Hi - the prodigal returns

Chat about stuff other than Transformers.
Post Reply
User avatar
Clogs
Posts: 4278
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 10:00 pm
Location: Leicester, where King Dick is buried

Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Clogs »

Just saying hi and hoping you're all keeping well :wave:

Have just acquired a Seige Mirage and I'm thinking: time to return to Cybertron. What have I missed, guys/gals?
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Skyquake87 »

Hey Clogs! I'm good. Hope you're well too!

What have you missed...? Comics and robots and stuff :) Hope you're enjoying Mirage. I've got the Netflix version on pre-order and am mildly excited for him. I like the colours.
User avatar
Denyer
Posts: 33033
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2000 4:00 am
Location: Perfidious Albion
Contact:

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Denyer »

Hiya! Long time no see, missed the last couple of TFNs.

IDW wrapped up its TF universe (not particularly well) and immediately started a new one, which seems to still be going but not have rocked anyone's world. I think it's probably a case of Hasbro prefers there being a comic to there not being a comic. I assume you know the official club/convention lost its licence.

Been a good few years for official lines -- Combiner Wars, Titan Masters, Power of the Primes, Siege, Earthrise, whatever comes after that as trilogies are the new thing. Prices of some classes are creeping up or the sizes don't correlate to class as much (i.e. leader class = a voyager figure with accessories). Third party has homogenised on Masterpiece-style figures a lot.

Haven't seen any of the Netflix stuff. On the video front, the Bumblebee movie was quite good. Easily the best live action TF movie so far, IMO.
User avatar
Clogs
Posts: 4278
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 10:00 pm
Location: Leicester, where King Dick is buried

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Clogs »

Hi, Skyquake - hi, Denyer :kiss:

I'm well, despite my advanced years hem-hem let's not go there, 'k? Currently furloughed from my p/t job at the local College, which is why I'm chilled right now and thought: wah-ay, levelled up too many toons in WoW and I need some TFs in my life! Trying to write stories again and buying toys I cannot afford, and then I must find the money to catch up with the stories via Comixology.

Caught the B-movie at least! And the Netflix Deceptcion Mirage is next on my list; not keen on the Tetrajet Starscream... must renew Netflix sub (memo to self). Didn't know about the club, though - that's a shame.
User avatar
Sades
Posts: 9483
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2001 5:00 am
Location: I APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Sades »

Hi Clogs! o/

I can't remember if you were here around when it happened, but I kidnapped Hound and forced him to marry me.

Which, in hindsight, might have been a good thing! Possibly.

... Also, I'm making a thing.

Image
User avatar
Heinrad
Posts: 6281
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2001 5:00 am
Location: Riskin' it all on my Russian Roulette!

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Heinrad »

Hey, hey, welcome back.

Not too much going on. Just going stir-crazy.
User avatar
Clogs
Posts: 4278
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 10:00 pm
Location: Leicester, where King Dick is buried

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Clogs »

Hi, Sades - good catch, grrl! Like the beading. What're you going to do with it?

Hi - Heinrad! You're crazy, I'm crazy, we're all crazy :kiss:
User avatar
Sades
Posts: 9483
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2001 5:00 am
Location: I APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Sades »

Earrings. Supposed to be Dragonflies but I'm suddenly seeing something else. Still, earrings!
User avatar
Warcry
Posts: 13934
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2002 4:10 am
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Warcry »

Hey Clogs! I hope life is less stressful for you than it was the last time we talked.

I honestly don't think you've missed that much, Transformers-wise. The last few years seem to have mostly consisted of Hasbro steering the franchise into being a full-blown nostalgia property. So while there's been a lot of high-quality stuff put out, it feels a whole lot less exciting than it probably should.
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Skyquake87 »

...heh. Yeah, even the Studio Series trades on Nostalgia. I do miss the days when Transformers came out with original new themes. Even Cyberverse is G1 redone. Only not by Freddery, so it's not as funny.
User avatar
Clogs
Posts: 4278
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 10:00 pm
Location: Leicester, where King Dick is buried

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Clogs »

Obviously, it all went quiet, because they knew I wasn’t paying attention.

Well, then: here’s hoping the next movies and series in the franchise bring joy, wonder and fun :grin:
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Skyquake87 »

I suspect that was the actual reason too!

Well if they can just make more films like Bumblebee, I'll be happy :)
User avatar
inflatable dalek
Posts: 24000
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:15 pm
Location: Kidderminster UK

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by inflatable dalek »

Howdy Clogs!

I'm usually about once a week as that's when I get on the PC these days (still easier to post than on my phone).
User avatar
Clogs
Posts: 4278
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 10:00 pm
Location: Leicester, where King Dick is buried

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Clogs »

Just done some serious catching up and my bank account is weeping... Grabbed a lot of TF stuff on ComiXology and got stuck in...

