The Energon Pub

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Honestly, I didn't get the slightest hint of sincerity from those letters. Having seen years of letters pages in DC and Marvel books, it doesn't have that kind of honesty to it. Possibly an extreme level of cherry picking?
There may be some people seeing something positive from this book but, to that extent, the expression 'laying it on a bit thick' comes to mind.

I mean, it’s not like they’re going to print letters bashing the series. Much like how a film studio isn’t going to put quotes from negative reviews on a movie poster.

Verno wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Verno wrote:The writer only watched Beast Wars for the first time last year.

Source?

Erik Burnham stops by and talks Transformers Beast Wars form IDW!

"I was, a year ago, just before my birthday last year, in February, I was bored and flipping through to find something to watch on all the streaming channels. I flipped over to one of the free ones, Tubi, and I saw Beast Wars on there. And I said, I've never seen this, I think I'll check it out."

A fresh perspective isn’t always a bad thing. I mean, this book **** blows, so this guy clearly isn’t right for Beast Wars. But the notion of bringing in a new set of eyes to a property isn’t inherently dubious.

TOO MUCH ENERGON! wrote:

Verno wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Verno wrote:The writer only watched Beast Wars for the first time last year.

Source?

Erik Burnham stops by and talks Transformers Beast Wars form IDW!

"I was, a year ago, just before my birthday last year, in February, I was bored and flipping through to find something to watch on all the streaming channels. I flipped over to one of the free ones, Tubi, and I saw Beast Wars on there. And I said, I've never seen this, I think I'll check it out."

A fresh perspective isn’t always a bad thing. I mean, this book **** blows, so this guy clearly isn’t right for Beast Wars. But the notion of bringing in a new set of eyes to a property isn’t inherently dubious.

Its a matter of perspective though, i quite like this book and look forward to how it will deviate now its met Hasbro's status quo. I understand why people compare this to the TV show but at the same time I don't? I mean I view them as completely separate entities. I mean, do people still compare IDWs G1 stuff to the G1 cartoon? I feel like that ship sailed a long time ago, even longer ago when they made Megs an Autobot.

Comics being different beasts then the cartoons is nothing new, so why does it matter how here that Dinobot is different then all the other changes that characters got in other series?

Back in April, Josh Burcham Tweeted a mockup of Ironhide with Silverbolt and Prowl to give us an idea of what those other two might look like:

Sabrblade wrote:Back in April, Josh Burcham Tweeted a mockup of Ironhide with Silverbolt and Prowl to give us an idea of what those other two might look like:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:All the more reason this was the wrong creative team to be given this book. In spite of my overall opinion of The Gathering/Ascending, I likely would have opted for Simon Furman and Don Figueroa.

I realise minis and ongoings are different beasts, but it's still worth noting just how much The Gathering did in 4 issues, and comparing it to how much this series has done in the same time.

TOO MUCH ENERGON! wrote:A fresh perspective isn’t always a bad thing. I mean, this book **** blows, so this guy clearly isn’t right for Beast Wars. But the notion of bringing in a new set of eyes to a property isn’t inherently dubious.

For sure. Sadly, it's not currently working for us. The series has started with a whimper instead of a bang.

ZeroWolf wrote:Its a matter of perspective though, i quite like this book and look forward to how it will deviate now its met Hasbro's status quo. I understand why people compare this to the TV show but at the same time I don't? I mean I view them as completely separate entities. I mean, do people still compare IDWs G1 stuff to the G1 cartoon? I feel like that ship sailed a long time ago, even longer ago when they made Megs an Autobot.

Comics being different beasts then the cartoons is nothing new, so why does it matter how here that Dinobot is different then all the other changes that characters got in other series?

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Beast Wars hasn't been rehashed repeatedly throughout the years, like G1 has. Beast Wars has just been Beast Wars for 25 years. This is the first time it's been reimagined, but that means it's got to overcome 25 years of those characters only having a single interpretation.

It's a huge legacy to try to live up to, and fumbling the ball so early with the depiction of a character like Dinobot and his motivations doesn't fill me with hope or trust going forward.

TOO MUCH ENERGON! wrote:

Verno wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Verno wrote:The writer only watched Beast Wars for the first time last year.

Source?

Erik Burnham stops by and talks Transformers Beast Wars form IDW!

"I was, a year ago, just before my birthday last year, in February, I was bored and flipping through to find something to watch on all the streaming channels. I flipped over to one of the free ones, Tubi, and I saw Beast Wars on there. And I said, I've never seen this, I think I'll check it out."

A fresh perspective isn’t always a bad thing. I mean, this book **** blows, so this guy clearly isn’t right for Beast Wars. But the notion of bringing in a new set of eyes to a property isn’t inherently dubious.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was directed by someone who had never seen the show before being hired on. And in contrast, it's my personal belief that new Doctor Who's showrunners being fanboys is the reason the series tends to feel so fanficy, since the Doctor has gone from a an underdog hero in the old show to The Most Important Being In The Universe in the new show. And don't even get me started on JJ Abrams and Star Wars.

