouldn’t give you a ride. But don’t worry, you’ll get what you want...When i carry you out in pieces.”

GI Joe #7 Skywarp: Is fighting mega-Rock and knows to be gentle and junk. “You are as arrogant as the rest of them! Even enlarged! even with horns and claws! You are nothing but an insec--Urlkh--!” Is being choked out.

Skywarp: “Hey! You watch your mouth!”

Rock: “I know. That’s why I’m volunteering. I’ve done enough damage more than enough. Let me redeem myself please.” Skywarp: “Sure but you aren’t going alone. Someone needs to defend your position while you set up the bomb.” Rock: “But I.. I threw you into the mole pod. the explosion was..” Skywarp: “Yeah, so another one doesn’t scare me much, besides...as soon as the bombs in place, before you hit the button... I”m getting out of here.” 

GI Joe #8 Rock: “Almost read! You gotta jet!” Skywarp: “You’ll be overrun before you can hit it! Besides...It’s an honor to stand by your side. You are a true warrior.” Rock: “No...I’m a Joe. We both are.”  Skywarp saves Rock by letting him ride inside of his cockpit in order to get away from the blast.

Gi Joe #9 Rock: “He wouldn’t let me use the radio.” Skywarp: “You haven’t earned the privilege!” Rock: “Whatever. You ready for the blast beat?”  Skywarp: “Do we have to call it that?”  Skywarp and Rock: “Yoooooooo Joooooooe!”  Rock: “Thanks to Skywarp! Hes letting me ride with him!” Skywarp: “Once! Only once!” 

GI Joe First Strike #1

Skywarp: “You need to get him his own jet!”

Scarletts Strike Force 1 Rock: Skywarp, I”m serious! Seriously! Doc: You know he’s the only one who can put up with your grouchy metal butt.. Skywarp: I thought you liked-- Doc: Nope Skywarp: .... Fine Rock: Hey! Piggyback ride! Skywarp: Start using that shotgun or I’m doing barrel rolls!

---- This is where Skywarps attitude really changes. -------

Rock: And they were chanting this name...glub? golob..goolub? Hey! Are you even listening to me? Skywarp: Its a boring story about something that didn’t actually happen! Why would I listen to it?! Rock: Because it’s stressing me out, man. It felt...different.. Skywarp: Different from your other dreams? Rock: Yeah dude Skywarp: Different from your Jem dreams? Rock: Come on man.. Skywarp: A holograms fan. You’re not metal. Rock: They have some serious riffs, alright!?

Scarletts Strike Force #2

Skywarp: Can you fix my teleportation? Or are you techgeeks just as worthless as everyone else in the Lemuria? Rock: Dude, I’m standing right here. Hey man can I help? Grand Slam: I’ve got it Rock. You only ruined the bottom half of me. Skywarp: Getting m teleportation fixed is the only reason I threw in with you insects! why havent you fixed it yet? You’ve been trying and failing since the EDC!  Grand Slam: Like I told you: We don’t have the tech, or the knowledge. or the materials.

Scarletts Strike Force #3 Skywarp: Yeah. Me. And you’re welcome. Don’t act so shocked. you insects think a giant robot doesn’t know his way around a rudimentary geothermal generator? You’ve been recruited. We’ll rendezvous in DC. You have three minutes to find yourselves a ride before surveillance is back up. Helix: Aren’t you letting people ride inside of you now? Skywarp: Only Rock ‘n Roll! 

Unicron #2 The first set of quotes goes right here in events wise. 

----------------------------------------------------------------

This is the end of their interactions. I know I didn’t show everything but it shows a huge chunk of how you can see how Skywarp is only “nice” to Rock really because in his optics, he isn’t respected by some of the others, especially Grand Slam. So in his mindset, why does he have to be nice if he doesn’t have the respect? 

