The Energon Pub

Yes, I think you're both right. I had been sort of expecting this Spotlight to explain what a 'she'-Transformer is. It's like this comic gave us the How and Why but not the What, if that makes sense, when instead I wanted the What (as I could've second-guessed the How). Didn't stop the issue being a fun read, though.

i_amtrunks wrote:as TT said, we dont get much detail in Arcee itself, and I doubt we will get too much more page space given to the topic, I think that it is in Furman's "I'm not 100% sure, and thus dont really want to touch it" pile.

I thought Furman's not being 100% sure was why he originally said he wasn't going to introduce female Transformers! Seems odd that he would then devote an issue to a female robot (off the back of Milne's artwork? Not sure) and then not really explain it. Prior to this issue I was beginning to treat the females of Megatron: Origin as 'male' (or, to be more precise, non-gendered) robots that simply looked a bit different. I still don't read Arcee as being female per se.

My take on the gender issue is this.

I think that when Cybertronians interacted with other humanoid species that even though they were never specifically classified as a gender i.e. male I think through their appearances; 2 arms, 2 legs, head, nose, lips, etc and how they acted Cybertronians identified with the males of the species they encountered and through their own interactions amongst each other began using the pronoun "he" and "him." I'm pretty sure that other species uses these same pronouns to describe Cybertronians over time before it was adopted amongst themselves.

Jhiaxus, I think, understood this and when he decided to introduce gender he realized that in order to do this he would have to have Transformers that would be the counterpart to their own male identification assumably taken from the various humanoid male species they have interacted with over the eons. Jhiaxus also knew that there are genetic differences between the genders of other species and in order to create a "2nd" Cybertronian gender he would have to make the necessary changes on a genetic level. Also, I think you can see the Cybertronian identification with humanoid sexes in the way Arcee looks. Arcee has the physical characteristics of a humanoid female in relation to a humanoid male. She is smaller, legs and arms are skinnier, hips, breasts, and even humanoid female lips.

Yeah........what he said.

I like the hint towards the origin of female transformers even though theres no reason why. I'm in the opinion Arcee's character was not in sinc with her original depiction (go figure, she's not the only one who's been tampered with) as seen in the animated movie and subsequent tv series. Creating bad ass female transformers is one thing, but making a calm and collected Arcee into a mad crazed PMS'er is completely something else. Putting aside the messed up profile I still enjoyed the storyline and would like to see where it goes.

I haven't read this one yet, but it's interesting. Only thing, it doesn't make sense to me if Arcee was the first female gender, since so many were in Megatron Orgins, like they were always there to begin with? Maybe Arcee was always female, and it was a "new" project to experiment? Maybe that's why she hated being female? I'm so confused...

Still, I wish they would just get over it, and I hope to see more female bots in action. I would also still like to see the story of Prime and Elita-1, but that's a far fetch dream.

NightFall wrote:Only thing, it doesn't make sense to me if Arcee was the first female gender, since so many were in Megatron Orgins, like they were always there to begin with?

I think Jhiaxus experimented on Arcee before Megatron: Origin. I can't remember if Arcee's book specifically gives a timeline for when she was experimented on, but I'd always been under the impression (though I don't think that it's ever been explicitly stated) that Jhiaxus was on the first Ark with Nova Prime and Galvatron. If this is true, and if Jhiaxus experimented on Arcee on Cybertron, then the experiment must've occurred before Megatron: Origin. The first Ark had already left before the events of Megatron: Origin played out as in Galvatron's issue Galvatron recalls the events of the first Ark's departure during a "time before factions" and Megatron: Origin already has one faction (Autobots) and charts the rise of another (Decepticons).

That explains how there could be other female robots in Megatron: Origin (if they are indeed female), as they could be later experiments, by-products, etc.

When Furman writes of Jhiaxus' experimentations on "gender", to use Arcee's word, is he talking about introducing gender (i.e. femininity and masculinity) or sex (female and male)? I had taken it to be the former given the wording in the book but MYoung's idea seems to imply it's more about the latter (which the CNA alteration would better support, probably).

I've finally read this one. It was quite an interesting story. Just picked up a bunch of my comics last thursday. Don't often get the chance to get them every week or every payday. I was hoping for the sweet demure Arcee from the cartoon. But this works. I think Jhiaxus role is always playing out like some kind of wannabe god or creater. What better way than to create new life, gender, or combination. Add that to the point that we don't know how long Arcee was on Garris 9. She could be the first of many. I find it interesting how her behavior connects with the violation as well as other programming conflicts. Definately cyber-PMS. Wheeljack will have to invent some energon-midol.

I thought the story was great and was actually pleased that they ended it more like a ticked off bot on a mission than a psycho-crazed bot "locked,cocked and ready to rock".

The gender speech part was interesting too. Eve wasn't known by the name of Eve till she and Adam until they fell from God's favor and were removed from the garden.

I found that it was a very Thought-provoking Spotlight.
It really bringed out Simon Furman's sophistication in the scene when Arcee talked about Jhiaxus's Experiments on her.

"Cough"Robotsexchange"Cough"Awesome"Cough"

For the first time in 22 years(?) I feel the need to acknowledge Arcee. I have never liked this character at all, but the Spotlight at least shows her doing something, which she never did in G1. Plus, I can't wait for more gestalt development action.