The Energon Pub

Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:42 pm

A random thought came to mind regarding the upcoming "Hot Rod in Space" story arc for the Ongoing series:

Since Hot Rod gave himself the name "Rodimus Prime" for no apparent reason prior to his departure from Earth, what are the chances that he, if able to seize control of the Matrix from Starscream, will attempt to fulfill the intent and scope of the name by trying to wrestle hegemony over the Autobots from Optimus Prime?

- Bob

Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:05 am

It just doesn't work for every story. Some stories only work well being short as possible. I mean the original Marvel US and UK run had great stories in their stand alone issues, and I do agree Furman's idw run took too long to play out before we saw any real fruit start to grow. And well, the Devil Due's issues were only crossovers, so that meant more paperwork than any publisher would be interested in handling.

News Credits: 487 · Thu Sep 02, 2010 8:52 am

Bobton03 wrote:Since Hot Rod gave himself the name "Rodimus Prime" for no apparent reason prior to his departure from Earth, what are the chances that he, if able to seize control of the Matrix from Starscream, will attempt to fulfill the intent and scope of the name by trying to wrestle hegemony over the Autobots from Optimus Prime?

Since no writer with any hint of creative talent and respect for the franchise would do that, I'd normally say that's unlikely. Unfortunately, Mike Costa has proven he has neither of those things, so I'd say it's pretty damn certain to happen.

Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:36 am

I agree -- seeing how IDW has already altered the continuity of the TF Universe, I would not put it past them to put such a conflict into the Ongoing series.

- Bob

Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:39 pm

Having re-read TF: Ongoing it appears that Hot Rod (Rodimus) stole Ultra Magnus' starship with the intent of attaining the Matrix from the Decepticons. Even though Hot Rod discusses his desires for leaving Earth for nearly the whole series, he promptly acts on these desires only after hearing the discussion between Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee regarding the Matrix in Issue #6 (pg. 21).

Now, will IDW have the Matrix "choose" Rodimus as the next Autobot leader, or will the writers have the Matrix either "choose" a different Autobot, or have it returned to Optimus Prime?

- Bob

News Credits: 487 · Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:27 am

Bobton03 wrote:Having re-read TF: Ongoing it appears that Hot Rod (Rodimus) stole Ultra Magnus' starship with the intent of attaining the Matrix from the Decepticons. Even though Hot Rod discusses his desires for leaving Earth for nearly the whole series, he promptly acts on these desires only after hearing the discussion between Ultra Magnus and Bumblebee regarding the Matrix in Issue #6 (pg. 21).

Now, will IDW have the Matrix "choose" Rodimus as the next Autobot leader, or will the writers have the Matrix either "choose" a different Autobot, or have it returned to Optimus Prime?

Oh, dear God, no.

Costa, you pull this *$&@ing joke, I'm off the book. For good.

News Credits: 2 · Mon Sep 06, 2010 10:52 am

and you know what makes it MORE plausable ?

its bumblbee he's taking the leadership off of not prime.

christ ive got this overwhelming need to use a furmanism now

Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:06 am

I can definitely see IDW bringing Rodimus back to Earth -- the one place he couldn't wait to leave fast enough -- in order to usurp Bumblebee. Seeing such a conflict as inevitable, will the other Autobots sit back and let Rodimus take command away from Bumblebee, or will conflict force divisions within the Autobot ranks which will force Optimus to abandon his willful incarceration in order to quell the discord? If the latter is true, then IDW will be setting us up for a Rodimus vs. Optimus conflict in the near future...

- Bob

Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:58 am

Or it could be that Rodimus is simply trying to get back the Matrix to atone for his horrible failure as a leader. He is impulsive and he could see such action as the only way to redeem himself. For some reason I kind of doubt that Rodimus, despite his flaws, is boneheaded enough to plunge the Autobots in a civil war. Remember he was a leader twice, and every experience he has had ended badly. I think he's smart enough to realize he should lay low for awhile before he tries to be a leader again.

Mon Sep 06, 2010 4:03 pm

I hope that Rodimus will be smart enough to relinquish control of the Matrix. I fear two things, however: 1) The writers at IDW, and 2) the notion that by being in possession of the Matrix and having been "chosen" by the relic since he was able to attain it from the Decepticons, Rodimus might feel that his leadership flaws and previously bad experiences are absolved, thus propelling him into the Optimus' role in the Autobot ranks.

- Bob

Mon Sep 06, 2010 4:26 pm

Bobton03 wrote:I hope that Rodimus will be smart enough to relinquish control of the Matrix. I fear two things, however: 1) The writers at IDW, and 2) the notion that by being in possession of the Matrix and having been "chosen" by the relic since he was able to attain it from the Decepticons, Rodimus might feel that his leadership flaws and previously bad experiences are absolved, thus propelling him into the Optimus' role in the Autobot ranks.

- Bob

Well, okay #2 I can only see happening if it was a really kick ass story, but it does go against IDW's attempt to create new unexplored ideas/themes/concepts in Transformers. I think what they're trying to do is create a new type of TF experience. Hence so many crazy non-tf new ideas in ongoing and ignoring most of Furman's work.

Prime not in the leadership position is old but rare, however, most of the time it is due to injury, or death. This is the first time he steps down for more than issue, and is still an active part of the story. Bumblebee becoming leader is new, and is different than the old, "the Autobot leader must have the Matrix to be leader" stick. Thundercracker finally acting like his toy bio after 25+ years. Megatron out of play, and Starscream actually having a prolong tenure as leader. Humans being more than cannon fodder is rare, and Spike not being a teen and actually having a useful set of skills is a change of pace. Swindle's con over Rodimus represents something more than him being a simple con man who keeps a low profile. This version of Swindle is far more ambitious than others. Transformers actually having a role in political situations is something that hasn't been seen state side since season 3.

While I'm not happy with Simon's work being undone, I'm so used to this from reading Marvel and DC comics, that I take with a grain of salt. I am, however, keeping on eye on the ongoing because I'm not sure what to expect. Simon's work, while good, was something I could see coming from a far. Again, I did enjoy it though.

Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:40 pm

You bring up many great points, especially the fact that we are really not sure what to expect from the writers at IDW. I just hope that they are smart about the upcoming Rodimus story arc and that they don't mess it up by being too radical and/or too quick in their story-telling in order to meet a trade paperback page quota.

- Bob