He figures he lost his respect towards Thundercracker (or rather TC lost respect for Skywarp) because of what he’d done to him so he resets back to being an ass. He thinks their history doesn’t matter anymore, so he resorts to just tell him straight-up. Perhaps he was always straight up before their meeting with Starscream and he’s resorting back to his normal or preset attitude/maturity. That all of what has gone on from him shooting TC out of the sky onwards, smacked him so hard it woke him up from this “fantasy.” If that makes sense?? I’m tired and rambling. 

Deep down, I truly believe he cares but he isn’t going to show that side. He needs to put duty before anything else because that’s the motto Skywarp lives by. You can see a lot of this change in him throughout the entire series but it really sets out from AHM series onwards. His whole attitude flips and starts to really develop his character and we see this. I have a feeling he didn’t used to be like this but what he’s done in his life has shaped him to act in this way. Perhaps its a way of not letting others get close to him. It might very well be a defense mechanism. Who knows, we truly won’t know canon wise since the series ended. 

THANKS FOR BEING HERE FOR MY HEADCANON AND RAMBLE OF THOUGHTS. 

[renaroo]

Wednesday Roundup 15/6/2017

So this is a day late but in my defense I had a ridiculous amount of comics to get through with no one to blame but myself here. And you know what? I genuinely enjoyed almost everything. But does that mean every comic was good this week? And even so what did I think was the best? 

Honestly I don’t know how to write these intros for people who wouldn’t be here to read my opinion anyway so let’s just jump into it. 

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine, Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC’s Detective Comics, DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester, DC’s Justice League of America, Image’s Motor Crush, DC’s Superwoman, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, DC’s Titans, IDW’s Transformers: Salvation, DC’s Wonder Woman

Marvel’s All-New Wolverine (2015-present) #21 Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, Terry Pallot, Michael Garland

Okay I need this issue to reread a million times over because there are just so many things I love all at once. Like, oh my gosh. I was almost in tears multiple times because relationships! Healing! Supporting each other!

Wade and Gabby alone could just about make this issue perfect, but then you have Laura and Daken hugging and worried about each other, and Old Man Logan being likable for the first time in any of my readings of him. There’s so much I enjoy, though I find the cover rather deceiving. This is much more of a Howlett family reunion than anything else, though I did enjoy Riri’s parts in it.

I just eriously adore these characters and it meant a lot to see them all come together like they have here and that cliffhanger HURT so much more for it. 

I will nitpick the art a bit because we’ve been doing so good about keeping Laura in the Wolverine costume which is much preferred to her X-23 wardrobes, for sure, but this issue it pretty much looked exactly like one of her old costumes without the midriffs and it was kinda weird. I know she took off a lot of her armor for skin contact but it’s... idk. It was weird. 

The main thing I’m happy about though is that as we go on, I realize that literally all of the Marvel books I’ve kept are going out of their way to not involve themselves in Secret Wars and it’s kind of beautiful. Laura and Gabby are stuck on an island that’s quarantined (and I can pretend Wade’s there with them instead of whatever’s going on since I dropped Deadpool for the summer crossovers, thanks Tom Taylor!), Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur are literally off world, and the rest are non-616. So yay me!

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016-present) #8 Gerry Conway, Ryan Stegman, Jesus Aburtov

For those who don’t know, Mary Jane Watson is genuinely one of my favorite Marvel characters and is easily one of the reasons I ever stuck with the Spider-Man comics for as long as I did was because of my interest in her and wanting to see her and Peter.

I can also thank her for my genuine attraction to redheads probably.

But one of the main reasons that I’ve loved this book so much is because, as written by Gerry Conway, this is the Peter and MJ of my dreams. I love them so much, and the complications that comes from their relationship and from growing older, raising a daughter, and MJ’s desire to continuously be the glue to keep both Peter and Annie together logically causes her to seek out a way to continue being Spinerette without syphoning off Peter’s powers. 

It’s almost like growing old, having a stable relationship, trying to keep things fresh while raising a kid, are all dramatic and worthy of good storytelling in their own right or something HMM.