So objectivity can be a good thing. Hopefully Burnham just needs some time to get accustomed to the voices of the characters.

TOO MUCH ENERGON! wrote:I mean, it’s not like they’re going to print letters bashing the series. Much like how a film studio isn’t going to put quotes from negative reviews on a movie poster.

It isn't about representing negativity, but the overwhelmingly positive wording of those letters just comes across as both fake and sycophantic.

ZeroWolf wrote: I mean, do people still compare IDWs G1 stuff to the G1 cartoon? I feel like that ship sailed a long time ago

People still compare this entire franchise to G1. It has been a noose around Transformers' neck since the end of the Beast Era.

ZeroWolf wrote:Comics being different beasts then the cartoons is nothing new, so why does it matter how here that Dinobot is different then all the other changes that characters got in other series?

It matters when the characterisation is poor. The problem isn't about new interpretations or not being a "slavish" adaptation. It is about telling an interesting take. With engaging writing. This isn't either of those.

ZeroWolf wrote:Its a matter of perspective though, i quite like this book and look forward to how it will deviate now its met Hasbro's status quo. I understand why people compare this to the TV show but at the same time I don't? I mean I view them as completely separate entities.

I also think you're scapegoating Hasbro here, for the problems with this book. Time Travel, Golden Disk, Dinobot's defection. This is how I envision Hasbro's stipulations for a BW comic book. A checklist of key points that must be contained. The rest is all on the shoulders of the creative team.

Verno wrote:

TOO MUCH ENERGON! wrote:A fresh perspective isn’t always a bad thing. I mean, this book **** blows, so this guy clearly isn’t right for Beast Wars. But the notion of bringing in a new set of eyes to a property isn’t inherently dubious.

For sure. Sadly, it's not currently working for us.

And who is "us"? I quite like the series myself. Please don't assume to speak for everyone.

bluecatcinema wrote:

Verno wrote:

TOO MUCH ENERGON! wrote:A fresh perspective isn’t always a bad thing. I mean, this book **** blows, so this guy clearly isn’t right for Beast Wars. But the notion of bringing in a new set of eyes to a property isn’t inherently dubious.

For sure. Sadly, it's not currently working for us.

And who is "us"? I quite like the series myself. Please don't assume to speak for everyone.

Us - Myself and the user I was responding to. That could perhaps be expanded to those within the fandom that aren't enjoying the series to date, but I certainly wasn't speaking on behalf of the entire fandom, nor attempting to.

So there some assuming going on here, but it's not coming from me.

If you're enjoying the series, I'm genuinely happy for you. I'm reading the comments across three different boards, trying to get some different perspectives on it, in case I'm missing something. But, from what I've found, it appears the majority of posters are of a similar thinking.

I'm also enjoying the series. Issue 4 was the most "filler" an issue has felt, but I have read and enjoyed Burnham's stories and know that once he gets that voice down, he is gonna nail it.

and I love the art. I have always been a big fan of Burcham, and the way he draws is unique and is a totally different look that speaks to me.

So far, 1 and 3 have been decent (aside from Dinobot's display of hypocrisy in 3), while 2 and 4 have both felt like all setup for later stuff with little-to-no substance.

It's like the Star Trek films but inverted.

Maybe it's because I'm just not a huge BW fan (I prefer BM, go on and skewer me ), but this miniseries just feels so...unneccessary to me. We're just retreading old ground here, without enough of a new spin to really justify it to me. The Gathering/Ascending run could be a bit flat on characterization for my tastes but they were -new- stories with new characters at least. I feel like there's potential here, but the characters need to be put in new situations.

And I still agree Burcham was the wrong person to draw this book. My favorite comic colorist of all time (to go back to the Furman BW books, his coloring work is superb), but his sharp, stylized and simple lines just don't read "Beast Wars" to me. There needs to be a sense of three-dimensionality and organic detail he's not delivering

Clearly I should be the one writing new Beast Wars content.

Sadly IDW lost the Dr Who licence

So far, the odd number pattern continues with Issue 5 being okay. We finally get a big battle with both factions and it is explained what this series is doing with Dinobot by making him so different from the cartoon.

It's not that he's been made to be such a nice guy while the rest of his faction is evil, it's that he's being used to show that the Predacon faction as a whole is not made up of thoroughly evil people but are instead a prejudiced people mistreated by the Maximals for their natural inclination towards aggression. The Predacons are a warrior race by nature, but without proper wars to fight in, they have had to adapt to various civilian roles in which they can legally let loose their competitive urges and warrior tendencies, such as in sports, law, science, and even peacekeeping. Still, Cybertron remains an imperfect world, with underlying tensions between the Maximals and Predacons still ever present.

