fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2133 ]

[ SECRET POST #2133 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2133 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 083 secrets from Secret Submission Post #305.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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Ah, I gotcha. Why does this remind me of Roy/Hughes from FMA...

Either way, they seem sorta codependent? IDK if I'm interpreting that correctly, but they sound interesting.

"Codependent" is exactly how I'd characterise it. I can't decide whether it's cute or unsettling, especially when there's foreshadowing that Chromedome (the yellow robot) is "being used" by someone or something.

Well...the 'being used' part sounds creepy as all hell, but I've got to admit that codependent couples intrigue me. Sometimes I do find them cute, then something happens and I'm reminded of how unsettling and unhealthy it is. So both are possible imo, lol.

And the writer is kind of evil. Amazing, but evil.

Roberts is the best kind of evil to ever evil.

And to think, More Than Meets the Eye still has several clicks to go before it reaches some of the gut-punches of Eugenesis...

The yellow guy is not being used by the little black one, I'll bet my ass. But the comic is dark and twisted and we've got a guy talking to what he quite possibly thinks is god, among other things. It's messy.

The yellow guy and the little black bot's relationship, so far, seems one of the healthiest things on the ship. And they met in what is shaping up to be a murder ring inside a skeezy prostitution-analogue while one was suicidal!

Oh, I didn't think this one was 'using' the yellow one, my wording was just unfortunate.

And they met in what is shaping up to be a murder ring inside a skeezy prostitution-analogue while one was suicidal!

I had no idea Transformers was so dark! That's messed up (to put it lightly). No wonder they both needed someone to connect with.

James Roberts, the writer on this book, writes at an entirely different level than most of his Transformers brethren.

He became fandom-famous when Marvel was publishing TF comics, with a novel-length fanfic called "Eugenesis" which was about the end of the war and how many of the Cybertonians were spectacularly bad at dealing with no longer being combatants.

He became famous as a professional with an amazing piece of work called "Last Stand of the Wreckers", which is a 5-issue miniseries of painfully brutal physical and psychological torture about a small group of Autobots trying to liberate a prison which has been taken over by a sadistic psychopath.

He writes dark, but in a gloriously refreshing way. In my opinion, one of the best writers in the comics business, PERIOD, and by far the best in the TF corner of things.

And in addition to dark, also very funny. He likes to make you laugh before he destroys you. ("Wreckers, combine!", anyone?) I continue to be impressed by every new MTMTE.

OH PRIMUS ROTORSTORM.

Transformers has such a long history that I wouldn't know where to start (and would probably be confused), otherwise I might consider trying his stuff out. He certainly sounds like he does good work, and these stories seem much more mature and complex than anything I expected from Transformers (that's not meant as an insult btw, lol. I enjoyed the cartoons as a kid but that's about the extent of my Transformers experience and knowledge) . Might have to see what else he's done...

You're in luck, if you want to read Roberts writing, because you can start straight from the first More Than Meets The Eye trade (there are two out at the moment). I started reading the current comic continuity from that point on and had no trouble following it. Later I worked my way backwards into some earlier stuff like Last Stand of the Wreckers, but I think MTMTE is very new reader friendly. It's very good at establishing the setting and introducing the characters, so you should be able to enjoy it even if it's the first Transformers thing you've ever read.

The only problem is that if you want to read backwards you have to suffer through Costa.

Who is...basically the anti-Roberts. Hated the franchise, hated the fans, didn't understand the culture he was writing. And yet somehow wrote for two years.

But if you just set your eyes forward and supplement with questions/information from the internet, you will be golden and happy! :D

Fortunately, I was forewarned and read very selectively. Which is a pity because I like Prowl and Spotlight: Prowl is written by him...

Prowl is magnificent.

Sadly, poor Barber is having to deal with all the baggage Prowl gained FROM Costa's run. I don't mind complicated or broken characters, but it's sad to me that the reason Prowl is so emotionally wrecked is because of a hack of a writer. I think Barber is doing fine with it, but if I was going to be reading a character absolutely losing control of his reality I would have preferred it be for different reasons than that whole "SPIKE STABBED EVERYONE IN THE BACK BUT THAT'S OK BECAUSE HE'S HUMAN AND AWESOME WHILE THE AUTOBOTS ARE JUST UNFEELING ROBOTS" bullshit that Costa pulled. ;_;

Oh, that's good to hear! Some comics are so long and convoluted that they intimidate me, but since this is apparently newbie friendly I'll try to give it a shot, see if I like it. Thanks!