MTMTE and Lost Light are clever, tongue-in-cheek and generally well-crafted. Loved the moment Megs was pushed to say Optimus’ iconic line and the quantum stuffs going quantum. Enjoyed this series and had to revisit some scenes to get my head around the multiple shenanigans. And we got to see inside Brainstorm’s case; now wondering what exactly Compo had in that matchbox of his (Last of the Summer Wine reference there, in case anyone doesn’t know that wonderful UK show).

Optimus Prime was absolutely dire. So dire even the Dire Wraiths were weeping. Okay, yes, I cried for Sideswipe, but at least he got out of the mess to be One with Primus. Is this the dog’s dinner (no reflection on Buster, who is a Good Girl) that killed the IDW run? I have original Rom: Space Knight, comics and really liked some of the other crossover ideas, but the whole was unsatisfying. Characters jumping from war to war just because? No sense or purpose and loose ends flapping in the wind. The Shockwave arc was seriously messed up and ended badly. The Arcee arc was hm... as in a big hm...

Currently thoroughly thoroughly loving, with all my Simon Furman loving little datacore, Regeneration One. This has got me fangrrl screaming with delight at all the references to the original Marvel UK series. I also tip my hat to Andrew Wildman and Jason Cardy et al, many of whom I’ve met and whose work I like. Appreciating the legacy, the glory and Bludgeon. Excuse me, I just need to WHEEEEEEEEE-YAH!
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Skyquake87 »

IDW did end up pissing on their chips with the shared Universe stuff. 'Like Transformers? Here's some of our other toy properties no-one's cared about for 30 years that you might be interested in!' Thanks for that. And no Jem or My Little Pony? Rude. I'm catching up on all this stuff through the Hachette partwork and am looking forward to reading back through it all in the proper order, once that's all complete. Have to say, Devil's Due did the crossover thing much better. I love their G.I.Joe vs Transformers stuff.

Glad you're enjoying Regeneration One. I didn't like that so much, mainly for pointlessly stepping on Generation 2's toes and the silly 20 year gap. It doesn't really work as the 'ending that was always intended' to the original Marvel run for me, which actually came with Marvel US #75. Furman's writing seems a bit hollow and lifeless - everyone sounds the same - and Wildman's art becomes increasingly sketchy and disinterested as his time on the book wears on. For a retro book, the modern digital colouring looked off to me. I think if it had the old 'flat' colouring you used to get in the '80s and early '90s, it would have looked much more the part for the era it was trying to represent.
User avatar
Clogs
Posts: 4278
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 10:00 pm
Location: Leicester, where King Dick is buried

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Clogs »

Skyquake87 wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2020 9:24 amFor a retro book, the modern digital colouring looked off to me. I think if it had the old 'flat' colouring you used to get in the '80s and early '90s, it would have looked much more the part for the era it was trying to represent.
Since I have the series in digital format, I’m happy with the colouring!

I’ve now completed reading Regeneration One. The ending was always going to be Rodimus’ death, foreshadowed elsewhere, given the mythological nature of Furman’s TF work. Old Gods are replaced and become the demons; the Old Race passes into legend and is reborn, ready to begin the cycle again; the original race rejected by the Creator as flawed inherits the world; the McGuffin will be rediscovered or restored etc.

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It stands like Omega Supreme, towering above the horrible mess of the franchise implosion IDW put together, from which My Little Pony was soooo missing - oh, what might’ve become canon there!
User avatar
Denyer
Posts: 33033
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2000 4:00 am
Location: Perfidious Albion
Contact:

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Denyer »

If he'd done a continuation of G2 -- even an extended version of Alignment -- would probably have been up for that. It was nice that Regen gave us covers work from Senior, etc. but from what I skimmed of the story it didn't appeal. Maybe one day when I can find the enthusiasm for an alt-universe story, but it's not Marvel as far as I'm concerned.

@Skyquake87 -- yeah, Hasbro royally screwed IDW by pushing franchise crossovers. That's not to say IDW didn't make many, many mistakes of their own, but nobody seems to grasp that crossovers appeal primarily to a small subset of readers of each franchise rather than being a force multiplier that brings readers over from each.
User avatar
Skyquake87
Protoform
Posts: 3986
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:34 am

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Skyquake87 »

I've never read Alignment. Is it any good?

I can't stand crossovers. Mainly from having a big comics reader in the '90s, when everything had some multi-part mega-event. That and Marvel's 'events' from the 2000s have turned me off crossovers. That's not to say they can't be done well - I liked it when you got four-parters that crossed over between 2 books or similar.
User avatar
Denyer
Posts: 33033
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2000 4:00 am
Location: Perfidious Albion
Contact:

Re: Hi - the prodigal returns

Post by Denyer »

Definitely worth a read sometime. It's a product of its era, like Another Time And Place.

https://issuu.com/davidpm/docs/transfor ... mon_furman (not my link)
Post Reply