In contrast, Megatron and his crew are singled out as terrorist radicals who don't represent the larger Predacon populace. Megatron swayed Dinobot to his cause by preying on Dinobot's own sense of honor, convincing him that the Maximal Science Ministry was disgraceful in its covering up the significance of the Golden Disk, a sentiment that Dinobot does still agree with. What he hadn't realized at the time was how vicious the others of Megatron's crew were, having apparently only joined up with them shortly before the Golden Disk heist. He left them to join up with the Maximals not because he wants to desert his faction, but because he wants no part in Megatron's terrorist group who, in his mind, give the Predacons a bad name.

Rationalise this take on Silverbolt Dinobot, by making the entire Predacon faction sound worse....

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Rationalise this take on Silverbolt Dinobot, by making the entire Predacon faction sound worse....

You want the Preds to be an entire race of one-note monsters?

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Rationalise this take on Silverbolt Dinobot, by making the entire Predacon faction sound worse....

You want the Preds to be an entire race of one-note monsters?

Except none of them were. Well, ..aside from Scorponok, Waspinator and Quickstrike. The Predacon faction, from what little was drip-fed, was interesting. That above, is generic and clichéd as hell.

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

AllNewSuperRobot wrote:Rationalise this take on Silverbolt Dinobot, by making the entire Predacon faction sound worse....

You want the Preds to be an entire race of one-note monsters?

Except none of them were. Well, ..aside from Scorponok, Waspinator and Quickstrike. The Predacon faction, from what little was drip-fed, was interesting. That above, is generic and clichéd as hell.

We're talking about the same Megatron who, in one of his greatest moments, proudly gloated the words "EVIL TRIUMPHS!", undercutting any and all nuance to the idea that he was trying to make things better for Predacon society as a whole and not just being an obvious harbinger of evil.

The most interesting villains are those who view the good guys as evil and themselves as in the right, not self-proclaimed wrongdoers.

This was a very pleasant issue to read and as a Beast Wars fan, I had fun. What I always loved in the original series was that the limited cast meant you could often have them all in the same scene or within the same show, and you got to know them better. You could say that second to beast modes, that's the biggest difference between Beast Wars and G1, which had an ever sprawling cast and new side characters added in every episode. This is the very first issue that really made me feel like I was watching an extension of the Beast Wars show, which is odd since this series was mandated to feel like the first few episodes at first.

This is also the issue where we get some backstory to the world and the alliance between Predacons and Maximals. We even get a better explanation at Dinobot's turn and his motivations. Of course, writing this AFTER the conflicting behaviour we read for a few issues is really poor thinking on the part of the writer. The handling of Primal was well done. From the first issue, we were told exactly how he differed to the show, which explained how he acted later. But for Dinobot, we get our explanation after being puzzled. This isn't memento, it's a Beast Wars comic. If there is something important we should know in a comic that is acting as a retelling of the show at times, then let us know.



There are of course come inconsistencies, like a character claiming ignorance to certain things while previous issues said that the reputation of certain Predacons was widely known. And most of all, DO NOT REFERENCE BETTER MATERIAL. Those jokes never ever work, ever. Didn't work for the Dark Phoenix film, didn't work for Coming to America 2, just stop it. Let's just move past that and enjoy the meat of this issue, which is... action!



Most of the issue is made up of a fight scene and it was a blast. Lots of fun interactions with great money shots like Primal and Megatron finally facing off. We even got to see Cheetor in action, which is great since that character has been sidelined all this time.

I have grown accustomed to the artwork so I don't mind it, but there are still some really jarring moments when it comes to scale, like this moment where Tarantulus pounces on Rattrap.



Some writing and scale inconsistencies aside, this was by far the most enjoyable issue so far. Since all that happened in previous issues is referenced in the dialogue, I would honestly recommend anyone who is interested in this series to just start with this issue, no need for the previous ones.

Oh and that one joke about school was quite funny.


out of

Sabrblade wrote:We're talking about the same Megatron who, in one of his greatest moments, proudly gloated the words "EVIL TRIUMPHS!"

That is one of the best quotes in the entire series. Don't take it out of context.

Sabrblade wrote:The most interesting villains are those who view the good guys as evil and themselves as in the right, not self-proclaimed wrongdoers.

Not always. The quote 'no one is the villain in their own story' doesn't have to be their defining trait. Tarantulas and Rampage are two of the best villains Transformers has ever made. That trope doesn't apply to either of them. Nor are they 'one-note monsters'.

Sabrblade wrote: What he hadn't realized at the time was how vicious the others of Megatron's crew were, having apparently only joined up with them shortly before the Golden Disk heist.

And yet Tarantulus is a renowned evil pred that people fear. The way this Dinobot is being written, he would have turned away as soon as he saw that guy in Meg's crew.