He's only done Transformers, sadly.

That said, if you're really interested, the series this scene is from is actually a reasonable jumping-on point. The war between the Decepticons and Autobots has ended, and a small group of idiots on a ship set out across the universe to figure out answers. Stuff happens. Mostly bad stuff. A lot of funny stuff. Some good things. It's only only on issue 10 as of this month.

If you're the type of comic reader who doesn't need to know the backstory 100% of everything that's happening, you'll be fine. If you do want to know about a character, a quick trip to tfwiki.com and then scrolling down to the part that says "IDW comic continuity" will sort you out quick. But one of his many talents is scaffolding new readers so it's not absolutely necessary they know every character and background story. Many of the characters are even new to the continuity.

The first trade paperback for MTMTE contains the first three issues of the series and the one-shot that sets it up/explains why they all piled aboard a ship. If your'e really interested check it out!

Only done Transformers? Poop. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I'm always looking for new things to read and a variety of series is good! Y'all have already convinced me to give this a try, especially since it's supposedly easy to get into. Right now I'm not in the mood to backtrack and read a dozen different things so this sounds perfect. (10 issues is so little! And since I've started reading comics its nice to have monthly releases to look forward to.)

Thanks for all the info!

Or if you're like me in that you like to try out new stuff without investing in it at first, here's (http://www.sendspace.com/file/3v0flj) the first four issues.

Well, this is certainly faster and cheaper, so I'm not gonna complain. If I like these I'll try to find others at my local comic shop. Thanks a bunch! :D

~~You Transformer fans sure are friendly!~~

DA

New to the fandom myself, and I find that as well. Sure, it's got its fair share of wank (especially when it comes to shipping, as these two secrets prove), but overall it's just a very nice group of folks.

As long as you don't get involved in the "which continuity is best?!" arguments. Those can get nasty. But for the most part I find that the bad parts of Transformers fandom mostly only ever affect veterans who have been around, and everyone is really nice to newbies.

(no subject)

elaminator - 2012-11-05 00:42 (UTC) - Expand

You should be forewarned that IDW is not big on reprints of single issues. But there are trades (this month marked the release of TPB #2) and downloads, and then you can go from there.

We're friendly, and we like adding new blood. Especially now that the series is good again. We live in constant fear that IDW will decide 10k issues isn't worth the publishing costs. So we're friendly, we love sharing our passion, and if we get new fans we'll be less likely to have our passion disappear into the dark. Win-Win!

(no subject)

elaminator - 2012-11-05 00:50 (UTC) - Expand

Hmm. I can see what you mean, but I'm not sure prostitution is a great analogy for the Relinquishment Centres.

I'm not sure, of course, that there is a good real world analogy for them. Which is awesome - yay, running with science fictional ideas. (For those not reading the books, Relinquishment Centres are now-illegal places where poor bots could give up their bodies for a while, so that bots who could afford to pay for them could have the experience of riding around in a different alt-mode for a while. At least two spoilery aspects of the issue these panels come from involve the RCs, both of which play against the prostitution analogy, IMO.)

Look at what Drift says: He feels the only worth he has left is in his body. They're not giving up their bodies, they're selling them because they don't believe there is anything else for them.

It's not a perfect analogy, no, because they're robots and not human beings, but that's pretty close. I'd bet dollars to energon that's what the owners of the places say to anyone who wants to get out, too: "what else can you do? You're worthless except for your frame."

Yes, but again, look at how the RCs are actually used in the plot.

Hijacking the donors' identities to create a cover for assassins, and as a front for a brainwashing operation.

The prostitution analogy breaks down hard when you hit that point, and even before that, the only thing that makes it closer to prostitution than, say, selling blood, or doing hard labour for half minimum wage in a sweatshop is the recreational use of your body - which your mind isn't even in, which weakens the analogy again.

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