Anyway, yes it’s completely on the nose where this is going and it’s a little curious how MJ’s not immediately aware of the connection between what’s going on with her right now and the horrible, arguably traumatizing experience she and Peter had, but who knows what’s canon anymore lol

Basically, I sideye a bit from a story point of view, but this series continues to make up for it with the real thing that matters to me: these characters and their development.

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #958 James Tynion IV, Aluaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Brad Anderson 

Honestly I really love the slower issues where Tynion takes more time to make moments for the relationships between the characters and give us interractions we didn’t know we wanted -- Kate going with Luke and Jean Paul to a basketball game, Cass and Clayface being adorable by reciting a play, Bruce at a poker game with a bunch of assholes in homage to Almost Got ‘im!? It was a lot of fun honestly. 

...

Okay I take issue with Cass’ dialogue. I know she was repeating lines from a tape and such but it’s weird to see her make so much progress when just two issues ago she was almost monosyllabic. Like... I want to see Cass gradually learning, I want to feel her frustration with hitting walls, I want to see her struggle and achieve despite the struggle because that gradual progression was honestly something we weren’t delivered in the former canon. We have a great opportunity for it here. 

But y’know. I’m particular with Cass and it’s hard to say where her baseline for reading and speech even is in this canon because her dyslexia may be in tact but her circumstances growing up are completely different. So I don’t know. 

Now. I’m a sucker for Bruce and Zatanna team-ups because I’m a schmuck but I’m really excited for next issue. Had a lot of fun with this one. This feels like a decent pace for Tynion -- at least in my opinion. 

DC’s Gotham Academy: Second Semester (2016-2017) #10 Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, Adam Archer, Massyk, Sandra Hope

This comic is speeding toward an end and I’m not sure if I’m ready! 

From the beginning, for me at least, the selling point for Gotham Academy has been just how much these kids felt like real teenagers and real friends with all their various relationships and connections, platonic or romantic or something in between. And it’s powerful to see that coming to play as an advantage to completing Olive’s arc, but also as a disadvantage since the consequences of many of her actions hurt that much more.

I’ll save a lot of my thoughts for a complete wrap up of the series but overall, very happy and very grateful for the continuously good read that is GA

DC’s Justice League of America (2016-present) Volume 1: Road to Rebirth Steve Orlando, Jody Houser, Ivan Reis, Andy MacDonald, Stephen Byrne, Jamal Campbell, Mirk Andolfo

WE GOTTA GET THE BAND BACK TOGETHER. WE’RE ON A MISSION FROM GAD. 

In all seriousness, I’m a huge fan of Vixen and Ryan Choi as well as a big fan of Justice League International, as it was in its 80s glory. So my interests with this particular lineup were piqued from the beginning and I made myself wait for the first volume to dive in. 

For the most part, this is a team gathering exercise. Characters that have lacked the spotlight in the last few years -- Vixen, Ray, Killer Frost, and the Atom -- were given whole issues to reintroduce them to this continuity. And honestly those issues were great. I really, really love the updated origins for them and feel that they’re a good blend of honoring the past of the characters as well as adapting them for a new world. 

Lobo, Batman, and Black Canary took back seat, but considering that there were already tensions showing within the group, I think it’s safe to assume that giving the spotlight to the rest of the team won’t always last this long. Things are nothing if not explosive among these members.

I really did mean it when I said this is a team gathering exercise, because there’s no first case to unite everyone. There’s not any real antagonists or team-ups we see to speakof. It was just getting hte jLA together. 

And for me it’s enough to get me intrigued, though I’d completely understand if people told me it was far from enough for them. 

Now they just need to add Big Barda, Booster Gold, and Ted Kord and I’ll be satisfied. 

Image’s Motor Crush (2016-present) Vol. 1 Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, Babs Tarr

I was not the biggest fan of this team’s Batgirl team though I appreciated the aesthetics and what not. There just never seemed to be a storyline that really interested me and I couldn’t be sold on the characterization for Barbara. So I kept hearing about Motor Crush for the last year and was really itnerested in it so I wanted until this volume came out and. 

