Spoiler: MTMTE 56 & Titan's Return *I love love love the calm and gentle version of Fort Max. The other times we've seen him, he's either been spitting mad or harsh and authoritarian. Bless Rung for helping him through the bad times. I think I ship them even more now. - Imagine Farmer Max and his domesticated Mech sanctuary - Feeding the horses energon cubes. * All the members of Team Luna are precious. Please give Outrigger his own PBS travel show. Also adding the Surgeon guy to my collection of emotional robots without mouths. * BOLT THE PURPLE GOAT (hoards all purple goats). * Fort Max's formal goodbye.. he's like the old and tired Knight back from the Crusades who just wants to settle down on a nice plot of land with his animals and live in peace forever. * Red Alert's paranoia is going to lead him to discover the fourth wall. *Then... Sentinel Prime crawls out of Primus' asshole after four million years and decides to remake the world in his image. ?????? Both issues spend a bunch of time painting him as an evil dictator, even though I've never read that he was particularly bad in previous materials?? It was like sitting down to thanksgiving dinner only to find out that your stern and boring uncle has become Voldemort since the last time you saw him, and no one else at the table is surprised. * REALLY want Alex to redraw exposition movie night on the Lost light. All the characters are sitting stiffly next to each other, I'd love to see them all more naturally posed. *real beef - none of the minis are sitting on anyone's lap, this is a true travesty* * Wait what, Starscream calls Knockout a butcher? When did that happen? Something in Til all are one #4? Verdict: I enjoyed the side plots and little character touches more then the main story.
I thought I'd post this opinion here because it might amuse people. Unlike most Bayverse designs, which I think are too messy and complex, I think Bayverse Lockdown is too neat and together. TFA invented the character, right? Where he's a dirty arm hobo? The dude literally keeps a room full of grody body parts he thought were cool and grafts them on his body when he wants them. Admittedly he'd have to stick close enough to his model to keep his alt-mode, since he doesn't really have monoformer tendencies, but the only shits he gives about looks is whatever he thinks make him look more intimidating, which definitely includes random bodygrafts. And yet he looks good in Bayverse, if not much like a Transformer? vs Slap on random colors! Give him a misshaped arm! Make it obvious he's done body modifications!
Spoiler: Titans Return I feel like Sentinal approving of Optimus' actions is the harshest condemnation we've seen yet, haha.
Spoiler Fingers crossed that this is exactly the intended effect Fingers also crossed for Rod Pod head battle mortal combat action My needs are simple
@coldstars told me I ought to get my Robot Hell Noob ass over here, so uh. here I am? I'm specifically interested in, erm, the IDW comics. yes. those. I totally did not just have to look up what they're called. anyway, if I'm at all responsible I won't start reading 'em until I have some actual free time (although when am I ever responsible tbh), buttttt I hear there are links? and reading order guides? and people who will tell me Robot Basics? at this point I'm YouKnowNothingJonSnow.gif, basically, so.
There is a reading order guide linked here, but it includes...A Lot of comics. And looks pretty overwhelming! I think the majority of people here start with More Than Meets The Eye, which is very accessible for a new reader (and fun! A quest to find the long lost Knights of Cybertron! So ridiculous that it comes with Megatron's personal declaration of disbelief! Time travel! A ship in the shape of the captain's head is a major plot point! Canon gay robots in love!) with generally good art and a lot of focus on the war's aftereffects and all the issues everyone has developed as a result. You can read it for free usually at viewcomic, along with exRID, which is the somewhat less fun, more political ongoing series that focuses on Cybertron in the same time frame that the MTMTE crew are going on wacky traumatic space adventures. The two series crossover at one point which can be difficult to slog through, unless you follow the reading order pretty carefully or find a compilation that's already in order so you don't have to switch back and forth between the two series on viewcomic. Spock's fun robot identification posts got copied here, to help bridge that initial "how do I robot face?" struggle. Also the blue themed robots are almost impossible to tell apart in general - it's just a thing. They're so blue Basically, MTMTE is your best bet for starting. It's easier to backtrack and read the older phase one comics after you've adapted to the robot lifestyle with something consistent and tightly written. And feel free to share your reactions in here as you read, so we can relive it/cackle as you approach major plot happenings
Well first of all, I'll quote over two helpful posts from winkwonk's tf thread! I managed to put together a reading order for them, from phase one through the present (though it's a little dated now), with links to everything I could find online, and mizushimo followed up with some robot torrenting resources that'll help with the holes in my post! This has phase one and phase two both, but I started with mtmte and read it all the way through before ever taking even a look at phase one. After listing all the issues out there, I followed up with some recommended reading order stuff. (also @cryptoThelematrix, I think I saw a post about how you want to read robots, but are struggling with robot identification? If you wanted something easier to handle than mtmte, the phase one pile of miniseries start from the perspective of a human who doesn't know robots, and the cast is smaller and the characters are introduced much slower, plus the art style is less busy than milne trends to draw. If you start at Infiltration, that's where the plot begins) (and I just realized I totally forgot Drift: Empire Of Some, which fits in sometime shortly after mtmte 40. whoops) (gak, character limits. following up with mizushimo's post in a moment)
@esotericPrognosticator, I totally forgot to include these before, but if you start with mtmte (which I recommend), they hit you with a lot of cast members very fast. A lot of them ARE new, but some were established in phase one. It can take a little while finding your robot identification sea legs, so if you need help keeping track of who's who, I made some rough spotting guides!
