Did you ever let the comic warp your view of the cartoon?

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LordSixshot
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Did you ever let the comic warp your view of the cartoon?

Post by LordSixshot »

Well, of course everyone did at least an ickle bit, no matter how much you say you view them as entirely different entities I don't believe you didn't let a little bit of one run into the other. But the link Windcharger gave (thanks Windcharger, I had a good laugh):
http://www.itswalky.com/transformers/du ... s0105.html

...to Shockwave's dumbass of the month slot made me realise how much I'd let myself get carried away with Shockwave. I never had the slightest inkling he was a pansy in the cartoon until I read that, because he was just so rock 'ard in the comics.

I read the first almost 100ish issues of the comic just as I started watching the G1 cartoon for the first time so maybe that was the problem. By that point in the comic Shockwave had taken out pretty much all the Autobots by himself and shown Megatron who was the daddy. And so when I saw him not doing anything much in the cartoon I never realised he was, well, crap. I must have subconciously been thinking 'ooo there's Shockwave, he's one hard mo'fo', but he's just not doing anything useful right now because they've caught him at a bad moment'. Or something equally stupid along those lines.

Did you ever find yourself doing that with other characters? Thinking they were better than they really are in the cartoon because of their characterisation in the comic? Come to think of it, seeing as I am no comic expert, are there any characters who seem better in the cartoon than they are in the comic?

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Post by The HeartBrend Kid »

I had pretty much blurred memories of the cartoon and comic anyways. Never saw much of the cartoon, and didn't have regular access to the comic until the late 200s.

I always got the thangs muddled.

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Post by Starscreamsghost »

Since I was a student of the cartoon long before I got a hold of the comics this year, my view of comic characters was incredibly skewed. Blaster's one of my favorite comic characters now, but at first it was hard to grasp him as a rock-hard nutcase instead of a fun-loving Jazz-a-like. Likewise, I had trouble accepting that some major cartoon Bots and Cons had virtually no role in the US comic run. Ironhide, Ultra Magnus, Springer, Cyclonus, Scourge, and others come to mind.

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Post by Osku »

Originally posted by LordSixshot:
Come to think of it, seeing as I am no comic expert, are there any characters who seem better in the cartoon than they are in the comic?
Following characters are better in the cartoon; insecticons. That is all.

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Post by ThunderCracker84 »

I always wondered why Shockwave was such a wimp in the show, while he was an official badass in the comics

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Post by Blaster_86 »

I prefer the cartoon to the comic. I let the cartoon screw with my view of the comic. I got mad when soundwave was plotting for leadership and when shockwave was leader. Also the way a couple of the guys looked in the earlier comics.

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Post by Reflector »

Soundwave. After seeing his appearances in the comic series, those in the cartoon made him seem like such a... nancy.
The Dinobots. They could have been so cool, if the cartoon writers could have just read their tech specs first.

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Post by Prowl? »

Although I saw the cartoon first, I really was weaned on Transformers because of the comic. It provided more insight to some of the more undeveloped characters, while at the same time, providing some classic fights and conflicts. Some characters that I find myself attached to now were just fillibuster in the cartoon, like Prowl. Some characters, like Ratchet, had roles in the cartoon, but were really more defined in the comic. I like to think that the comic was sort of the 'lost years', between the end of series 2 and the movie. However, that would violate the continuity, and we wouldn't want to do that right? Image
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Post by Starscreamsghost »

Originally posted by Osku:
Following characters are better in the cartoon; insecticons. That is all.
No, that ain't all. Ironhide, Red Alert, Tracks, Cliffjumper, Mirage, Blitzwing, Octane, the Technobots, First Aid, Cyclonus, Swindle, Gears, and Sky Lynx all fit such criteria.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, you can add Hoist, Grapple, the Constructicons, Silverbolt, Slingshot, Smokescreen, and Omega Supreme to the list.

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[This message has been edited by Starscreamsghost (edited 12-11-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Starscreamsghost (edited 12-12-2001).]
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Post by Blaster_86 »

Originally posted by Starscreamsghost:
No, that ain't all. Ironhide, Red Alert, Tracks, Cliffjumper, Mirage, Blitzwing, Octane, the Technobots, First Aid, Cyclonus, Swindle, Gears, and Sky Lynx all fit such criteria.