Well, quite simply, I’m in love.

Tell you what, those biker gangs that kept coming up really confusingly out of place in Batgirl make a hell of a lot more sense now that I can see this team’s actual passion project. 

So I love Motor Crush a lot, I’m really invested in Domino, the mystery that is her origins and the powers of Crush itself. I love her relationship with her ex, Lola, I love her father -- I love just about everything and the cliffhanger really surprised me. 

I will say that while I love having a world that speaks for itself rather than constant narration, it’s a little hard to follow this world entirely, I’d like a bit more explained than what has been, but at the end of the day I’m very excited to see more. 

DC’s Superwoman (2016-present) #11 K. Perkins, José Luís, Ray McCarthy, HI-FI

You know, I have made it clear that I’ve been worried about this title for a while now, really just hoping it was going to find its direction and wow us with the great potential that is the Super Family outside of the main Kent triad. And I feel like that’s for good reason -- the end of Jimenez’s run let a lot of people feeling justifiably scorned, there was a mishandling of a lot of heavy and important subjects that were raised, and at least the initial stuff with Perkins taking over kind of left one wondering if they had a fully formed direction to go toward next. 

But I am really glad that I stuck it out for this long because the family of John, Lana, Nat, and everyone else is so important and so fundamentally different from the dynamics found elsewhere in the new familial renaissance of the DCU that I needed it. And I hope it continues to emphasize these relationships and how important they are to each other.

I’m still unhappy with how anxiety and mental illness is being handled in the title and find it lacking since it was brought up to begin with and now being ignored. That subject alone is making me rethink my disinterest in Green Lantern books as a whole because I have loved and felt inspired so far by what I’ve seen of Jessica Cruz and their handling of anxiety, and it’s why I picked up Silk at the high recommendations of a close friend. 

So I’d like for mental illness to be treated better in this title -- the least it can do after bringing it up and treating it the way it did at the end of Jimenez’s run, but there’s so much value in the non-nuclear family dynamic of the Irons household and of the uniqueness of Lana’s powers and her approach to fighting crime that it’s worth it. For me anyway.

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present) #70 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco, Ronda Pattison

I knew the end of this storyline was going to be, at the very least, explosive but wow, WOW I had no idea how many twists and turns it was going to take in that time. That was a phenomenal ending to the Mutanimals storyline for the time being, and I just feel so bad for Slash, down to my core. I’m so worried about him, and whenever he will be allowed to recover.

At least I hope he’ll recover.

This series is seventy issues strong and i’m just so blown away by the way they still manage to keep me on the edge of my feet while so many different storylines and character developments are happening at the same time.

I mean, I even feel for Old Hobb here!

I do suppose a complaint I could hold here is that the titular turtles themselves have ultimately not been very front and center throughout this storyline, and that really showed in the conclusion, where for the most part they were lost to the colorfulness of the huge, colorful supporting cast that has been developed over the years. 

For me, personally, I think that’s honestly okay. We can’t have the same story over and over again with only the main four characters driving the narrative, and it’s been a long standing tradition in TMNT for a good 30 years now to sort of embody the concept that our main guys don’t really look for situations to get involved with but sort of fall into them naturally. 

Not to mention it’s probably a strength that 70 issues in, we haven’t once repeated plots or stories or put any of the characters on a loop of development to end up right back where they started. I don’t think the achievement of that can be understated, especially as we near that landmark #75!

DC’s Titans (2016-present) #12 Dan Abnett, Kenneth Rocafort, Dan Brown

Bleh. BLEH. I was holding out judgment on the twist of Wally and Donna and Roy ending up in some kind of love triangle because I wanted the context but honestly the context is kinda... bleh. It would be awesome if we lived in some world and time where Donna’s origins were not constantly retconned and thus the source of her characterization in every run of every thing she showed up in. Which is by no means a new problem but still.

