As the Old Year ends and before the New Year begins, I thought it would be fun to look back on the bots that were added to my collection over the past year. Some of these may have been released in years prior, but they didn’t get to me until 2014. Let’s get started…
Tag: Rewind
30 Day MTMTE Challenge – Day 26
A description or sketch for a human version of one of the characters
You know, I never really thought about this until I saw this day’s topic. Well, there was Cybertronian Homesick Blues, where the bots take on Super Intuitive holomatter Avatars which essentially answers this question for a few.
One of Brainstorms few non-weapon projects.
I thought the characterization was right on – Rewind has the video camera, Skids’ ID card is blank (like his memory), Rung and Swerve are unmistakable, Tailgate is a baby (since he has been offline nearly the entire 6 million years of his life) and Whirl has an eyepatch (so he only has a single useful eye) and guns. Bonus points for the eyepatch on Whirl’s Autobot badge!
I didn’t include Ultra Magnus here since his avatar was simply a representation of Verity Carlo and not of his personality. But you know, it would be interesting to see whether it would end up representing the Ultra Magnus we know and love or Minimus Ambus – the guy in the suit.
Finally, we were treated to Ratchet’s avatar back when he was on Delphi, albeit a corrupted version.
It’s actually pretty accurate since Ratchet was corroding at the time.
Of course, this is far from a new concept. We can go all the way back to the original G1 comics for the first look at holomatter avatars. Here’s a shot of mine from Transformers Issue #14:
After all these years, I still do.
30 Day MTMTE Challenge – Day 19
An Opinion That’s Changed Since You Started Reading
It took me a while to figure this one out since I pretty much go with the flow. As it is, this isn’t so much a change of opinion as it is a new concept that I have grown to like: Conjunx Endura or relationships in general.
In the vast history of Transformers, interpersonal relationships between bots is usually of a professional nature in that we generally only see them as part of a military-type unit. Sure, it got touched on in G1 in those couple of episodes when we met Elita-One, Chromia, Firestar and Moonracer and it was hinted at in pretty much any scene Acree was in with Springer or Hot Rod in the movie or Season 3, and got played up WAY too much in Beast Wars with the whole Silverbolt and Blackarachnia courtship. Still, the relationships didn’t get as much attention as it has in MTMTE. I think that has to do with the fact that a lot of people tend to think of these bots as male and these relationships are shown between two bots that are identified as male and that brings up connotations of homosexuality. Primus, I can’t believe I’m writing about this, but I already started so I guess i have to finish. Anyway, while humans identify bots as having a gender, they technically do not and since there is no gender and thus no sexual relations, there are neither homosexual nor heterosexual relationships between Cybertronians. These conjunx endura relationships are more like a best friend relationship.
Obviously the most popular of these relationships (and the one that I think sparked the most controversy) is between Chromedome and Rewind.
While it may have been controversial at one point, I think everyone came to accept it and it was their relationship that made Rewind’s death so tragic. We’ve seen countless bots die over the course of the many series but there haven’t been many that have had the effect that Rewind’s did on the fandom.
Other relationships that have driven great stories include the evolution of Cyclonus and Tailgate:
Another relationship on the Lost Light that never had much of the spotlight in the comic was between Rodimus and Drift:
Rodimus even explained their relationship in the most recent issue, Issue #26 (Dark Cybertron #8) when we was explaining to Orion Pax how he felt guilty for letting Drift take the blame for Overlord. He simply mentioned that he let his best friend take the blame. Of course we all know that was Drift.
I think this is what makes this particular comic great and really stand out above almost any other Transformers fiction. Sure, we all love the giant alien transforming robot battles and we always will, but there’s only so many ways to depict warring factions battling each other. Once these additional layers are added to the characters, the possibilities become endless and it keeps the fandom ravenously waiting for the next issue (and toy).
30 Day MTMTE Challenge – Day 9
A Sad Scene
Rewind died. That’s all I have to say about that.
30 Day MTMTE Challenge – Day 7
A Heartwarming Scene
There have been lots of emotional moments throughout the story so far, but there have only been a handful of what I’d consider “heartwarming”. Most of the emotions that I get reading this comic are sadness or humor. Still my favorite heartwarming scene is when Rewind’s “message from the grave” stops Chromedome from erasing his memory – again.
Even after tragedy, love lives on.
30 Day MTMTE Challenge – Day 6
Best Issue So Far
There are so many great issues in this series, it’s difficult to pick just one as the best. I’m going with issue #13 – Cybertronian Homesick Blues.
Can you guess who’s who?
This issue is told mostly through flashback from the viewpoint of Swerve as he’s sending a message to Blurr, back on Cybertron. We first see some commotion coming from Cyclonus and Tailgate’s room and find out that it was just Cyclonus singing in Old Cybertronian.
Then the crew gets to go on shore leave to relax a little bit, even though Ultra Magnus doesn’t recognize that as a word. Naturally, hijinks ensue. We get to see their new Super Intuitive holomatter Avatars which are supposed to reflect the users’ psyches. For some it’s expected like Rung, Swerve and Rewind. I think the best, by far, was Whirl’s.
A hyperactive child with an eye patch and guns -unmistakably Whirl.
Then, the combined efforts of Whirl (intentional) and Swerve (unintentional) get Ultra Magnus passed-out drunk! It’s great because of the reactions of everyone and the dialog between Ultra Magnus and Swerve. This is where we learn quite a bit more about both of these characters and what makes them tick.
As the night comes to a close and Ultra Magnus is passed out again, the crew needs to find a way to get him back and how they do is nothing short of hilarious.
I hope Rewind’s not recording this!
A special bonus prose story at the end of the issue describes what the others were doing while Swerve was left alone with Ultra Magnus – browsing in the gift shop – and a section with Rung talking with Ultra Magnus including the latter’s failed attempts at humor.