Quadruple post combo attack! But two things. First, check it out, his thighs are totally thinner than his wrists. I love it. Second, check out that stolen right arm the dude is sporting. That hook looks pretty built-in. If it was just a makeshift prosthetic, that seems like the opposite of what Lockdown would be janking for himself. So. Who do we know in idw who has hooks for hands (and feet)? Spoiler: mtmte... 53? Come! Share silly headcanons with me that Lockdown totally stole tfa original flavor Vos's arm, and the DJD saw teeny tiny Dominus Ambus peeking out of his chest cavity, and that's how he got caught.
@spockandawe that robot field guide looks super helpful, thanks! like, honestly, that is probably the best way for you to guarantee that I like and/or understand these comics. I have enough trouble telling human characters apart. or remembering their names. or their backstories. or why they are currently breaking down in messy sobs and also why I should care. tbh I'm probably going to do that with robots too, except that I'm gonna remember them as, like, "Spiky Blue Dude" instead of "One of Five White Guys with Brown Hair," so that's helpful. also I can use your guide to look 'em up and thus remember what the fuck happened to them a couple issues ago. anyway. you don't need to hear about my media consumption issues. so thanks again!
TORRENT EDIT: kickass.to got seized by the goverment. So the best place for transformers torrents is Demonoid (demonoid.pw). I'd recommend using adblock or the adblock mobile browser. Nemesis has his giant compendium of all the comics up tjere for download.
AAAA, VIEWCOMIC FINALLY GOT THEIR ASS IN GEAR Spoiler: taao 3 After that Titans Return issue, I am all fired up about pitch Starscream/Windblade, goddang Also, given everything that's been happening with combiners in exrid, I can't help but remember that in G1 the combaticons form Bruticus. Also there is a giant face hovering behind the profiles of the combaticons. Also, I refuse to believe that Swindle is for-reals dead. But also (x4), I am really sick of combiners. I only care about Devastator anymore, and that's just because of the mindfuckery with Prowl. Aaaa, all these 'why's from metroplex! he's adorable Awwwww, drama with Windblade and Chromia. But yeah, Chromia, you fucked up good. It's a little awkward to be like 'WHOOPS MY BAD' now. And even if you took ful blame, the diplomatic fallout could be devastating. You're not in a great position to criticize Windblade's handling of it :/ But yes! Plot together! That is a good. Also, have Windblade make out with Starscream. Very important. DRILL SERGEANT IRONHIDE! It's everything I ever wanted :') Blast Off is precious. Honestly, how am I supposed to care about the plotting with Onslaught or the innocent Decepticon he killed when I see that adorable lil' face of his? No wait, I can care about the plotting with Onslaught, because he and Onslaught should have co-conspirator secret makeouts. It'll be so cute. They can't show something like that alley scene at the end of taao 2 and expect me not to ship it I dunno who this salmon-and-white transformer is chilling in the background, but I like his style Okay, but salmon-and-white dude, if you're going to get all buddy-buddy with Blast Off, I can't get emotionally attached to you. You just got sorted into the 'potential cannon fodder' folder in my head. KNOCK OUT! MOONRACER! OBSIDIAN! More of this please! And more Strika, just barely with a shoulder making it into the corner of the frame. Getting a little bit sick of that, ngl Awwww, Starscream is anxious! Windblade should comfort him more. And by comfort him more, I mean she should tease and needle him and get him so he's angry and active and not just uselessly fretting. RATTRAP YOU FUCKNUGGET But Wheeljack :C I expected better things of you. Don't work with Rattrap!!! Starscream wants to trust you so badly! Windblade thinks you're a decent guy! Work with the people who aren't so slimy they leave a residue on the floors, AUGHH AAAAAAA, STARSCREAM YOU DICKBASKET Goddammit, son, I know you're trying. But this was the worst time you could have chosen to exert some authority over Windblade. My poor, stupid child As much as I've come to love the Combaticons... not like this :C Not Wheeljack. Not Chromia. The Windblade miniseries showed us pretty solidly that the Camiens don't stand much chance against for-reals soldiers, and the Combaticons are brutal. You know I am in love with the design on Wheeljack's face. It's so distinctive and unusual, but it works out real pretty in the right artistic hands. YES! More menacing Rattrap! I like this game MNE-MO-SUR-GEON! MNE-MO-SUR-GEON! No, but seriously, Chromedome is great and all, but I need more mnemosurgeons in this cast. In fact, let's resurrect Trepan! He never died! He's been in hiding! Let's make it so. Or anyone, omg, I will take whatever mnemosurgeons I can get. Anyone. Yyyyeah, Blast Off, you're talking good sense here. And then you have to go and undo it with an 'okay I'm with you for this one last job'. Come on, bro, hold out, really push back against Onslaught. Even if he disagrees, I think he'd respect you for it. You've earned his respect. HA! ENIGMA OF COMBINATION! I callllllllllllllllllllllled it. Not that it was a hard thing to call. Bruticus is a classic combiner. Not that I've ever experienced him before! I'm very curious. Also, my money's on this jump-starting Swindle's brain. Or maybe it fucks up Onslaught too? Either way, this plot point is playing out suspiciously fast. And suspiciously easy. What I'm trying to say here is that I'm suspicious. But excited!! This wasn't as good as the other two issues, but I'm still having a fantastic time!
It occurs to me they probably don't even need a new name for Breakdown to have him show up in the comic. Just have Knock Out refer to him through increasingly cheesy pet names.