And my opinion is... Wally and Donna are both going through a hard time and Wally is having to accept that his life is fundamentally different from the previous world he knew, that he can’t just badger people into returning things to the way they were -- especially Linda, who he loves but it’s a very one-sided relationship as a result of the parallel universe paradox and stuff. It makes sense to me that in a ploy to gain some sense of control over that, he and Donna both would try to take fate in an unexpected direction, into their own hands. 

But making it a love triangle with Roy just kinda keeps my eyes firmly rolled into the back of my skull. 

I overall like Lilith, Dick, Garth, and Karen’s development and characterization in this issue. I think they’re taking Lilith in interesting directions and I’m really curious about what her omen means for the future, since apparently there’s a traitor among them. And they set up plenty of reasons for various members to be that traitor in this issue but I can’t help but assume already that it’s going to end up being a twist. Good twist or not remains to be seen. 

IDW’s Transformers: Salvation (2017) John Barber, Livid Ramondelli

I’m going to be completely “original” here and say that I’m not a fan of Ramondelli’s at for the various Transformers comics. i know! I know. Shocking, never said before, completely going against the general fandom consensus. I’m such a brave soul. I know. 

Okay, joking aside though... I didn’t think the art was bad in this one-shot. Actually! I’d argue a lot of it was even good. He may not be my favorite artist and I’ll think that his colo gradients are butt ugly most of the time, but there was better handled action sequences than usual, the characters looked like they had weight, and we even got a range of expressiveness in the characters that is... well, frankly, not usual for Ramondelli. 

So other than that shocking revelation, I thought Barber performed good once more on tying the TF universe together again, answering some prior plot points and nicely knotting off loose ends. Trypticon being a Titan is not the biggest revelation in the world, but the development of Sandstorm and the Dinobots was great, and I loved just how devious Starscream truly is under Barber’s pen even though I’ve fully been enjoying the characterization for him in Till All Are One. 

But the most important thing of all: SPARKLINGS. SPARKLINGS. All I’ve wanted for years is baby transformers so I am HAPPY BEYOND BELIEF. THEY’RE NO LONGER A DYING SPECIES AND THESE PRECIOUS BABIES COULD BE BORN WITHOUT EVER KNOWING THE CIVIL WAR AHHHHHHHH

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #24 Greg Rucka, Bilquis Evely, Romulo Fajardo Jr. 

WOW! I mean, just wow! What a resolution to everything. I have so many emotions for Diana, for Barbara Ann, for even Veronica Cale of all people. Etta and Steve were great, the art was amazing.

It’s just such a relief and such... honestly just an amazing feat that Greg Rucka is beginning to wrap up this just phenomenal run of Wonder Woman 

I really enjoyed how everything turned out and it was so remarkable to see Diana’s resolution to save Veronica but also to not turn her back on her friends and loved ones as well as the torment it is for Barbara to not be able to get into Themyscira after all her life’s work.

And I liked Diana’s assessment of Veronica at the end, it was true and also blunt to the point of cruelty. But fitting also. 

It’s amazing what a turn around I’ve personally felt when it comes to Veronica’s character because in all honesty I was not a fan of her most of the time in the preboot, but Rucka really has fleshed her out and done something unique with her perspective now. There is tragedy but there’s also less deniability for her fault in all of it. 

I’m sad to be coming toward Rucka’s end on the run, but I’m also so happy to see the love and passion he’s put into everything culminating to what it is now.

This is a genuinely hard choice but I think if I go by what tugged on my heartstrings the most, what gave me the most joy overall and just feelings unrelenting from start to finish, I would have to say that my pick of the week is All-New Wolverine. I adore this series and I couldn’t be happier with this issue and how they’re keeping my precious Marvel girls faaaaaar away from Secret Empire. A close second would be Wonder Woman but really I would happily recommend my entire pull this week. It was a geat week for comics.

But that’s just my opinion! I’d love to know your thoughts. Agree? Disagree? Think I missed something I should’ve picked up this week? I’d love to hear from you!