You missed Blaster and Jazz. Albeit they were stronger in the comic but damn cooler in the cartoon.

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Post by Quick Switch »

I never really read the comic as a kid- except for a smattering of the Pretenders series, which from what all the comic experts have said, did not do it justice.

I was pretty much shaped by the cartoon versions of the characters.

Going on what some have said about "improved" characters, I'll have to say Superion.

Even though the Airielbots are not thought highly of, one of my strongest memories as a kid with Transformers involved Superion.

I believe it was "The Return of Optimus Prime," or whatever episdoe(s) dealt with the hate plague.

There was a certain scene where a stampeding mass of people are shown moving toward a bridge, and I still remember Ed Gilbert's voice:

"Get off the bridge! You have to get off the bridge!" and then Superion is tackled by another combiner infected with the hate plague (I can't remember which. Ironically, I think it was Defensor).

Now, from his Tech Specs, a casual reader would NOT get an impression of a caring robot. I can't say how much exposition Superion received in the comic.

Anyway. Those're my thoughts.

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Post by nmathew »

I was never into comics. I didn't even know they had one for Transformers until I was around 16... :-)

Am I the only one?

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Post by Cliffjumper »

Originally posted by Starscreamsghost:
Ultra Magnus, Springer, Cyclonus, Scourge

Ghosty, are you actually gonna read those comics I put on that CD at personal cost for you? Cyclonus and Scourge are two of the most important characters in the run, and Mags and Sprigner aren't far behind...

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Post by Starscreamsghost »

Originally posted by da Ghost:
some major cartoon Bots and Cons had virtually no role in the
---> US comic run <---.
"It's called reading. Left to right, top to bottom, group of words forms a sentence."
--David Spade in "Tommy Boy"

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[This message has been edited by Starscreamsghost (edited 12-12-2001).]
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Post by Osku »

Originally posted by Starscreamsghost:
No, that ain't all. Ironhide, Red Alert, Tracks, Cliffjumper, Mirage, Blitzwing, Octane, the Technobots, First Aid, Cyclonus, Swindle, Gears, and Sky Lynx all fit such criteria.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, you can add Hoist, Grapple, the Constructicons, Silverbolt, Slingshot, Smokescreen, and Omega Supreme to the list.
I´m not starting to argue about others. Some of your choices are valid, some matter of opinion, but Omega Supreme. I can´t help it but cartoon "stupid, big, strong, space shuttle so autobots can go to cybertron" was so disappointing when compared to the Omega presented in US #19. Actually on of the best Budiansky´s stories at the same.

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Post by Starscreamsghost »

Perhaps. I didn't mind the characterization they gave him in "The Secret of Omega Supreme"; to me, that seemed at least comparable to anything they did for him in the comic.

As an aside, was Omega ever involved in any of the battles during the Underbase Saga? I couldn't remember if he was one of the hordes that Starscream did away with...

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Post by Osku »

Originally posted by Starscreamsghost:
As an aside, was Omega ever involved in any of the battles during the Underbase Saga? I couldn't remember if he was one of the hordes that Starscream did away with...
http://webresources.transfans.com/image ... 0/pg29.htm

And the next page. Yes, I know not very honourable end.




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Post by Cliffjumper »

ha, I dunno, that episode fell down massively for me due to the whole "for once I shall speak nornmally" thing...

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Post by Redstreak »

One continuity should have followed the other; I always thought that what was in the comic should have been what was in the cartoon or vice-versa. Not identical, per se, but close enough to where things actually make reasonable sense.
I know I'd love to get my hands on some of the UK comics, because the U.S. one was in many ways just plain weird.
Walky's assessment of Shockwave epitomizes how I feel about the cartoon's treatment of some of the characters: Wasted potential. I have a topic buried a little ways back that deals with such things.

R.

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Post by RID Scourge »

I figure that if I were to write a transformers series, I would make it a retelling of G1. It would incorporate qualities from both the cartoon and the comic, and it would have better development of characters that they kind of pushed off to the side.

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